AOL Launches Mobile Browsing Service That Automatically Adapts Web Pages to Mobile Screens

location based services

AOL has announced the debut of new mobile information and location services, including a new addition to the suite of mobile AOL Search services.

The new offering is a mobile browsing service that automatically adapts Web pages for mobile screens. The easy-to-use mobile browsing service can be used by wireless subscribers with Web-enabled phones.

According to a survey AOL conducted with the Associated Press and Pew Research Center, 52 percent of adults keep their cell phone turned on all day, everyday, and 40 percent of those aged 18-29 are likely to drop their landline once and for all. The report reveals that more than 30 percent of adults want to search and browse the Web from their cell phone, while 47 percent say that mobile maps and driving directions are a "must have" on the next phone they buy.

AOL's new mobile browsing service has been seamlessly integrated into the existing suite of mobile AOL Search services, including Web search, shopping search and local search, to make it easy for consumers to navigate the Web and find anything they need from their mobile device.

The new browsing service also marks the expansion of AOL's alliance with InfoGin Ltd. AOL uses InfoGin's transcoding and content analysis technologies on its new service.

The company is also bringing its mobile portal services to Sprint subscribers in the USA. With AOL's mobile Web portal mobile users have access to the mobile AOL Search, AIM, AOL Mail and AOL Pictures services as well as AOL's news, entertainment, sports and weather content.

Sprint subscribers now have access to AOL's instant messaging community via downloadable mobile AIM applications or through the wireless Web. Features include presence awareness via the mobile Buddy List(R) feature, IM Forwarding and two-way desktop-to-mobile (IM2SMS) messaging services.

To top the news, AOL debuted MapQuest's new Web-enabled service, and promised soon to make the MapQuest Navigator available. The software will enable consumers to access Global Positioning Service (GPS), turn-by-turn, voice-guided directions on their mobile phones.