Check out Mosio: Free, people-powered mobile search

On the 28th of November last year I dropped a note over to Noel Chandler of Mosio asking him if he had any gossip I could report on the blog about his new service.

He replied back whilst I was at the Nokia Conference and promised to shoot me a note when things were moving for Mosio. And they are. Big time.

Mosio is people-powered mobile search — and it’s free (standard network rates apply when you’re sending texts).

Here’s how Mosio works: When you’ve got a question, simply text it into Mosio’s shortcode. People sitting at their desks browsing Mosio (known as “QnAgents”) reply back with answers. Each question you text in returns a maximum of four messages, so you’re not flooded with replies. It’s brilliant for settling a bet or getting a bit of information that you need when you’re out and about.

You can see just how the user-model works with this animation:

I couldn’t give it a go myself as the sign-up form requires a US/Candian number — so if you’ve got a few minutes and a compatible cell-phone number, fly over to mosio.com and try it out. It looks like it’ll take 15 seconds to sign up.

Mosio is an exciting concept — using the power of the web, and people’s inate desire to help others, or, at least, gain kudos from answering a question. The fact that you know the moment you post a reply, it’s going to be sent off by text message to the questionner, is rather compelling.

It’s not necessarily going to deliver the most accurate answers all the time (along the lines of say 82ASK or AQA) but it’s sociality… the fact every answer is freely contributed should stand it in good stead.

They’ve even got a widget you can add to your site!

Do check it out! I’m going to find out if Noel has plans to extend the service into the UK and beyond.