The exact Effect of The Apple iphone on the Cellular phone Market

Has the big hype over the Apple iPhone been justified? As the iPhone has around fifty million users, the answer is proberbly yes! Ever since the release of the first version of this phone in 2007, to call it a “cell phone” just doesn’t seem accurate. Even that version, which was locked so owners could only use the iPhone applications that came with it, had the revolutionary touch screen controls and many extra features that cell phones simply never had before.

Those two features, the touch screen and the applications, or apps, were what put the Apple iPhone in a class by itself at the time of its first release. There were other phones that made similar internet connections, such as the BlackBerry, which served as a cell phone but also allowed email, texting and internet browsing on a small screen; however, the iPhone release brought those functions to a slightly larger screen, which people could manipulate by moving their fingers on the screen itself. And by adding all those applications, which help users to do everything from order flowers to surf YouTube to make stock trades, the iPhone became something that can hardly be described as a “phone” any longer.

The actual apple iphone was certainly not realised world wide in a single swoop, it has been graduel and nicely organized. Of course its 1st launch was in its own home, the United states of america, in June of 07. That was then spun out accross other countries through the following months, as deals were attained with the firms which would possess rights to be the official suppliers. And almost everywhere the iphone news spread, people continued lining up and paying high prices to get an apple iphone of their own.

With each fresh iPhone release, Apple has included capabilities which have placed the gadget well-liked and in excellent demand. The actual distinction between the 3G and 3GS versions was mainly one of performance and some additional video capabilitys, but it was the leap in functionality between the 07 Apple iPhone and the 3G version in 2008 that really pushed it over the top. Even with some issue over excessive rates, the capability to download useful applications has taken the concept of a simple cellular phone and raised into another realm entirely.

The Apple iPhone is an expensive gadget in the UK, subsidiesed my the Network providers, such as Orange and Vodafone. It would well woth be protecting with iphone insurance when you first take out your iphone contract, as you will have to pay in exess of GBP 600 to obtain a new iphone from your network provider, should the worst happen.

A simple search online for iphone insurance could also be worthwhile, as independent agents offer insurance for the iphone for less per month than the big network providers can offer. You can easily save GBP 7 per month, just by shopping arround.

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My Dell Inspiron 910 Mini Experience

Having been amongst the first to purchase the Dell 910 Mini I wanted to share my experience with others that might be thinking about acquiring this item or one of the other sub-notebook or ‘netbooks’ as they have become known. I manage a web design agency and I’ve been contemplating the idea of acquiring myself a moreportable laptop as my old Dell Inspiron from 2003 is as heavy as a brick.

Shortly after having retired the old Dell to my girlfriends house (I couldn’t face lugging it back and forwards any longer so it just lives there now, I might well do the same with myself one of these days soon!) it stopped charging and wouldn’t run from the mains, so eventually when I gave it to my tech to repair he found out that it was one of the known faulty models, the 5150 which developed a problem with the motherboard overheating after prolonged use, this I found out about 2 years after they stopped replacing them as part of a class action lawsuit, shame I’m two years too late to get it replaced for free!

Ah well what’s 150 quid for a factory refurbished Motherboard off ebay, compared with years of loyal service in spite of being dropped a couple of times, spat on repeatedly, eaten over and all manner of other not recommended usage styles! I even used to have it hooked up to my TV via the onboard S-VHS port and watch films on it, so it has seen some action, oh yes!Not that I download movies off the internet you understand of course, oh no that would just be wrong, and illegal and I wouldn’t want to risk getting my broadband disconnected!

However, this was all inspired by my step dad who just bought a top of the range Toshiba Portege at around £1,200, but he’s at that time in life where 1,200 quid is affordable, where as I’m still in financial recovery from my last divorce (yes there was more than one!)! So I happened across the Dell Inspiron 910 Mini on the Dell site whilst looking at specs of notebooks for a customer, and there it was £299 inc VAT and delivery. What a bargain I thought! (If you are reading this three years after I wrote it and they are now giving them away free on the front of Corn Flake packets then I will be even more gutted, or maybe I’ll just get one for all the family!)

Anyway there I was flexible friend at the ready, wrist twitching ready to make a purchase, but hang on I thought, why am I buying this, do I really need it? No, I don’t NEED it I just HAVE TO HAVE ONE! So then some sensibility came over me and I put my credit card away, feeling all pleased with myself at having managed to resist an impulse purchase!

However, the next day my step Father needs me to investigate his new machine because he can’t get the music software to work and can’t get it to see the other machines on our network(this job for me, comes with the territory! ) So I have to genuinely work on this ultra lightweight Toshiba, wow I’m amazed at how light it is, especially when compared with my old Dell 5150! I wish I had cash spare to invest in one of these I thought! I noticed he didn’t have my prescribed security software set up though. I installed my ordinary internet security tool: Avast Anti Virus and Spybot Search& Destroy, which are fantastic packages.

The next day I had to go to a customers and as it was first thing in the morning I went straight from my girlfriends house and took the old laptop with me (which gives me a great excuse to call in on my way back and drop it off, coincidentally around about lunchtime when there might be the chance of a ham, cheese and salad sandwich on the go! Yum, she is soooo good to me!) So anyway, I about put my back out trying to put this incredibly heavy laptop in the car passenger foot well whilst sitting in the drivers’ seat! So having experienced the new lightweight machines first hand, and realised I do have a genuine requirement for the new Dell Inspiron mini after all, weighing in at around 1kg, you know I planned to get that credit card out again as soon as I was able!

So as I had a management meeting that afternoon I informed my Finance Manager I would be ordering one and that was that. It was Friday October 3rd when I placed the order on the Dell website, and on the 8th I got back from a client meeting to find a small cardboard box on my desk with the Dell log on the side, I thought it couldn’t possibly be the new mini as the confirmation email I got said it would arrive on or around the 20th October, but sure enough it really had arrived! Just a 5 day turn around, wow!

So I’m like a kid in a sweet shop thinking “best day ever” (See Heroes Season 3), I was ecstatic and carefully unpacked it, tossing instructions and disks to one side of course, “read those later” I thought. I got it out and started setting it up straight away, you know remove McAfee Security Centre and all the other junk software these things come with these days. Why they can’t just send you a blank windows installation I don’t know, more advertising!

As it has an integrated web cam I also downloaded Windows Live Messenger and had a quick video call with my girlfriend whilst she was doing her house work, fantastic! What a great bit of kit!So next I Googled ‘mobile broadband suppliers’ and toyed with ordering the USB dongle from Three, as their 5GB monthly allowance is only 15 quid a month so the best looking deal, providing those coverage stories you hear about Three Mobile are not really true! (Update: Yes the coverage is lousy in all the areas I want to use it, even at my desk I have to connect the dongle to a USB cable and hang it from my roof to get 1 bar signal strength, buy another brand!)

Anyway, it was soon time to go and pick up my daughter from school so I thought yeah I’ll take it with me and even though I don’t have the mobile broadband USB Modem yet I can continue setting it up in car park if I’m early. I was early, so I turned it on, it said:

Windows could not start because of an error in the software.

Please report this problem as :

load needed DLLs for kernel.

Please contact your support person to report this problem

As we say in England from the popular Catherine Tate sketch “Computer says no…”

Ah dear, it was great fun whilst it lasted, all of about 2 and a half minutes!Then followed a 2 and a half hour telephone marathon with Dell support in India Apparently they were so quick to ship the laptop to me that my service tag isn’t on their system yet.

Why did they refuse to send me a new one on this call? It was because they couldn’t look up the service tag on their system, that’s why! I really couldn’t understand it at all, it’s not like it was something really complicated a virtual pc for example.

They suggested I called back in 24-48 hours, well I told them exactly what I thought of their suggestion as I’m sure you can image, but to no avail. I did indeed have to call back today and they have agreed to send me a replacement unit as it is within 7 days of delivery.

I hope the replacement arrives as promptly as the original unit did…

So conclusion? Apart from the fact it doesn’t work (a faulty drive in my opinion) and for the life of me I can’t get it to boot from an external drive or USB key (it doesn’t have a CD or DVD drive you know) it feels really solid, looks lovely, and is nice to handle (sounds a bit like the ideal partner to an i-phone 2.0 doesn’t it!).

Like most reviewers have experienced, the keys are small (but blackberry users manage and they are larger than those keys) and the right shift key is tiny and means you can’t type an @ in the usual fashion. But the screen is nice, 3 USB slots, a monitor connector, Ethernet and earphones and mic connectors although it has both speakers and mic internally so you can video conference without having to plug anything in.

On the whole, I would recommend it, providing you get one that works ! I am also yet to try it with LogMeIn which is my preferred way of dealing with how to access emails, lots of passwords, specialist software and all that kind of thing when you are out and about. Possibly the screen is going to be too small to be able to work with for extended periods of time, but I’ll let you know when the replacement arrives and I have had chance to give it a proper testing, assuming that one doesn’t break on me as soon as I start urm ‘configuring’ it!

Further Update: So I have had the Dell Mini for about erm, wow nearly 12 months! It would never work with LogMeIn over the Three dongle. To be fair 3 were very helpful, until we took the dongle out and successfully used it in another one of my computers and were able to connect on LogMeIn without any problems, at this point they referred me to Dell, at which point I lost interest!

It is all to do with one of the browser settings, not remembering itself when you tick the check box and hit Apply. I can’t remember which one it was now, and maybe ie 8 will have fixed the problem or it might work on Mozilla browser instead, I just never got round to trying to sort it out again and tend to use the Mini more now to read the news in bed with my cup of tea in the morning.It’s just so convenient being so small, and another great feature is it’s near instant turn on. If you just shut the lid it goes into standby, open the lid and it comes back on again within seconds.

It is too small to use for really extended periods but it is great for checking your email when you’re out and about, or for a quick impulse surf when you’re watching tv and you want to remind yourself what other films that actor or actress was in!I don’t know much about lcd monitors but i reckon if you connected one to this externally it would work great.

It’s a cracking little machine though and also works quite well down the pub, because I can fit it in the pocket of my big coat, and that is proper cool, except it doesn’t like beer puddles much so I tend to avoid taking it most of the time, unless I know I’m going to need to log on, but then the pub has got a sexy new Mac which is already covered in beer so I prefer to use that (any excuse to get behind the bar really!)What is so magical about being able to go behind the bar at your local anyway? I suspect if I actually worked there it would soon wear off!

In summary though it has not had any hardware problems since the initial replacement was received. On the whole I have found that Dell kit tends to be pretty reliable anyway, especially when you are dealing with the more business based items whereas this is obviously more consumer focussed. With a Dell if they are going to go wrong they will usually do so within the first six months of use and generally after that they will keep going until recommended service intervals such as changing the disks after a couple of years and that kind of thing.

It should be made clear though that these mini Dell laptops/netbooks, call them what you will, do not having a traditional hard disk drive inside them. A normal hard drive has a disk inside it that physically spins round and a ‘head’ which moves backwards and forwards over the sectors quite like the relationship between the stylus and the tracks on an old fashion vinyl record(which being 40 next year I do remember from my childhood)!

The storage within the Dell mini, and other netbooks too I should image, are solid state, that is to say they are rather like USB flash drives or memory keys. In fact I think from a picture I saw they look more like RAM memory chips all joined together than a single physical device. The advantage of using solid state memory over traditional hard drives is that they use less power, they are not as heavy and they are quieter.

My Dell Mini is blissfully quiet in comparison to any of my other computers, desktops or laptops. Although if you are auditorily hyper-sensitive to noise like I am then you can notice a very slight hum or whine when you request a program that requires it to access the hard drive. Most people probably will never hear this but if you are familiar with the faint hum from your mobile phone charger or other devices of that ilk that transform power from one state to another then you might know what I am talking about. It certainly isn’t a problem though, although the power adapter for the machine itself does make some odd noises if you listen to it closely. It is similar to a mobile phone charger though, not like a traditional laptop power adapter, and this makes the whole thing much more portable.

My favourite aspect of this machine is that in some it elicits the same response as having a small puppy or kitten out and about with you, especially down the pub where if you get it out to a bunch of girls you can hear the ooh and ahhh’s of girls who think something is cute! That is priceless!

European Cell Phone For Travellers

If you require a cell phone when traveling to Europe go, Euro Buzz may be a great option for you for a European Cell Phone. You can take this cell to any country in Europe and they claim good rates. Take a view at their website to test some prices out. I’ve brought from other companies like Cellular before but their expensive fees were to be too much for my budget. In essence I believe a down payment then a PAYG sort of deal is better, for me anyway.

EuroBuzz is made by cell phone giants Mobal, and they have been around since the 80′s supplying phones to travelers all over the world. Their world phone was a best seller for travel phones for 2 years running.

Traveling to Europe can be very exciting but you must also be aware of the dangers that may lurk ahead. Different countries have very different cultures, and whilst you may be used to American culture you must respect and obey laws and rituals of other cultures, in this case, those in Europe.

But why travel to Europe? Is it to visit family? Is it to see the wonders of Paris? Is it to enjoy the Italian cuisine? Is it to marvel at the german countryside? Whatever it may be you can still keep in touch with your folks back home with an travel phone. Althought there are many European Cell Phones Available on the market you can see them all with a simple search on Google, I recommend you look into all the prices and look at hidden charges aswell because sometimes you may get stung by these prices.

Discount Lighting

Must I Keep track of My Credit history?

Did you know that if you have a bad credit score you may be required to put up a huge down payment with a new cellular company? You’re more than likely already aware that your credit score can inlufence your credit card rates, your insurance policy rates, your loan rates, plus the probability of safely you getting a position inside the mortgage providers area. However the question has always been should you review your credit score?

By looking at the knowledge given here it is easy to understand why you should keep an eye on your FICO scores.

Due to the fact that your FICO score has an effect on a lot of what you can as well as cannot do it makes loads of sense to watch what flows into your credit report which is the foundation of your credit score.

And lots of times the rationale you have a spotty credit report is through no fault of yours. Reliant on who’s figures you believe, there exists an 75% prospect that your credit report contains errors in it.

You may be the victim of id theft and an individual tried to apply for a loan or even get a new charge card utilizing your details.

You could be the victim of a mistake made by a creditor to the credit bureaus and this can lower your credit score.

You could be the victim of a mistake made by the credit bureau itself.

Considering that banks, credit card banks, and other financing associations can make more money off of you when you have a reduced FICO score it is not in the credit reporting agencies’ top interest to keep your credit reports problem- free.

It’s generally up to you to keep track of your FICO score frequently and make sure there isn’t a inaccurate data in your credit file which is negatively affecting you.

This is where monitoring your credit can help to save you hundreds. It could keep you abreast of some dubious activity which could badly lower your report and keep you paying high interest rates as well as having to make a large downpayment for when you want to sign up with the new cellular telephone company along with one of those fresh hip smart mobile phones.

You can save dollars whenever you review your credit standing repeatedly.

Take a look at your credit report and credit score online at once for $0. Try Credit Score Monitoring.

Observe your credit reports and FICO scores and prevent id theft and get the most affordable rates on your credit cards, home loans, personal loans, and cell plans.

Stop by Free Credit Report And Score Today.

How to find a cell phone number

Is it really possible to do a free cell phone number reverse lookup on the world wide web? Many people have been disappointed or discouraged previously with websites that appear to offer free services online, but in reality are not. Is this the case for the cell phone lookup?

First let us explain what we mean by a phone number search. Let’s say you have a home phone number but no idea who the number belongs to. You may use a number lookup service like Yahoo to see the details. This can be very useful in situations where you lost contact with someone but still have a record of their number, or simply to check who owns the number. There are many places where you can make these residential and business phone inquiries online searches for free, including pager phone numbers.

Unfortunately, trouble arises when you need to do a reverse lookup on a cell phone as the free databases will not list such phone numbers. So, if you’re searching an Alaska cell phone number you will have a problem. These databases do not contain cell numbers as this information is only in the hands of carriers and telecommunications companies. Do these records exist and are they available at no cost?

The good news is that there are programs that offer a large number of cell phone numbers, but they are not free. These web sites of course have to pay a price to gain access to some of this information, and go to the great difficulty and expense of retrieving all data into one place and therefore, you need to pay a small fee for access to their database. However, the cost is typically a one-time fee and you can run as many searches as you want. These records usually include cell owner details, address history, carrier information, and the phone type and connection status. We should mention that the databases offered by each company differ to some degree, but most include cell phones, residential, business, fax, toll-free and pagers. With these programs your queries are guaranteed legal and confidential.

We’ve seen websites claiming to offer free cell research, but that has always led to programs charging a price in the end. Some do allow people to search for free and then see the results. The sad truth is that the only place where you can find detailed reverse cell records is within the legitimate paid directories. To conclude, cell phone searches are not free. That being said, if you really want to access this information, we believe that it is a small price to pay.

A Cell Phone Number Lookup Is Now Fast And Easy With These Modern Websites

Is it really possible to run a free reverse cell phone lookup on the internet? Many of us have become disillusioned and frustrated in the past with websites which appear to offer free products or services online but in fact do not. Is this the case with a cell phone number lookup?

Firstly let us examine exactly what we mean by a internet reverse phone call lookups. If you have in your possession a residential phone number but no idea who the number belongs to or what address it relates to you can use a “reverse lookup” service to find out those details. This can obviously be very useful in situations where you have lost contact with someone but still have a record of their phone number, or simply wish to verify who owns the number before mistakenly phoning the wrong number. There are many places you can perform such residential and business phone lookups online for free, including toll-free numbers.

However a problem arises when you need to run a reverse cell phone lookup on a cellular phone as the free directories do not contain any such numbers. Similarly they do not contain fax numbers as this information is only held by the carriers and telecommunications companies.

In addition to reverse lookups there are also similar websites which offer access to information such as background checks and background reports, people finder databases, bankruptcies, liens, public records databases including births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adoptions, sex offender records, police records, and much more.

Reverse Cell Phone Look Up Directories are Getting Popular

A reverse cell phone directory is simply a service that lets you look up someone’s name and other personal details with just a phone number as a starting point. There are various types of such directories and they are widely used by people all over the country for various purposes. There are people who say they use these services for security purposes, such as the verification of the identities of certain individuals or companies whom they may have been approached by. Others use these services purely for inquisitive reasons. For example, maybe you have received a strange call that may or may not be a prank and therefore you would like to find out who is behind the phone on the other side.

Many reasons exist why a person might find a reverse cell phone numbers service convenient. If you are into online dating you might want to enquire more about people of interest. Parents might use it to keep track of people who call the children. A suspicious spouse could use a service like this to find out more about phone calls to their husband or wife. There are also people who simply use these directories to check their own data and what information is available concerning them on the Internet.

A reverse cell phone number lookup service makes it possible to look up name, address and other info based on a person’s cell phone number alone. In some cases these directories can provide all kinds of different additional info, sometimes they don’t, in any case, at least you should expect to be presented with a name of the owner of the cell phone you are serching for. There are very many instances why these services are useful, which is obvious from the multitude of similar services offered and the popularity of them. Compare to how the old style physical yellow pages and phone books served a need years ago and even today, these new services for reverse lookups are at least as useful in the long run.

The majority of reverse phone directories will not waste your time. Most have interfaces like search engines and provide ready and unhindered access to the crucial information you are after, whenever you need it. People are always surprised by the simplicity of these interfaces, behind the surface lies comprehensive and detailed information. It’s also great that you don’t have to be a CSI detective or a member of the FBI to access information that can really make a change in your life.

People have their various reasons for choosing to use one reverse cell phone directory or the other but the basics of the matter is that the directories they choose to use, supply them with the needed information that they’re looking for such as an address and a name to match a particular phone number.

PC Tools Internet Security The Details

In spite of its older brother PC Tools spyware doctor download‘s popularity, PC Tools Internet Security is an interesting product. The reality is that it is a rarely sought after product. This is surprising. PC Tools Internet Security firewall is built with the same foundational technology as that which gives us PC Tools Spyware Doctor and PC Tools Antivirus! Additionally, this product has spamprotection in the offering as well.

I began to wonder if it might be amount that is keeping it from wide spread adoption. After checking on pricing, $59.95 (as of 9/26/08) is a reasonable amount. The only bad thing I found in reviews was its lack of heuristic scanning.

Heuristic scanning: “A heuristic search is used to spot new, unknown viruses in your systems that have not yet been identified. Only some antiviruses can do this type of search, the majority are only able to spot known viruses.” This doesn’t seem to be the reason either.

I will chalk it up to a lack of marketing. The reason I say this is because I see heuristic probe capability incorporated in the latest release. Most importantly, I found out that most customers and potential customers are still looking for their antivirus and firewall as separate products.

Bob Metcalfe, the person attributed as the Inventor of the Internet exemplifies what choosing what is not so popular….”And I turned around to look at these 10, 12 AT&T suits, and they were all laughing. And it was in that moment that AT&T became my bte noire, because I realized in that moment that these SOBs were rooting against me. To this day, I still cringe at the mention of AT&T. That’s why my cell phone is a T-Mobile. The rest of my family uses AT&T, but I refuse .”

Granted, choosing PC Tools Internet Security will not be that dramatic but it could prove to be a good internet security application for your computer.

Reverse Cellphone Lookup Sites Show You The Numbers You Need To Know

Most people just can’t underestimate the effect that cell telephones have had on our culture. Regardless of where we are, the cell phone is with us, connecting us with our world, day and night. This comes at some disadvantages, however. To ensure our privacy, mobile carriers routinely make cell numbers unlisted.

Almost all cell numbers are non-published these days, and that makes it very difficult to track down a number you don’t recognize. I receive lots of these kind of calls every day, and I bet you do, as well. So, if those numbers are not in the phone book, then how to do find out who is calling? You can utilize a web site called a web reverse cell lookup to locate that number.

How do these sites reverse cell lookup sites work? Actually, they are very user friendly and pretty darned accurate, particularly for the low cost that you pay for access. Just pay the low fee, and right away, you can find out the identity of the strange number that is calling you.

How do these web reverse cell search web sites get all of the numbers? They utilize a variety of public and private sources, and have to constantly monitor and update their listings, as phone numbers are constantly changing. It’s surprising how accurate these sites are, since there are vast quantity of numbers to monitor. The low fee you pay is well worth the information you get from these sites. Try one of these web sites next time you need to find the owner of a phone number, you will be impressed with the results.

With all of the modern, useful web sites that are available now, the lack of a good web reverse cellphone lookup was a real problem for users who get unwanted or strange phone calls on their cell phones. Log on to one of these services and you’ll become more informed about the identity of your callers.

Designing A Web Site For A Certain Screen Resolution is Outdated

Introduction

Being a web designer working on website development projects I have learned that it is important to stop and think about what size screen resolution we should be building this latest website to?

I was reading somewhere recently that apparently these days the only answer to that question should be ‘all of them’ and ‘none of them’. What this basically means is that new websites should be built to accommodate all different screen sizes these days, particularly with the increased popularity of hand help web browsers, smart phones, net books and the like. Of course there is also the other end of the spectrum in the new huge wide screen flat screen monitors. I recently treated myself to a 24 inch Asus which does 1920×1080 which is big enough to get two web browser windows on screen side by side, but if you make one of them full size, the majority or websites look, well, just plain odd!

What exactly is screen resolution then?

If you are not familiar with screen resolution, the simple answer is that it is the size of your screen. However, this can be quite misleading because it is actually the number of pixels that make up the display area on the screen of your monitor. Still not clear? Well let’s look at some examples to help clarify exactly what screen resolution is.

Currently what would appear to be the most common screen resolution is 1024×768 (accounting for 62% of my website visitors). This is a screen that is 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high. What is a pixel? A Pixel, derived from the phrase Picture Element, is basically one of the thousands of tiny dots that make up your display screen. However, this does not necessarily determine the physical size of your monitor (14 inch, 15 inch, 19 inch etc) because most monitors are capable of displaying the screen in different screen resolutions. It is fairly true to say that if you want to run your monitor at a high screen resolution then you will need a large monitor, the larger the monitor the greater the resolution it can display at (assuming your graphics processor can support a high resolution).

All getting a bit technical? Put simply the larger the screen resolution the more things you can fit on your screen before they have to go onto the next line, or before you have to scroll down or scroll right.

What’s this got to do with Web Design?

When creating the visuals for a new website design, traditionally the experienced graphic designer would be working to a specific resolution in order to make sure that the design fits in your browser window without having to scroll right. (Thankfully most website owners don’t demand you make their pages so that you don’t have to scroll down anymore!)

A popular screen resolution to design for is 1024×768 but when viewed at a larger screen size such as 1280×960 will have unused portions of screen so a skilled ecommerce web design company will take this into account and provide one of several solutions.

When designing at a fixed resolution you can deal with larger display settings by either aligning the site to the left and having a huge great big gap to the right, or you can centre align the website in the available space and then the extra screen resolution will be on either side of the content area.

However, the sensible, modern day approach is to make the site flexible to accommodate all screen resolutions by creating ‘fluid’ content that will flow to fit the available page space irrespective of what size screen resolution it is viewed at.

Also, because of the increased competitiveness of the web the challenge for a website owner is how to engage your viewers and get them to stay on your website for as long as possible and show them as much content as possible. One way to help with this is to make full use of all of the available space. Two great big blank areas either side of a tiny web page is simply just a waste of space. Imagine if you picked up a newspaper or magazine and only half of the front page had got any content on it, the editor would get the sack for sure! So by creating fluid web pages, web site owners can take advantage of larger publishing spaces available on bigger screen users, whilst optimising content for display on smaller screens too.

Another advantage with big screen displays is the ability to use the new area for re-publishing. Re-publishing is a way to put content from another area of your website onto a different page, thereby bringing it forward for the viewer. An example of this that we did on one site we created was to insert an alphabetical list of names of the products available on the website below the left hand menu on pages that were very long.

All pages tend to be different lengths, as determined by the content on the page, so we used a clever widget to create this list of product names and load it in the gap until it ran out of space. This was great for SEO too as it gave a direct link to specific product pages based on their product names without having to crawl through category pages first, also website users would often see something in the list they wanted and click straight through to the page and buy the item.

Ultimately this has evolved into what would now be thought of as a web 2.0 ‘tag cloud’ a list of tags that are usually user generated, to indicate and link directly to a specific content group or item. Using a tag cloud is a great way to fill stretched spaces on larger screens that you can fill with what are effectively links to other parts of the website.

How do you do fluid content?

Fluid content is quite simple to create, the majority will be words of course, which are naturally fluid so on a small resolution screen you might get 5-10 words to a row, on a larger screen you can get 20-30 words or more. However the challenge comes with images, and particularly website graphics. A photograph, whilst it can be made smaller and larger offline, it can’t be automatically resized by the web browser at the time of viewing (not taking into account the Zoom function in Internet Explorer).

The HTML code that makes up your web pages is again designed to allow fluidity by fitting content into the available page area, so some tips that can be employed to make content fluid include not using tables in the code (which are depreciated these days now anyway), not setting specific screen width in pixels, use 100% instead. By fading images into blocks of colour in the website graphics, you can create a stretchable element that will scale to fit all window sizes. Use little boxes to put stuff in, these can then flow around the screen as required without having to be in any particular place, they also help to draw the eye to special offers, discounts, newsletter sign ups etc, and can of course be styled by your graphic designer with curves and shadows and gradients to look great.

Conclusion

The finest Loughborough web design companies provide web designs that work on all screen resolutions because they are fluid and scalable in design, from the smallest mobile phone browser right up to the huge 27 inch flat screen displays running massive screen resolutions. This technology is available now, if you select the right agency to do it for you, so why exclude potential customers from viewing your website properly just because they are not using a standard setup. In the current economic climate do you really want to be excluding any potential customers?

 

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