Firm offers phone view of Gulf beaches

The BP oil spill has yet to reach the sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast and might not even get this close if conditions are favorable. But that's little comfort to nervous vacationers across the country who are thinking of canceling plans for a trip down here.

Now a local company offers a look at the beaches TV news viewers won't see otherwise. Mobilozophy LLC, a Tampa-based mobile marketing intelligence company, is promoting a webcam link for mobile phones offering real-time images of Clearwater Beach.

“We're looking at every way possible to leverage our technology to help the businesses that serve the travelers who visit our beaches,” says Paul Wray, Mobilozophy managing partner. The company is promoting the text link across the Internet, and prospective visitors can text BEACH to 28766.

Wray says his crew is looking into other ways to promote Tampa Bay tourism through mobile technology. “If we can save even one cancellation or be the reason someone decides to visit here,” he says, “we feel like we've done something to help.”