IBM is up for taking the web to the common mobile users and has announced various applications and services related to communication, mobile-commerce, mobile social network and healthcare.  On the 10th anniversary of the IBM India Research Lab, IBM has announced its Mobile Web initiative which will be led by India Research Lab and the projects will be incubated at all of the eight labs across the globe.  The applications announced as part of this initiative are:

Spoken Web

The Spoken Web project aims at creating m-commerce sites which will allow for hosting and browsing voice-enabled and voice-controlled mobile sites.  People will be able to navigate using the “Voice Links” and conduct commercial transactions using their mobile phones.

Instant Translation

This service will allow people, speaking in different languages, to communicate using the real-time translator using a mobile device like a PDA.  This technology from IBM is already being used by doctors to communicate with patients in Spanish.  Now IBM plans to take this real-time translation technology to the mainstream users by embedding it in mobile phones, handheld devices and cars.

SoulPad

The Soulpad will allow for detaching your data from the dependent hardware and programs and carrying it in any portable device like a USB drive with SoulPad software.  This data can then be accessed on any computer, Mac or PC, by connecting it with the portable device.

BuddyComm

The BuddyComm application extends the social networks to mobile phones.  This application was developed by IBM in collaboration with Vodafone and it allows for communication between social network friends through a call or SMS using a PC or any mobile device.

Good Samaritan

This application uses mobile devices and IBM’s WebSphere Presence server to store and deliver health records to aid people in critical medical situations.  In case of an emergency, the Good Samaritan application shares the health data with the nearest Emergency center located in the area which in turn notifies the nearest medical aid service and provides them the detailed health records of the user.

The mobile phone penetration is certainly growing more than the PC and in some cases it has even outnumbered the regular phones.  In developing nations where the PC penetration is low, the mobile Internet applications will allow the people to use the power of Internet for conducting business, entertainment, social networking, shopping etc.

IBM, which is very big when it comes to business applications and services, has not been able to make its presence felt in the consumer Internet services space.  I think the reason for this is the inability to rapidly develop, launch and improve the applications.  IBM really focuses on internal research for delivering robust applications whereas consumer Internet is all about taking feedback from your users and then incorporating them into the applications.  If IBM has to succeed in the mobile web space, they will have to bring the announced applications to the market quickly.

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