Ubi is a mobile front end to the prestigious, especially in Europe, Michelin Guides. The mobile site at ubiubi.mobi covers most U.S. metropolitan areas and lets you search for restaurants by keyword and location. Results, which seem to be limited to places listed in the Michelin guidebooks, include address, click to call phone numbers and maps. There are links to the Michelin reviews but registration is required to view them. Basic registration is free but limits you to viewing just 10 reviews per month, unlimited access is $2.50/month. The concise reviews average 130 words and include price range, rating and Michelin’s elaborate serries of symbols indicting things like comfort level, wine selection, cash only, etc. There are separate listings by city of restaurants that have won one or more of the coveted Michelin stars or offer “amazing” value, late night dining, brunch or garden seating.
Unlike Michelin itself, Ubi allows users to rate and comment of restaurants. There doesn’t seem to be any way to read other people’s comments however which seems kind of pointless.
I have to wonder if the Michelin brand is enough to motivate users to go to the trouble of registering and when they have run through there month quota, paying. Ubi faces some stiff competition from free crowd sourced sites like Yelp, Google Local and Boorah which have larger databases and more extensive reviews. What do you think, can Ubi succeed on the basis of the Michelin name or do they need to find another business model like ad supported or reservations and booking? Source Oh! Mobile Directory
Filed in: Wap Review Directory – Search/Local/City Guides
Ratings: Content 
Usability 
Ready.mobi Score: 4 “Good”
Mobile Link: www.ubiubi.mobi/
Thank you for the review and comments. We definitely appreciate your candid feedback. Please note that our current content partners include the Michelin Guide and Hg2 (from the UK) that publishes the Eat New York and Hedonist Guide series. Additionally, we will be extending our coverage to include other sources of trusted reviews, new cities, and other tech channels. By the way, users can navigate the site and find venue data, maps, and UbiMeter ratings without registering. However, to read up to 10 reviews for free PER month, we do request registration. We will certainly incorporate this feedback in future designs and releases. Again, thank you so much!
I tried it, sort of a waste of time. Especially the whole barrier of having to register prior to searching the site.
Why not let me view three or four reviews and then prompt me with registration requirements. Also, mobile web is slow and lame, give me an iPhone or Blackberry app, if even just to set location in an elegant manner.
Good offering and good site too. Really very good site.