Insight-Driven Retailing Blog

Yesterday Best Buy launched their m:IQ service, a free offering that backs-up your mobile phone to a private web account, much like Apple's MobileMe and Microsoft's MyPhone. Both Apple and Microsoft charge for their service, but the Best Buy service is free. ReadWriteWeb reports that Best Buy will pre-install the service on the phones it sells. Many phones are supported, but not the iPhone.

Best Buy also launched a website dedicated to Mobile phones. Best Buy Mobile is a portal for news, reviews, how-to videos, and app recommendations that cover the iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and Palm Pre. They also included a useful upgrade tool that tells owners whether they are eligible for a reduced-price upgrade.

These sites combined with Best Buy's joint venture with Carphone Warehouse demonstrate that Best Buy is serious about the mobile market. And it should be. Not only are sales of phones continuing to increase, but they have the potential to impact daily lives in much the same way the PC and internet have in the past. Having long-term influence over a device that everyone owns will be powerful for sure.