More Momentous Mobile Milestones

Once again, it’s time to tip our hats to all those innovative ideas and developments that are helping to usher us into the brave new world of the mobile internet.

While it would be virtually impossible to talk about everything that has been happening in this ever evolving sector, some of the most significant items from recent mobile history include:

Mobile Browsing
Opera’s mobile browsers, which I mentioned in my last mobile update, have now all been released and are available for download on their site.

Mobile Search
Ask.com has recently taken some steps towards improving mobile search with Ask Mobile, their new mobile content search engine.

The main contribution being made by this is the ability to narrow your search down by categories before you even begin to type. Since most mobile devices are fairly limited in both their typing ability and their screen size, narrowing your search down from the start can make it much easier to find what you’re looking for, limiting both the time and number of keystrokes involved.

Mobile Marketing
Leaping head first into the world of mobile marketing, automaker Peugeot recently made a mobile web site the sole focus of a broad advertising campaign in Ireland. Supported by traditional media outlets including billboards, direct mailings, print and radio spots- the only call to action for this campaign was to send a text message which returns a link that can be used for visiting a promotional web site on a mobile handset.

While Púca, the mobile marketing company behind the campaign, claims to have received a large volume of responses, I think what’s more impressive is their conversion rate. 40% of respondents provided their personal contact information in the form of requesting a brochure or a test drive. Kudos to Peugeot for taking a mobile leap and having it pay off so handsomely.

Mobile Photo Sharing
Using the mobile web to make it easier to share digital photos and videos, Pictavision has a new application that allows photo sharing management with mobile phones. Making it quick and easy to go from snapping those photos to sharing them with friends, Pictavision 6.0 is already compatible with many photo sharing sites including Kodak EASYSHARE Gallery and Flickr, and it even allows users to tag their photos with text or voice messages for that personal touch.

Mobile Platforms
Taking steps to make the use of any of these other mobile advancements easier, Nuance Communications announces a dictation technology for mobile devices that will allow users to send text messages and compose e-mails with the convenience of speech recognition technology. Said to do a good job at detecting natural speech patterns, this could help drive widespread mobile device adoption by making it much easier to use.

If you happen to know of another contribution to the mobile landscape that is worth mentioning, I welcome your additions; just post a comment.