Mobio, a Cupertino start-up, is distinguishing itself by creating simple, useful services for the mobile phone.
We wrote about the company when it released its movie service — which lists movie reviews, times and maps.
Today, Mobio kicks off a 100 more services, many of them handy for kicking round town. There’s everything from OpenTable, flower-buying, dating services to flight-time checks.
Mobio is just the latest mobile company to ditch your stupid, slow cellphone Web browser. Forget it. As long as you’ve got a Java-enabled phone, you can download Mobio’s software and surf Web info from within the phone application (Mobio launches compatible with 20 phones, which accounts for about 60 percent of the market). It effectively lets you crawl the web, only in a more efficient mobile style, free of keyboard.
Take for example the OpenTable application (see screenshots at left). You select OpenTable from main the menu. Then you can use a search bar to find a restaurant in your locale. The Mobio app tells you if a table is free • the same information you’d find on the OpenTable Web site.
Mobio does all this by using a so-called “mediating” server. In the background, while you are using your phone, the server connects with the various Mobio services (OpenTable, etc), drawing information from them, to deliver to you if you select it. Mobio’s proprietary protocol communicates between the device and the server.
The first application is written in Java. Mobio is rolling out Windows Mobile, Symbian, Blackberry and BREW versions over the course of this year, Ramneek Bhasin, CEO of Mobio, tells Venturebeat.
Mobio focuses on local content. The services are designed to be accessible with three clicks or less.
There are lots of other features we haven’t mentioned. Let’s say you like wine. You can go online before shopping, and configure your Mobio account so that it draws wine tasting notes from a wine connoisseur’s public Kaboodle account. Then, as you shop, Mobio draws info from that account, and serves it to your phone, and you can peruse the notes as you shop — or impress your girlfriend while picking out wine during dinner.
It’s all free. You enter some basic personal information to register before downloading the service.
Mobio has raised $9 million from Interwest and Storm Ventures, among others.
Tags: co:Mobio, demo, inv:Interwest-Partners, inv:Storm-Ventures, people:Ramneek-Bhasin6 Comments
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Mike Rundle said:
Hey Matt, if you like Mobio, you should check out Widsets.com. They’re doing something similar (Java software interface, custom data feeds coming in) but companies create their own widgets. They just added Blackberry support and it’s very slick.
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Bob Jenkins said:
I don’t get widsets…it’s just an RSS reader and a few widgets. Also, their content is mostly Uk, Australia and I saw little US stuff (it was a while back)
That Mobio thing with the “mediating” server…whatever that is, sounds intelligent and with a local (US) content angle it doesn’t sound the same at all.
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Matt Marshall said:
I mentioned Widsets in an earlier piece on Plusmo.
http://venturebeat.com/2007/01/05/plusmo-slides-content-across-your-idle-mobile-phone/The mention is lower down in the story.
Just from the demo the preview gave me, Mobio seems to grab me with its simplicity. I hope it works out in reality. My phone, Treo, wasn’t compatible with the service, and didn’t have time to review it properly.
If you look at their site, you’ll see they’re really into good-looking design.
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anon said:
What is so unique about Mobio?
Also, it is a big turn-off when such companies ask you to register. Most users don’t use such sites more than 10 times, but these companies claim #of registered users to get better valuations!
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Marcia Kadanoff said:
Here at GetMobio, it is true that we ask you to register with us so we can get you our mobile software.
Our users seem more than willing to do that - as our mobile applications are fun, simple, useful, and truly FREE. We collect personal info for one reason only - to get you the GetMobio software for your mobile phone. We don’t collect info up sell our users into a subscription-based service at some later point … like some folks do.
Free at GetMobio means no subscription fee and we intend to keep it that way!
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Bob Jenkins said:
The new/updated portal from Mobio is even slicker. Now you can customize the RSS feeds, buy movie tickets and check out the cheapest gas prices with 1 or 2 clicks. Awesome job Mobio folks.
