Zumobi’s widgets already work on Windows Mobile phones, but now the company is adding Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry devices.
Zumobi is all about offering small “bites” of customized Web content to people via their mobile devices. Zumobi calls them “tiles,” but they’re basically widgets that lead to specific areas of interest, such as news, sports, weather, entertainment and games. Zumobi recently added NPR, AP Olympics report, Major League Baseball as well as Facebook and Twitter, according to Ken Willner, vice president of market development at Zumobi.
The addition of RIM devices greatly enhances Zumobi’s addressable market, he said. The platform will be operable on the Curve, Pearl and 8800 series. Zumobi is working on a version for the iPhone and other platforms.
Zumobi just commercially launched on the Windows Mobile platform this past Valentine’s Day. Users are “bouncing” in and out several times a day. The average time people are spending with the widgets is 25 minutes a day, with visits averaging six per day.
Zumobi offers up to 200 widgets, but it also allows users to create their own widgets as long as there’s an RSS feed. It’s free to the end-user and supported by advertising. Advertisers or brands can sponsor widgets, and banner ads are supplied through the ad network Ringleader Digital.
Zumobi targets the smartphone market because of the bigger screen size and functionality compared with feature phones. The company is often compared with Nokia’s WidSets and Yahoo! Go.
