IBM India to spearhead Big Blue's mobile web entry

25 April 2008

Innovation on the web is not something one usually associates with IBM, known more for its hardy mainframes and in recent times, software services. With accessibility to the net having spread to hand held devices and users moving towards mobile web usage, Big Blue is keen to corner the early-mover advantage.

IBM's India Research Labs has unveiled a new initiative to bring more features and functions to mobile devices in a bid to make them easier to use than computers, as they increasingly become the primary tools for web-based business, education, communication, entertainment and whatever else use the web may be put to.

The initiative will be mostly led from India but is taking shape in eight of the company's global labs across six countries. This programme will entail a number of efforts to bring simple, easy-to-use services to the millions of people in the world who have bypassed using the personal computer as their primary method of accessing technology, and are instead using their mobile phone to access the web, conduct financial transactions, entertain themselves, shop and more.

This initiative is aimed at not just global CEOs and hot shot executives but simple users like fishermen looking up weather reports, farmers inquiring about agri commodity prices and small shops maintaining their catalogues up to date.

"The world is entering the 'era of the mobile web,'  says Dr Daniel Dias, director, IBM India Research laboratory. ''In many countries, the mobile phone has become an electronic wallet, the window to the world wide web, an education device and more, and globally, mobile devices outnumber PCs, credit cards, and TVs."

"Today, we are launching projects that will make a mobile device an even easier to use than the PC, allowing you to do everything you can with a PC and much more."