Since getting the Palm Treo 650 smartphone almost a year ago, I’ve learnt to appreciate well-designed web services which cater for mobile devices. Here I will cover three services that I find indispensible while on the go.

1. Gmail by Google

Gmail Mobile

Since it was introduced over a year ago, Gmail has redefined the entire market for free, web-based email services. Aside from the virtually unlimited storage (2.6GB as of this moment), Gmail is well suited for mobile devices such as PDAs and smartphones. The free POP and SMTP service is solid and reliable, and works well “out of the box” with Versamail on the Treo. Unfortunately, due to Gmail’s choice of non-standard, SSL ports, using third party email client software can get expensive. For example, SnapperMail Premier, which supports SSL, costs double the standard edition at US$50. I like Gmail’s SMTP service because it automatically saves all your outgoing email into your main web-based mailbox.

Recently, Google introduced Gmail Mobile, which features a stripped-down, standard web-based interface that works with mobile web browsers such as Blazer. The primary advantage of Gmail Mobile is that you can search your entire mailbox from your mobile device. In my case, I have almost 6,000 emails totalling over 1.2GB, which means it’s not practical to download all the emails into Versamail. However, Gmail Mobile does make some compromises, primarily in terms of attachments – it doesn’t support this feature on my Treo.

I’d recommend Gmail in a heartbeat – it’s fast, reliable, spacious, and free – and it’s still in beta!

2. Bloglines by Ask Jeeves

Bloglines Mobile

Bloglines is my primary aggregator for RSS (real simple syndication) feeds. With Bloglines, it’s really simple to track hundreds of separate feeds – from weather reports to stock updates and of course, blog postings. Probably the best thing about Bloglines is that it automatically keeps track of which articles that you read. That means you can switch back and forth between the mobile version and the full version when you’re at your computer.

Recent updates to Bloglines Mobile gives you the ability to create an abbreviated mobile version of your feed list, so you don’t have to scroll past all the feeds to read what you want. This means that if you are on the move, you can focus and catch up on only on the most important feeds.

3. Search Engines

Alright, so this is cheating a bit. Web searching is probably the second-most used Internet service on my Treo (after email). With a search engine in the palm of your hands, you’ll never be at a lost for answers – indeed, for answers to any question at all! You have a number of options for searching from mobile devices, including :

- Google Mobile
- AOL Mobile Search
- Answers.com
- Gada.be
- Wapedia (Mobile Wikipedia interface)

So what’s your favourite web service for mobile devices?

Filed under: Mobile Software • Mobile Web Sites • Mobile World

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