Common help format for mobiles...idea #63/100...

The mobile operator cartels should make using mobiles far easier. Full marks to T-Mobile UK for their online manuals for each device. However, I suggest that operators consider imposing a common online format for all device suppliers so that a central repository of phone manuals can be maintained by each operator.

The repository should be freely accessible (i.e. without registration) and easily located (i.e. not some buried link in the back streets of the web). Users should be able to locate their handset(s), or their friends' (e.g. parents') handset(s) and quickly discover how to use feature x, y or z.

Furthermore, the repository should also be usable as a resource for developers to allow them to compare phone features and specifications easily, which means that it should be searchable. Simple enquiries like "tell me all phones with tri-band support" should be possible, or "tell me all phones with MIDP 2.0"...all those questions that developers frequently post to various fora.

Would it be too much to ask that operators also give a clue as to which phones are currently being sold by them, which phones are the most popular, and how many of each (at least in percentage terms) are in circulation on their networks?

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