Mobiles

The wireless spectrum auction is reaching an interesting stage: After 18 rounds of bidding that began one week ago, bids for the “C block” of nationwide spectrum reached $4.7 billion today. This means that the FCC’s open access rules for part of the spectrum will now come into play, something Google (NSDQ: GOOG) had been pushing for.

Fellow Blogger MobHappy calls it a "Big Day for Mobile in the US" and we couldn't agree more.

We all knew Open Access was going to come, the big question has always been; When? Now, granted, this is not going to happen overnight, but the next few years are going to very exciting in the mobile space.

And to back up this point, you need to look no further than a couple of news items today involving Garmin and Dell.

Garmin (NSDQ: GRMN) announced its entrance into the mobile phone market with the nuvifone, an all-in-one, sleek and slim, touchscreen device that combines a premium phone, mobile web-browser, and cutting-edge personal navigator.

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), on the other hand, has not made any formal announcements but they are likely building their own mobile phone as well.

The impact to you and me, of course, is as the walls come down, consumers will have a better selection of products, lower prices and increased functionality as more and more manufacturers enter the mobile space.

Movaya loves the iPhone and its users' consumption of bandwidth. Say what you will about the device, the functionality, the bugs, the whatever. The point that makes us giddy is the amount of time users spend surfing the internet and interacting with the web just like users do on their PCs (or Apple Macs).

Data Points:
...according to René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT). He says the device is driving up average wireless data usage as much as 30 times higher than on other phones...the average Internet usage for an iPhone customer is more than 100 MBytes. This is 30 times the use for our average contract-based consumer customers... [from Unstrung]

Matthew Key, chief executive of O 2 Europe, is excited about how iPhone customers are turning out to have a big appetite for data services. About 60 per cent are sending or receiving more than 25MB of data a month, which is the equivalent of sending 7,500 e-mails. By comparison, only 1.8 per cent of O 2 's other mobile customers on monthly contracts are consuming more than 25MB a month...[from Financial Times]

AT&T has stated that iPhone data usage has blown away their predictions, with data usage at twice the projected number.

The gist of the situation: users are no longer tethered to their carrier portal and the goods that are sold there. iPhoners are using their iPhones for data access just like desktop computer users, allowing for exposure to all sorts of websites (not just the 4 carrier portals they typically look at today). Therefore, the ability to sell mobile content from a wide variety of storefronts will be the norm. And Movaya will be there powering a large percentage of the mobile content ecommerce transactions.

Rumors about the mythical GPhone or Google Phone are alive once again. This time it's between computer maker Dell and obviously Google. According to MarketingWeek, senior industry sources claim this scheming tandem will be revealed at the upcoming 3GSM conference in Barcelona, Spain.

The widespread buzz about GPhone has died down with the launch of Google's open mobile platform, Android. It seems the excitement over a so-called iPhone-killer is not yet over.

Is this possible? Many observers do not find this alleged partnership very sound. One reason is it might jeopardize the openness of Android OS if Google gives special attention to one handset manufacturer.

But as you know the wireless industry is so full of surprises. Who knows this might be the golden opportunity for Dell to improve its poor performance in the PDA market.

via Engadget See full article.

Related Entries:

What if Google Phone is Not Really a Phone at All? - 09 October 2007

Das GPhone - nur eine Software - 10 Oktober 2007

Moving Towards the Google Phone - 30 October 2007

It's Not GPhone, It's Android - 06 November 2007

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You might have notice some cryptic 2-dimensional bar codes while browsing online. That's called Quick Response (QR) code. Compared to ordinary bar codes found in malls, it can store more information and character types while maintaining its small size.

Although this is not familiar image in the US yet, QR codes are prominent in Japan. In fact, Nokia Beta Labs manager Tommi Vilkamo proudly proclaims 2D barcodes will rule the earth. Right now, here are some applications of QR codes in our daily lives:

As mobile boarding pass in selected airports in the US.
As a way to bridge the gap between online and paper magazines (Spektacle and UK's The Sun tabloid magazine)
As shopping companion
As retailing tool
As a weapon for social activities
As a cool campus guide
As fashion design (maybe)

Despite some major developments in this field, it does not have significant impact yet in the US. You still cannot see it transforming into a necessity just like SMS or Bluetooth devices.

I guess it's too early to predict if it can rule the earth.

This post is sponsored by cellity - tune your phone! Becoming a mobile activist need not be expensive with cellity worldCALL, cellity freeSMS, cellity Twitter and cellity groupCALL. See full article.

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If you are too lazy to unlock your keypad and read your text messages, you will surely love ShakeSMS - a new mobile application enabling Nokia Nseries users to read SMS just by shaking their mobile phones.

The video shows how it works. Just shake your phone to read the message even if the keypad is locked, read the message, shake it again to return to the main menu and lock the keypad.

Though many users may find this cool, it is virtually useless. The idea behind ShakeSMS is to reduce the number of steps to read text messages. Then again, how hard is it to read a text message?

Just by looking at the video you will see how sensitive it is to slight movements. Even if you're walking this might open your inbox by mistake. Not a good companion if you are always on the go or have an active lifestyle.

via IntoMobile
See full article.

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Although the idea behind Nokia's acquisition of Trolltech is to develop cross-platform applications and complement Symbian OS, this could be damaging to Symbian over the long haul. According to an analyst at ABI Research:

Currently, Nokia only offers Linux based MIDs (mobile internet devices) and even though it has not expressed any specific intentions so far, this acquisition is likely to lead to Nokia introducing smartphones and other handsets based on Linux in the coming years. For Symbian, it will be a big setback and their market-share of the OS market will rapidly decline if Nokia starts offering Linux devices.

Even though it is very unlikely for Trolltech to replace Symbian, it can still weaken the bottom line of Nokia's longtime OS in terms of royalty revenues. With the entry of Google's Android, the role of Linux-based mobile devices might become more relevant in the future.
See full article.

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Maybe it's time for Apple's brilliant CEO Steve Jobs to get rid of its exclusive partnerships and go mass market for its revolutionary mobile handset, iPhone. According to Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, about 1 million or 27% of total iPhones sold in the U.S. are "unlocked" so consumers can use it on other mobile operators.

Translated in dollars this means a revenue loss of $500 million for 2008, assuming iPhone reaches its sales target of 10 million units in the US. While AT&T and Apple acknowledge this problem, both parties declined to comment on this guesswork. Though I'm sure we can assume silence means yes.

Expect this rate to increase for there are still many mobile consumers who remain madly in love with this device.

Read [BBC] via [pocket picks]

See full article.

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Unlocked iPhone In October? - 11 August 2007

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Image analytics and pattern recognition software firm Mitek Systems is all geared up to take mobile banking to the next level with its ImageNet Mobile Deposit - the first mobile banking software that extends mobile payments and paper check deposit capabilities to millions of customers who use camera phones.

These new financial services complement the existing mobile banking features such as balance inquiry, fund transfers and electronic bills payments. More importantly, it adds value for many banking customers who lack the time to pay their bills and deposit money.

Compatible with any mobile devices equipped with 2 megapixel camera or higher and Windows Mobile or Symbian OS, this application is very easy to use. Here's the basic guide:

To make a deposit, the user initiates a mobile banking session, keys in the deposit amount, and snaps a photo of the front and back of the check. The software captures the images and recognizes and extracts the check's Courtesy Amount and Legal Amount (CAR/LAR). Before transmitting data to the bank, ImageNet Mobile Deposit confirms the check images meet Check 21 accepted image quality standards. Once the bank's system receives the deposit, it sends the customer a confirmation text message.

The same process works with payment of paper bills. While the idea is brilliant, will the general public embrace this technology? I'm sure security issues will also be the utmost concern.

For more technical details visit ImageNet Mobile Deposit.
See full article.

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Verizon Wireless Makes Mobile Banking Easier - 13 August 2007

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As I was browsing my feeds, I chanced upon a press release from survey and professional services company Vocal Laboratories and its study of customer service quality among major wireless phone companies.

It turned out that Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile both received the highest grades possible in its latest quarterly survey. Moreover, VocaLabs CEO Peter Leppik commented:

We've been following customer service quality in the mobile phone industry for over four years, and during that time the industry as a whole has posted a significant, sustained, and meaningful improvement in customer service quality. This trend continued in the December 2007 quarter, with industry averages on all our major benchmarks showing improvement.

Then it got me wondering. Are these improvements enough to elevate the poor image of the wireless industry in comparison with other sectors? To refresh your memory, this industry performed poorly in the latest Forrester Customer Experience Index. Unfortunately, SectorPulse limits its study for different companies in the same industry.

How about you? Do you think there is an improvement in the customer service industry, at all? See full article.

Related Entries:

Verizon Wireless Tries to be More Customer-Friendly - 03 October 2007

Class-Action Suit Against T-Mobile a Small Victory for Mobile Users - 16 October 2007

T-Mobile Drops over 600 Customers - 22 November 2007

Customer Experience Overhaul a Must in the Wireless Industry - 12 December 2007

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MobileInfocenter unveiled a new mobile web portal back in early December and we've been meaning to tell you about it. Created specifically for smartphones and mobile devices, PhoneFavs is the first social bookmarking system completely designed and optimized for mobile phone users. The free service enables users to keep an always-available list of bookmarks for web sites that can be easily viewed on a mobile browser.

With PhoneFavs, users can store, organize and share bookmarks and access them on any device, anywhere. PhoneFavs' simple homepage serves as a gateway to PhoneFav's three main services: online bookmarks or Favs, a handpicked mobile link directory, and a "mobilizer" which automatically adapts standard web pages for improved viewing on smaller screen devices.

Visit on your phone at: pfavs.com, and you will immediately get access to over 300 bookmarked mobile sites across a number of categories including News, Tech/Biz, Movies, Shopping Weather, Local, and Fun & Leisure.

You can find some pretty interesting mobile sites including Funontherun where you can read Tongue Twisters, find new Jokes and see funny pictures, all optimized for the small screen.

In addition, through a partnership with Movaya, you can now find and buy games for your phone through the PhoneFavs portal as well.

Next time you're on the mobile web, point your phones browser to pfavs.com and have a look around.