The target audience of this book is  anyone with a basic understanding of html and general programming concepts who is interested in developing a mobile web site. Writing in a lively and readable style, the author begins with a brief introduction to the mobile web, what it is and why it’s poised for explosive growth. There is a discussion of the variety of mobile devices  and browsers, the differences between them and of how the mobile web is used differently … Continue reading →

Avvenu, which was recently acquired by Nokia, is similar to SoonR (review) in that both provide remote web access to files on a desktop PC from a phone or another PC.  I’m a satisfied SoonR user, is Avvenu good enough to switch? To use Avvenu, you start off by installing the Avvenu client program, which runs all the time in the background, on the PC (Windows XP and Vista only). Then, when you log into Avvenu’s mobile (https://mobile.avvenu.com) or PC … Continue reading →

Barcle is a recent entrant, launched in November 2007, in the crowded field of mobile web price comparison and shopping. They have 900 merchant partners including Best Buy, TigerDirect and B. Dalton. This week Walmart, the biggest US retailer, partnered with Barcle. The “Bar” in the name refers to barcodes. You can search by entering the 8, 12 or 13 digit number that appears under the UPC barcode on most consumer products. This is a great idea for mobile as … Continue reading →

Google has upgraded the YouTube mobile web site (m.youtube.com) to include the entire catalog of millions of YouTube videos. There is also a new YouTube Java application (image) which duplicates the features on the mobile web site but with a slicker user interface. If you have one of the officially supported phones (Nokia 6110, 6120, E65, N73, N95 and Sony Ericsson k800 and w880) there is a link to download the application at the top of the mobile web page. … Continue reading →

Talkster (free.talkster.com) is a VOIP based service that lets you make “free” ad supported phone calls between 22 countries (North America, most of Europe, plus Hong Kong and Israel) using any phone – mobile or landline. The ads are about 10 seconds long and are heard by both parties. Talkster doesn’t charge anything for the service but the calls aren’t really completely free. You’re making a mobile or landline call to a local Talkster access point. If you are using … Continue reading →

This week’s Carnival host is Judy Breck at the newly redesigned GoldenSwamp. There are some interesting posts this week. I particularly liked Martin Sauter’s piece, “Why The Mobile Web Had Such A Terrible Start” and Post of the Week winner Corinne Ramey’s accounting of the power of simple technology for social good in “SMS Support Network: Connecting People with HIV/AIDS in Mexico“. Visit the Carnival for the best collection of recent writing on mobile topics. Link: Carnival of the Mobilists … Continue reading →