REVIEW: People Mobile not worth the effort

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn’t. If you wish to submit your application or service for review, please contact us at rcrwebhelp@crain.com.
Application: People Mobile
Running on: Samsung M510 with Sprint Nextel service
Yay: Quick access to gossip, pictures and other necessities for celebrity watching. The photo selections are detailed and well presented.
Nay: For $4 per month, the application doesn’t provide much beyond the basics. And the story-sharing function requires the user to build a contacts list that is entirely separate from the one they presumably already have on their phone.
We say: While People Mobile does provide a nice layout and some appealing graphics, much – if not most – of the application’s contents can be accessed for free from wireless Web browsing applications like Opera Mini or Sprint Nextel’s Web site transcoding service. Thus, People Mobile only makes sense for those users already tied into People’s online offerings, or those who are not aware of the numerous other ways of accessing the same information for free, aside from carriers’ data charges.
Review: People Mobile appears to be an effort to cut a slice out of People’s desktop Web site and present it in the most mobile-user-friendly manner possible. The obvious benefits to this approach include a nice graphical presentation and relatively simple layout.
However, the drawbacks speak to the wider mobile Internet problem: Why would a mobile user want to access just a small slice of People’s offerings? Shouldn’t a mobile user be able to access the same features and information that a desktop user has access to?
Our initial stroll through the People Mobile application – built by limelife Inc. – provided quick and easy access to the latest celebrity headlines and pictures. The home screen presents that day’s top story (“Jessice & Tony’s Dinner Date in Dallas,” for example) and then listings for more photos, a “StyleWatch” section, a puzzle and a “From Friends” category.
The application also provided a “News Now” link, which allows one to scroll through the day’s top stories and associated pictures.
The photos section appeared to be a collection of People’s celebrity photos, along with their requisite cutlines. The presentation was smooth and simple. The “StyleWatch” section worked in the same manner, but provided pictures of celebrities in various stages of dress, with photo cutlines providing commentary on their fashion choices.
The presentation of news and photos was simple to maneuver through, with each news item running with a “Read It” or “Share” link. The “Read It” link offered the full story, and the “Share” apparently allowed users to send the story to friends via a cellphone number or e-mail address. This function required users to set up a list of contacts separate from the one that is presumably already in their phone. Thus, the usefulness of such a function – one that sits outside of a phone’s contact list – is questionable at best. Further, our cursory tests of the function did not actually send messages to friends, despite our best efforts.
Aside from the suspect “Share” feature, People Mobile suffered from one major issue: People’s desktop Internet site provides significantly more information, and can be accessed via a number of mobile methods, including Opera’s Mini mobile Internet browser. We suspect those who would value mobile access to celebrity information would want in-depth access to such news, rather than just the perfunctory view provided by People Mobile.
Thus, People Mobile, for $4 per month, provides little reason to shell out the fee.