yell mobile?

has anyone tried it yet?

[pab007]

Yell recently did some promotion in the Metro (the free paper they give you on trains) for their new mobile thing. Has anyone tried it?

I have and it's pretty useful, I use the maps when I'm lost now :)

www.yellmobile.com if you need more info

[ritch_b]

Heh - looks remarkably like what another UK business directory has been doing via SMS and WAP for several years! :)

R,

[pab007]

several years? really? I thought Java enabled phones had only been out a few months? I know they've had WAP and SMS for a few years now, but this is different

[ritch_b]

The basic search facility is identical to those offered elsewhere for several years, although the map & routeplanner options are new, granted.

Java enabled phones have been around for a number of years too. Personally though, as a security issue, I keep the Java functionality on mine turned off, hence this site wouldn't work. For users without Java enabled phones, of which there will be many, the search functionality of the site will be unavailable too.

R.

[pab007]

So what you're saying is you haven't used it because you can't (you say you've disabled Java and hence can not).

My original query was to people who have actually used it. Never mind, obviously a difficult question that was easily misunderstood. I'll dumb down any future queries to avoid confusion. Sorry :P

[ncw164x]

Has anyone tried it?

No I can't, I have java disabled, it's not the way forward only having a java based search, giving the user a choice would be a better idea

[pab007]

So do you think Java missed the boat? I hear Flash may be the next big thing.

To be honest, I only really used the Yell thing for the maps. Maybe mulimap should take note (as the maps clearly come from them)

[ncw164x]

I hear Flash may be the next big thing

Flash never became the next big thing first time round, I can't see it taking the world by storm if it's trying to make a come back

[ritch_b]

From the demo on the Yell site, it's not necessary to try the product, in order to know what it does and how it does it.

The general search is a basic what/where search, which is nothing new in terms of mobile search functionality. Linking the map and route plan functionality to the search in this way is a fairly new thing, but I don't believe that Mobile Java is necessarilty the best way to acheive this functionality.

Local search over the ill-fated WAP, or preferably SMS, is my preferred way to do this kind of thing. It's more secure and, in terms of potential customer reach, has a far, far greater audience, since it's not necessary to download a piece of Java software in order to use the service - something that a great number of people can't do.

R.