As CNET notes, Second Life is now available on your mobile phone which indicates that the SL platform seems to be plodding along despite Time Magazine’s deliciously wicked pronouncement that it tries too hard to be hip earlier this year.
The mobile client seems to run on most N-Series Nokia’s and many 3G phones, including my old E65 that I exchanged for the 3110C a while ago. And no, this does not tempt me to go back. As I noted in a post in March,
I have no doubt that web and Internet activism influence real world change. Indeed, it is increasingly the case that the web and Internet are the only domains and last refuge of those who are at risk and persecuted. But experiments with SL in countries like Sri Lanka have been a failure, simply because we do not have the necessary connectivity to use it to even a fraction of its potential.
And that’s a real pity.
Though it’s not stopped some from making simplistic assertions about, inter alia, Facebook and public diplomacy, Second Life remains inaccessible in its present PC form to many of us. The new thin client for mobiles may change this and going by their demo video alone – which seems to be running on a Motorola phone – the Vollee solution that does all the heavy crunching on the server end looks very impressive indeed.
Here’s a hint to Vollee – get a iPhone / iTouch client out soon and watch your numbers of mobile Second Life avatars soar.
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[...] virtually amongst the millions of avatars in Second Life alone, esp. now that you could also access the platform thru your mobile (leave aside other MMORPGs) that virtual dispute resolution could be the next growth industry! [...]
[...] devices, which seem to hold far more potential in my mind than virtual reality on PCs, even if Second Life was (unofficially) ported to run on some mobile phones last [...]
[...] than useless experiments (such as getting Second Life to run on mobiles) this technology showcases just what is possible using mobiles [...]