January 10, 2008
December 13, 2007
The Future of Reading
November 21, 2007
Google Is Calling
Reading this article made me think of the business model for AM/FM radio and TV before cable. All you needed was an antennae and you could watch or listen to your shows. We all got used to listening or watching those commercials and learned they were part of why you did not pay for the programs. If you wanted to pay for entertainment, then you went to a movie.
This all changed when cable TV was introduced. People got used to paying for TV service and now we even have paid radio.
So, will Google return us to free services (or at least subsidized) for our cell phone and will consumers be willing to have commercials as part of their cell phone. Imagine having to listen to a commercial before your call is made? Will we as consumers dial the phone and ignore the commercial like we do with most TV advertising?
In many ways this makes sense. The usage and capabilities of Cell phones continues to grow dramatically and it would only make sense for offerings like Google's to expand the market. I do, however, see this as more of a consumer option. I can not see companies opting for their employees to have to watch an ad before they could read their email on their PDA's or allowing google to search your mail to give you targeted ads.
November 10, 2007
UI and OS Rule
Nokia's partnership with Vodafone, Apple's partnership with AT&T, O2, and others, and Google's partnership with T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, LG, HTC, and others indeed signals a shift in mobile. There are players with software and user interface expertise delivering the true mobile Internet to customers; and the hardware manufacturer or carriers can not bypass that trend.
Nokia’s deal with Vodafone is definitely one model for carriers, should the Ovi platform succeed, especially in the face of challenges from Apple’s Safari interface, the new Google OS, and even Microsoft CE.
Let's see what the other handset manufacturers focus on:
First of all we have Motorola. Motorola’s hardware dominance eroded after iteration after iteration of RAZR clones that they released, along with their failure to concentrate on software - the new level of dominance.
Besides Motorola there are Sony Ericcson and Samsung, true hardware players, with better opportunities in Asia, as their gaming or feature-laden phones continue to have success. However, they too are not software experts and should struggle as the software giants make their play.
LG and HTC, on the other hand, are aligning with carriers, collaborating on phone production to meet their needs, and the new software players. Both are smartly onboard with Google’s partnership, though it is far too early to determine what will become of Google’s efforts.
Nokia is my favorite for the most adaptable handset manufacturer. In addition to their Symbian OS and Ovi mobile application layer, they purchased Navteq, entering the GPS market in a force. Nokia’s play may not pay huge dividends for the short-term, but I believe it positions them well for the future.
So, Is the Vodafone – Nokia partnership intelligent for the new mobile era, one in which data margins, if not revenue, will trump voice revenue? In my opinion Vodafone is making the right steps toward realizing and executing against the future mobile model, even if the partnership does not succeed.
November 01, 2007
Apple's $18/month ARPU share with AT&T is Mind-Blowing
We all now realize the power of the Apple brand, especially at the negotiating table, but I for one never thought that they could demand such a huge revenue share. By holding AT&T over the proverbial barrel, Apple has sucked the true money pit -- data revenue -- from the carrier's hands and left the carrier with the commodity, voice revenue. This negotiating precedent should have implications in Nokia's negotiations with Vodafone, Google's negotiations with Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, and all the rest, plus the other carrier - software combinations.
October 30, 2007
Google phone: What will it do to the Telecom Industry?
The Telecom Industry has been waiting to see what Google is going to do with it rumored phone system. This actually is very good news for the everyone except maybe Apple. The fear had been they would develop their own phone and take away more market share just as Apple has.
If the rumors are true the Google phone will not be a phone but a platform within phones made by others and open to all. So the question becomes who will use it and why is Google going for an open platform. It makes sense for Google, they are not in the hardware business but in the advertising business, the more people who see their searches and pages of information the more they can make from this service. So the smart thing to do is get the technology into as many phones as possible. By providing an open system they are moving in that direction. I see a lot of the handset makers jumping onto this bandwagon, it provides something new and different, something everyone but Apple needs right now, it could also help spur sales of new phones equipped with this technology. The same goes for the services providers, not only a new feature but also more data downloading time on the network. So overall a big plus for them. Now the question remains what about Apple? If this new system from Google requires a hardware change then they will have problems that everyone else will love. People will not be willing to spend to upgrade the new iPhone. Maybe this is what the industry has been hoping for.
September 15, 2007
Google’s gPhone is NOT The iPhone
Google’s gPhone is not Google’s attempt to follow Apple’s lead. Apple is a hardware company that licenses al lot of its software form company’s like Microsoft and other software companies. Apple is not a service provider. Google is a service provider. Google had been just a search engine.
However, when Google joined forces 5 years ago with Earthlink to provide WiFi service to cities throughout the US, it was clear that Google was more than a search engine. Every action of Google is an indication of its movement toward the service provisioning business.
Apple and Google may enter the 700 MHz spectrum auction of 2008. Some people say it will not happen but that would be premature. If Apple wants to dictate to device manufacturers like themselves they need to control access to the consumer. Carriers control access to the consumer/end user. Telecom vendors learned that lesson long ago. Apple is still trying to learn that lesson. Google already learned that lesson years ago.
Apart from the touch user interface technology, the iPhone is really no different than Verizon’s Voyager or even the gPhone. The iPhone is about as fast as the new Trax device. What the average consumer does not understand is the iPhone came pre-loaded with links; i.e., the important sites are cached. Google’s gPhone is a marketing gimmick that is designed to get you and I to talk about Google. This Lesson One on building company market valuation: Have the industry and marketplace talk about the company.
September 05, 2007
Increasing M&A Activity in Telecom Power Market
As in all other telecommunications sectors, there will be further consolidation in the power equipment space. A prime example is Eltek Energy’s recent acquisition of Valere Power. While private equity firms are always in the mix, they should think twice before getting involved with any major vendor in this space.
While it is hard to anticipate the reaction of a large carrier, to a private equity company buying out a big player, such as the Tyco Power division of Tyco Electronics, it would be amazing if an AT&T took too kindly to such a situation. Even if the management of the power company were still left to run their own show, there would be doubts as to whether quality, customer service, and most importantly – whether new product development would be maintained.
While a large installed base in a lot of industries can be a valuable cash cow, in telecom, the continued generation of money is highly dependent on the ability to spin new products off of it. Owning such an embedded footprint is of no use to a player who is not going to invest in technology. At some point in time, supplying those legacy products actually becomes very expensive. The only other viable option for equity players in this space is to split up the supplier into two or more divisions (such as the power systems and components groups) and sell those off given the belief that the values would be higher than the sum of the parts.
While there have been private entity equity transactions involving Bell Canada, Alltel and Avaya, there has not been any purchases of companies in the critical portions of the public network infrastructure. The lack of activity there is probably not a coincidence. Especially in the power business, in quoting for any supply, guaranteed delivery for at least seven years is required. It is a necessity to retain experienced people from design engineering to the final packaging of the system. Major customers will not appreciate the their perception of a fly by night operator in this space.
June 26, 2007
iPhone Demo Video
Apple provides a Apple iPhone guide tour on the website to show the features of the new device.
Worth to see!
June 05, 2007
Symbian OS
Symbian OS is a proprietary operating system, designed for mobile devices, with associated libraries, user interface frameworks and reference implementations of common tools, produced by Symbian Ltd. It is a descendant of Psion's EPOC and runs exclusively on ARM processors.
Symbian is currently owned by Nokia (47.9%), Ericsson (15.6%), Sony Ericsson (13.1%), Panasonic (10.5%), Siemens AG (8.4%) and Samsung (4.5%). While BenQ has acquired the mobile phone subsidiary of Siemens AG the Siemens AG stake in Symbian does not automatically pass to BenQ - this will need the approval of the Symbian Supervisory Board.
June 01, 2007
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs
On the Website of D5 you can find the video of an interview of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Worth seeing!
Twitter: What are you doing?
Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) via SMS, instant messaging, the Twitter website, or an application such as Twitterrific. Twitter was founded in October 2006 by San Francisco start-up company Obvious Corp.
Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and also instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone is the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, or through an application. For SMS, currently three gateway numbers are available: short codes for the USA and Canada and a UK number for international use. While the Twitter service is free, posting and receiving updates via SMS may incur charges from the wireless carrier.
May 01, 2007
New Vodafone live! Portal
Vodafone will revamp its Vodafone live! Portal and plan a relaunch at 1st June 2007. With the new portal Vodafone will offer a more web-like look and feel of the mobile homepage. Next to popular mobile internet sites like BBC the customer will also find Google Search. Google enlarges its presence in the mobile internet very successfully by starting a lot of co-operations. In March 2007 for instance o2 announced a co-operation with Google (Link).
With the new Vodafone live! Portal Vodafone will also release a new pricing structure for data usage. Vodafone will offer a much cheaper structure. Currently Vodafone users pay £2.35 per MB a day; under the new pricing they can use up to 15 MB a day for £1. When users exceed 15MB a day, they then pay £2 per MB for additional data. High usage mobile internet customers can alternatively subscribe for a monthly browsing bundle at cheaper data rates. Unfortunately the press release does not mention much about a new bundle pricing.
Basically there are two kinds of customers: Those who want to pay what they have used and those who prefer a package. o2 for instance offers three data packages: "Internet Pack S", "Internet Pack M" and "Internet Pack L".
The Internet Pack S serves the pay-as-you-use demand. The Internet Pack M is appropriate for an intense usage and includes 200 MB per month for 10 Euro (200 MB are enough to browse 800 Websites). For users who would like to use more data intense services the Internet Pack L would be advisable since it includes 5 GB and costs 25 Euro per month.
For a sustainable raise in mobile internet usage the bundle pricing will be essential. With bundle pricing you do not just persuade the early adapters, you also improve the confidence of the majority in the pricing and avoid the negative bill-shock effect. Thus the intensity of the mobile portal usage will be strongly dependent on the bundle data pricing.
January 10, 2007
Apple Keynote Video: iPhone
Its' all about the iPhone today. You can't get around it and rightly so. It's truly is a revolutionary new phone and makes all other news today seem so dull. If you weren't at MacWorld yesterday, you can catch Steve Jobs ' entire Keynote address online.
December 10, 2006
Microsoft patents DVR application to provide targeted advertising
While Microsoft isn't exactly the first name we'd guess to be associated with a new DVR tidbit, the firm has nonetheless filed a patent for "DVR-based targeted advertising." Apparently, Microsoft's idea is to eliminate the "dilemma" that DVR users purportedly face when watching shows a week or so after its original air date.
Since many commercials (like weekend sales) are time sensitive, viewing last week's ads today isn't likely to do you any favors if the information is already outdated. Microsoft is hoping to come to the rescue by establishing an "advertisement data store," from which an "advertisement manager" detects when an ad is supposed to be shown and fills that spot with a current, up-to-date spot so you witness fresh plugs during old shows. Although the concept is at least somewhat sound, the folks at Redmond presumably don't spend much time surveying actual DVR owners, as they'd probably find that a good percentage of them utilize that fast forward button as much as possible, regardless of how "fresh" the ad they're cruising through actually is.
December 09, 2006
Apple smart phone project rests on Mac OS X tie-ins
For several years now, an elite squad of engineers at Apple Computer have been working diligently to perfect an intuitive smart phone concept that would both conform to the company's integrated model and oblige chief executive Steve Jobs.
As AppleInsider has been told, it's the latter of those two feats that has thus far presented the utmost of challenges, largely preserving the project and its many facets behind the fortified walls of the company's Cupertino, Calif. home base.
It's believed that the initiative, which is different and slightly more ambitious than the company's "iPhone" project, truly gained momentum about three years ago alongside the development of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Some of the device's original features, such as Bluetooth remote control of certain Mac OS X functions, were meant to coincide with those that would have subsequently appeared in the final version of the Tiger operating system.
But as the story goes, Apple took the latest iteration of its proprietary smart phone hardware and software in the early summer of 2005, slapped it together inside an enclosure reminiscent of a fourth-gen iPod, and hit the road.
The objective at the time was to showcase the device's software to potential wireless partners and then appoint contractors to assess network requirements and the feasibility of certain features. Per Jobs' request, the phone's software interface was to be a carbon copy of Front Row -- Apple's one-touch media experience application. "He wanted every feature no more than one click away," a source told AppleInsider.
People familiar with ensuing talks say the "real push" behind the device was its extensive integration with Mac OS X and the Macintosh platform. Apple is said to have demonstrated several features that called upon a still unreleased version of the company's .Mac internet services that would allow users to control certain Mac functions remotely. These included beaming contacts, tasks and calendar appointments to Address Book and iCal from remote locations. However, the Mac maker remained mum on whether it planned to release Windows compatible versions of those desktop applications.
December 05, 2006
Qualcomm prepares for a cell-less future
Qualcomm has spent well in excess of $40m readying itself for a world beyond CDMA.
The purchase of RF Micro Devices and Airgo Networks Inc gives Qualcomm experience and technology in cutting-edge Bluetooth and Wi-Fi communications, enabling it to compete in a world where phone handsets support a variety of radio technologies.
Qualcomm is paying $39m for the Bluetooth assets of RF Micro Devices, which is conveniently located in San Diego (the home of Qualcomm itself), giving it rapid access to EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) implementations and the latest Bluetooth profiles.
The cost of Airgo Networks isn't being revealed, but with its experience in 802.11n and MIMO (Multiple In, Multiple Out) it is unlikely to have been cheap.
Phone handsets from Nokia now sport seven different radios, so there is an imperative for Qualcomm to be able to offer the most important of those in a single package to manufacturers, and these purchases will give them the ability to do just that relatively quickly.
While the ownership of key CDMA technologies has served Qualcomm well in the past, as GSM continues to dominate and applications become more network-agnostic they will need to innovate more aggressively if they are to maintain their position, and acquiring such cutting-edge technologies will work well in that regard.
November 30, 2006
The mobile web: in praise of divergence
Opera says it's served up 2 billion web pages through its Mini service, bringing the web to phones previously incapable of running an http browser.
This week the Norwegian software company rolled out the third version of Mini, adding features and performance improvements. And we took a look.
Mini is really a service - it's a compressing proxy running on Opera's servers - with a Java applet as the browser. Version 3.0 adds secure connections, which means it's now a lot more interactive. You can logon to web-based email, and log into eBay, for example. This removes the single biggest differentiator between Mini and the venerable Opera Mobile.
The new Mini also introduces a feature Opera calls "content folding", which is designed to collapse those tediously long columns (such as "blogrolls"), which make vertical browsing some pages such a a nuisance. Because Mini stacks a page's columns into one vertical column, it can take alot of scrolling to reach the first item of "real" content.
We experienced mixed results with folding. Alas, Opera Mini doesn't yet have a Jump to the Bottom shortcut key, and it doesn't jump to the first item of real content, as Opera Mobile allows you to do.
These small usability issues aside, Mini 3.0 raises as many issues for the venerable Opera Mobile, as it does for rivals. Given the speed of Mini, and the fact that it's saving a considerable amount of money for users with metered data plans, you wonder why anyone would opt to pay for Mini's older big brother.
August 21, 2006
Yahoo's Deals Put New Spin On Mobile Search Monetization
While Google purposely pursues a much wider agenda that goes to the heart of mobile advertising, (in all the excitement many missed the news that Google has launched coupons linked to Google Maps - a move that dovetails well with location-based mobile advertising somewhere down the road), its efforts are scattered in comparison to those of rival Yahoo In fact, a closer examination of Yahoo’s recent raft of mobile services and search deals, shows Yahoo is not only more focussed than Google, but potentially much better positioned.
Unlike Google, Yahoo has soothed operator fears that branded search must result in brand dilution and a raw deal. Indeed, Yahoo has become expert at selling itself as the missing link in operator’s emerging fixed-mobile content access and search strategies. It is also an indispensable part of their search monetization schemes.
This was the message that came through loud and clear in a discussion I had with Mark Joseph, Head of Content at 3. The UK operator recently sealed a world-first global agreement to provide Yahoo services and search. The milestone move sees Yahoo taking the top-notch position as the default Internet search engine on 3 handsets and on Planet 3, the operator’s mobile portal. According to Joseph, the tie-up with Yahoo is core to 3’s strategy to “bring trusted Internet brands to our network in a way that enhances [users’] overall customer experience”. Search monetization is also high on 3’s agenda - especially since Yahoo will abide by 3’s business rules to also deliver a mix of on-portal content offers promoting 3’s own content partners and the wider Web in search results (which Yahoo will also transcode for delivery to mobile devices). Geraldine Wilson, Yahoo’s VP of Connected Life at Yahoo Europe, tells me the plan is to present “3 content followed by paid-for placements, sponsored links and then the Wider Web”.
August 15, 2006
Google Coupons - But Where’s the Mobile Element?
Google announced today that they’re extending their reach into the location-based marketing business, with the launch of a couponing product. Local businesses can offer coupons against their products and services via Google Maps and users simply print them and then then redeem them as usual.
But where’s the mobile element? Google Maps already offer the facility to send driving directions to your phone, so why not get the coupons sent there too? You could simply show the phone at the point of sale and that’s it.
Many of the problems associated with redemption of phone-based coupons aren’t applicable in this instance. If the target market is expected to be owner-run businesses, staff education about the redemption process ceases to become an issue - whereas for someone like Walmart to introduce mobile coupons, the physical redemption process becomes a huge hurdle to overcome. In any event, the option to make the coupon mobile could be given to the merchant on sign up, so they can decide if its something they can cope with.
In addition, malredemption of coupons isn’t an issue here, as all these coupons are all self-liquidating offers, so the more redeemed, the better. This must be the case, as by partnering with Google Maps in the first place, the merchant has made an unlimited number of coupons available, in theory.
August 10, 2006
Pocket Picks
Pocket Picks is a new mobile news blog from the UK. Created by the team behind the UK’s leading mobile games site Pocket Gamer, Pocket Picks is a brand new site designed to help you make the most of entertainment on your mobile.
Pocket Picks will feature news, hands-on tests, practical how-to guides, in-depth features, opinion pieces, interviews and competitions in every area of mobile entertainment.
Although it was launched today, there's plenty to explore already, including news of ITV's imminent mobile TV services, the latest on Nokia's plans to take on Apple with music downloads and Skype's entry into the mobile space, plus a guide to uploading your cameraphone snaps to the web, a hands-on trial of Gmail on the go and a handy introduction mobile citizen journalism.
June 20, 2006
O2 Has Held Talks To Buy The Link Retail Chain
o2, the UK mobile telecommunications unit of Spanish company Telefonica, Monday said it has been engaged in the past in talks to buy The Link retail chain.
But an O2 spokesman declined to comment on a press report that said it was close to acquiring the chain from DSG International.
"There's been discussions in the past over the situation at The Link," a London-based spokesman for O2 said. He declined to provide further detail.
Earlier Monday a report in U.K. newspaper The Guardian, which didn't cite its sources, said DSG, owner of outlets such as Currys, Dixons and PC World, was on the verge of selling The Link to O2.
DSG will unveil full-year financial results this week, and details of the deal with O2 could be revealed at that time, The Guardian said.
April 10, 2006
Hotxt and Emoze: Cheap texts and easy emails
Communication over GPRS and other mobile data connections is quickly becoming a popular and cheap alternative to SMS and BlackBerry's push-email service. Two companies leading the way in the fight for cheaper text and email services are Hotxt and Emblaze.
Hotxt, a company managed by Doug Richard, a former member of the Dragon's Den, lets you send and receive text messages for less than 1p. All you have to do is download a Java application to your mobile phone and subscribe to the Hotxt service for £1 a month.
It works via the Internet, through GPRS or 3G, and you read and write your messages in the Hotxt Java app. The catch is, it's only considerably cheaper if both the sender and the receiver have Hotxt installed on their phones. Plus, instead of getting a normal text notification, you get a missed call, and then you have to access the Hotxt program to read your text. All in all a lot of work, so steer clear if you're not a text maniac.
As long as the person you're sending the message to also has a Hotxt account, then you only pay for the amount of data you send or receive, which according to Hotxt is much cheaper than a normal SMS. You can also send messages that are two and a half times larger than SMS messages -- so texting your housemates at 3 a.m. about why you forgot your keys can become much more creative. If the person you're messaging doesn't have a Hotxt account then you can buy credit and use Hotxt Out, which sends messages via the Hotxt service, but as an SMS, and which the company claims is still cheaper than a normal SMS.
If texting isn't your thing and you yearn for a more refined way of chatting to your buddies, then Embalze's Emoze may tickle your fancy. It's a similar concept to Hotxt, but instead of transferring text messages this program uses the Internet to push emails straight from your email server to your mobile phone.
The Emoze push-email software is free to download, but alas only works on Windows Mobile and Symbian Series 6.0 phones. Emblaze says that it's constantly updating the number of devices and platforms supported by Emoze, but check that your phone is supported before.
February 18, 2006
MySpace users to get their own cell phones
The social networking site MySpace, hugely successful among teenagers and twenty-somethings, is about to become more ubiquitous with the launch of a cellular service that will let users read and post to the site for free.
The service and two accompanying phones will be launched in a few months by Helio LLC, a joint venture of Internet service provider Earthlink Inc. and South Korean carrier SK Telecom Co.
On MySpace, users keep personal pages with journals, communicate with friends and play games. It's a formula that has attracted more than 54 million users and the attention of media conglomerate News Corp., which bought the site last year for $580 million.
Continue reading "MySpace users to get their own cell phones" »