Creating a mini-site in ASP.NET that works on Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and iPhone

Question

I\'m working on an ASP.NET website which targets desktop browsers. We want to enable an optional mobile view (e.g. http://m.sample.com) which will offer a few simple pages w

Answer 1

You have only identified 3 handset 'platforms' as your target. One thing to consider is that there are a LOT more non-Blackberry / Windows Mobile / iPhone handsets out there and perhaps they will be the majority of your audience. (?)

From how you describe your application (JUST text), you should be able to hit pretty much any Internet-enabled cell phone out there, which is pretty much every phone sold in the last eight years.

Rolling your own will likely give you more control over how the content is displayed and navigated, which your users will appreciate, but you will lose much of the automatic formatting and advanced interaction capability that something like ASP.NET Mobile may give you. It is a trade-off that you might want to consider in light of where you anticipate your user community will go with this in the next 2 years.

Is it possible that they may ask for more of the desktop capability on the mobile side? If it is a likely 'yes' (even more so when I think of the 3 platforms you are targeting) then I'd recommend some automated formatting / enablement tool like ASP.NET mobile. If not, just roll your own and leave it simple and easy for your visitors to use.