Highlight HEALTH Goes Mobile

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

As more and more people use cell phones, the Mobile Web — accessing the World Wide Web using a mobile device such as a cell phone, PDA or other portable device — is increasingly being used to access online information. According to AdMob, the world’s largest mobile advertising marketplace, in August 2008 mobile worldwide traffic grew 12.8% to 5.1 billion web page requests [1].

New smartphones like the iPhone are accelerating this use in the mobile web. Indeed, in August 2008 the iPhone saw the largest share increase of any smartphone [1]. With healthcare consumers and professionals increasingly relying on handheld devices to access the web, I’m pleased to announce that a mobile version of Highlight HEALTH is now available.

Standard mobile phones, Blackberries and 3G devices such as the iPhone and iTouch are fully supported. Optimized for the mobile web, http://www.highlighthealth.com enables readers to access all the articles on Highlight HEALTH while on the go.

At the bottom of every article, you can show and post comments. Additionally, there are links to “Email” the full HTML article link, “Bookmark on delicious” or “Share on Twitter”.

UPDATE:

Highlight HEALTH now automatically detects mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, Android & Blackberry and more, and serves an optimized theme instead of the regular desktop theme. Visitors can always switch back to the desktop theme if they choose.

According to a study last year, 75% of people who access the mobile web conduct searches [2]. As consumers use the Internet more than any other media source to research health information [3], I anticipate an increasing number of health-related searches to be done using the mobile web. I hope the mobile version of Highlight HEALTH will enhance its appeal to readers who have busy schedules and frequently don’t have time to read on a computer.

Mobile web users, please give the mobile version of Highlight HEALTH a try and let me know what you think.

References

  1. AdMob Mobile Metrics Report. AdMob. 2008 August
  2. Consumers Stick with Big Search Engines, Demand Mobile Optimized Content. iCrossing press release. 2007 Apr 25.
  3. Research Reveals That Internet Has Become Primary Means by Which Consumers Access Health Information. WebMD press release. 2003 Feb 10.
About the Author

Walter Jessen, Ph.D. is a Data Scientist, Digital Biologist, and Knowledge Engineer. His primary focus is to build and support expert systems, including AI (artificial intelligence) and user-generated platforms, and to identify and develop methods to capture, organize, integrate, and make accessible company knowledge. His research interests include disease biology modeling and biomarker identification. He is also a Principal at Highlight Health Media, which publishes Highlight HEALTH, and lead writer at Highlight HEALTH.