Mobile Internet For Dummies' Web Site

Want to Schedule a Night Out? Try Zipiko!

Great mobile Web sites keep popping up! The latest one to come onto my radar is Zipiko. It's a great little "social utility" that allows you to quickly organize ad-hoc meet-ups (the mobile Web equivalent of "let's do lunch") to more involved events. The idea is simple - you visit a mobile web site at http://zipiko.com, register if you're a first time user, then set up an event (you input what, when and where - like "meet for a coffee, 2:00, at Joe's Diner." Then you plug in your friends' mobile phone numbers to invite them. They all get a text message inviting them to the event and asking them to respond by text if they accept the invite. Everyone gets a reminder closer to the time to keep you on track. And the next time you want to set up an event, all your friends' details are saved so it's even easier. That's it! The simple user interfaces works across multiple types of phone browser from the simplest flip phone to smart phone browsers. It's a great example of using the mobile Web to do something you couldn't really do with the PC-based Web.

Obama on the Fly

Seems like the mass market for mobile just got a little (or very big) bump from the recently announced Barack Obama campaign. Very cool use of text messaging and mobile web sites to keep the campaign trail blazing forward.... Definitely a 'Change WE Can Believe In', especially if you are tapping into over 250 million mobile subscribers in the US market to get your Vice President Joe Biden co-runner announced. Check out http://obamamobile.mobi from your mobile phone browser, great articles featuring the site to see from your PC come from MobiADNews.

Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics Go Mobile

On your mark... Get set... Ready... Go!

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics are upon us with the world's best athletes striving to reach new heights to bring the medals home... You can get all the action, updates and latest statistics delivered to your mobile phone faster than any 100 meter dash from the featured TV broadcast sponsors.

Additionally, check with your wireless carriers for their exclusive offerings - for example, AT&T Mobility customers may be able to get full mobile TV coverage of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, depending on your device and service subscription - see their computer site for more information at http://www.wireless.att.com/source/entertainment/.

Here is a list of made-for-mobile sites and services offered by the key global TV broadcast sponsors:

In the USA, from NBC Olympics Mobile offerings go to http://www.nbcolympics.com/mobile from your computer or thru your mobile phone browser at http://mobile.nbcolympics.com.

In Canada, from CBC Sports at http://www.cbc.ca/wireless/ from your computer to see all their 2008 Beijing Olympics made-for mobile offerings or thru your mobile phone browser at http://m.cbc.ca/olympics.

In the UK, from BBC Sports at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/7507582.stm from your computer browser to see all their made-for-mobile offerings or thru your mobile phone browser at http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/olympics.

And... If you are a water polo fan, a very cool mobile web site announced today comes from the USA Water Polo Team where you can keep up with all their action in Beijing from your mobile phone at http://usawaterpolo.mobi.

Escape to Alcatraz...

Found a great little mobile web site for anyone wanting to escape to Alcatraz - the infamous prison located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay area. Check it out on your mobile phone browser at http://alcatraz.mobi

If you know of any other cool, fun mobile web sites for everyone to surf to from their mobile phones -- drop us line or enter them directly from your mobile phone browser at http://mifd.mobi under the Mobile Web Sites category listing.

Hello Mobile Internet Fans!

Hi everyone and welcome to this blog where we will be "continuing the discussion" on Mobile Internet for Dummies, giving you regular updates and pointers and trying to provide some "news you can use" about the developing mobile Internet. A lot of my contributions to the book dealt with "content creation" - blogging, photo-sharing, etc... from your mobile phone. I'm actually writing this post from a mobile device, using the newly released Typepad application on an iPhone (available from the iPhone "App Store" - something that was released after we went to press). Actually a number of the content creation tools we covered in the book (such as Shozu and Kyte.tv) are now also available on iPhone through the store. But that's only the tip if the iceberg in terms of the innovation on the mobile Internet that we're going to witness in the coming year. So keep checking back here for updates. And don't be afraid to leave comments on any post here with your own thoughts, feedback or experiences on using the mobile Internet. Thanks!

Welcome

Welcome to the Mobile Internet for Dummies PC web site created, developed and supported by the book co-authors Michael O'Farrell and Jostein Algroy. By now you have probably flipped through a few chapters, tried a few new mobile Internet services and are getting quite savvy on how to use your mobile phone.

We built this site for you to use from your computer to find out more about mobile Internet products and services, keep you posted on the latest developments and guide you to the find some of the best deals the mobile Internet has to offer.

Don't forget... when you go to our book's web site address http://mifd.mobi from your mobile phone, you will experience our made-for-mobile web site version. This mobile web versison will be a very simple site with links and service suggestions going to other made-for-mobile web sites for you to truly enjoy the best the mobile Internet has to offer while on the go.

Give it a try from your mobile phone just find your mobile browser (see Chapter 4 for more help if you need it), enter our book URL 'mifd.mobi' (without the 'http://' or 'www.' because your mobile browser is ready to go without needing them) and press 'Enter' to get right to us from your mobile phone ... anywhere and anytime you like.

And, don't forget to make sure you are on the best wireless carrier data plan, as outlined in Chapter 5, before connecting to us so you know you are on the most economical service plan to suite your needs for surfing the mobile Internet.

Please feel free to connect with us, post your comments and queries on our blog... and, most importantly, share your mobile Internet experiences, ideas and good finds with the rest of the world.

Jostein and I will be your hosts on this site and we will look to feature our co-authors John, Dan, and James along with our other contributors Michael and Russell to guide you through enjoying your mobile Internet experiences.