The MEX Mobile User Experience Awards shortlist was unveiled yesterday, and we’re thrilled to bits to hear we’ve been shortlisted in both the Commercial category and the Innovator of the Year one.

We’re shortlisted alongside some very cool companies, like Vuzix, who make virtual reality glasses - which friends of ours have been known to use to marvel at the back of their own heads - as well as Mobyko and Zeemote.

The winners will be officially announced at a special evening reception in London on 27th May, the opening night of the 4th annual MEX conference, and we’ll be there with our fingers crossed!

Lubna Dajani and David Harper invited me to participate in a panel session at Mobile Monday New York on April 28th. The subject was Mobile Analytics and Social Search. About 100 people attended the event in the gleaming Samsung Experience Center in the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle, and one of the attendees, David Berkowitz, liveblogged the session.

Several people posed me questions on mobile social search. Here are a couple of them, together with my answers.

Why can’t existing desktop search engines meet the mobile challenge?

Well, they are trying to meet the challenge, because there are 27m searches a day already on mobile. But this is just 2% of the volume of desktop search, something is wrong. There is too great an emphasis on showing PC web results on devices that can’t consume PC web pages very well.

How can marketers and SEOs take advantage of social search?

The truth is that today it is very difficult. But there are a couple of early initiatives underway that will change this. At Taptu, we have recently created a search API for mobile content site owners. Moblr, a European mobile social networking site, have integrated this API into their service, to give their users access to the huge range of free mobile content that is contained within the Taptu search engine index.

At Yahoo, the new open SearchMonkey initiative will let site owners bring in some aspects of social search, which may or may not be applicable to mobile.

While in New York, I couldn’t resist the $20 tourist ride to the top of the Empire State Building. The last time I did this was 29 years ago, during my first visit to Manhattan. This time I visited at night, and the cityscape was just as awesome.

I can’t imagine a chemist walks around thinking everyone else appreciates chemistry the way he does. Yet I’ve grown so used to being surrounded by fellow bloggers, Twitterers and Firefox users, I’ve been known to forget that outside of my fun geek bubble, people are still using Internet Explorer, visiting websites rather than using RSS feeds, and are utterly uninterested by the latest web app’s private beta. Like a massive distortion field, I assume that because all my immediate friends and colleagues have the latest gadgets, it’s fair to extrapolate that everyone else does. It ain’t so!

However, looking into my crystal ball, I can see that things are changing. Sharing is becoming so easy and effortless that, in a NYT article, Nokia said “it surveyed 9,000 consumers last year and concluded that by 2012 one out of every four consumers will create, edit or share entertainment with friends, instead of getting it from traditional media outlets like television or movie studios.”

In the US, according to Forrester’s Groundswell Social Technographics Profile (erk, such a painfully dull name for otherwise pretty cool information!), certain segments of the population are already blowing those numbers out of the water. Already, 39% of 18-24 year olds and 30% of 25-34’s are labelled as content creators, while in the UK, they’re 19% and 10% respectively.

With moves like Vodafone’s decision to include 500MB of data to all new monthly contracts, concerns over data tariffs are going to disappear over time and getting your phone out to capture that unmissable clip to share to YouTube, Qik or Flickr will become second nature! If an image is worth a thousand words, these snap videos will be worth a million, whether you’re just looking to share it with your family or, like yours truly, to hoards of readers.

So go on, pick your weapon and start sharing! Yes, even you, mom! It isn’t just for kids and geeks anymore.

On the heels of CTIA in Las Vegas, Mobile Point View hosts the first April Carnival of the Mobilists.

Chetan Sharma writes a roundup of CTIA for those of us who didn’t attend, Michael Mace posts a rather humourous survey conducted by Rubicon Consulting on things you didn’t know about iPhone owners, and I contributed our entry on 20 resources for mobile designers and developers.

The odds are in your favour, you’ll find some great content in this week’s contributions.

Computers shouldn’t be unusable. You don’t need to know how to work a telephone switch to make a phone call, or how to use the Hoover Dam to take a shower, or how to work a nuclear-power plant to turn on the lights. — Scott McNealy (via Usernomics)

Contrary to popular belief, one of the biggest challenges we face when developing an application isn’t deciding what features to put in. It’s what features not to put in.

At least once a month, we get some of our users together to play with the latest prototypes we’ve created. But guess what? Few of those actually make it out of the lab. And that’s a good thing, if we put every feature in, you’d need a user manual bigger than the phone book just to get started!

So why do we hold back on all those funky features? As Kathy Sierra puts it, we want to make sure you can kick ass without having to spend too long below the Suck Threshold. In other words, keeping it simple means you can have a fun, enjoyable experience right away.

Even if we liked complicated, whizzy things with lots and lots of buttons, it just wouldn’t make sense to attempt it on mobile. We want fast, easy-to-digest content when we’re on the move, right?

With this in mind, we still want to add the features you’re most interested in. Is it the ability to post your search results to Jaiku or to send them by SMS? What would make your experience more fun? We’re always listening and we will put the best ideas in place.

If you want to make a suggestion, you can…

• leave a comment right here on the blog
• pop your ideas in the feedback form (you’ll need to register first)
• or drop me an email at vero@taptu.com

What would the mobile search engine of YOUR dreams do? (Other than telepathically order the right flavour of ice cream just when you want it, of course. We’re working on that one.)

Twitter is, at its core, an amazingly simple tool. We really like simplicity and were drawn to it quite some time ago now. Its simplicity also makes it quite powerful, as we witnessed early this morning when the UK earthquakes were first reported via Twitter. It’s also just a hugely mashup-friendly environment, as proven by the smarty-pants at Botanicalls who gave their houseplant a way to call out for help (and water) by twittering. Awesome!

Howard Rheingold from Smartmobs was waxing lyrical about Twitter a few days ago, which got me thinking about why I’m such a fan of it, having posted on average 3.46 tweets a day since December 23rd 2006, when I first joined. (Phew, putting it in those terms, I’m more addicted to Twitter than I am to coffee. Oh dear!)

Howard cites openness, immediacy, variety of content and free-form reciprocity as some of the reasons for his Twitter fandom, all of which I agree with. I really love the quirky morning comments, the whispers surrounding the Apple Store being closed before the next Mac update or the unplanned get togethers over coffee after reading a friend tweeting from down the road.

As a result, a few weeks ago, we launched a new sharing feature on Taptu that allows you to broadcast your search results to your Twitter feed. It’s really easy to setup and it’s a single click to share an item once you’re logged in. Amongst others, Mike Rowehl sounds excited about sharing to Twitter, but as you can see, we’re still polishing things a little, so if you try it out, drop us a line and let us know what you think.

Already two months into 2008, with one of the biggest mobile events of the year behind us, we’ve reached maximum velocity. Without wanting to toot my own horn too much, we’ve done lots so far this year at Taptu. We launched the latest version of our search engine - just in time to play with it at MWC - integrating Twitter and email sharing to make it easier to pass on the results you find. And best of all, we’re having a great time doing it.

Before we jump into this week’s generous dose of writing, I’m taking the liberty of highlighting SkyDeck’s posts as a must-read for everyone. Dan at SkyDeck sounds the alarm on a seriously dodgy company called SJA Mobile (Part 1 & Part 2), who presents itself as a mobile billing service but strikes me as being nothing more than a thinly veiled scam preying on unsuspecting customers who don’t check their bills closely enough. British Telecom once pulled a similar trick on me, but this one hits the bottom of the barrel in terms of disgusting business models. If anyone can help shed light on how SJA Mobile can continue to operate with such unethical processes, please shout!

Now, on with the Carnival…

C. Enrique Ortiz reflects on local applications and getting the most out of a mobile handset, mentioning Google’s local search for Nokia handsets, the long-awaited-and-still-nowhere-to-be-seen iPhone SDK, and the Java ME apps that still seem to be in demand. Diametrically opposed is Mike Mace’s entry on the death of the mobile app, citing splintering platforms, shrinking distribution channels, and rising costs as the killers.

Tarek Esber flags up that, to ease the pain of the fragmented device market, DeviceAtlas has been created by dotMobi, in partnership with Volantis, Nokia, Vodafone and more.

Dennis writes an insightful post on Android’s significance: It won’t have a slick iPhone-like UI, it won’t be the end-all and be-all of mobile advertising monetisation questions, but its “sandbox” approach to allowing self-signed and “safe” Android apps will hopefully boost the mobile apps landscape.

Mobile 2.0

In more than 140 characters, Howard Rheingold at SmartMobs jots down why he’s completely hooked on Twitter, today’s freelancer’s water cooler.

Ajit Jaokar deconstructs how Mobile Web 2.0, a much talked about idea, will be implemented in practice, breaking it down into 11 different possible implementations.

Post-MWC Thoughts

Rudy recaps on the Mobile Monday Peer Awards, which recognised 27 startups from 18 countries during MWC 2008, John Puterbaugh reduxes on the event’s announcements, and Martin reviews the clever WiMAX demos he was privy to in Barcelona.

At SMS Text News, James Whatley throws around some ideas on how Nokia’s currently disjointed applications could be linked together to create a more enjoyable user experience. He also notes Nokia’s rather disappointing answers to some of his questions on stats and synchronising personal information.

Finally, once you’ve had enough of reading, you can listen to Paul Ruppert at Mobile Point View, who shares his podcast with Andy McGuire, GSMA VP, Mobile Innovation Marketplace.

Enjoy the reading and join us next week when the Carnival will be hosted by Mark at Ubiquitous Thoughts!

Following Mobile World Congress, everyone’s got a lot to say about what they think is the Next Big Thing in mobile, so the VisionMobile-hosted Carnival of the Mobilists is a busy one this week.

Go ahead and have a read here, but make sure you also polish up your best entries for next week’s Carnival, which will be hosted right here on the Taptu blog!

This week’s carnival is hosted by Dennis at WapReview, and includes our entry on the mobile phone sommeliers suggested by Japan. Andreas Bossard’s post looking 18 months into the future at gaming in the schoolyard piqued my imagination with its originality. Again, the Carnival is a worthwhile read!

Since the Music Cube quiz went live, we’ve had a ton of people saying they’ve got nearly all the answers. Everyone’s been a really good sport and I have to hang my head in shame at how much better your music knowledge is than mine.

On this Friday afternoon, I asked two of our best office girls, Katie & Suzanne, to put together a few hints for the game. Will they help you get a Perfect Score?

Apparently some people have been having a little difficulty with the Music Cube. So, being complete geniuses and Music Cube marvels, we thought we’d lend a hand (or two).

First hint, the one on the left. Wow, doesn’t that beach look nice? Bliss in fact. You could say it’s comparable to Utopia. (Thesaurus.com, anyone?)

Come on, you seriously don’t have to be from ‘da hood’ to get this one.

Now the one on the right. Most of you aren’t completely lost and have realised that this is indeed India and a Woman.

The woman is standing alone. She is unattached. She’s too Bootylicious for a man.

Hint hint.

Another tricky one keeping you awake at night is “The Knob” in the 00s album category. You’re only putting in minimum effort here, how obvious do we need to make it?

In the same category, our good friend Nohead Girl has been losing weight, isn’t she looking trim? Let’s say one day she’s out for a jog and chooses to catch her breath under the tree’s leafy branches; she would be well and truly sheltered from the sun’s harsh, cancer-causing rays. And if we’re going to be picky the disc looks a bit like a 7″… it’s not meant to. You’re on the right track, just think longer.

Contrary to popular speculation this is not:

• Roast Scotch
• Chicken Whiskey
• Duck Brandy (what kind of duck is that!?)
• Turkey Bourbon
• Pheasant Amaretto
• Partridge Cognac

Or any other combination of Food and Liquor…

We realise Music Cube has probably taken over your life, but if you’ve kept half an eye on the news you’ll know that the lead singer of top 80s artist “sheep/bee/coins” has sadly left the band to pursue his solo career. We are understandably devastated but we’ll plough on…

Fill in the blanks:
Back to our good friend Nohead Girl. (What? We like her!) She is in such a hurry to get home from work to play more Music Cube but unfortunately for her, so is everyone else. Traffic is a nightmare as it’s the [_____] hour. She’s getting angry… her [______] is starting to boil. Take a deep breath, No [______] Girl!

We know you’re not having trouble with this one but we wanted to include it anyway. It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Juice.
Tin.
Timber.
Lake.

Genius.

Hopefully, thanks to our super-useful hints, you can get back to reality now. Hurrah!