Accessing the internet from cellphones.
Websites for cell phones decribes the new dot-mobi wave, which is helping small businesses reach customers through handheld devices. What has been your experience with accessing the web from your phone? Do you think dot-mobi will catch on in the US? Would you try this technology in your business?
From Michael Sherriff, Scotland, UK McDonalds in the UK seem to be missing the .mobi point. Recently, while away from home, I needed to find the nearest location of their restaurant so I used my PDA to go online to their website. This was easy enough to do and sure enough, on the site was an option to use the 'Find the nearest Mc D's'.
The problem is that the site relies on the use of Flash and Frames which mobile web browsing devices do not support.
With Mc D's being such a large corporation you would think they would be ahead of the pack in this field but as yet that is not the case.
I designed a site for Sly Filters (Europe) Ltd (http://slyfilters.com) which complies with all of the current .mobi requirements. This can be viewed at slyfilters.mobi
The thing is, if a company that manufactures industrial air filtration systems can utilize the .mobi technology the service its clients needs than surely a global company, such as McDonalds can also accommodate this in to their business model.
From James, Bergenfield New Jersey Browsing the internet using the cell phone is not that effective compared to using conventional internet. The internet connection is not that fast and will charge you for more than you use. Not to mention the screen you are looking at to is so small you can't surf around freely. The cell sites are just making a lot of money from these. Even games they label as free aren't really free!
From Francis. London, UK Sorry, my earlier post gave an incorrect URL, it should have been http://safetoy.mobi, I hope that didn't give anyone the impression that mobi sites don't work!
(Mods if you can just correct the original link I will be entirely happy if this new message doesn't get posted, thanks.)
From Guy .mobi sites are so quick and cheap to download and seem to cut through theplethora of other unsuitable options.
few great sites i have found:
time.mobi
fox.mobi
paypal.mobi
caravans.mobi
emigrate.mobi
lapland.mobi
ferrari.mobi
bofa.mobi (bank of america)
vacation.mobi
quote.mobi
best thing is, you don't even need to type in the www. before them
From Francis, London, UK This article describes very well how mobile sites can gain sales. They can also lose them . Retailers will now face shoppers able to do price comparisons on their phones and check up on products. Recall status and standards info for toys can already be checked at http://saftoy.mobi , and no doubt soon product warranty information will be available on phones.
From Paul in California For a big directory of active .mobi websites, visit http://dir.mobi
From Kathy, Burbank, CA Very interesting article. Interesting it mentions Vancouver, Washington because RISKebiz.com out of Vancouver, Canada develops and has been developing mobile websites for years and are very good at it. They implement PPC mobile advertising, social network features, custom mobile apps and regular static mobile pages.
I think more should be discussed on mobile optimization and how big a role this will play going forward. Also on the subject of mobile web site builders, Mobizcard.com is an application that creates quick mobile web sites for free.
From Steven Hello Mina,
Excellent article — very well-written and extremely well-researched —
there's a site dedicated only to "dot.mobi" – you may find it of interest— http://www.mobility.mobi
From Stijn Veeger Great article!
More about the .mobi domain: http://www.dotMobiz.com
From ted, erie, pa .mobi does it make it easier surfing the web on my smart phone, but until more sites use and know of .mobi it's still hit or miss when searching for other .mobi sites!
From Derrick Callop, CANADA I've got a basic cell phone and I've tried to surf a number of dot-com websites and the experience has been awful. I just tried visiting some dot-mobi sites and I must say "what a difference". The pages load up nicely on my phone and are easy to navigate. I wish more companies had dot-mobi sites!
Hi Derrick,
your prayers have been answered. Look at these monster global brands who have launched their mobile sites with .mobi
Makes it real easy to remeber and use.
check them out
http://mobisite.org/famousbrands.html