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September 29, 2007
Motorola - Sprint announcement may be bigger than iPhone announcement ..
Sep 28 was a big day .. Motorola and sprint demoed their new WiMAX 802.16e mobile handoffs across a Sprint brand Xohm prototype network on a boat cruising downtown Chicago’s skyscraper-canyoned mid-town river..
It was an event I was hoping to make this week but last the travel was too complex considering I am in orlando this weekend onwards chairing Mobile Web Americas
I am watching this space with great interest.
This announcement may be a game changer and bigger than the iPhone.
Unlike the iPhone announcement, which seems to have got a lot of press, the wimax demo is a fundamentally useful application and extends the network along new dimensions. Like I have always said(In an IP(IMS) world, the mobile device will drive convergence because services shift to the edge of the network – and devices are at the edge of the network ..), existing device manufacturers like Motorola and Nokia will be the big winners of the iPhone hype
Both Intel and Motorola are doing some very interesting work with Wimax
Great to see Motorola with some good news considering a few recent difficult quarters ..
More information at the Motorola site
Posted by ajit at 11:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Don't monopolistic operators damage the competitive advantages of a country?
Here is a thought. I am a frequent visitor to a country which has an operator who is in a strong, monopolistic situation.
Every time I visit this place, I think that the operator is doing a dis-service to the nation’s entrepreneurs.
In effect, the operator benefits on a short term basis from high prices and walled gardens.
The country's government is blinded by short term stability in the marketplace.
Meanwhile the mobile entrepreneurs suffer (or emigrate to neighbouring countries with far more enlightened governments).
Very soon I expect that other more open technologies like wimax will come along.
The operator's profitability will drop and they will probably be acquired because like all old operators they have a high cost base
However the real loser is the country - because I suspect that its best mobile entrepreneurs and will leave for foreign lands and that's a permanent loss to the economy!
Posted by ajit at 7:10 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 28, 2007
What can you learn from Warren Buffet about Web advertising ..
As you can see, we have started to experiment with advertising on the opengardens blog. This is a part of a larger vision to launch the opengardens network .
I have always had mixed feelings about advertising. However, advertising is the currency of the web and more so - Web 2.0. Hence the strategy to launch the opengardens network funded by advertising is an effort to create a service that adds value and at the same time 'walk the walk' so to speak.
The decision had an unlikely inspiration - Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet's website)
The site itself is a classic. Have a look at it. In 2007, I have not seen anything else like it.
Sparse is the word. Very sparse.(Historically, Warren Buffet has avoided technology – and until recently did not carry a mobile phone)
At the bottom it says ‘If you have any comments about our WEB page ..’
This is not a typo
It is a "page" i.e. singular (the outbound links are either to pdfs or to other companies in the Berkshire umbrella).
There is no concept of service ( ' However, due to the limited number of personnel in our corporate office, we are unable to provide a direct response ' )
What it does have ironically is advertising ..
Blatantly so ..
Let's start with the chairman's message ..
Do we get a stock tip?
No
Instead we get three separate companies the chairman endorses ..( Geico, Borsheim and BHLN)
And no prizes for guessing who is the majority share holder in each!
And guess what provides the only spot of colour on an otherwise plain website ..
Two ads .. Again its Geico and Borsheim
The whole website and the advertisement are a surreal experience. It’s almost as if .. pal Bill Gates spoke to Warren over a steak at Gorats (You must have a Web site Warren ..) .. and the rest was put up by a kid for free ..
Which probably goes to show why Mr Buffet is a very wealthy man and why we should learn from him
If it works for Warren it may well work for the rest of us!
Image source: Wikipedia ..
(Notes:
Buffet’s favorite place to eat is Gorat's Steak House in Omaha, where he always purchases a T-bone steak (cooked rare), a double order of hash browns, and Cherry Coke. )
Posted by ajit at 12:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2007
We are experimenting with Advertising on the blog ..
We are experimenting with Advertising on the blog .. apologies for any inconvinience as we test things out
Posted by ajit at 12:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 24, 2007
Myspace on mobile is now free .. so, now what happens to vodafone's myspace?
Myspace on mobile is now free .. so, now what happens to vodafone's myspace?
This much touted 'exclusive' deal is actually £1.50/month!
Or am I missing something here?
Posted by ajit at 7:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The decline of traditional media: the Sun for 20pence
For the last couple of weeks .. I notice in central London - people offering to sell you the sun newspaper for 20p.
They make a sad sight.
They try hard. Yet I see no one actually buying it.
Because .. just down the road is another vendor giving out a free newspaper ..
Is this the state of things to come?
Only a few years ago, post dot com, traditional media seemed invincible - now I see a graphic illustration of its potential demise ..
Posted by ajit at 7:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
India win 20/20 cricket series ..
India win 20/20 cricket series ..
Congrats to India.
Thats one of the advantages of having triple nationality(all cricket playing). You can choose to cheer for the winning side :)
Posted by ajit at 5:33 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Burma ..
Lets hope this is the start of something big and a better / more open life for the people of Burma ..
Posted by ajit at 12:03 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 23, 2007
How do you define ‘Open’?
This might come as an odd question coming from the OpenGardens blog .. But how do you define ‘Open’?
I was chairing the Mobile User Generated Content and Social Networking Forum 2007 in Rome a couple of weeks back .. When I had this conversation with Caroline sexton Vodafone Group Services
Caroline said that MySpace was more open than Facebook ..
To me, that did not sound right .. But her view was .. In MySpace, you can contact anybody .. Whereas in facebook – you only contact people directly in your network
Hence, she felt that MySpace was more open than facebook
In contrast, my view was: Facebook is more open(mainly due to its open APIs for third parties)
Both views are correct of course ..
However, this raises an interesting question: What is ‘Open’?
When I first co-wrote OpenGardens (with Tony Fish) .. We were an industry oddity.
Walled Gardens ruled ..
Today .. The tables have been turned .. And the tide is unrelenting against the walled gardens mentality ..
However, open still means different things for different people
A few still confuse ‘open’ with open source .. Which is of course a completely different concept
But to me, Open means three things
a) The customer’s experience of a product or service should not be restricted either physically(only allowing access to some sites) or technologically(proprietary technology)
b) A more deeper concept of transparency – for instance – phone bills which are not transparent. For instance see this example of roaming charges ..
c) Interoperability
Clearly, there are many differences in view point ..
In general, my belief if: technologies that allow multiple networks types to users(Wifi, Wimax etc) are good because they give the customer choice. As regards why this is good .. see Of OpenGardens, Walled Gardens, Coffee, Fax machines, Ostriches, Dodos and User generated content and this was the same theme of my talk at the European parliament ..
I am going to continue exploring these themes since there is much to explore and its critical to the industry as a whole ..
So, qs is: What do you mean by Open?
Posted by ajit at 11:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The litmus test: Will the litmus paper turn Orange ..
We are all familiar with the Litmus test – where the Litmus paper turns Red or Blue depending on the acidic / alkaline nature of the chemical.
As an industry, we are facing our own acid test …
Orange has excluded both Nokia and Motorola from it’s list of Christmas handsets. As I said in the chicken or the egg blog, customers always choose a device first ..
And hence the litmus test. Will they choose ‘Orange’ over the devices (which Orange has now excluded)
Here is a clue .. Dean Bubley laments Orange’s user interface on Sony Ericsson devices - and he is a SE fan!
Either way - it's a horrible user experience and reflects negatively on both operator and handset vendor. Will it increase his spending on new & wonderful multimedia services or improve loyalty? Yeah right.
Perhaps phones are like cars.... the people who design them best are the original designers, especially non-smart featurephones. I don't add on nasty bits of plastic from Halfords to modify my car, and I don't want nasty bits of software modifying my phone.
If an industry veteran like Dean cannot work it out .. I think Orange has a problem ..
The real issue is: This is not the time to play games .. Customers are going to compare the poor interface with the iPhone .. And guess who will win?
I am watching this with interest!
Orange is getting some things right(especially Martin Duvall's team - more on that soon) - but this is not one of them!
Posted by ajit at 10:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Standardization across handsets, OMTP, 2D barcodes, Micro USB
Here is a practical way for operators to jump start the mobile web ..
I believe that there could be a role for bodies like OMTP
It came from a suggestion from Daniel Rosen (Head of AKQA Mobile)’s presentation’s at the Mobile Web 2.0 events(Daniel is a good friend whose views I like and respect)
Daniels’ suggestion was in a nutshell; Operators should standardise across 2d barcodes (also called QR codes)
I fully agree with this!
2d barcodes are ubiquitous and they are a key driver to the mobile web uptake because they can be in magazines and other publications and can be linked directly to a mobile web site
Others like Tomi Ahnonen also rave on about QR codes
This could be a role for an organization like OMTP which could undertake standardization which helps jump start the industry.
Recently, OMTP took the same role with standardisation on micro-USB - a positive step in my view
This form of cross synergy which help developers/customers is most welcome and indicate a role which a cross industry body can play
Posted by ajit at 7:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 21, 2007
Looking for some technical experts(contract)
Hello
I am looking for some technical experts in the areas below
We are looking for two classes of people: experts and analysts
Some notes:
A). You should be an expert in one or more of these areas - but must be an independent contractor or a self employed consultant i.e. not having a job with a company
B). We need a profile, availability and daily rates
C). Working remotely is ok.
D) Expected commitment
Experts: 20 days over a 12 week period
Analysts for full time work over a 30 day period
e) as usual, no agencies please
f) offshore contacts welcome but please send me only a direct response to the email i.e. profile, rate and availability. I cannot provide any more details
The technical areas are:
Platforms: Linux,Qualcomm, Symbian, Microsoft
Phone RTOS : Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson etc
Development environments : Flashlite, Java, SVG, Open C
Any Japanese or Korean application development also welcome
Please email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com
kind rgds
Ajit
Posted by ajit at 9:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2007
Mobile applications – find what’s banned / blocked .. And then seek to mobilise it ..
This comes out of a discussion at a conference last week .. It may seem obvious – but I think it is often overlooked ..
With mobile applications, the exception is the rule .. I.e. what is ‘blocked’ normally thrives as a mobile application ..
For instance:
Bluetooth dating in the Middle East(elsewhere in the world, there are fewer restrictions to dating – hence dating via Bluetooth is not that popular –except in the Middle East)
I don’t have statistics for this, but apparently facebook has a high uptake on mobile because it is banned in most offices
Mcommerce has taken off in Africa – where traditional banking still lacks in remote areas
Again, not statistics, but I believe that recruitment sites and applications have shown an uptake on mobile devices in the UK – because people don’t want to be seen browsing them at work
So, for a successful mobile application, find out what is banned .. And then see if Mobile applications can solve the problem ..
Thoughts? What else can we think of?
Posted by ajit at 9:52 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Atlas Shrugged – fifty years on.
Ayn Rand’s classic Atlas Shrugged is fifty years this week. Like many people worldwide, especially
Business people, Rand has had a deep influence on my thinking since reading Atlas and
Fountainhead at age 19 in India.
NY times has a great article HERE
In a nutshell .. Atlas Shrugged (and Ayn Rand's writings in general) are a moral defence of capitalism.
Many of the thoughts from the NY times article resonate well with me .. Especially
Rand said she “set out to show how desperately the world needs prime movers and how viciously it treats them” and to portray “what happens to a world without them.”
And also ..
Influence on ideals, business and values
But the book attracted a coterie of fans, some of them top corporate executives, who dared not speak of its impact except in private. When they read the book, often as college students, they now say, it gave form and substance to their inchoate thoughts, showing there is no conflict between private ambition and public benefit.
I know from talking to a lot of Fortune 500 C.E.O.’s that ‘Atlas Shrugged’ has had a significant effect on their business decisions, even if they don’t agree with all of Ayn Rand’s ideas,” said John A. Allison, the chief executive of BB&T, one of the largest banks in the United States.
“It offers something other books don’t: the principles that apply to business and to life in general. I would call it complete,” he said.
Distinction from both conservatives and the left(i.e. Ayn Rand’s principles lean to the right of the political spectrum – but are not conservative)
The book was released to terrible reviews. Critics faulted its length, its philosophy and its literary ambitions. Both conservatives and liberals were unstinting in disparaging the book; the right saw promotion of godlessness, and the left saw a message of “greed is good.”
Rand as a person had flaws ..
“She wasn’t a nice person, ” said Darla Moore, vice president of the private investment firm Rainwater Inc. “But what a gift she’s given us.”
Rand as an inspiration
Ms. Moore, a benefactor of the University of South Carolina, spoke of her debt to Rand in 1998, when the business school at the university was named in Ms. Moore’s honor. “As a woman and a Southerner,” she said, “I thrived on Rand’s message that only quality work counted, not who you are.”
Rand’s idea of “the virtue of selfishness,” Ms. Moore said, “is a harsh phrase for the Buddhist idea that you have to take care of yourself.”
Some business leaders might be unsettled by the idea that the only thing members of the leadership class have in common is their success. James M. Kilts, who led turnarounds at Gillette, Nabisco and Kraft, said he encountered “Atlas” at “a time in college life when everybody was a nihilist, anti-establishment, and a collectivist.” He found her writing reassuring because it made success seem rational.
“Rand believed that there is right and wrong,” he said, “that excellence should be your goal.”
Many thanks for my good friend Judy Breck for pointing this article to me!
Posted by ajit at 6:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
SoonR services deployed on TeliaSonera(Denmark) - Easy Box
One of the key trends I have been following for some time is Cloud computing – and the belief that Mobile Ajax is more than the user interface i.e. once documents are in a cloud, they can be accessed more easily from the browser – what I call Mobile Ajax is more than a pretty face.
I have also been following SoonR for their technology (Ajax / rich browsers on Mobile devices). SoonR is focusing more on the Enterprise/SME space and SoonR announced a partnership with Teliasonera(Denmark) for TeliaSonera’s Easy Box offering in Denmark at (Easy Box Live Backup)
Easy Box Live Backup provides SoonR services for SME mobile customers. The service backs up data automatically and continuously and also makes it available to any device.
This is a simple and useful service and I expect that there will be wider uptake of similar services (not just from Operators – but also from others like Google who are committed to cloud computing)
Watch this space!
Posted by ajit at 5:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
kudos to the police blogger!
Well done Stuart Davidson . We would much rather trust a blogger than politicians or mainstream media .. Link to Policeman's blog
Posted by ajit at 9:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 12, 2007
OpenGardens network - launches next week ..
We continue to make good progress to the OpenGardens network
We will launch the OpenGardens network next week
The simple principle of focussing on bloggers who are insightful - but infrequent (especially bloggers who work in corporate blogs but have personal blogs ) gets us some very smart people!.
We are happy to work with such insightful thinkers like Martin Duval (who works for Orange) , Stephen Johnston (who works for Nokia), Daniel Appelquist(Vodafone) , C Enrique Ortiz , Simeon Simeonov(Polaris ventures), Chetan Sharma , Rakesh Radhakrishnan(Sun Microsystems) , Luke Razzell , Sergey Slovetskiy (Ericsson) and many others
I am looking for more insightful bloggers especially in the Web 2.0, Social networking and the enterprise space. Any recommendations, welcome
Posted by ajit at 11:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Dinner with Howard Rheingold in London - Pics and stories ..
The Hat ..
Julain Bond, Matt, Peter, Anne and Howard Rheingold ..
Mark Selby and David Smith
We had a splendid evening Monday evening with Howard and Judy Rheingold. I wanted to give Howard a true English experience and we met at the Rules (the oldest restaurant in London) - you can't get any more English than this !
See here for a history of Rules.
>>>
Throughout its long history the tables of Rules have been crowded with writers, artists, lawyers, journalists and actors. As well as being frequented by great literary talents – including Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Galsworthy and H G Wells – Rules has also appeared in novels by Rosamond Lehmann, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, John Le Carré, Dick Francis, Penelope Lively and Claire Rayner.
The actors and actresses who have passed through Rules are legion. Down the decades Rules has been an unofficial “green room” for the world of entertainment from Henry Irving to Laurence Olivier, and the history of the English stage adorns the walls. The sibling art of the cinema has contributed its own distinguished list of names including Buster Keaton, Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin and John Barrymore.
<<<
Mark Selby of Nokia kindly hosted the evening - and it was very much appreciated. Thanks Mark!
Apart from Howard, Judy, Mark and me; we also had David Smith, John, Julian Bond, Peter Feltham aka ‘oink’, Matt Jones , Tom Coates and Anne Marie McEwan
There were many interesting stories round the table - here is one.
It’s a good use of 'cheap' SIM cards - and one which I had not heard before.
In the Middle East, there is a concept called 'numbering' - where apparently you contact a girl by writing your number and then throwing it at her.
A unexpected variant has arisen due to abundant phones and cheap SIMs
Instead of throwing the number on a piece of paper, the guy throws the phone itself into her car – and then dials the number!
That’s the first anyone had heard of this before!
With such conversation, it was only befitting that the toast to the evening was to ‘(the rise of) moral decadence in the UK.
Lefsetz Bob, Wolfgang's vault and Eve Online - all got a recommendation at the table from their respective fans
In any case, it was a great evening! Thanks all for making this happen!
Posted by ajit at 7:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 9, 2007
Crystal ball: Mobile TV, Google phone, Mobile address book ..
I have reposted the previous entry under a different heading so its easier to track and identify. So, we are speaking of the trends in Mobile TV, Google phone, Mobile address book based on my personal experience.
Posted by ajit at 10:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 8, 2007
A crystal ball – Seeing the future from the habits of today ..
Instead of relying on expensive reports and specialists, can many of our existing habits and observations be used to predict the future?
Sometimes, personal insights are the best indicator of how technology(especially mobile devices) are changing our lives in a big way ..
For example, like many people, I gave up wearing a watch a long time ago(the phone is my watch) .
I think if more people(especially the young) take this up then very soon, watches will become a niche / luxury item .
Here are three more observations from my life which could point to a potential uptake of new technologies/services .
Welcome any examples you may have
a) YouTube is paving the way for Mobile TV and video
Watching TV/video clips on mobile devices is a favourite target of the doomsday brigade.
Who will watch TV on a small screen? And for how long? Etc etc ..
However, let’s take my own example.
Having lost track of the number of times I have watched my four favourite videos on YouTube .. links below if you are interested (U2 – One – the Buffalo/Bison version; Pink Floyd – Learning to fly ; Pink Floyd – Run like hell and Guns and Roses – Sweet child of mine ) - here is a thought ..
YouTube is paving the way for Mobile TV and video ..
The argument is simple ..
We always think of the screens of life. For example in our book Mobile Web 2.0 we cover the six screens of life as follows
The ‘BIG’ screens of life
Cinema (shared with other members of the public)
TV (shared privately within our homes)
PC (personal or shared use)
The ‘small’ screens of life
Fixed/Portable Players (fixed devices in things that move such as cars, planes, etc)
Information screens e.g. iPod, radio
The mobile device, an individual and personalised handheld device
But .. What ‘screen’ is YouTube?(it’s a ‘screen within a screen)
Further, we have people (like me) watching clips in a small screen – many times over and over again.
Is it a big step to then think that people will be getting used to watching clips on a phone if they are getting used to watching clips on a smaller YouTube screen? (The only other time we do this is when we are flying – but that’s for a smaller duration – often not out of choice)
Hence, is YouTube, paving the way for Mobile TV/video?
b) The mobile address book is going to be the key battle ground
Being a frequent traveller, I use a specific taxi company – and the drivers are mostly familiar.
One day, I met a driver who I used to know a long time ago – but from another taxi company. Apparently, he had switched jobs to the company I now used. When he saw me, his first question was ‘Why did I stop using the other(i.e. his old) taxi company?’
My response was .. No I had not stopped using the company.
Apparently, what happened is: I changed the number of the taxi company under my phone address book entry .. ‘Taxi’ and from then on .. I was using the new company without ever realising it!
All the branding/promotion etc etc is useless if a service is mapped into an address book phone number.
This has implications for local/yellow pages type services.
Whoever can get on that address book will get the business!
The management of an address book could be more complex i.e. I would like a service which will call a secondary provider if the first one is busy etc etc ..
Device manufacturers would have a key edge here!
c) Inspite of much fanfare, the Google Phone will be VERY familiar .. And that’s a good thing ..
Much has been said about the Google phone – and a lot of it speculative. However, if Google chooses to leverage it’s existing strengths on the Web, then .. It has a powerful proposition – one which I think many people would be interested in buying into.
And it will sound very familiar – because we are already using the same content now!
Take this example
A few years ago, when you searched for a hotel name, you got a whole bunch of useless links (mainly put there by the travel industry’s SEO folk). The hotel’s website itself came way down a few pages.
This is not very useful.
Today, it’s a thing of the past as more and more landmarks are on Google maps.
For example, if you search for ‘hotel four seasons San Francisco’ – you get the result as shown below. This is very useful and can only get better as more landmarks go on Google maps.
The next logical step is – access via a phone, geotagging, location based find my nearest etc.
Yes, ANY phone could do this but if the Google phone is oriented to this feature(and working closely with Google maps), it will be immediately useful - and predictable; and predictable is a good thing!
To conclude ..
So, what current usage patterns do you see in your own life which point to the usage of a new technology in the near future?
And here are my four favourite videos ..
One (U2)
Run like hell (Pink floyd)
Sweet child of mine (Guns and Roses)
Learning to fly (Pink floyd)
Posted by ajit at 8:37 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 7, 2007
The mobile 2.0 event - Details announced ..
Details for the Mobile 2.0 event are announced. Book fast if you are interested - I believe it sold out in one week last year.
Although I am not attending, both Tony Fish and Tomi Ahonen are speaking and it is being organised by a great bunch of guys(and also good friends) - Dan Appelquist, Mike Rowehl, Gregory Gorman and the list of speakers is very impressive
# Brian Fling Director of Strategy, Blue Flavor
# C. Enrique Ortiz eZee inc.
# Carlos Domingo Head of Internet and Multimedia, Telefonica R&D
# Christian Lindholm
# Daniel Appelquist Vodafone
# Daniel Graf Co-founder, President and CEO kyte.tv
# Gregory Gorman Director, Business Development, The Open Group
# James Pearce CTO, dotMobi
# Jean Marc Frangos SVP, Technology and Innovation, BT Group
# Kaj "HeGe" Haggman Nokia
# Kelly Goto Principal Gotomedia
# Marc Davis Yahoo! labs
# Mike Rowehl Director of Technology, AdMob
# Olaf Groth Director of Corporate Development, Qualcomm
# Ozzie Diaz CTO, Wireless, HP
# Patrick McVeigh Consultant, Warburg Pincus & SoonR
# Peter Stark Senior Manager Web Communication, Sony Ericsson
# Peter Vesterbacka Some Bazaar
# Richard Wong Partner, Accel Partners
# Risto Lähdesmäki Chief Strategist and Co-founder at Idean Enterprises Inc.
# Ron Mandel Adobe
# Rudy De Waele mTrends
# Russell Beattie Mowser
# Stephan Noll T-Venture
# Tomi Ahonen Author, 3G Expert
# Tony Fish Author of 'Mobile Web 2.0'
# Voytek Siewierski Investment Partner, Mitsui & Co, Venture Partners
So, book fast if yout are interested!
Posted by ajit at 6:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Google reader adds search ..
Now a perfect product! Saves me a LOT of time. See the official Google reader announcement
Posted by ajit at 8:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
(Verizon's) Mobile web 20 is a joke ..
Yesterday I received a curious email with the subject ‘Mobile web 20 is a joke'
Having opened it - I realised that the sender was complaining about Verizon's Mobile Web 2.0 and not our book Mobile Web 2.0
When I first heard about Verizon’s version of mobile web 20, I thought I was going to sell more books :) I did not realise I would end up being helpdesk to disgruntled Verizon customers!
However .. In the interests of helping the industry .. I am trying to help this person
His mail says ..
My (Verizon) cell phone has been upgraded to Mobile Web 2.0. I can no longer access certain websites that I need and frequent because of it. The previous version worked just fine for me. The best thing for the writers of Mobile Web 2.0 to do is fix this "bug". Otherwise that would leave the door wide open for sonebody else to write better version of a Mobile Web type program that wouldn't have these problems. I have heard of many others experiencing simular problems with Mobile Web 2.0.
The one site that I'm mostly concerned about obtaining in my Yahoo Fantasy Sports Teams (I currently have 3 teams-1 Baseball and 2 Football). It says that I don't have any. It almost acts like some sort of a firewall. I can access my email, weather etc. but not my Fantasy Sports teams. I have been told by others that they are nolonger recieving certain instant text messages from certain sites.
Being based in the UK, I don't know the specifics of this but it appears that – not only is it a walled garden – but it is even more restrictive than its predecessor!
Anyone else have any more insights on this? Is this a common problem? Have you managed to overcome it?
Posted by ajit at 7:51 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 6, 2007
Luciano Pavarotti RIP
Posted by ajit at 6:37 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 4, 2007
Dinner with Howard Rheingold in London
I am organising a small dinner with Howard Rheingold in London on the evening of Sep 10th. It will be in Knightsbridge. If you are interested in attending please email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com.
Howard is a great person and we follow each other’s work avidly but I have never met him – so I am looking forward to this. Note that this is a small, private dinner – not an event etc.
Posted by ajit at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Meeting at Media in transition - Munich - Sep 4/5
Short notice, but I am speaking at mediaintransition in Munich. If you are there, we can meet
Posted by ajit at 1:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack