Front-end Web developers can now leverage server-side mobile intelligence without relying on server-side programming
Today, ScientiaMobile, the company behind the popular WURFL Device Description Repository has announced WURFL.js, a globally available device detection application that allows websites to improve the user experience for mobile devices. Developers will just need to add a reference to the http://wurfljs.com/wurfl.js script in their pages, and a Javascript object representing a device make, model and form factor will be made available to them.
<script type='text/javascript' src="http://wurfljs.com/wurfl.js"></script>
The format of the returned object is as follows:
var WURFL = {
"complete_device_name":"Nokia Lumia 920",
"is_mobile":true,
"form_factor":"Smartphone"
};
The information contained in this object can be used to perform several different kinds of optimizations for tablet, smartphone and regular desktop users, operations that were previously only possible through server-side optimization.
WURFL.js is offered free of charge to anyone who runs publicly available websites and does not require a fee to access their services or content. No registration is required to webmasters who intend to use the service to enhance their websites.
“WURFL products have been increasingly directed at an enterprise audience since ScientiaMobile started in 2011. Yet we never forgot the community of developers out there who rely on simple and effective solutions to solve their everyday problems. I am proud that ScientiaMobile is today releasing a tool that, as a regular web developer, I would simply have loved. Just paste the script,” said Luca Passani, CTO at ScientiaMobile.
“I have been involved with mobile Web development tools and techniques for many years. WURFL.js leverages that experience. The beauty of WURFL.js lies in the amount of expressive power of the solution,together with how simple it is to deploy and utilize for web developers coming from different backgrounds and skills,” said Jon Arne Saeteraas, VP of Innovation at ScientiaMobile and one of the solution’s architects.
“There are a lot of scripts out there that attempt to parse the user agent string to determine what kind of device is being used. With the power of WURFL’s device database behind it, WURFL.js immediately stands out as the best option of them all,” said Tim Kadlec, an industry-expert and an authority in the field of Responsive Web Design and Web performance.
“I played around with an early beta version of the service and it works. WURFL.js can even recognise my iPhone 4S specifically. I use the tool to decide which visitors to my Responsive Web Design website should see some cool, but heavy to download, background pictures, and which visitors should access a lighter version that still loads fast on a mobile phones. I love it,” said Filip Sufitchi, a US-based web developer.
WURFL.js documentation and demo are available at http://www.wurfljs.com. About ScientiaMobile provides the industry’s most accurate and flexible device detection solution, helping customers deliver great web experiences and manage the increasingly fragmented mobile device ecosystem. ScientiaMobile sells WURFL, a constantly-updated repository that catalogues thousands of devices and their capabilities and provides access to them via range of API languages. The WURFL framework enables many organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, to effectively design and analyze web experiences for an evergrowing range of smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and game consoles.
