The Great iPhone Debate

Much too much has already been said about the iPhone in general, but especially recently, with the 3G version rolling out across Europe and news of Apple selling 1 million units in the first weekend of sale (this compares to the 74 days it took to sell the original iPhone).

What we are talking about here is an emotional product, a marketing success by Apple, who have managed to exploit an unsatisfied need in the market with a neat design and just the right amount of cleverly orchestrated hype to make the iPhone one of the most wanted objects in recent history.

That we are talking about an emotional product is clear by the way certain operators enthuse about its virtues (irrationally some may say) and how developers and mobile enthusiasts equally lambast it or praise it.

At the recent Mobile 2.0 conference in Barcelona, Antonio Vince-Stabyl from itsmy.com, expressed his hatred thus, in a now popular quote: "what does the iPhone have that makes it special? It is just about browsing, browsing and more browsing". Antonio also confided later that he had initially handed all his employees a new iPhone and was later flooded with returns because it was simply impractical for business use.

Love it or hate it, the iPhone is here to stay and Apple would be wise to maintain its pricing premium by keeping it in the niche market that it currently comfortably dominates (more media-tainment than telephony).

I just love the story told to me yesterday by a Dutch acquaintance, of a flashy business type busy discussing an important deal on his iPhone, getting out of his taxi in a hurry and putting the phone hurriedly back to his ear after paying the fare, only to have its glossy, slippery surface glide right over his face and form an arc in the air, before landing neatly in a rose bush.

Stricken with panic, the businessman shouted at the rose bush and continued his conversation from a distance...just one of those hazards of the beautiful, sleek and smooth iPhone surface you don't hear about so much..but then again, I wonder how many iPhone aficionados are actually using it for calls...

Mobile 2.0 Europe -Wrap-up

The Mobile 2.0 Europe event at ESADE in Barcelona delivered against expectations -a good selection of European start-ups, some early-stage, others more advanced, presented their projects to an audience made up of mobile entrepreneurs and enthusiasts.

The discussion panels were animated, with much time dedicated to how the iPhone is changing the playing field and disrupting existing business models. The highlight was undoubtedly the after lunch discussion panel on the Operator Perspective, which featured a heated debate around what operators should or shouldn't be doing to help stimulate the development of the mobile 2.0 industry. Mobile entrepreneurs were keen to hang the operators for blocking innovation, though others came to their defence on the grounds that they were caught in a trap between rising infrastructure investment and decreasing data rates.Given that 90% of the operator profits still come from voice, this seemed to be a weak excuse for inertia.

The Early Stage Startup Sessions was won by Zipipop, with their 'Intention Broadcasting' concept allowing you to see what your friends are planning to do. The Pre-Series A Startup Sessions was won by Rummble, with an interesting recommendation process based on an in-house algorithm developed in partnership with an Australian university.Finally, the Post Series-A Startup sessions was won by Nimbuzz, a communication platform for social networks incorporating mobile IM.

Overall, congratulations to Rudy de Waele and Carles Ferreiro for pulling off a great event, and successfully transplanting the Silicon Valley event in the increasingly innovative Barcelona area.

Osaifu-Ketai: NTT DoCoMo's Mobile Wallet

I'd like to share an interesting presentation on the development of NFC contactless mobile payments as described by NTT DoCoMo in Japan during the recent GSMA Mobile Money Summit in Cairo.

The latest figures released show that the uptake of mobile payments has been dramatic, and that at the same time as the number of retails outlets accepting this form of payment grew to 600,000, so did subscriber numbers for the service, to 28,5 million.

Apart from the cultural factors at play to explain this successful uptake (tech savvy consumers, on-the-go lifestyle etc), key to sucess has been the succesful partnerships established amongst chipset manufacturers, handset vendors, service providers and Mobile Network Operators.

This has made mobile payments the payment option of choice for a wide range of transactions, from loyalty card point collection, to ticketing, employee ID card authentication and many more.

You can read more about this in the presentation by clicking on the title of this post.

Google Mobile Phone will start ringing in Q4 2008

According to the Wall Street Journal, the first of the new Google phones developed on the Android platform, will become available by the end of 2008, at least 3 months behind the original planned launch.

Taiwanese firm HTC is expected to be the first manufacturer to release a G-phone and will be met with high expectations, given the claims by Google that Android-powered phones will make the internet as easy to use on a mobile phone as it is on a PC.

Google's aspirations to become a leading force in telecommunications should not be under-estimated -via the Android Developer Challenge, the internet powerhouse is tempting developers into its fold by offering $10m in prize money to savvy programmers able to come up with the best applications.

Android consists of an operating system, middleware, user-friendly interface and applications and is available under an open-source license, which has been praised for setting a new industry standard.

However, detractors comment that Google is not moving fast enough to be taken seriously and that its partner line-up for Android is missing some of the key industry players, notably Vodafone and Nokia.

Codilink Press Update-Signs up Spanish Retailer El Corte Ingles

I posted an entry about Barcelona-based barcode experts Codilink last month-the company recently released a press note about their latest deal with Spanish retailer El Corte Ingles, as follows:

"Madrid, 09 June 2008: El Corte Inglés and Codilink work together to offer the clients of El Corte Ingles the chance, until now impossible, of participating in a mobile marketing promotion whereby a unique and personal coupon, in the form of a 2D barcode, is sent via MMS and/or Email encouraging the consumer to visit their nearest department store, redeem the coupon, to collect the associates benefits.

The technology solution, invented by CODILINK, is a novel system that revolutionizes the traditional way to generate, distribute and exchange coupons. It offers greater security and flexibility to El Corte Inglés, while securing important savings in time and money for the launch of any promotional campaign, and allowing full real-time reporting.

CODILINK generates unique 2D barcodes (coupons) for El Corte Ingles, which can be sent in any format: paper, mobile phones, plastic cards or email. In order to scan and instantaneously validate the 2D coupon each participating store (specifically the stores of El Corte Ingles in Murcia, Elche, Pamplona and La Coruña-“Casa del Agua”) has been equipped with low cost and easily installed Codilink Scanners.

CODILINK is a world-wide leader in 2D barcode solutions, with more than 38 million coupons, tickets and loyalty cards generated for its various clients (publishing groups, store chains, cinemas, restaurants, etc.) from beginning of 2008 alone"

Mobile, Domains & The Future

“Mobile, Domains & The Future” is the first book by Javier Marti. In the past, books about the mobile environment have been exclusively focused either on the technical or on the sociological impact of the mobile web, resulting in a poor learning experience for the average person or domainer. “Mobile, Domains & The Future” integrates figures, advice and information on the world of domain names, future trends in the mobile arena, the .mobi extension and domainers’ personal stories, the debate on which mobile extension “is better” or will prevail over others, the logic behind domaining, potential threats along the way -search engines redirection, dependency and addiction, economic crisis…- and much more.

All this information is presented in a non-technical manner with pictures and graphs accompanying the text. This is also the ideal book for any lay person to read in order to get up to speed in the mobile web and the domaining world.

However, this book is not only for the “newbies”. For the experienced developer, content provider or investor with an interest in “mobile”, this unmissable book’s passages provide multiple sources of inspiration and ideas while effectively drawing our attention to new or creative sources of revenue and potential business contacts.

This first book by Javier Marti also contains articles or extracts from a number of guest authors on several subjects: from SEO, to traditional and web Marketing, to potential future values for different domain extensions.

Since Javier Marti is an independent author, the tone of the book is as impartial and objective, although there is a clear tendency throughout its pages to consider and expose domaining as a perfectly valid business activity, and a potential opportunity for financial freedom -if approached from on a sensible manner- for average individuals. This opportunity is explained in great detail.

The book also includes a section where we get to meet domainers and hear about their personal views through their own words, when they answer a standard questionnaire about their activities, motivations and future plans. Here we see the human face of domaining, and the personal stories behind those pioneers shaping the future of the Mobile Web today.

The book is free to download at:
http://trendinews.com/download-mobile-domains-future-javier-marti/

I recommend you take a (free) look at it...

Jobs on Map Beta Launched by Spanish Infojobs Portal

I was e-mailed a notification that a new service is being tested by Spanish Internet Jobs Portal, Infojobs. The company, with a presence in Spain, Italy and Mexico, was one of the pioneers of online recruitment in Spain, quickly establishing itself as a market leader together with Monster.com at the dawn of this new market.

Now, Infojobs is looking to innovate again, with their new 'Jobs on Map' service, that allows users to navigate a map and find jobs within their neighbourhood. Though as far as I'm aware, there is yet no interface built in for using this on a mobile device, it does continue to prove the 'hunger' that exists in the marketplace for clever, everyday services that add that crucial location equation to their product offering.

It will not be long before this type of service will also migrate to mobile, thus extending the reach of online recruitment to an even bigger audience.

P-Cell Technology -New locator Alternative for LBS

KOREA: This time, a development to report on from Korea, where in 2007 a patent was published for a new type of locator technology for a 'network-based Location measurement method...using P-Cell database'.

Not being a technical sort of guy, and this being a very new technology, I will leave it up to the engineers out there to correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is as follows:

This technology attempts to overcome the issues surrounding location triangulation using conventional Cell ID...namely, accuracy and reliance on operator network cell size parameters.

Instead, the new technology divides an area into pre-defined 'lattices'of a predetermined size which are mapped in a P-Cell database (where the P stands for Parametrized).

Then it continuously determines whether a request for location measurement occurs by a service subscriber; and when the request for location measurement is generated, it compares fundamental information received from a mobile terminal with the P-Cell database, determines a matching P-Cell, and reports the matching P-Cell to the service subscriber.

The advantages are that indoor location fixes are improved by about 70% (or so the technology patent says).

As far as I can determine, the system works like standard base tower signal triangulation (or trilateration, to be more precise) but instead of using the operator's cell tower signal radii, it uses 'lattices' of a standard dimension.

I have asked Tom Tierney from Navteq to shed more light on this technology and welcome any comments from readers who wish to add more information, particularly whether any testing has been carried out outside of Asia.

Either way, a key point is that location on mobile will increasingly become ubiqitous and most likely by offering subscribers a choice from a range of alternatives to ensure they can access location services wherever they may be.

Facebook Privacy Video-Big Brother is watching

A scary video I picked up from Luca Conti's excellent blog, Pandemia.info, that stokes the fire of the controversial privacy policy and use of personal data by Facebook.

If you have a Facebook account, this video will make you think twice about exactly what information you put up on your profile...

Diary of a Mobile Internet Startup -GeoMe

BARCELONA-Like most bloggers out there, it may come as no surprise to you readers that I also have a day job -and an exciting one at that! I run an emergent startup in the mobile space called GeoMe...so, what do we do?

We are planning to launch a Location Based Service this year that will offer best-in-breed services aimed at a specific target group. As much as I would love to tell you readers more about our concept, unfortunately at this stage everything is still hush-hush, but I did want to share my experiences in setting up the business in a kind of startup diary that some of you budding entrepreneurs may find useful...

BIRTH OF A MOBILE STARTUP

Our startup saw its first light in 2007, born out of a discussion in a bar between 2 of the founders and their desire to do something new using location on mobile. Subsequent discussions followed, then workshops were held with experienced mobile professionals and developers until the core concept took a definitive shape.

My role upon joining was to take this exciting opportunity and turn it into a business proposition for a whole range of stakeholders, be they mobile operators, potential investors, collaborators and other techy companies.

I would say that one of my challenges at this stage was to keep our focus, as inevitably every time we explained our concept to someone new, different ideas on how to develop things would emerge.

Our strengths right from the word 'Go' were the team we built up around our new concept and the clarity we had around our brand and market positioning.

THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF LIFE

The first few months have been enormous fun but also an emotional rollercoaster for everyone involved-a lot of excitement would build up when we got great feedback for our concept and even verbal comittment to x, y or z. Then, stakeholders would take a long time to make a decision or miss agreed deadlines and somehow we'd be back to square one.

Then suddenly, we'd get a break and have big corporations open doors to us and our concept and we'd all be back on an emotional high again...maybe a familiar story not just for mobile entrepreneurs but all those setting up new ventures out there...nerves of steel definitely help in coping with the inevitable dose of uncertainty surrounding a startup.

TODAY

The future for GeoMe is bright, as time and time again we receive encouraging feedback to our concept and our demo from different corners of the world.

We are currently working on our website, so that we can share our vision with the wider world and get people to sign up for our beta version as soon as it is released -exciting stuff!

Other things are happening too, which I will share with you shortly -so keep your RSS feeds open!

Nokia Maps 2.0 -Location Detection without GPS

Nokia announced on May 12th at the Where 2.0 Conference in Burlingame, California, that they had released their Nokia Maps 2.0 beta, with a raft of upgraded features and web linkage to its Ovi.com site.

Ovi is a Nokia Web portal for Internet services such as content sharing. Maps on Ovi will let people use and mark up maps on the Web and then upload their changes to a cell phone. This is all part of Nokia new gambit into the world of software development and its desire to extend its reach beyond its own hardware.

However, the interesting part is a not-as-yet-reported initiative by Nokia to make Nokia Maps truly mainstream by eliminating both the need for GPS and the need for the Mobile Network Operator.

How? Simple...by investing over the last few years in building up its own database of cell IDs matched to geo-cordinates, and then building functionality in Nokia Maps that allows for an estimate of the user's location based only on cell ID.

Gone would be the days of waiting up to 5 minutes for GPS fixes, 'indoor blackspots' and battery drainage... Location Based Services would truly be able to achieve the ubiqitous status that both Navteq and Nokia are placing their strategic bets on.

The implications of this development are truly dramatic and it will not be long before the impact is noted by companies operating in this space...

Future of Location Based Services...according to Navteq

BARCELONA -I was at the Forum Nokia Camp in Barcelona today and attended the presentation by Tom Tierney, Developer Alliance Manager at Navteq, based in Chicago.

Here are some tidbits from his presentation:

• Referring to the difference between PNDs (Personal Navigational Devices) and mobiles, Tom described the mobile device as being the 'navigational ringtone' for the user and sees the PNDs and mobiles to be complimentary instead of competing for the same audience

• Some new technologies not everyone has heard of yet were discussed -namely P-Cell Technology (developed in Korea) and TV-GPS Hybrid Positioning...I will investigate and report back if there are interesting developments in these areas

• According to Tom, the use of audio, touch screens and voice interactivity will eliminate the need for banner ads in the future

• Unsurprisingly perhaps, Tom stated that LBS's will be ubiqitous in the future. Also, according to Navteq's own research, consumers principally want 3 things from them -for them to be cheap, accurate and easy-to-use

• According to Navteq, consumers will pay for navigation and gaming applications but not for social networks and search (in line with internet trends)

• To put figures to the growth opportunity we are talking about here, in Q1 2008, 43% of all downloads on mobile phones globally were for Location Based Services..accounting for 62% of total revenues...a sizeable pie which is clearly growing as we see LBS being demanded for Resource Management or Asset Tracking, Entertainment (including Location based dating) and Security (Child Finder features etc.)

Startup 2.0 Winner Declared -Zilok

BARCELONA -After a heated round of presentations (most of which were amusingly interrupted by the erratic functioning of the slideshow remote control), the 3 top European startups in this year's competition were announced.

In third place, to some surprise, came ifoods.tv, a cooking community with emphasis on video feeds based in Ireland. The company declared having only 3000 active members despite launching over 6 months ago and also competes in a densely packed market segment dominated by The Food Network. However, I did like their idea of awarding brownie points according to the type of contribution made by community members and the fact that this then entitled members to enter into prize draws.

In second place came socially responsible Unltdworld, a social network for do-gooders around the world attempting to redistribute wealth from the over- to the under-privileged elements of society. The concept was sound, though (like other attendees I was discussing this with) I failed to see what was unique about their proposition.

The clear winner was Zilok, a Franco-Belgian enterprise leading the way in the new market of P2P renting. With a strong management team, unique proposition and well-executed strategy, it was difficult to fault this company though some attendees did tut-tut at the fact that maybe they were not so much of a startup anymore...this old chestnut always pops up at some point, as the definition between a true startup and an established startup is not always clarified and the more entrepreneurially-minded would tend to prefer prize money to go to the startup that needs it the most..

Though not shortlisted for a prize, I believe that Talicious, a Hamburg startup established in 2007, deserves a special mention for most innovative concept, providing an online matchmaking service between talented people and talent scouts (and already breaking even, an achievement in itself)..check them out at Talicious.com.


Overall, a great event with heavy emphasis on web startups and with plenty of room to let in mobile startups in the future as the convergence trend from web to mobile becomes more prominent.

Startup 2.0 Finalists Announced

BARCELONA-After several weeks of online voting, startup 2.0, a European-wide competition of web 2.0 sites, has entered its final phase.The competition, organized by Alianzo Networks and La Caixa, has the objective to promote and reward European startups involved in 2.0 technologies.

Over 300 companies applied online for the contest, this now having been whittled down to 10 finalists who will be giving 5 minute elevator pitches in front of a prestigious panel of judges including Martin Varsavsky, Loic le Meur and Luca Conti.

The finalists are:

- iFoods
- UnLtdWorld
- Bubok
- Geospace
- AllRise
- Planetaki
- Talicious
- Learnit
- Zilok
- Wolpy

From a personal point of view, I'm particularly keen to find out more about Geospace, who offer a Location-based service via web and mobile...their website is in Hungarian, so it will be a case of discovering what services they have during their presentation.

The other startups have (mostly) websites in English, and are an eclectic mix of socially-minded enterprises to social travel networks and talent communities....I recommend you take a look and see what is boiling in the European startup pot for yourselves....

Best of Barcelona-Mobile Startups to Watch:Codilink

BARCELONA -I'm starting a new initiative this week, where I'll be highlighting local mobile/web companies based in Barcelona and track their achievements and future plans.

First off the starting block, is barcode scanning experts Codilink, set up by Ben Chesser and 2 other partners 4 years ago and now operating in Spain, UK and Mexico.Their main line of business are M-coupons, M-loyalty schemes and M-ticketing through the use of 2-D barcodes and count among their clients Audi, L'Oreal and Heineken. The company can now lay claim to having rolled out over 34 million barcodes worldwide.

Barcodes come in 3 formats, QRs (mainly used in Japan), Datamatrix and Bidis (the common name used in Spain). Bidis differentiate themselves by having been specifically designed so as to be scanned from a mobile phone screen, so are seen by some as being the more sophisticated solution.

Codilink prizes itself on its technology that allows its scanners to read any format of barcode, thus reducing investment costs for marketing campaigns.It also believes that developments in the Mobile Wallet concept (see earlier post) will accelerate the demand for barcode-based ticketing and vouchers. Already, Codilink established an agreement in Mexico with large scale cinema operator Cinepolis to replace paper tickets completely with an on-screen mobile barcode.

The future? Codilink is looking to expand rapidly in new markets and is eyeing India with particular interest (it has already conducted market tests there) and at the same time is attracting interest from OEMs looking to buy into barcode technology. Rumour has it that an offer from Motorola was rejected but that new deals could be in the pipeline...

Location-based music

CrunchGear announced today that Sony Ericsson is patenting technology that would essentially allow your digital audio player to determine where you were located and then offer you up a list of downloadable tracks that have been tagged to that location.

The idea is that certain music works well in certain locations, like tagging “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head” to all the gas stations in my neighborhood and “Livin’ on a Prayer” to the local bank branch.

Apparently, "many people associate a physical location or a place to songs or pieces of music. In visiting or arriving at the place, they may remember the songs or the pieces of music and wish to hear them. They may also appreciate being supplied, automatically or after a request, information about the songs or pieces of music associated with the place.”

This is a nice idea, but even better would be someting akin to a Geo-Pandora, whereby the music player actually recommends songs to you as you move around the city by remembering your personal associations between place and music...could this be a new patent for some creative genius out there to start working on?

War of the Social Networks

I'm posting this humorous video short from current.com that illustrates in a fun way how saturation has arrived to the world of traditional online social networks.

Hope you enjoy it!

Facebook Personal Details at Risk?

A report by the BBC yesterday highlights that personal details of users on Facebook could be 'harvested' with relative ease by using mailicious code hiding behind any one of the numerous applications available to users.

This potential privacy scare comes on the back of a string of identity theft concerns facing Facebook and other social networking sites. The BBC already made a claim back in February that Facebook users sticking to the default settings may be targeted by fraudsters and expose their personal details to misuse.

The scare relating to malicious applications is a real one, given that most of these programs access the user's personal details stored on their profile whether this is required or not by the game, joke or other type of application.

An expert interviewed by the BBC stated that Facebook needed to tighten up its security to prevent members from being exposed to identity theft.

Facebook responded that it 'has an entire Investigations Team that watches the site and removes content and third-party applications that violate Facebook's Terms of Use. Facebook users also police the site and use the "report" button if they come across violators of our Terms of Use'.

Will this mixture of self-patrolling and In-house investigation be sufficient to stem the flow of privacy issues facing Facebook and other communities in the light of an ever more open Web and Mobile 2.0 ecosystem?

uLocate-Latest Press Release on N-Series integration

Boston, MA - April 29, 2008 -- Latest Press Release from uLocate re:N-series integration

"uLocate Communications, Inc. announced today that WHERE is now available to users of the Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N95 and Nokia N82 devices. As a result, users of these advanced smartphones will be able to customize their device with WHERE to unleash the full potential of their device’s embedded GPS technology. For Nokia N81 users, a self-reported location version of WHERE has also been made available.

WHERE offers users access to over 60 unique location-based applications. These applications deliver content that is based on a user’s current location and include options for local search, weather, news, shopping, events and friend finding. Every application on WHERE allows users to click-to-call, get directions to, or see a map of their selection. Users can also send the location, with a map and directions, to their friends via SMS.

Some of the applications on WHERE are location based versions of content from popular brands. Want to find the cheapest gas available based on your current location? Then choose the Gas Buddy application on WHERE. Wondering where the best place to eat is? Use Yelp on WHERE to get restaurant reviews, directions and more. Hear that your favorite sports team is in town? Find tickets to the game with StubHub on WHERE.

WHERE also gives users access to Buddy Beacon, the world’s largest mobile friend finding community. Buddy Beacon uses GPS technology to let users connect with their friends, share their location and update their status across a number of online social networking sites including Facebook. With Buddy Beacon, users can see their nearby friends on a map and connect with them directly through the application.

WHERE is free to Nokia Nseries users and is easy to access, and install, through the Nokia Download store’s GPS / Location section. This means that with just a few clicks, Nseries users can gain access to the application and begin exploring the world around them, and finding what matters, with WHERE."

Truphone Update -Second round of funding raises USD33m

I posted an entry in January on Truphone and its ambitious plans to become the Skype of the mobile world.

This week the GSMA Mobile Business Briefing reported that Truphone had announced that they had closed a second round of funding worth £16.5 million (US$32.7 million) to help build-out its core GSM network. The news comes just days after the company announced it had acquired SIM4travel, a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) platform with travel SIM capabilities.

The latest cash injection was led by private investors, with all of Truphone's existing backers - Burda Digital Ventures, Eden Ventures, Independent News & Media and Wellington Partners - participating. The company raised £12.5 million in an earlier round of funding last year.

The company plans to enable low-cost GSM calls worldwide using the travel SIM in tandem with its existing mobile VoIP service, which works with high-end devices such as Nokia's N-series and allows free calling between Truphone users. Truphone aims to disrupt the existing mobile marketplace by offering cheaper international calls than the established mobile operators.

The company's infrastructure incorporates a global network of SIP gateways, a Nokia Siemens Networks mobile network Home Location Register (HLR) and a GSM identifier. The infrastructure is capable of supporting 40 million customers worldwide, Truphone says.