Mobiles in 2008

01/01/08

What about mobile we hear you say? While the majority of users right now are still battling with small screen sizes; slow download times and web pages which are difficult to read, it is likely that improvements in handsets along with the introduction of flat-rate data tariffs will greatly improve users' access to search interfaces in 2008.

And although speculation about a gPhone has been refuted by Google, it will be interesting to see if they can put aside the temptation to develop a solution to all the hardware-related problems mentioned above.

Meanwhile rival search engine provider Yahoo! has also announced that some of its mobile software and services will be made available to external programmers and publishers in a bid to make its mobile search offerings more useful.

And while the introduction of the iPhone might not have exactly ushered in the much-awaited age of "search on the go", reports of a surge in traffic to Google from the handset, surpassing incoming traffic from any other type of mobile device, over Christmas were promising. A Google spokesperson has even gone so far as to say that devices like the iPhone are likely to be a boon for developers who have struggled to create programmes for all the different handsets. The iPhone still has a few barriers (cost and the lack of 3G compatibility) to overcome though before widespread adoption becomes reality.

All things considered though, the pace at which the market is moving and the speed of mass adoption for simple, effective and meaningful innovations (Facebook is an example) means that this year is going to be an exciting one, whatever happens.

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