Are you scared of the mobile internet? If you’re reading this, odds are, you’re not. However, you probably know someone who is. Chances are, if you asked them why, they’d say one of three things:
1. Too hard to use
2. Hard to find useful sites
3. Not convenient/worth the price.
There’s a new startup in town set to cover the first 2 excuses. They’re called Getfrog.com, and I think they’re close to being on the right track. Dennis over at Wapreview has the full review, but here’s the skinny:
Getfrog is more or less a launching page for your mobile device. It gives you a graphical homepage setup much like your phone’s main menu, with icons that link to mobile sites such as MSN Weather, Google, Travelocity, and Fandango. There’s also a list with over 51 other sites that users can add to their "homepage."
The idea is awesome, specifically for people who are just now realizing that there’s a mobile version of the internet, untethered from their PC. However, I think GetFrog’s implementation (at this point) is a bit flawed.
For starters, it’s supposedly only compatible with QWERTY Palm and Windows devices, currently. That eliminates most anyone who is just discovering the mobile web. Also, since it’s user-customizable, you can go to their site on your PC and setup an account, and doing so only offers up a big long ugly URL that you have to manually type into your device’s browser. Not friendly at all. Where’s the SMS link?
The other problem is mere marketing. They’d need to figure out how to get the random Joe Blow off the street to type in "getfrog.com" on his mobile browser, or be able to go to the site and click a button to SMS him a link.
Do you know of a better way to get your disconnected friends to use the mobile web? Do you think this is better than the Carrier’s portal?
