- Mobile Device Database
- Device Data
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
General
- How is the device data provided/delivered?
- What mobile devices does the Mobile Device Database include?
- Does the database include data for PDAs and Blackberrys?
- How often are new devices added to the database?
- What markets are supported in the database?
- Why are devices targeted by carrier in the U.S. but by manufacturer in Europe?
Subscriptions - What is the term and pricing for a subscription to the service?
UAProf/CCPP/WURFL/W3C - Why shouldn't I just use UAProf files?
- How is the Mobile Device Database different from WURFL?
- How is the device data provided/delivered?
- What mobile devices does the Mobile Device Database include?
- Does the database include data for PDAs and Blackberrys?
- How often are new devices added to the database?
- What markets are supported in the database?
- Why are devices targeted by carrier in the U.S. but by
manufacturer in Europe? - What is the term and pricing for a subscription to the service?
- Why shouldn't I just use UAProf files?
- How is the Mobile Device Database different from WURFL?
Data for Mobile Devices is provided as per-device XML files. Updated and new XML files are available from our Customer Extranet as updates are created.
The Mobile Device database includes all devices for major carriers or manufacturers in a market. For North American markets devices are covered by network operator/carrier and for other markets devices are targeted by manufacturer. Please see the markets page for a listing of carriers and manufacturers that are covered.
The Mobile Device Database does not currently include data for PDAs or Blackberrys.
New devices are added to the database weekly. We acquire and test new devices as they are released to the market. Time between market availability and when we publish data may vary from a few days to a few weeks depending on the device.
Please see the markets page for a listing of currently available markets.
In North American markets, devices are usually customized and marketed for each individual network operator or carrier. The result being that the same model of phone on two carriers can be have very different attributes. In other markets where there is greater network operator diversity, mobile phones are generally marketed by manufacturer, with similar models being sold by multiple network operators, with less device customization and greatedr consistancy of attributes.
The Mobile Device Database is sold on a one-year term subscription basis. Pricing differs dependant upon market and data set. Please contact our sales team for pricing information.
UAProfiles are limited in scope and are notoriously inaccurate and unreliable. UAProfiles describe a web browser's characteristics but are lacking other information about the devices. Also, the URIs for phones' UAProfs that are reported by a phone in the HTTP headers are hard coded into a phone's browser but can become outdated. If you are going to use UAProf for a project that requires a limited scope of data, we recommend cacheing the UAProf files locally.
While focused on meeting the same challenges, The Mobile Device Database is very different from WURFL. The primary differences are testing method and scope. Mobile Research employes full-time professional researchers that spend a great deal of time profiling each device in-house, in our testing lab, using our profiling tools and process. Mobile Research constantly improves our profiling process and toolset to add new device data sets and quality. The scope of the Mobile Device Database's dataset is also much larger than the mostly web-centric WURFL. Also, the scope of device coverage is greater because Mobile Research does not rely on volunteers to contribute, but is a professionally driven product.
WURFL is a great effort put together by an open-source community to try to meet the challenges of the mobile web. Mobile Research's Mobile Device Database is targeted at enterprises that need an enterprise level solution and the service that accompanies it.