ITGumbo: spicing IT up

News
An article in the New York Times last week pointed out the failures of the mobile web in attracting more users over the years. Recently though, several companies and initiatives, including Israeli-based InfoGin Ltd., have been created to drive more people to use the mobile web and to improve the mobile web experience.

Background
InfoGin was founded in 2000 by Eran Wyler after he foresaw the "need for surfing the real Internet on any mobile device." Over the years, InfoGin has become a leader in "Web-to-mobile content adaptation, enabling mobile users to access any Web site they desire, optimized to their mobile device." According to a company description,

"InfoGin's patented technology offers a range of solutions, from a fully automatic intelligent conversion engine to professional content-editing and marketing tools that enable full control over the delivered information."

The company's most recent technology is the Internet Mobile Platform (IMP) that is currently being implemented by several major companies, from Virgin Mobile (UK) to MapQuest.

Major Customers
Virgin Mobile (UK)
Cellcom & Pelephone (Israel)
AOL
MapQuest
InfoSpace

Analysis
Despite the increasing popularity of mobile phones with Internet access and various initiatives, the mobile web is a mess. Very few users pay for data services in their cell phone plans and those who do, are faced with difficult navigation tasks and limited data available to them.

The recent popularity of Apple's iPhone and the Google-lead Open Handset Alliance (OHA) promise to increase mobile web access in the United States and to give more order and direction to mobile platforms by improving the mobile web access experience. However, while that might be the intention, the iPhone's glitz and glamor only goes so far when people want to view rich media content on the Internet and it is unlikely that the OHA will be able to meaningfully impact mobile search navigation and the more complicated demands of web access in the near future.

InfoGin's services, primarily its Internet Mobile Platform, offers anyone who has a web-accessible phone -- with a participating carrier -- a better Internet experience without the hassle of buying a newer phone or the obligation of upgrading a phone's firmware. InfoGin's service automatically changes any website that a user goes to on the phone.

Compared to a service such as Yahoo! Go, InfoGin is a lot easier and doesn't require users to download anything. However, while InfoGin services provide a better user experience, it is not enough to overshadow the additional need for phones to be able to handle rich media requests and streaming -- something that in the end, for InfoGin's services and the future of mobile web, should be of great concern.

However, considering that 32 cell phones are sold every second and InfoGin's current customer reports of its solutions "doubling web site traffic" and decreasing operational costs of "creating and handling web content" by 80%, InfoGin should be able to continue to expand its current reach of 20 million cell phones unhindered for the foreseeable future.

Additional Resources
InfoGin has record year
InfoGin takes on iPhone with Intellient Mobile Platform
Overview of industry's future
Mobile Web University Trial
InfoGin Press Release