A look at the Palm Pre Application: LinkedIn Mobile

Keep your business contacts even nearer with this free, downloadable application.

The LinkedIn Mobile application lets you stay connected to your LinkedIn professional contacts even when you are on the move. Currently up to version 1.0, the application says it allows you to quickly invite people to join your network – directly from your Palm address book. You can also communicate to your contacts, see their LinkedIn profiles, and find new business contacts on the go.

Once downloaded and connected, the main interface to the application lists your current LinkedIn connections consisting of their name, current position, and a thumbnail image. You are reminded how many connections you have at the top of the page, and you can search through them. This list operates quite quickly so it seems to be cached locally on the device. The main screen also shows the number of invitation requests you have available.

Clicking on a connection brings up a more detailed view of the contact – however the details are fetched dynamically as you click on them – which can take quite a few seconds depending on your wireless connection. The same goes for viewing your own profile.

To add a new connection you need their first name, last name, and email address – this then triggers a LinkedIn “Invitation To Connect” request through the messaging system. The application description indicates you can invite people to join your network directly from your Palm address book – but I can’t see where that functionality is. Also, rather interestingly, your LinkedIn contacts don’t appear in the centralised contacts directory on the Palm which deviates from the model somewhat.

In summary, it’s handy having this information available on the go and it’s early days for the application however, if you have a wireless connection you could just head to the more feature rich LinkedIn Mobile web application.

Category: Social Networking

Developer: LinkedIn Corporation