Frog - Introduction to the Mobile Web?
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?
The page worked fine with my n73. Going directly to getfrog.com via the Web Browser took me directly to a page that asked for my phone. It has a drop down list that lists only Treos and Palms. When I chose “Not listed” it said my phone wasn’t compatible. So I went back and chose Treo 700wx (or something like that) and it worked fine (as it did with every option available). And from what I can tell, there is no reason why non-qwerty phones would not be compatible. As mentioned, it works just fine with my non-qwerty n73. Anyhow, the page is basically just a page with bookmarks but the biggest downside, in my opinion, is that the links are NOT customizable. The first 5 links are static. There’s no changing them. And for the last 4 you can choose from a pre-made list of links (flicker, bank of america, yellow pages, etc). I like the icon links. But I don’t like that you can’t use your own links. I think this would be great as a mobile bookmarks page if only the links were fully customizable…
@Angel good to know! However, with the customizable links, it’s not really targeted towards an advanced user who is going to have their own links. They are more targeting people who have no idea that the mobile web is as rich as it is, and in that regards, I’d say they’re getting close to successful.
I wonder how a regular non-smartphone would handle it?
I have been using FROG for over a year now and it has improved incredibly.
You can now customize 8 out of the 9 links. The only one you can’t is the mobile search which I think is perfect. You can also now very easily ‘Jump’ to other sites that you don’t want to put on your homepage. FROG TV and FM are also very cool. There are many new channels and stations and it’s all free. If you have a good high speed connection on your phone, you will love it. I highly recommend FROG.