Tablet computers will eventually replace laptops, according to nearly half of Americans polled earlier this month.

But don’t panic yet …

Of course, “eventually” is a very long time, and the recent rollout of Amazon’s Kindle Fire and anticipation over the Apple iPad 3 might have survey takers overreaching a bit.

While the Poll Position phone survey of 1,155 registered voters found great enthusiasm for tablet computers, with 46% saying tablets would surpass laptops eventually, 35% said tablets will not replace laptops and 19% had no opinion.

Among younger Americans (18-29 age group), 49% said tablets will not replace the PC and 37% said they will. A higher percentage of men (53%) than women (39%) foresee tablets overtaking laptops.

The tablet market was hot last year and is expected to remain so this year. IDC recently said it expected 2011 worldwide tablet shipments to total more than 63 million units, with Apple selling about 6 in 10 of those. Recent Canalys figures show a total PC market of 356 million units in 2011, minus tablets.

While those numbers don’t point overwhelmingly in one direction or the other, it is food for thought. Plus, the prevalence of tablets (and mobile devices in general) has crept into quite a few 2012 predictions in the past few months, including this excerpt from Boston.com’s Global Business Hub:

Mobile and Tablet: Leapfrogging

In 2010, for the first time in the history of computing, tablet sales have surpassed desktop sales. Yet many companies continue to channel most of their investment into their web presence, continuing to think of their mobile and tablet use as an adjunct nicety. Expect that to change in 2012. The savviest of marketers will also know how to appeal to the untethered consumer. They will harness geo-localization technologies (Foursquare-style check-ins and soon even walk-bys) for customized offers, better use QR codes to gather data and link to in-store experiences. And outside of the US, mobile is increasingly playing a larger role as is mobile use is often stronger, with wireless technology often superior to older line-bound networks.

If you’re considering creating a mobile app or a mobile website (and you probably should at least consider it), don’t forget that mobile versions shouldn’t just be carbon copies of your desktop-based site/software. People are constantly on-the-go and increasingly expect their apps to know where they are and adjust accordingly. If your site/software is something that can be adapted to fit constantly changing environments and you want to jump into the local-mobile offers game, make sure you do it correctly with in-the-wild localization testing. Here’s why (again from Boston.com):

Internationalization and Localization: Relevance Rules

While in theory the internet has no borders, few companies know how to effectively garner and cultivate an international audience effectively. Expect that to change in 2012. Data shows that brands with localized web and social media presence enjoy far greater engagement and brand buzz. But the distinction between internationalization and localization is an important one. Successful localization efforts go far beyond language translation alone. They create and encourage content that is relevant to the local audience. Expect companies to pay more attention to the other 88% of internet users that don’t live in the US.

That fear is compounded these days now that review sites and social media make it effortless for dissatisfied customers to voice their grievances not only to their friends, co-workers and next store neighbors, but to all the friends, co-workers, next store neighbors they’ve ever known. Plus a slue of strangers they don’t actually know.

Now, in addition to written complaints and bad reviews, the general public can share images of software bugs. Check out this story on TechCrunch about a guy who posted images of Facebook bugs on Pinterest (think of his board as flypaper for Facebook bugs):

Former Facebook engineer (and current Phabricator creator) Evan Priestley has taken the opposite route; In the spirit of coding excellence, Priestly has created a Pinterest log of over 30 Facebook bugs he’s tracked since September 2011. It’s really impressive.

The article goes on to say that bugs on Facebook aren’t that crucial because, let’s be honest, people aren’t going to stop using Facebook because Chat occasionally doesn’t load or you can’t update your status for a little while for some reason. But what if you’re a startup trying to get your product/app/site/game off the ground? Or a large company that’s been hyping a new product for months? A page full of image-documented bugs might just break you. Or in the case of a larger company, you’ll have some very visible, very public egg on your face.

Pinterest has been touted as the “next big thing” in social media and is growing rapidly. But before you say, “Well, it’s just Pinterest. You can’t even sign up without an invitation or going on a waiting list” don’t count the new to social site out. The top 10 Google News search results for “Pinterest” include a story about a website adding a Pinterest button its share options, seven articles detailing how popular and additive Pinterest is and two links to tips that will help brands leverage Pinterest’s popularity. Besides, you don’t have to be logged in to view boards (where images are categorized).

And if you need a refresher course in just how harmful a bad experience spread through social media can be, take a look back at the United Broke My Guitar debacle.

The moral of this post is don’t ignore testing. Don’t rely on just one type of testing. And make sure you test with every new release! Because you never know when “one small bug” is going to end up populating an entire board on the hot new social site.

If that wasn’t enough, now you have to make sure that website works on the miniature screens of mobile devices (which themselves offer a whole gamut of sizes). And I’m not taking “should work” or something to consider if you want to be hip and trendy … because it’s not a trend, trends go away. Instead, time spent browsing the web on mobile devices is steadily increasing. Here’s the most recent statistic from Net Applications (which has been monitoring web usage across their 40,000 websites since 2004), as reported by CNet:

If you haven’t whipped your Web site into shape for easy viewing on small-screen devices, you’d better get cracking.

That’s because the use of mobile devices reached an all-time high in December, accounting for 7.7 percent of browser usage according to Net Applications’ measurements of daily visits to its network of 40,000 Web sites. That may still be a small fraction of total Web traffic, but it’s a large and growing population in absolute numbers.

Tablet browsing in many ways is similar to desktop browsing; screen resolution on the dominant iPad and iPad 2 aren’t that far off a laptop. But touch interfaces are different from mouse interfaces, especially when it comes to tapping buttons with precision. And smaller tablets are awkwardly in between the iPad and mobile-phone screens.

Eight percent may not seem like a large amount, but if you look at the chart there’s been some pretty steady and noticeable growth since November 2010. Another CNet article breaks down the popularity of individual mobile browsers and devices. And even in that realm there’s been some shifting and changing – which makes it hard to optimize your website “just for the most popular mobile browsers.”

Despite a drop in December, Apple’s iOS remained the top platform for mobile browsing, according to the latest stats from NetApplications.

Throughout December, iOS carved out a 52 percent share of the mobile market, down from 54 percent in November and 61 percent in October, but still in the lead. Google’s Android ended December with a 16 percent share, a dip from the prior two months.

Drilling down further, the iPhone accounted for 25 percent of all mobile browsing and the iPad 24 percent, leaving the iPod Touch with 2 percent. Android 2.3 was the most popular version of Google’s OS in terms of mobile browsing, followed by 2.2 and 2.1. Devices running Honeycomb 3.2 and 3.1 picked up a 1 percent share. …

Looking at specific devices, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab grabbed almost half a percentage point. And though it’s been hot among consumers, Amazon’s Kindle Fire accounted for just one-tenth of a percentage point in the mobile browsing world last month, according to NetApplications.

But wait, there’s more!

Let’s not ignore feature phones, which still dominate the international market. Java ME is the second most popular mobile browser, having lost the title to Android in October 2011 then regained it. Check out what CNN.com has to say:

Oracle’s (ORCL) Java ME is now the world’s fastest growing mobile OS, having retaining the No. 2 spot it lost briefly to Android in October.

Java ME?

Yes, Java Micro Edition, the Java platform designed by Sun Microsystems and acquired by Oracle in 2010. It’s used primarily in embedded systems, such as the low-cost feature phones (A.K.A. “dumb” phones) sold by the hundreds of millions to people all over the world who can’t afford or don’t want a smartphone.

I know this can be a bit overwhelming. Even if you’re one of the largest companies in the world, who has time to test all these browsers on all the web-capable mobile devices in the market these days? Don’t worry – we do!

Startup Secret No. 3: Support is Product

“Make sure the support fits the product.”
–Josh Weinberg, The Digital Life Consulting Group

So, today’s puzzlers are: Who are your users? Where are they? How do they use your product? And how can you make the experience of using your support as close as possible to using the product itself?

Startup Secret No. 6: Live the Shirt

“Believe in your f***ing self” –Dave McClure‘s T-Shirt

I love Dave’s shirt, because this is what entrepreneurship is really about. Pushing, pushing, pushing. Pushing your idea, pushing yourself, and pushing through the dismissive and small-minded negativity from people who don’t share your passion.

Startup Secret No. 7: Your friend, the naysayer

“F*** the accolades. Seek the criticism.” –Brendan Baker on Quora

It is emotionally hard to seek critics, and harder still to listen. Step one is to believe in yourself even more than you believe in your idea. Only after you have achieved that state of being can you extract value from criticism without being affected by the bitter emotional pill it may be inside.

It should also help the pill go down easier when you remember this (also from Brendan’s post): honest criticism is a show of respect.

Startup Secret No. 9: Seduce the app store

“Play to the platform.” –Jeff Janer, CEO of Springpad

If you’re making a mobile app, getting featured in app stores is the key to early success. Get on the front page of the iPhone or Android store, and the downloads will roll in. So how do you get there? …

Apps that highlight unique new features in a platform are the ones most likely to get promoted by the people running the app stores.

Apps that work on everything are great in theory, but you’re not going to get much free marketing for them.

Startup Secret No. 10: Your app needs a personality makeover

“AI is the new UI.” –Dave Morin, CEO of Path

 Morin dropped this line on me when I asked him about Apple’s Siri, which is a major breakthrough. Not because it’s the first voice-recognition app (it isn’t) or the first smart agent app (ditto). Rather, it’s good enough at what it does and it’s being pushed so hard by Apple that consumers are now coming to expect apps to be smart, and smart-aleck, too.

Apple may even have over-promised on Siri, but the genie is out of the bottle. Consumers are beginning to expect new apps to be Siri-like (the Siri they see on ads, that is) wherever it makes sense. …

User will soon expect that modern apps make smart decisions about what you want based on not just what you ask for, but who you are, who you know, where you are, how fast you’re going, and so forth.

 Startup Secret No. 11: Rescue your darlings

“What would you save?” –Philippe Honigman, CEO of Social Folders

“I went through a thought experiment, picturing the crash of the project in my mind, and asking myself what I would instinctively rush to save from wreckage. When you’ve built something of value, the answer to that question comes to your mind as a blinding truth, and that’s the first step to regenerate your venture.”

Startup Secret No. 12: 1 percent of a gajillion dollars

“Excel is dangerous.” –Eric Johnson, GM of CBS Interactive News and CNET

“Every assumption you make is wrong.” He adds: “Even for companies that have worked well, it always takes longer, costs more, and is harder than you expect.”

Hopefully those quotes gave you a few good thoughts about your own product or business. Be sure to go back and read all the secrets so far on CNet and follow @Startup_Secrets on Twitter to keep up with the daily tips.

Keep up the good work Rafe!

And neither is IE6. In the past, we’ve called IE6 the zombie browser that can’t be killed and it’s certainly lived up to that moniker. However, regarding that last piece of news (Microsoft’s upcoming automatic updates) it looks like IE6 may finally get phased out. For real this time. Or maybe not.

Here’s Webmonkey.com with the details:

The new auto-update feature will only apply to users who’ve opted into the automatic updates through Windows Update. Those that have opted in will be upgraded to the latest version of IE available for their system. If you’re still on Windows XP that means you’ll be updated to IE 8. Vista and Windows 7 users will move to IE 9. The Windows Blog notes that when upgrading, your home page, search provider, and default browser settings will not be affected.

Web developers still supporting IE 6 may not need to do so much longer if Microsoft’s auto-update strategy pays off. Since the new auto-update mechanism will apply to IE 7 as well, it too may not need to be supported much longer. Of course, even in the best case scenario where IE 6 and 7 users drop below 5 percent worldwide, web developers would still need to contend with IE 8. While IE 8 was a huge step up from its predecessors, it still lacks support for most of the HTML5 and CSS 3 features found in modern web browsers.

Somehow, IE6 usage currently stands at 8.4% worldwide. That includes a whopping 27.9% in China. As such, we’re going to hold off on pronouncing IE6 dead for the time being. However, the browser’s days are clearly numbered. Right?

eWeek is ceasing publication of its print magazine and will offer only a digital edition. And it’s not alone. Let’s explore this trend of print publications moving to online or digital only editions and who it’s effecting most.

With the explosion of digital readers and tablets we’ve seen many major publications start producing digital versions of their traditional paper offerings. But in the late aughts (2007-2009-ish) we started seeing something new … publications completely abandoning their print versions in favor of a digital-only option. That trend slowed down in 2010 but has come back stronger than ever this year. Here’s a look at the digital-only timeline:

2007

• Info World went web-only in April 2007.

2009

• PC Magazine replaced its print publication with its website and a digital edition.

• In March the Seattle Post-Intelligencer shut down the presses but maintained its website.

• The Christian Science Monitor stopped printing its daily edition in April and started focusing on its website and a new weekend magazine.

2011

• December 2010 was the last paper issue for the U.S. News & World Report. They also announced plans to develop content for iPads and Android tablets.

• Accountancy Age dropped its print pub in favor of bolstering its website.

• In June Design Week and New Media Age (from the same publisher) both went digital only.

• Linux Journal announced its last print issue in August but is promoting its online and digital options.

2012

• July/August 2011 saw the last paper issue of MotorBoating Magazine. The publication will relaunch digitally in 2012 and plans to offer digital versions to iPads and other platforms.

• Pregnancy Magazine will close its print house this winter and go digital only in 2012.

• eWeek announced in late 2011 that it will no longer be producing a print edition, but subscribers can get the digital edition. In fact, all Ziff Davis publications (including Baseline and CIO Insight) will be transitioned to digital only in 2012.

Here’s what Thought by Design had to say about on of its favorite publication (Design Week) going exclusively digital:

In a world where the popularity of tablets such as the iPad and the Blackberry Playbook is constantly on the rise, how long will it be before other favourite publications go digital only? As we progress evermore into ‘The Digital Age’, will it become the norm to download and view our favourite publications, rather than to go to the local shop, buy them and spend time enjoying and consuming published pieces?

So far, most of these moves have been from smaller, industry or hobby specific publications. Though the Christian Science Monitor is a big name, we’re not seeing the likes of The Boston Globe or the New York Times cancelling their print runs (yet).

Publications going completely digital seems to be less about the way people are consuming news these days and more driven by a publisher’s bottom line. Ideally, it’d be nice to offer both digital and print editions (like many of the major newspapers and magazines do these days) but if a smaller publication is struggling to stay afloat, going digital-only might be the lifeboat they need. Design Week went digital because its online presence was already grossing more ad dollars than its paper version. MotorBoating Magazine would have gone completely out of business because it couldn’t sustain long-term printing – but a digital format gave them a way out of the predicament.

Hopefully these publications understand that going digital only doesn’t mean production will be easier. It might cost them a bit of money up-front but if they plan on launching successful e-versions or upgraded websites, they’ll need to invest in some testing to ensure their products function correctly. Chances are readers are already disappointed about losing their favorite rag, they’re going to have little patience for e-editions and online only publications that are buggy or sticky and neither will advertisers or new readers for that matter.

Unfortunately, my four-year-old has already implored me to take down the skeleton and spiders hanging in the doorway because they’re going to scare away Santa.  So, rather than arguing the salient fact that Santa shimmies down the chimney versus ringing the doorbell, I’ve officially started morphing decor from the marvelous macabre to merry old Saint Nick.  Kids: 1. Mom: 0.

Nonetheless, the fact hasn’t escaped me that we’re two weeks away from Cyber Monday (November 28th), an occasion that online retailers have been planning for months.  Since summer, global brands and independent e-tailers have been testing and re-testing their mobile apps and web sites for functionality, usability, localization glitches and possible bottlenecks in site performance that could jeopardize their revenue potential.

Moreover, the ante has been upped now that the iPad and other tablets have entered the scene.  Online retailers that spent the last few years optimizing their mobile apps and porting them to additional platforms like Android, are now going through the process from scratch with tablets.  Not only are the specs non- standardized, varying significantly by manufacturer, device and network performance like smartphones.

But user behavior on iPads and tablets is very different than on smartphones.  Tablets require a completely different design strategy based on the high-resolution screen, the added real-estate that allows for more merchandising (but tempts marketers into overly cluttered UX’s and drop-down menus), and even the finger-swipe ability and need for larger buttons.  In the end, it equates to more need than ever for sophisticated testing, tweaking (in design and functionality), and testing again.

As Jason Ankeny wrote in FierceMobileContent this week, “The holidays are coming, and this year, there are essentially two types of people: Those adding tablet devices to the top of their wish list, and those who already own tablets–and plan to use them to complete their seasonal shopping tasks.”

So how many mobile—tablet and smartphone–consumers are we talking about?  Well, according to Prosper Mobile Insights’ Mobile Survey published last month, here’s a data slice suggesting what tech executives, brand managers, and QA teams should expect for the 2011 holiday season:

Somewhat/Very Likely to Purchase Products on Mobile Device (Mobile Holiday Shoppers)

• Thanksgiving Day: 30.1%
• Black Friday: 66.9%
• Saturday after Thanksgiving: 58.6%
• Sunday after Thanksgiving: 48.6%
• Cyber Monday: 63.5%

Mobile isn’t a “nice to have” to bring home independent and global brands’ year-end sales.  It’s a gamechanger.

Today, Alex Schmelkin wrote in “Best Practices for Tablet Commerce” on Business2Community’s site: “Ultimately, with the explosive forecast being what it is for tablets, retailers will need to continue improving their t-commerce UX optimization. Online merchants must recognize the looming changes in consumer habits and prepare for a tablet based future or proceed with negligible modifications at their peril.”

So the question for every online retailer is, Are you ready?

Want to see more interviews from STPCon? Check out the full list here.

Fortunately, almost every modern component involved in building a web application supports UTF-8. Unfortunately, getting each individual component to use UTF-8 requires a lot of configuration kicking and screaming. Fortunately, this recent article by Jonathan Rentzsch describes all the steps to getting a typical LAMP stack working with UTF-8, end-to-end.

Jonathan recommends starting with two important tools: a hex editor (so you can see the raw data exactly as it’s stored) and a Unicode test string that can test to see if an article is being stored and shown with correct UTF-8 encodings. For the test string, he proposes (and this is where we see if our config is correct): “Iñtërnâtiônàlizætiøn” – including the curly quotes.

The rest of his post is fascinating, and includes configuration tips for MySQL, Java, etc. Read the rest here.

Figuring out which path to take is certainly a popular debate and with companies like Facebook rumored to be developing “Spartan”, an HTML5-based web app the debate certainly won’t fade anytime soon.

uTest has detailed white papers covers testing of both topics;  testing mobile and web apps.

Due to size constraints, the infographic has been posted below the fold…