Yahoo has found inspiration for its new web search functionality in an unusual place: its own pared-down mobile search results. The company discussed the latest enhancements to its search technology at an early afternoon “Chalk Talk” event today, displaying a new way of delivering results that’s both simpler and more complex than the old way.

The tagline for today’s gathering — “Kill the 10 blue links” — points toward Yahoo’s strategy of integrating data culled from multiple sources into results centering on “web objects,” clustering information around the likely intended result of a user’s query. Searches for athletes or musicians, for example, will deliver results with pictures, streaming music, or fantasy baseball stats, rather than 10 results in the familiar link-and-teaser model. The idea is to anticipate the user’s intent, rather than just provide a series of links from which to choose.

What’s especially interesting is the way Yahoo has modeled its enhanced web browser search on its mobile product. Continue »

Updated:  Today is the big announcement in New York by T-Mobile, which will show off its spiffy new G1 phone powered by Google.  The G1 is the first smartphone to run the Google Android operating system and is expected to work seamlessly with Google services like Gmail and Google Maps.  The G1 will support the relatively new T-Mobile 3G data network, and since not many are familiar with T-Mobile’s 3G, it’s a good time to take a look at four things you should know in order to get the most out of 3G. Continue »

At the GigaOM Mobilize conference just now, Chamath Palihapitiya of Facebook just gave a little indication of what’s next on the company’s product roadmap. Palihapitiya, Facebook’s VP of Growth, Mobile and International was serving on a panel about mobile social networking, when an audience member commented that a phone’s address book is essentially its owner’s social network, Palihapitiya replied, “That’s a great observation. Stay tuned.”

Facebook PR wasn’t going to let him say more than that, but I for one think this is a splendid idea that could be revolutionary if implemented correctly. Facebook has all along said it wants to mirror real-world relationships. When you throw mobile into the mix, there’s no reason to even have to separate so-called offline and online contacts. The site already has a vast repository of cell numbers on its member profiles, as well as many mobile users through downloads of its applications for platforms like BlackBerry and iPhone as well as mobile browser access. I think this integration would be so useful — Facebook could even go so far as to co-launch a phone with a handset maker.

But anyway, I’ll post the full write-up of the session in a moment.

What a difference a year makes. It was only 10 months ago when the first true netbook, the original Asus Eee PC 701, hit the market. The Eee was a ground-breaking little computer but had a few flaws, the biggest being the limited 800×480 display. Today there’s an overwhelming array of low-cost but highly portable and efficient little laptops.

Each is a full-featured notebook with displays in the 7- to 10-inch range and all are easy to tote around. Nearly all offer several USB ports, a webcam, LED backlit screens, integrated speakers, Wi-Fi and more, so there are very few differentiators. But the many choices in this nascent netbook market can overwhelm, so below is a quick hit list of popular models along with some basic information to help you decide which one might work best for you. Continue »

The mobile games market is a treasure chest, and with 49.9 percent growth in 2007 alone and revenue expected to rise to $6.3 billion in 2011 from $3.9 billion that year, everyone is looking for the map. Like the road to any treasure, however, there are potential pitfalls along the way. And in those pitfalls, Israeli startup Mo’Minis sees an opportunity.

It takes very advanced programming skills to develop even a simple mobile game. Moreover, enabling an application to run on the hundreds of available handset models is an endeavor fraught with technological barriers. The investment of time and resources needed to overcome these pitfalls keeps many individual mobile game developers from ever entering the market.

Help is on the way. Mo’Minis, which was launched back in January 2008 and has raised $400,000 in funding from a private group of investors, plans to offer a free end-to-end solution for both skilled and amateur game developers. Continue »