The Personal Mobile Web Server

Every day, mobile phones and the Internet come closer together. Recently, Nokia R&D have announced that they've ported Apache and Python to the S60 OS. They envisage to use the mobile web server to create new services for people on the net depending on the location of the owner. Indeed, interesting thoughts. I say let's turn the stick around for a moment and think about what a web server embedded in a mobile phone can do for the owner.

A web server in a mobile phone combined with Wifi can also be a powerful personal platform, i.e. serving mainly the owner of the device. We are not far away, Nokia has already announced Wifi support in the Nokia N80 which should be on the market very soon. Here are some applications for a combination of Apache, Python and Wifi in a mobile phone:

• While you are at home, the mobile phone is part of your network via Wifi. Instead of using the small phone keyboard for many things like writing text messages or to change settings, you can use a web browser which communicates with the personal web server on the mobile phone.
• Today I use Yahoo! Go for synchronizing my calendar and address book with the web. This way, I can edit my contacts and my calendar via a web browser while at home or at work and synchronize back and forth between the desktop and the mobile phone. With a personal web server in the phone, no synchronization is necessary anymore. Everything is always in the phone. Of course there should be a function in the phone that automatically sends a backup of all data to a server while I am at home.
• If you are away from home and in the office, you can still use the web browser instead of the mobile phone as the web server can also be accessed via the cellular network.

These are just a few example of what the combination of web server, programming language and Wifi will enable people to do with a mobile phone in the future. Not to speak of all the other things Wifi on it's own will bring like Voice over IP in the Wifi network at home and in the office, storage of all your music and videos on the phone and distribution to devices like the TV and stereo set at home, personal file server.

Almost everything is in place, now a couple of people just have to take the next step.

 

Comments

[Tommi Vilkamo]

Hi Martin, and thanks for your blog! Just subscribed to the RSS feed.

[Thomas Landspurg]

I had several discussion other years on this topic, and I still have difficulties to find some real interest on this.
Even on the desktop, the need of an embeeded server is limited.
The example of adress book is a good counter example. The Yahoo!Go approach is much smarter: put everything on a server, and just synchronize, and then access with any devices, including a mobile.
In fact, just like a usual PC, the fact that a mobile can not be reached 100% of the time, and even if he can be reached this cost some data to the user prevent the use of server push (vs client pull)...

[martin]

Hey Thomas, I like the Yahoo! Go approach but many people are uneasy putting their private data on a server on the Internet. I like the idea of the mobile phone as a central place for the data. Throw in a web server, Ajax and Java to be able to access the data easily on the phone via Wireless LAN or the celuar network PLUS a function in the phone to backup all data to the server at home whenever you are at home and the phone detects your "home-WLAN" network.

[Servus Moblius]

Check it out.

Zeosoft Technology Group Turns Sony Ericsson Cell Phones into Application Servers

http://www.zeosoft.com/about/pr081204sony.html

[steven davies]

Providing a Web hosting on a mobile phone with a global URL.It is really amazing and very helpful.