The value returned by the getUserAgent method represents the value of the HTTP request header USER-AGENT. This header is sent to the browser by a mobile device in every HTTP request and contains information on which browser type and browser version is used by the requesting device.

For example, Ericsson’s mobile telephone R380 passes the character string R380 2.0 WAP1.1 to the Web server. This character string is used to uniquely identify the browser of the mobile device and, by using matching in the device recognition process, ensures that only the appropriate properties for a mobile device are made available.