Zumobi, which is developing a highly interactive user interface for the mobile phone, is releasing its beta to the public today.
The company, formerly known as Zenzui, has created an interface that is a combination of widgets and visuals to help people navigate a lot of information by zooming in and out to see more or fewer details. The application addresses the inherent difficulties of searching and navigating the Web on the mobile phone.
Zumobi can now be downloaded free on the the company's site.
The user chooses a number of "tiles," which widgets of sorts. Web sites and media companies will have to create those tiles specifically for Zumobi.
It sounds like the company is off to a great start with a pretty impressive list of launch partners, including Amazon.com, MTV Networks, The Associated Press, AccuWeather.com, Traffic.com, FlightStats.com, Vail Resorts and Fox Television's "Family Guy."
The beta is available for phones running Windows Mobile 5 and 6. In the second quarter, a version will become available for BlackBerry and selected Java-compatible phones. The application requires a data plan, and an unlimited all-you-can-eat plan is strongly recommended.
The company has a video explaining the service here.
S5 Wireless, a Utah company, is looking to bring a GPS-like device to market that would allow kids, pets, packages and other items to be tracked by small, cheap chips that can be powered by a single battery for up two years and tracked indoors and outside over long distances.
An AP story discusses how the device could be a lot more practical than GPS, which can be bulky and a battery drain. It also typically only receives a signal outdoors.
Billionaire Craig McCaw, Clearwire's chairman, is S5's majority investor.
I tried to figure out if there could be any overlaps with what Clearwire is doing. At the minimum, it sounds like they can use the same cell towers.
The AP reported that S5 plans to use existing cellphone towers and antennas. S5 will need at least three towers within the range of the device's signal in order to pinpoint its location.
The company plans to cover "several" major cities next year and 35 cities within three years. Clearwire is in about 40 cities right now.
S5 plans to use free, unlicensed spectrum in the 900 megahertz band, which is shared by cordless phones.
Seattle-based iLike said today that it has an exclusive relationship with Thumbplay, a mobile content company.
Through this relationship, Thumbplay's ringtones will now be featured on iLike.com and the iLike's Facebook application.
Users will see "Get ringtone" links to Thumbplay, which will sit alongside links to iTunes in song, artist, album and song pages. Similar links will be integrated into the iLike Challenge, so users can discover and purchase ringtones of songs played in the game.
That's the conclusion of a study that combed out data from the Web sites of U.S. carriers to determine which phones consumers were clicking on and reading about the most. It was compiled by Compete, a company specializing in Web analytics.
The LG Voyager is Verizon Wireless's answer to the iPhone. It was the No. 1 phone viewed in detail at the major carrier's Web sites in November, Compete said.
In second place was the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide, an evolution of the popular Sidekick phone that has a screen that slides up instead of swiveling up and around. In third place was the Samsung t629, and, shockingly, in fourth was the Apple iPhone.
The rest of the list is as follows:
5. T-Mobile Sidekick LX-Blue
6. T-Mobile Sidekick iD
7. LG Venus, Black
8. Sony Ericsson, Z310a, lush pink
9. Sony Ericsson, W580i Walkman, white
10. Pantech C150.
In a second study, Compete found the same data for the Smartphone category.
Here's the list:
1. Apple iPhone
2. Pantech Duo
3. RIM Blackberry Pearl
4. Samsung SCHi760
5. Motorola Q Global
6. Blackberry Pearl (refurbished).
7. HTC Dash
8. RIM Blackberry Curve 8310 Titanium
9. RIM Blackberry Curve, pale gold
10. AT&T 8525 (HTC), refurbished.
I'm going to Whistler this weekend, and a friend asked me a very good question.
Could he purchase a new SIM card in Canada and pre-pay for minutes so he isn't charged exorbitant roaming rates by his U.S. carrier?
In theory, this sounds like a great idea. As long as you have a GSM phone -- from either AT&T or T-Mobile USA -- you could do this. I hear all the time about people traveling to Europe who get a pre-paid SIM so they can have a local phone number to make calls much cheaper.
So I started looking into it.
The most viable option looked like a pre-paid phone provider called Fido.
According to its Web site, the service costs $30 for a kit that includes a SIM and then it was $10 for the cheapest phone plan. The plan seemed reasonable, as it included such features as free incoming calls for $1 a day.
Together, that means a minimum start-up cost of $40.
At that point, you have to ask yourself how many phone calls are you going to make, and whether it would be below $40 in roaming fees?
For comparison, I looked on AT&T's Web site. It said it was 79 cents a minute for calls in Canada. Text messages were 50 cents each. So that's 50 minutes of talk time or 80 text messages for $40. (Standard home rates applied for receiving text messages).
Sounds too close to call for a three-day trip to Canada. That's too bad. Getting a Canadian SIM could be an easy solution, but the barriers seem to high.
These are the kinds of things carriers could make a lot easier for the consumer. With all this talk about open access networks and letting the consumer choose their own device and network, you wonder how serious they are? They can keep the cost prohibitive for many or make things a hassle to do.
Sprint is planning to launch its WiMax networks in Chicago and Baltimore-Washington, D.C., within the week, according to Telephony magazine.
Sprint officials told Telephony that the soft launch will extend only to Sprint employees and is intended to prepare the networks for a broader trial early next year. At first, they will cover the downtown cores of Chicago, Baltimore and Washington but expand rapidly into the suburbs.
The industry has been waiting for Sprint Nextel to launch its network. Last year it committed to spending billions of dollars and rolling out a nationwide WiMax network. Earlier this year, it signed a letter of intent with Kirkland-based Clearwire to share the work and the costs, but that agreement fizzled. Since then, industry analysts have questioned Sprint's commitment, and the initiative seemed to be up in the air.
Sprint's launch of its WiMax service, called Xohm, will be the first high-profile release of true mobile WiMax technology.
Clearwire, founded by Craig McCaw, is often portrayed as the leader or the largest WiMax company because it already serves about 40 markets and has thousands of customers. However, it is not using the true mobile WiMax standard.
Clearwire is using proprietary equipment, and its equipment is not truly mobile. An Internet connection can't be handed off from one tower to the next while the user is in a car or on a train.
Clearwire and a partner, Intel, has been testing mobile WiMax in Portland, and is expected to upgrade its technology in existing markets over time.
Today CTIA -- The Wireless Association posted its top 10 news stories of 2007 on its daily Smartbrief newsletter.
Susan Rush, the lead editor of CTIA SmartBrief, wrote:
"Innovation was the name of the game when it came to wireless in 2007, whether it was new technologies and applications appearing on handsets, or new services being introduced by the carriers. Of course a 2007 roundup would not be complete without mentioning the market entry of Apple's iPhone, which is already facing competition as carriers move to satisfy consumer demand, or Verizon Wireless' decision to open up its network. Our industry also saw data services gain in popularity, with revenue skyrocketing, thanks to increases in music, Internet and video offerings."
Here are the top 10:
1. Without further ado: The iPhone (6/29)
2. Verizon Wireless embraces open access (11/28)
3. It's official: Google goes mobile (11/6)
4. Sprint considers WiMAX sale, may seek partners (12/4)
5. Verizon Wireless announces iPhone rival: Voyager (10/3)
6. FCC unveils auction rules, delays start to Jan. 24 (10/10)
7. ITC imposes ban on phones with Qualcomm chips (6/8)
8. House approves Internet tax ban extension (10/30)
9. Amp'd Mobile calls it quits (7/23)
10. New AT&T CEO looks at the future (6/5)
Do you agree? I think some other big stuff happened this year -- Nokia getting into the services and applications side of the business; T-Mobile USA launching a fixed mobile convergence product called T-Mobile HotSpot@Home.
Bellevue-based InfoSpace said today that it has extended its multi-year agreement with Yahoo, allowing the Bellevue-based company to include Yahoo's search results as part of its metasearch technology.
InfoSpace will not only be able to continue delivering Web search results, but also text-based advertising listings from Yahoo. The technology involves the whole portfolio of InfoSpace sites, including Dogpile, WebCrawler, MetaCrawler, WebFetch.com and private-label services.
Metasearch technology means it can prioritize from various search engine's algorithm types.
This is a important win for a company that over the past year has decided to sell off its mobile properties and focus solely on its Internet search business.
In October, the company sold its mobile infrastructure business to Motricity for $135 million. In September, it sold Switchboard.com to Idearc of Dallas for $225 million in cash; and it's on track to pay out $300 million in dividends to shareholders early next year.
"Extending our partnership with Yahoo demonstrates our continued commitment to deliver the most powerful metasearch experience," said Jim Voelker, chairman and CEO of InfoSpace. "Today's consumers want to be assured they are getting the most comprehensive and relevant results, and we go a step further by bringing them together in one place."
The Mobile Marketing Association has released the latest edition of its "consumer best practices guidelines for cross-carrier mobile content services in the U.S."
Although that sounds like a mouthful, at least 500 member companies follow these practices today. For example, Microsoft did so when it launched advertising on its mobile MSN.com property Monday.
Unlike with other media, mobile allows ads to be portrayed in several ways, including text messages or banner ads on mobile Web sites.
These new guidelines appear to cover the ever increasing number of techniques.
They include free-to-end-user guidelines for messaging, sweepstakes and contests, mobile Web and interactive voice response, affiliate marketing, participation TV and word-of-mouth verification.
Hard to know what some of that stuff even is, but this all comes under the heading of self-regulation. The committee that comes up with these guidelines comprises Alltel Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Bango, Chapell & Associates, denuo Group (a Publicis company), Jamster, Lavalife Mobile, mBlox, MMA, MTV Networks, MX Telecom, NeuStar, Qmobile, SinglePoint, Sprint Nextel, Sybase 365, Telescope, Teligence, The Walt Disney Company, T-Mobile USA, VeriSign, and Verizon Wireless.
Microsoft said this morning that for the first time it is adding banner and text ads to its MSN Mobile properties in the U.S.
The ads, at mobile.msn.com, will start appearing today. After a brief look on my phone, I saw mostly Microsoft house ads, but then I found one on a sports story that asked me to take part in a survey.
For kicks, I clicked on the banner. The landing page thanked me and said my answers would not be sold or shared with anyone. I bravely continued. It asked me about 10 questions, ranging from what year I was born to my behavior on the phone and what I thought of certain banks.
The ad was clearly for one of Microsoft's three launch partners: Bank of America. The other two advertisers are Paramount Pictures and Jaguar, said Phil Holden, director of Microsoft's online services group.
Putting ads on the mobile Web is not new. In fact, a number of companies and online media brands have already been doing it for quite some time. Companies such as Third Screen Media, Medio Systems, Thumbplay and Admob are all active in the space.
For now, what Microsoft is doing is pretty limited. The ads don't take into account the user's search history, their location, or any other information. On the MSN search page, there are no relevant text links on the results page.
"That is in the pipeline, but it wasn't enabled on Monday," Holden said.
It will be launched when it's time, he added.
"Most consumers don't even know what they can do on the mobile phone today. If I talk to my friends outside of the technology space, they don't know you can get e-mail and IM on your phone. In many cases, the iPhone has helped that in terms of the hype it's gotten and awareness" he said.
The mobile ad-serving technology was created by Microsoft's Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group and through the acquisition of ScreenTonic SA and aQuantive.
Here's a screen shot of what it will look like. Depending on your phone, the ad may appear as a text link or a banner.
Microsoft said this morning that for the first time it is adding banner and text ads to its MSN Mobile properties in the U.S.
The ads, at mobile.msn.com, will start appearing today. After a brief look on my phone, I saw mostly Microsoft house ads, but then I found one on a sports story that asked me to take part in a survey.
For kicks, I clicked on the banner. The landing page thanked me and said my answers would not be sold or shared with anyone. I bravely continued. It asked me about 10 questions, ranging from what year I was born to my behavior on the phone and what I thought of certain banks.
The ad was clearly for one of Microsoft's three launch partners: Bank of America. The other two advertisers are Paramount Pictures and Jaguar, said Phil Holden, director of Microsoft's online services group.
Putting ads on the mobile Web is not new. In fact, a number of companies and online media brands have already been doing it for quite some time. Companies such as Third Screen Media, Medio Systems, Thumbplay and Admob are all active in the space.
For now, what Microsoft is doing is pretty limited. The ads don't take into account the user's search history, their location, or any other information. On the MSN search page, there are no relevant text links on the results page.
"That is in the pipeline, but it wasn't enabled on Monday," Holden said.
It will be launched when it's time, he added.
"Most consumers don't even know what they can do on the mobile phone today. If I talk to my friends outside of the technology space, they don't know you can get e-mail and IM on your phone. In many cases, the iPhone has helped that in terms of the hype it's gotten and awareness" he said.
The mobile ad-serving technology was created by Microsoft's Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group and through the acquisition of ScreenTonic SA and aQuantive.
Here's a screen shot of what it will look like. Depending on your phone, the ad may appear as a text link or a banner.
A new study suggests that a "staggering" number of entrepreneurs in the U.S. identify themselves as dyslexic, according to a story in the International Herald Tribune.
The report said that of the entrepreneurs interviewed, 35 percent said they were dyslexic. The study also concluded that dyslexics were more likely to delegate authority and to excel in oral communication and problem solving. They were also twice as likely to own two or more businesses.
One good example in our own back yard is Craig McCaw, who has a long list of companies he started: Clearwire, Nextel Communications, XO Communications, Teledesic and McCaw Cellular Communications,
Members of his executive teams frequently describe him as being creative, not too wrapped up in the details, and capable of delegating authority.
The article pointed out that the connection between entrepreneurs and dyslexia has been made before. Fortune had a cover story five years ago mentioning McCaw, but also Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways; Charles Schwab, founder of the discount brokerage that bears his name; John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco; and Paul Orfalea, founder of the Kinko's copy chain.
Why is this?
Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, who conducted the study, said:
"We found that dyslexics who succeed had overcome an awful lot in their lives by developing compensatory skills. If you tell your friends and acquaintances that you plan to start a business, you'll hear over and over, 'It won't work. It can't be done.' But dyslexics are extraordinarily creative about maneuvering their way around problems."
The study was based on a survey of 139 business owners in a wide range of fields across the U.S.
Logan called the results staggering, especially when juxtaposed with the information that about 10 percent of Americans are believed to have dyslexia.
Is there a wireless carrier left out there that doesn't want to be part of the open access debate?
USA Today reported today that the largest U.S. carrier said customers don't have to sign a contract and can use any wireless phone, device and software application from any maker they want -- regardless if it is from AT&T.
The message follows moves by Google, which unveiled an open mobile operating system, and after Verizon Wireless announced that it was opening up its network to third-party phones and applications later next year.
AT&T said it's been open for a long time.
"Everything that Google has promised to bring to the wireless market a year from now AT&T is doing today. We are the most open wireless company in the industry," said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T's wireless business.
The story went on to say that although it has been true for quite some time that consumers could buy other devices and use them on the AT&T network, salespeople in AT&T phone stores will be proactive and make sure that consumers "know all their options."
It is easier for AT&T and T-Mobile USA to provide a more open network than either Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel. AT&T and T-Mobile use the GSM standard, which has a SIM card in the phone that allows a phone to connect to the network.
A consumer can easily pop the chip out and put it into another GSM phone to receive coverage. The one limitation is that if a phone was purchased through AT&T or T-Mobile, the phones are "locked," which prohibits them from being used on another network.
The article did not mention how AT&T will deal with locked phones, or whether they would be willing to unlock phones customers purchased from them. The iPhone, for instance, is a locked device that cannot be used on another network.
Unlocked phones are commonly available on the Internet, through eBay, or even directly from the manufacturer. The one thing consumers need to be careful about is whether that phone will work on their network of choice. Each carrier uses different frequencies and bands. Handset manufacturers make phones for those specific networks.
Since I don't cover Google on a regular basis, and have only been paying close attention to the company since it started making moves in wireless, I was unclear how it was truly operating behind the scenes.
Separately, I had heard that it was buying up unused fiber around the country, but I didn't know what it was for, or how much it was buying.
Malik addressed both of these questions. The blog post discusses how Google's infrastructure is its strategic advantage -- Google must deliver search results to its customers as fast as possible, and to do that, it needs to own fiber, servers, optical switches, etc.
He wrote:
"The faster the results show up on our browsers, the less inclined we'll be to switch to a rival search engine, no matter how great the rival's search methodology may be. The faster (and more efficient) its infrastructure, the more easily Google can keep serving the ad-based money machine."
He also wrote that Google is rumored to be a big buyer of dark fiber -- to connect its data centers -- which could help explain why the company spent nearly $3.8 billion in the past seven quarters on capital expenditures.
So I want to bring this discussion back around to telecom, and ask the question: if owning infrastructure is what makes Google so good on the PC, then how could it dominate in the wireless industry? Does it take owning a wireless network to enable it to be better and faster? Is that why it is so interested in building mobile operating systems and participating in the spectrum auction?
One thing to note is that wireless networks often are used to send information when it is difficult or too expensive to lay down wire. Perhaps Google's interest in the wireless industry is also to support its wired infrastructure.
Or will the next information war take place on the wireless handsets? And, will Google need to own spectrum and wireless infrastructure in order to ensure the speed of its service?
I'm not sure what the answers are, but I think understanding its wired strategy provides a good start.
Monday was the deadline for companies to tell the FCC whether they were interested in participating in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction.
The airwaves are going on sale because TV broadcasters are being required to move off their current spectrum to running on HD. This block of airwaves is commonly called "beachfront property" in the wireless world (although there's some debate about whether that's true -- for instance, it's supposed to work better in rural than urban areas).
Although applications were due yesterday, the FCC hasn't yet announced who is showing interest. That hasn't stopped people from speculating. I'd say there's above-average interest in this auction because it could create an all-new wireless carrier in the U.S. (like Google).
Some companies have already let their position be known. For instance, we know Google is throwing its hat into the ring, and that Time Warner is not.
TechCrunch speculates further on where other companies stand. It's a pretty interesting and complete list, so it's worth checking out:
IN:
Google
AT&T
Frontline Wireless
Clearwire
Cox Communications
Verizon Wireless
OUT:
Comcast
Time Warner
Sprint Nextel
Microsoft
POSSIBLES:
T-Mobile USA
Qualcomm
Nokia
Sony Ericsson
Alltel
Leap Wireless
Would Nokia launch its own network? Will Frontline and Google, who share a desire for open networks, team up? Will Google be there to strictly bid up the price of airwaves so the winning bidder will be required to make them open?
I guess we'll have to wait until Jan. 24, when the auction starts, to see what happens.
Monday was the deadline for companies to tell the FCC whether they were interested in participating in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction.
The airwaves are going on sale because TV broadcasters are being required to move off their current spectrum to running on HD. This block of airwaves is commonly called "beachfront property" in the wireless world (although there's some debate about whether that's true -- for instance, it's supposed to work better in rural than urban areas).
Although applications were due yesterday, the FCC hasn't yet announced who is showing interest. That hasn't stopped people from speculating. I'd say there's above-average interest in this auction because it could create an all-new wireless carrier in the U.S. (like Google).
Some companies have already let their position be known. For instance, we know Google is throwing its hat into the ring, and that Time Warner is not.
TechCrunch speculates further on where other companies stand. It's a pretty interesting and complete list, so it's worth checking out:
IN:
Google
AT&T
Frontline Wireless
Clearwire
Cox Communications
Verizon Wireless
OUT:
Comcast
Time Warner
Sprint Nextel
Microsoft
POSSIBLES:
T-Mobile USA
Qualcomm
Nokia
Sony Ericsson
Alltel
Leap Wireless
Would Nokia launch its own network? Will Frontline and Google, who share a desire for open networks, team up? Will Google be there to strictly bid up the price of airwaves so the winning bidder will be required to make them open?
I guess we'll have to wait until Jan. 24, when the auction starts, to see what happens.
There's not a lot of information on this yet, but AT&T is saying this morning that it has agreed to buy Edge Wireless, which is likely the last wireless carrier started and still being operated by a former McCaw Cellular executive.
Edge Wireless, which serves parts of Oregon, California, Idaho and Wyoming from its headquarters in Bend, Ore., was started by Wayne Perry, Cal Cannon and Donnie Castleman in 1999.
Perry started at McCaw Cellular Communications in 1976, serving as primary legal officer, general counsel, and executive vice president before being named president in 1985. In 1989, he served as vice chairman, a position he retained until McCaw's merger with AT&T in September 1994. After the merger, Perry served as vice-chairman of AT&T Wireless.
He also might be the final member of the McCaw mafia that was still running a wireless network. John Chapple sold Nextel Partners to Sprint following its merger with Nextel, and John Stanton sold Western Wireless to Alltel. Of course, Craig McCaw is busy yet again, running a different kind of wireless network at Kirkland-based Clearwire.
The AT&T press release doesn't include many more details, such as the purchase price or what Perry's role at the company will be. But it does say that Edge has 172,000 subscribers, and that AT&T held a minority ownership interest in Edge since its inception. It is acquiring the remaining 64.3 percent of the company.
The transaction is contingent upon regulatory approval and is expected to close by mid-2008.
There's not a lot of information on this yet, but AT&T is saying this morning that it has agreed to buy Edge Wireless, which is likely the last wireless carrier started and still being operated by a former McCaw Cellular executive.
Edge Wireless, which serves parts of Oregon, California, Idaho and Wyoming from its headquarters in Bend, Ore., was started by Wayne Perry, Cal Cannon and Donnie Castleman in 1999.
Perry started at McCaw Cellular Communications in 1976, serving as primary legal officer, general counsel, and executive vice president before being named president in 1985. In 1989, he served as vice chairman, a position he retained until McCaw's merger with AT&T in September 1994. After the merger, Perry served as vice-chairman of AT&T Wireless.
He also might be the final member of the McCaw mafia that was still running a wireless network. John Chapple sold Nextel Partners to Sprint following its merger with Nextel, and John Stanton sold Western Wireless to Alltel. Of course, Craig McCaw is busy yet again, running a different kind of wireless network at Kirkland-based Clearwire.
The AT&T press release doesn't include many more details, such as the purchase price or what Perry's role at the company will be. But it does say that Edge has 172,000 subscribers, and that AT&T held a minority ownership interest in Edge since its inception. It is acquiring the remaining 64.3 percent of the company.
The transaction is contingent upon regulatory approval and is expected to close by mid-2008.
Nokia, the largest cellphone manufacturer in the world, prognosticates that media will increasingly be something created by consumers, not traditional entertainment companies.
The results came in a survey that must not be too earth-shattering, or else I'd assume Nokia wouldn't share the results in a press release.
But the findings are interesting and do generally reflect (maybe too well, especially given the survey's methodology) Nokia's recent announcements about social networking and launching media services on the mobile phone.
The study, entitled "A Glimpse of the Next Episode," interviewed 9,000 consumers from 17 countries about their digital behaviors and lifestyles. In a somewhat untraditional methodology, Nokia took those results and then combined them with views from its own research and opinions from the Future Laboratory's LifeSigns Network, a community of cultural tech thinkers.
Nokia said that within five years, up to a quarter of the entertainment people consume will be what it calls "circular," meaning that it has been created, edited and shared within a person's peer circle, rather than from media groups.
"The trends we are seeing show us that people will have a genuine desire not only to create and share their own content, but also to remix it, mash it up and pass it on within their peer groups," said Mark Selby, Nokia vice president of multimedia.
What does that mean?
It means that someone might share video footage shot on a mobile device from a night out with a friend...The next friend takes the footage and adds an MP3 file to create a soundtrack. Then the file goes to another friend, who then edits the footage by adding some photographs. That friend then passes it on to another friend and so on.
Selby said: "The content keeps circulating between friends, who may or may not be geographically close, and becomes part of the group's entertainment."
In addition to the findings, here's what the 9,000 interviewed said they were up to:
-- 23 percent buy movies in digital format.
-- 35 percent buy music on MP3 files.
-- 25 percent buy music on mobile devices.
-- 39 percent watch TV on the Internet.
-- 23 percent watch TV on mobile devices
-- 46 percent regularly use IM, 37% on a mobile device
-- 29 percent regularly blog.
-- 28 percent regularly access social networking sites.
-- 22 percent connect using technologies such as Skype.
-- 17 percent take part in multiplayer online role-playing games.
-- 17 percent upload to the Internet from a mobile device.
The list of participants wasn't supposed to be out until Monday, but Google beat everyone to the punch by saying today that it will apply to participate in the FCC's upcoming auction of wireless spectrum in the 700 MHz band.
The airwaves in that band are good for wireless Internet access. But it is unclear what technology the winning bidder would choose to use it for. The options include WiMax, LTE (an evolution of GSM) or others.
Earlier this year, Google lobbied the FCC to ensure the winning bidder would be required to allow their users "open access," meaning those users could download any software application they want on their mobile device, as well as use any mobile devices on that wireless network.
For more background, check out a story I wrote in August.
Verizon Wireless announced this week that it planned to open up its network by the end of 2008.
The winner of the auction will have to follow through with the open access requirement if it meets the reserve price of $4.6 billion for this swath of spectrum.
"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman and CEO. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet."
The Seattle-area is known for its expertise in the wireless industry.
It is and has been the home of the biggest in the game, including AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Western Wireless, Nextel Partners, Clearwire and more.
Although T-Mobile and Clearwire are the only remaining wireless operators here, it's no less of a wireless town. Tthe focus is changing instead from infrastructure to software. There are Microsoft and RealNetworks, and a host of smaller venture-backed companies doing everything from search, gaming, photo sharing and social networking.
One company that gets a little less ink, but has been around for years and is making some headway is NetMotion Wireless.
I had a chance to catch up this week with Tom Johnston, NetMotion's senior vice president of product and marketing, to get a status report.
The Seattle-based company isn't doing anything flashy. It is solely focused on the behind-the-scenes of the enterprise workforce. It focuses on helping businesses run efficiently on wireless networks. It does so by helping workers keep their applications up and running even if they momentarily drop their wireless data connection, whether they are traveling through a canyon or repairing an elevator.
What does this mean?
It means that an employee who is using ar laptop or a handheld device in the field won't be kicked out of business applications, such as a billing system, when a cell signal fades. Similarly, police or fire personnel could continue to search driver's license databases when a connection is going in and out.
Without NetMotion, it's often the case that the application will shut down and freeze when a connection is lost. We're not talking about e-mail here, but large billing, expense, sales or other systems. If this happens, an employee often has to call headquarters to report the information, which can be a waste of time.
How does it work?
NetMotion places a server in a company's data center that fools an application into thinking the connection is maintained depsite what is going on in the field.
Johnston said demand for NetMotion products is increasing because more field workers have laptops with data cards or high-end phones.
Today, the company has about 1,000 customers using 200,000 devices. Its revenues for the first three quarters of this year are up 66 percent compared with the same period last year, and the number of licenses has jumped 71 percent.
It serves companies such as Cox Communications, the nation's third largest cable provide. It has 3,500 technicians using NetMotion. The Orange County Sheriff's Department has 400 officers using the software.
NetMotion has come a long way. The company was spun off from WRQ in 2001, and was backed by venture capitalists. In 2006, it had a patent-infringement tiff with Bethlehem, Pa.-based Padcom. They resolved their issues and decided to merge the two companies.
Verizon Wireless is making headlines for the second time this week.
On Tuesday, I wrote about how it was going to open up its networks to unlocked cellphones and third-party developers.
Today, Verizon Wireless said it is testing out a fourth-generation technology known as LTE, or long-term evolution.
The Wall Street Journal noted that it was interesting Verizon was making this 4G choice because LTE evolves from GSM technology, the most-used standard worldwide. That differs from Verizon's CDMA technology, which is also used by Sprint Nextel in the U.S. but doesn't have a big global following.
The switch makes sense since Verizon Wireless is partly owned by Vodafone, which uses the GSM standard. As the WSJ noted, this will allow Verizon customers to roam more easily internationally. (Today, if its customers go to Europe, they have to get a global phone that has both CDMA and GSM chips.)
But I haven't seen a lot of discussion about what Verizon's decision to test LTE says about WiMax. I think it is a little bit of a black eye for this wireless broadband technology, which gained momentum in the past year. It can't get a break recently.
Sprint Nextel, which is rolling out WiMax, calls WiMax its 4G technology. A partnership with Clearwire to jointly develop a nationwide network dissolved with the departure of Sprint's CEO.
If Sprint Nextel and Clearwire build a nationwide network based on WiMax, and Verizon chooses LTE, it looks like we'll continue to see dual wireless standards in the U.S.
In addition, we are still waiting to hear what AT&T and T-Mobile USA will decide, and there's also the upcoming spectrum auction. It will provide a fresh chunk of airwaves that could throw a new player -- Google -- into the mix. Whoever wins that auction will also have a lot of choices to make.
To confuse the matters even more, Qualcomm is developing a third option based on the technology it acquired from Flarion.
I suppose this is the beauty of capitalism, where the market gets to decide. I'd argue it's worked out fairly well in the U.S. with competition pushing each other to roll out better and better technology. But it's also hard on the consumer, who may or may not have to get new equipment each time he or she changes carriers or travels internationally.
A little more than a year ago, I wrote a story about Bellevue-based Sotto Wireless, a startup founded by three experienced executives coming out of AT&T Wireless.
The business revolves around simplifying telecommunications for small- to medium-size businesses by selling them one service they can use outdoors on the cellular network and indoors on Wi-Fi. It eliminates multiple bills, phone numbers and voicemail boxes.
A year later, Rod Nelson says the company is in the thick of it, having launched services in Charlotte, N.C., and in Seattle.
Today, it announced it is partnering with XO Communications in Seattle. Sotto will bundle XO's broadband services with its offerings to small-and-medium-sized business, and XO has agreed to resell Sotto's services.
Sotto falls into the highly talked about wireless sector called "fixed mobile convergence," or FMC for short. FMC mixes both the luxuries of landlines with the flexibility of wireless phones.
For instance, someone calling an employee using one of the Sotto phones will have no idea if he is reaching that person in the office or on a mobile phone. Phone calls can be transferred between employees, and all voicemail goes into one inbox.
When the employee is in the office, the phone operates over Wi-Fi, saving minutes on the company's cellular plans, but then it automatically switches over to cellular when the person leaves the office, Nelson said.
He added that the increased attention and focus on FMC has helped the business in the past year. T-Mobile USA started offering a service called T-Mobile Hotspot@Home in that time. That service allows consumers to use a Wi-Fi network in the house for better indoor coverage and to save money.
At the minimum, Nelson said efforts such as those are encouraging more handset manufacturers to include Wi-Fi in phones. Right now, Sotto Wireless resells Nokia handsets, but in the next year he expects to start offering Windows Mobile and other smartphones.
Paul Merritt, general manager of XO in Seattle, said the partnership places XO six months to a year ahead of its competition. He doesn't know of any of his competitors that are reselling cellular services. Because of this, he's allowed all of his 12 sales reps to offer the service to new and existing customers.
"It was a natural fit, there's nothing close to this on the market," he said.
Nelson said if the trial goes well in Seattle, it will eventually will roll out to the 75 markets that XO serves around the country.
Earlier this week, I drove to Bellevue to sit down with Ivan Braiker and Eric Harber, HipCricket's chief executive and president, respectively.
We gathered in Braiker's office, which was surprisingly bare of any decorations, artwork or anything.
Turns out everything is packed up. The company is expanding so fast it needs to move to a larger office. Braiker even joked that as soon as he takes off for a sales trip, the employees celebrate -- up to three employees can fit and work in his office.
They'll have about 50 employees by the end of the year and are expecting to add about four or five a month, Braiker said.
What's HipCricket doing that's driving so much growth?
It helps radio and TV stations make their one-way media become interactive by allowing listeners and readers to send text messages to the station in response to advertising. At the same time, the system is used to increase the effectiveness of the ads. In doing so, the stations' can charge more.
It's good to step back every once in a while and hear examples of what is actually successful and making it in these frothy wireless days, where everyone has an idea for cellphones.
HipCricket seems to be addressing something spot on.
In a report published Tuesday by Seattle-based M:Metrics, 94.9 million mobile subscribers said they sent a text message in the three months ended September, or about 44 percent of U.S. cellphone users.
Here's some of the examples of how HipCricket is being used:
-- KUBE 93.3, the radio station in Seattle, regularly uses the system. For instance, it aired a McDonald's commercial that asked listeners to text a five-digit short-code to get a two-for-one coupon for cheeseburgers.
-- In Los Angeles, a local coffee shop offered a coupon for two-for-one iced lattes.
-- In yet another market, a company holding a job fair said if people sent a text message, they would get a text reminder the day of the fair.
Braiker said that these offers are generating a response rate of about 40 percent, a much greater rate than traditional means of advertising.
"TV and radio has struggled over proving accountability [that people are indeed listening and watching]," he said. "By the end of the day, they now know how many people have replied."
In the case of the L.A. station, Coffee Bean became a HipCricket customer so it could use the technology across all radio stations in all of its markets, not just the one in L.A.
Braiker said this is why HipCricket is growing so fast. Sister radio stations, TV stations, newspapers and even the brands themselves are using its technology.
The company, almost 4 years old, has about 200 customers and has managed 16,000 campaigns.
HipCricket charges a flat rate and provides a number of ways for the stations to make money. The station usually charges an advertiser a premium to add a text message to its commercial, but ads can also be added at the bottom of a text message. For instance, people can text in to get a list of the last three songs that played on the radio. On the bottom of the reply would be a sponsorship ad.
HipCricket can also be used to boost a station's audience. People may be willing to sign up for alerts, telling them to tune in when a prize is about to be given away.
The company has been backed by a number of private investors, and is profitable. But for now, Braiker said profitability is not a goal -- it makes more sense to invest and grow.
"We are in the middle of a land grab," he said.
UPDATE: Late Monday night, HipCricket went public on the London Stock Exchange's AIM. It raised about $17 million and has a market capitalization of $155.4 million. In this press release here, Braiker said: "The additional funding puts us in an excellent position to capitalize on the increasing opportunities ahead of us, providing a strong base to grow the company organically and also fund expansion in US markets. Our AIM listing will significantly enhance our ability to serve our existing UK investors."
I've seen several bloggers write today about how T-Mobile in Germany is selling an unlocked version of the Apple iPhone for an outrageously high price of $1,477 (or 999 euros).
But the interesting part of the story is not the price.
You see, T-Mobile was forced to unlock the phone to comply with a court injunction issued after Vodafone challenged its exclusivity on the handset.
In fact, it's not the cost at all that's odd about the story.
As the International Herald Tribune story points out, the offer does fit generally with T-Mobile's pricing schemes. The popular Nokia N95, for example, sells for as little as 199.95 euros ($295.63) with a two-year contract, or 619.95 euros($916.60) without one.
What sticks out to me is that T-Mobile is getting in trouble for having an exclusive phone agreement.
Here in the U.S., AT&T has an exclusive on the iPhone -- and it's not just any exclusive. It lasts FIVE years!
And in Germany, T-Mobile only started selling the phone Nov. 9.
As far as I know, I don't know a single carrier in the U.S. that sells any unlocked phones, even at a higher price. The closest is T-Mobile USA, which after a certain time has lapsed will voluntarily unlock your phone.
I don't know if AT&T will ever unlock the iPhone you bought.
So the next time Google starts talking about "open access" this is one example of what it's talking about. If it's already going on in Europe, then maybe it's not as extreme as some of Google's detractors are claiming.
On Amazon.com today, Jeff Bezos writes a letter to customers, about reading books -- "I love slipping into a comfortable chair for a long read....The physical book is so elegant that the artifact itself disappears into the background. The paper, glue, ink, and stitching that make up the book vanish, and what remains is the author's world."
And what also remains is Kindle, the wireless portable reading device that Amazon has been secretly working on for more than three years.
With the launch of Amazon's Kindle comes the first-of-its-kind look at what could be a whole new category of wireless devices.
In the WiMax industry, which is attempting to roll out wireless broadband nationwide, there's a lot of talk about consumer devices, including cameras, MP3 players and other devices, always be connected. Sprint Nextel talks about this the most, with Kirkland-based Clearwire also saying that's a potential outcome of having always-on Internet access.
The problem with this is determining how the user should be billed. If Kindle reaches out over the wireless infrastructure for ane-book, who pays for that airtime? The user? In the form of a monthly bill that requires a two-year commitment?
At that point, adoption is almost completely ruled out.
This is why it will be interesting to see how successful Kindle is. It is adopting a new set of billing rules that Sprint Nextel talks about for its WiMax network.
In the press release, Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity for Kindle so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers.
The next problem is the device's cost: $399.
WiMax is also supposedly able to help with that over the long run. Its chipsets are to be more in line with Wi-Fi, rather than the costly cellular chips that the Kindle requires.
Of course, the WiMax networks still have to be built, and it has to get enough volume for this to happen.
I wrote a story today about Google's most recent efforts in the mobile phone space.
It recently unveiled a mobile software platform called Android, a free, open-source operating system supported by the Open Handset Alliance. The platform would allow developers to build new applications that the company thinks have been too difficult to develop on today's mobile operating systems.
I wanted to get a sense of whether developers were interested in making nifty, new aps for phones that won't start to be released until later next year.
I posed the questions: Will developers flock to the code? Will they build anything on Android immediately " or later? Does the platform generate excitement or is it a letdown?
By far and away, mobile-software developers in the wireless-heavy Seattle region, didn't have immediate plans to do anything. Many companies I spoke to, or attempted to interview on the subject, declined, saying they had nothing to contribute.
Did I miss anyone? Feel free to comment now, and give me a sense of whether the picture is different somewhere else, or for a different group of people.
I wrote a story today about Google's most recent efforts in the mobile phone space.
It recently unveiled a mobile software platform called Android, a free, open-source operating system supported by the Open Handset Alliance. The platform would allow developers to build new applications that the company thinks have been too difficult to develop on today's mobile operating systems.
I wanted to get a sense of whether developers were interested in making nifty, new aps for phones that won't start to be released until later next year.
I posed the questions: Will developers flock to the code? Will they build anything on Android immediately " or later? Does the platform generate excitement or is it a letdown?
By far and away, mobile-software developers in the wireless-heavy Seattle region, didn't have immediate plans to do anything. Many companies I spoke to, or attempted to interview on the subject, declined, saying they had nothing to contribute.
Did I miss anyone? Feel free to comment now, and give me a sense of whether the picture is different somewhere else, or for a different group of people.
Sometimes I think I'm one of the only reporters covering things like back-end billing infrastructure for wireless networks.
It started because Qpass, which provides services to many carriers, was based here in Seattle. But now, it's been more than a year since the company was bought by Amdocs, which must be prompting others to care, too.
Qpass still has a large presence in Seattle, along with another Amdocs subsidiary called OpenMarket.
The Washington Post (via PC World) today featured a story on the two divisions and how they ensure that transactions over mobile phones are secure.
The story explained that to get paid through SMS, mobile vendors need to get a numeric "short code" from a mobile operator for customers to text-message to a phone number. After the customer sends the message, what they bought typically shows up directly on the phone. A charge appears on the subscriber's next bill, and then the content provider gets paid.
But here lies the problem: The story said the process is full of holes, according to content providers and analysts.
Apparently, there are at least two companies trying to solve this problem: OpenMarket and Bango.net.
Sometimes I think I'm one of the only reporters covering things like back-end billing infrastructure for wireless networks.
It started because Qpass, which provides services to many carriers, was based here in Seattle. But now, it's been more than a year since the company was bought by Amdocs, which must be prompting others to care, too.
Qpass still has a large presence in Seattle, along with another Amdocs subsidiary called OpenMarket.
The Washington Post (via PC World) today featured a story on the two divisions and how they ensure that transactions over mobile phones are secure.
The story explained that to get paid through SMS, mobile vendors need to get a numeric "short code" from a mobile operator for customers to text-message to a phone number. After the customer sends the message, what they bought typically shows up directly on the phone. A charge appears on the subscriber's next bill, and then the content provider gets paid.
But here lies the problem: The story said the process is full of holes, according to content providers and analysts.
Apparently, there are at least two companies trying to solve this problem: OpenMarket and Bango.net.
Bellevue-based InfoSpace said today it is launching technology that has the ability to incorporate banner advertisements and promotion links into its search platform. (As a reminder, InfoSpace's mobile division was sold recently to Motricity. The transaction is pending customary closing procedures.)
As part of today's announcement, InfoSpace also reported how its so-called mCore Managed Web solution is performing on Virgin Mobile phones in the U.K.
The findings are interesting given the growing hype surrounding advertising and search on the mobile phone. There's a big question as to whether the dominant Internet players such as Yahoo or Google will prevail, or if white-label search provided by InfoSpace, Medio Systems or JumpTap will fair well.
From what InfoSpace says, its not doing too shabbily.
InfoSpace said since deploying the search capabilities, Virgin Mobile UK has seen users increase their mobile search page views by 50 percent. That translates to an overall 60 percent growth rate of all of its mobile search traffic.
Virgin saw not only an increase in Web activity, but also a jump in the purchase of downloads of graphics and games to ringtones and video -- because InfoSpace combines both Web search and the content sold by the carrier into one platform.
"There is a lot of speculation about whether carriers can deliver a mobile Web experience that will compete with third party offerings," said Steve Elfman, InfoSpace executive vice president of the company's mobile business unit.."Our partner's success shows that by bringing the Internet into a unified mobile search solution, carriers can deliver a superior, more powerful user experience and boost traffic across all services,"
More information can be found on InfoSpace's Web site, where there's a white paper describing Virgin Mobile's experiences with search.
I found an interesting tidbit supporting what Elfman says above and adds to the Google vs. white label debate.
InfoSpace said search page views doubled in the two months following the launch of Virgin Mobile's off-portal search to 3.8 million from 1.6 milion a month.
And while those searches were up, searches on Google, Yahoo! and Windows Live decreased "dramatically in the first month after launch, indicating that users are finding what they need without leaving the portal." it said.
AT&T, the largest wireless U.S. carrier, said it will be selling its service through Wireless Advocates, which sells wireless phones exclusively in Costcos.
AT&T phones will now be sold in nearly 370 Costco locations nationwide, reaching 35 million Costco cardholders.
Wireless Advocates is a Seattle-based company and is a division of the Car Toys enterprise, which also sells wireless phones.
It also offers service from Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA
"Costco is near the top among retail outlets in mobile phone activations, so we are positioned to better deliver the benefits of wireless services to a larger group of consumers. Partnering with Wireless Advocates will ensure that our products are sold with care and expertise and that customer service will be a top priority," said Glenn Lurie, president of national distribution in AT&T's wireless division.
The Costco kiosks will sell such phones as the Samsung A437 and A517, as well as Nokia and Motorola models. The Samsung BlackJack will also be sold in select locations.
"The demand for wireless services in Costco stores continues to grow," said Wireless Advocates CEO Dan Brettler.
That's right. Zenzui, which was spun out of Microsoft, has been renamed Zumobi.
The Seattle-based startup said the name better represents the business it's in -- mobile.
On Dec. 14, it plans to launch a beta version of its mobile-phone software.
Zumobi is building a platform that allows people to easily get information instead of having to search the Web. It includes a platform of 16 "tiles" that can be seen all at once or one at a time.
The tiles are sponsored by major brands, such as Amazon.com, which can kick back advertising revenue to Zumobi and the carriers. Users get to choose the tiles they want on their screen.
It's been a busy two weeks for T-Mobile USA in the news.
On Oct. 29, I wrote about the launch of Shadow, a new phone from the Bellevue-based company embracing a whole new concept of devices for the company.
T-Mobile said the Shadow is a key part of its initiative launched a year ago to change the carrier from a low-cost provider to a company that sells premium services. The Shadow embraces that because it makes functions easy to use for the common consumer.
Then, last week T-Mobile said that it was going to be one of the more aggressive carrier partners on the Android platform. I talked to T-Mobile USA Chief Development Officer Cole Brodman on that subject in this story.
Together, these events show how earnest the fourth largest U.S. carrier is being. It will be an interesting to watch over the next few years as it builds out its strategy.
The Wall Street Journal summarized these two news events in a story today.
The big question is whether the risks the company is taking will pay off.
Will we look back and say that T-Mobile was a game changer?
Last week, Google announced it was launching the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of companies working together to develop the Android platform, a mobile phone operating system based on Linux.
Today, the specifications for Android become publicly available. I'm guessing there were plenty of third-party developers that were eagerly awaiting the release of the software developer kit, more commonly known as SDK.
In addition, Google said that in order to get things rolling it was announcing the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in awards to developers who build great applications for Android.
The first phone is expected to be built by Taiwan handset manufacturer HTC and be available in the second half of next year.
Still, Google optimistically wrote today on its blog: "with so many brilliant minds striving to design engaging, innovative applications, mobile users around the world (3 billion and counting!) can expect phones equipped with dynamic and unprecedented applications very soon."
Rumors have circulated for months that Google is about to release a mobile phone.
And that could still be in the works.
But a much broader alliance, including Google and T-Mobile USA, Motorola and other mobile industry heavyweights, announced this morning that they are coming together to build what they are calling Android -- the first open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.
"Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single 'Google Phone' that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models," said Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt.
There's been some debate for a while on how the mobile phone industry can become more like the PC or Internet industry, where third-party developers can create either Internet or PC applications for consumers at their will. Today, the mobile phone industry is more closed, and most applications need approval by the carrier. I wrote a story about this very subject two weeks ago in San Francisco, where the founder of Facebook challenged the industry to operate more like a platform than a so-called walled garden.
Android is being developed by Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others through the Open Handset Alliance.
The news came out this morning, with a conference call at 9 a.m. I will have more details after that as to whether this is what the rumors of a Google phone have been about, or whether this is something separate and much broader that is in the works.
For now, a press release says the alliance shares a common goal of fostering innovation on mobile devices and giving consumers a far better user experience than much of what is available on today's mobile devices. In doing so, they expect to accelerate the pace at which new and compelling mobile services are made available to consumers.
What actually is Android?
The press release says it includes everything in a "software stack," which consists of an operating system, middleware, user-friendly interface and applications.
The first phones based on Android are expected to be available in about eight months, or the second half of 2008.
The Open Handset Alliance includes 34 companies. Of the founding members, big names such as Microsoft, Symbian and UIQ are noticeably absent. I think all three of those companies would argue that they have an open platform that developers are welcome to create applications for. I'll try to figure out the difference between Android and what already exists.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Atish Gude, the executive leading Sprint Nextel's WiMax intiative, called Xohm, was the show's final keynote speaker today.
Gude painted a broad overview of WiMax for the crowd, which mostly consisted of people from the cellular industry.
He spent a lot of time explaining how WiMax is different than the existing wireless broadband services that cellular carriers use today.
The answer, in part, is the business model.
Gude said Sprint wants to build an ecosystem of players that include the consumer electronics industry and developers. The important thing is that the network is open to allow everyone in who wants to participate.
"The marketplace will decide what wins and loses," he said.
The mantra is different than what wireless carriers in the U.S. today. They want tight controls on the network so that they don't become simply a dumb pipe. I wrote about this in today's paper; one of Facebook's founder really launched the topic Wednesday during his keynote, arguing that carriers need to become an open platform that welcomes development.
"It makes it really hard in the 3G world to open up platforms, not to say it can't be done and there's been progress," he said, "but we are very committed to opening up APIs. We are absolutely committed to opening up the APIs and investing in a platform, and really making innovation happen in the wireless space."
He said it won't be a dumb pipe -- it will be a very smart one.
There is a lot of work to be done still. For instance, Gude said that in order for a portable DVD player to connect to the Internet over WiMax, the user interface needs work. Today, there are only four buttons -- start, stop, fast forward and rewind a movie. He asked how are you supposed to search for a movie title with just those four buttons?
He hopes someone in the development world will figure it out.
SAN FRANCISCO -- CTIA -- The Wireless Association, which organized this week's show in San Francisco, has appointed new members of the board, and two are local executives.
CTIA CEO Steve Largent said new Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam will be the wireless industry trade group's new chairman. McAdam had been vice chairman.
Replacing him as vice chairman is T-Mobile USA CEO Robert Dotson.
CTIA also elected 46 board members for 2008, including Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff.
Othe leadership positions: Alcatel-Lucent Mobility Solutions President Cindy Christy is treasurer, Centennial Communications CEO Michael Small is secretary, and SunCom CEO Michael Kalogris is chairman emeritus.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Steve Largent, CTIA's CEO, has shared a few stats with the crowd before keynotes took place the past two days:
-- There are 243 million U.S. subscribers, totaling about 80 percent of the population. Four years ago, there were fewer than 160 million U.S. subscribers.
-- 1 billion text messages are sent every day in the U.S.
-- 472 million picture messages were sent in June, a 125 percent increase over last year.
-- Data revenue makes up about 15 percent of carrier revenue today.
-- Oct. 13, 2008 marked the 25th anniversary of the first commercial wireless phone call. As part of that, Largent asked people to go to ctia.org to vote for the top 10 biggest events in the past 25 years.
SAN FRANCISCO -- It's a long tradition at tradeshows that after an exhausting day roaming the conference floor, chatting with all the players and learning a ton that you go out and hit the nightlife afterwards.
Last night was no exception.
First on the agenda was to stop by the W Hotel, where Amdoc's two Seattle divisions, OpenMarket and Qpass, were throwing a party. The party was on a rooftop deck and people were lounging in big cabanas.
The second stop was at another locally inspired scene. It's becoming a tradition for Ontela, SinglePoint and Zenzui to throw a party, and it's a great chance to see all the wireless folks from the Northwest in one place.
I saw many other companies besides the sponsoring parties. I met the chairman of BlueFrog Mobile, who gave me a quick demo of its text TV application; and I met the executives at Travelling Wave, who are building a new type of voice recognition software for mobile.
Travelling Wave also treated me to a demo. It works like this: a person says a word and then starts typing it, and the system usually recognizes the word after one or two letters. It worked fairly flawlessly, especially given the loud, bumping music in the background. The one time it flubbed was when an exclamation point was recognized as a smiley face. :-)
I also met a handful of former Microsoft employees, VCs and others.
The last and final stop on the agenda was the party sponsored by Nokia and mSpot, which was far and away was the most popular.
The event at Ruby Skye featured hip-hop artist Ne-Yo. Long before he went on stage, a line wrapped around the block, and the word was the club, with a capacity of 900, was full, and the nearly 3,000 that RSVP'd would definitely not get in.
In case you missed it, here's what it was like inside:
From the balcony, you can see a DJ spinning before Ne-Yo took the stage.
Here you can see the crowd getting into Ne-Yo's performance.
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz encouraged the wireless industry to open up their networks to third-party development.
Speaking at CTIA today, he said the pressure is on because Apple will be opening up its mobile phone in February to outside developers and Google is expected to make an open play next year by either releasing a new phone or participating in a spectrum auction.
A company that currently develops a mobile application has to be approved by each wireless network in order to be offered on a phone, rather than simply being installed by the end user.
Quoting Moskovitz:
There are a lot of good reasons why the state of the industry is why it is. I don't want to stand up here and tell you about your industry, but I've been working with everyone in the ecosystem over the last four years.
The mobile operating system and hardware layers are locked down, and Smartphones are pushing the boundaries, but we still have a long way to go. There's reasons why it looks like this today, but I want to talk about how crucial it is for this to change.
He said thousands of developers are waiting to build for mobile.
Moskovitz also invited RIM's co-CEO Mike Lazaridis on stage to announce a Facebook application for the BlackBerry that is fully integrated into the phone. If users take a photo and the application has been installed, the phone will ask whether the user wants o text that photo, e-mail it, or send it to Facebook (without even launching the application). The person can even tag the photo.
The BlackBerry application, being launched today, will first be available on T-Mobile USA's network.
It is interesting that Facebook's first application was built with BlackBerry, a business device. However, when Moskovitz started off his presentation, he asked the crowd how many people were Facebook users. More than half raised their hands. He said the business segment is one of the fastest growing areas for Facebook.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft Chief Steve Ballmer delivered Tuesday morning's keynote at CTIA during, focusing on a couple of enterprise announcements, as mentioned in today's paper. But he also relayed the message that Microsoft is building products that will span both a person's work and life style.
Following his speech, CTIA CEO Steve Largent asked Ballmer six questions. The questions covered a lot of topics and were quite telling on where Microsoft may be heading. I included one in the story, but here are the other five.
Because the answers are long, they have been edited down. For the full transcript go here.
Largent: How will Microsoft partner with mobile operators and device manufacturers, many of whom are here today, and how will that compare to your competition?
Ballmer: Well, I think if you sort of ask where's our DNA, where did we grow up. We grew up actually in a world in which we partnered quite broadly with a hardware ecosystem to really enable an industry. That's kind of where we came from on the PC side. That's also kind of our approach to the mobile industry.
Largent: Steve, as you probably know, we have a big spectrum auction that's about to take place in hopefully the end of January. It's scheduled now for the end of January. Does Microsoft have any plans in the spectrum auction?
Ballmer: No. We don't have plans to participate in the spectrum auction. At the end of the day, we think we may be broader in what we do than almost any company out there, but we think we have a core competence, and we think that the telecom industry and the service providers have a core competence.
[Applause by one person in the crowd.]
Thanks, dad [to that one person]. No that was a joke.
So what would it buy us to own a piece of spectrum? One piece of spectrum in one country, it would probably do a lot to alienate the telecom industry. It does not do a lot to advance our goal, which is to try to take some very exciting technology and spread it everywhere. Nobody knows what will happen out of some of our competitors, because they're rumored to be doing a lot of different things, and we'll just have to wait and see. But I think compared to anybody else participating in the industry, we are trying to provide a critical mass of solution, but really be an enabler of third parties.
Largent: What role will mobile advertising play in Microsoft's future, and what will your partners play?
Ballmer: I think mobile advertising is going to be a great revenue source for all of us. And exactly how the pie gets split up, that will be a first=rate problem for our industry to have, and we need to first really do the things it's going to take to have mobile advertising be relevant and important and high-impact. That will create revenue, and that will give us all the kind of opportunity that we want.
We're investing in the technology for advertising in general, and for mobile specifically. We bought a company earlier this year, aQuantive, $6 billion, it's an ad platform company. We bought a couple of companies, MotionBridge, and ScreenTonic in Europe that provide spe
