1.5 billion mobile web browsers coming soon

Mobile web browsers are about to get a whole lot better, according to analysts ABI Research, with open-Internet browsers (browsers which sport capabilities like AJAX and RSS) for mobiles growing from 76 million in 2007 to nearly 700 million browsers in 2013.

“The move towards web-based applications means browser and web services engines will become increasingly important for mobile, whether these are in a commercial browser implementation or a customized widget. Ultimately, the long-term trend away from native applications to web-based applications means browser and web services engines will be increasingly important components in the mobile environment,” research director Michael Wolf said.

It looks like despite all the hype and bluster the iPhone really might have kicked off a bit of a shake-up in the mobile world – the device has shown people what mobile web browsers should be like and reminded rival mobile manufacturers that its time to polish up those interfaces.