A Big Week in Mobile

The past few days have seen a number of developments in the world of mobile property search, with news from nestoria.co.uk, loopnet.com, seloger.com, and immobilienscout24.de.

nestoria.co.uk has just announced the release of a property search application using Layar’s Augmented Reality (AR) technology, which will be included with Samsung Mobile UK’s new Galaxy Portal phone. The UK property search engine says we can expect a full run-down on the application, along with a video demonstration, in the next few days.

nestoria.co.uk has just published an interview with Samsung Mobile UK’s head of content, Nick Turner-Samuels, who explained how the new application will work:

“Simply move your phone around you and up will pop the latest property search results from nestoria.co.uk, with details and a simple click for more information or directions to the property integrated into Google Maps. There are plenty of other ‘Layers’ too, with lastminute.com, hotels.com, Barclays and more joining up with Samsung, in addition to all the other companies developing for the platform. Visual search will become second nature to mobile users very quickly, and it’s an exciting space to be in at the moment.”

Meanwhile, US portal loopnet.com says it is “ecstatic” to be releasing its iPhone application, which will give users access to 745,000 commercial property listings. The application displays nearby properties and plots driving directions using Google Maps.

Those on loopnet.com’s free basic membership will have access to “hundreds of thousands” of listings through the application, however loopnet.com says only premium members will have access to its entire property database.

seloger.com’s mobile news follows on from its recent iPhone application update. The leading French property portal must have been reading when we suggested it would have to work to keep up with its competitors in the mobile sphere, because it has just released a property search application for the Android operating system.

Finally, leading German property portal immobilienscout24.de is celebrating the success of its application for iPhone. A statement from the portal claims the application has been downloaded over 100,000 times since its release four weeks ago.

1. Three More Mobile Offerings

   Three more websites have launched mobile-based offerings over the past few days in an effort to attract property hunters on the move. To begin with, global classifieds portal Locanto, which expanded to 10 new countries in early February, has launched a beta version of its mobile website....

2. propertyfinder.com Launches Mobile Version Site

   propertyfinder.com, one of the "big 4" property portals in the UK market, has just launced an iPhone version of its site. The new mobile version allows users to quickly and easily search through all the listings in the propertyfinder.com database from their phone. The new site can be found at m.propertyfinder.com. The site seems to have been optimised to work on the iPhone. Like the trulia.com iPhone application launched earlier this year, it is well designed, easy to used, has smooth graphics and appears relatively fast. propertyfinder.com appears to be one of the first portal sites in the UK to launch an iPhone optimised application for the UK market. The question is, while mobile applications are sexy, are they likely to be used in an serious volume by people looking for property in the UK? ...

3. Nestoria API Now iPhone App

   In the iPhone frenzy that seems to have overtaken the property portal world, UK property search engine nestoria.co.uk is reporting that their API has been turned into an iPhone App....

4. homes.com Joins Mobile Race

   homes.com has made a move to cover all bases with the release of its new mobile website and a free application for the BlackBerry Storm....

5. Mobile Apps from propertypal.com, Corcoran

   Northern Irish property portal propertypal.com has just moved into the mobile market with the release of its application for BlackBerry, iPhone and Android platforms. Meanwhile, New York broker Corcoran Group has launched its application for iPhone, allowing property seekers to search its listings, see full screen photos of properties and receive notification of new listings and open houses....