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April 29, 2007
IMS strategies: Synopsis from IMS 2.0 world forum
IMS 2.0 world forum is a must attend event .. I learnt a lot from it. Here is a brief synopsis of where I see IMS is heading to ..
Seek your thoughts and feedback especially you can identify other Operators with an interesting strategy and / or if you attended this event
As I could gather, there are six broad strategies
a) Voice call continuity(VCC) / fixed to mobile convergence
b) Blended voice : voice tied contextually to messaging or rich media
c) SIP without IMS
d) Strategies from device manufacturers(especially Nokia and Motorola)
e) Real time IMS applications (multiplayer games and other such applications that need near real time blended media interaction within a session)
f) Abstraction of the core network
(d) Device manufacturer strategies (d)is the subject of a separate blog
Most of the focus is around (a) Voice call continuity(VCC) / fixed to mobile convergence
This is a pity – but also understandable Operators are most familiar with voice
In its broadest sense, voice call continuity pertains to roaming within cellular and non cellular networks(such as roaming between cellular and wifi networks). A specific instance of this is Fixed to mobile convergence for instance BT fusion
My personal view is:
a) I don’t quite know if I would be interested in FMC as a customer ..
b) I think its being sold on cost – which is not a good idea
c) I think it fulfils an industry goal(fixed and mobile networks trying to get new subscribers from each other’s networks in mature markets)
d) In general, voice is becoming cheap .. so I am not sure that a pure voice play is a good idea
Blended voice(b) and real time applications(e) are interesting but need device support. Devices supporting IMS fully are conspicuous by their absence!
In contrast, devices supporting SIP(c) - but not IMS are very much here and so are applications – for instance movial
Abstracting the network layer through software APIs(f) – is the most interesting – but I felt very few Operators had the vision to embrace this strategy at the moment. The two big exceptions being TIM and Telia sonera - who are doing some very interesting work.
To recap, by abstracting the network layer, I mean : In an IP world, as the Mobile Internet mirrors the Internet, the Operator should focus on the core of the network and leave the edge of the network to third parties. Specifically, this means – identify the elements that can be performed ONLY in the core and then abstract them through APIs. This approach gets us away from the dichotomy of the ‘pipe’ vs. ‘no pipe’. It also means that the Operator retains control.
Finally, Operators in emerging markets like Globe telecom from Philippines were also impressive i.e. they understood the space, the issues specific to their market and how they could leverage IMS in their markets. Harvey G Libarnes, Head of innovation and incubations program , Globe Telecom, gave a very thorogh presentation
Finally, there are some interesting plays : such as Mobilkom with A1 over IP and France Telecom with IPTV strategy
To conclude:
a) At Operator level, IMS is still largely about voice and a defensive approach(such as FMC)
b) Lack of devices is the key question mark
c) Device manufacturers on the other hand have significant leverage(more on that soon)
d) Some operators are going to be very innovative – TIM and Teliasonera from amongst the attendees
Seek your thoughts and feedback especially you can identify other Operators with an interesting strategy and / or if you attended this event
Posted by ajit at 9:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 28, 2007
Nokia s60 Widgets support: Mobile Widgets and the fulfilment of the Mobile Ajax dream
I am getting back to my blogging now and the last two weeks have been fantastic in terms of knowledge acquisition with both the Web 2.0 expo and the IMS world forum in Monaco . For me, the big takeaway from the Web 2.0 expo was Nokia’s announcement for Mobile Widgets in the S60 platform – so much so that I changed my presentation just on the last day at Web20expo to incorporate that announcement
In a nutshell, Mobile Widgets fulfil the vision of Mobile Ajax in unifying the Web and the Mobile Web - and by linking it to specific devices, this announcement completes that cycle full circle.
In the now widely critiqued article on the Web, Mobile web 2.0: AJAX for mobile devices – why mobile AJAX will replace both J2ME and XHTML as the preferred platform for mobile applications development - Part two I said
Ajax, mobile web 2.0 and widgets reduce time to market, encourage innovation and enable a larger target market. By potentially having the ability to develop for the web and the mobile browser at the same time, widgets offer a better value proposition to developers. If widgets can ‘call’ other widgets – powerful applications could be developed from simple components. The biggest factor in favour of Ajax today is the support of small application developers. Developers who stand to make money from widgets. Widgets which could potentially have a large target audience.
I first started tracking Widgets in a blog last year called the dawn of the Widget Widget Web , which said
a) The World Wide Web as we know it, is exploding. From its fragments emerges a new 'container based' Web based on Widgets.
b) Modularization of software and applications is not new. The idea is simply 'moving up the software stack'.
c) The simultaneous evolution of widgets, Ajax and other technologies is no accident since they are all feeding off each other to create a powerful new ecosystem.
But don’t take my word for it: Newsweek called 2007 the year of the Widget and Om Malik and Niall Keneddy have been running an entire conference on Widgets
If you see my original article about Mobile ajax, my real interest lies in the power of Widgets to bridge the Web and the Mobile Web.
The Nokia announcement says: Widgets open up the mobile market for Web designers
Nokia introduces widget support for S60 and takes a significant step in realizing its vision of transforming mobility and the Internet with rich Web 2.0 experiences. S60 will be the first mobile software platform that enables the creation of widgets using familiar standards-based Web technologies. Available to all S60 licensees, widget support enhances the Internet experience on a mobile by bringing a personal Web experience to a personal device.
Why is this significant?
Because it is a logical culmination of a series of rapidly evolving trends .. specifically the realisation of the Mobile Ajax vision in the form of Mobile Widgets(in addition of course, to it’s potential as a rich browsing mechanism where it has become practically ubiquitous in next generation browsers)
Here is the chain of thought .. let’s start with money .. rather the lack of it for developers ..
One of my very first posts have been about Jerry Maguire - with his trademark phrase - Show me the money. Making money on the Mobile data industry has remained an elusive proposition for many developers.
To make money on the Mobile Data Industry, we have to realise that the Mobile Data Industry is predominantly a consumer play .. and we have to work at getting critical mass. Considering the idea of a primal soup - A Darwinian term to define an ecosystem where life may emerge vs. the Killer app – (i.e. we cannot predict a specific killer application – it is better to create an ecosystem from which a killer application may arise) .. then Long Tail applications become important
The Web already has a vast repository of information and services from which Mobile long tail applications could emerge. Thus, we need a bridge between the Web and the Mobile Web – both technologically(unified development paradigms) and commercially(unified distribution models) to get a potential critical mass coupled with Long Tail applications.
To make the Web richer on Mobile devices, we need the Rich Internet Applications (RIA) paradigm to flow on to the Mobile Web. That really gives us two options: Ajax(Mobile Ajax) and Adobe Flex(Flash Lite) . Finally, when you narrow that down to Open standards(which I also believe in) – you end up only with Mobile Ajax.
In application terms, that means rich browsers(and Mobile Ajax is becoming practically ubiquitous in next generation browsers) but more specifically Mobile Widgets because Mobile Widgets are enabled by Mobile Ajax
Which brings us to why this announcement is significant.
We have a lot of content on the Web – all easily RSS enabled. Using the same standards as the Web(Javascript, CSS etc), for the first time we can bring it to specific Nokia devices in a Rich interactive environment (Widgets). i.e. when we can target specific devices, the circle is complete end to end..
The applications(WIdgets) so created can be distributed over the Web. They are simple often monolithic applications that are suited for the Mobile device.
I know that the most common argument against Widgets is: they are too simple.
But .. so what?
Why try to create complex applications which are perhaps not suited for the Mobile device? Why re-invent the wheel when we can first bring existing content type applications to the Mobile Web? Specifically, many applications developers want access to device APIs, which are currently missing(but coming soon) with most browser based development(including Widgets)
I have been saying this for a year now, and even at the IMS 2.0 conference, Mobilkom Austria head of services/innovation Reinhard Wilfinger reiterated the same theme about widgets ..
To summarise my widgets vision/dream: Mobile Ajax = Mobile Widgets = Long tail mobile apps = Happy customers and happy developers
Ahh .. but don’t we already have WAP, XHTML etc etc? .. we don’t need all this new stuff ..
Yes, we always had browsing mechanisms – but not rich enough for customers to be interested in(and consequently pay for).
Look what happened to OpenWave .. when it missed a wave ..
As Andreas Constantinou says in a seminal article called Bye Bye browser
The announcements of the Openwave Mobile Widget, MediaCast and the Openwave Personalization and Profiling System are characteristic of the company’s turn towards content delivery services. However, this turn came too late; with OpenWave’s NASDAQ-listed stocks having fallen 50% in the past 12 months, the CEO resigned in late March and the company announced it was putting itself up for sale. For a publically traded company employing 1,300 people across 26 countries, this a major shake-up. Even more so, if you consider that Openwave’s decline is a far cry from the year 2000 when the company co-founded the WAP Forum and was instrumental in drafting the WAP specification which spawned the mobile browser business.
There is also a shift in the power base to devices(and customers) .. the topic of a separate blog .. But more from the same link (Bye Bye Browser)
While Openwave was banking on the purchasing power of mobile operators to demand inclusion of its browser by manufacturers, it chose to sideline its real customers, the handset manufacturers at its own peril. Handset OEMs who previously were disinfatuated with Openwave due to the lack of flexibility in Openwave’s bundled browser and messaging components were disincentivised to upgrade to Openwave’s v7 browser framework (codenamed Mercury), the basis for MIDAS.
So, the winner in all this is Web standards, Rich mobile applications etc.
The widgets themselves are simple .. deceptively so .. The Nokia announcement has a weather widget, a Reuter’s widget, a Spanish to English translation widget, a chat widget, a photo uploading application, an eBay/bargains type application and so on.
All simple but useful applications – and notice that none of these require access to the device APIs.
And just to offer more proof of the power of Widgets, I saw this post on lijit.com – which shows how powerful widgets have become – effectively saying that the Google analytics widget is now embedded in 40% of all blogs
Wired article snack attack also takes up the same theme.
So, watch this space for sure ..
By the way, if you are wondering about the picture of the blue turtle .. Thinking about ‘dreams of Mobile Ajax’ reminded me of one of my favourite albums The dream of the blue turtles by Sting. In a 'pop idol' world, there are very few artists who still write great lyrics – Sting being one of them and you can see the simplicity and the humanity of this album’s lyrics HERE especially in songs such as If You Love Somebody Set Them Free , Russians and Children's Crusade
Blue turtle Image source: skeletonpix
Posted by ajit at 5:51 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 26, 2007
How should Operators integrate third parties into their network
For the second time in two weeks, I found myselves ‘on stage’ at a major conference and as part of an unplanned event in additional to my original event.
I was just getting down to enjoying IMS 2007 after my panel on Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS and my role as a judge in the IMS developer shootout, when Mark Newman(Informa global head of telecoms and media research and chief research officer) asked me if I wanted to chair an additional panel.
I have known Mark for some time now from my Korea days – a great guy, very clued on and also has long supported me and my work.
When he told me the topic ‘How should Operators integrate third parties into their network’ – I could not refuse! I have been historically ‘pro developer’ and it was great to question two Operators (Mobilkom Austria and Telecom Italia Mobile ) and also Microsoft about developers.
Our panel comprised of Mobilkon Austria head of services/innovation Reinhard Wilfinger, Mario Bonnet from Telecom Italia Labs and Sam Christie(Microsoft IMS – but also ex chief architect Nortel).
Firstly, you have to understand my perspective – I believe in co-operation and with various parts of the ecosystem working together by understanding each other’s view points. Thus, while it would be easy to create controversy - and believe me, it does get you some coverage if you end up with a panel ‘throwing chairs’ at each other – in my view, that’s the wrong way to go.
For instance, for all my talk of opening up the Walled gardens, I presented a contra point of view to Tim Wu’s article on net neutrality – and Tim Wu himself commented on it with my document being included in subsequent versions of Tim’s paper.
So, my overall goal was not go about criticising the Operator – but rather on ‘what can we learn from each other’ and ‘what would the most useful things for developers to know’.
To clarify my personal bias, my view is: in an IP world, as the Mobile Internet mirrors the Internet, the Operator should focus on the core of the network and leave the edge of the network to third parties. Specifically, this means – identify the elements that can be performed ONLY in the core and then abstract them through APIs. This approach gets us away from the dichotomy of the ‘pipe’ vs. ‘no pipe’. It also means that the Operator retains control.
So, my questions were
1) As a Gedankenxperiment (I love that word as you can see if you read my blog) if a developer knocked at an Operator’s door, what would be the advice from the Operator?
2) How is the Operator enabling Long tail applications?
3) What are the key success stories of working with third parties?
4) In a world, where companies are now fighting for developer support(think beyond telecoms here to also include Google et al but also Nokia) – why should the developer go to the Operator in the first place?
5) And the final question was: What specific elements does the Operator see themselves abstracting through APIs(if any)?
My inital observation was: there are not enough ‘Pony tails’ and women in the audience.
In other words, we are still an incestuous community – mainly Telecoms engineers – comfortable with an accepted view point. Although that is changing – too rapidly for some and too slowly for others – the room still reflected people who are at consensus with each other.
Here are the interesting insights that came out from the panel
a) TIM is doing some very interesting work on abstracting the network. This is a topic for a separate blog. I am always on the lookout for Operators who are changing and TIM seems to be one of them
b) Reinhard mentioned that in one case, they went live in about one week with a developer. That’s very interesting (even if with caveats)
c) Widgets are the way to go to hit long tail applications(again Reihard). Spot on! I could not have put it better myselves – and I have been saying that for more than a year now
In a nutshell
As more mobile devices support the full web(CSS, JavaScript etc etc), they support Widgets(through Mobile Ajax)
Widgets span the Web and the Mobile Web – thereby using the same code base.
They are simple and monolithic.
The data source can be on the Web(same as for the Web widget) and RSS could be used to feed the same widgets(web and mobile)
Widgets can be distributed over the Web – so you are no longer confined to being on portal (or not as the case more often is)
d) Mario and Reinhard – partners are not a single dimension i.e. some are closer others are not. Thus, Microsoft is an important partner but Microsoft is also a partner through which they can accept a smaller company. Actually, it may be a better idea for a smaller company to go through a larger partner – specially if the application hits the network elements.
e) Mario and Reinhard again .. What’s the business case? Everyone wants 100,000 euro. But what’s the upside for me? More importantly, what’s the downside(risk) for me?
f) Mario and Reinhard yet again .. Most people don’t consider the impact of customer service. That’s a huge cost to us and a major factor in rejection
g) Sam – Long tail and customer support don’t go together as in the case of other (non long tail) apps. It’s a matter of better options(web) and customer education
h) Sam – (and this is brilliant!) – A list of elements that could be potentially abstracted .. Location, billing(micro payments), Messaging, Call placement and control, Presence, Bandwidth policy(on demand/peak etc), media processing/IVR and of course Identity
i) Reinhard – countering call placement and control as an API level abstraction – but we use SIP – SIP is open. (Skype by contrast is not)
j) Sam – as a counterpoint – it should be as easy as BT 21CN
Update from Sam:
When I referred to the efforts of BT as noted in item J above, I was using their SDK as an example of telecom making its services available for use by "regular programmers". See web21c.bt.com for more information about their offer. As I said in the session, my teenage kids can use this SDK to make calls. Until telecom can be this easy to leverage, others will have the mindshare leadership.
k) 21CN is a standard to aspire for – everyone agrees.
l) Sam – yes, we can partner – but we have to also face reality – our competitors are much more nimble and aggressive(Google and Yahoo). We will partner with Operators where we can – but where we can't – the market will dictate that we seek other alternatives
Update from Sam:
My comments regarding partnering with carriers are captured in a more negative tone than is appropriate. Microsoft strategy is to partner with carriers to deliver services, much as we have partnered with Dell and HP in the past to deliver software. We will work with the best willing partners. As the point captured above makes clear, we have competitive threats which we must meet. This is a call to step up to the challenge, not the threat which is captured in the original post.
m) Reinhard – Would developers come to me(Operator) as first port of call? No! (A fantastically frank answer!).
We control ‘x’ percent of the market(and I forget the percentage i.e. mobilkom’s market share). But that still leaves the rest of the market unaddressed. So, no .. Developers should think of addressing the whole market because any Operator will control only a portion of the whole. This mirrors my thinking as well. A carrier deal may not be the best option in all cases.
Update from Reinhard: I stick with my frank answer, but please add one more point: although we only have a market share of overall 40 percent, per segment this may be quite different, e.g. we have a 70% market share in the business segment. Given that, it may still be a good option for a 3rd party developer to go to mobilkom, especially if he is not going for the same market share that we have. If his service may hit the ceiling (in his niche) at 20% market share, it may be the best option to partner with us and get a penetration of 50% of mobilkom's 40% market share.
So, that’s it
If you have questions, please comment and I will try to get answers
Many thanks to Sam, Reinhard and Mario
And of course, thanks to Mark Newman. Its great to be able to speak three times at a conference like this.
Update from Reinhard: Operators have to assure privacy of their customers, there are a lot of legal restrictions/regulations, e.g. we are by law obliged to prevent SMS-Spam.
Any external service provider violating has to be put offline immediately, otherwise mobilkom austria as operator is hold liable. So we have always to question: "opening the network means exactly WHAT? for the privacy of our customers ?" This is different to the Internet world, and the problems there with e.g. Spam, Spyware, Popups, ... must not swap over on personal devices like a mobile.
Posted by ajit at 3:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 25, 2007
Mobile as the seventh mass media ..
I am at the IMS 2.0 conference in Monaco. It’s a fascinating conference hearing different views and I am glad I am attending this (all three days) – for free since I am a speaker :) . At this conference, Tomi Ahonen gave the keynote for this conference. It was a usual Tomi performance and he touched on his favourite theme – Mobile the 7th Mass Media is to internet like TV is to radio .
In the previous evening, Tomi had been speaking to me about this idea in the lobby of the Fairmont and trying to ‘convert’ me to his way of thinking. In a nutshell, the Mobile is the seventh mass media idea is based on five principles which make the Mobile device truly unique
First, the mobile is personal
Secondly the mobile is the first always-on mass media
Thirdly the mobile is the first always-carried mass media
The Mobile is the only Mass Media with a Built-in Payment Channel
It is available at the point of creative impulse
And all this, he wraps up with the idea of ‘like magic’
Tomi asked me for my technical perspective on this article.
My view is: this idea of ‘like magic’ is a refreshing change because it seems to depend on simple ‘compartmentalised’ technical innovations such as 2D barcodes
So, the focus could be to first chart these innovations and then see how media can be fitted around it.
This is different from taking existing media/content and retrofitting to ‘Mobile’.
The starting point varies. Traditionally, we start by taking media and then retrofitting it to mobile.
In contrast, the seventh mass media approach would start with a ‘fantastic customer experience from something uniquely mobile’ (such as 2D barcodes or Shazam) and then retrofit media to that experience.
One example I can think of is: the Oki's MobileIris app
According to Wired ..
Tokyo gals stopped carrying cash and Visa cards back in the 20th century. Now when they want to buy stuff, they just swipe their phone as if it were a credit or debit card. But the convenience may cost them if they're careless. Keitai thieves can help themselves to millions of yen in addition to running up overage charges. One way for girls to safeguard their moolah: Upgrade to a phone with Oki's MobileIris app and snap a pic of one of their peepers. The iris-scanning software (which works on almost any 1-megapixel phonecam with focus and flash capabilities) keeps mobiles on biometric lockdown until it matches the user's eyeball to the one on file. No match, no sale!
Not sure how much this conforms to the original article .. but thats my view ..
Posted by ajit at 8:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 24, 2007
Lanetro Zed symposium and Peter Cochrane ..
Last Friday, I spoke at the Zed symposium organized by Lanetro Zed
at Sotogrande in Spain
Besides me, the other speaker in the morning was Professor Peter Cochrane. Peter is a legend in the industry and it was great to meet him for the first time. Also, we discovered that our presentations had remarkably similar themes and messages although independently created – which was very flattering to know
I learnt a lot in the day. The focus of my talk was on Web 2.0, Mobile Web 2.0 and User generated content.
Peter Cochrane talked about the future – but some of what he talked of – was reflected in my talk as well (which pertained to the present). I was followed by Mr Javier Perez (La Netro Zed cofounder) – who talked about the implementation (i.e. how Zed was incorporating these ideas into their product set). And finally, in the afternoon, various Operators and key industry players talked about how they are actually changing (for instance flat rate seems to be coming in many regions).
Thus, I was left with the thought that much of the future is here and now and we have many new and interesting services to look forward to
Many thanks to Ana, Maria and Eduardo for the flawless organization and to Mr Perez and Zed for inviting me over. The lovely Ana especially seemed to defy the laws of physics by being in more than one place at once!
I was especially impressed by Peter’s talk. It was great to meet Peter and his charming wife Jane. Peter was head of Research and CTO at BT and Peter's PhD was pivotal in BT deciding to go all-digital and all-optical in the 1970's
There are many things I could pick up – even with casual conversation – for instance: at lunch – someone asked ‘What would be Peter’s advice to Telcos? – (considering he said in his talk that very few would survive in the next few years in their current form)
I think his answer was: As the mobile network mirrors the Internet (and by extension – value shifts to the edge as opposed to the core), the Operator can survive only by leveraging what is in the core (and ONLY in the core). This means (in my view) – Identity, Payment, Location, Customer profiles.
Its little things like that ..
In the presentation itself, there were many cool things for instance 405 the movie - which is the most viewed movie ever I believe.
However, the historical perspective of industries in transformation was even more interesting for me. For example: Supermarkets went through a dropping profit margins (22%, 16%, 8% and ultimately to as low as 2%). Operators may also go through the same – hence the consolidation and the need to rethink the business model.
I look forward to meeting Peter again soon ..
I will also be following Zed more closely. Much of their new strategy is very consistent with Mobile Web 2.0 - and it is great to see content players evolve in the new world of User Generated Content
Posted by ajit at 2:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 22, 2007
IMS 2.0 forum in Monaco: workshop on Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS
I am at the IMS 2.0 forum in Monaco and conducting a workshop on Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS and also judging IMS application developer shootout session.
If you are at this event, let’s meet. Please contact me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com
Posted by ajit at 11:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Telefonica announces fixed price .. Voda also on verge of making changes ..
Apologies for the radio silence, been travelling (San Francisco, Malaga and now in Monaco). I attended an event in Malaga organised by Lanetro Zed - attended by many Operators.
More on this soon .. but a quick insight is: fixed price will be the norm rather than the exception now.
Telefonica announced a rate of one euro/day. Telia sonera also announced a flat rate(forget details).
At last we seem to be moving towards real progress in this industry! Its great to see the changes.
Vodafone also appears to be announcing some big changes.
Ray De Silva from Vodafone gets my vote as someone who, in my view, has the vision and the mindset befitting the new world of Telecoms.
Watch Vodafone for some significant changes soon.
Posted by ajit at 10:53 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
April 18, 2007
Did you attend my keynote session today at O Reilly Web2.0 expo?
It was great to moderate and speak at the keynote session at Web 2.0 expo yesterday. With more than 3000 people in the room, this was one of the largest audiences I have addressed. Many thanks to our panel Mike McCue, President, CEO & Co-Founder, Tellme; Ilkka Raiskinen, SVP, Multimedia Experiences, Nokia ; Paola Tonelli, Head of Center, Group Research and Development, Vodafone Spain
If you were there, please comment here to say ‘Hi’. From the stage, all I could see was ‘bright lights’ ! Today, I am doing my original talk on Mobile Web 2.0 (I was a last minute replacement for the keynote - thanks to Jen, Brady, Surj and the other folk at OReilly for considering me for the keynote)
Posted by ajit at 4:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 16, 2007
My keynote at web20expo + other talks in San Francisco ..
Hello
I am In San Francisco now. My apologies for the delay in responding to emails.
In addition to my original session at Web 2.0 expo(on Mobile Web 2.0), I am now also a part of the Keynote session on Tuesday - and that has changed my schedule.
I am also way behind in my emails. So, apologies for delayed response if you are waiting on something from me.
If you are attending any of the sessions below, please come over and say Hi!
So, the three sessions I am speaking at in California in the next three days are:
Web 2.0 expo: Keynote Mobile 2.0 on Tuesday morning
Web 2.0 expo: Mobile Web 2.0 on wednesday afternoon (the original session)
and also
Mobile Monday Silicon valley at Berkeley(monday evening): Location based tagging of user generated content via GPS.
Posted by ajit at 7:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 14, 2007
forumoxford future technologies conference: Wow - what a day!
forumoxford future technologies conference was absolutely fantastic.
What a day!!! what else can I say .. Absolutely perfect.
Please post your comments here
I am in San Francisco and then Malaga and then Monaco in the next two weeks back to back .. so mad schedule .. but I will try and post when I can ..
On behalf of Tomi, Ajit, Peter and Rebecca - Many thanks for everyone who made it a success!
Posted by ajit at 3:36 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
I am also moderating the mobile 2.0 keynote panel at web20expo ..
Hello,
I addition to the Mobile Web 2.0 session on wednesday, I am also moderating the keynote session on Mobile 2.0 . This should be very interesting because we have a great panel. I look forward to seeing you there(the session description is being updated)
Posted by ajit at 3:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 11, 2007
Mobile Monday Silicon Valley/UC Berkeley: Speaking on location based tagging of user generated content via GPS
I am speaking at Mobile Monday Silicon Valley/UC Berkeley on Location based tagging of user generated content via GPS
Short notice, but this should be an interesting event! Thanks Mike and Mobile Monday Silicon Valley for putting this event as a special / one off event.
This is the holy grail of Mobile Web 2.0 and the first time I am speaking on this topic.
More details at Mobile Monday Silicon Valley
Posted by ajit at 7:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 10, 2007
Carnival of the mobilists No 68 ..
At Chetan Sharma's blog. A great read especially the winning post .. Andreas Constantinou
Posted by ajit at 1:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 8, 2007
The four holy cows of the Mobile Data industry
I am speaking at the O Reilly Web 2.0 expo next week on Mobile Web 2.0. The Web 2.0 expo is well worth attending for all the latest developments about Web 2.0. If you are attending this event, happy to meet up – please email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com. You can buy the book at this link Mobile Web 2.0
My views of the Mobile Data Industry are different from those followed by the industry as a whole. Here are four ‘holy cows’ which I think are not so sacrosanct on reflection. Inbuilt in these ideas is the belief that the Mobile Data Industry is a different incarnation of the Internet. So, here are the four principles, which we take for granted today, but are severely limiting the industry.
a) The obsession with Mobile Youth: I have blogged about the belief that Mobile Youth is a fundamentally flawed strategy . Many in the industry will disagree with this. We have been lulled by the success of the Youth downloading ringtones and simple mobile games. So, we assume that a focus on the Youth is the way to go in future. The IPTV industry does not write reports about ‘IPTV youth’, the fixed line industry does not write reports about ‘Fixed line youth’ – but yet, we, with a gollumesque glint in our eyes, we continue to claim a whole demographic when we talk of the idea of ‘Mobile Youth’. Youth ofcourse don’t care – nor do they want to be owned as such. All they want to do is communicate.
Four years ago, they used text messaging. Today, they use MySpace. In both cases, they are communicating – but in the later case, mainly immobile.
Yet, for those who continue to insist about the long term significance of Mobile Youth, here is a question: Is the Web mainly gay? The answer ofcourse is no. However, in the early days of the Web, the gay community was indeed an early adopter to the Web leading to Kara Swisher(author of the book AOL.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web) to say: "The gay community was a godsend for the company(AOL)"
However, as the Web grew, it became pervasive i.e. for everybody for instance, Online dating has shed its stigma as matchmaker for the awkward and a WeddingChannel.com study showed that 12 percent of engaged or married couples met online
Thus, only by addressing everyone(not just the early adopter segment), can the Mobile Data Industry hope to cross the chasm if we apply Geoffrey Moore’s concepts to the Mobile Data Industry
b) User interface(UI) is the key factors for success: Don’t get me wrong – user interface and usability are indeed important but not to the extent that they cripple the ability to communicate. In other words, if you had something which was difficult to use BUT allowed you to communicate with everyone, it will thrive. SMS is clunky to use. But it connects people. It allows people to communicate. So, UI is not as critical as is the ability for us to communicate using a technology. Think about this when you want to create proprietary clients which have a limited user base(and need new users to download that client)
c) Quality of service(QOS) is a critical factor: Well .. Yes and no. Like UI, QOS is important. It is not critical. Under the guise of QOS, we slow the introduction of new services and hope to charge more for emerging services. Worse, when it suits us, there is no guarantee of service as in SMS (let alone the quality of service!) For instance, when we send an SMS, there is no guarantee it will be received (but we will merrily pocket the money for all SMS messages – whether they are received or not). Until Offcom slapped mobile marketers’ collective wrists , TV shows continued to charge people for voting under very dubious circumstances.
d) The Mobile Data Industry is different from the Internet: This one is the most interesting. As an industry, we want to adopt the growth rates of the Internet – but we are unwilling to adopt the ethos of the Internet. There are a few notable exceptions such as Opera, Three, Soonr and Nokia. Consider the case of Nokia. I was recently on a panel with Jari Hämäläinen, Director Strategic Technologies, Multimedia Strategy and Technology - Nokia at the Visiongain's fixed to mobile convergence conference . In his presentation, Jari said that Nokia chairman Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo believes that Nokia is going to be an Internet company .
This is very interesting for two reasons: Firstly, If Nokia does succeed in truly becoming an Internet company, then the upside in growth is far greater than it is seeing today. Secondly, the assertion that Nokia is an Internet company is an exception rather than the rule in the Mobile Data Industry. (We don’t want to be known as ‘Internet companies’ – Mobile is ‘different’ remember :) )
But, what does this mean for Nokia? I believe it means: putting the customer/services first and allowing the customer to communicate through ANY network they want. In practise, I believe it will mean allowing the customer to use either 3G, WiFi, WiMax, DVB-H etc. That’s a simple but a powerful mind shift. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo’s profile says that he is interested in political history. If you read history in general, especially the history of the Internet, this makes perfect sense. I am reading a book called The Internet Galaxy by Manuel Castells (thanks Dr Mark Searle for recommending it to me!). First published in 2001, it provides an interesting insight into the culture of the Internet when Manuel Castells says that: The Internet culture is characterised by four layers: The techno meritocratic culture, the hacker culture, the virtual communitarian culture and the entrepreneurial culture and then goes on to say: The culture of the Internet is a culture made up of a technocratic belief in the progress of humans through technology, enacted by communities of hackers thriving on free and open technological creativity, embedded in virtual networks aimed at reinventing society, and materialised by money-driven entrepreneurs into the workings of the new economy
If we understand those last two sentences from Castells(and that’s where I think Nokia or any company which truly defines itself as an Internet company is coming from), then the upside for whoever can tap on to these ideas on the Mobile Internet is truly enormous.
Finally, let us end up where we started – cows! Genetically modified ones to be precise .. The entire science of Genetics was started by Gregor Mendel – an Austrian priest. So, although these views are different from the norm, an outside/different perspective(as per Mendel’s experiments) could enrich the Industry as a whole.
Two final points
a) Although not religious, I am Hindu by birth – so hopefully no one complains about the reference to Holy cows :)
b) Secondly, I am not always critical of the Industry. In this seminal entry Of OpenGardens, Walled Gardens, Tim Wu, Net Neutrality, Carterfone and IMS I advocate against legislation and for cooperation.
Comments welcome as usual. If you are attending the O Reilly Web 2.0 expo next week, don’t forget to attend my talk and email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com if you want to catch up
Image source: http://www.londonstimes.us/toons/cartoons/joel_holycow.jpg
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April 5, 2007
Of Web 2.0, Mobile Web 2.0 , Blue chairs, Blind men and Elephants
I will be speaking at the O Reilly Web 2.0 expo. If you want to catch up for a meeting, please email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com
I often start a talk about Mobile Web 2.0 using the slide of the Blue Chair. It looks like a silly slide – because all it says is 'A blue chair is a type of chair'. However, I believe that it is one of the most important slides in my presentation because it sets Mobile Web 2.0 in context of Web 2.0
As McKinsey legitimises the usage of Web 2.0, I find it amusing that people still insist on creating their own definitions of Web 2.0. There is nothing wrong of course in attempting to create your own meme of Web 2.0 (independent of the O Reilly definition), but that definition must be strong enough to stand intellectual scrutiny.
If not, your new definition operates in intellectual vacuum.
When I first saw the seven principles of Web 2.0 in Christmas 2005, like for many people, it was an ‘aha’ moment for me. These principles brought together many things we knew individually but missed collectively. That last bit is very important, because the idea was to get the big picture i.e. all the seven principles – not just a few(and if you miss that, you will insist that Ajax = Web 2.0!).
There are three types of intellectual stumbling blocks to the acceptance of Web 2.0 :
a) Firstly, people who create their own definition of web 2.0 independent of the O Reilly definition. Strangely enough, they are deluded into believing that they can still create a different meme of Web 2.0. This tribe has thankfully decreased – but in the early days, you saw many of them
b) Secondly, people who create web x.y where x>= 2. This group includes all definitions of Web 2.5, Web 3.0 and so on – independent of the definition of Web 2.0. If someone comes across with similarly succinct definition of Web x.y as that of Web 2.0, I am happy to listen to it. So far, I have seen none.
c) The third group is the most common. They remind me of the parable of the Blind men of Indostan and the elephant. They latch on to a part of the definition of Web 2.0 – and like the blind men in the parable, they miss the whole elephant .
Which brings us back to the chairs ..
When I say .. a blue chair is a type of chair .. silly as it sounds, but by that I mean: you can’t define a concept in isolation.
Specifically, Mobile Web 2.0 cannot be defined independently of Web 2.0. Mobile Web 2.0 is not a new meme – it is a sub class of an existing meme(Web 2.0)
On reading the seven principles of Web 2.0, my first impression was: They were excellently thought out. However, the sixth principle was interesting for me, because it talked about ‘Software Above the Level of a Single Device. However, all it mentioned was the iPod. Being based in Europe, when we think ‘Mobile devices’ – we think ‘Mobile phones’.
Therefore, to me, there remained the possibility of expanding this segment of the definition (Principle six).
BUT .. I did not want to be a blind man of Indostan (inspite being born in India :) )
The Blind man definition(pick up bits you like and then extend them to other settings) – is an intellectual cop out and lazy thinking.
Thus, the next logical question is: How can you encapsulate all of the seven principles into a single idea? (the objective being of course – that if I could do so, THEN I could extend it to Mobile devices! – and consequently – it would not be a ‘blind man’ definition.
This led ironically to one of my shortest blogs and the most successful one till date.
It’s key insight was: Tim O Reilly's seven principles of Web 2.0 make a lot more sense if you changed their order and then realise that the second principle(harnessing collective intelligence) encapsulates all the others. Tim commented on that idea on the O Reilly radar
So, now if we accept that Web 2.0 is harnessing collective intelligence – then Mobile Web 2.0 becomes a case of ‘harnessing collective intelligence through Mobile devices’
The only small question which remains is: What exactly is a mobile device?
For the answer to that question, I used Barbara Ballard’s Carry principle
So, there you have it –
a) Web 2.0 can be encapsulated as harnessing collective intelligence
b) Mobile Web 2.0 can be thought of as harnessing collective intelligence through Mobile devices and
c) ‘Mobile devices’ are defined by the Carry principle
So, this is what I blogged about in the Three Characteristics of Mobile Web 2.0 and we (Tony Fish and I), later adopted that definition for our book Mobile Web 2.0
Finally, why attempt to attack existing definitions and create new one?
Because shooting down something without understanding it is the quickest way of getting attention - ask any blogger - negative blogs always get traction – but the McKinsey study shows me that good quality thinking survives in the long run!
I will be speaking at the O Reilly Web 2.0 expo. If you want to catch up for a meeting, please email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com
Comments are working on this blog finally - so please feel free to comment.
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McKinsey Global Survey: Tim O Reilly must be having the last laugh ..
The McKinsey quarterly had a recent article on How businesses are using Web 2.0: A McKinsey Global Survey.
Requires a free registration – but well worth a read.
I am a paid subscriber to the McKinsey service and my yardstick is: when McKinsey write about it – it’s mainstream.
Considering how much flak Tim O Reilly received when he put forward the seven principles of Web 2.0, I guess Tim must be having the last laugh.
The adoption of Web 2.0 by corporates is even more interesting. I already follow Dion’s work on Web 2.0 and Enterprise and am helping Hinchcliffe and co in their expansion of Web 2.0 University to London
So, have a look at the McKinsey report and also these three other blogs on the same theme from Dion :
The rise of the DIY phenomenon
The challenges of moving the Web-based world into the enterprise
Emerging new ideas for SOA architects
I am very much looking forward to meeting Tim when I am speaking at the O Reilly Web 2.0 expo
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Carnival of the mobilists No 67 at wap review
Carnival of the mobilists No 67 is at Wap review . As usual, makes great reading!
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Welcome home to the Royal Navy crew members!
from the BBC
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April 4, 2007
CTIA 2007 roundup
by 
By Chetan Sharma
Orlando was the venue for CTIA Wireless 2007. Pre-show events include Mobile Entertainment Live (Billboard), day long seminars on Mobile Advertising and Emerging Technology. The main themes from the show were Mobile Advertising, NFC and Mobile Payments, Mobile TV, and WiMAX. This note summarizes the observations, interviews of executives, pre-show briefings, and commentary from the above shows.
First let’s do the numbers Just before CTIA, M:Metrics released some numbers from their most recent survey. At the end of 2006, amongst the western nations, US had approximately 11% 3G penetration with Italy leading the way with 27%. Photo messaging is picking up reaching 15-30% penetration in most markets. CTIA also released their survey numbers. 233M subs, 76% penetration, and $8.7 billion for the latter six months of 2006, up 82% from $4.8 billion in the latter half of 2005. You probably already knew most of the above after reading our research note here. Instat reported that for the first time the handset replacement market was greater than the new purchase market. Replacement market is expected to take 80% share by 2011.
Keynotes Attendees come to keynotes to be inspired, to get a sense of the direction of our industry. Unfortunately, some use the opportunity as a sales platform and rehash of press releases. What a waste of time and the platform. What an insult to the audience. I thought the best keynote came from EMI CEO Eric Nicoli, who first eloquently laid out the potential of the industry and then brought us back to reality by outlining the hurdles that we need to overcome to realize the potential. At the most basic level, it is all about simplicity, valuable functionality, and the right pricing. However, the highlight of the show was being in the same room (along with a few hundred others) with two former heads of state – Presidents Bush and Clinton.
Mobile Advertising As expected, the hottest theme out of this CTIA was Mobile Advertising. The pre-event seminar on the subject was packed with discussions and viewpoints from all parts of the value chain. The involvement of agencies was refreshing. They can help guide the industry by articulating the needs of the brands and agencies in an overall advertising framework, develop standards, and not develop point solutions that won’t scale beyond MDF campaigns. But they are keenly aware of mobile and reported positive results from their tests for some big brands. David Rittenhouse from Ogilvy noted that Lenova experienced 188% lift (n=1495) in awareness from a mobile ad campaign. Third Screen reported up to 7.5% click rates on its network. Still missing were Internet players like Google and Yahoo. Vendor driven standardization processes are not very productive and take too long to become meaningful. Since, mobile advertising is the most buzzable topic in the industry right now; companies are adjusting their positioning to become mobile advertising players (akin to becoming Web 2.0 compliant). There was some debate whether off-deck impression is worth more than an on-deck impression. CPMs are a bit out of whack and will need to drop and stabilize. Premium CPMs range from $27-35 going as high as $60. User profile is of course the holy grail of mobile advertising. Visa demonstrated that mobile advertisements isn’t really limited to messaging, keyword auction, and banner ads, but also includes promotions that drop in your applications based on your transaction history. Can carriers stop them from running this downloadable app on the device? They are running some trials to find that out. Code/Image-based advertising is also picking up – Qcode, NFC, barcodes, pictures, etc as input to trigger content/ad delivery is making its way to the US.
Amongst the various enablers (that I was able to talk to and look at), The Hyperfactory has the most comprehensive view of the space and it shows in their campaigns. Not only cross carriers and cross handsets, but also cross modality and cross countries. Mobile Advertising needs to seamlessly fit in the overall digital strategy of a brand or else there will be too much friction. GSM association has taken some lead in helping define standards in this space. MMA is also updating its best practice guide though it needs to do more to expand its vision. Companies that made their presence felt were Third Screen Media, Ad Infuse, Millennial Media, Yahoo, Smaato, Mindmatics, Bango, Medio, JumpTap, Blyk, Admob, iLoopMobile, GreyStripe, http://www.enpocket.com/, and Rhythm.
Not to be outdone, Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola were also showing some future mobile advertising concepts that allow for cross medium advertising. For e.g. purchasing or activating advertising subsidized content on one device (like mobile) and viewing on another (like IPTV) and the experience is subsidized and interstitialized with advertisements.
Note: As some of you know, we have been involved in helping players in the value chain with mobile advertising strategy for the past two years. Well, we are now writing the book on it, literally! This book on Mobile Advertising is a collaboration with two brilliant co-authors and is going to be published by a major publisher. It will explore the key elements that will make mobile advertising tick. If you know of interesting case studies or people we should talk to, please do let us know. Check out our two part series on the subject published in Wireless World Magazine. Track the progress and become part of the conversation and the book at http://www.chetansharma.com/blog/category/mobile-advertising
Mobile TV With Mediaflo’s launch, the discussion in the US has changed from unicast/multicast to broadcast. With Cingular and Verizon adopting Mediaflo, it is hard to see DVB-H’s future in the US. Spent some time with Dr. Kamil Grajski, Chairman of the FLO forum. FLO’s advantage comes from better channel switching time and slightly better spectrum efficiency. The goal is to pursue individual partnerships by geography that fuses spectrum, technology, and content. KDDI partnership is such an example. The quality is very impressive and the user experience raises the bar. With the introduction of clipcasting that enables some personalized content filtering on the device (e.g. Entire NASDAQ quotes are streamed but only your portfolio is displayed), broadcast can extract more value from the spectrum. Though Mediaflo has an edge, the future beyond the US shores is tough. Majority of Europe is going to go to DVB-H and similar standards. But, the potential customers are not only cellular operators but also include cable and satellite operators. Companies looking for Triple and Quad play strategies will have to come up with their mobile Broadcast strategy in the next couple of years. While Mobile TV has been in the headlines for some time, the penetration in the US remains quite low – around 2% and represents less than $350M revenue in 2006 (European trends are similar). For the opportunity to scale, pricing and business models will need to be adjusted to market realities. Mobile TV has been around in Japan and Korea for a longer duration and has reached critical mass penetration. Unicast becomes expensive if the usage gets into double digits because pricing pressure doesn’t allow for monetizing by the MB. Broadcast becomes the natural solution but it is limited by spectrum, less interactivity, and lack of handsets in the short-term. Clearly, hybrid models will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. For broadcast, it is about the spectrum first and the technology second.
Near Field Communication (NFC) VISA has been running NFC trials around the country for some time with VISA credit cards (30K) and POS terminals (50K). The goal is to do NFC on the phone. VISA also released numbers from their NA survey (n=800) – 57% interested, 64% of Gen X/Y will consider switching carriers and credit card for mobile payment capability, by 5:1, consumers prefer to have charges on their credit card bill rather than their phone bill. The first generation of NFC phones is hitting the US market later this year. Kyocera demonstrated buying from a vending machine, downloading content, and doing internet transactions using an NFC-enabled prototype handset. It also had a biometric fingerprint sensor. Korea and Japanese market have been using phone as a wallet for some time (e.g. DoCoMo’s FeliCa) and it will be great to see such enhancements in Europe and North America. There is a demand for such solutions, Visa is providing leadership, and hopefully, the ecosystem will step up. Last year, in US, $7.2Trillion dollars worth of consumer financial transactions took place. Taking a small cut of this pie will be a big deal. Enabler to watch – Ecrio.
Biometrics NTT DoCoMo introduced handset with biometric capability in 2003, we expect to see it introduced in the US in first half of 2008. AuthenTec has been dominating the market for both PC/laptops and mobile phones. Japan has reached about 10% penetration for biometric sensors in mobile devices. ROW is just getting started. HTC is introducing some devices (for the US market) with biometric sensors later this year.
Mobile Search Google and Yahoo announced their next release of mobile/local search. Google’s attempts at mobile search reminds me of Microsoft’s early attempts to build an OS for mobile phones. I thought AskMeNow’s semantic search was pretty good though they are still working on indexing which can take a long time due to understanding content. With the recent purchases of BeVocal and TellMe, voice is getting its due attention. V-enable showed their local 411 app and Nuance talked about voice-enabled music search. Voice has become an integral part of any mobile search (and ad) strategy.
Interesting handsets While the industry is waiting for the June launch of iPhone, several new concepts and phones emerged at the show. Hopefully, NA operators got inspired from the handsets available in Asia and will bring some of that experience here. Samsung launched its dual-faced Ultra. While, it is a first for the industry, the user experience left lot to be desired, the Sharp touch UI is confusing. DoCoMo had the best selection on display. Flipstart is launching a $2000 mobile device (UMPC form factor), which has full PC running on it. It does have some clever user experience enhancements that make the usability acceptable but I am not sure if the price point will hold in the market where you can find an equally powerful laptop for half the price.
User Interface Apple’s iPhone has raised the bar on device user experience. Zenzui announced their UX technology (based on Microsoft IP) that takes us away from the boring menu-based navigation schemes. Punchcut showed what’s possible utilizing the idle screen. Flipstart had some clever UX enhancements that I hope can get integrated into other forms of computing. Biometric sensors also surprisingly prove to be a good navigation element, better than 5 key dial and even iPOD dial.
Simplicity EMI’s Nicoli had emphasized on simplicity of applications and services. AT&T's COO Randall Stephenson echoed similar sentiments. It is a no-brainer, right? So, why do we make things inherently complex and hard-to-use? Hasn’t Apple taught us enough? Ontela’s mobile imaging platform is following on Apple’s footsteps. The technology allows you to take the picture and store it on any other device or destination within 30-60 seconds. No user intervention. It just works.
GYM is in the house It was the first CTIA with Google and Yahoo having their own booths, announcing their arrival. Their presence was telling of the battles to come. Microsoft has been coming to the show for some time but primarily to show their devices and talk about enterprise (email) applications.
LBS and Telematics There were a number of firms talking about telematics or navigation on the phone or devices for your car. Navteq, TeleAtlas, TeleNav, Inrix, Pharos, Kore, deCarta, and many others displayed their wares. On the consumer side, navigation is getting embedded into Local search apps which are enhancing the user experience quite a bit. FindIt and Google Maps are two examples. TCS is working on a framework for LBS based mobile advertising that allows carriers and users to control location availability to applications, something I wrote about back in 2001. Sprint has raised the bar by opening the APIs for developers and loosening the pricing friction. GSM operators are awaiting the arrival of OMA compliant phones. European carriers are targeting Christmas 2007 to launch several OMA SUPL devices while US will see such devices from Cingular next year. The best navigation was from Churchill Navigation which gives you a bird’s eye view in a fun-interactive experience.
WiMax. Sprint showed some potential launch devices for their WiMax service. Initially, the focus is limited to data cards and UMPCs. There will be restrictions on data usage and the move to handset form factor devices is uncertain. Samsung showed video conferencing at 12fps and VoIP on WiMax devices (PDA form factor). Since Intel put a boat load of money into Clearwire and Sprint’s endorsement, WiMax industry has been surging ahead but long-term viability is still not certain, how fast will device pricing drop?
China While China can’t make up its mind on TD-SCDMA, Chinese manufacturers are increasingly competing with the big boys, the handset rollouts and infrastructure wins are a testament to that. They should just let go of their obsession with TD-SCDMA, there are plenty of opportunities for their manufacturers. Canada, Finland, Taiwan, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Korea, and UK also had Intl pavilions.
The ecosystem friction The mobile data ecosystem tension is bubbling up. It was highlighted in the first session of the conference – Jim Ryan (Cingular) vs. Larry Shapiro (Disney) well moderated by Tom Wheeler (past CTIA President). Carriers want control (some more than others) so that they can manage user experience and minimize customer support calls. Content companies want to bypass the carrier and go direct to the consumer. Things are improving but not at the pace everyone would like it to be. This debate is not going away. Perhaps, CTIA can demonstrate some leadership in kicking-off some content interoperability (and treat ad as content) initiatives.
Test equipment Whether it is entertainment or enterprise, very little attention is given to testing and monitoring data applications and services. Keynote launched its on-demand platform for testing and monitoring for developers who for $500/day can test on live devices anywhere in the world. This service can significantly lower down the cost of procuring handsets and doing testing.
Coolest booth In my travels around the world, in every major city, you can’t escape the massive ads from Samsung and LG. CTIA is no different. The plastered ads all over and the booth from these two Korean companies were clearly the pick of the show with LG edging out its arch-rival by creating a gigantic music player.
Misc. News.• Performance of the free WiFi at the convention center was much better than previous CTIAs.
• Community Currency - Hookmobile has been working with carriers and content owners to create variable currency for content – branded, ads, or UGC. It is around Mobile Trading Community and using content to digitize trading cards, create some exclusivity and hence some viral effect. In future users can create their own trading cards for their social network. This is a good use for the MMS infrastructure that is collecting dust right now.
• Enterprise – Mobile Advertising, NFC/Mobile Payments, and Mobile TV overwhelmed any discussion on enterprise mobility. Motorola (Symbol) launched their Enterprise Digital Assistant – MC35.
• M&A scene was as dry as the Sahara desert, but several funding press releases hit the wires. Deal of the week – Verizon’s $6 billion deal with Alcatel-Lucent.
• FMC. Lot of FMC discussion. As triple/quadplay and convergence get closer to reality, there is a lot of focus on FMC. From IPTV to Mobile to Vo[X] to Push-to-X, there were lots of demos and discussions.
• DoCoMo showcased their “Bone Conduction Receiver Microphone” that helps hearing in noisy locations and for people with hearing difficulties. Very cool.
• 3rd Dimension demonstrated a live mobile traffic cam application.
Your comments are always welcome.
Chetan Sharma
http://www.chetansharma.com/ctia0307roundup.htm
Posted by ajit at 11:57 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Hurray – comments are working ..
Finally .. I have got comments working on this blog! Many apologies to you if you posted comments before and they never appeared. But all should be well now. For starters, please post a comment here to say ‘Hi’. I will respond to comments regularly (now that I can see them and all spam is stopped)
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Dion Hinchcliffe launches the Web20University ..
Dion Hinchcliffe is a Web 2.0 pioneer and is also a good friend. Dion is totally committed to the ethos of Web 2.0 and in partnership with O'Reilly, the firm that introduced Web 2.0 to the industry, Hinchcliffe and co have launched the Web20University. Knowing Dion and the depth of his thinking, I have no hesitation at all in recommending the courses being held in various parts of the USA(Please see their web site for details)
Hinchcliffe and co are a platinum sponsor at the web20 expo and you can meet Dion and co there.
Some excepts from their official email about their bootcamps are as below
Designed for business executives and technical leaders alike, these
intensive one-day courses help you understand the potent set of new
business models and technologies known as Web 2.0. Whether you're with an
established Fortune 500 firm, an Internet startup, or a government
agency, you'll learn the actionable strategies, design patterns, and best
practices needed to rapidly bridge your organization's products and
services into the new online world of Web 2.0.
The meteoric rise and industry dominance of Internet sites like YouTube,
MySpace, and Google shows just how quickly traditional business models
and companies -- from broadcasting to publishing to financial services --
are being eclipsed by fundamentally new Web 2.0 approaches that harness
collective intelligence, leverage The Long Tail, and maintain control
over hard-to-recreate data, to name just three.
Web 2.0 has clearly captured the world's imagination as evidenced
by appearances on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and on major TV news
shows. Hundreds of new Web 2.0 companies have been formed in the last
year alone. More importantly, business leaders are increasingly hearing
this call to action. Major corporations including American Express, AOL,
GM and XM Radio are now actively embracing Web 2.0 concepts.
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An unexpected walled garden - Patientline : Hospital phone charges up 160%
From the BBC article below.
This is sad because we, who understand technology, know that voice charges are leaning to zero! Thus, increase voice rates by 160% for patients in hospitals - is not good. In fact, I think voice calls should be free(no problem charging for movies etc). Maybe it is time to look at mobile phones in hospitals(as we are reconsidering mobile phones on aircrafts).
From the BBC below >>>>
Hospital phone charges up 160%
Patientline also provides bedside TV, radio and internet
A firm that provides phone services at thousands of NHS hospital bedsides is to increase the cost of calls by 160%.
Previously, calls made by NHS patients through Patientline phones cost 10p per minute, but that will now rise to 26p.
Patientline, which is a private company, told the BBC it had invested £160m in the system and needed to recoup its costs and make a profit.
In 2005, the firm was investigated by regulators over its charges, but was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Patientline also provides television screens and radio and internet services at hospital bedsides.
It said that while call charges would increase, the cost of the complete bedside "package" would fall from £3.50 a day to £2.90.
Calls to patients from outside the hospital cost 39p per minute off-peak and 49p a minute at peak times.
'Luxury service'
Patientline systems are installed at more than 75,000 hospital bedsides.
BBC Breakfast's Graham Satchell said the government had always maintained that these services were a luxury and should not come at a cost to the taxpayer or the NHS.
And he said Patientline had admitted it was £80m in debt and currently had enough money left to only operate for the next 12 months.
The Patients Association says patients often have no choice but to use Patientline because many hospitals no longer have public pay phones.
It added that contact with relatives can have a significant impact on a patient's wellbeing.
Mobiles ban
Andrew Stronach, from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said he had written to Patientline to formally object to the price rise and demand a meeting.
"They have agreed a stay of execution for two weeks and as a result they will not be putting up the charges here from today."
Telecoms regulator Ofcom investigated Patientline two years ago after complaints that charges were too high.
In the past, many hospitals have operated bans on or restricted the use mobile phones within their buildings, meaning patients often had to use other phone services.
But last month, Health Minister Andy Burnham said he saw "no reason" why they could not be used within hospitals.
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April 2, 2007
Advice to Mobile Operators (Vodafone)– Increase touch points with your customers(me!)
Here is a simple insight based on a true conversation.
I have two phones: A Vodafone blackberry and a Three N73
I have been a long time Vodafone customer – and a very high value Vodafone customer as that - considering my phone bill(mainly due to my travels)
Recently, I met a senior Vodafone exec at an event where I was speaking. We both started speaking and he was happy to know that I was a Vodafone customer.
Oddly enough, in spite of being a long term Vodafone customer and a high revenue customer from Vodafone’s point of view, that was the longest anyone from Vodafone had spoken to me.
(with the exception of my good friend Daniel Appelquist - a top notch guy!)
The problem – as I explained to him – is as follows:
a) Vodafone is an excellent Operator – which pleased him no end :)
b) But .. because of that, I rarely have the need to call Vodafone – because it works
c) In fact, works very well globally (including roaming data – practically anywhere in the world with the exception of South Korea(and that’s due to CDMA – I doubt if any non Korean phone works in Korea))
d) I don’t use Vodafone Live(who does?) No smily from Voda exec :(. Maybe I am the wrong demographic, and I keep reminding them of things like fixed rate price plans :) - but I am no fan of Vodafone Live
e) Apparantly, he assured me that a 'light will flash' when I call(High value customers call). Reassuring to know - but not very useful from a new services point of view - and thats assuming I call.
So, my question to him was: If Vodafone introduces a new service, how will I know?
I won’t
There is an irritating touch point – ‘Welcome to the Vodafone network’ when I am roaming – that adds a bit of value – but not a lot really.
So, the question to Operators must be – how can they increase their interaction with Customers – and do it tactfully? This leads to many other questions – leading to Trust etc etc ..
However, one of the most hated Operators until last year, Three .. has done a fantastic job of re inventing itself and has won many fans – including me(The future is bright - the future is Three)
If they (and by that – I mean any Operator) can work this out i.e. the ability to work with the best customers, interact with bloggers, be human, be open to feedback etc etc .. they have a good chance of succeeding in the next wave of Mobile data apps.
PS: Ofcourse, Daniel Appelquist does a fantastic job of being accessible from a Vodafone standpoint - and it's great that Vodafone has someone like Dan who tirelessly works across the industry. But, the ordinary customer still would not be able to liase with an Operator with ease.
Posted by ajit at 1:38 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
April 1, 2007
wow! Tim Wu comments on my blog about net neutrality ..
I am flattered! Tim Wu posted this comment on my blog Of OpenGardens, Walled Gardens, Tim Wu, Net Neutrality, Carterfone and IMS
This is indeed very welcome. Thanks for this Tim! Happy that some of my views will form a part of future versions of Tim's document. We will all benefit if the Telecoms industry changes it's Status Quo
Tim's comments as below:
Thanks for these very helpful comments.
Let me respond to the point about whether carterfone can work for data. The question is whether vertical cooperation is necessary to the provision of data services. I'd say, following your example, sometimes, but to a degree which can be easily exaggerated.
The rest of the comments are helpful and will be reflected in a new version of the paper.
As for the use of the term net neutrality. The only part of the paper that directly address net neutrality issues is the broadband discrimination on 3G networks issue. But the title was useful for helping people get what the paper was broadly about.
Posted by ajit at 9:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack