Mobileity: The Mobile Web Moves Forward

Well it has been a few months since my last update on the world of the mobile web. With this market moving as fast as it is, there have been several interesting developments in that time. So I figured it’s about time I revisit this topic to give a little credit to all those interesting and innovative ideas that are helping to move us closer to a world without wires.

Webaroo Improves:
Now if you read my last update you are well aware of what Webaroo is and that I personally, am a big fan of the concept of being able to have a searchable web even when your offline. If you are not familiar with Webaroo, feel free to read that post real quick.

Now that we are all either caught up, or don’t care to get caught up, Webaroo has released an improved version of their program recently. The improvements include support of multimedia attachments, new browsing buttons for easy navigation, and increased controls that include the ability to manage file sizes as well as the maximum amount of disk space allocated to the program including alerts when you are approaching the preset limit. You can find all the details at Webaroo’s official site.

Opera Mobile:
Opera, arguably the best browser available; and defiantly the best out-of-the-box browser, (once Firefox is tweaked properly it certainly puts up a good fight) has recently announced the release of a few different mobile versions of their browser. These include Opera Mobile for the Pocket PC, Opera Mini for cell phones and an Opera for Nintendo DS that is scheduled for release this fall. As more and more devices gain mobile abilities, Opera will ensure your mobile browsing experience is the best it can be.

The Mobile Campus:
While there are several things that campuses all over the country, and the world for that matter, are doing to provide Wi-Fi access to students, Dartmouth has to be the frontrunner in innovation.

For a 200 year old Ivy League university, Dartmouth is on the cutting edge when it comes to offering Wi-Fi services to students. In 2001 they were one of the first universities to implement a campus-wide wireless network, and now they are continuing the tradition of early adoption by upgrading their system to allow students access to video, TV programming and VoIP phone service with unlimited long distance; all of which are covered by their room and board fees.

Windows Live Wi-Fi Rumors:
It has been reported in BetaNews that Microsoft is inviting testers to help them with the creation of Windows Live Connection Center Wi-Fi.

This service is said to be two-fold. The first part is an application that will automatically locate and connect to local hotspots including an integrated database which maps out locations for users. The second is a searchable interface that allows a user to search by city, state or zip code to locate Wi-Fi locations wherever they may be. This one makes me wonder why Google hasn’t built something like this into their Maps or Earth utilities.

While I realize there are several more things happening in the world of the mobile web all the time, these are just a few that have been on my mind this morning. If you feel I have not included something of significance, feel free to add to the conversation by posting a comment.