GetMobio is a free service you can download to your cell phone that loads you up with 50 dynamic applications and widgets that work together and are based on mash-ups of Web services. And as new applications become available, they’re delivered automatically to your handset.
The services are divided into 10 collections depending on what you’d like to do—everything from getting a dinner reservation and movie tickets to finding alternative flights for your next trip. One of the best parts is, it does this stuff with little to no text entry. (You can hit the jump below to see the full list of collections and what types of services they connect you to.)
Phone support is pretty limited right now with mostly handsets from Sprint and a few from Cingular, but at least they are popular ones. The full suite of apps won’t be available until sometime in February 2007. However, if you want to check out how they’ll work on your phone, there’s a download available for finding movie times.
GetMobio Collections
The initial rollout of GetMobio consists of 10 collections with over 50 applications, widgets and content feeds, including:
After Midnight – Places to go after midnight
Stepping Out – High-energy places to see and be seen
Chilling Out – Low-key places to meet up and do things
Romance Me – Everything you need to make your night special
Panic Kit – In case of emergency
Outwitting the Kids – Stuff for parents at their wits end
Two on the Town – Treat your hometown – or any town – as a vacation destination
Urban Trekker – Single destinations of interest – such as museums or shopping
Indulge Me – High-end cravings for cigars, chocolate, massage, body art & piercings
Gadgetophilia – Where to go to see the latest gadgets
Nice find! I took a look at the site, read the descriptions, watched the demos, and decided to download the Movie Times app. I rarely download stuff onto my phone, but this looked pretty good (and the full suite looks like it’ll be a keeper).
Using a Sprint/Samsung A900, the Movie Times app. is pretty straight forward, and can be customized with multiple locations, search radii, and “favorite” theaters, genres, and MPAA ratings (A900 tip: use the * key to enter a space). You can get movie descriptions, theater info, “click to buy” tickets (although, none of the theaters in my area supports this function, apparently), click-to-call, and maps (limited mapping; no directions, just a location-dot on a small map). More on the maps: although it’s probably not Mobio’s fault, sometimes the theater’s map location isn’t correct. If it’s a multiplex inside a shopping mall, for example, the address listed for the theater may just be something like “1 Shopping Mall Road,” without a city/state/zip, so when you click to see it on a map, you don’t get the correct location. Not a problem if you’re in your home location (we know where our theaters are), but if you’re traveling, it could be a big problem…
As for the “little to no text entering,” it’s true: once you set up your location(s) & favorites settings, everything you want is within 2 or 3 clicks; very simple navigation.
I don’t know how these things work, but what I’d like to see is the ability to download & save selected info, to browse offline. For example, I’d log onto Mobio Movie Times, select the day & profile I want to view, select “download,” and then I could scroll through the theaters, movies, and show times offline, saving my data minutes. Of course, being offline gives limited functionality, but if I wanted more info, I could just log on again… Is there a way to save these pages(?) offline?
Scott,
Thank you for some great compliments on our solution. You’re right about the accuracy of 3rd party mapping solutions but we expect this to improve over time.
And please check our site (www.getmobio.com) at the end of the month as we will be rolling out the Collections, widgets, feeds and solutions mentioned above.
Thanks once again,
Paul Cushman
Looks like some cool content and software. Have you seen the the new Celltop software from Alltel? They have 10 widgets so far but 3rd party developers promise more soon. It’s a flat 10 bucks a month price and looks easy to use. Similar to mobio but different. Check it out at http://www.mycelltop.com
I’d like to find world wide city maps