Mae
| News and views on everything wireless and mobile, from WiFi and WiMAX to 3G and fixed-mobile convergence (FMC).
mobility
Mobispine Reduces Cost of Mobile Surfing with Intelligent Agent App
May 31, 2007
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.
ABI: Mobile Phone Accessories More Profitable Than the Phone Itself
May 29, 2007
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.
Motorola on 802.11n: 'We're Waiting Until It's Ratified'
May 25, 2007
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.
Maine Considers Banning Use of All Hand-held Gadgets for Young Drivers
May 18, 2007
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?
AdMob and mywaves Team up on Mobile Video Ads
May 14, 2007
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.
VirginiaTech Update: Technology Didnât Speed up Warnings
April 16, 2007
Here’s an update on the VirginiaTech shootings: an AP report published just after 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time said that it took the university two hours to compose and send out an e-mail to students warning them about the first shooting.
According to the article, that’s also the span of time between the first shooting and the second one; by the time students got the e-mail (at 9:26 a.m.), the gunman had moved to a second building and begun his rampage again. The article also quoted a student saying that there were no public address system warnings as he walked to class at 9:00 a.m.
VirginiaTech Shooting: Student Uses Cell Phone to Bring Us There
April 16, 2007
A student at VirginiaTech this morning showed the kind of go-getter courage that would make him a good journalist, and demonstrated how modern technology is changing the way our society observes and responds to extraordinary events.
The student, Jamal Albarghouti (a civil engineering major, according to VirginiaTech’s directory), turned his cell phone on and started recording with its video camera, after realizing that something unusual was happening on campus. In an interview available on CNN.com, Albarghouti said that at first he thought there was another bomb threat, but when he saw the officer pull out their guns and heard shots, he knew there was a bigger story developing.
In Albarghouti’s video clip, several armed police officers are seen approaching Norris Hall on the Blacksburg campus, and shots are heard in the background.
Think about this for a moment.
ViVOtech and Gemalto: Kings of the Contactless Technology Hill
April 10, 2007
ABI Research recently published its latest report on the contactless technology industry, including vendor matrixes showing which companies lead the pack. For those not familiar, contactless technology (also sometimes referred to as “near field communications”) refers to systems that use short-range wireless signal to transmit information from a small tag or transmitter to a receiver. Two examples are E-Z Pass for paying highway tolls, and key-fobs that provide access to corporate buildings.
Two companies that I have to admit I’d never heard of before topped ABI’s matrix of leading contactless reader and contactless inlay vendors: ViVOtech and Gemalto, respectively.
ViVOtech is a company that specializes in technology for next-generation, electronic payment systems.
Phone Sherpa Helps Artists Sell Their Work as Mobile Content
April 5, 2007
Many companies looking to make a buck (or a few million bucks) on the Web in recent years have gone into the mobile content business—selling things like ringtones and wallpaper for cell phones. This is a potentially very lucrative market, and one that also has potential for musicians and other artists looking for a way to distribute their creations while making some money. However, setting up a functional online store that’s compelling enough for visitors to return again and again can be a challenge.
This week I received a phone call from a representative at Phone Sherpa, a Seattle-based company (founded in 2005) that describes itself as “the world's leading ringtone maker and ringtone store service.” The rep wanted me to know about a new Phone Sherpa’s new Mobile Store solution, which provides tools to market and promote music and art as ringtones or wallpaper for mobile phones.
CTIA Wireless News Starts Now
March 26, 2007
The CTIA Wireless 2007 show kicks off tomorrow in Orlando, Florida. Already the newswires are starting to get flooded with announcements from wireless industry companies promoting their latest products, services and achievements. A quick search on Google News for “ctia” turned up the following:
- Announcement that the creator of BlackBerry (Mike Lazaridis) has replaced Motorola’s CEO (Ed Zander) as the CTIA keynoter.
- Announcement from TCS that it has been selected as a CTIA Wireless 2007 E-Tech Award finalist.
- Announcements from Pantech and Nokia about their displays at the show.
