Mapping the mobile Web

Web use on mobile phones is growing according to the Mobile Data Association that has said we accessed the internet 15.9 million times in December 2006 using our mobiles.

Analysts quoted on BBC Online said Web use on mobiles is far from mainstream but continued advancement requires user education. They also said location-based services will be the next big thing:

"All the major players are starting to build services around navigation and maps, but they're still new," said Thomas Husson, mobile analyst, Jupiter Research.

With MySpace map mashups already available to show where your contacts are around the world and the company moving into mobile, the possibilities are becoming interesting. Alerts to your mobile when you are in a bar near one of your contacts is one application being touted around.

Will this mean Geographic Information Systems (GIS) providers like ESRI (UK) become the next hot technology companies?