Introducing Mobile Nations, our new community network brand! 38
Greetings webOS Nation!
This past summer we soft-launched "Mobile Nations", initially using the name for our cross-site podcast that brings together the heads of state from AndroidCentral, CrackBerry, TiPb, PreCentral and WPCentral for discussion on all things mobile.
Today I have the pleasure of more formally introducing Mobile Nations as our new network brand, creating an umbrella under which all of our individual communities stand united. Take note of the new Mobile Nations top bar and footer on this site!
Though our history in operating the leading mobile-platform dedicated websites reaches back over a decade to the launch of VisorCentral in 1999, it feels like we are in start-up mode again, making aggressive plans and tackling our to-do lists with gusto. Forum regulars will have already noticed a number of recently introduced feature enhancements and podcast fans are now able to watch replays of their favorite shows in video. Over the weeks and months ahead you'll see us pull the trigger on a number of other Mobile Nations initiatives currently in the works, all aimed at making your experiences on all of our communities even more engaging and fun.
Thanks for being part of the journey,
38 Comments
Alright Cha Cha, where's the vertical slider on the graphic?
Excellent work, Kevin and team! Glad to be a part of these changes and looking forward to a future with the Mobile Nations!
Smartphone Experts is dead. Long live Mobile Nations!
I'm digging it!
I think the Mobile Nations logo in the upper left of this page should link to the mobile nations homepage.
Hey look. There's a link now!!! Yeah mobile nations link. I shall take credit for there being a link now for the rest of eternity. What? They were probably gonna do it anyways? No matter! I shall still claim credit. Just like when i invented the internet with my friend Al.
oops - I accidentally down-thumbed this post. Didn't mean to.
I do think I should share credit with Al, since I invented the the first computer, playing with my Tinker Toys and Legos one day....
http://www.mobilenations.com/
I couldn't get the MN logo at the top of the page to work for me on the TP !
Looks like with Dieter gone, Kevin felt he needed to make his own brand. Sad to see Smartphone Experts go.
Not the case. A re-brand for the network is something Dieter and I had been brainstorming for over two years. With tablets in existence the Smartphone Experts name felt a bit limiting for our community network brand. Spent tons of time brainstorming it, then it was only a few months ago that the Mobile Nations name came to mind (one morning while I was in the shower if you want the full details). Rene, Phil, Derek, Dan and company and everybody really loved it, we soft launched it, and the feedback was really postive and it grew us on, so we decided to fully embrace it.
Very cool. Thanks for explaining.
It's too bad that the pre|central portion is so far to the right of the Mobile Nations home page that I had to scroll over to even see it! I thought they forgot us there for a minute.
I'm not sure I understand why this site and webOSRoundup are so keen to get cross-platform synergies. I fully realize their sister-sites exist and, if I want information on those platforms, I know where to go (and sometimes do). Why all the ra-ra, in-your-face marketing....? (with webOS, RIMM, and WinPhone lagging, maybe they need to help juice up/subsidize those areas...?)
I did like the device review swaps they did for a while (about a year ago, when Dieter was still here). Otherwise, I'm not sure it adds much value, to be honest. Sorry - just my 2 cents.
Someone here at PreCentral can't understand why the need for cross-platform synergies? Do you not sense a general outflow of webOS users, here, to Android and iOS? That's like someone standing on the deck of the Titanic after the collision wondering why all of these lifeboats are really necessary. I'm sure that Mobile Nations wants to capture users jumping from this site.
No, my point was that they have their sister sites listed at the top of the page and have for years - if you feel like browsing news/devices/reviews in a different area, it's always there.
The incessant cross-posting is slightly annoying - if I want Android news, then I can browse AndroidCentral on my own.
I also read other generic blogs like Engadget and see plenty of the same cross-platform news posted here. I'm sure many other readers do the same.
Well, if you're wanting this site to be only webOS news then there are going to be fewer and fewer posts as the platform winds down.
The forums here are another thing, though. The moderators seem to want to create a world where no other platforms exist other than discontinued webOS devices with no clouds on the horizon. If you want to talk about another platform then your thread is closed. If you want to say something critical then your thoughts are quickly hidden in a thread with hundreds of pages.
Who are you, and what did you do with Derek?!?! HAH! :-) Just kidding! Looking forward to it!
Ha ...Love the Cato, "Pink Panther" reference :-) !!!
this is great - nice title, good way to great focus on non phone mobile products, another step forward for Smartphone experts. (don't see treocentral up top :-( )
Makes sense...the mobile world is no longer lassoed to smartphones. I dig it.
how many people from the visor central days are active?
Feel like a jerk for asking, but does webOS still get to be a part of this in the future
when the only devices left running it are toasters?
my touchpad is not a coaster
This site will gradually morph into a Palm shrine as people list the Palm devices they have owned over the years and then trade software to try and keep them going.
The mobile nations is awesome, even though each love their respected OS they don't talk down another. Just people that like technology, keep it up! You guys should do weekly podcast!
So practically, Palm was the first to have a "Central" and the first to fade away from the group :/...
Eh... Nokia kind of faded away when they decided to join the Windows Phone camp.
The coup was completely unanticipated by Smartphone Experts Ruling Junta, currently in hiding. The SPE Ruling Junta issued a statement:
We denounce the unholy attack on our sovereign websites by the western usurpers! The Junta will fight to the very last byte! Traitors will be dealt with via spam (both electronic and canned) - this means you, Stiffler-Dean! Prepare yourselves for a deluge of forwarded adorable pictures of kittens, lucky unicorn themed chain letters and announcements from your long lost relatives in Africa that you have inherited US1.5 million dollars!
yer gonna get sued by Nationwide for copyright infringment on the logo...
So I'm curious, what was the thinking behind the facial hair. Were you going for the "stranded on a desert island for a week without a razor look"? Had you considered shaving, trimming, or perhaps going with a miami vice inspired vibe?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Nice question. For the photo, that was taken in San Francisco when I had to go there this summer for a publisher summit with our advertising partner. They wanted photos of everybody. I was in Waterloo the week before visiting RIM's headquarters, was going non stop that week, didn't shave for a week, had to fly to SF, rush to the pub submit (probably didn't shower for two or three days)... tossed on a jacket for the photo and that's how they posed me.
So the look for this photo was "no time for myself to try and look good cuz i'm too busy working so here's what you're gonna get for now and will do better photos later when i have more time"
:)
I'm surprised this particular site hasn't gone the way of treocentral
It's funny how people can think they can throw a header and footer site, say the word umbrella and then it all works out okay. This site looks horrible and needs to be redone. At least makes the sister sites cohesive in some way, relating to color, styling, something that makes it looks like youre trying. And someone commented on your pic, about your facial hair. Have some pride in yourself. I know you think its a great pic, but thats you. You have the looking to the side and the spiffy Calvin Klein glasses, the scruff. You're trying too hard.
Ouchie!
Too funny. Think you missed the sentence I wrote about getting ready to pull the trigger on a number initiatives that we've been working on.
I think you'll like the changes that are coming soon to this site. I don't disagree with you one bit. Oh, and the glasses are not Calvin Klein.
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I like the site, but I hope that the logo is just a temporary one while something more imaginative is being thought up!
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