CellPhoneBurn

 
If it is Google, it must be search

If it carries the Google label, then undoubtedly search will be involved. Marc Vanlerberghe, Google’s Product Marketing Director, has been explaining how Google is integrating search into Android and the T-mobile G1 phone and it’s already impressive. There is also a Google video that goes into more details. (Tip of the hat to SearchEngineWatch)

 
Google knows where you are better.

Location is a word that gets a lot of attention in commercial or residential real estate. However with the explosive growth of the mobile web another application of that word may take over the spotlight.

The mobile web is so attractive because you access it wherever you are. Sometimes where you are can be critically important in terms of the information you would like to get. In any day just think of the number of times you ask a question where that comes into play:

The Google Gphone is coming. The Gphone is coming. But what exactly will it look like. TechCrunch opined a month ago that Gphone may really happen, and the Ammunition Group may be designing it. That goes against the more prevalent view that Google will be backing an open source mobile operating system that could finally break the carriers’ stranglehold on the mobile market. That stems from their involvement in the Open Handset Alliance and Android.

The mobile web is just around the corner.

ReadWriteWeb seems to have created quite a furor in publicizing the views of start-up entrepreneur Russell Beattie.

Seattle based TrafficGauge offers a service for commuters that don't want to purchase their dedicated traffic device for $180, but do have a cellphone.

TrafficGauge for Mobile Web allows you to view real-time traffic on your cell phone using the web browser. This is a FREE service that gives you access to the detailed traffic conditions that you need for your commute.

Here's more data to support the growth in mobile web usage:

February was a record-breaking month for the AccuWeather.com mobile web site. The site chalked up a new monthly record with 32,760,743 page impressions in February, beating the previous record of 31,643,961 set in January 2008. The mobile site also set a new record for daily impressions with 1,792,492 on February 12th, beating the previous record of 1,527,102 set in the same month on February 5th.

 
Google leads the mobile Web race.

“Yahoo Racing Ahead of Google in Asias Mobile Race?” was the question raised in June 2007. For its mobile search service Yahoo! oneSearch, which it then launched in seven Asian countries, including India, Yahoo! was targeting a subscriber base of 100 million through various partnerships. The article raised the question whether Yahoo could manage to stay ahead of Google in the mobile race in Asia. Clearly Yahoo has other things on its mind at the moment.

MobileInfocenter unveiled a new mobile web portal back in early December and we've been meaning to tell you about it. Created specifically for smartphones and mobile devices, PhoneFavs is the first social bookmarking system completely designed and optimized for mobile phone users. The free service enables users to keep an always-available list of bookmarks for web sites that can be easily viewed on a mobile browser.

For those of you that still doubt whether the mobile web has arrived, I would suggest that you read this article from Advertising Age.

You can probably determine the news by the title of this post, but basically multiple times this season, ESPN's mobile NFL content outdrew its PC NFL content.

Preaching to the choir on cell phones

One of the topics that does not receive enough attention in web design is Usability. That’s true even for web pages designed to be seen with desktop PCs. User tests just don’t get done. User experience is something of concern only to a fraction of all web designers. Perhaps in some cases it stems from the tyranny exerted by some graphic designers. Just like some architects, they know what is best for us.