Already two months into 2008, with one of the biggest mobile events of the year behind us, we’ve reached maximum velocity. Without wanting to toot my own horn too much, we’ve done lots so far this year at Taptu. We launched the latest version of our search engine – just in time to play with it at MWC – integrating Twitter and email sharing to make it easier to pass on the results you find. And best of all, we’re having a great time doing it.

Before we jump into this week’s generous dose of writing, I’m taking the liberty of highlighting SkyDeck’s posts as a must-read for everyone. Dan at SkyDeck sounds the alarm on a seriously dodgy company called SJA Mobile (Part 1 & Part 2), who presents itself as a mobile billing service but strikes me as being nothing more than a thinly veiled scam preying on unsuspecting customers who don’t check their bills closely enough. British Telecom once pulled a similar trick on me, but this one hits the bottom of the barrel in terms of disgusting business models. If anyone can help shed light on how SJA Mobile can continue to operate with such unethical processes, please shout!

Now, on with the Carnival…

C. Enrique Ortiz reflects on local applications and getting the most out of a mobile handset, mentioning Google’s local search for Nokia handsets, the long-awaited-and-still-nowhere-to-be-seen iPhone SDK, and the Java ME apps that still seem to be in demand. Diametrically opposed is Mike Mace’s entry on the death of the mobile app, citing splintering platforms, shrinking distribution channels, and rising costs as the killers.

Tarek Esber flags up that, to ease the pain of the fragmented device market, DeviceAtlas has been created by dotMobi, in partnership with Volantis, Nokia, Vodafone and more.

Dennis writes an insightful post on Android’s significance: It won’t have a slick iPhone-like UI, it won’t be the end-all and be-all of mobile advertising monetisation questions, but its “sandbox” approach to allowing self-signed and “safe” Android apps will hopefully boost the mobile apps landscape.

Mobile 2.0

In more than 140 characters, Howard Rheingold at SmartMobs jots down why he’s completely hooked on Twitter, today’s freelancer’s water cooler.

Ajit Jaokar deconstructs how Mobile Web 2.0, a much talked about idea, will be implemented in practice, breaking it down into 11 different possible implementations.

Post-MWC Thoughts

Rudy recaps on the Mobile Monday Peer Awards, which recognised 27 startups from 18 countries during MWC 2008, John Puterbaugh reduxes on the event’s announcements, and Martin reviews the clever WiMAX demos he was privy to in Barcelona.

At SMS Text News, James Whatley throws around some ideas on how Nokia’s currently disjointed applications could be linked together to create a more enjoyable user experience. He also notes Nokia’s rather disappointing answers to some of his questions on stats and synchronising personal information.

Finally, once you’ve had enough of reading, you can listen to Paul Ruppert at Mobile Point View, who shares his podcast with Andy McGuire, GSMA VP, Mobile Innovation Marketplace.

Enjoy the reading and join us next week when the Carnival will be hosted by Mark at Ubiquitous Thoughts!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Community and social networks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.