Monday, May 25, 2009
First, it was ring tones. Next came camera phones. Then, video arrived -- clips, streaming and mobile TV broadcasts. Each escalation of feature creep was supposed to define the next generation of mobile handsets and differentiate one cellphone from another.
Now, according to some experts, the next big thing on your handset screen is printed text. But not just any text. A multitude of typeface fonts are said by some to be the new battleground for mobile handset applications.
At least one company, Monotype Imaging (Woburn, Mass.) is banking on the premise. On Tuesday (May 19), Monotype rolled out a mobile font download application called "FlipFont" that allows consumers to license typefaces from the company's mobile e-commerce Web site.
The company claims it technology lets users switch out fonts on their phone's user interface, menus and a variety of applications. This is accomplished by installing a FlipFont typeface and overriding the phone's factory-installed, default fonts.
Flipping fonts on mobile phones is easier said than done, however. "It's because mobile handsets are incredibly fragmented," said Satoshi Asari, director of product marketing at Monotype Imaging. "All mobile platforms deal with fonts in different ways."
Compounding the problem further is the fact that current mobile services like Apple's App Store are expected to deal with hundreds of different applications. Ensuring that flipping fonts doesn't foul up a phone's whole font structure for various applications is a huge issue.
By: DocMemory
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