Showing posts with label mobile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile. Show all posts
UK MTEB Mobile Forensics Conference 2010
UK MTEB Mobile Forensics. Conference - September 2010.Conference Centre - TBA .Practitioners - Exhibition - Business..Britain is a World leader in GSM and 3G mobile telephones, forensics, examination and evidence; GB remains the international centre for commerce, business and manufacturing, designers, software & programming and technology services. Forensics should be Stock Exchange commodity for
TimeTable - UK MTEB Mobile Forensics Conference 2009
Conference Timetable.25/11/09.REGISTRATION: 8.45am.Conference Opens: 9.15am.Speaker 1: 9.30am - 10.00am Greg Smith TrewMTELooking at the way forward.Speaker 2: 10.00am - 10.50amPeter Jones Zentek ForensicsIssues and Difficulties of a Mobile Phone Practitioner.Tea/Coffee 10.50am - 11.00am.Speaker 3: 11.00am - 11.50amAdam Gersch Barrister 23 Essex Streets129 CJA2003 and Obtaining Evidence.Speaker 4
Booking Form Mobile Forensics Conference UK
25-26 Nov 2009 UK MTEB Mobile Forensics Conference UK.The Booking Forms are now available. A massive email mailshot was sent out yesterday in the hope that I sent the Form to those who had requested it. Just in case I missed anyone (sorry), can you please send an email to me titled:."MTE - Conference Booking Application Form" to request a Form being emailed to you..Email: trewmte@
Two videos for mobile app developers
Just a quick note to let you know about a couple of informational resources for mobile developers.
--Motorola is starting the online publicity for its upcoming Android-based smartphones. They did a brief interview with me, asking how mobile app developers can distribute their software (link).
--Elia Freedman of Infinity Softworks did a great presentation on his experiences selling through the iPhone App Store, and the lessons he has learned. It’s well worth watching the video here.
It's best to watch both of these, and think about them, before you develop your mobile app.
--Motorola is starting the online publicity for its upcoming Android-based smartphones. They did a brief interview with me, asking how mobile app developers can distribute their software (link).
--Elia Freedman of Infinity Softworks did a great presentation on his experiences selling through the iPhone App Store, and the lessons he has learned. It’s well worth watching the video here.
It's best to watch both of these, and think about them, before you develop your mobile app.
Google Base/Product Search Goes Mobile
Kind of an interesting timing considering I've been working our company's product feeds to be rolled out today on Google Base for the past months. I come home to check on the news and sees Google taking their product search to mobile platform on iPhone and Android. What else can I say, Google is hands down the leader in Mobile web apps.
Most Cell Phones will use Mini-USB Charger by 2012
I heard about the news this morning while getting dressed. GMA anchor Chris Cuomo along with the rest of the new cast laughed out loud when they disclosed the 2012 date. Here are some of my thoughts:1. Mini-USB charger is definitely the way to go, majority of smartphones already use such. Which makes it easy to find charging solution on the go. I normally keep a spare mini-USB cord in my office as well as traveling.
2. The fact that it will take until 2012 to change over is a big joke; changing over to DC 5V charging over micro USB doesn't take 4 years, definitely laughable
3. Although Apple is not going to change its port design to mini-USB, it is somewhat compatible already. Note that you can take your iPod data cable and plug into any computer USB for charging. There are even lots of car chargers designed to accept USB ports so an iPhone data cable would work as well.
How to maximize smartphone battery life?
Lets say you are on a road trip for a couple of days with a freshly charged smartphone and realized you have forgotten the charger at home. If you are not in a position where you have to make a lot of calls; here are ten ways you can stretch the battery life on the go. While some phones may have other settings you can tweak, these generic instructions should help with all smart phones across the board:1. Lower your LCD brightness - this is the biggest drain, try to set it as low as you can without losing the ability to read the screen. [tip: if you are done with your phone, hit the power button to turn off LCD, down't wait for the 10 seconds to turn itself off... this is a big energy saving tip!]
2. Reduce LCD timer - change the auto LCD dimming from 1 minute to 10 seconds, this is just as important as the LCD brightness.
3. Lower your ring tone volume - any sound made through the loud speaker(s) will drain power, also, avoid using the loud speaker during calls
4. Turn off vibrate when ring tone sound is on - the vibration motor drains the battery
5. Turn off push-email, email sync'ing or drag out the server checking to a longer duration, instead of every 10 minutes, make it every 30minutes or 45minutes (make it manual if you are not expecting anything urgent)
6. For 3G devices, change network setting to GSM mode only. 3G radio drains battery much more than GSM/EDGE network. If you must, turn it on when need to.
7. If necessary and possible, set it to GPRS mode for data only. While GPRS is unbearable to surf the web, it will reserve more battery life, like the last option, turn it back on when necessary
8. Turn off Bluetooth, forget using Bluetooth headsets if you are trying to reserve battery
9. Turn off IrDA(infrared radio) and GPS
10. Minimize using all the bells & whistles: web browsing, camera, media player, photo viewing, etc.
I know these tips pretty much will turn your smartphone into a plain phone and for the most part, its asking you to refrain from using your phone in its full capacity. But, if you want your smartphone battery to last, these tips will hopefully keep your powered for as long as possible.
Tips to the manufacturers: just like sound profiles, it would be cool to have power-setting profiles; have one that incorporates all the tips plus more to maximize battery performance (kind of like many laptops do).
PS - A lot of smartphones can be charged via its USB/Data cable (ie. BlackBerry, Palm Treos, HTC), I always keep an extra USB cable (along with a jumpdrive, ethernet cable) in my business bag while traveling, this has helped me a few times.
Google Mobile Blog Hints New iPhone Location Features
In this blog entry posted by the Google Mobile team, they are suggesting more "location" based features will be available for iPhone starting this month. The exact quote says:
"Gears for Windows Mobile and Android already contain location APIs and we expect to see an explosion of mobile applications that use location technology, particularly on the iPhone starting this month."
With millions of 3G iPhone speculations for next week's WWDC event, this one is hinted by the Google Mobile team. If anything, one can expect iPhone firmware 2.0 to have more upgrades to the Google Maps application; I wouldn't be surprised if yesterday's Public Transit feature from version 2.2 will make it to iPhone firmware 2.0.
"Gears for Windows Mobile and Android already contain location APIs and we expect to see an explosion of mobile applications that use location technology, particularly on the iPhone starting this month."
With millions of 3G iPhone speculations for next week's WWDC event, this one is hinted by the Google Mobile team. If anything, one can expect iPhone firmware 2.0 to have more upgrades to the Google Maps application; I wouldn't be surprised if yesterday's Public Transit feature from version 2.2 will make it to iPhone firmware 2.0.
Google Maps Mobile 2.2 Adds Public Transit Status
As posted on the Official Google Mobile Blog, Google Maps for Mobile 2.2 rolled out more awesome features. It now includes public transit status for over 40 cities throughout North America including Chicago, S.F., Vancouver, and Seattle. This feature is not yet available to the desktop version and will be very handy for those waiting for public buses or trains that currently report their arrival time via wireless transmission. This update is available to BlackBerry handsets as well as a handful of Java-enabled phones and will be rolled out to more mobile devices later.You can download the latest Google Maps for your phone by pointing your mobile device browser here: http://www.google.com/gmm
As of tonight, the latest Google Maps Mobile for Nokia N95 is only 2.1.0.14 which is an upgrade from the verion 2.0 that I had previously installed. No 2.2 for me yet!!!However, the 2.1.0.14 upgrade does offer several improvements over the previous versions plus a new function to save your favorite locations. This is very nice for repeated locations. Search results is now being displayed right away with larger fonts instead of taking you back on the map. Google Maps for Mobile is evolving rapidly in the past months; it is in my opinion, the best mobile application, period. Its only a matter of time before they add all the desktop features like supporting mash-ups and "my maps" provided that you would login via the program. That would be the ultimate mobile experience!
Microsoft Joins Google and Yahoo in Mobile Banner Ads
Microsoft announced they will be launching mobile banner ads to advertisers interested in reaching customers using mobile Hotmail and Messenger. This is a natural progression for Microsoft to continue its pursuit to compete with Google in two playing fields: Mobile and Advertising. While Google's mobile advertising model is based on a more open-ended network (Adsense publishers can be anyone), Microsoft's staple of users on Messenger and Hotmail is pretty sizable in itself. In addition, its mobile operating system has had a first mover advantage with a large user base.My only concern is if Microsoft can deliver a solid mobile ad platform with reliability and usability for its advertisers. As a paid search marketer, we find the user interface with Microsoft's search engine advertising to be a bit cumbersome. When compared to Google's adwords platform, it just doesn't feel as intuitive and easy to use. If Microsoft is to be taken seriously in its mobile advertising effort, they should focus on this area.
Microsoft will now join Google, Yahoo, Third Screen Media and AdMob to the mobile advertising space.
The spontaneous society
In school they teach you that one of the drivers of economic progress over the centuries has been society's increasingly accurate management of time. The seasons had to be tracked so that farming cultures would know when to plant. Once people started sailing across the oceans, they needed reasonably accurate chronometers to measure longitude. When railroads were built, the idea of uniform time zones became important so that the trains could keep predictable timetables. The term "railroad time" is still sometimes used to mean keeping an accurate schedule.
By the time I was growing up, it was universally accepted that rigorous scheduling was one of the hallmarks of an advanced economy. We scheduled everything well in advance -- classes in school, meetings at work, even social events like parties and dates. How many movies and television shows have you seen where a character says, "pick you up at eight"? And don't be late.
A lack of rigorous time discipline, we were told, was one of the factors holding back economic growth in the developing world. That belief was so well accepted in the US that I don't think anyone even debated it.
So it's very interesting to see what electronic communication -- on PCs, but especially on mobiles -- is doing to time management in the world's most advanced economies. Where my generation pre-arranged its social calendar, I watch my kids make it up on the fly. They'll decide on IM that they all want to get together in an hour, or they'll agree via SMS that they're all going to hang out downtown that evening, where they then call or text each other to link up on the fly.
I have seen this developing for years, but I didn't have a gut feel for its power until earlier this year, when I took my family to Disneyland. Touring the Magic Kingdom with two kids was once an exercise in controlled paranoia. The place is so complicated and crowded that you lived in constant fear of losing one or more members of the family. If you did, it might take hours, and a long trip to the lost child center, to find them again.
Anytime we separated -- mom going with one child to one ride, and dad with another child to a different one -- we had to carefully agree on when and where we would meet up. Inevitably someone would be 15 or 20 minutes late, and you'd spend the whole time worrying that the vacation might fall apart.
It wasn't the walking that wore you out at Disneyland, it was the fear.
But the last time we went was the first time when everyone in the family was old enough to have a mobile phone. Suddenly, as we walked through the park on one of the busiest days of the year, we realized that we didn't have to worry any more. If a child got lost, they could call us. If two people wanted to go off in a different direction, that was no problem at all; we could just use the phone to find each other later.
In other words, we could stay together without staying in sight of each other.
That may not sound like a big difference, but it completely transformed the Disneyland experience. The food was still overpriced, and the lines way too long, but the whole thing was much less stressful. It was almost, dare I say it, relaxing.
It made me realize that a similar transition is happening throughout our society. Ubiquitous personal communication makes it much less important to rigorously schedule many elements of your day; you can just make it up as you go along.
As smartphones arose, we thought they were going to absorb the calendaring function of the PDA. They have somewhat, but I think mobile phones are also making the personal calendar less important.
The first time I went with Palm to China, our employees in Beijing cautioned me that I shouldn't talk about the great calendaring built into Palm handhelds, because people in China just didn't care about it. They didn't schedule meetings, I was told. If they wanted to talk to you, they would just give you a call. At the time I assumed that was just a transitional thing, that over time as their economy grew they would learn to do more and more scheduling. But now I'm starting to think that maybe they were ahead of the rest of us all along.
By the time I was growing up, it was universally accepted that rigorous scheduling was one of the hallmarks of an advanced economy. We scheduled everything well in advance -- classes in school, meetings at work, even social events like parties and dates. How many movies and television shows have you seen where a character says, "pick you up at eight"? And don't be late.
A lack of rigorous time discipline, we were told, was one of the factors holding back economic growth in the developing world. That belief was so well accepted in the US that I don't think anyone even debated it.
So it's very interesting to see what electronic communication -- on PCs, but especially on mobiles -- is doing to time management in the world's most advanced economies. Where my generation pre-arranged its social calendar, I watch my kids make it up on the fly. They'll decide on IM that they all want to get together in an hour, or they'll agree via SMS that they're all going to hang out downtown that evening, where they then call or text each other to link up on the fly.
I have seen this developing for years, but I didn't have a gut feel for its power until earlier this year, when I took my family to Disneyland. Touring the Magic Kingdom with two kids was once an exercise in controlled paranoia. The place is so complicated and crowded that you lived in constant fear of losing one or more members of the family. If you did, it might take hours, and a long trip to the lost child center, to find them again.
Anytime we separated -- mom going with one child to one ride, and dad with another child to a different one -- we had to carefully agree on when and where we would meet up. Inevitably someone would be 15 or 20 minutes late, and you'd spend the whole time worrying that the vacation might fall apart.
It wasn't the walking that wore you out at Disneyland, it was the fear.
But the last time we went was the first time when everyone in the family was old enough to have a mobile phone. Suddenly, as we walked through the park on one of the busiest days of the year, we realized that we didn't have to worry any more. If a child got lost, they could call us. If two people wanted to go off in a different direction, that was no problem at all; we could just use the phone to find each other later.
In other words, we could stay together without staying in sight of each other.
That may not sound like a big difference, but it completely transformed the Disneyland experience. The food was still overpriced, and the lines way too long, but the whole thing was much less stressful. It was almost, dare I say it, relaxing.
It made me realize that a similar transition is happening throughout our society. Ubiquitous personal communication makes it much less important to rigorously schedule many elements of your day; you can just make it up as you go along.
As smartphones arose, we thought they were going to absorb the calendaring function of the PDA. They have somewhat, but I think mobile phones are also making the personal calendar less important.
The first time I went with Palm to China, our employees in Beijing cautioned me that I shouldn't talk about the great calendaring built into Palm handhelds, because people in China just didn't care about it. They didn't schedule meetings, I was told. If they wanted to talk to you, they would just give you a call. At the time I assumed that was just a transitional thing, that over time as their economy grew they would learn to do more and more scheduling. But now I'm starting to think that maybe they were ahead of the rest of us all along.
Mobile Calls on Aeroplanes
Mobile Calls on Aeroplanes .Back in November 2006 I wrote here at trewmte.blogspot a brief piece regarding "Switch On, Update, Lose Evidence":.http://trewmte.blogspot.com/2006/11/switch-on-update-lose-evidence.html.The discussion thread related to the same but more indepth discussion in "Switch On, Update, Lose Evidence" that could be found in MTE (Mobile Telephone Evidence) Newsletter - copy of
JetBlue Mobile - Cool Little Mobile Site
JetBlue, my favorite domestic airline has a cool little mobile website which can be accessed by pointing your browser to: http://mobile.jetblue.com . The site is simple, with five useful links. Flight Status, Weather Alert, Inflight Entertainment, Snacks and Drinks and Contact JetBlue. The site is very robust and I think it can be helpful for road warriors flying JetBlue. I will be updating this into my PDA Friendly Bookmark for your consumption.
Nokia and Microsoft, sittin' in a tree...
There's so much hype in the mobile industry that I'm always reluctant to use a word like "shocking," but nothing else fits Nokia's announcement today that it will support Microsoft Silverlight.
If you missed the press release (link), Nokia said that it's going to make Microsoft Silverlight available for all of its mobile platforms -- Series 40 (the low-end phone OS), S60 (the high-end OS), and its Maemo Internet tablet. (It's not clear if Silverlight will be bundled or just offered as a download.) Silverlight is a web app graphics and interface layer, intended to displace Adobe Flash.
The announcement was shocking for several reasons:
--Up until now, Nokia and Adobe had worked together closely. Nokia is one of the few companies paying to bundle Flash on its phones, and Nokia had featured Adobe prominently at some of its developer events in Silicon Valley. So the announcement I was expecting was that Nokia would bundle Air, the next evolution of Flash, rather than its competitor.
--Nokia has generally treated Microsoft as the spawn of the devil. The whole Symbian OS consortium was designed primarily as a way to prevent Microsoft from getting a controlling role in mobile software. Now Nokia gives Microsoft's software layer a huge boost?
--Although Microsoft had hinted vaguely about taking Silverlight mobile, it had given no definite plans at all. So this is a huge step forward for Silverlight.
--Just a few weeks ago, Nokia bought TrollTech and announced that its software was going to unify development across Series 40 and S60. Now Nokia endorses Silverlight, which will also run across Series 40 and S60. Which one are developers supposed to focus on?
What in the world is going on?
I don't know. Nobody from Nokia has explained it to me, so I have to read between the lines. Nokia says in the press release: "Nokia aims to support market leading and content rich internet application environments and to embrace and encourage open innovation. By working with Microsoft, we are creating terrific opportunities and additional choices for the development community." Okay, so I guess what they're saying is that they want to support every platform and development option out there. Presumably the benefit to them is that they can claim their phones support more software than anyone else.
I doubt that's the only motivation, though. By supporting numerous platforms, Nokia reduces the possibility that any one of them can dominate the market and push around Nokia. It also lets Nokia play the sides off against one another. I'm sure the threat of embracing Air made Microsoft give Nokia a very good deal on Silverlight, and no doubt Nokia will now use its Microsoft relationship to get business concessions from Adobe (assuming that Nokia still plans to work with Adobe at all; that's not entirely clear).
Anyway, I can sort of see how this all works for Nokia strategically, although it feels like Nokia is trying too hard to be clever. I'm not as clear on the benefits of all this for mobile developers and users. As was covered in last week's post on mobile apps (link), many developers view the proliferation of platforms as a problem, not a benefit. Microsoft itself said in the Nokia press release:
That's a pretty danged funny quote coming from a company that now offers at least four mobile platforms (two versions of Windows Mobile, Silverlight, Tablet PC, and does .Net CF count as a fifth?), in a press release from a company that apparently wants to support every platform available. If you really think platform confusion is a problem, guys, look in a mirror.
For users, the benefit of all this deal-making is unclear. We're stumbling into a world where you'll need to know details of which platforms are loaded on a particular phone in order to know which apps it can run. I can't think of a better way to discourage use of mobile applications.
If you missed the press release (link), Nokia said that it's going to make Microsoft Silverlight available for all of its mobile platforms -- Series 40 (the low-end phone OS), S60 (the high-end OS), and its Maemo Internet tablet. (It's not clear if Silverlight will be bundled or just offered as a download.) Silverlight is a web app graphics and interface layer, intended to displace Adobe Flash.
The announcement was shocking for several reasons:
--Up until now, Nokia and Adobe had worked together closely. Nokia is one of the few companies paying to bundle Flash on its phones, and Nokia had featured Adobe prominently at some of its developer events in Silicon Valley. So the announcement I was expecting was that Nokia would bundle Air, the next evolution of Flash, rather than its competitor.
--Nokia has generally treated Microsoft as the spawn of the devil. The whole Symbian OS consortium was designed primarily as a way to prevent Microsoft from getting a controlling role in mobile software. Now Nokia gives Microsoft's software layer a huge boost?
--Although Microsoft had hinted vaguely about taking Silverlight mobile, it had given no definite plans at all. So this is a huge step forward for Silverlight.
--Just a few weeks ago, Nokia bought TrollTech and announced that its software was going to unify development across Series 40 and S60. Now Nokia endorses Silverlight, which will also run across Series 40 and S60. Which one are developers supposed to focus on?
What in the world is going on?
I don't know. Nobody from Nokia has explained it to me, so I have to read between the lines. Nokia says in the press release: "Nokia aims to support market leading and content rich internet application environments and to embrace and encourage open innovation. By working with Microsoft, we are creating terrific opportunities and additional choices for the development community." Okay, so I guess what they're saying is that they want to support every platform and development option out there. Presumably the benefit to them is that they can claim their phones support more software than anyone else.
I doubt that's the only motivation, though. By supporting numerous platforms, Nokia reduces the possibility that any one of them can dominate the market and push around Nokia. It also lets Nokia play the sides off against one another. I'm sure the threat of embracing Air made Microsoft give Nokia a very good deal on Silverlight, and no doubt Nokia will now use its Microsoft relationship to get business concessions from Adobe (assuming that Nokia still plans to work with Adobe at all; that's not entirely clear).
Anyway, I can sort of see how this all works for Nokia strategically, although it feels like Nokia is trying too hard to be clever. I'm not as clear on the benefits of all this for mobile developers and users. As was covered in last week's post on mobile apps (link), many developers view the proliferation of platforms as a problem, not a benefit. Microsoft itself said in the Nokia press release:
"We want to make sure developers and designers don't have to constantly recreate the wheel and build different versions of applications and services for multiple operating systems, browsers and platforms."
That's a pretty danged funny quote coming from a company that now offers at least four mobile platforms (two versions of Windows Mobile, Silverlight, Tablet PC, and does .Net CF count as a fifth?), in a press release from a company that apparently wants to support every platform available. If you really think platform confusion is a problem, guys, look in a mirror.
For users, the benefit of all this deal-making is unclear. We're stumbling into a world where you'll need to know details of which platforms are loaded on a particular phone in order to know which apps it can run. I can't think of a better way to discourage use of mobile applications.
Following up on "Mobile Applications, RIP"
I was very surprised by the volume of responses to last week's post on the decline of the mobile applications business. Many of the comments were passionate and well reasoned, and if you haven't seen them I recommend that you check them out here.
My biggest insight from the comments was that I had generalized too broadly about the mobile software world. Several mobile developers wrote in to say that they're doing just fine, thank you. Most of them seem to be either in enterprise mobile software, or doing contract development for major companies that have decided they want a mobile presence. In both cases, they have ways to get around the distribution logjam that I see as the biggest barrier to success in mobile software. I wasn't thinking about either of those developer categories when I wrote the post.
Anyway, I really appreciate all the comments. I learn a lot from the folks who post feedback, and I hope the comments are useful for you as well.
My biggest insight from the comments was that I had generalized too broadly about the mobile software world. Several mobile developers wrote in to say that they're doing just fine, thank you. Most of them seem to be either in enterprise mobile software, or doing contract development for major companies that have decided they want a mobile presence. In both cases, they have ways to get around the distribution logjam that I see as the biggest barrier to success in mobile software. I wasn't thinking about either of those developer categories when I wrote the post.
Anyway, I really appreciate all the comments. I learn a lot from the folks who post feedback, and I hope the comments are useful for you as well.
What would you like to ask the mobile OS companies at CTIA?
I've been invited to moderate a panel on mobile operating systems at the CTIA conference this April. No doubt this will be the highlight of the entire conference ;-) , so make your travel reservations early.
Participants tentatively will include Symbian, Microsoft, Access, RIM, and several others.
Here's the session description:
Operating Systems, User Interfaces and Browsers: Where is the Technology Going?
Mobile phones are plagued with interoperability issues, making it difficult for applications to run properly on all handsets, hurting both consumers—who find their handset incapable of running the desired application—and applications developers—who have to develop multiple versions of the same application. What are the pros and cons of open versus closed handheld operating systems? This panel will address the likely outcome of the openness rage should it move to the handset, including the long-term effects of this possible technology shift.
Should be a fun conversation.
The panel will consist of brief presentations followed by Q&A, so I wanted to give you an opportunity to participate. If you'll be at CTIA, please come by the panel on April 2 at 2:30. If you won't be there, let me know what questions you'd like to see asked. Just post a comment below, and I'll see what I can do. I'll also post a report after the session.
(By the way, if you'll be at CTIA and want to chat, drop me a note at the address here.)
Participants tentatively will include Symbian, Microsoft, Access, RIM, and several others.
Here's the session description:
Operating Systems, User Interfaces and Browsers: Where is the Technology Going?
Mobile phones are plagued with interoperability issues, making it difficult for applications to run properly on all handsets, hurting both consumers—who find their handset incapable of running the desired application—and applications developers—who have to develop multiple versions of the same application. What are the pros and cons of open versus closed handheld operating systems? This panel will address the likely outcome of the openness rage should it move to the handset, including the long-term effects of this possible technology shift.
Should be a fun conversation.
The panel will consist of brief presentations followed by Q&A, so I wanted to give you an opportunity to participate. If you'll be at CTIA, please come by the panel on April 2 at 2:30. If you won't be there, let me know what questions you'd like to see asked. Just post a comment below, and I'll see what I can do. I'll also post a report after the session.
(By the way, if you'll be at CTIA and want to chat, drop me a note at the address here.)
AT&T & Yahoo! Alliance for Search and Ads Announced
AT&T Yahoo! announced a new multi-year strategic alliance for portals, search and advertising revenue.The new phase of the alliance includes the following features: * A new look and feel for the att.net portal, “powered by Yahoo!,” beginning in the second quarter, for new customers. Later in the year, the att.net portal, which will run on the My Yahoo! and Yahoo! Mail platforms * Yahoo! provides
ASUS, iRiver to Sell Unlocked Smartphones in U.S.
LAS VEGAS—Asus and iRiver are well-known brands in the U.S., thanks to Asus' line of PCs and iRiver's MP3 players. Here at CES, they both announced they're diving into the U.S. cell phone market with a series of unlocked GSM phones that will probably be sold through their existing PC retail channels.iRiver's single GSM phone, targeted for the end of this year, has more than a little of the iPhone
Questions about Verizon's new "open" attitude
More than half of the traffic to this weblog comes from outside the US, so there are times when I feel obligated (and a little embarrassed) to explain how the mobile market works here. This is one of those moments.
Verizon, the largest US mobile carrier, made headlines in the US today by announcing that by the end of 2008 it's going to make its network available to any device and any application that the user chooses to install (link).
This will seem remarkable to people living in GSM countries where it's normal to choose any device you want. But in the US, it's an unusual idea. Here mobile usage is split between GSM and CDMA. GSM phones have SIM cards, which technically allow you to switch your account to any phone you want. But in practice, almost no users are willing to give up the several hundred dollar subsidy for buying a phone and service plan together, so they only choose phones that come through the operator.
Things are even more restrictive in the CDMA space, where there are no SIM cards. If you buy a Verizon phone, it can only be used with a Verizon account. Same thing for Sprint.
So Verizon's announcement is a nice change, on the face of it. It's also something of a pleasant shock, since Verizon has the reputation of being the most conservative and controlling US operator. But the announcement's actual impact on the market is going to depend on several questions that Verizon hasn't answered yet:
--How will open access be implemented? Verizon says it's going to define a process by which phones can be certified to work on its network. That could be routine or it could turn into a huge barrier to entry. We also don't know how a user's account will be switched between phones. Is Verizon planning to start installing SIM cards in its phones (something that has been done with CDMA in China)? If not, will you have to take the phone to a Verizon store to get it activated? How much will that cost?
Verizon apparently said something about doing activation through a toll-free number, which could be cool.
--How will the service be priced? Verizon's service plans include recovery of the several hundred dollar subsidy for hardware. You pay for the subsidy as part of your monthly bill. Since Verizon doesn't have to recover a subsidy cost on its open access phones, there's about $10 or more a month that it could pass along to consumers in the form of lower bills.
If Verizon doesn't price the open service lower, what happens to the extra money? Does Verizon pocket it? Or will they offer some sort of rebate on purchase of open access phones?
The answer to this one is critical. The US GSM carriers are technically open, but the subsidy prevents significant sales of alternate phones. If Verizon pockets the subsidy money, very few people will take advantage of the open service. The whole thing could turn out to be a PR gesture rather than a genuine change.
But in the hope that Verizon wants it to be more, here's what they ought to do:
--Make the monthly cost of the open plan lower than a traditional service plan, reflecting the absence of a subsidy.
--Make the handset certification process simple and low cost.
--Make it easy for users to switch their account to a new phone (preferably via a SIM card or website or that 800 number, so they don't have to come to a store).
That's an announcement I'd stand up and cheer for.
Impact on the industry
Until we hear the answers to the questions above, it's impossible to guess how impactful this announcement will be. The most important factor may be how the other US operators react. The best result would be if they start competing with each other to see who can make their network more open. If that dynamic takes hold, competitive forces might drive them to really open up even if they don't intend to.
Verizon, the largest US mobile carrier, made headlines in the US today by announcing that by the end of 2008 it's going to make its network available to any device and any application that the user chooses to install (link).
This will seem remarkable to people living in GSM countries where it's normal to choose any device you want. But in the US, it's an unusual idea. Here mobile usage is split between GSM and CDMA. GSM phones have SIM cards, which technically allow you to switch your account to any phone you want. But in practice, almost no users are willing to give up the several hundred dollar subsidy for buying a phone and service plan together, so they only choose phones that come through the operator.
Things are even more restrictive in the CDMA space, where there are no SIM cards. If you buy a Verizon phone, it can only be used with a Verizon account. Same thing for Sprint.
So Verizon's announcement is a nice change, on the face of it. It's also something of a pleasant shock, since Verizon has the reputation of being the most conservative and controlling US operator. But the announcement's actual impact on the market is going to depend on several questions that Verizon hasn't answered yet:
--How will open access be implemented? Verizon says it's going to define a process by which phones can be certified to work on its network. That could be routine or it could turn into a huge barrier to entry. We also don't know how a user's account will be switched between phones. Is Verizon planning to start installing SIM cards in its phones (something that has been done with CDMA in China)? If not, will you have to take the phone to a Verizon store to get it activated? How much will that cost?
Verizon apparently said something about doing activation through a toll-free number, which could be cool.
--How will the service be priced? Verizon's service plans include recovery of the several hundred dollar subsidy for hardware. You pay for the subsidy as part of your monthly bill. Since Verizon doesn't have to recover a subsidy cost on its open access phones, there's about $10 or more a month that it could pass along to consumers in the form of lower bills.
If Verizon doesn't price the open service lower, what happens to the extra money? Does Verizon pocket it? Or will they offer some sort of rebate on purchase of open access phones?
The answer to this one is critical. The US GSM carriers are technically open, but the subsidy prevents significant sales of alternate phones. If Verizon pockets the subsidy money, very few people will take advantage of the open service. The whole thing could turn out to be a PR gesture rather than a genuine change.
But in the hope that Verizon wants it to be more, here's what they ought to do:
--Make the monthly cost of the open plan lower than a traditional service plan, reflecting the absence of a subsidy.
--Make the handset certification process simple and low cost.
--Make it easy for users to switch their account to a new phone (preferably via a SIM card or website or that 800 number, so they don't have to come to a store).
That's an announcement I'd stand up and cheer for.
Impact on the industry
Until we hear the answers to the questions above, it's impossible to guess how impactful this announcement will be. The most important factor may be how the other US operators react. The best result would be if they start competing with each other to see who can make their network more open. If that dynamic takes hold, competitive forces might drive them to really open up even if they don't intend to.
McAfee Delivers on Triple Play Promise With Mobile Security Offering
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