PRTMobile.com: The Mobile Web comes to the folks next door

PRT MobileI was out for my evening constitutional last night, enjoying the sight of “For Sale” signs on homes throughout my neighborhood, when I spied with my little eye something new and novel. I’ve seen URLs on For Sale signs a couple of times, and always thought that that was a fine way to attract eyeballs to your property. Let’s face it: trawling though MLS listings sucks, so going directly to a property’s URL is a time saver! What I saw last night, though, was even better: a URL specifically geared for mobile phones. “Mobile users, go to prtmobile.com/1908“.

I’d’ve taken a picture, but it was too dark for my iPhone to handle. Nonetheless, here’s a service that’s doing it right: an easy to type (and remember!) URL, so you don’t need to struggle with text entry on your mobile device, and a mobile-optimized display of content without advertising, animations, or overly complex navigation. One photo at a time is displayed, in a reasonable thumbnail size appropriate for a mobile browser. Click the photo to advance to the next one. Simple, functional, and perfectly adequate over a 3G connection while driving through your neighborhood looking for your dream home.

Maybe this is old hat, and I’ve only just now noticed something that the rest of the world has known about for some time. If so, please indulge an old man as he catches up with the cool kids of the day.