Life blog

Digital-Lifestyles asks: T-Mobile Web'n'Walk - Is Google Behind It?

I've been looking at operator portals and 'off-portals' lately. T-Mobile's Web'n'Walk services is basically a nice portal for more advanced phones. Many writers have been pointing out that this is part of a trend where the walls in the gardens are falling.

In the course of my reading, I saw this and had to respond.

Link: T-Mobile Web'n'Walk - Is Google Behind It? - Digital-Lifestyles.info.

The question to ask is: if Web'n'Walk is all T-Mobile's doing, why is Google the Home Page of the new service?

Nikesh Arora is VP of Europe Operations for Google. He used to head T-Online and was a big poobah at T-Mobile. I think that's the connection. Good score for Google and T-Mobile.

Did you know that DoCoMo only makes about 9% of their revenue from on-site and partner traffic (source: Informa). About 60% of their page impressions from from outside their portal (or to use a buzz word that is new to me: 'off-portal'). Did you know that the operators are starting to finally realize the potential of revenue from off-portal content? More on this later. Maybe. :-)

 

Russell Beattie on: Nokia 770: Okay, Silicon Valley Time To Get To Work

Great stuff, Russ. And I wonder if this little tid-bit ever occurred to Nokia. Really, Nokia can do so much with this device and any follow-on they might make. Yet, sigh, I am not so confident. And, yes, others can probably step in and fill in the (big) holes, but even that might get messed up if the platform truly isn't stable and robust enough.

This is the tip of a cool device category that Nokia can lead in if only they wish. Let's hope they wake up, too.

Let's see.

Link: Russell Beattie Notebook � Nokia 770: Okay, Silicon Valley Time To Get To Work.

Silicon Valley Companies could also act as “virtual operators.” The 770 is a bit expensive right now, why doesn’t a true believer in open networks step up and subsidize the cost of the 770 like a carrier does with mobile phones and then offset that initial cost with a basic subscription fee, and additional revenue-generators like Search-engine deals or other advertising. Then that company would go to the T-Mobiles and hotels of the world and provide free access for their devices, again, like Nintendo has done with their WiFi Connection program for the DS. Providing VoIP stuff as well? Now that’s a real opportunity.

And funny comment from Ortiz - heh, it should be 'wakey wakey all' not just Silicon Valley.

Article: Silicon Valley goes mobile / Up to 100 startups get into the game with wireless applications for cell phones

Eh, bien, oui, oui, na, j'adore les pommes de terre au lard. (an obscure line from an Ionesco play)

Link: Silicon Valley goes mobile / Up to 100 startups get into the game with wireless applications for cell phones.

[quote 1] For Sievers, establishing the startup in the Bay Area was a must. "It's less about where the (cell phone) carrier is. It's about where are the best people and capital and open ideas to drive fresh mobile ideas," co-founder and CEO Sievers said.

[quote 2] "We've basically created the technology structure for the Internet here. Now as fixed line and mobile Internet converge, you're seeing the expertise in this region come to bear that you don't see in other places like San Diego, Atlanta or Boston," said Stephen Burke, chief managing officer of mBuzzy, a ring tone and game provider in San Mateo.

Basically: OK, OK, I get the picture!

Great article on mobile and developing nations

A great series of articles from the International Development Magazine on tech and developing nations.

For the last few months, I have been thinking a lot on how mobile phones could help developing nations. The article below was given to me by a friend, Pam, who works for a development agency. I also had a great chat with Ethan Zuckerman on some cool stuff he knows is going on in Africa (and I hope to pick up the conversation in the near future).

I grew up in Brasil, my school just across one of the largest shantytowns in Rio (Rocinha). I've seen this stuff up front and understand the business savvy that the mobile fits into so well. Yes, my mind is spinning with thoughts on all this.

Link: Developments - The International Development Magazine - Loose talk saves lives.

When you get a mobile phone it is almost like having a card to get out of poverty in a couple of years.” So says Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the micro-credit provider, Grameen Bank, and its hugely popular mobile phone offshoot in Bangladesh, Grameen Phone.

Other articles in the same issue:

• Only Connect - intro to issue 31
• Money talks - using mobiles for money transactions for those without banks
• Blogging Ethiopia Style

One Billion Internet Users? Yawn.

Yes, I just have to make a mobile-oriented comment here.

There are 2 billion GSM subscribers. The next billion will be added in the next few years. In a year or two the industry will start selling more than a billion phones a year. Oh, and most of these mobile billions won't have a PC.

Don't bother trying to impress me with the number of Internet users now. I'm too busy trying to help the next billion who will come via the phone. :-)

Link: One Billion Internet Users (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox) (tip from Johnston who got it via Coates).

Summary: The Internet is growing at an annualized rate of 18% and now has one billion users. A second billion users will follow in the next ten years, bringing a dramatic change in worldwide usability needs.

Jakob (who of course only cares about usability) links to Mary Meeker's Internet Trends presentation, which also points out that mobile outstrips Internet - she gets it.

Avec Mobile: Review of mobile search engines

Search no more. From my pal at Avec Mobile.

Link: Avec Mobile: Review of mobile search engines.

When the urge hits us and we have to find a piece of information about life, universe and everything, we must get it right there and then. Maybe it is the name of the UN Secretary before Kofi Annan, or the address of the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot, but we want to know it and fast. Since we always have a phone with us and it can connect to the Internet, we decided to give it a test and see if a phone can be used to find information.

mojo on: Irony and Mobile Service Requirements

Wha? Must be my 'US operators amuse me' day. :-D

Link: Irony and Mobile Service Requirements | 12/25/2005 | mobile jones.

In the process of ordering an N90 with T-mobile service, I ran into a big problem.  I made the switch to mobile only telephony in 2002.  T-mobile won't process my order for new service if I don't have a landline?  The mobile industry provides tons of services to make it easy for me to cut the cord, and so, I do.  Now, I can't get mobile service because I'm mobile only.  Doh!

Read/WriteWeb: Intersection of Mobile and Web 2.0

Richard McManus (link below) has continued an earlier discussion on his blog as well. Some good links in the discussion.

Really, despite my original comment (that there should be a mobile-focused contributor), we shouldn't separate mobile from the rest of the Web. I would very much prefer that mobile was part of the whole conversation, and not really separate.

Indeed, I was stirring the nest a bit, and know that the Web 2.0 Workgroup has occasionally written about mobile stuff. I just wanted to bring it up more, since I think the fusion of Web and mobile is where the greatest growth will be in the next few years.

Thanks, Richard.

Link: Read/WriteWeb: Intersection of Mobile and Web 2.0.

What other mobile blogs do people recommend? As I wrote recently on ZDNet, I think mobile is the next 'revolution' cab off the ranks in the Web industry. There's no reason why we shouldn't be talking more now about how 2.0 technologies and mobile are intersecting - for example location and presence services that utilize things like RSS and social networking. What's being built now in mobile that we in Web 2.0-land should be talking about more? Who's blogging about it? Who's building it?

Tee hee - Series 60 on Sprint?

I was looking into the US carrier services and saw this image on the Sprint pages. If my eyes don't deceive me, that's the Series 60 interface with a fake battery and signal bar on top.

I am claiming that it's a fake until someone corrects me saying that's a real screen shot from a real Sprint network phone. All the other images here are Sprint phone screen shots (or at least it looks more like it).

US operators sure baffle me - SMS charging

Imagine how many billion more messages a day would be sent if Cingular (and Verizon and T-Mobile)* caught up with the rest of the world and stopped charging for incoming SMSs. This also, one would think, make it harder for alert or info services to really take off. And why charge different for international messages?

Link: Cingular text messaging for your cell phone- FAQs.

What is the pricing for Text Messaging? All Cingular customers with Text Messaging-capable phones are pre-activated to send and receive messages at $0.10 per message with no monthly charge. Or, you can sign up for a more economical Text Messaging package.

What is the pricing for international text messaging? It's just $0.20 to send an international message. Sent messages are not pulled from your bucket of messages. International text messages received will either pull from your message bucket or be charged a normal per-message charge.

On the flip side, email to phone via the phone's email address (based on the number) is pretty nifty. Now that's something I can understand charging receipt for (an option?). But, really, it's unfair to make users pay for something that they cannot control. At least they can choose to not answer a voice call. But an SMS? Imagine spamming someone in spite, racking up their SMS bills.

OK, so I'm not saying anything new here, but had to vent. Been doing some service analysis here today and it just bugs me when I have to figure in reluctant users. :-/

*When I was looking at Sprint, I couldn't even tell if text massaging was included in basic plans, not how much it cost. Wow, I guess billions of messages a day still doesn't trump voice calling. Bad, Sprint. No cookie.

With T-Mobile, it's also not in the basic plan, but at least they make it easy to add and it's prominently marketed in the service (T-zones) section. Eh, half-credit there.

Om Malik on Broadband : Need For Speed… How Real?

People talk about broadband like it's all we ever need and everything will be beautiful. Indeed, Om (link below, see good graphic) makes some good points to bring some reality to this thinking by pointing the other way, asking what kind of gains do we actually get when increasing bandwidth.

My take on this is that we easily expand to the bandwidth we have, maybe just working beyond what we have (sounds like how people deal with money). I remember when GPRS came and everyone was touting how mobile browsing would be so much better. Yet, what did we do with the bandwidth? Added colour and graphics and streaming and so on - we expanded to consume all that bandwidth.

Also, we think of future bandwidth with an eye to current apps, so we are ill-prepared when deploying more bandwidth. People can always use more bandwidth, we just don't know how they'll use it or if the broadband companies can afford to stick around to run the networks by the time they make money from the new uses of more bandwidth.

Yes, this leads me to mobile - 3G, as it is currently marketed, is bunk. The 3G networks were all built to serve a few use cases that are not materializing even with companies like Nokia shoving the features under folks' noses (mostly because the use cases aren't relevant to normal people). If the operators really want high level of adoption of 3G and coming 4G (HSPDA, or whatever it's called), then they need to open up their networks for experimentation. Let users decide how to take advantage of the faster networks.

Here's a reassuring thought: Stuff like Ajax, VoIP, blogging, photo sharing are technologies and services we equate with the current resurgence of the Internet. All of them are based on simple technologies that were around 5 years ago. But, all of them are very much built on the back of broadband connections - their current success is tightly linked with, now ubiquitous, open broadband connectivity.

You want to see a similar growth of data services on 'broadband' mobile networks? Then, let a thousand flower bloom, and get marketing out of the way.

Link: Om Malik on Broadband : � Need For Speed… How Real?.

What this shows is that as we increase the speed, the real impact of the speed on what we do with it is marginal. Can your eyes tell the difference between a web-page loading in one second or 0.27 seconds. I guess not. If you can download a music file in 1.08 seconds, does that really mean you will be buying music all the time. No you perhaps will be buying better quality, and perhaps marginally more music. There is the other option, but its just easier to pay! Sure at 30 Mbps you can download DVD quality The Bourne Identity in 11 minutes, but its still going to take you 2 hours to watch it. These are analog questions in an increasingly digital world.

John Battelle on: So, One Year Later, How'd I Do?

I was reading Battelle's recap of his predictions (good habit). Pretty good stuff, in all. One prediction on mobile caught my eye.

Link: John Battelle's Searchblog: So, One Year Later, How'd I Do?.

15. Mobile will finally be plugged into the web in a way that makes sense for the average user and a major mobile innovation - the kind that makes us all say - Jeez that was obvious - will occur. At the core of this innovation will be the concept of search. The outlines of such an innovation: it'll be a way for mobile users to gather the unstructured data they leverage every day while talking on the phone and make it useful to their personal web (including email and RSS, in particular). And it will be a business that looks and feels like a Web 2.0 business - leveraging iterative web development practices, open APIs, and innovation in assembly - that makes the leap. (More on this when I start posting again).

It hasn't happened, because I haven't done it yet. :-)

And with mobile being such a squib, he's repeated (word for word?) the prediction for 2006 (giving mobile the lucky 13).

Link: John Battelle's Searchblog: Predictions 2006.

13. Mobile. I repeat my mobile prediction from last year, in the hope that it will come true this year: Mobile will finally be plugged into the web in a way that makes sense for the average user and a major mobile innovation - the kind that makes us all say - Jeez that was obvious - will occur. At the core of this innovation will be the concept of search. The outlines of such an innovation: it'll be a way for mobile users to gather the unstructured data they leverage every day while talking on the phone and make it useful to their personal web (including email and RSS, in particular). And it will be a business that looks and feels like a Web 2.0 business - leveraging iterative web development practices, open APIs, and innovation in assembly - that makes the leap.

WAP Review on: The Web’s Big 3 Do Mobile

Recently, I had the good fortune of listening to folks from Google and Yahoo tell me about their mobile stuff (which I will never repeat, of course). Their thoughts and direction was very much in line with what I expected them to do. What I had to revise was my estimate as to when they would get there. I was off by about 6-12 months. I thought the GYM guys would be focusing mostly on the fixed Web (PC Browsers) and only get to compelling mobile stuff at the end of 2006 or later. Nope. These guys have already started blowing our socks off with new mobile services.

WAP Review (link below) looked at the current mobile sites for the GYM triumvirate - Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft (MSN). Very little of what was covered in this article was new to me, but I like it that everything is on one place and together. In that way, the comparisons stand out.

Also, this article shows that there were some mobile services that were available way back when in 2000 (I remember using some of them). Yet, to me, most of these services are what one would expect from these guys (which is why I have not been too keen about them). Though this article does highlight the parts I do like about the mobile services, such as the SMS services and the integration with the PC (a big thing for me).

I am curious what are the usage levels of these services and if they are relevant to the general GYM subscriber base. Is this just pushing the Web to the phone, does it fit the mobile lifestyle (communication) or is it just browsing?

I used to think that Yahoo was the killer company in the mobile space, mostly because of their media properties, huge user base, and, now, the team they have assembled. I still think they are a major contender here and will be the one to match.

But, I thought that Google didn't get it until I had a chance to meet some of their mobile guys (coincidentally, soon after the amazing Google Local Mobile Java app came out). Now I think Google is making a great and very skillful effort into extending their presence into mobile.

Whereas Yahoo extends their full (and heavy) experience to the phone, Google extends their deep relevance and simplicity in a very mobile-savvy way. Either way, it's going to be a great year (mostly in the US) for mobile.

Link: The Web’s Big 3 Do Mobile. at Wap Review.

These three sites are the kings of the Internet at the moment. They all have tons of money to spend on R&D and market research. And they need to spend it so that they can hop on the next big thing quickly enough to at least maintain their position. I believe that mobile data, especially the mobile web is going to be one of those next big things so I thought it would be interesting to see what the big three have been up to in mobile.

MSN, who? I have a blind spot there, so I don't feel confident in commenting there. But I wonder if they might have the same problem Nokia and Sony have - pushing pet technologies instead of helping people. Something to think about.

Silicon Valley Himalayan Expedition on: One Internet to rule the world: starting to wag the mobile dog

Dorrian has a great article on the fusion of mobile and the Internet. He starts off with a device and applications view, writing a good story on how data is out there and devices are used as needed and as appropriate. He then brings up some great thoughts regarding the operators, making some suggestions as to their role in the future, such as customer support or billing.

Read it.

Link: Silicon Valley Himalayan Expedition: One Internet to rule the world: starting to wag the mobile dog.

We are years away from this future, but it is a future that is obvious to almost everyone I talk to.  Here are some emerging trends to help push us there:

*web applications are proving as robust or more robust than desktop ones
*application developers are recognizing that data should be free and live in the Cloud
*presence is becoming more important
* broadband access to  mobile devices is coming fast in all markets
*access to the Internet by mobile devices will outpace desktop access in a few years (as predicted in 2000)
*VOIP is coming to mobile
*seamless switching between various types of wireless networks will happen

GMail Mobile!

Finally.* Now I need to stop harping about how some companies in Silicon Valley don't get mobile. Not only is GMail Mobile great. But it's easy to use and works very well.

I wished it were prettier on my Series 60 smartphone, but hey, it really delivers.

Looking forward to WAP Review's take on all this. See my comment on WAP Review's analysis of the mobile GYM.

Link: Gmail Mobile.

Get Gmail on the go!

Now you can access your Gmail messages from the web browser on your mobile phone or device. Read and reply to your Gmail messages any time, anywhere.

 

* It's free. (But your wireless plan might still charge, so you might want to check with your provider first.)    
* It's smart. It can handle attachments like photos and .pdf files.

 

Try it out now!

Gmail Mobile should work on most web enabled mobile phones and devices that have a wireless data plan.

Try it out for yourself.

Point your phone's web browser to http://m.gmail.com

*I would have posted about this on Friday, but - ahem - we know that a huge chunk of the blogosphere was offline then.

Russell Beattie on: Make it Mobile

Would one expect any less from Russ?

Mobile. Mobile. Mobile. :-)

And scroll down for a biz idea. I love it when he gives them away.

Link: Russell Beattie Notebook � #12: Make it Mobile.

I’ll admit that since Ev has already started a company, sold it for big bucks, and started another one, that his ten rules for web startups (plus a bonus) have much more weight than anything you read about a startup on this blog. He’s done it and doing it, so by all means listen to him and ignore me.

That said, I humbly submit that Ev is missing the boat in his list by not including a rule on mobility. Number 12 on his list should be “Make it Mobile”. Actually, I think it should be #1, but that’s just me be fanatical. Mobility is where the most opportunities lie for startups over the next few years. The next big success will be mobile, but also a lot of the next little successes will be mobile as well. There’s just so many possibilities right now - around the world and even in the U.S. with mobile penetration rates climbing over 80%. This is the market to focus on.

The International Herald Tribune on: Internet for the small screen

.org
This article rubbed me the wrong way. Mostly because it was about how folks (like the W3C) are trying to keep the PC-friendly Web separate from the Web as seen from a phone.

Yes, form factors have to be considered. But, let's stop stressing how we need to get he WHOLE Web onto a phone and start talking about what Web we need on a phone, what Web is relevant to phones.

Link: The End User: Internet for the small screen - Print Version - International Herald Tribune.

The mobile Internet - or, the World Wide Web that you can get on your cellphone or handheld device - has had an incredibly lengthy and labored gestation. Around the turn of the century, it was widely heralded by the telecommunications industry, only to be widely derided by consumers for being slow, cumbersome and generally useless.

ChristianLindholm.com on: New Mobility - My remote contribution to Les Blogs 2.0

Christian (my old mentor) has a nice post on where he sees things going in mobile. Interestingly, it's device-centric - he's now at Web powerhouse Yahoo.

One comment: I agree devices will figure prominently as we become more and more mobile. Also, I agree that sophisticated social apps will glue these devices together. But, I expect a range of devices, from simple to converged to optimized devices. And each device in this range will sell at different numbers of units (due to a cross-section of price, complexity, niche, etc.) and hence dictate the size of the market.

There's a reason why Nokia's most basic phones outsell smartphones more than 10:1. It's not because of lack of services or poor implementations. It's simply because voice and SMS do most of what people want to do - communicate. And I will still place my money on voice for the long term (even for non-cellular devices, which will be in the end voice-enabled).

Link: ChristianLindholm.com: New Mobility - My remote contribution to Les Blogs 2.0.

I am really sad that I will not be able to be in the closing panel of Les Blogs 2.0 talking about the future. Instead I am home, with an aching head, jetlagged, it is 5:00AM and I have been up the past three hours, but fortunately in good spirits. I was wondering how I could make up for not being there and I came to the conclusion that sharing some thoughts here could be the best I can do at this moment.

Nokia Press Release on: Nokia Capital Market Days 2005

Nokia (my current employer) hold an annual investors day in New York called Capital Market Days. It is here than Nokia recaps their year and lays out forecasts for the next. As usual, there are some interesting stats (link below).

Let's start with these:

Nokia estimates the mobile device market to grow more than 10% from the estimated 780 million for this year (that's over 2 million a day!). Also, mobile subscriptions will pass 3 billion in 2008 (two years earlier than previous estimates).

I am pretty sure that most of that growth is in BRIC - Brasil, Russia, India, and China. How are you preparing for this amazing growth in the emergin market, where most folks will never have a computer, or a credit card, or even steady power? Yahoo, Google, Microsoft - are you ready? Or are you still preacihng to your current base?

Thanks to Chris, emrging markets have been have been indelibly etched upon my mind.

More interesting stats:
- Nokia will reduce R&D expenditure accross the board. Hmm, what does that mean for innovation at Nokia?
- Nokia has launched a wopping 56 devices this year. Wow!

Link: Nokia - Nokia Capital Market Days 2005: Nokia defines strategy and targets for continued profitable growth - Press Releases - Press - About Nokia.

At the annual Nokia Capital Market Days in New York, Nokia presented its expectations for overall industry developments and set out its targets for the next one to two years.

Java apps for mobiles are still big business

Nokia recently published some figures related to Java on mobiles. It's amazing that something so simple can generate so much revenue. My feeling is that it's still around games and very much at the head of the long tail (a few companies make the bulk of the money).

When thinking of mobile Java, keep in mind Trip Hawkins (of Electronic Arts fame) and his Digital Chocolate company (which bought out Finland's Sumea a while back). Keep also in mind Electronic Arts' recent purchase of Jamdat. Consolidation, indeed.

 

Is there room for the little guy - yes! But, you need to be clever
in distribution and marketing to reach the numbers you need to make a
profit.

Here's some things I clipped (verbatim) off of Forum Nokia (emphasis, mine). Also, below I've place a link to a page full of interesting stats.

- Nokia forecasts that developer revenue from mobile Java applications on Nokia devices will reach 340 million euros this year (2005).
- More than 180 operators are now deploying Java services.
- 708 million mobile Java devices had shipped as of June.
- 635 models of mobile Java devices are offered.
- 32 mobile device vendors use Java technology.
- More than 45,000 Java applications are on the market.
- Approximately 23 million mobile Java downloads have been performed each month this year.
- Nokia estimates that by the end of 2005 they will have cumulatively shipped more than 300 million devices based on platforms for app development (I suppose that encompasses Series 40, Series 60, and Series 80).
- More than 110 Nokia platform devices have been launched, of which more than 50 are Java MIDP 2.0 devices.

Link: Nokia - Wide Market Potential - Why Nokia? - Developers.

freegorifero on: The context of context in use.

Freegorifero always has great design ideas, especially around mobile. In this article, he notes that context is usually about some use case and not something in relation to how specific people would use something (for example, think of context of a ramp for handicap or someone with a stroller, instead of just the ramp).

Read this and more at the link below.

Link: f r e e g o r i f e r o | weblog.

It is about time that we start to relate to the interface not anymore as the layer between us and our devices, but between us and the world surrounding us, both the world of space/time and the world of relationships.

Strawband®

While in the heat of discussion with Scott Rafer about broadband, I flippantly called mobile connections 'strawband', as in 'sucking bandwidth from a..'.

I've been using 3G for some time. I'll believe it when it's real.

Now, WiFi, on the other hand...

textually.org on: Silicon Valley goes mobile

Emily points out a San Francisco Chronicle article on the growth of mobile in Silicon Valley.

Link: textually.org: Silicon Valley goes mobile.

... The growth of the mobile data industry is revving up Silicon Valley. Analysts and industry observers said 70 to 100 startups have surfaced in the Bay Area in the past few years, far outpacing any other region in the United States."

Go west, young man. Indeed, that's what it is looking like.

mobile jones is hosting Carnival of the Mobilists, vol 1 issue 9

Link: mobile jones.

This week's CoM features some outstanding observations, analysis and commentary across a range of important topics on mobility.  I'm excited by the number of contributions and quality of articles in this week's CoM.  In addition, this edition of The CoM contains more articles from women than any previous week.  I'm sure you'll enjoy the reading.

Joi Ito on: Will more moblog help?

Seems like Joi has realized that he has time to read and write posts only when he is away from his computer (where we all know all he does is play World of Warcraft).

In the post below, he sets up the whole case for reading and writing to the Web from a mobile (except the part of 'idle time', which rubs me the wrong way).

One comment, though: Brain-dead moblogging is already here. The real hard part is making the experience work.

Anyone listening at Six Apart, Yahoo, Google, or other places I have mentioned in the past many months?

Link: Joi Ito's Web: Will more moblog help?.

Anyway, I'm going to have to think about how I can have more moblog... Also, maybe my site needs a redesign too.

Award-winning mobile multimedia project bridges art and engineering

I just wrote this article for Tekes, the Finnish national tech agency, about this really cool system, by this really cool guy, in a really cool program. Lots of mixing of physical spaces, mobile technology, and the Web.

Right up my alley.

Link: Award-winning mobile multimedia project bridges art and engineering.

Jürgen Schieble, doctoral candidate at Helsinki’s University of Art and Design Media Lab, wants to create “new types of enriching social experiences.” Combining his experience in mobile technologies with his music performance skills, Jürgen created MobiLenin, a participatory entertainment system. In recognition for his MobiLenin research, Jürgen, together with thesis advisor Timo Ojala, was awarded the Best Arts Paper at the ACM Multimedia 2005 conference in Singapore.

No by-line. :-(

MobHappy on: Mobile RSS Makes More Noise

Link: MobHappy: Mobile RSS Makes More Noise.

Mobile RSS has heated up a little bit over the last week, some people pushing its value as a marketing tool, but mostly because of Yahoo's launch of a free RSS-to-SMS service. RSS for mobile devices is something I feel pretty strongly about, so I wanted to throw my two cents in (even if it is a week late).

Musings of a mobile marketer: What is mobile marketing?

Link: Musings of a mobile marketer: What is mobile marketing?.

Whenever I meet someone new and I tell them what I do for a living, they usually assume one or both of the following:

   1. That mobile marketing is sending junk text messages to get people to subscribe, unwittingly, to a mobile content subscription service. Ergo, mobile marketing is bad.
   2. Mobile marketing = marketing using SMS (text messaging)

Neither assumption is true so this is my lowdown on what mobile marketing includes. This is a long post so bear with me.

Tom Hume on: Selling New Mobile Phone Features

Link: Tom Hume: Selling New Mobile Phone Features.

We all like to play; whether we're trainspotters, online gamers, old or young, we all take pleasure from playfulness. It can be solo activity, a social exercise, investigative, educational or just plain fun. In a mobile context, play is usually associated with simple downloadable arcade games - but this needn't be the whole story.

Neil McIntosh on: A challenge for Les Bloggers from Guardian Unlimited: News blog

Niel sums up his feelings of the conference. Two points that are worth highlighting:

1) 'So the event's popular, but I'd also argue it faces a real challenge if it's not just to end up an enjoyable, but largely fruitless, meetup for blog fans' - The first Les Blogs was like a Loïc meetup-schmoozfest. Great fun, a good first turn of the flywheel. Now with the second conference - bigger, badder, better - we have reached a good conversation rumble. But, it was still talk. The next one needs to come up with concrete stuff (actually, my suggestion last time was that we wait 18 months for a more concrete event) - case studies, examples, anecdotes, outcomes, deals. Might be asking for much, but I think we are now there.

2) 'Speakers can’t attempt to lump Europe together as one entity (although a few may try). You can’t credibly say the media in Italy is much like that in the UK, or Sweden’s much like Spain’s, I'd argue.' - Which ties into my mini-rant in the last panel, abusing my position as panelist, highlighting the dominance in this space of not just the US, but of Silicon Valley. I think Europe might end up being insignificant in the end, for reasons that have nothing to do with enthusiasm, innovation, and creativity.

Link: A challenge for Les Bloggers from Guardian Unlimited: News blog.

Good afternoon from Paris, where I’m at the Les Blogs conference. It’s the second of these gatherings of European bloggers, organised by French entrepreneur Loic Le Meur (who also runs the European arm of Six Apart, who make blogging software).