This is a sponsored review, don’t get me wrong. But since the advertiser has requested a full critique, rest assured I won’t be playing the Mr Nicey on this one… On with the content!

The product site is simplistic. The background is a funny-shaded bluey-purple and the navigation is straight forward. First impressions? This baby would look good on an iPhone. Not so good on a normal PC, admittedly, given the fact that the page is designed to squeeze itself thin enough to fit on the average browser’s viewscreen. The top navigation is self-explanatory. There’s a home button for quick-access to the latest videos. There’s a “channels” button so you can have a good nosey. There’s a “myFavs” icon so you can view your favourite viral videos at the touch of a button, and there’s also a ‘vBox’ (video mailbox - rather cool idea).

The final navbar link is of a wand, which supposedly symbolises “Merlin”, the handy “recommended videos” buddy, who you can rely on to deliver you videos suited to your interests. The search bar, just beneath the site navigation, is incredibly efficient. It works fast and finds relevant videos, only on the odd occasion delivering a quirky search result. For example, type in “Affiliate Marketing”, and not only will you get the usual host of hypey “make money online” videos, but also “The Godfather”. Go figure.

Signup is relatively simple. You fill in your phonenumber, pick a password, then input your e-mail address and you’re all set to go. The site sources its videos from YouTube (possibly other sites - though I can’t confirm) and dumbs them down into a format that means mobile usage is simple and easy. It’s free and it’s impressive. To be perfectly honest, there’s not all that much I’d change besides making the background white (or black - for the sake of cleanness and usability).

Avot mV is the first solution to give mobile users unlimited access to any web-based video by providing an intelligent, content-based search capability that incorporates personal preferences so that users can quickly discover and choose from among billions of videos posted on the Web. Avot mV also provides point-and-click access to videos, making it easy for mobile users to navigate through content providers’ web sites without having to type out long URLs.

Once users select the videos they want to watch, Avot mV transfers the content to their web-enabled mobile devices within seconds, much faster than earlier mobile video solutions. The near-real time playback eliminates jitter, delays and grainy video quality. Mobile users experience the same fast, high-quality video they enjoy at their desktops—or even in front of their television sets. Avot mV also maximizes the size and clarity of the video display by removing unnecessary clutter from the mobile user’s screen. The result is the optimum display possible on a mobile device, no matter what, when or where the mobile user is watching.

The solution lets user organize the web videos in the playlist and watch them on the go. The user can create/add unlimited number of playlists and manage videos on the mobile device. This allows users to watch what they want, when they want by converting their mobile phones to an entertainment jukebox.

As quoted above, the corporate site provides a look at Avot Media itself, giving a little background to where AvotMV was developed. To be honest though - if Avot has plans to make their mobile video site successful, they’re going to have to spruce it up a whole lot more and change the way it’s viewed from a normal computer. Perhaps create a widget for Macs & Vista which people can install - notifying them when new videos become available. An RRS feed or an e-mail subscription would be nice, too, because at the moment - the casual visitor is likely to fly right over the site, enjoy it for the best part of 5 minutes then leave, never to return again. A feature on TechCrunch, GigaOM or Mashable wouldn’t go a miss either - if Avot is looking for some Web 2.0/next-gen surfers to target.

But heck - My marketing side has taken over. Verdict? Swish, lightweight and effective. I’ll buy it. Or at least I would, but the service is free. At the end of the day, I’ll give it a 4 outta 5. Apologies for the lack of blogging these past few days, additionally. I’ve been a little under the weather and have had a few days off school. I’m feeling a little better now though. I knew I could trust ye’ ol’ faithful RSS subscribers, however. Rock on guys (and gals)! Check out Avot’s official blog before you go and check out the gallery of the web-app running on the iPhone. Pretty darn swish.