eMediacy of San Diego, CA,
is determined to make accessing the wireless Web as simple as
one-two-three. With the release of its new mobile access engine,
JmpAT (pronounced JUMP-AT), the company is now enabling millions of
wireless device users worldwide to retrieve sites by keying in the
first few letters of a company’s name, Web site, or business
category. Subscribers with Sprint PCS, Verizon, Cingular, AT&T
Wireless, and Nextel networks are already using the service,
JmpAT.com, via their WAP compatible device, the company said.
According to Sanford P. Weisman, eMediacy’s president and CEO,
JmpAT provides a simple solution to a critical problem. He says,
"Trying to use a cellular phone’s 10-digit keypad to enter a
Web site name is a nightmare of keystrokes, symbols, and
frustration." With JmpAT, users can access sites in a
common-sense way, by entering the first few letters of the name they
associate with the company."
A user for example entering Barnes and Noble Books would type the
corresponding numbers for bn (2-6), or barn (2-2-7-6), or even book
(2-6-6-5) to begin searching for The New York Times bestsellers’
list.
"Users will be able to ‘jump at’ most websites with five
keystrokes or less, without having to memorize anything," said
Nigel Waites, eMediacy’s CTO.
In addition, JmpAT automatically displays the last eight websites
visited as well as allows user to list and access their favorite
sites.
The service also acts as an intermediary between the carrier and
the site owner. By registering with the service, site owners can
access users without signing exclusive deals to be listed on a
carrier’s home page. For a fee, site owners can control the amount
of visibility their site receives and join some of the most popular WAP
sites including Microsoft, Amazon.com, Yahoo, and AOL-Time that have
already registered with JmpAT.
For more information: http://www.jmpat.com/JmpAT%20press%20release.htm
Mobileinfo Comments and Advisory: This is a noble
effort but not the ultimate solution for easing the input problems
for smart phones. Finding the desired url is only a small step in
the total user experience which continues to be pretty bad.
Long-term solutions will come in the form of
voice-recognition. There are other solutions from the likes of
Motorola that will fight for addressing this need. Ultimately, the
users will vote. Search for finding the right solution will go on
for a while.
