Announcing LinkedIn Mobile (includes an iPhone version)
Well, this is the first time I'm blogging on our corporate blog and I've got to thank Mario for roping me into this. Today, I'd like to announce LinkedIn mobile for any Web enabled wireless phones that use the wireless application protocol (WAP). What that allows you to do is access LinkedIn from any mobile device ranging from your Blackberry to iPhone (more on that in just a second).
For those of you who can't wait to take LinkedIn with you on your mobile devices, here's how you access LinkedIn on your iPhone or other WAP enabled devices. All you have to do from your mobile device is log into
The beta product includes a version specially optimized for the iPhone and is available immediately in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese with additional languages to follow.
So, here's a short video overview (3:36) of LinkedIn mobile.
And, here's Jerry Luk, the lead engineer on LinkedIn mobile giving you a quick demo (4:36) of how to access LinkedIn on your iPhone. For those of you who don't have the time to check out the iPhone demo, feel free to check out five key benefits of using LinkedIn mobile (with screen shots below).
LinkedIn Features on your mobile device (as of Feb 24, 2008):
• Search LinkedIn profiles (including photos and bio) to help recall and connect with business acquaintances at events and conferences
• Research the common contacts they have with other professionals to help make real world referrals and introductions easier
• Invite professional acquaintances and peers you meet at events to LinkedIn with just their email address. Exchanging business cards is just not cool anymore!
• Receive regular Network update capabilities about your connections while on the go
• International versions currently launched include French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. More to follow.
We're also working on expanding the mobile LinkedIn feature set to encompass more of the LinkedIn goodness you can access on our site, including LinkedIn Answers and LinkedIn Experts. (Click through the above screen shots for a better view of LinkedIn Mobile).
Stay tuned for our announcements on the blog and feel free to leave a comment here with any feedback.
Quick Tip: Did you know you can create a shiny new LinkedIn web clip for your iPhone homepage using the + button. Click here to learn more.
Related coverage: Reuters, TechCrunch, Web Worker Daily, CNET/Webware, Mashable, ComputerWorld, Silicon.com, CondeNast Portfolio, The Guardian, Information Week, ZdNet UK, Mobility Site, TUAW, Chicago Tribune, eWeek... and I'm sure there's more to come. Stay tuned.
Jeff Martens Feb 24, 2008
This is great news! Any plans to build a Blackberry Application? I've found that 3rd party app's tend to be faster and more reliable than a mobile browser. Facebook is a perfect example.
I just tweeted the other day that I'd be willing to pay for a LinkedIn or Plaxo app for my Blackberry. The offer still stands.
rick Feb 24, 2008
Any blackberry application in the works?
The Facebook blackberry app works so great. Very integrated into the application - rather than just a mobile browser.
Brandon Duncan Feb 24, 2008
The team appreciates your feedback, and we are currently looking into what it would take to develop installable applications for devices such as the blackberry to provide a more integrated mobile experience on LinkedIn.
As our plans get more concrete we'll definitely let you know!
Arik Feb 25, 2008
Hi,
You mentioned that the application is built with RoR. As a developer I would be happy to see a post that elaborates about this choice of technology (instead of making the mobile application with you current technology).
Thanks!
Arik
Blake Ratcliff Feb 25, 2008
There are a few features I'd like to have on see:
- I'd like to be able to search for folks who are not in my network.
- I'd like like to be able to fill in profile info I want to maintain about my contacts.
- I'd like to be able to select more information to export.
- I'd like to be able to create groups and categorize my contacts.
- I'd like to be able to look at my entire list of contacts at once and not have to sort through one letter at a time.
I love what you have done. Keep it coming.
Chris Feb 25, 2008
I just tried out the iPhone interface, and it's very nice, great job guys!
One request that at least I would find useful -- it'd be nice to get an RSS feed of updates in my network. Sometimes it's easy to forget to come look at the home page, and it'd be great to have them come into my RSS reader automatically.
Michael Bryant Feb 25, 2008
I got "502 bad gateway".
marco foellmer Feb 25, 2008
please please launch a native Blackberry Client, like we have this with Facebook.
I would really appreciate the LinkedIN BlackBerry Client.
Thank You.
Ciao Marco Foellmer
Ashish Sharma Feb 25, 2008
Dear Friends,
Linkedin Mobile is a great & innovative step. User will access their Linkedin account at anytime anywhere and stay connect professionally. Congratulations to the Linkedin Team. I use the Linkedin mobile version; it is great at it's initial stage and I hope yet more to come.
benji jasik Feb 25, 2008
The mobile search should have a way for me to email or sms the person and ideally contact them. I'd really like LinkedIn mobile to replace my address book!
Dmitry S. Kochnev Feb 25, 2008
Dear Brandon -
This is cool!
It will be great to add a kind of quick message exchange and also call/sms functions.
Thus, we'll have full vCards at LinkedIn.
Best regards,
Dmitry
sarah Feb 25, 2008
Thats a very good news for LinkedIn. This will enable to users to easily reach out for people on their mobile phones. Liked the way you have presented its features.
Good going!
Rakesh Bhatia Feb 25, 2008
A Blackberry client will be a welcome initiative, going through a mobile browser is still a pain...
Inge Feb 26, 2008
Hi,
What kind of tool did you use to do the video demo? Very useful to see video of the presenter and the screen on the phone at the same time.
BR
Inge
Amit Gupta Feb 26, 2008
Hi Brandon,
Wanted to explore the synergies to work together on the monetization on this new channel.
Please let me know a suitable time to talk.
Thanks,
Amit Gupta
V P Business Development
Rahul Paul Feb 26, 2008
Great job on the intiative!! Keep it up!
Rutger van der Linden Feb 27, 2008
Great initiative!
Small remark: I use a Motorola V3i to connect and get several messages "retrieve modified URL?" before I get a final "could not retrieve requested URL" message.
Something going wrong with redirects or authentication?
I look forward to seeing a fully functional release in the future.
Keep up the good work!
billso Feb 27, 2008
I've been waiting for this. It works OK on my Sidekick 3!
Don Hobbs Feb 27, 2008
I'm using this on my iPhone. Once I get to the m.linkedin.com page, it won't let me type in my email or pw to log in.
Bryan Sheppeck Feb 27, 2008
I'd like to know if any contacts are nearby... "contact finder"... since my mobile phone is location enabled. (Opt-In of course).
Rick Maher Feb 28, 2008
I want to be able to set my status on my iphone, and see the status of those in my network.
matteo Feb 28, 2008
Great news!
are you thinking about the possibility to implement additional features on the mobile version of LinkedIn?
Maybe something that allows the users to share information about their location for business purposes(eg. Dropplr)?
Balazs Benedek Mar 2, 2008
Hi Brandon,
I'm contacting you regarding to LinkedIn new mobile solutions, on behalf of InfomatiX Ltd. We are specialized in extending existing applications into a range of mobile platforms (J2ME, BlackBerry, Symbian, WindowsMobile) using native applications. For more information, please check www.mobiAccess.net.
Should you be interested in coopeartion, please don't hesitate contacting me at bbenedek@infomatix.hu
Kind regards,
Balazs Benedek
Sanjeev Gupta Mar 4, 2008
Well done all,
Would like to see an integrated java or symbian app which can be loaded onto phones as these are often faster than the browser version.
Also, what other features can we expect to see on the mobile version?
All the best,
Sanj
Darla Mar 4, 2008
Great news!! Although while accessing it on my Nokia N95 it seems to always time out when trying to access "Contacts". Could this be because of the amount of contacts that I have?
franco Mar 4, 2008
What kind of tool?
Tim Burke Mar 5, 2008
Yeah, ditto on the BlackBerry app. Since BlackBerry is the front runner for business professionals (certainly not the Iphone, although the Iphone is sexier), it makes sense to build a BlackBerry App for that platform, and perhaps a matching for Windows Mobile platform. We recently built a basic RIM app for Verizon Wireless Marketing teams to use while in the field, and it was built for BlackBerry. Very fast and efficient. I use the Facebook app on my BlackBerry, but often wish LinkedIn had one, since that is my Business lifeline (not facebook). But that said, this is a good first step!! Thank you. I will be using this quite a bit!
Alicia Mar 5, 2008
Awesome! Just added the Shortcut to my iPhone! EXCELLENT progress and THANK YOU! Expanding the 'search' options would make it even better!
Mike S Mar 5, 2008
Please get a BlackBerry applixation as soon as possible. One would have throught you would have done one for the BlackBerry over the iPhone (I mean, LinkedIn is a business site, right??).
Joe Bartolucci Mar 5, 2008
Great job guys on the mobile beta. I've been using the Facebook app quite a bit on the iphone and now love having both. I might make a suggestion to add a tab that allows me to take care of action items that are pending as you do on the site. For example, I can see that someone has sent me a message through LI in "updates," but I cannot actually access that message.
Plus, I would definitely make every name that appears in updates to be linked to their profile. Right now some are linked, some aren't. Any reason why?
Keep it rollin'
Sachendra Y Mar 5, 2008
I would like to see the "Answers" section added to the mobile site as well.
Pradyumna Mar 5, 2008
This is great news! I struggling with the old site on my mobile... LinkedIn is so addictive!
Now there is another reason to remain addicted!
Thanks!
Brandon Duncan Mar 5, 2008
Thanks for all the great comments! Here are some responses:
* We are working on an RSS feed of your network updates. Look for it soon!
* A native blackberry app is on a lot of people's wishlists and we are looking into what it would take to develop this.
* We are looking into SMS integration
* We are planning on extending the new Status feature to Mobile.
Continue to send us all the great feedback!
Erwin van Lun Mar 10, 2008
I am wondering why it is not possible to enter a telephone number in LinkedIn. With any mobile device, it would be very easy to set up a telephone call with always the correct number.
David Mar 11, 2008
Login/password same as on web LI?
Use same exact password on m.linkedin.com, says repeatedly that it's not correct?
Checked multiple times and same result.
Looking forward to using this feature ...
DJ Mar 13, 2008
This is great news. I use my Treo for mobile banking & love it. Let's rally our linked in'rs using other PDAs to help the cause of getting a full integration beyond the iPhone. Thanks, Team!
Michael B. Mar 18, 2008
This should definitely be a downloadable app...m.linkedin.com is too long and scrolly to be useful on a blackberry browser. Look to facebook's example...boil your key interactions into a smaller UI and I'll use it all the time!
Merrell Ligons Mar 19, 2008
It took a while but thanks.
NSIDE Naashville
Ian McKenney Mar 19, 2008
Why make me remember a separate URL?
You can re-direct me to the mobile site based on the device I'm using. Why not take advantage of that?
Jeff Mar 19, 2008
Why not either make the iPhone version the default version for the iPhone browser or offer an easy way to switch to the iPhone version from the Linked In home page.
For example, when I use Bank of America's site, they redirect me to their iPhone version, same with Google they give me an option to switch between iPhone and full version.
For the most part the site was great, I did have one issue using my back button. Since many of the links are just adding #something to the main URL the back button either didn't work or took me back to the login form.
Vincent Ragucci Mar 19, 2008
I got "502 bad gateway".
Payal S Mar 20, 2008
its not workin.....
Gerald Buckley Mar 20, 2008
Really like the iPhone beta version. Couple of things I'd like to see added of course. All in good time. Will be interested to see what you guys whip up with the iPhone SDK and whether you'll charge for it or distribute it free of charge.
Great job guys! Thanks for a tighter app for the iPhone.
Steve Mar 20, 2008
I am very surprised that LinkedIn would come out with web based interface for Iphone prior to an application or interface for blackberry... Considering the blackberry is more of a business tool than the Iphone.
Also it must be said that LinkedIn has yet to come out with a tool bar to support either Imail or Entourage.
Makes no sense from a business perspective...
ARVIND SUKHIJA Mar 25, 2008
Hi
Its Great to know about New Initiatives at Linked-In. Good Its keeping pace with changing technology and providing its services at "FINGERTIPS"...
Cheers
Arvind Sukhija
Bob Mar 25, 2008
In addition to all the shout outs for a BB-specific client, I'd also like to make the same for a WinMo client, as some have asked for above.
You might get just as much traction with a WinMo cab file app as you would with a BB client. Both!!
Brandon Duncan Mar 26, 2008
Thanks for all the comments! Here are some follow-ups to your comments:
Erwin, phone number is not currently a field we store for LinkedIn members. We are looking to support this in the future but you can imagine their are privacy concerns around this that we'll need to figure out before we implement such a feature.
David, you should be able to login to m.linkedin.com using the same credentials you use on the main website. One thing you can do to test this is to navigate to m.linkedin.com in a browser on your home computer (rather than your mobile device). Try logging in.
Ian & Jeff, we are not currently planning on redirecting users based on the type of device they are using. We have gotten feedback from a lot of users as well as consulted other firms who have done this and the consensus is that it actually does more harm than good. The algorithms aren't perfect so some devices will get redirected to the wrong site, and users with more powerful mobile devices (such as iphone) may still prefer to use the main website rather than the mobile version and they will not want to be redirected.
Steve, the main reason we built an iphone optimized version before blackberry was simply because it the effort to implement an iphone version was much lower. From an engineering perspective we had the in-house expertise for iphone, and it's really only about 4k worth of javascript that creates the iphone optimized version. Building the blackberry app would be significantly more complex. But as I mentioned before, we are planning on delivering such an app to our users.
Thanks!
MarkBullard Mar 27, 2008
I have the MotoQ9M and am very pleased to see this WAP version. That said, WAP is really old tech and it would be great to see a WinMobile application. As a Busines Development Executive, I would see real value in such an app and would gladly pay an annual subscription for it.
Please do NOT emphasize the contacts type functionality. If Linked In becomes just another contacts repository, it will have lost its competitive distinction. I (and many others I know)am very selective in who I Link to. Instead, please emphasize the search and network connections experience. That's what sets you apart! Thanks and keep up the good work.
Scott Dalferes Apr 4, 2008
I hope you make it for Blackberry!
Jurgen Bleij Apr 10, 2008
I have recently bought a Nokia N95 8GB and love using it for all kind of online services. Needless to say, I am also a fan of LinkedIn Mobile.
Are there any plans for specific Symbian/S60 support or features in the near future? Alternatively, is there a beta test group or a mobile test group I could subscribe to? Maybe a LinkedIn Mobile user group could be created?
I would love to hear your comments and to participate actively in these efforts.
Kind regards,
Jurgen
Jurgen Apr 23, 2008
A few days agao, I posted a question on the LI Q&A section:
http://www.linkedin.com/answers/using-linkedIn/ULI/212678-2754284?browseIdx=0&sik=1208936818732&goback=%2Eamq
As you can see, this resulted in only one public answer, which isn´t a lot, as I´m sure you´ll agree. Still, I´m an avid fan of LI mobile, so, if possible, I would like to join a beta tester group.
Kind regards,
Jurgen
Brian Apr 26, 2008
Same problem as some other posters here have had - once on m.linkedin.com, I'm unable to scroll down to enter my id or pw. Using just a Motorola V3i, no iPhone yet.
Mario Sundar Apr 28, 2008
Thanks to all for your kind words and comments.
@jurgen,
will definitely consider your request if we contemplate a beta group in the future. thanks!