Short day today
Originally uploaded by schickr.
But the sun is shining low and bright. Greetings from almost the top of the world.
WAP Review on: The Web’s Big 3 Do Mobile
Recently, I had the good fortune of listening to folks from Google and Yahoo tell me about their mobile stuff (which I will never repeat, of course). Their thoughts and direction was very much in line with what I expected them to do. What I had to revise was my estimate as to when they would get there. I was off by about 6-12 months. I thought the GYM guys would be
focusing mostly on the fixed Web (PC Browsers) and only get to
compelling mobile stuff at the end of 2006 or later. Nope. These guys have already started blowing our socks off with new mobile services.
WAP Review (link below) looked at the current mobile sites for the GYM triumvirate – Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft (MSN). Very little of what was covered in this article was new to me, but I like it that everything is on one place and together. In that way, the comparisons stand out.
Also, this article shows that there were some mobile services that were available way back when in 2000 (I remember using some of them). Yet, to me, most of these services are what one would expect from these guys (which is why I have not been too keen about them). Though this article does highlight the parts I do like about the mobile
services, such as the SMS services and the integration with the PC (a big thing for me).
I am curious what are the usage levels of these services and if they are relevant to the general GYM subscriber base. Is this just pushing the Web to the phone, does it fit the mobile lifestyle (communication) or is it just browsing?
I used to think that Yahoo was the killer company in the mobile space, mostly because of their media properties, huge user base, and, now, the team they have assembled. I still think they are a major contender here and will be the one to match.
But, I thought that Google didn’t get it until I had a chance to meet some of their mobile guys (coincidentally, soon after the amazing Google Local Mobile Java app came out). Now I think Google is making a great and very skillful effort into extending their presence into mobile.
Whereas Yahoo extends their full (and heavy) experience to the phone, Google extends their deep relevance and simplicity in a very mobile-savvy way. Either way, it’s going to be a great year (mostly in the US) for mobile.
Link: The Web’s Big 3 Do Mobile. at Wap Review.
These three sites are the kings of the Internet at the moment. They all have tons of money to spend on R&D and market research. And they need to spend it so that they can hop on the next big thing quickly enough to at least maintain their position. I believe that mobile data, especially the mobile web is going to be one of those next big things so I thought it would be interesting to see what the big three have been up to in mobile.
MSN, who? I have a blind spot there, so I don’t feel
confident in commenting there. But I wonder if they might have the same
problem Nokia and Sony have – pushing pet technologies instead of
helping people. Something to think about.
Silicon Valley Himalayan Expedition on: One Internet to rule the world: starting to wag the mobile dog
Dorrian has a great article on the fusion of mobile and the Internet. He starts off with a device and applications view, writing a good story on how data is out there and devices are used as needed and as appropriate. He then brings up some great thoughts regarding the operators, making some suggestions as to their role in the future, such as customer support or billing.
Read it.
Link: Silicon Valley Himalayan Expedition: One Internet to rule the world: starting to wag the mobile dog.
We are years away from this future, but it is a future that is obvious to almost everyone I talk to. Here are some emerging trends to help push us there:
*web applications are proving as robust or more robust than desktop ones
*application developers are recognizing that data should be free and live in the Cloud
*presence is becoming more important
* broadband access to mobile devices is coming fast in all markets
*access to the Internet by mobile devices will outpace desktop access in a few years (as predicted in 2000)
*VOIP is coming to mobile
*seamless switching between various types of wireless networks will happen
GMail Mobile!
Finally.* Now I need to stop harping about how some companies in Silicon Valley don’t get mobile. Not only is GMail Mobile great. But it’s easy to use and works very well.
I wished it were prettier on my Series 60 smartphone, but hey, it really delivers.
Looking forward to WAP Review’s take on all this. See my comment on WAP Review’s analysis of the mobile GYM.
Link: Gmail Mobile.
Get Gmail on the go!
Now you can access your Gmail messages from the web browser on your mobile phone or device. Read and reply to your Gmail messages any time, anywhere.
* It’s free. (But your wireless plan might still charge, so you might want to check with your provider first.)
* It’s smart. It can handle attachments like photos and .pdf files.
Try it out now!
Gmail Mobile should work on most web enabled mobile phones and devices that have a wireless data plan.
Try it out for yourself.
Point your phone’s web browser to http://m.gmail.com
*I would have posted about this on Friday, but – ahem – we know that a huge chunk of the blogosphere was offline then.
Concert time at the Helsinki Cathedral
Concert time at the Helsinki Cathedral
Originally uploaded by schickr.
Sun 18.12.2005 17.07 Image (011)
Concert time at the Helsinki Cathedral
Concert time at the Helsinki Cathedral
Originally uploaded by schickr.
Sun 18.12.2005 17.06 Image (010)
Russell Beattie on: Make it Mobile
Would one expect any less from Russ?
Mobile. Mobile. Mobile. 🙂
And scroll down for a biz idea. I love it when he gives them away.
Link: Russell Beattie Notebook � #12: Make it Mobile.
I’ll admit that since Ev has already started a company, sold it for big bucks, and started another one, that his ten rules for web startups (plus a bonus) have much more weight than anything you read about a startup on this blog. He’s done it and doing it, so by all means listen to him and ignore me.
That said, I humbly submit that Ev is missing the boat in his list by not including a rule on mobility. Number 12 on his list should be “Make it Mobile”. Actually, I think it should be #1, but that’s just me be fanatical. Mobility is where the most opportunities lie for startups over the next few years. The next big success will be mobile, but also a lot of the next little successes will be mobile as well. There’s just so many possibilities right now – around the world and even in the U.S. with mobile penetration rates climbing over 80%. This is the market to focus on.
The International Herald Tribune on: Internet for the small screen
.org
This article rubbed me the wrong way. Mostly because it was about how folks (like the W3C) are trying to keep the PC-friendly Web separate from the Web as seen from a phone.
Yes, form factors have to be considered. But, let’s stop stressing how we need to get he WHOLE Web onto a phone and start talking about what Web we need on a phone, what Web is relevant to phones.
Link: The End User: Internet for the small screen – Print Version – International Herald Tribune.
The mobile Internet – or, the World Wide Web that you can get on your cellphone or handheld device – has had an incredibly lengthy and labored gestation. Around the turn of the century, it was widely heralded by the telecommunications industry, only to be widely derided by consumers for being slow, cumbersome and generally useless.
ChristianLindholm.com on: New Mobility – My remote contribution to Les Blogs 2.0
Christian (my old mentor) has a nice post on where he sees things going in mobile. Interestingly, it’s device-centric – he’s now at Web powerhouse Yahoo.
One comment: I agree devices will figure prominently as we become more and more mobile. Also, I agree that sophisticated social apps will glue these devices together. But, I expect a range of devices, from simple to converged to optimized devices. And each device in this range will sell at different numbers of units (due to a cross-section of price, complexity, niche, etc.) and hence dictate the size of the market.
There’s a reason why Nokia’s most basic phones outsell smartphones more than 10:1. It’s not because of lack of services or poor implementations. It’s simply because voice and SMS do most of what people want to do – communicate. And I will still place my money on voice for the long term (even for non-cellular devices, which will be in the end voice-enabled).
Link: ChristianLindholm.com: New Mobility – My remote contribution to Les Blogs 2.0.
I am really sad that I will not be able to be in the closing panel of Les Blogs 2.0 talking about the future. Instead I am home, with an aching head, jetlagged, it is 5:00AM and I have been up the past three hours, but fortunately in good spirits. I was wondering how I could make up for not being there and I came to the conclusion that sharing some thoughts here could be the best I can do at this moment.
Nokia Press Release on: Nokia Capital Market Days 2005
Nokia (my current employer) hold an annual investors day in New York called Capital Market Days. It is here than Nokia recaps their year and lays out forecasts for the next. As usual, there are some interesting stats (link below).
Let’s start with these:
Nokia estimates the mobile device market to grow more than 10% from the estimated 780 million for this year (that’s over 2 million a day!). Also, mobile subscriptions will pass 3 billion in 2008 (two years earlier than previous estimates).
I am pretty sure that most of that growth is in BRIC – Brasil, Russia, India, and China. How are you preparing for this amazing growth in the emergin market, where most folks will never have a computer, or a credit card, or even steady power? Yahoo, Google, Microsoft – are you ready? Or are you still preacihng to your current base?
Thanks to Chris, emrging markets have been have been indelibly etched upon my mind.
More interesting stats:
– Nokia will reduce R&D expenditure accross the board. Hmm, what does that mean for innovation at Nokia?
– Nokia has launched a wopping 56 devices this year. Wow!
At the annual Nokia Capital Market Days in New York, Nokia presented its expectations for overall industry developments and set out its targets for the next one to two years.