<\/p>\n
Launched today ScientiaMobile<\/a><\/em> sells and supports commercial APIs and tools based around WURFL<\/a>, the Wireless Universal Resource File. For those who are really new to the mobile web game, an explanation is due. The remaining 99%, already know that WURFL is the de-facto standard DDR (Device Description Repository), i.e. the open-source framework which lets developers map HTTP requests to the device profile for the device which requested the page. With WURFL, you can easily learn what browser is in use via a set of properties which describe the features of the device and the browser. For over 10 years, WURFL has proven to be an incredibly useful resource for companies which intend to make content and services available on the widest possible range of mobile devices. WURFL is used by mobile operators and many large web publishers including Facebook.<\/p>\n
Having known WURFL and Luca Passani, the WURFL inventor, for quite some time, I wondered who was behind the initiative. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only is Luca behind ScientiaMobile, but also Steve Kamerman, creator of the respected Tera-WURFL<\/a> PHP library which uses a database backend to store WURFL data and cache the results of device detections. I reached out to Luca and Steve and asked them a few questions about their new venture:<\/p>\n
Q: Guys, what\u2019s the driver of the initiative?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Q: So, are you telling me that WURFL will stay open and open-source?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Q: I am familiar with GPL, but can you expand on the idea of AGPL?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Q: I think I got it. What other services are you offering?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Q: Which one of you is going to be the company CEO?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Q. What is the pricing for the comercial license<\/strong><\/p>\n
Launched today ScientiaMobile sells and supports commercial APIs and tools based around WURFL, the Wireless Universal Resource File. For those who are really new to the mobile web game, an explanation is due. The remaining 99%, already know that WURFL is the de-facto standard DDR (Device Description Repository), i.e. the open-source framework which lets developers map HTTP requests to the device profile for the device which requested the page. With WURFL, you can easily learn what browser is in use via … Continue reading