mercredi 28 février 2007
N95 review from My-Symbian
Another review on the N95, this time from Michael Jerz over at My-Symbian It's a very well structured, detailed review. Click here to see what he has to say.
mardi 27 février 2007
Nokia in the future
Phil posted an interesting video clip over on the S60 blogs. I followed the link through to the Nokia design community YouTube page. It's always interesting to see what passes through the imagination of the people who will be designing communication products over the next few years. Take a look:
Achieving together
Connecting Simply
Inspiring Senses
Sharing discoveries
Achieving together
Connecting Simply
Inspiring Senses
Sharing discoveries
jeudi 22 février 2007
The people who say Web 2.0 apps are garbage are completely right -- and utterly wrong
The backlash against "Web 2.0" has been underway for some time now, with many very insightful analysts and reporters pointing out the surplus of overlapping products, the uncertain business models, and the relentless hype. I think many of those critiques are right on -- a lot of the Web 2.0 companies are pointless and won't ever make money. Maybe even most of them.
But that's not the whole story. When you step back from the individual trees and look at the forest, I think the things happening in web apps today are really and truly revolutionary. If anything, the changes are a lot more profound than most people realize. And I believe they're just getting started.
As I've mentioned in other posts, the Web isn't just a place for publishing content, it's also rapidly maturing as a platform for developing new software applications. (Quick definition: in Silicon Valley-speak, a platform is a technology on top of which people build other products. Windows is a platform, as is Linux.) To me, the most important thing about the Web 2.0 sites is that they blur the distinctions between web pages and applications. Most of them don't just present information, they also let you create or manipulate it, as would a software program on your PC. Google Maps isn't just a website, it's an application for searching maps. Ten years ago, you would have bought it on a CD-ROM and installed it on your PC.
Participating in the blossoming of a new software platform is one of the most exciting things you can do in the tech industry. I've been lucky enough to be in on it twice now (Macintosh and Palm OS), and it's great because you get to work with a lot of smart developers who produce cool and surprising stuff. The excitement is infectious (thus the hype about Web 2.0).
But despite the attention people put on platforms, the way a new platform develops is not well understood in the tech industry. I think that's why people are getting confused about the fate of the Web 2.0 companies.
For example, here's a quiz -- do you know what the following names have in common? (No fair using Wikipedia; you have to do this on your own.)
Paladin
Ann Arbor
Cricket
Aldus
Silicon Beach
T/Maker
Living Videotext
If you said they're some of the most prominent early software developers* for the Macintosh, you're half right. The other thing they all have in common is that they're long gone -- out of business, sold off, or just plain faded away. In fact, other than Adobe and Microsoft, virtually none of the prominent early Mac developers are still independent businesses.
The melancholy fact is that the vast majority of the early developers on any platform fail.
This carnage of the early developers happens because a new platform is by definition unexplored territory. The developers are basically trying a series of experiments to see which types of applications will sell well. Their hit rate is better than playing the lottery, which is why VCs are willing to fund them, but inevitably most of the experiments fail.
That doesn't make the platform a failure, and it doesn't mean the applications were a waste. The successful experiments make a ton of money, more than enough to make up for the failures. And even the applications that don't survive long term often teach us new concepts and business models.
I think the same sort of shakeout is going to happen with the current crop of web apps. Most of them will eventually die or get merged into other things. That's no big deal, it's how a platform works. What matters is what we're learning through this Darwinian process. And from that viewpoint, the Web applications world is shaping up as a stunning success.
I think the three most important developments we're seeing in the web apps world are:
1. We're learning how to create new communities rapidly and focus them on useful tasks.
2. The Web is spawning new forms of media at an unprecedented rate.
3. The Web apps platform is starting to evolve exponentially.
I know the Web apps world is overhyped, so I say this very carefully and very sincerely: I think any one of those trends would be enough to drive major changes in the tech industry and the world beyond. The fact that all three are happening at once is, to me, quite remarkable, and I think it's going to have an enormous effect on our lives in the next 20 years.
I want to talk about each one of the trends, and then wrap up with some comments on overall implications and what to watch for next. Unfortunately, this post started to get waaay too long, so I'm going to do it in stages. I'll start with communities in the next post.
In the meantime, here's an example of what happens when somebody starts to sense what's happening in web apps. This is from Mike Rowehl, a software developer in the mobile phone industry, commenting on what he saw at the 3GSM telephony conference in February 2007:
Mike, you ain't seen nothing yet.
__________
*Here's a key to those old Mac developers. Even though the firms and most of the products disappeared, many of the product concepts, and the people, went on to great success. I expect the same thing to happen in web apps.
Cricket Software. Creator of a series of Mac graphics programs, including Cricket Graph, Cricket Draw, and Cricket Presents (one of the first presentation programs -- a category that Apple called "Desktop Presentations" in an effort to duplicate the desktop publishing phenomenon). Cricket was run by Jim Rafferty, a really nice guy who went on to found and co-found several other companies. I couldn't figure out what he's doing now; please post a comment if you know.
Paladin Software was creator of Crunch, a Macintosh spreadsheet program that went head to head with Excel and lost. I thought Crunch was much easier to use than Excel, with an innovative icon bar for commonly used functions. Microsoft kind of borrowed that feature later (check the screenshots here).
Aldus. Creator of PageMaker. Adobe gets the credit today for driving desktop publishing, but PageMaker was the greatest page layout product of its time, easy to use and very powerful. I believe it was the program most responsible for making the Mac a commercial success. Aldus was run by Paul Brainerd, an extremely nice guy who told his company to respond to requests from small software developers like me. Thanks, Paul! He's now a philanthropist.
Ann Arbor Softworks developed FullWrite, which claimed to be the first fully WYSIWYG word processor, and which was also one of the most notoriously prolonged instances of vaporware in computing history.
T/Maker was one of the early developers of Macintosh desktop publishing software. Heidi Roizen, CEO of the company during its Macintosh days, was a deeply respected Macintosh software entrepreneur, and later became VP of the developer relations team at Apple. She's now a venture capitalist.
Living Videotext. Produced the ThinkTank and More outliners. Run by a guy named Dave Winer. And yeah, he was just as outspoken back then.
Silicon Beach Software. Mention "Silicon Beach" to an old-time Mac user and they'll probably just sigh. The company was responsible for many of the most creative Mac programs of its time, including a game called Dark Castle and SuperCard, an early hypertext development environment that extended Apple's HyperCard in wonderful ways. Some Silicon Beach veterans later founded Back to the Beach Software, whose name is a tribute to Silicon Beach.
But that's not the whole story. When you step back from the individual trees and look at the forest, I think the things happening in web apps today are really and truly revolutionary. If anything, the changes are a lot more profound than most people realize. And I believe they're just getting started.
As I've mentioned in other posts, the Web isn't just a place for publishing content, it's also rapidly maturing as a platform for developing new software applications. (Quick definition: in Silicon Valley-speak, a platform is a technology on top of which people build other products. Windows is a platform, as is Linux.) To me, the most important thing about the Web 2.0 sites is that they blur the distinctions between web pages and applications. Most of them don't just present information, they also let you create or manipulate it, as would a software program on your PC. Google Maps isn't just a website, it's an application for searching maps. Ten years ago, you would have bought it on a CD-ROM and installed it on your PC.
Participating in the blossoming of a new software platform is one of the most exciting things you can do in the tech industry. I've been lucky enough to be in on it twice now (Macintosh and Palm OS), and it's great because you get to work with a lot of smart developers who produce cool and surprising stuff. The excitement is infectious (thus the hype about Web 2.0).
But despite the attention people put on platforms, the way a new platform develops is not well understood in the tech industry. I think that's why people are getting confused about the fate of the Web 2.0 companies.
For example, here's a quiz -- do you know what the following names have in common? (No fair using Wikipedia; you have to do this on your own.)
Paladin
Ann Arbor
Cricket
Aldus
Silicon Beach
T/Maker
Living Videotext
If you said they're some of the most prominent early software developers* for the Macintosh, you're half right. The other thing they all have in common is that they're long gone -- out of business, sold off, or just plain faded away. In fact, other than Adobe and Microsoft, virtually none of the prominent early Mac developers are still independent businesses.
The melancholy fact is that the vast majority of the early developers on any platform fail.
This carnage of the early developers happens because a new platform is by definition unexplored territory. The developers are basically trying a series of experiments to see which types of applications will sell well. Their hit rate is better than playing the lottery, which is why VCs are willing to fund them, but inevitably most of the experiments fail.
That doesn't make the platform a failure, and it doesn't mean the applications were a waste. The successful experiments make a ton of money, more than enough to make up for the failures. And even the applications that don't survive long term often teach us new concepts and business models.
I think the same sort of shakeout is going to happen with the current crop of web apps. Most of them will eventually die or get merged into other things. That's no big deal, it's how a platform works. What matters is what we're learning through this Darwinian process. And from that viewpoint, the Web applications world is shaping up as a stunning success.
I think the three most important developments we're seeing in the web apps world are:
1. We're learning how to create new communities rapidly and focus them on useful tasks.
2. The Web is spawning new forms of media at an unprecedented rate.
3. The Web apps platform is starting to evolve exponentially.
I know the Web apps world is overhyped, so I say this very carefully and very sincerely: I think any one of those trends would be enough to drive major changes in the tech industry and the world beyond. The fact that all three are happening at once is, to me, quite remarkable, and I think it's going to have an enormous effect on our lives in the next 20 years.
I want to talk about each one of the trends, and then wrap up with some comments on overall implications and what to watch for next. Unfortunately, this post started to get waaay too long, so I'm going to do it in stages. I'll start with communities in the next post.
In the meantime, here's an example of what happens when somebody starts to sense what's happening in web apps. This is from Mike Rowehl, a software developer in the mobile phone industry, commenting on what he saw at the 3GSM telephony conference in February 2007:
"I was forced to realize that the mobile world won’t end up changing the online world like I had assumed it would. It really looks like the innovation is going to flow the other way around. People who are already working in mobile have had all semblance of initiative and innovation beaten out of them. You can lay a new business model down in front of them and explain in detail how it works, and generally they aren’t able to grasp it unless it looks enough like something they already know. However, people coming from the online world and looking to expand into mobile generally are accustomed to a shifting environment and taking in new opportunities and integrating them into their mental framework.... The stage should be set for mobile to completely subsume the online world. But instead it’s the people from the online world staggering out into the sun and realizing there’s no one trying to grab the potential of the new medium and just picking up the pieces waiting for them."
Mike, you ain't seen nothing yet.
__________
*Here's a key to those old Mac developers. Even though the firms and most of the products disappeared, many of the product concepts, and the people, went on to great success. I expect the same thing to happen in web apps.
Cricket Software. Creator of a series of Mac graphics programs, including Cricket Graph, Cricket Draw, and Cricket Presents (one of the first presentation programs -- a category that Apple called "Desktop Presentations" in an effort to duplicate the desktop publishing phenomenon). Cricket was run by Jim Rafferty, a really nice guy who went on to found and co-found several other companies. I couldn't figure out what he's doing now; please post a comment if you know.
Paladin Software was creator of Crunch, a Macintosh spreadsheet program that went head to head with Excel and lost. I thought Crunch was much easier to use than Excel, with an innovative icon bar for commonly used functions. Microsoft kind of borrowed that feature later (check the screenshots here).
Aldus. Creator of PageMaker. Adobe gets the credit today for driving desktop publishing, but PageMaker was the greatest page layout product of its time, easy to use and very powerful. I believe it was the program most responsible for making the Mac a commercial success. Aldus was run by Paul Brainerd, an extremely nice guy who told his company to respond to requests from small software developers like me. Thanks, Paul! He's now a philanthropist.
Ann Arbor Softworks developed FullWrite, which claimed to be the first fully WYSIWYG word processor, and which was also one of the most notoriously prolonged instances of vaporware in computing history.
T/Maker was one of the early developers of Macintosh desktop publishing software. Heidi Roizen, CEO of the company during its Macintosh days, was a deeply respected Macintosh software entrepreneur, and later became VP of the developer relations team at Apple. She's now a venture capitalist.
Living Videotext. Produced the ThinkTank and More outliners. Run by a guy named Dave Winer. And yeah, he was just as outspoken back then.
Silicon Beach Software. Mention "Silicon Beach" to an old-time Mac user and they'll probably just sigh. The company was responsible for many of the most creative Mac programs of its time, including a game called Dark Castle and SuperCard, an early hypertext development environment that extended Apple's HyperCard in wonderful ways. Some Silicon Beach veterans later founded Back to the Beach Software, whose name is a tribute to Silicon Beach.
Steve from AAS tries out Smart2go
Here is a video clip from Steve Litchfield from All About Symbian trying out Smart2go on his N93.
I have downloaded and installed Smart2Go on my N73 but have not yet used it. I only drive to and from work daily, and around to friends at the weekend. Anywhere else I need to go around London or the Home Counties, 10 years of daily driving in field sales has given me a good knowledge of roads and routes.
Steve makes a good point in the video about the charging for Smart2go. If I were to go somewhere where I was not so confident of the routes, then Smart2Go would become a valuable application. And as I can pay for it as and when I need it, Smart2Go becomes a economical alternative to other Satnav solutions.
Edit: HTML appears to be broken, so to view the video, pop over to AAS
I have downloaded and installed Smart2Go on my N73 but have not yet used it. I only drive to and from work daily, and around to friends at the weekend. Anywhere else I need to go around London or the Home Counties, 10 years of daily driving in field sales has given me a good knowledge of roads and routes.
Steve makes a good point in the video about the charging for Smart2go. If I were to go somewhere where I was not so confident of the routes, then Smart2Go would become a valuable application. And as I can pay for it as and when I need it, Smart2Go becomes a economical alternative to other Satnav solutions.
Edit: HTML appears to be broken, so to view the video, pop over to AAS
mercredi 21 février 2007
MTP IP
I saw an interesting press release today, from a company called Fotonation. They're promoting some software called MTP IP. Basically, this software will allow mobile phones to transfer large files at speeds up to 10 times faster than transfer via Bluetooth. For example, a 3 megapixel picture can be transferred from phone to PC in just 0.3 seconds.
As phones gain more functionality, richer features, the option for fast file transfer is going to become ever more necessary. It will be intresting to see how well options like MTP IP actually work. Fotonation will be presenting MTP IP at a forthcoming trade show in Las Vegas during March, running on an N80 and N93.
Full press release here.
As phones gain more functionality, richer features, the option for fast file transfer is going to become ever more necessary. It will be intresting to see how well options like MTP IP actually work. Fotonation will be presenting MTP IP at a forthcoming trade show in Las Vegas during March, running on an N80 and N93.
Full press release here.
lundi 19 février 2007
Hiding calendar entries
The option to hide calendar entries is one feature I would like to see implemented in a S60 more than any other, right now.You can see from the screenshot, on my phone I have Active Standby turned on. Because of this, you can see that tomorrow I have a meeting with the OWG. What I would like to see the calendar offer, is a feature where I can hide upcoming appointments.
It could work like this; I set an appointment, and one of the options is for me to show when I want the appointment to appear on the screen. Maybe choose from 7 days, 5 days, 3 days, 1 day and never. Never, because sometimes I might not want an appointment to show on the screen of the phone.
The way it stands currently, if I don't want appointments to show on the main screen I have to turn Active Standby off. But I like Active Standby, and the shortcut options. So, if this could ever be implemented in a future S60 firmware, I would certainly appreciate it.
dimanche 18 février 2007
N800 Review
Over on Mobile Whack, you'll find a neat review they've posted up about the N800.
I have to admit, the N800 is one of those handsets that personally, I don't think I'm going to find a use for. Still for those with an interest, check the review out.
vendredi 16 février 2007
Going to the Emerging Telephony conference
I'm going to the Emerging Telephony conference February 27 to March 1. If you're going and want to meet there, drop me a note. You can find my contact info here.
jeudi 15 février 2007
3GSM
So I'm back from 3GSM. It was a great event. I'm upset I was unable to get a connection when in Spain, though. I'd planned to use my WIND Italia SIM. €8 a month gets me 300MB of data to use outside Italia. Perfect. At least, it was. It seems that WIND no longer offer this deal. So I found myself with no data connection for uploading pictures.
But enough of the moaning, and on with the phones. For me, the event is all about the handsets. The main hall is packed with all the main manufacturers, and some of the bit part players. Of the products on show, Nokia took the event for me. Samsung ran them close, the Ultra Edition II range looks very good. Of the other members of the big four, Sony Ericsson and Motorola, I was very disappointed, especially with Motorola. The only handset they had that could be of any slight interest was the MotoRIZR Z8 But I wasn't even allowed to take one photo! Shocking, Motorola, not the way to win any new friends.
It was good to see the handsets SE announced last week at the event, but I still don't feel any inspiration to the new line-up. After last weeks new handset announcements I had a feeling they were holding back the big announcements to the actual 3GSM event, but not so. Where's the 5 megapixel Cybershot? The Handycam phone? The Vaio phone? The PSP Phone? (Surely Sony will brand handsets with these names as they already have with the Cybershot and Walkman?) I guess we'll have to wait that bit longer.
And to Nokia. The big new handset announcements, E90, E65, E61i were all there. So was the N77, and the 6110 navigator.
I don't usually go on for the ESeries phones on this blog. After all, there's plenty of dedicated users out there with their own blogs for ESeries. But I'm a fan of S60, and I've been a user of the E60 in the past (fine handset, under rated in my opinion) So for this occasion I'm going to include some pics of the new ESeries handsets, E90, E61i and E65.
The E90 should appeal to all communicator fans. It is packed with virtually everything you could want in a mobile phone. The E61i seems to give the one thing E61 users have ever asked for, and that's a camera. And the dark horse of the range, the E65. I can see this handset just slipping itself quietly into the pockets of many business users over the coming months. It is sleek, it is slim, it is compact. It feels good in the hand, has S60 simplicity. A winner.
Two other handsets, the N93i and the N76 were there. It was good to get hands on with the handsets, but they don't do much for me. I'm not really a fan of clamshell phones. The N93i is a niche product, but to be fair it looks good. The N76 is extremely slim, definitely RAZResque. Bit wide though, something I never liked about the RAZR either.
Finally, it is not new, but there was my handset, the N95. There's not a lot more you can say about this handset, apart from hurry up Nokia and get this out on the market. I'm starting to get impatient!
Onto the pics:
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But enough of the moaning, and on with the phones. For me, the event is all about the handsets. The main hall is packed with all the main manufacturers, and some of the bit part players. Of the products on show, Nokia took the event for me. Samsung ran them close, the Ultra Edition II range looks very good. Of the other members of the big four, Sony Ericsson and Motorola, I was very disappointed, especially with Motorola. The only handset they had that could be of any slight interest was the MotoRIZR Z8 But I wasn't even allowed to take one photo! Shocking, Motorola, not the way to win any new friends.
It was good to see the handsets SE announced last week at the event, but I still don't feel any inspiration to the new line-up. After last weeks new handset announcements I had a feeling they were holding back the big announcements to the actual 3GSM event, but not so. Where's the 5 megapixel Cybershot? The Handycam phone? The Vaio phone? The PSP Phone? (Surely Sony will brand handsets with these names as they already have with the Cybershot and Walkman?) I guess we'll have to wait that bit longer.
And to Nokia. The big new handset announcements, E90, E65, E61i were all there. So was the N77, and the 6110 navigator.
I don't usually go on for the ESeries phones on this blog. After all, there's plenty of dedicated users out there with their own blogs for ESeries. But I'm a fan of S60, and I've been a user of the E60 in the past (fine handset, under rated in my opinion) So for this occasion I'm going to include some pics of the new ESeries handsets, E90, E61i and E65.
The E90 should appeal to all communicator fans. It is packed with virtually everything you could want in a mobile phone. The E61i seems to give the one thing E61 users have ever asked for, and that's a camera. And the dark horse of the range, the E65. I can see this handset just slipping itself quietly into the pockets of many business users over the coming months. It is sleek, it is slim, it is compact. It feels good in the hand, has S60 simplicity. A winner.
Two other handsets, the N93i and the N76 were there. It was good to get hands on with the handsets, but they don't do much for me. I'm not really a fan of clamshell phones. The N93i is a niche product, but to be fair it looks good. The N76 is extremely slim, definitely RAZResque. Bit wide though, something I never liked about the RAZR either.
Finally, it is not new, but there was my handset, the N95. There's not a lot more you can say about this handset, apart from hurry up Nokia and get this out on the market. I'm starting to get impatient!
Onto the pics:
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S60 and sub folders
I'm just back from Barcelona, and I have some interesting pics and items to upload later on. But before I do, I've been catching up goings on whilst I've been away, and I found a very useful snippet on the S60 blogs. How to create a sub folder for S60 phones.
Currently, if you want to store items in a folder, and inside that folder create sub folders for further storage, you can't. So if you had a media folder, nad inside you wanted to seperate video, music, pictures, etc, you can't. Well, at least you couldn't. There is now a work around, which was posted on the Nokia discussion forums. Excellent work by mechanimal82 for finding the workaround
And it works. See the screenshot below. I have a misc folder no located within my applications folder, where I can throw all the apps I never use. Fantastic work:
Currently, if you want to store items in a folder, and inside that folder create sub folders for further storage, you can't. So if you had a media folder, nad inside you wanted to seperate video, music, pictures, etc, you can't. Well, at least you couldn't. There is now a work around, which was posted on the Nokia discussion forums. Excellent work by mechanimal82 for finding the workaround
1. Create a new folder and call it whatever you want your sub-folder to be.
2. Move this folder to be in position 1 (top left of the main menu)
3. Place an app in position 5 (the default position for when you open up the menu)
4. highlight the app in position 5 and then press options (so that you can see the option to "Move to folder" ).
5. Now with the option menu open, press the power key and select "Offline". You'll notice that the menu is still open, and that the folder you created is highlighted in the top left of the screen.
6. Now select "Move to folder" and select which folder you want to contain your sub-folder.
And it works. See the screenshot below. I have a misc folder no located within my applications folder, where I can throw all the apps I never use. Fantastic work:
lundi 12 février 2007
The rise of the information ecosystem: How mobile devices, personal computing, media, and the Internet all fit together
Fair warning: This is going to be one of those philosophical posts on strategy. If you're looking for quick gratification, I recommend browsing the archives here.
Anyone still reading?
Okay. The other day I got a bit of flak for posting a note about Hollywood's view of the Web. "Your weblog's about mobility," the comments said. "Stay on topic."
I sincerely appreciate the feedback, but it was a surprise. As far as I was concerned, I was staying on topic. But then I realized that I've never actually explained what I'm trying to accomplish in this weblog, and so of course people might confused. I'd like to fix that right now.
I started this weblog to comment on the mobile industry, but as time went on and my work at Rubicon exposed me to a wider range of tech companies, I found that the boundaries of mobile were getting harder and harder to define. I'm now convinced that you can't understand the mobile world as a separate industry, because it's deeply interconnected with three other industries that deal with information: the Internet, personal computing, and the media (including video, print publications, games, and so on).
All four industries like to think of themselves as separate. But in reality, they depend on each other heavily, and the connections are deepening all the time. In each industry, it's commonplace for people to be blind-sided by unexpected changes, or for major initiatives to fail dismally. I think that's a symptom of the growing connections. Because we can't yet see all the connections, success and failure become more a matter of luck than skill.
The idea that those industries are merging has been around for years -- I remember a colleague making that argument at Apple back in the early 1990s. But I think "merging" or "convergence" isn't the right metaphor. What's emerging is more like a tropical jungle where a rare tree is the favorite roost of a bat that's fed on by a mosquito whose larvae are eaten by a fish that secretes the cure to cancer in its skin. Everything's connected in subtle ways that we don't understand.
Call it the information ecosystem.
Some very bright people have used the term "information ecosystem" in the past to refer to the Internet or Web 2.0, but I think it encompasses all four industries.
That ecosystem is what I'm trying to map in this weblog, because that's where the opportunity is. I don't pretend to have all the connections mapped yet; nobody does. But what we can see so far suggests that we're still in the early stages of the new ecosystem. I think the big changes are still to come.
The new information ecosystem
Back in ancient times (around 1975), the old information ecosystem looked like the diagram below. Most information (and I'm using that word very broadly to include everything from written words to movies to photographs) was passed through a distribution hierarchy that filtered and distilled it down to the most marketable items. Delivery of information was generally through mass media -- bookstores, magazines, newspapers, television stations, etc. The prevailing metaphor was one-to-many, with information flowing from a relatively small elite of creators to the population as a whole. People also communicated directly between one-another, of course, but most of that communication was one-to-one or one-to-few via letters, meetings, and phone calls.
Even before the Internet, this old ecosystem had already started to erode. For example, computer-based desktop publishing in the 1980s made it much easier for small groups and individuals to create newsletters and magazines, giving them some of the power of mass media (although their creations still had to be printed and distributed through traditional mechanisms).
The new information ecosystem. It was the rise of the Web that really challenged the old structure. Although we're still in a transitional period, I think it's clear that the new information ecosystem will look something like the diagram below. In the new system, the filtering role of the publishers and commentators is radically eroded. Any information that anyone wants to share can be fed directly into the Internet. Tools like the personal computer make it much easier for people to create information, and mobile devices are also starting to play a minor but important role in info creation as well (for example, at the end of 2006 a cellphone video of the execution of Saddam Hussein created worldwide news and intense political debate). The net effect should be that information flows faster, and between more sources, than ever before (by the way, that's an assumption I want to test in future posts; I'm not sure it's correct).
The diagram shows why mobile devices can no longer stand alone as a separate industry. As soon as they get any data capabilities, they're embedded in the larger ecosystem. Want to add apps to a mobile device? You need to understand the trends driving PC and Internet app development. Want to tie your customers to you more closely? Make sure you know how online communities form (and why most of them fail). Want to play content on a mobile? Don't link yourself too closely to a content company that was part of the old ecosystem -- you might be pulled down by the suction when it sinks.
What's the most important part of the ecosystem?
A lot of people would tell you that the center of the ecosystem is the Internet; that the other industries are just appendages. On the other hand, many mobile enthusiasts would tell you the dominant part will soon be the mobile phone, and I'm sure Microsoft and Apple would tell you that it's the personal computer. But I think they're all wrong. The most important part of the ecosystem isn't any technology, it's the ideas themselves: the articles and music and essays and videos and memes that we use to make decisions and entertain ourselves. The Internet and the servers that hang on it like Christmas ornaments are the storage and transport mechanism for those ideas. PCs and mobile devices are capture and playback systems, and the software programs we run on those devices are the tools that we use to create and work with the ideas.
Meanwhile, the publishers, producers, editors, and critics who used to control the idea factory are struggling to find relevant roles in the new world. I think some will succeed, and many will fail.
The real mobile opportunity
So I know it'll feel irrelevant to some people, but I'm going to be writing more about subjects like web apps and communities and Hollywood, because they're all part of the same system. I'll try to label the posts that focus on the broader ecosystem, so you can skip them if you want to. But if you're working in the mobile world I think you should tune in. You need to understand the whole ecosystem or chances are you'll be left twisting slowly in the breeze by a competitor who does get it.
The real mobile opportunity of the 21st century isn't mobilizing technology, it's mobilizing ideas.
That's what this weblog is all about.
Anyone still reading?
Okay. The other day I got a bit of flak for posting a note about Hollywood's view of the Web. "Your weblog's about mobility," the comments said. "Stay on topic."
I sincerely appreciate the feedback, but it was a surprise. As far as I was concerned, I was staying on topic. But then I realized that I've never actually explained what I'm trying to accomplish in this weblog, and so of course people might confused. I'd like to fix that right now.
I started this weblog to comment on the mobile industry, but as time went on and my work at Rubicon exposed me to a wider range of tech companies, I found that the boundaries of mobile were getting harder and harder to define. I'm now convinced that you can't understand the mobile world as a separate industry, because it's deeply interconnected with three other industries that deal with information: the Internet, personal computing, and the media (including video, print publications, games, and so on).
All four industries like to think of themselves as separate. But in reality, they depend on each other heavily, and the connections are deepening all the time. In each industry, it's commonplace for people to be blind-sided by unexpected changes, or for major initiatives to fail dismally. I think that's a symptom of the growing connections. Because we can't yet see all the connections, success and failure become more a matter of luck than skill.
The idea that those industries are merging has been around for years -- I remember a colleague making that argument at Apple back in the early 1990s. But I think "merging" or "convergence" isn't the right metaphor. What's emerging is more like a tropical jungle where a rare tree is the favorite roost of a bat that's fed on by a mosquito whose larvae are eaten by a fish that secretes the cure to cancer in its skin. Everything's connected in subtle ways that we don't understand.
Call it the information ecosystem.
Some very bright people have used the term "information ecosystem" in the past to refer to the Internet or Web 2.0, but I think it encompasses all four industries.
That ecosystem is what I'm trying to map in this weblog, because that's where the opportunity is. I don't pretend to have all the connections mapped yet; nobody does. But what we can see so far suggests that we're still in the early stages of the new ecosystem. I think the big changes are still to come.
The new information ecosystem
Back in ancient times (around 1975), the old information ecosystem looked like the diagram below. Most information (and I'm using that word very broadly to include everything from written words to movies to photographs) was passed through a distribution hierarchy that filtered and distilled it down to the most marketable items. Delivery of information was generally through mass media -- bookstores, magazines, newspapers, television stations, etc. The prevailing metaphor was one-to-many, with information flowing from a relatively small elite of creators to the population as a whole. People also communicated directly between one-another, of course, but most of that communication was one-to-one or one-to-few via letters, meetings, and phone calls.
Even before the Internet, this old ecosystem had already started to erode. For example, computer-based desktop publishing in the 1980s made it much easier for small groups and individuals to create newsletters and magazines, giving them some of the power of mass media (although their creations still had to be printed and distributed through traditional mechanisms).
"Freedom of the Press is guaranteed only to those who own one." --AJ Liebling
"Let's give everybody a press." --Simultaneous thought of several million Internet users, sometime in the 1990s
The new information ecosystem. It was the rise of the Web that really challenged the old structure. Although we're still in a transitional period, I think it's clear that the new information ecosystem will look something like the diagram below. In the new system, the filtering role of the publishers and commentators is radically eroded. Any information that anyone wants to share can be fed directly into the Internet. Tools like the personal computer make it much easier for people to create information, and mobile devices are also starting to play a minor but important role in info creation as well (for example, at the end of 2006 a cellphone video of the execution of Saddam Hussein created worldwide news and intense political debate). The net effect should be that information flows faster, and between more sources, than ever before (by the way, that's an assumption I want to test in future posts; I'm not sure it's correct).
The diagram shows why mobile devices can no longer stand alone as a separate industry. As soon as they get any data capabilities, they're embedded in the larger ecosystem. Want to add apps to a mobile device? You need to understand the trends driving PC and Internet app development. Want to tie your customers to you more closely? Make sure you know how online communities form (and why most of them fail). Want to play content on a mobile? Don't link yourself too closely to a content company that was part of the old ecosystem -- you might be pulled down by the suction when it sinks.
What's the most important part of the ecosystem?
A lot of people would tell you that the center of the ecosystem is the Internet; that the other industries are just appendages. On the other hand, many mobile enthusiasts would tell you the dominant part will soon be the mobile phone, and I'm sure Microsoft and Apple would tell you that it's the personal computer. But I think they're all wrong. The most important part of the ecosystem isn't any technology, it's the ideas themselves: the articles and music and essays and videos and memes that we use to make decisions and entertain ourselves. The Internet and the servers that hang on it like Christmas ornaments are the storage and transport mechanism for those ideas. PCs and mobile devices are capture and playback systems, and the software programs we run on those devices are the tools that we use to create and work with the ideas.
Meanwhile, the publishers, producers, editors, and critics who used to control the idea factory are struggling to find relevant roles in the new world. I think some will succeed, and many will fail.
The real mobile opportunity
So I know it'll feel irrelevant to some people, but I'm going to be writing more about subjects like web apps and communities and Hollywood, because they're all part of the same system. I'll try to label the posts that focus on the broader ecosystem, so you can skip them if you want to. But if you're working in the mobile world I think you should tune in. You need to understand the whole ecosystem or chances are you'll be left twisting slowly in the breeze by a competitor who does get it.
The real mobile opportunity of the 21st century isn't mobilizing technology, it's mobilizing ideas.
That's what this weblog is all about.
Nokia N77
Nokia have confirmed release of the N77 today at the 3GSM conference. Full spec will be posted later, but the main feature of the handset is built in DVB-H support for digital TV. For other Nokia handsets announced, check out the 3GSM Blog
Stylish and affordable Nokia N77 to accelerate DVB-H mobile TV mainstream adoption
Nokia today introduced the Nokia N77 multimedia computer offering an optimized mobile TV experience in a compelling and compact form factor with complete Nokia Nseries functionalities. With the Nokia N77, the latest integrated DVB-H device in the Nokia Nseries range, operators now have greater choice of devices as they further develop their broadcast mobile TV platform to launch and attract more subscribers. The Nokia N77 enables living room TV as viewers have come to know and understand, but is now available in a small and beautifully designed package to take on the go.
"TV is the biggest media in the world and we are mobilizing it with the Nokia N77. The pocketable and affordable Nokia N77 further drives broadcast mobile TV based on DVB-H technology towards the mainstream market phase. The ability to watch live television on a mobile device has never been so easy," said Jonas Geust, head of Nokia Nseries Players Category, Multimedia, Nokia. "The wide 2.4" flat screen with up to 16 million colors and high quality stereo sound makes it the ideal personal mobile device for enjoying live TV and music on the move."
See what happens next
The dedicated TV key on the Nokia N77 gives you straight access to a world of DVB-H TV. It even remembers the last channel you were viewing when you switched off the TV. You can also set reminders to alert you when your program is starting and access it at the push of a button. Through the Program Guide in the mobile TV application you can view program information up to seven days, browse TV channels, purchase new channels if desired and select the TV program you are interested in.
By utilizing built-in interactive service functionality, like SMS voting for deciding what music video will be played next, it is very easy to make your voice heard. You can also take full advantage of 30 seconds replay and continue live TV watching after the replay clip.
Your music, your soundtrack, your way
With up to 2GB of memory and integrated stereo speakers, the Nokia N77 also features great mobile music experiences. The Nokia N77 offers storage of up to 1500 tracks. Enjoy your favorite DJs or discover a rich new world of music with Visual Radio. With support for MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA, no song should go unheard. For enhanced personal sound quality, simply connect the in-box earphone buds or use the Nokia Audio Adapter with standard 3.5 mm connector to hook up to a compatible headphone.
Much more than just entertainment
With practically all the applications you would expect from a true Nokia Nseries multimedia computer, including a 2 megapixel camera (1600 x 1200 pixels), the Nokia N77 is much more than just live TV - it's the key to an entire world of multimedia computing. Work or play, beneath its good looking exterior it has just about everything you need. Designed to work on 3G (WCDMA 2100 MHz), EDGE and GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) networks, with the Nokia N77 you can manage your day on the go with email, calendar and to-do lists.
The Nokia N77, based on S60 3rd Edition software on Symbian OS, is expected to start shipping during the second quarter of 2007 in countries where DVB-H services are available
samedi 10 février 2007
Vote for the mobile post of the year
The folks who run the Carnival of the Mobilists are running an online poll to select the best mobile-related weblog post written by Carnival participants in 2006. If you're not familiar with the Carnival, it's a weekly collection of weblog articles on mobile-related topics.
Authors nominated their favorite posts, and then the Carnival folks picked the ten finalists. They are:
Casual Mobile Snacks for Everyone speculates that the intensely personal nature of mobile devices will lead to the development of very personalized types of games.
The big '07 Forecast surveyed 32 mobile gaming executives on what they expected to happen in mobile gaming in 2007. I was surprised by how little they agreed on. About the only opinion most of them shared was that they each think their own upcoming product releases will be critically important watersheds for the industry.
The Mobile Web Grows Up is an overview of mobile data news from 2006.
Nokia N91 Kills the iPod is an article claiming that the Nokia N91 music phone is much better than an iPod.
Youth Mobile Trends Summary is a mashup of four blog posts exploring the use of mobile phones by young people.
Qualcomm: An Empire Under Siege is an enormous overview of Qualcomm's status and all the legal actions the company is involved in. It's a long read, and I don't agree with all the analysis, but I think it's still a very valuable overview.
We Interrupt This Broadcast is a very enthusiastic discussion of the prospects for advertising on mobile phones.
Coltan and Your Mobile discusses the social problems created in central Africa by the mining of tantalum for use in capacitors (including the capacitors used in mobile phones). I was not aware of the tantalum situation; you can read more about it here.
The Mobile Web Phone calls for the creation of a mobile phone optimized for web browsing.
We need a new mobile platform. Sort of. is something I wrote exploring the faltering sales of mobile applications. It suggests that instead of trying to fix the mobile operating systems, we need a software layer that runs on top of all mobile devices. I nominated this article because it's an issue I feel very strongly about. I'd like to thank the Carnival folks for making it one of the finalists.
You can vote for your favorite post by clicking here. You'll see a screen that makes it look like you need to register, but that's not necessary. You do need the survey password, which is: mobilists
And even if you don't feel like voting, check out the Qualcomm post. It's very interesting.
Authors nominated their favorite posts, and then the Carnival folks picked the ten finalists. They are:
Casual Mobile Snacks for Everyone speculates that the intensely personal nature of mobile devices will lead to the development of very personalized types of games.
The big '07 Forecast surveyed 32 mobile gaming executives on what they expected to happen in mobile gaming in 2007. I was surprised by how little they agreed on. About the only opinion most of them shared was that they each think their own upcoming product releases will be critically important watersheds for the industry.
The Mobile Web Grows Up is an overview of mobile data news from 2006.
Nokia N91 Kills the iPod is an article claiming that the Nokia N91 music phone is much better than an iPod.
Youth Mobile Trends Summary is a mashup of four blog posts exploring the use of mobile phones by young people.
Qualcomm: An Empire Under Siege is an enormous overview of Qualcomm's status and all the legal actions the company is involved in. It's a long read, and I don't agree with all the analysis, but I think it's still a very valuable overview.
We Interrupt This Broadcast is a very enthusiastic discussion of the prospects for advertising on mobile phones.
Coltan and Your Mobile discusses the social problems created in central Africa by the mining of tantalum for use in capacitors (including the capacitors used in mobile phones). I was not aware of the tantalum situation; you can read more about it here.
The Mobile Web Phone calls for the creation of a mobile phone optimized for web browsing.
We need a new mobile platform. Sort of. is something I wrote exploring the faltering sales of mobile applications. It suggests that instead of trying to fix the mobile operating systems, we need a software layer that runs on top of all mobile devices. I nominated this article because it's an issue I feel very strongly about. I'd like to thank the Carnival folks for making it one of the finalists.
You can vote for your favorite post by clicking here. You'll see a screen that makes it look like you need to register, but that's not necessary. You do need the survey password, which is: mobilists
And even if you don't feel like voting, check out the Qualcomm post. It's very interesting.
vendredi 9 février 2007
3GSM 2007
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3GSM starts next week and I'm gonna be there on the Tuesday and Wednesday. I will post most generic stuff to the 3GSM Blog, but all the NSeries and S60 stuff will be right here. I'm aiming to post pictures 'on the fly' to the blog. If there is anything in particular you want to see let me know and I'll do my best to track it down.
jeudi 8 février 2007
Rotateme
Rotateme is an application that allows you to rotate the screen layout of your S60 phone into widescreen, a feature that the E60 had, and that all S60 phones should come with as standard. There is a thread over at the Mobile Review forums here.
I've not had a chance to try it out myself yet, but one of the posts on the thread contains some screen shots.
I've not had a chance to try it out myself yet, but one of the posts on the thread contains some screen shots.
Nokia & Smart2Go
VIa a press release from Nokia, which is copied below. Nokia are to make the Smart2Go navigation and mapping platform available for download free of charge, from February 10th. Initially available for S60 and Windows Mobile, Nokia hope to expand the range upon which the platform will work in the near future.
Press release:
Press release:
Nokia today announced that it is making its smart2go mapping and navigation platform, available for free download (www.smart2go.com), enabling millions of people to use the most comprehensive map coverage offered on a mobile device. The platform allows for mapping and routing in over 150 countries and has support for full turn-by-turn satellite navigation in over 30 countries. The application allows people to view where they are on a map, search for points-of-interests (POI) around them and create routes to get them there free of charge. Nokia plans to start offering the smart2go application for free, on Saturday, February 10th, for selected Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices initially and has plans to roll out support for most of the major mobile OS platforms including Nokia S60, Series 40, PocketPC, Linux and other Windows Mobile devices.
Nokia plans to pre-install the smart2go mapping and navigation application on all future Nokia Nseries multimedia computers under the name "Nokia Maps". Current owners of Nokia devices may also download Nokia Maps to their supported devices. And now, by paring your non-GPS enabled mobile device with a Nokia Wireless GPS Module LD-3W or other compatible GPS module, Nokia Maps can provide the same fantastic navigation experience for a broad range of Nokia devices.
The platform contains over 15 million POIs that help people explore the most interesting sights, restaurants or accommodations around them. Customers can select their favorite locations and send them to friends by multimedia message, Bluetooth wireless technology, infrared or e-mail. They can also send map excerpts and routes or save map screen shots to the gallery on the device. Recognized brand names like McDonald's will have the option to place branded icons across the world's digital maps downloaded onto millions of mobile devices.
"People will trust and use maps if they have those maps with them when they need them, and smart2go allows consumers the full freedom of which maps they want to carry with them. By offering Nokia Maps and smart2go for free on your mobile device, cost is no longer a barrier for anyone to enjoy the convenience of maps and routing on-the-go," said Ralph Eric Kunz, vice-president, Nokia, Multimedia. "Nokia is on track to build the world's most connected location based platform for mobile devices which also opens up interesting opportunities for future services."
smart2go is a hybrid map solution: Map data from Tele-Atlas and Navteq can be downloaded directly via wireless network (e.g. GPRS/3G/WLAN) and stored on the devices memory card as needed. If all the desired map data is stored, no network connection is needed for mapping, routing and navigation. For managing downloads of bigger sizes there is an additional PC desktop tool available.
smart2go comes with the option to upgrade to full fledged turn-by-turn navigation. With just some clicks, customers can turn their device into a voice guided navigation system by purchasing a navigation license. There are various licenses available: from a one week to a three year term. When traveling to a new country for holiday one can download the relevant maps via PC in advance and subscribe to the navigation service for the duration of the holiday at affordable cost.
mercredi 7 février 2007
Series 60 3rd Edition Feature pack 2
mardi 6 février 2007
Even in Japan, there's no one "killer" mobile data application
As reported by What Japan Thinks, a recent survey of 1,000 Japanese mobile phone users asked what features would be important when they upgrade to their next phone. The results matched what we've seen in the US and Europe -- there's no single feature that all users want. In fact, there isn't even a data feature that a majority of users want.
This chart shows the most important findings:
When upgrading your mobile, which features are important? (Multiple answers allowed.)
I left out some generic features like "memory card." Other than those, no feature got a thumbs-up from more than about 20% of the users, which is very similar to the sort of results we've seen among mobile users in the US and Europe.
I did think it was interesting that mobile TV got a pretty good score, as did the e-wallet features that some Japanese operators have been pushing. E-wallet functionality has been a gleam in the eye for mobile companies for at least ten years; it's nice to see someone implementing it.
It appears that Japan, like the US and Europe, has a segmented mobile data market in which different users want different, conflicting features. The best way for a manufacturer to tackle that is with a line of products targeting different user segments, rather than one all-consuming super smartphone.
Although mobile feature attitudes in Japan aren't as different as many people might expect, attitudes toward mobile brands are enormously different. That's because Japanese mobile phone companies don't focus on the export market, and overseas brands don't do a good job of designing for the Japanese mobile operators. Sharp is by far the most desired mobile brand in Japan, for good reasons because it makes really nice mobile hardware. The top brands in the US and Europe -- Nokia and Motorola -- are also-rans in Japan.
What brand of mobile handset do you desire most? (Only one answer allowed.)
This chart shows the most important findings:
When upgrading your mobile, which features are important? (Multiple answers allowed.)
I left out some generic features like "memory card." Other than those, no feature got a thumbs-up from more than about 20% of the users, which is very similar to the sort of results we've seen among mobile users in the US and Europe.
I did think it was interesting that mobile TV got a pretty good score, as did the e-wallet features that some Japanese operators have been pushing. E-wallet functionality has been a gleam in the eye for mobile companies for at least ten years; it's nice to see someone implementing it.
It appears that Japan, like the US and Europe, has a segmented mobile data market in which different users want different, conflicting features. The best way for a manufacturer to tackle that is with a line of products targeting different user segments, rather than one all-consuming super smartphone.
Although mobile feature attitudes in Japan aren't as different as many people might expect, attitudes toward mobile brands are enormously different. That's because Japanese mobile phone companies don't focus on the export market, and overseas brands don't do a good job of designing for the Japanese mobile operators. Sharp is by far the most desired mobile brand in Japan, for good reasons because it makes really nice mobile hardware. The top brands in the US and Europe -- Nokia and Motorola -- are also-rans in Japan.
What brand of mobile handset do you desire most? (Only one answer allowed.)
The operators' "secret" plan to destroy Google. Yeah, right.
By now you've probably seen the reports that six European mobile operators plus AT&T are planning "secret" talks to set up a mobile search engine to rival Google. The Telegraph reported that the secret seven might team up with an existing search engine, or might set up their own shared search engine and advertising sales team.
The idea is for the operators to capture the majority of advertising revenue from mobile web search.
It's possible that the report is false, but the Telegraph had some quotes and details that sound credible. (Besides, if it's not true then there would be nothing for people like me to posture abut online.)
As you'd expect, the report is already attracting a lot of commentary online. I won't bother repeating what everyone else is saying, but I'd like to make a few quick observations:
1. Have any of these high-profile operator consortia ever been successful? It's a sincere question, not rhetorical. I can't think of any of them that lived up to their hype. But maybe I missed one. Please post a comment if I did.
2. I don't think the threat to create their own search engine is credible. The investment in infrastructure is too large at this point. So the real play would be to partner with one of the current search companies and squeeze money out of it. Let's see, who's desperate for search share and has a ton of cash? Hello, Redmond.
3. Who starts secret negotiations by leaking the fact that they're being held? Only someone who's inept, or is posturing to create leverage in their discussions with Google.
4. All of this presupposes that the operators can continue to maintain closed gardens, preventing users from going to whichever search engine they like. That worked soooo well for AOL and MSN, didn't it?
5. Why can't these guys negotiate with Google the traditional way, by threatening to sue them?
6. I hope eventually someone will realize that unless we figure out how to make mobile browsing a lot more useful and compelling, there isn't going to be any pile of riches to divide from mobile search.
The idea is for the operators to capture the majority of advertising revenue from mobile web search.
It's possible that the report is false, but the Telegraph had some quotes and details that sound credible. (Besides, if it's not true then there would be nothing for people like me to posture abut online.)
As you'd expect, the report is already attracting a lot of commentary online. I won't bother repeating what everyone else is saying, but I'd like to make a few quick observations:
1. Have any of these high-profile operator consortia ever been successful? It's a sincere question, not rhetorical. I can't think of any of them that lived up to their hype. But maybe I missed one. Please post a comment if I did.
2. I don't think the threat to create their own search engine is credible. The investment in infrastructure is too large at this point. So the real play would be to partner with one of the current search companies and squeeze money out of it. Let's see, who's desperate for search share and has a ton of cash? Hello, Redmond.
3. Who starts secret negotiations by leaking the fact that they're being held? Only someone who's inept, or is posturing to create leverage in their discussions with Google.
4. All of this presupposes that the operators can continue to maintain closed gardens, preventing users from going to whichever search engine they like. That worked soooo well for AOL and MSN, didn't it?
5. Why can't these guys negotiate with Google the traditional way, by threatening to sue them?
6. I hope eventually someone will realize that unless we figure out how to make mobile browsing a lot more useful and compelling, there isn't going to be any pile of riches to divide from mobile search.
jeudi 1 février 2007
Quiet time
The blog is gonna go through a period of quiet time til next Tuesday, as I'm off to Rome for my birthday. With any luck there will be a stack of things to talk about when I get back, as the run up to 3GSM starts. I'm looking forward to 3GSM almost as much as the release of the N95!
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