Monday, June 11, 2007

The Mobile Web Is Here!!!!

Access to the internet has traditionally been through some sort of cable. Access via satellite is possible if you carry around a satellite dish! Wireless LANS now provide a wireless access within a short range to an internet modem or other wireless receiver that then connects via a cable. If you were clever enough you could connect a laptop to a mobile phone via a modem and use the mobile phone network for a slow and costly wireless internet access.

Recently true wireless, mobile internet access has become available via the mobile phone network that support high speed broadband. The major telecos provide a wireless adaptor that can plug into a laptop USB port and connect you at relatively high speed to the internet (at a higher cost than fixed line connection). One provider is :Telstra Bigpond

But wait there is more! The mobile phone can now connect directly to the internet and provide web browsing, email and most other internet services. This provided via the new 3G network.

A simple problem is that a mobile phone does not have the screen size or keyboard of laptop computer. This is a real marketing challenge!

Meg Tsiamis in her blog Dipping Into The Blogpond has provided a listing of web sites that are designed for mobile phone web browsing. Check out these two from her listing (remember that they are designed to appear in a mobile phone screen) :

http://mobile.tradingpost.com.au/
http://carsguide.mobi

1. How does the iPhone and similar devices attempt to overcome the design limitations?
2. What is the issue for SMEs to provide mobile internet access to their web sites?
3. What are the issues and impact on marketing using mobile internet?

1 comment:

Mark Kasprzyk said...

disclaimer: Accessing these sites via your mobile phone will incur download charges from your phone provider. Some websites may require a paid subscription to access on some networks. Check with your mobile provider regarding costs.