Molecularist

… that is really small, like a headset. And this is well thought out.

Yeah, I’ve seen these concepts a few times. Only thing, I think the tech and supporting software is finally getting to the point where we can actually build something like this. Hmm… what about like a Star Trek communicator badge?

Good to see the old Russ is still around and thinking (publicly). 😉

Link: Russell Beattie Notebook � Imagine A Voice Powered Mobile Phone….

This would be a pretty cool device, no? It’d be like the iPod Shuffle of mobile phones – as simple as it gets. In fact, that’s a cool idea! Imagine if instead of sitting on just one ear, you could attach another head phone to make a pair. Now you can listen to your music from home being streamed to your phone via a system like Orb.com, or use a system like Sprint’s new Sirius or Rhapsody streaming audio.

Link: the mobile experience � Blog Archive � Browsing, transcoding and intelligent proxies.

What to optimize?

Now, I haven’t give this a lot of though, but here’s my list off content types that can be optimized, and operations that can be performed on them (in order of difficulty)

Precisely what I want to be solving.

Link: the mobile experience � Blog Archive � Web 2.0 and mobility.

It is this convergence that will be the ultimate trial for the business plans of todays carriers and mobile content&service providers.

Here’s one convoluted (but from the People!) solution to Gmail’s lack of a mobile version. Alas, I don’t have a PHP server I can install this on.

Link: SourceForge.net: Project Info – Gmail Mobile – Gmail on the move.

A PHP app to access Gmail (Google email) accounts on WAP/WML devices. A convenient alternative access method to your email account while on the move, Gmail Mobile incorporates as many Gmail features as possible within the limitations of a mobile phone.

Hmmm, might this evolve into a simple service someone can start up until Google wakes up and uses the code themselves. 😉

I’ve been talking with folks about transcoding for a long time, and it’s slipped into and out of my thoughtstream many times, mainly because I thought transcoding to be leading our thinking down the wrong path.

Transcoding is the re-rendering (through some proxy server) of a Web page into something that looks good and works well on a mobile. One fine example of transcoding is Google.

If you do a Google search from your phone, Google recognizes that it’s a phone searching and gives you a results page that is slightly different from what you would see on your PC browser. Then, when you click the link, Google serves you a text-only page that works on a mobile browser.

I guess that’s Transcoding 101 for you.

But, the simplicity is misleading. If you try to save the bookmark of the page Google served up to you, it will have a Google proxy address, not the direct address to that page. Also, some simple items like text boxes, say, for a site search, do not show up (this is actually the problem that set off this nano-rant). And finally, to add to (my) frustration, there is no way to view the page natively – while there are some helpful links that Google puts at the bottom of the pages they served, there is no way for me to get out of the Google transcoding.

So, while Google transcoding of all sites that you Google search for with your mobile can be very helpful, it highlights the pitfalls of transcoding – proxy issues, level of lost info, etc. – I am still not won over by the transcoding believers.

If you want to explore this topic further, search for ‘Google’ ‘transcoding’ ‘mobile’.