From Israel, cell phone apps offer smartphone capabilities

While items such as the AOptix Stratus and SatSleeve help add extra features to smartphones, what about those still stuck with a regular cell phone? Israel-based VascoDe has created a platform that enables any cell phone to use advanced web applications such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype. The system uses a client-less mobile interaction (CMI) platform – which means that user’s don’t have to install software or hardware onto their handset. Instead, the company has created pared-down versions of social media services that enable cell phone users to interact with them. The CMIs present users with a simple text-based listed menu – for example, launching the Facebook CMI will offer a choice of viewing the news feed, posting a status update, viewing a friend’s page or checking their notifications. Each menu item has a number next to it, and users press the corresponding button on their phone to interact with the site. Information is sent via Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, a system similar to SMS, meaning that no web connection or data plan is necessary. VascoDe has so far created cell phone apps for Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Wikipedia, online payments and even video service Skype.