Google have unveiled the Google Personalized Home for mobile devices — the mobile version of its personalized Google Home for PCs. Users log in to the Google XHTML site from their mobile phone, and they’re presented with a version of the personalized Google page formatted for the small screen. Gmail, weather, RSS — it’s all there.
Google’s plan is pretty clear (and so is Yahoo’s for that matter) — push mobile operators aside and become the face of the mobile Internet. It’s making deals with handset manufacturers to get its applications bundled onto devices, even get Google buttons on Motorola handsets. But those efforts can be undermined by the carriers themselves, should they choose to disable the features on the handset, or remove them entirely (as some have been known to do).
On first glance, I like that I’m given access to the same content as on my Google PC page (which, I must admit, I’ve only played around with and don’t use regularly). Carriers tend to make their portals separate from the rest of the Internet, eschewing interoperability with the services and sites people normally use for their own. If nothing else, it can create the impression that somehow the Web on your phone isn’t the same as the Web on your PC, and that you’ve got to access different services. This is, of course, in carriers’ best interest, but it’s something that the likes of Google and Yahoo are looking to blow up.
It’s not hard to think that one reason people have only embraced the mobile Internet to a certain degree is because they’ve been forced, to a large part, to adopt one set of sites and services when they’re on the computer, and yet another when they’re on the mobile phone. This isn’t to say that there aren’t things better suited to each medium, or that there are things people will want to access when they’re on their phone that they’d never want to access when they’re on a PC. But that should be the choice of the user, not of the carrier. If the carriers won’t offer open services that integrate with those that people are used to using on the wired Internet, Google will. And it will be the one to gain from it.
BTW, it appears that both the page describing Google Personalized Home and the XHTML personalized site itself may not be available outside the US — if you’re outside the US and have a second, it would be great if you’d drop us a line in the comments verifying or debunking this.
Update: In the comments, Bjørn points out that people outside the US can reach the personalized site on their phones at http://www.google.com/ig/mobile. Thanks Bjørn!
Looks like a very nice interface but from here (Switzerland) I can only confirm your last sentence, both web and mobile pages leads to a 404!
I can also confirm that the your link dosn’t work from Denmark. But the mobile interface at http://www.google.com/ig/mobile works fine. Actually it’s really nice.
I’ve also tried reading gmail from my mobile, but that is very annoying ’cause it will not remember my name and password, and I have to reenter it for every page I load.
Bjorn, have you given http://m.gmail.com a shot? It’s the mobile version of Gmail. I would assume the Gmail link from the mobile personalized page leads you to this as well.
Don’t worry guys, it doesn’t work in California either at this point =) Other Google mobile sites still work fine for me like Gmail (which is awesome btw).
Juhani
Works on the O2 mobile network in Ireland. Its very cool. Only problem is that it takes a long time to load. Have you tired Google Maps on your mobile? http://www.google.com/glm
Brian
I get a 404 for your web page link from the UK. The /ig/mobile page works fine.
[…] Google has released a version of its personalized homepage for mobile phones, which contains a mini-version of the “ig” page, complete with Gmail, RSS feeds, weather, stock quotes, movie times, and other content. More at MobHappy. […]
Now that’s pretty cool! I like how it directs you to Gmail Mobile when you click on an unread message.
Works in California; very nice!
Google lance la page d’accueil personnalis√©e sur t√©l√©phones mobiles…
Google a annonc√© avoir d√©velopp√© une version sp√©ciale de sa page d’accueil personnalisable afin d’√™tre plus facilement lisible sur un t√©l√©phone portable. Cette page permet d’afficher :
les derniers mails reçus dans Gmail
les flux RSS ou Atom
le…
Works fine from here (London) with Bjorn’s international link.
-> Niraj
It is at http://m.gmail.com I’ve got problems. The design of the login-page is a bit messy, but inside the mailbox everything looks fine. The problem is that somehow my phone will not store google cookie, and therfore I have to enter my name and password for every page I load. I also hat the problem with storing cookies between sessions at iGoogle.
Other sites do well in my phone, so I’m not sure if the problem comes from the phone (nokia 6230i) or the fact that i’m in Denmark.
All good from Canada. I’m on Rogers with a BlackBerry 7100 and I use all of Googles mobile services without a problem. Now, if only I could import my OPML for all of my feeds into Google Homepage…
[…] Carlo at MobHappy has a dead on comment about mobile services and why, perhaps, there has been les uptake that might have been expected. Google Drops Personalized Mobile Home Page at MobHappy It‚Äôs not hard to think that one reason people have only embraced the mobile Internet to a certain degree is because they‚Äôve been forced, to a large part, to adopt one set of sites and services when they‚Äôre on the computer, and yet another when they‚Äôre on the mobile phone. This isn‚Äôt to say that there aren‚Äôt things better suited to each medium, or that there are things people will want to access when they‚Äôre on their phone that they‚Äôd never want to access when they‚Äôre on a PC. But that should be the choice of the user, not of the carrier. If the carriers won‚Äôt offer open services that integrate with those that people are used to using on the wired Internet, Google will. And it will be the one to gain from it. […]
Google’s mobile homepage — the coin has dropped…
Google yesterday announced the Google Personalized Home for mobile devices. Like John Battelle, we’ve been frustrated with our Treo experience, and so were immediately intrigued by this latest Google Mobile feature, which promised to simplify things….
Nice work!
Ive used http://www.google.com.au/ig/mobile (notice the .au) which brings up the same page except its using ºC instead of ºF for local temperatures (really well thought).
There still seem to be some xhtml formatting (br not closed) & compatibility issues (ie. can’t submit login form on lgu880 3G handset) but really cool.
I just wrote something about this as well (http://kvet.ch/articles/2006/04/13/google-calendar-swing-and-a-miss). It is infuriating that they could release what is, essentially, a me-too of the worst kind.
It is no better than any other calendar out there. It just has Google search (and advertisement mining) for your trouble.
Why they (and Apple’s .Mac ( http://kvet.ch/articles/2006/04/05/make-mac-mobile )) can’t setup a nice and simple Sync service is beyond me.
[…] I think that Google’s personalized home page for mobiles is pretty cool, and sort of expected calendar information to be integrated into it, but no. Visiting calendar.google.com from my mobile browser just takes me to the standard site, where the AJAXy goodness is a problem, and Opera Mini is no help, either. Gmail has a decent little basic HTML site that offers a simple set of functionality, Google Calendar needs something similar as well. […]
Hi there. http://mobile.google.com/ works fine on my N70 in Scotland.
Cheers.
What about the http://www.undiq.mobi/ personalized mobile webportal?