May 2007 Archives

Using a mobile phone to browse online content or look up information on the Web can be an expensive proposition, since time spent using broadband service is often time paid for quite dearly. Many Web sites, and Web browsers, aren’t optimized for fast loading on mobile devices, exacerbating the problem.

 

Viewing Web content on mobile phones faster is the idea behind Mobispine AB’s intelligent agent. The Sweden-based company recently released a new version of its mobile phone news aggregator, which saves data airtime charges by alerting users about updates only when their favorite Web sites or blogs display new content.

 

Other features of the RSS-like application include “you-may-also-like” recommendations and intelligent navigation.

 

“To start ‘murfing’ (mobile surfing) all users need is a mobile phone that accepts Java programs and an Internet-enabled phone,” explained Mobispine CMO Joakim Hili, in a statement.

Sometimes, accessories for “the thing” generate more revenue than “the thing” itself. Perhaps not with revenue (I don’t have the numbers handy) but certainly with ubiquity, we’ve seen this trend in the explosion during the past few years of iPod accessories. Apple isn’t the only company to realize that, once people have their iPod, the way to keep the money flowing (aside from introducing new iPods every year or two) is through accessories: cases, faceplates, gadgets for connectivity in the car, etc.

 

In the mobile phone market, at least, current projections indicate that accessories are poised to soon drive more revenue than the sale of phones themselves.

Sometimes, being an early adopter of new technology is not the best business strategy. That’s the tact being taken by wireless products manufacturer Motorola. CNet News reporter David Meyer wrote in a Friday article that, speaking at a ZDNet event in London, Motorola senior products manager Angelo Lamme said the company has no plans to make any 802.11n-based products until the standard is fully ratified by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

 

That’s despite the fact that 802.11n may not be ratified until 2009.

After the shootings at Virginia Tech earlier this spring, students, parents, faculty and staff at schools across the country have been paying renewed attention to the need for improved emergency alert systems. One company that’s taking an in-depth look at the problem is VIYYA Technologies, which in April announced the launch of its Emergency Alert Information Portal, an application designed to distribute information in a timely manner, both on a routine basis and during times of crisis.

 

I was made aware late last week of VIYYA’s efforts in this arena, and figured it would be a good to idea to mention it in my blog. I admit, I do appreciate the company’s apparent thoughtfulness about the subject; in a press release on May 16, VIYYA stressed that, although it did get the application up quickly, the solution is not designed to be a one-size-fits all, knee-jerk reaction to the need for better emergency alert systems.

 

The company said that its developers met with officials at a variety of education institutions to determine which emergency alert methods work, and which don’t, in different types of settings.

Bad news for young addicts of today’s mobile electronic gadgets: the state legislature in Maine is considering a bill that would bane the use of electronic devices, including cell phones, for drives under the age of 18. According to Bangor Daily News reporter Tom Groening, the proposed bill won unanimous approval on Thursday by the legislature’s Transportation Committee.

 

In his report Friday, Groening said that the bill, LD 161, would go beyond current laws which prohibit minors’ use of cell phones while driving during their first 180 days holding an intermediate license. This new bill would also ban use of other handheld gadgets, like video games and portable MP3 players, while driving.

 

Groening’s report quoted a deputy with the state’s Office of Policy and Legal Analysis, who advised the Transportation Committee, as saying that the bill was broadened beyond its original address all electronics-related causes of young driver distraction.

 

On a related note, Groening said, the same committee also considered another bill, LD 114, that would have banned use of hand-held cell phones for ALL drivers; that bill was defeated. Meanwhile, a third bill (LD 576) that tasks the Department of Public Safety with studying the role of hand-hand cell phones in crashes, was recently passed in an amended form.

 

What’s my take on all this? I think it’s a positive sign that LD 161 focuses at least partially on “distractions.” That’s what I believe is the real issue here.

Okay, I have to admit something here: I’m a bit tardy in my reporting on the news that I’ll be featuring this blog entry. Last week one of the PR contacts who regularly feeds me wireless-related news sent me a note about a new mobile video partnership between mywaves and AdMob. The news came out on Thursday, and I’m just now writing about it—the product of a busy schedule.

 

mywaves is a mobile media company that delivers video content via the Web to cell phones.

In a recent Slashot post (April 27), a contributor identified as Zonk shared info from another contributor, Codecracker007, indicating that the government in India is planning to roll out free, 2 Mbps broadband access for all resident of the subcontinent by 2009. This is according to an April 26 article in The Economic Times which said that the service will be provided by government owned operators BSNL and MTNL.

That report warned that this plan, if implemented, “holds the potential to kill the telecom business as we know it.” That being said, it not too surprising, given that “the Indian government and its autonomous regulatory bodies are very proactive in holding the consumer interests above the operators.” The Slashdot post said that this heavy-handiness on the part of the government has helped reduce long distance and wireless tariffs by up to a factor of 20 during the past seven years.

So what does all this have to do with wireless? Well, as another Economic Times article (dated April 27) pointed out, much of the success of this initiative will rely on how wireless spectrum is doled out.

“The government must quickly decide on the modalities of 3G rollout and the spectrum issues, as 3G is essentially high-speed wireless broadband and the key to providing internet services in remote areas,” the article said.