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There is certainly room for improvement in web browser technology. I
have sought out the most recent information pertaining to the
enhancement of browser function and have provided you with some new
technologies that have recently been employed, or are in various
stages of development. Some examples of current and future
enhancements in web browser technology are highlighted below.
I imagine you will want to write your own introduction and conclusion
if you are including this information in an essay. Please be sure to
rearrange the material in a manner that suits your particular writing
style.
The main text includes approximately 1800 words.
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Google Search Strategy
future web browsers
Newest web browsers +2003
future trends AND browser technology
Voice Browsers:
*************
W3C is actively engaged in the development of voice-activated web
browsers. Voice activated browsers are an application that would open
the web to an entirely new group of users.
According to W3C, the company "is working to expand access to the Web
to allow people to interact via key pads, spoken commands, listening
to prerecorded speech, synthetic speech and music. This will allow any
telephone to be used to access appropriately designed Web-based
services, and will be a boon to people with visual impairments or
needing Web access while keeping their hands and eyes free for other
things. It will also allow effective interaction with display-based
Web content in the cases where the mouse and keyboard may be missing
or inconvenient." (1)
The company highlights the added access to the web that
voice-activated browsers will provide. Aware of the fact that far more
people have telephones and/or cell phones than have internet access,
the W3C believes that "voice Browsers offer the promise of allowing
everyone to access Web based services from any phone, making it
practical to access the Web any time and any where, whether at home,
on the move, or at work." (1)
Voice activated browsers are also expected to be a boon to call
centers. Customers will be able to choose between responding by keypad
or voice.
As W3C moves forward toward the goal of fully developing the voice
recognition browser technology, the company is currently "defining a
suite of markup languages covering dialog, speech synthesis, speech
recognition, call control and other aspects of interactive voice
response applications." (1)
Web Browsers That Truly go "Back"
*********************************
Web browsers are being designed with a "back" button which accurately
revisits every page browsed in historical order, as opposed to the
current "stacking system" which records only the index pages. Since
the "back button" accounts for 40% of all internet clicks (2), it is
hoped that the enhanced back feature will allow for more efficient web
navigation.
"The main problem with the current back button is that recently
visited pages disappear," says computer scientist Andy Cockburn of the
University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. "'Back' would
more accurately be labeled 'up'," Cockburn says. (2)
Although Netscape and Microsoft have been approached with the new
technology, both companies have yet to bite. Re-design of the back
button would be considered a huge move at this point and might create
confusion rather than rapid acceptance.
Cockburn, however, believes they can design a system that will allow
the new "back buttons" to become part of the "next generation of
browsers." While "orderly clicking will need more features before it
stands a chance of displacing the stacking system,"...Cockburn's team
is "combining their back button with thumbnail images on the back
menu, giving users a picture of where they've been." (2)
A New Generation of Wireless Web Browsers
*****************************************
The Norwegian company Opera recently introduced a new browser that
can display entire pages of internet text on mobile phones. The
problem of fitting text on tiny screens has been an ongoing problem
faced by wireless web browser provides. However, Opera has designed a
way to reformat existing HTML sites for display on the small cell
phone screen "without having to change it from its original format."
(3)
Many wireless customers have been frustrated by the need to scroll
both horizontally and vertically to view web pages. Opera has been
working on a successful solution to this problem.
The key to successful web browsing on wireless devices is an array of
"products that use new markup languages, such as XML and XHTML, to
translate data." The technology is advancing and currently, the main
focus for new browser technology is on "providing a readable Web page
to wireless users." (3)
Web Browsers that can Provide for Accurate Color
*************************************************
Web browsers that can correct for color and thus provide the best
computer images are a real possibility in the near future.
"If your Web browser could talk to your computer and read its gamma,
and if it could send an image that would carry color profiles and
gamma information, if this were possible, you would see much better
colors. (...with the exception of a bad monitor). It's very easy to do
this, but unfortunately, it's not possible today." (4)
"In spite of the fact that web designers can now embed color profiles
in all graphics, the problem is that the current web graphic file
formats (gif and jpeg) don't have the capability to carry this
information. There is hope for the future. New and improved file
formats will be able to carry this color information. In addition to
the traditional JPEG format, a new graphic file format, the JPEG 2000,
is currently under development and will render better pictures,
provide more compression options, and enable full ICC color profiles.
Also, the PNG Portable Network Graphics) file format is one of the
most promising solutions." (4)
"Next, the software, the web browser, needs to be able to read this
information before it can deliver it to the viewer's computer. This
capability must be built into the browser or added as a plug-in. As of
2002 only Microsoft Explorer (for Macintosh) has the capability to
handle profiles that are embedded in web graphics." (4)
A better handle on Security?
****************************
Just one week after the launch of Opera Software ASA's web browser in
late January, an Israeli web application company found five security
flaws in the system. GreyMagic Software of Jerusalem said three of the
security flaws would allow an attacker to browse a victim's hard
drive, and "considered the vulnerabilities critical." The two other
holes were called "severe breaches of privacy," since they can expose
a user's browser history. Furthermore, the knowledge needed to exploit
the security holes is considered "minimal." (5)
Despite Opera's flaws, GreyMagic considers it a far safer browser
than Internet Explorer, which holds 95.2% of the browser market.
GreyMagic is known for finding the security flaws in Microsoft's
latest versions of Internet Explorer. (2)
Thor Larholm, a Danish Internet programmer and security expert,
maintains a website listing the security holes that Microsoft has yet
to patch. "It is nice to see that they have patched most of the holes
listed on my site, but it is frightening to witness the amount of time
it took and the pressure from the public that was needed," he said.
"However, Microsoft's actions are a promising trend and I hope their
initiative to put more focus on security will outlive the month." (6)
"The fact that Microsoft has now started to find bugs on its own
seems promising, but it needs to be more than a one-time occurrence.
Microsoft needs to rethink fundamental parts of its security
processes, as it is too easy for outsiders, with no access to
Microsoft's closed source, to find new security holes," Larholm said.
(6)
Notwithstanding the patches, IE remains vulnerable, according to
Larholm. "Internet Explorer remains insecure. In the next month or two
we will probably have about five new vulnerabilities. I have listed
three current vulnerabilities that aren't public yet, but were
discovered by a software firm. Microsoft is currently investigating
these holes that allow an attacker to read local files," he said. (6)
The Perfect Browser!
*********************
The October 2002 issue of PC Magazine featured an article titled
"What We Want in a Browser." Admitting that browser technology has
remained almost unchanged in the past few years, and that most of the
desired features are currently available in some of the
"minority-share browsers," the primary emphasis of the article is the
hope of having all the best features contained in one, ultimate
browser.
Features of the ultimate browser include:
A combination of airtight security and total compatibility with all
past and present Web standards.
The ability to seamlessly install and run all the plug-ins and other
add-ons scattered around the Web - with no confusing dialog boxes, no
registration nags, and especially no file-association piracy.
The ability to provide a better balance between the needs of those who
provide content and those who want to view it.
Single keystroke or one-click options to turn off visual clutter,
including pop-up ads.
Automatic compensation for slow connections for users who want all the
text on a page downloaded before any images.
The ability to compare the latest version of a page with the one
previously viewed with highlighted changes.
Allow an automatic display of a drop-down menu, showing a list of the
headers or links on a page - or the ability to automatically reduce
the page to its headers, like a collapsible outline.
The ability to search the Web or your local hard drive for further
information on a highlighted word or phrase. They should also let you
search the current page for all grammatical forms of a word, or for
two words that are within a specified number of words of each other.
And a final suggestion from the article suggests that browser
designers could benefit from consideration of our add-on reviews. A
choice of interfaces, the integration of useful toolbars, and better
information organization, off-line capabilities, and privacy and
identity management could all become default functions. With a little
imagination, today's browsers will someday seem like crude first
attempts at the information managers of the future. (7)
Web Services vs. the Internet Browser
**************************************
"Web services" use a variety of applications to gather data more
efficiently than a web browser. "Rather than visiting a variety of Web
sites compiling information by storing or viewing pieces individually,
Web service applications acquire data from across many Web sites,
other applications, and databases. The information is then integrated
into a single environment and customized to the user's device,
location, and software environment." (8)
Whether web services will ultimately replace the browser is an
unknown. Privacy concerns are clearly an issue. Individuals and
businesses who use web services will be revealing a great deal of
personal information that will have to recorded in a safe manner.
"What's interesting is that the battle for this future technology is
squarely focused on who will "own the customer". In many respects, it
all comes down to determining who will keep the records about users.
For individuals, records such as passwords, credit card numbers,
preferences, and habits are collected. Corporate entities would gather
access codes to real time inventories, invoicing and pricing regimes
between corporations, and companies would be contained in so called
universal user profiles (UUPs). These records are controlled or
"owned" by various "brokers" and made available to their stable of
trading partners." (8)
Since web security is already a constant issue for internet users, it
will be interesting to see how far the public will go in allowing
access to their personal information in exchange for more efficient
web-browsing.
Works Cited
1. "Voice Browser" Activity - Voice enabling the Web!" W3C Interaction
Domain (2/21/2003)
http://www.w3.org/Voice/
2. "Browsers go back to the future," by John Whitfield. Nature Science
Update (12/30/2002)
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021230/021230-3.html
3. "Wireless Web Browsers of the Future," by Jay Wrolstad.
NewsFactorNewtwork. 10/28/2002)
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19787.html
4. "The future of color on the World Wide Web." Computer Color
Matters.
http://www.colormatters.com/comput_future.html
5. "Security experts pick holes in new Opera browser," by Joris Evers.
ITworld.com (2/04/2003)
http://www.itworld.com/AppDev/1607/030204opera/
6. "Microsoft patches three 'critical' software flaws." ITworld.com
(2/22/2002)
http://www.itworld.com/AppDev/1597/IDG020222patches/
7. "What We Want in a Browser," by Edward Mendelson. PC Magazine.
(10/15/2002)
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,545527,00.asp
8. "Web Services Hold Promise, but Hang on to Your Identity," by Tom
Gilmore. ITWorld.com (03/06/2002)
http://www.itworld.com/nl/xsp_trends/03062002/ |
