first off, 51degrees does its magic by means of the WURFL data that it distributes. 51degrees is a (very) nice shell on top of WURFL.
There's however a key consideration to make that spring from recent changes at WURFL. As you can read here:
http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/ WURFL data is no longer freely available but requires you get a license. The license is AGPL which is a strict version of GPL meaning essentially that you are entitled to use data only
if you make your app (including Web apps) open-source. This cuts off any free-of-chage commercial use of the data for which you NOW need a license. The good news is that with the license you get the official API. For more information, see
http://www.scientiamobile.com the new WURFL company.
Having said that, 51degrees is no longer a legitimate API because there's no standing agreement between them and ScientiaMobile. I've got this information directly from the ScientiaMobile guys.
So regardless of the programming API preferences you may have, WURFL through the official API, is currently the _only_ legitimate way to go. The .NET API integrates well with ASP.NET Web Forms and MVC and they provide examples for both scenarios. They reported
they're focusing on making the detection engine better and better and the API will be progressively enhanced to reflect changes in the underlying data format. For this reason, only with the upcming releases you'll get a better integration with the ASP.NET
platform leveraging specific features of the platform. Today it is just like a bunch of classes you learn and use. Overall easy and nothing specially new to learn.
As a personal note, I find that WURFL has a tremendous potential (it's the engine behind Facebook mobile btw) and requires work to be maintained. This means that a company behind is necessary and should be paid. In light of this, while I recognize that 51degrees
has a very good programming API, they're actually building a business on top of the work done by others. This doesnt want to be a bad statement for 51degrees as the licensing changes are less than a month ago and, who knows, there might be an agreement between
Scientia and 51degrees underway. Today, the WURFL API is the way to go.
I just received this note from ScientiaMobile with some further clarifications:
"Dear friend, I noticed your comment concerning the WURFL .NET API on the forum.asp.net website.
I want to thank you for your support of the WURFL .NET API. Having said this, there are a couple of points that require clarification. It is correct that the .NET API is released as AGPL (in a nutshell, we went dual licensing: open all your application
code or pay for a commercial license). On the other hand, versions of the repository (starting with version 2.2) are released with a custom license that prevents others from taking advantage of our work without either paying for it or fully complying to AGPL.
In other words, "if you liked it then you should have put a check on it" (similarity with actual songs by Beyonce is purely coincidental :)
Possibly more importantly than the previous point, you mentioned that "51Degrees is not a legitimate API" and "this information comes from the ScientiaMobile guys". We did not say that. I believe that 51Degrees is holding back on repository upgrades to v2.2
of the repository to avoid injecting our Intellectual Property into their system. If this is the situation, I would not go as far as saying that 51Degrees API is necessarily illegitimate. I can confirm that there are no agreements between 51Degrees and ScientiaMobile
at the moment.
Would it be possible for you to post this message of mine as a follow-up to your message on the asp.net forum? Thank you."
I just received this note from ScientiaMobile with some further clarifications:
"Dear friend, I noticed your comment concerning the WURFL .NET API on the forum.asp.net website.
I want to thank you for your support of the WURFL .NET API. Having said this, there are a couple of points that require clarification. It is correct that the .NET API is released as AGPL (in a nutshell, we went dual licensing: open all your application
code or pay for a commercial license). On the other hand, versions of the repository (starting with version 2.2) are released with a custom license that prevents others from taking advantage of our work without either paying for it or fully complying to AGPL.
In other words, "if you liked it then you should have put a check on it" (similarity with actual songs by Beyonce is purely coincidental :)
Possibly more importantly than the previous point, you mentioned that "51Degrees is not a legitimate API" and "this information comes from the ScientiaMobile guys". We did not say that. I believe that 51Degrees is holding back on repository upgrades to v2.2
of the repository to avoid injecting our Intellectual Property into their system. If this is the situation, I would not go as far as saying that 51Degrees API is necessarily illegitimate. I can confirm that there are no agreements between 51Degrees and ScientiaMobile
at the moment.
Would it be possible for you to post this message of mine as a follow-up to your message on the asp.net forum? Thank you."
"And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful." (The Holy Quran)
Excellent Windows VPS Hosting Imran Baloch MVP, MVB, MCP, MCTS, MCPD
Nutan Jayavant
Member
54 Points
65 Posts
51Degrees.mobi Foundation Vs WURFL .NET API- which one is better?
Sep 19, 2011 10:08 AM|LINK
Hi,
I need suggestions on 51Degrees.mobi Foundation Vs WURFL .NET API. Which one is better for device detection and redirection?
Please share any article/whitepaper/link/sample etc.
wurfl asp.net mvc3
Young Yang -...
Star
8266 Points
1152 Posts
Microsoft
Re: 51Degrees.mobi Foundation Vs WURFL .NET API- which one is better?
Sep 26, 2011 01:37 AM|LINK
Hi Nutan,
All of these is good, but I'd like 51. You can read this blog. Especially attention to its comments.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jongallant/archive/2009/04/03/mobile-browser-detection-in-asp-net.aspx
Hope this helpful
Regards
Young Yang
wurfl asp.net mvc3
If you have any feedback about my replies, please contact msdnmg@microsoft.com
Microsoft One Code Framework
despos
Member
141 Points
3 Posts
Re: 51Degrees.mobi Foundation Vs WURFL .NET API- which one is better?
Sep 28, 2011 10:21 AM|LINK
Hi there!
first off, 51degrees does its magic by means of the WURFL data that it distributes. 51degrees is a (very) nice shell on top of WURFL.
There's however a key consideration to make that spring from recent changes at WURFL. As you can read here: http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/ WURFL data is no longer freely available but requires you get a license. The license is AGPL which is a strict version of GPL meaning essentially that you are entitled to use data only if you make your app (including Web apps) open-source. This cuts off any free-of-chage commercial use of the data for which you NOW need a license. The good news is that with the license you get the official API. For more information, see http://www.scientiamobile.com the new WURFL company.
Having said that, 51degrees is no longer a legitimate API because there's no standing agreement between them and ScientiaMobile. I've got this information directly from the ScientiaMobile guys.
So regardless of the programming API preferences you may have, WURFL through the official API, is currently the _only_ legitimate way to go. The .NET API integrates well with ASP.NET Web Forms and MVC and they provide examples for both scenarios. They reported they're focusing on making the detection engine better and better and the API will be progressively enhanced to reflect changes in the underlying data format. For this reason, only with the upcming releases you'll get a better integration with the ASP.NET platform leveraging specific features of the platform. Today it is just like a bunch of classes you learn and use. Overall easy and nothing specially new to learn.
As a personal note, I find that WURFL has a tremendous potential (it's the engine behind Facebook mobile btw) and requires work to be maintained. This means that a company behind is necessary and should be paid. In light of this, while I recognize that 51degrees has a very good programming API, they're actually building a business on top of the work done by others. This doesnt want to be a bad statement for 51degrees as the licensing changes are less than a month ago and, who knows, there might be an agreement between Scientia and 51degrees underway. Today, the WURFL API is the way to go.
despos
Member
141 Points
3 Posts
Re: 51Degrees.mobi Foundation Vs WURFL .NET API- which one is better?
Sep 29, 2011 07:03 AM|LINK
I just received this note from ScientiaMobile with some further clarifications:
"Dear friend, I noticed your comment concerning the WURFL .NET API on the forum.asp.net website.
I want to thank you for your support of the WURFL .NET API. Having said this, there are a couple of points that require clarification. It is correct that the .NET API is released as AGPL (in a nutshell, we went dual licensing: open all your application code or pay for a commercial license). On the other hand, versions of the repository (starting with version 2.2) are released with a custom license that prevents others from taking advantage of our work without either paying for it or fully complying to AGPL. In other words, "if you liked it then you should have put a check on it" (similarity with actual songs by Beyonce is purely coincidental :)
Possibly more importantly than the previous point, you mentioned that "51Degrees is not a legitimate API" and "this information comes from the ScientiaMobile guys". We did not say that. I believe that 51Degrees is holding back on repository upgrades to v2.2 of the repository to avoid injecting our Intellectual Property into their system. If this is the situation, I would not go as far as saying that 51Degrees API is necessarily illegitimate. I can confirm that there are no agreements between 51Degrees and ScientiaMobile at the moment.
Would it be possible for you to post this message of mine as a follow-up to your message on the asp.net forum? Thank you."
imran_ku07
All-Star
42758 Points
7188 Posts
MVP
Re: 51Degrees.mobi Foundation Vs WURFL .NET API- which one is better?
Sep 29, 2011 09:26 AM|LINK
Nice
Edit: Also see this.
Excellent Windows VPS Hosting
Imran Baloch MVP, MVB, MCP, MCTS, MCPD
mgb1
Member
6 Points
3 Posts
Re: 51Degrees.mobi Foundation Vs WURFL .NET API- which one is better?
Dec 05, 2011 08:57 AM|LINK
As of today, 51Degrees.mobi uses its own mobile device database with its own licensing terms.
wurfl asp.net mvc3