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.

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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.

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With new developments in the mobile market happening almost continuously, I thought it was worthwhile to visit some of the recent highlights. Currently a number of businesses are taking notice of mobile search and trying to carve out their niche. I guess you could argue that we have been slowly becoming more and more mobile in all areas of our life. Take for example the home stereo system giving way to the boombox and the boombox giving way to walkmans and walkmans giving way to iPods. It’s not earth shattering news to report that a number of developments have been moving us closer and closer to a world without wires for some time now. That being said, I think there have been a number of very recent advancements that do deserve a nod of recognition for their contributions to the move towards mobile.

Mobile Direct Marketing:
Boston based startup MobileLime is taking advantage of technologies like Bluetooth, infrared, and Wi-Fi to send direct marketing offers via text messages to cell phones and BlackBerries. Along similar lines as the door hangers that have been employed by pizza shops for years, these unsolicited text ads could be considered intrusive and annoying. Also like the old door hangers though, they could prove to be an effective method of reaching customers with promotional offers and spark an increase in sales.

Mobile Google Ads:
Don’t think for a moment that Google is going to let the mobile web pass them by, or their AdWords revenue stream for that matter. Recently that they have been testing a mobile ad system in Japan as well as working on voice activated mobile search.

Mobile Product Reviews:
Toshiba has developed a mobile phone enabled technology that allows the user to take a snapshot of a UPC symbol, or a product’s bar code, and search the web for product reviews. Once fully operational, Toshiba hopes to provide consumers with the ability to instantly see whether the buzz is positive or negative for just about anything you might buy including toys, appliances, electronics and food products.

The Pre-Packaged Mobile Web:
Side stepping the need for a mobile Internet connection, Webaroo has developed the ability to pre-package web pages that can be viewed from an laptop regardless of where you are or if you can find a Wi-Fi signal. The California based startup’s product will be coming preinstalled on Acer laptops worldwide, and can be added to other systems by downloading it from their website. The user is given the ability to store any of their bookmarked sites as well as selected search queries to the Webaroo program. When the laptop is connected to the Internet it will cache the current version of the sites that are bookmarked as well as the first 20 search results from Google to be available at a later time offline. When offline, the user is able to navigate these sites as well as perform searches within these results, AdWords and all. The SEO slant? Your site will need to be holding a top-20 position in Google for your keywords if you want to be available to Webaroo users.

AOL Makes a Mobile Move:
Not to be left behind, AOL’s “Surf the Web” is hoping to take mobile search beyond the world of web pages designed to render on tiny cell phone screens and offers something closer to the original page design, reformatted for your device. Without a doubt, the mobile searchers of the world will appreciate a more attractive mobile web space.

Mobile Profits Continue to Rise:
As would be expected, in the face of several aggressive moves towards the world of mobile, the major mobile phone carriers are continuing to experience soaring profit margins as recently reported by The E-Commerce Times.

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