T-Mobile is doing well with Flext - NOT

Mobile Today, a trade magazine for the Mobile Distributors reports that the new contract from T-Mobile is doing very well for the indirect channel.

Well good luck to T-Mobile I have been a customer of the network for a very long time and on the 5th of April I was due a handset upgrade. So off I shot into my nearest local town to find a T-Mobile store. The only one I found was not a direct outlet but rather an independent who was branded T-Mobile. On entering the shop, I wait 2 minutes for the assistant to end his phone call with a friend before we can start.

I explain that I am due an upgrade and he asks for my number and bank card as proof of ID. I am then asked to complete the contract paperwork. Hang on I say what can you offer me in terms of handsets I say.

All we can offer is hear on display. I look around at a rather sorry display of handsets. I ask when can I expect to see a SE P990 or Nokia N80.

I am told he has not got a clue, but new phones are expected in June.

Thus I decline the "service" as I don't want to replace my 12 month old Razr with another one or take a SE W800 if they are not prepared to offer the bribe of a free PSP to keep the kids happy.

Today I get a call from Orange whom I also have a contract with as I got feed up with waiting for 3G with T-Mobile. It is time for my upgrade handset and would I like to go into my nearest shop to see what they can do for me. So I stop off at the nearest Orange store who take my number, check on the computer and say that yes I am due a new handset look we have these handsets in a limited number for key customers which have yet to go on the website. After a cup of tea and a brief demonstration I head for the train home with a new Smartphone and I have set my alarm to wake up me up early so that I can play with it before another day at work.

I will wait for T-Mobile to refresh the handsets but I don't think that they will get me to switch from the current contract to one of the new ones especially as they are now for 18 months and they want to charge me for voicemail. You see I have one of the original staff tariffs that means that I get free calls evenings and weekends and so I am very popular with family and friends as I encourage them to use my phone as much as possible. I have also explained to my niece that the nice chap in Phones4U ripped her off on Saturday when he got her to switch networks to take advantage of the great offer from T-Mobile and naff Nokia handset. A few calls and she is still with O2 but this time with the Nokia handset she wanted.

I guess the new MD at T-Mobile will need a few more like me to say that they have no clothes before he gets the message and tells his boss to stop treating the UK as a sales office and start updating its product range rather than spend a fortune getting people to switch to a bucket full of minutes and very little else.

21st Carnival of the Mobolists

My post on What good might come from EU Roaming law has been included in this weeks Carnival over at MOpocket. You can also see what other bloggers having been writing about this week including Mobile for Change and Mobile Marketing.

Another get round up, and another week closer until I get the opportunity to edit The Carnival at the end of May.

Don't forget that you to can submit to the Carnival, details are over at Mobhappy.

What good might come from the EU Roaming fight?

A number of others have posted comment and reported on the European Commissions stance on Roaming tarrifs. As someone who pays his own phone bill I am happy to see a fair market created for roaming. I also hope that rather than hold back innovation as the Networks and the GSMA have claimed that such regulation will do we can see a positive attitude taken by the networks.

Just as Y2K gave CIOs the power to ask Boards to sign off investment budgets perhaps we will see the more enlightenend mobile networks take to opportunity to fix the underlying issue in roaming, namely poor billing systems. If Messers Akhavan, Badrinath and Geitner could show some leadership and convince their Executives to sign off on a total one off replacement of ALL billing systems with a single system perhaps we could see mobile fulfill its potential. With a new billing systems what we will see is a resolution of the wholesale system that at the moment sees calls made to two people holidaying in Spain go all the way back to the home country before connecting just so the payment can be settled.

Now in the early days when few had phones and not many of those travelled with them the current system was created. Now with most having phones, and none of us wanting to be seperated from them we have a system that is in needed of replacement. However because the Networks have a long investment list thanks to the roll out of 3G the ability to replace a billing system is limited. Think of it as someone who has moved into a new house and needs to replace the central heating system, this is something that costs alot to do, causes vast unrest in replacing pipes etc. and in turns oif return on the investment is a very long payback. However if you live in the cold North of Europe does need doing.

If we get a new billing system into every International Network we can expect to see a spurt of innovation as the launch of new products and services would be fast and effective. We could also expect better inter networking services. I remember talking to the VP of Marketing for one large Network who told me that all new product launches had to include the hiring of a speadsheet jockey whoes role it was to reconcile the billing data so that everyone got charged for what the used and suppliers got paid for what they provided. Hence a new billing system should mean that such problems are removed and so we can expect more products faster.

Not only should the boards accept the investment, they also have the perfect scapegoat in Ms Reding. They can say to Investment Analysts "sorry that we have not invested in CAPEX as predicted but the new EU regulation means that we have had to pause and replace our Billing systems."

So we have an easy sell for once on investing in the Billing System rather than buying more faster network equipment that stands un-used because people cannot be charged to do so. Somehow I guess that as this is too logical we will not see this happen. However such an investment works for all other than the billing system vendors who are making ransom demands to maintain and ammend the present legacy systems. Perhaps I should start seeing if I can meet with the three wise men above and sell them some consulting services for the benefit of all in the Mobile ecosystem.

Cognitive Radio

Emerging Technologies and their Impact over at Technology Review flags up what sounds like more work on software defined radio except that this time it has a new name - Cognitive Radio. The introduction gives view of a system that selects the best radio from all that is available, this is what was outlined by the Strategy guys at Orange at the time of the 3G bidding wars.

When the auctions were over they went out on a PR blitz tell all that the futures as well as being bright was going to be connected.

The clever bit from the researcher at MIT is that they have added Game Theory into the mix to allow software to analyze the environment and select the best protocol for transmission. However as its a US site they are missing that some European firms have been at the forefront of this development as well as Panasonic whoes European Lab were one of the leaders in the development of the IEEE standards for SDR.

Political Ringtones

The weekend edition of The Times had a comment feature on how the ringtone has become the latest tool for politicians looking to show support.

The article talks about how the trend started in the Phillippines last summer. The trend has developed so that Canadians had their own Mash-up tones. Finally George Bush has suffered from organised protests following his poor performance over the New Orleans non-performance.

The piece ends with a request for possible tones for the PM. This being the case, in light of the current complaints about loans for honours how about Brown Sugar by the Stones, or we could have I predict a riot underpinning the present speaches on the Iraq conflict.

Carnival of the Mobilists

My post on Getting to disappointed quicker got picked up for this weeks Carnival, which sounds like I wrote something worthwhile as Enrique, this weeks host says he had lots of entries to make his choice from.

As well as my post a lot of the regulars have also been picked up of which I have already read and also comented on where I felt that I could move on the debate. Others I had missed and will spend sometime catching up on over the weekend.

Russell sent me an email this week say that it will be my turn to host the carnival in the middle of May so it looks like many others are joining the group and helping to spread the mobility virus.

Getting to disappointed faster

Had my regular catch up with the Former CTO of one of Britains largest Mobile Networks. Over our Pizza and Salad we set about putting the world to rights.

One of my observations was to do with why are operators launching HSDPA when they cannot get customers to use 3G services? His reply was that they have been upsold by the Manufacturers on the basis that if you build it they will come. However after five minutes to mapping out what delights we could expect to see he agreed that it was a question of build it and you will have a white elephant.

What I pointed out was that if we take mobile TV as a business case you see that the whole thing is an example of Marketing leading innovation. Here in the UK we are asked to pay £10 per month for access to Mobile TV on a 3G handset. For our money we can access a number of services that I already access via my £28 per month subscription to SKY the only difference was that I now have to watch in on a two inch screen rather than my 42 inch Plasma screen. I am already upset that I pay an additional TV tax for a lience to receive TV and so the demand for me to watch is limited and most likely it will be on a Pay Per View basis rather than monthly sub. My friend agreed that even Mobile Porn was limited at present as he had been unable to find anything suitable for personal use or to show to mates for a laugh in the pub, and this thus demonstarted that we were not yet ready for Mobile TV. When I went on to say that a recent meeting with the Chief Creative Officer of Endermol, the company who produce the highly successful Big Brother, told me that whilst mobile has given a highly effective interactive element to his programs they are some way away from looking at content because they have too many other challenges at present namely HDTV and falling add revenues.

Thus we agreed that whilst it was possible to narrowcast TV to mobiles it was unlikely that it would take off.

This made as invert the question to what technology is needed to make mobile a better experience?

The quick answer was that we need to look at improving the present network coverage in building. The solution is Pico cells we agreed the problem is distribution. Perhaps the Mobile networks can take a lead from the fixed guys and adopt a strategy similar to WiFi Hotspots. So if I offer to improve the 3G coverage in my area with a Pico cell for Orange they can offer me a cut of the revenue from others using my cell. This was seen as an interesting conundrum but it falls down because of problems with the billing system being able to record the traffic over my system and insure that I receive the agreed fee.

The next issue was the improvement of voice quality so that we can connect with services automatically. We spoke of a number of technologies that are looking at solving this problem and in a effort to discover more we have agreed to visit the FT labs as others have said that they are leading the development of voice services.

Then we looked at what could be done improve the Management and Strategy of the networks, this was when the lunch decended in dispair when we tried to judge just which CEO was the most effective at distroying value.

Thus with the bill paid and other meetings to attend we left the Pizza House and went on to our next meetings upset that the industry we have spent a long time working in is in need of so much development if we are to reach what was mapped out when we were happily bidding for 3G licences.

Bonfire of the Vanities

Like a politician caught in a sex scandel, Vodafone must dread Sunday newspapers at the moment. Today the "broadsheets" all have placed Vodafone on the front page of their Business sections.

The Observer has a piece on the plot to oust boss of Vodafone and "Big beasts fight it out for soul of Vodafone". Over the two storries we have an insight into how Arun Sarin, the Vodafone CEO, is fighting to establish himself following his appointment and how he has been unable to impress the city.

The Independent tells us that Penny Hughes will leave the board after eight years as a Non Executive Director. She is pictured as another victim of the power struggle between Arun and out going Chairman Lord MacLaurin. As a footnote they tell us that the board are also looking at the sale of its American opperation to partner Verizon, but new CFO Andy Halford is sceptical.

The Telegraph pitches the story differently saying that Lord MacLaurin has been forced to back Arun by releasing a statement backing the embattled chief. They go on to say that the statement is likely to be seen by the City as a triumph for Sarin in his bid to stamp his authority on the board.

Then a look at the Sunday Times tells us that Lord MacLaurin has just come back from a ten day break and is not happy with what he has missed. Did he not take his phone with him so that others could call and inform him of just how bad things have got. He is "incandescent" that others in the company are briefing against him and his reputation has been damaged. They also say that he has meeting with five of the biggest investors tomorrow all of whom will be asking for the CEO's head.

This is better entertainment that any soap operas. We have seen over the past few weeks more and more turn on Vodafone. Is the business itself in crisis or is it the share price that has been in difficulty at a time when the business needs investment?

When the Guru shows that he is as deep as a puddle

Haymarket publish a number of weekly Marketing magazines, the biggest is Marketing which comes out every Wednesday. Mark Ritson writes every week on Branding and this week he puts Vodafone under the microscope (very good as it has been under a lot of pressure). The error is in the second paragraph were he writes " Fortunately for its chief marketing officer, Peter Bamford, Vodafone has so many problems that he and his campaigns are unlikely to come under the spotlight."

Later on Wednesday we are told that Mr Bamford is leaving his post having lost out in the internal warfare currently under way with the Vodafone board.

The intereting play will now be who are interviewed and offered the role of Chief Marketing Officer at Vodafone. I guess that Mr Ritson will not be one of those asked for possible names.

Del,icio.us for your mobile phone.

I have been keeping a watching brief on Mobile search and the Search Engine Journal tells us of a mashup that combines del.icio.us bookmarks with Google's mobile search tool. This allows your del.icio.us bookmarks to be mobilised, i.e. rendered for your phone browser. Whilst this is an interesting solution I have to ask why not just download Opera Mini and let it do the work, I have to say that since November when I first got a copy I have been surfing more on my phone.

I know that Web 2.0 is all about tags rather than search, but I think it will need more focus on the context under which we are look before we can say that we have found the killer app that is Mobile Search.

What's going on at Vodafone?

The Sunday Papers today have decided to turn on Vodafone. The business section of the Sunday Times (largest quality paper in Britain) reports that Sir Chris Gent has fallen out with the man he appointed to succeed him.

The Sunday Telegraph tells us that Vodafone plan a record £5Billion dividend payment in an effort to keep the CEO in his job, could this be greenmail from the hedge funds? They also write in the comment section that the problem was that they forgot the shareholder. Well I beg to differ, the problem with Vodafone was that they forgot that the business is based on infrastructure and allowed Marketing Executives to take control at a period when they were entering increased complexity thanks to UMTS. In allowing Marketing to run the business they have raised expectations whilst reducing the ability to execute. Some of the ideas developed by Consultants have been very good based around Vodafone Simple and Handsets in general have been good, but Live have not been the success that it should be.

The Observer focuses on te fact that Vodafone is shrinking its footprint in a effort to keep the City happy the Company might be broken up. They interview a number of analysts about the prospects who say that times are hard but if Vodafone can execute then they might just turn in around.

Can Vodafone achieve what they outlined at the hight of the market when it became the biggest company in Britain? Looking from the outside in I have to say that the problem is that too many excellent managers have left the business. The big question has to be can the incoming Chairman get the business back on track? The generation that has just ended with Lord MacLaurin stepping down as Chairman has seen a business that was very young put in place formal processes. Now that the business can be managed by professionals the challenge is will the executive team blink? If they are talking about paying an extraordinary dividend thyen I would have to say they have done so.

Sony Ericsson does it again

I thought that we had seen all the excitement we could manage at 3GSM last month with a raft of new handsets on show. Yet in advance of CeBIT this year Sony Ericsson have shown a number of new handsets that have got a number of people excited.

Looking at the Microsite for CeBIT the device that gets my interest is a new Car Speakerphone the HCB-100 which uses Bluetooth and is detachable. This means that not only will I be able to use the device in my Partners Car but I will also be able to use it in the Au Pair's car and the Holiday Hire Car (my car has a factory fitted car kit) I can also take it out and us ot in the office. They spec also says that I can have upto five handsets paired with it, another great feature for someone with multiple SIMs!

They have also updated by current handset, but I am going for the new W950i & M600 handsets when its upgrade time having used them in Spain. (Hey perhaps I need to talk with Nick Denton of Gawker and see if I might just be able to get him to push SE into sponsoring this blog and they I would not have to wait so long for my toys.)

Technorati Tags mobile cebit sony ericsson gawker

Wireless VoIP 101

This weeks carnival of the mobilists as well as picking up my post on rethinking the mobile device has a post from Martin Sauter on Wireless VoIP in which he outlines the various technologies on available for such services.

However he does not mention the service I picked up yesterday on Spain's trial of VoIP using Disk On Key technology. In trying to discover more on the Start-Up that has developed the technology I spoke with someone who said that I should also take a look at Tatara Systems. In doing so I discover that they have quitely been used in deployments by both O2 and Vodafone but the PR has been extremely poor or the Networks don't want too many people asking questions about lower call prices.

My To DO list now has yet more Companies to meet in trying to get the information needed to make a judgement.

Who says that you need a handset for Mobile VoIP?

In catching up on my reading after Barcelona I finally picked up this story from Telecom's Tsunami, the original page link no longer works.

This looks like an enhancement to the standard services one gets with a connect card from one of the Mobile Networks but it does look like a cool enterprise solution, something that the networks don't usually seem able to do. Guess in reading this I am going to have to do some work around DOK services most of my clients are still trying to get a view on WirelessVoIP.

Off to read some more and will post more once I have finished.

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Re-thinking the mobile device

Mark Lowenstein, Managing Director of Mobile Ecosystem, has written for the latest edition of Vodafone's journal an article on next generation useability.

Mark has placed voice at the centre of 3G wireless which continues a theme from discussions I had last week in Barcelona. Senior members of McKinsey's mobile group have said that enhanced voice is the key to unlock mobile revenues, this is a something that a number of executives from the networks are also speaking about.

With the third generation of mobile upon us can we hope that networks can be designed and maintained in an intelligent manner that would allow speach engines to be more than IVR? Can I expect my MNO to install a system that places voice at the centre to run unified messaging and PIM, or will it just be blue sky thinking from the visionary planners?

I hope that the networks do understand that the business is fundementally about communication, with this being so voice is at the centre of it with text and instant messaging adjucts. Other data services such as email, blogging and surfing are not things on which to build a business but are likely to be central services for advanced users. Mobile TV and M-Commerce are not likely to be more than hype in terms of genuine products that western users will pay to use.

VoIP is not the elephant in the room that some make it out to be. For most of us VoIP is additional calls rather than substition in the same way that email means that we communicate with more people more frequently than we ever did when letters were written and stamps needed to send them.

With these concepts it will be interesting to see if the handset manufacturers can adopt a "build to order" concept as outlined by Mark. This would see a genuine personalisation far bigger than even iXi Mobile saw when they developed the PMG concept. However I do thing it is something that has potential just as I have a number of systems to play music on, if I have to pay full price for handsets then I want to specifiy what features and what software my handset will carry. This is something that we could do today using Widgets from someone like Opera, in the future the system could become drag and drop.

The only downside of such a vision is that it turns the Networks into little more than bit pipes and alas that is the last thing that the Marketing guys want to be even if they started out working for FMCG firms.

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Another Sony Ericsson handset that I just love

One of the few upsides of 3GSM was that for me it provided an opportunity to view to what every handset maker hopes that we will be using over the coming year without having to visit Carphone Warehouse.

The problem was that with everyone in Hall 8 it was like the crush found in most supermakets on Christmas Eve. However amoung the handsets that got my attention was the new 3G walkman phone from Sony Ericsson the W950i. Like the recently launched M600i it has a large touchscreen and jogdial. However it also has a 4GB memory and uses a Walkman player to play music. I was lucky enough to be able to spend 10 minutes using the phone and I might just for go the M600 and its Blackberry like push email for this handset. One of the interesting techie things is that the DRM system look different from what we have now with some music locked and others not so allowing for better distribution, but I was unable to get much information on this thanks to the fact that the people on the stand had not been fully briefed.

However a black cloud might be the strategy adopted by Sony Ericsson when it comes to selling handsets in the UK. The last 3G Walkman handset was launched exclusively by Vodafone at Christmas and will not be available on any other network until after Easter. I have a contract with Orange and no wish to churn onto Vodafone which means that if the practice continues then I might just be able to get the free upgrade for Christmas. Alternatively I will just buy one the next time I am in Europe from an Orange shop and except that I have to forgo the free handset. Lucky for me I still have a few friends and I should have the handset when they are launched in the UK for free but then I am not the normal customer.

My view on Barcelona

So I went to 3GSM at the start of the week. First impressions were blunted by the travel issues, but unlike some my delays were caused by the delights of Britsh Airports rather than the distance traveled. Yes getting to the conference was a lot better than when it was in France.

Once I was at the site I thought that it might as well have been in Hanover becuae this was no longer the congress it had started out as. Informa and the GSMA have turned the whole thing into a trade fair. I have not problem with the fact that it has no become a big commercial event rather than somewhere that you came to in an effort to build bridges and cemment ralationships. However with this now just one big shop window and everyone trying to sell to everyone perhaps its time to review whats it all about?

I for one spent a little time in the exhibition halls. I did a quick spin around two of the giant halls before heading off to talk with people who were based away from the main area in Hospitality suites. The more enlightened had decided to make use of the near by hotels whilst others use the large sheds to try and create rooms but lacked any facilities compared to the hotels. The downside of all this walking is that in an effort to pack as much as possible in my feet to a pounding and by the end of the day I was not a happy bunny.

I managed to bunp into a few friends whilst there and they like me were questioning the value of the event, two were unhappy that they seemed to waste time meeting co-workers rather than spending time with clients.

The most interesting point was that of the thirty people I spoke with only ONE was there to attend the conference and he worked for the GSMA. This I think proves that it has now become little more than a trade fair and as such I can give it a miss every other year by alternating it with CeBIT. The problem for the organisors is that the exhibitors who pay for this event might start taking the same view and like me decide that they need not attend and that the whole thing impodes on itself.

Perhaps now is the time for everyone to review what GSM World is about and how best it can meet the needs of the Mobile industry? It is evident that we need some global event as well as local ones in an effort to expand the business and show off. However too many people thinking like me and we will not have many more events like Barcelona.

Yet another new key pad for us to learn!

I got a press release today about new handset from Sony Ericsson due to be in the Shops by the summer. The interesting thing is when you look at the image of image of the phone and see that it has a rather interesting arrangement when it comes to text entry. Gone is the standard 3/4 letters spread across the 2-9 keys and we get a Qwerty keypad spread across all the keypad.

When you look at the details for the phone you get to see that it will use the Symbian software found in smartphones which I think gives a clue that this could be a handset that focuses on being more than just a phone whilst being not too big. It should give the user a machine that does more than just texting when it comes to messaging whilst still maintainging the small size that most of us want.

Reading the small print on what you get the interesting feature for me is that it comes with Stero Bluetooth. Will this mean that we can expect to see voice becoming an important element of the data features once third parties get involved? Last week another Press Release spoke of France Telecom's work on Stero VoIP, perhaps that might just make it over to Orange in the next few years, thats thats another posting!

Etiquet Reminder Cards

mopocket has a great post on getting mobile users to remember that they are in public and thus should acknowledge the fact that most people are not interested in what we are talking about.

The Society of Hand Held Hushing just raised a smile and the Dear Phone User cards are something that I think we could all do with a stack. I have downloaded the pdf all I need to do now is dust off and power up my printer (being a laptop owner I just don't do paper that much now).

It's about value not shareprice

The Economist, which I have been reading since school days has a feature this week on Vodafone following its results presentation. It has me asking just how dumb are the analysts in investment houses. It looks at the performance of Vodafone against O2 in terms of performance against the FTSE Index. Whilst O2 has done better than Vodafone in terms of shareprice the difference is that O2 has been managed to attract a buyer whilst Vodafone has been managed to have a future.

The thing that gets me most angry is that Mobile Telephone is about VOICE and so saying that Vodafone is too dependent on voice and needs to focus on Convergent products. I guess these guys need to talk to a few of the CTO's I know who will explain the economics of running two networks. What was planned for 3G at the time of the bidding war was that the new faster networks would allow operators to provide a better voice service with speach engines driving services.

Social Pressure as a tool of change

Over the weekend was talking with a few friends on the differences between the Japaneese mobile market and Europe. One of the most interesting points was the comments about how using your phone in public to make a voice call is seen as extremely rude, and thus only undertaken in the case of emergency.

Now, whilst I am not saying that we adopt the same level of social control here in Europe, some form of correction might be useful when it comes to making calls whilst driving. Just as we have managed to reduce the number of drunk drivers by using social presure over the last twenty years perhaps we can start a "hang up on the driver"?

The simple logic is that the person at the other end of a call needs to be convinced that in speaking to a driver is wrong and what they should do is say "pull over or call me when you are not driving". Such actions would see more of a change than hoping that the Police will actually enforce the law.

Six Wishes for Wireless for 2006

Looking around the web at the turn of the year we see a number of sites offering either a review of 2005 or predictions for 2006. I started to write my own review of 2005 and gave up after a few hours as it made depressing reading for me personally in just how poorly the mobile industry had performed. In thinking that 2005 was not a good year I did not see that 2006 was going to see a recovery. Thus I took a leaf out of my daughter’s books and have written a wish list for 2006.

My first wish is that the Mobile Networks remember just what they are a UTILITY rather than a Media/Entertainment business. In understanding the fundamental fact they need to improve coverage so I may use my handset where and when I want to. Once they have fixed the coverage issue they can then turn their attention to a CRM system that remembers what I am, what I use and what I do not use and using this information perhaps they can allow me to personalise the service I want. Once they see themselves as a first class utility they can finally fix the billing system so that it becomes something useful rather than an inhibitor as it seems to be now.

My next wish is that we remember that 3G wireless was spoken about as an enhanced voice service. Let’s remember that we are using a phone, rather than a microcomputer/music player/gaming console, this being the case voice should be at the centre of what we do with it. By enhanced voice let’s look at some simple things like Stereo sound as well as impressive “Star Trek” services that are driven by intelligent speech engines. I can remember Orange justifying the investment in 3G with a presentation called Adam & Eve I loved it so much that I believed.

A Genuine Unified Messaging system is my third wish. If I am to make my mobile phone the central communications device I want to be able to review my Email, texts, Voicemail, IM just as I can with my laptop using a simple screen. I do not expect to be able to respond in the best way to these messages using my handset just to be able to make a decision as to what’s important and what’s not. Within this great UM client I also want the ability to set presence and in doing so my handset and Network to respond to those settings. For example, when I am in a meeting switch everything over to a text based service and when I am driving my car switch it all over to voice.

A DRM system that works for everyone is fourth on the list. When I buy content from a media company I would like the opportunity to enjoy it on my phone should I wish to. Once I have bought a ringtone for example when I upgrade my handset as well as copying all the contacts I would like to copy the tones that I have assigned them, if I am using them with the same mobile number what’s the issue?

Handset manufacturers take a leaf out of the Car makers design handbook is my next wish. Volkswagen bases its whole car range on a small number of spaceframes, yet we the consumer are offered VW, AUDI, Seat and Skoda styled cars. Thus Sony Ericsson needs to offer more handset to us consumers so that we can find the style and functionality that best suits are needs rather than walk around with a handset that we are happy with some of the time.

My last wish is that everyone in the mobile industry remembers that it’s better to have a small slice of a bigger pie than own the whole of a tiny pie. At times it has to be better to make a sacrifice that allows everyone to benefit than holdback in fear that someone else might make some cash.

So that’s it six wishes for Wireless in 2006. How many will be realised? Will any be achieved this year? Is anyone reading this and if so has it made them think?

Keeping it simple

Out of interest, I went and bought a "Pay as you go" handset to see what i-mode was all about. I was interested on two levels, speaking with a senior executive at a rival I was told that they had been surprised by how well O2 had done; secondly I was talking with a member of the European executive team at NEC and they spoke about how hard their engineers had worked to get the service up.

First impressions when I saw the NEC was, this is a grest phone at a very good price. Next to my 3G handset it is half the size, it has a great key pad and a bright screen. What I like is that this is a phone and as such has a great phone features in terms of looks it is in the iPod Nano design school.

From the network side, topping up was easy and in registering the handset I got another £2.50 worth of calls and one month of use.

Still playing what you can and will post an update when I have finished. Put hats off to O2 in remembering that they are a MOBILE phone company and not a media business, hope that the Spanish remember this and carry on the service.

Informa says MNOs are losing control of the ecosystem

Mark Newman the head of research over at analysts Informa has written an article on how networks are frustrated with the fact that phone users are more interested in the handset rather than the network. He says that this has led to networks spending heavily on creating stronger brands, hence the full page adverts from Orange and Vodafone which talk about experience rather than show handsets.

Mark goes on to say "Players such as Vodafone and T-Mobile are reviewing their roles in the content business. They are becoming interested in off-portal strategies and helping customers find the services they want rather than actually providing - and taking revenues from -those services. People might choose to buy the N92 for its mobile TV feature and then decide later to add a voice-telephony capability."

This point of view is something that I have found interesing since attending Mobile Monday last week in London. In talking about the issue I found the analogy of MNO's being like a branch of WHSmith when it comes to selling books is a good one. What we see available from a Network Operator does not match anything like what the consumer wants in terms of personalisation, what the offer is the top 100 in terms of music, news, entertainment etc. If you are seeking something a little more specialist then you have to go an purchase it from somewhere else. A Network will not offer the best data solution for customers until they have finished building a broadband network. The way in which GPRS was deployed shows that it was not until they had a reasonable coverage that the networks focused on the development of portals.

With the handset manufacturers we see them fighting not to become the Pepsi of phones, we have seen with a strategy towards OEM handsets the networks are not looking to to hang on the coat tails of Nokia. Nokia itself is not the power is once was, many youngsters now see Motorola, Samsung and SonyEricsson as better handsets thanks to better industrial design and advertising.

FT says that wireless addiction could be new OCD

Catch up after a weekend away and today I get the opportunity to read the Mobility Special in the Weekend edition of the FT.

In typical fashion Richard Waters has written an excellent article on how academics are viewing the development of Wireless in its impact on Social Habits. The work of Keio University in Japan is highlighted, and a quick Google brings up Mizuko Ito's paper on Personal Portable Pedestrian from a Conference in Korea last year. In this paper the author expands on the arguement of the FT article that mobile has effected the development of new Urban Ecologies. It is the social rules of the Japanese Train system for example that have fueled the development of mobile data because of the high level of social regulation means that users put their phones in "manner mode"

The interesting thing is that most mobile communication was done with a small circle of close friends and family, generally 2-5 others but no more than 10. This being the case what is the effect on online social communites such as LinkedIn and Ryze where we are encouraged to build networks in the hundreds?

This "tele-coccoon" is a socail formation that rely on text messaging to share an always onb relationship with their small intimate community signaling their unavailability from the group with messages such as "I'm taking a bath now" and sending good night messgaes.

In developing such indept relationships are we not at risk of developing some form of OCD which will see problems with withdrawl and anxity given the quality of network coverage here in Europe.

Buying high

So after many attempts O2 has found someone to buy them. Today Telefonica agreed to take control of O2 for £18billion.

Looking at the deal you have to say that the price has a strategic premium to it. In talking with others today once the news had broken the question is can Telefonica pull this purchase off?

Todate the Spanish have a very poor record on integrating businesses it had paid for rather than grown. What is needed is an executive team that will deliver benefits for Telefonica using the power of the worlds fifth biggest mobile firm. What Telefonica has done in buying O2 could well have killed the FreeMove group it created with T-Mobile, Orange and TIM.

Just how long are we going to see O2 survive as a brand, can we assume that just like Abbey, Telefonica will add their name once they complete the purchase in January 2006?

How much more are the Spanish prepared to invest in the network once they have bought it? At present O2 needs cash spent on speeding the launch of 3G services. As well as new services money also needs to be spent on developers so that customers can try products before they buy? Will we see the Labs return in Marlow and Ealing that O2 closed?

Just wonder what we can see in a years time once the deal is done and if for once Telefonica can find the people to make this work before the current O2 execs head for the hills with pockets full of cash?

UPDATE James Enck has posted his views on the deal, and like me he cannot see the value in such a purchase. Guess they guys in Madrid might like to spend money with the Strategy Houses rather than the Investment Banks!

Mobile Search

The Pondering Primate posts on why Mobile Search is not working for the major players in Online Search. He says that what is needed is for the likes of Google / MSN & Yahoo! to realise that before the bombard me with adverts they first off need to give me some information.

I have to say that for me Mobile Search is about more than Mobile Info it needs to take into consideration my location and thus the context for my search. For example, my Network Operator knows what my standard region is and thus when I ask "Where is the nearest cash machine" in Central London I am looking for a machine that does not charge me to take out money and when I ask for the same in Germany I just want some money so show me the closest one.

With Mobile Search we need services like AQA, which I have commented on before, for the same reason that the Guiness Book of Records started to solve Pub Questions. We also need something like WhereOnEarth (recently bought by Yahoo!) to tell us how to find the way out of a strange town. A few years ago Orange predicted such a service with the arrival of 3G, well we have 3G but still no adequate serch services.

When do you think someone is going to develop a useable version of RSS for mobiles, perhaps with the launch of OperaMini we could see Mobile Search develop because at present a service based on SMS does not make sence to the user.

Google Wallet!?!?!?!

Whilst looking at what was happening with Mobile Search over on SearchEngineWatch this little nugget was near the top of the list. As the poster said it might just be Google doing some simple housekeeping. Then again in might just be the start of Google's payment system.

So if I take the view that Google are about to do something the the payments world and also make the logical deduction that Google were a major player on T-Mobile's new Web'n'Walk service, could that also be why SIM-PAY failed? Maybe I have been reading to many Grisham novels.

Wired overview of 4G

Wired has a great special report on how new developments in wireless might to deliver on the vision of Mobile Broadband Conecticity. Taking the view that the public has heard it all before it does a good job on outlining the new software-based systems that could form the backbone for 4G networks.

A key view is

Indeed, at least when it comes to mobile phones, consumers have been disappointed with the speed, stability and general clunkiness of "the internet on wireless" for years. And while limited applications such as e-mail have worked well, broader internet surfing has been less than stellar.

Meanwhile, broadband-thirsty wireless users have turned to Wi-Fi "hot spots" and 3G data services such as Verizon Wireless' "Broadband Access" and Sprint/Nextel's "Wireless High-Speed Data" products, which have enabled wireless broadband primarily on laptops.

The main problem is that these services are ones that will be launched and run by Networks that base their whole business on voice calls. Both SMS and Blackberry use has come from outside the product development teams of the mobile networks.

Before anyone becomes interested in have I got a 3G, 4G or 2.5G service the first thing that has to happen is that you have to have a service that we want to use. I am on my third 3G handset in 12 months and this is the first one that users of Motorola's Razr would be happy to carry. They still don't see the point of video calls and are not much concerned for faster surfing of a web that is limited.

Perhaps what is needed is someone to work on a search engine for mobile devices so that users can get the content they want that fits onto their handsets.

Looking at people who have been buying PDA's recently what is interesting is that they are using the device for a number of things, such as an GPS system and MP3 player as well as the PIM functions, Now who would have thought that when we were looking at the first iPAQs and colour Palms?

3's vision for the future

Bob Fuller (CEO of 3, former Executive at Orange) set out his view of a 3G Future. Gone are the old predictions from his time at Orange, the future now is about being a media company with banking services!

Guess that he might need to go get the gang back together if he is to see the sucessful IPO of his former employer. He might be pushing the useage of 3G the problem is that now other networks also have a 3G service he has to find a reason for customers to stay. Rumour has it that at present he is suffering a churm rate in the 40% region which will make it difficult to get the city interested in investing.

Perhaps his case could be helped when his competitors start pushing the 3G lifestyle, once O2 has shown us just what i-mode is we could rush off and sign up for 3G assuming that they do as well as they did with the silver surfer ;-)

Peter's viral networks

Bit slow on this one because its been a busy week.

Peter Cochrane (Former CTO of BT) blogs on Silicon about free spectrum for wireless. Over tea and toast this morning it was like being in the eye of the storm that was 3G spectrum bids five years ago when Peter was saying that everyone had overpaid. At that time Peter said that the mobile market was close to saturated, today he is talking about machine-to-machine systems that uses free spectrum for RFiD.

As a futurologist Peter is looking at the development of peer-to-peer radio with dumb receivers that need very little energy to power up. This he says is the smart evolution of the current Wi-Fi based systems that have given works the ability to work wire-free. I just guess that like me Peter has yet to sit down and wade through the recent White Papers from Qualcomm and Nokia that say that the present "standards" for WiMAX just don't add up and need development.

A new digital pen

Yesterday saw the PR launch of a new digital pen called the VPen. Like the ANOTO based devices it has a bluetooth chip to allow connection to a number of devcise and uses handwriting recognition software. The difference is that unlike ANOTO you can write on any surface and the prototype is the size of a highlighter pen.

Having been a user of the ANOTO system for over a year I have to say that although the technology is excellent. It is far more social to take notes with a pen and paper than a computer when in a meeting you are not putting up a barrier for example, it also works outside in bright sunlight. A number of people who having seen me using my Pen have asked about it and then gone and got the technology themselves. The problem is that over half who have purchased the equipment have then given up using it, the problem is that they don't like the fact that it is a ball point in an ugly case. Why they ask if the clever technology is the OCR camera why can't the manufacture put it in a fountain pen, preferably one that looks like a Mont Blanc?

I have to say that I don't know why they have not got the IDEO guys to look at the technology and make it more human?

At the end of the day we were all tought to use a pencil and paper why before we were introduced to a keyboard and so why don't were use a handwriting device for input?

Smartphone Show

Spent the best part of the day at the Symbian show. For me the highlight was finally updating my handset with Opera Mini.

The buzz was around the new P990 handset from Sony Ericsson. Was lucky to get a one-to-one demo from Product Marketing who spent 30 minutes with me showing what the new UIQ 3 interface was all about. Well lets just say that the bug list is long! On the plus side what we do get is an excellent 2Meg camera with autofocus and zoom which works in Portrate & Landscape with the cover open and closed. The closing remarks were most telling "once this handset comes to market in early 2006 we will have fixed the bugs and have alot of personalisation by the network.

Had a great meeting with TI who have a great story in the development of chip families for wireless.

Intellisync have a good story to tell on how thay are competing in the push email and messaging space. They are worth looking at if you are think do I use Visto or Blackberry for email.

Also had to spend a lot of time with a number of developers who were spinning hopes and dreams in a similar manner to the dot.com boom. All I have to say to them is remember the mobile phone is just that a phone and also before you do a deal with OEMs think about the fact that we already have 1 Billion handsets out being used and it takes over 4 years to update them. Don't believe me, just ask the guys that did solutions for MMS!

Is That it?

So yesterday T-Mobile launched its new data service, called Web'n'Walk.

All I can say it that I am underwhelmed, if this is the great leap forward I think I have just stepped in a puddle. If people are asking "Whats it all about?" When they see an Orange advert just wait for them to see the demo on the website.

So T-Mobile has said that the solution for mobile data is Google. Guess they don't expect people to surf on the phone just want them to use a hotspot.

Can't see the executives at O2, Orange and Vodaphone thinking we need to update what we are doing.

Then when I think lets give it a go we come across the problem that my UMTS handset won't work because what they have built the software for is the MDA handsets. So it just gets worse, T-Mobile have built a walled garden for PDA's guess they think this is a big niche but personally I guess we are looking at another lame duck.

Now I had hoped for more than this, most of all what I was looking for was Opera to extend its mobile browser download service. I am using a K600i from Sony Ericsson and would very much like to improve the browser to Opera which I have been using since my PSION days. In Norway that launched a service that let you download Opera Lite for mobile using text messaging. But hey this is something that T-Mobile does not want to do as at present what they are looking for moving new devices and getting more 12 month contracts away.

Thr rebirth of cool?

Orange have gone back to its roots in producing adverts that make you say thats cool but what has it to do Mobile Phones? Having been bought by France Telecom, Orange has lost a lot of its percieved value; thanks to campaigns such as "The Business Man" and "Phone Trainer". Perhaps with the new content alongside the new ads people will once again aspire to be bright and own an Orange phone.

James Enck posts on the Black Out advert and does not like it. Asking would Coke post an advert that says "A Day without Cook is Paradise". Just wait to he sees the Brazilian Street Sweeper!

The poster adverts that use the word OFF with a record collection that shows that at some times it is better to switch off are great. I like the adverts, if they get one stupid driver to realise that they are not capable of talking whilst driving or worse still if it stops White Van Man from texting whilst trying to run me off the road then they work for me. Also if it helps educate those that I meet that it is good maners to say that I wish to connect with you and so I will turn off my phone then we might just be able to get some work done.

Sometime we don't need to be connected. After all we do not see beer companies tell us that there product is great at breakfast!

TV on you mobile

Last Thursday I was up in Oxford and managed to get a look at the launch of O2's trial into mobile TV. I was able to have a demo of what mobile TV might be.

Now the first observation is that since getting Broadband at home I watch a lot less TV, (no I am not part of the 29% who go BB for Porn, before you ask). Thus if I am watching less television because I think that most of what is produced is rubish why would I want to be able to watch on my 3G phone?

The next observation is that looking at the video I have downloaded since getting 3G it has been news reports on 7/7, cricket clips etc, rather than popular TV. The ability to get a download of last nights must see TV woulod be an aid at those watercooler moments. At times it does help to be able to share in others joy.

The Mobile networks just don't have enough bandwidth for streaming TV. The former CEO of Peoplesoft said that the average office worker spends 210 minutes a day at work surfing the web on non-work related sites. One of the businesses he is looking at writes software that allows companies to limit employee surfing rather than blocking it totally. If such filtering software where to be a success then the ability to watch on you phone could be a money maker if the pictures could be streamed.

My only issue is if we are to see TV on a phone is what is going to happen to make it safe? It seams that most people do not regard the rules on using your phone to make calls, some even send text messages which is very dangerous especially if you are on the Motorway. The TV in my Car is limited to only show the picture if the car is traveling at less than 5MPH. What is the Mobile network going to do to provide a presence based lock on mobile TV? If my wife and kids are killed by someone looking at TV on a mobile whilst driving can I sue the Mobile company?

The Mobile Networks need to find data services to replace voice revenue. I am sure that Mobile TV will be one of many services trialed in an effort to get subscribers to pay for lost voice income. I am jst not sure that something as boring as TV can give the Networks the recurring revenue they need.

Become a Borg

Alice Hill has a great feature on how Bluetooth headsets are the new anti social device in that they scare the locals. As you walk and talk, no one can see the hanset and thus most feel that you are talking to thin air.

I have said for sometime that the arrival of Bluetooth headsets means that we are coming closer to that Star Trek moment when we push a button on our clothes and start talking. I find my HBH-660 headset pared with my K600i from Sony Ericsson means that I am safe walking and talking in that in enables me to use my phone in the street without running over people!

I just want the designers to make the headset even smaller, how long will it before before I am once again have an earing just this time it's my headset?

Africa's view on M-Commerce

Have just caught up on MTN's developments for M-Commerce in South Africa which sees them linking their network with a bank. This move is somewhat similar to what we have seen with Globe Telecom in that it allows users to take money out as well as peer-to-peer payments.

The system also allows the state to pay benefits and merchants to transfer funds. Thus in areas that historically not been served by Banks due to the history of South Africa people now are enfranchised. With over 80 Million mobiles, and a tradition of migrant workers the Country looks like a classic example of now M-Commerce could be deployed.

I think that M-Banking will be somethiong that is pushed from the poorer countries into the developed ones. Where I live we have ATM machines in 13 sites, most of the people have credit cards as well as bank accounts and as such do not see the need for M-Commerce. The only service that most people want is a system that allows for the electronic top up of Pre Pay accounts on a peer to peer basis, and only then when they have school aged children. However in a country that does not have a strong banking system, with limited products for the low income sector a system that replaces the branch networks of retail banking becomes an important tool in empowering others.

Economist - Telecoms and the Internet

Today's Economist has a Special Report on Telecoms and the internet, following this weeks purchase by eBay of Skype.

Analysis looks at those networks that are vulnerable to VoIP because of the high percentage of revenue from Voice calls. For pure mobile operators VoIP could be an "enormous problem". Mobile operators face a far greater challenge than fixed-line carriers. Voice accounts for the bulk of their business and they cannot (at least today) offer broadband access as easily as the cable and fixed-line companies. New "third-generation" networks are supposed to make possible new data services to compensate for flat and even declining revenues from voice calls, but consumer adoption has been slow.

Now the problem is that to date the Mobile Networks have not been able to build any data product, SMS and Ringtones were developed by third parties and have been a success despite the networks. Have been using Orange's 3G network for nine months I have to say that I am disappointed by what is available. So far I have only been able to make three video calls and send very few MMS messages. What the new service means is that thanks to bluetooth I have given up my datacard.

Gartner says that PayPal is the 600lb Gorilla for Micropayments

Silicon yesterday carried a story on a new report from Gartner Analyst Avivah Litan on PayPal's new Micropayment System. In her note, she says that vendors should abandon other payment systems when it comes to micropayments and adopt PayPal.

Just why do the Banking industry feel that we will have just one solution for payment? I cannot see the solution to micropayments being something that is just available for online payments. The system that will work for micropayments will have to include some form of mobile payments and on my reading I cannot see PayPal making any headway in this space.

Micropayments is an important issue and the system that works will have to be available on multiple platforms in realtime with some form of dispute resolution. Failure to address all these areas will mean that we will not have found THE solution that works. Thinking ahead the system needs to work not just in the economies that are dominated by credit based solutions but also in cash societies, this in itself means that we are unlikely to discover a solution in the US.

One eyed view on convergence!

The last two days has seen a number of people ask me about the Moto i-Tunes handset, today's Independent has a good round up of first impressions.

In chatting with Ged Carrol last night I said that the first issue had to be just where was the business model for such a device? Looking at the revenues made by Mobile Networks from downloads I cannot see them standing back at letting Apple take all the money.

The next issue is just what does Moto thing they are doing? We have seen that they have been able to design great handsets and then they release the ROKR! Just what does the design team feel, I cannot think that they were listened to when/if they were asked to comment on the handset. The marriage of Apple's design team with the guys who did the Razr and Pebbel should have developed something that had people running to the store to get one. Insead we have Frankinstein's monster that will most likely have people declining the offer of a free handset and instead paying for a Samsung or Sony Ericsson handset.

Just glad that I will not have to hide the fact that I have a Walkman Phone.

Coke Machine's to sell Mobile Content

Inspired Networks have struck a deal with deal with Coke in the Republic of Ireland to sell mobile content from vending machines. Interesting expansion for Coke as they are looking to get more kids to keep drinking soft drinks following the "Jamie Oliver" backlash.

As well as getting the content "over the air" customers will be able to get content via Bluetooth. Whilst I have been an envangelist for Bluetooth for a long time I have to say that using it for content makes Digital Rights Management a headache and I have to ask just how will Inspired resolve disputes. How many times have we seen people punch a vending machine that does not give them an over priced drink or a chocolate? Just imagine how much more upset your going to feel when you buy a ringtone and it does not arrive especially when you have feed the machine with £3 plus in small change ;-)

Making mobile better

Wireless Week has a feature on International Calling. Mark Lowenstein looks at how Americans see the downside of Roaming. Thus the story is written with an American eye which ask why have the networks dragged their feet on services.

The issue is that some carriers make 40% of there profit from Roaming charges whilst on 10% of the volume comes from International calls. With such a high margin only regulation will see the situation change.

As we return from our vacations those who are contract will discover just what it cost to take our phones away with us. I for one have discovered the variable cost of UMTS data roaming whilst in Europe this month in my efforts to follow the third Ashes test. All I can say is that I wish that France Telecom stop dragging their feet on the roll out of Freemove which should see a lowering in Roaming costs in an effort to compete with Vodafone.

Nokia & Kineto to work together on UMA

Kinto Wireless and Nokia have signed an agreement to work together on Unlicensed Mobile Access.

Nokia will use Kinto's technology to allow networks to build networks similar to the BT Bluephone that brings Fixed and Mobile networks together. My observation is just where is the need for such technology?

With the current tarrifs available from a mobile network it is difficult to see the case for cost reduction. As for improved network coverage, we could move towards picocells to connect to the network rather than use a VoIP based solution. I am sure that both Kineto and Nokia can make a case for use to buy the technology but I cannot see just what the market it is!

BT plans a portal for its mobile customers

New Media Age reports that BT has asked Content companies to bid for its new Portal. No details are yet available but NWA says that it will compete with the likes of VodafoneLive and Orange World.

Now I can remember that we have BT Mobile to thank for "Surf the Mobile Net" when they controlled Cellnet. I just hope that those involved have learnt from their experiences, otherwise we could expect something quite horrendous! Wonder if Yahoo! will responder to the bid request as a way to get further coverage in the mobile space.

Mobiles for Social Change

The Guardian has a great piece on how the rise of Mobile phones in Africa is effecting change. The latest Peer-2-Peer mobile payment scam is that you buy a pre-paid scratch card and text the code so that some one else can use the credit!

This allows for users to pay "taxes" without having to meet someone face-to-face.

Just wonder how long it will be before the 419ers send my a text message offering me millions via pre-paided credits?

Another reason why SIMPAY was a good idea and the Networks should get on with making M-commerce work, guess I should have another coffee with the GSM Association guys and see if they might make something happen.

What's best for Mobile Data

Quocirca have published a report about why Walled Gardens are bad news for Mobile Networks. This will be good news for my Friends Ajit & Tony who spent the last year writing a book called Open Gardens where they talk about the need to open the network.

The problem it that Tony has discovered that with an Open Portal the mobile network will cut off funds for developers and reduce assistance to small companies looking to create the reason that users would wish to visit a portal. Lets face it the only reason most over the age of 25 have for going online via our phone is to discover the latest news on travel disruptions (I have to say that the past four weeks in London Orange have been excellent at keeping users up to date with events following terror insidents thanks to Sky News.) I am not in the market for new themes or ringtones and hence the traditional mobile data services are of very little interest and I work in the industry!

The real problem with Mobile Portals is that the fact that the device and bandwidth are limited compared to a PC means that the services need to be location and presence based. The ability to deliver such services is limited by the fact that Mobile Network Operators do not wish to give access via SS7 to the network for fear of revenue srinkage (remember the days of Phone cloning where someone was able to "copy" a SIM and run up hugh bills?). Thus what we face at the moment is a situation that the Mobile Operator is in a Catch 22 situation which sees them damded if they do and damed if they don't.

In the past few months speaking to others about mobile data services I have heard stories of Networks reconciling billing using an speadsheet and macros from hell built by temps, content prviders only abile to collect 90p in the £. When you add the "Jamster effect" which sees parent's very un-happy to discover that "junior" has been mugged, you have to ask just why would anyone thing that a mobile phone is for anything more than talking on ;-)

Is your phone watching you?

Wired has a great story on MIT Media Lab reseachers Nathan Eagle, who has been working on a project that uses mobiles to track were you went, how long you slept and what calls you took or bumped.

Using Bluetooth enabled phones Eagle stored the actions of over 100 people amd then was able to predict what people are likely to do next. He got it right 85% time with professors. Not only diagle his PhD it also allowed users to search just what they did and how much they did not.

They article also speaks of a new start-up that allows social introductions based on what you did which might be fun when placed against the likes of Ryze and LinkedIn.

Fins use phones for ID cards

SmartTrust has signed agreements with three Finnish operators, including Elisa, who will issue new SIM cards - containing the State Certificate - to subscribers.

This is a great idea in a country with a population less than that of London but can HM Goverment adopt a similar solution here in Britain? Also in a country where a number of people do not have a mobile and others have more than one how do we cope with multiple sims or the disadvantaged?

Also is it a reasonable excuse that the battery is flat officer and so cannot provide a copy of my ID?

All is theory as I cannot see us having ID cards for a good few years and then we can expect a wait of quite sometime before we move to another media. Thus I am most likely to be very old before they allow me to replace plastic with sim card unless I move!

Mobile phones as a tool of social change

The FT-IT review this week has an article on how the developing countries are using mobile phones to effect change. Amoung the networks featured was an Operator from Afganistan that claims to be creating a "middle class", we also have Alcatel helping african farmers sell produce at the best price/location.

Over the past few weeks I have been talking to a number of people who are working on social mobile projects in developing countries. This weeks Economist has a feature on how the GSM Association is effecting change with the introduction of low cost mobile handsets.

It all just goes to show that there is a lot more in 2G mobile and its not all about video calling and mobile internet.

ATM on your mobile

This week another mobile commerce play comes out into the public this time we have Sun Microsystems and Morse fronting up a system that lets you view your bank account and top up your mobile on your phone. This is a technology looking for a market and I have to say that I cannot see anyone wanting to use an ATM that does not give you any hard cash.

I am sure that we will see more technology firms that want to try and enter the market now that SIMPAY hased closed.

Using your phone in the car causes car crashes

Silicon.com has news of an Australian report that regardless of handsfree you are more likely to have a car crash.

Looking in more detail you see the study was 456 drivers in Perth who were hospitalised! Might be a self selecting survey.

I have to say that handsfree is better than holding the phone even in the snailpaced London traffic. But what is also more important is the network operators have to discover a way of limiting text use in the car!

Lets swap ipods

is a great idea from The Independent. They got Charlotte Church and Dylan Jones to exchange ipods and then comment on what they found and how it expanded horizons.

I would be interested in seeing what some of my clients would think of what I have on my MP3 player and if it could effect the business we do. Perhaps its just a hangover from the Live8 event!

BT Bluephone Launch

The Business says that BT will give Bluephone the Green Light this week. A friend called this evening to tell me that the PR launch is tomorrow and was I going and what should he ask given the opportunity.

My thought was how are BT going to package Bluephone and who was the phone aimed at?

BT settled on Bluetooth when that was the most viable technology for a connection to a fixed line base station. Now it is clearly obvious that a Wi-Fi connection would be superior and rumour has it that version 1.1 will substitute Wi-Fi for Bluetooth.

Nonetheless BT looks determined to press ahead with an offering that will be outmoded virtually at launch.

The difference is that BT's service - in conjunction with Vodafone - will enable a landline call to 'hand over' to a cellular link. We all know how badly that technology worked with 3G where 2G to 3G calls failed to make the link reliably for ages. Why should the Bluephone perform any better?

And anyway, the real answer is to use one of the few existing GSM plus Wi-Fi handset to make a Skype connexion via a home base station and then swap to cellular outside the home.

BT needs a very clever trick up its sleeve to make the Bluephone fly. Including a new name for the Bluephone.

No Need to go to school today!

Just read about Coventry University's plan to narrowcast lectures via 3G phones. Now I am all for extending education but one of the benefits I found to attending the lecture hall was to socialise as well as gfet a better understanding of my course work. I also seem to remember that my fellow arts students were quite fit and so when the speaker was boring we had something else to listen to.

The future is out there, but will users pay for it?

FT-IT review has a report on the latest research from Analysys on a Wireless Services Roadmap.

They look at the fact that ARPU is higher for 3G users than 2G, and thus the networks are looking at how they can increase speed again so that we can adopt 4G technologies such as WiMAX. In giving faster connection we can have DVB-H and improve web browsing, e-mail and video calling. My only observation is just how many people want to watch TV on a tiny device. Also just how can we power such devices as at present my wireless laptop last for three hours without charging?

I think that teh adoption of wireless data services is about blue collar solutions that allow workers to work smarter rather than technology that allows managers to work slowly anywhere. Once the networks get that and start developing technologies that remove latency in the network then we could see mobile take off once again just how the research firms have been predicting.

M-Payment in Japan

My attention has been tuned into the world of mobile payments over the last week and Google alerts delivered this story from Business Week. The interesting comment for me is "This is a completely new sector for DoCoMo and is part of our aim to move into areas where we are not so dependent on communication usage," Masao Nakamura, DoCoMo's chief executive, told reporters on announcing the Sumitomo deal. "Our entry into the credit-card business will be a turning point for us."

Now DoCoMo is in a very different possition to any other Mobile Network in that they are in the business of shifting tin more than selling airtime and they do so very well. But this is a company that can afford to pay $935m to buy a stake in the second biggest retail bank in Japan. I can remember reading reports that said Banks would buy phone companies as a technology channel to customers.

The sidebar shows that In Japan customers already using 2D barcodes to order goods from a catalogue as well as tickets for the movies and small godes from vending machines. Next year they will replace credit cards and train tickets. Just wonder how long it is going to take for the technology to travel West to Europe?

Its a question of lifecycles

I have just got back from Athens having presented on the potential for mobile commerce to European bankers for HP. The event as a whole was interesting in that it provided me with a view on a sector todate that I have had little to do with other than as customer. The main theme was Transforming Payments, which although mundane was interesting when split between Wholesale and Retail. The interesting thing is that a business started 600 years ago by Italians is very much resistance to change even when forced by regulation and law. The similarity with the mobile telecoms world is that some of those that have been behind the times are making leaps of faith to jump ahead in banking.

Today in talking over my experience someone pointed out that the management teams in Mobile are focused on the day-to-day business and to them ten months is a cycle whilst ten years is a cycle in Banking and as such any change is slow and resisted even when forced. In debating this point he highlighted that trying to get his group to look at the medium term (next three years) he was told that in such a period they could all have lost their jobs twice and so lets focus on the hear and now! More than one of the Industry Speakers had over thirty years experience with their current employer (would I like the pension they have from such service.)

As for my views on M-Commerce well the launch of SIMPAY this summer in Europe will hope seed the education of subscibers following the failure of m-pay by the networks. The focus will be on payments below €10 and it will be for content based services rather than face to face transactions in order to limit the need for dispute resolution. Outside the developed economies we could see services such as G-Cash in Phillipines that remove cash from the system with text messages used for token exchange of funds without the need for expensive card transaction services.

Is that a Guru in your pocket?

Wired has an article about a new service called Cellphedia, which it calls a wireless Wikipedia they call themselves the 1st Ubiquitous Social Encyclopedia!

Looking at the service it seems to have a few difference to the British based AQA that I have written about before. The service was part of a post grad course. Unlike the British service a users question is answered by other users who claim to have specialist knowledge in a specific site. As well as sending the reply to the person requesting info the response in posted on a website and the first person to respond is rewarded for doing so.

The most interesting vox pop is this:-

"Jimmy Wales, president of the Wikimedia Foundation and founder of Wikipedia, said he's seen Cellphedia but hasn't used the site. He said he thinks Cellphedia sounds like a great idea, and that Wikipedia is actually in talks with Nokia about creating a Wikipedia client on Nokia cell phones."

Now if one of the handset guys starts putting Peer-2-Peer based services such as this on a device then we could see something very interesting develop. I guess it depends on the price structure and who gets paid for what as to if the service is a success. But tghe plus side is that this is one of the interesting services to come out of America now that they are understanding SMS.

Nokia Sensor technology uses Bluetooth to find a friend!

Digging around on the Nokia site I found info on Nokia Sensors. Using Bluetooth you can connect Peer-2-Peer for Social Networking and File Sharing.

Nokia has created a great microsite that has a demo, free download of the software and FAQ's to outline how to use the saoftware.

Some of this stuff is great in that it can enable users to link and communicate without the use of a Mobile Network so perhaps the next time I am on the tube with friends we can keep "chatting" whilst travelling or when in a conference that has no network coverage.

My only concern is the Free File sharing side of the service could be something that limits Nokia's development of DRM technology and the uptake on new content.

Another new horizon - Software Defined Radio (SDR)

Over at TheFeature there is a great piece on Software Defined Radio. For a long time this has been flagged as the ultimate radio as it selects the best network to use dependent on the type of service you require and what spectrum is available.

This could see the most effective system giving broadcast qualitity services which would make BT's Bluephone project look as sleek as a barge!

The problem is that the technology was outlines many years ago and working parties in BOTH the US & Europe set the standards for SDR over two years ago and still we are no closer to a commercial device. Could it be because the manufacturers are busy building 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, GSM chip based products which they need to make revenue from for the R&D spend?

I don't expect to see any inteligent radio device before my five year old finishes secondary school, but she might get one when she finishes University!

DRM Fight mars mobile music development

Cnet has an article on how the mobile networks are fighting over the format used to stop copying of mobile music. Now I know that a few legal guys are looking at the mobile carriers as ideal cases to suit for P2P.

I have been watching the development of mobile music for quite some time, ever since a scientist in the FT Labs showed me what MPEG7 was all about. The solution will only come once we have developed a usable standard that is just that something used by everyone regardless of device/platform.

I for one don't think that Mobile Music will be something that works for me because I am just not interested in the current pop music and the Networks don't think that someone like me would be interested enough to pay £3 for a Paul Weller ringtone.

It's about the experience

This last week has been an interesting one for me.

I have been talking to a number of people who work in the industry about Mobile and just whats the problem.

The first issue is with the Mobile Network Operators.

Yes you were ripped off by Governments to stay in the game with 3G but get over it and move on. Build the networks out just like you did when we went digital and stick to what you should be good at, namely network optimisation and billing. Do not think that you understand data or can run a portal live that to guy who specialise. Invest in customer care and promote the fact to your customers.

The next issue is with Users

Just because you can talk and move does not mean that you have to all the time. Remember that the calling whilst driving laws are for a specific reason to keep other road users safe as well as your self. Remember that not everyone wants to hear you conversation and so try not to use your phone in quite public places like a cinema or restaurant. Therefore before you take/make that next call just think is it important or can I do this later in a better way?

Then we have the Content Guys

Try and remember that I have a mobile phone because I multitask, believe me if it was not for the fact that I need to make calls outside of the Home/Office then I would not pay over £100 per week to use such a poor service. This being the case then can you not try and segment me and try and understand that during the day I act as a Partner, Parent, Employee, Employer, Supplier, Client and Consumer sometime I am more than one of these things at anyone one time! This being the case I find it perfectly normal to seek train details, gifts, music and news in the space of 5 minutes. Just because I looked at a music site does not mean that I want to be spammed by you with offers for a new ringtone/wallpaper etc. I am a middleaged man with some disposable income at present and so yes I can pay for what I want but my Music education was in the late 70's - mid -80's and so I have little need for Dance music however it would have been good to kknow about Jill Scott sooner and my liking of Jazz does not include Jamie Callum or Katie Melua for me any way.

One for the Finance Guys

I would like to be able to store on my SIM card some of the details from my Payment cards. The SIM and the Smartcard look the same, my handset has a keypad with numbers, so when are you going to get with the program and not make me waste time putting in my full card numnber etc. Can you get your guys and Mobey Forum to talk with the Networks guys at SIMPAY and fix this before then end of the summer.



Sitting and talking with a number of executives it has become obvious that all involved have too many Accountants and NOT enough Economists, they need to employee more Sociologists than Economists and more Anthropologists than Sociologists. If they started employing people who tried to understand the customer rather than control costs maybe the customer would use the service more. It is not about the unit cost I pay for the service it is about the experience and utility the service provides. In the early days Orange was great because they tried to focus on the experience not the phone, now they focus on the technology and are not as cool.`

T-Mobile backs away from 3G

Trade mag, Mobile Today has a well written feature on the slooooow launch of 3G by T-Mobile.

A year ago I was offered a combined 3G & WiFi datacard from T-mobile which I was interested in until I saw the pricing. This was a product that is aimed firmly at the business user and to get value for money I would have to drink a lot of coffee in Starbucks whilst using a T-Mobile Hotspot. I spoke with some contacts and they said that the voice service was just about to be launched. The T-Mobile lost its Chief Marketing Officer (he is now the President of Google for EMEA) and we have yet to see 3G as a voice service.

I gave up on T-Mobile at Christmas and left after nine years paying my contract every month to join Orange because they were offering 3G voice. My handset can link with BOTH my PDA and Laptop to allow me to use it as a modem when needed and my price plan is such that the data used falls into my monthly allowance.

Now I am disappointed that T-Mobile does not want to launch anytime soon and that here in Britain is is happy to become the carrier for MVNOs. As well as the delayed launch of 3G I am also hearing that it is pulling out of the portal business and closing T-Zones. As a former employee of One-2-One it is disappointing to see a company that was at one stage a leader in Mobile products fall apart as the result of cost reduction programmes.

Vodafone taps Visto for Email solution

CBR has a new item on the sellection of Visto rather than RIM by Vodafone for there new email service.

Now at the moment a lot of people are very excited by the number of companies that could knock RIM off the number one spot in terms of wireless email. The reason for this excitement is that Microsoft have been showing a number of people its new offering code named Magneto. To get a feel of the people talking about it look at Debi Jones and Guy Kewney who have both been talking about Microsofts plans on their sites.

Why the interest in wireless email?

Is it because as we work just like the memo of our parents day we need something to show that we have been productive with our day and so we send a large number of e-mails to as many as possible to show just how busy we are. Is it that we are no longer comfortable talking with people and so feel a lot better firing off a quick note? Or could it be that we percieve ourselves to be so important that we just must be connected at all times hence the Blackberry and Phone about us all the time?

How would you like to pay?

I have been doing some work on mobile payments. My first experience of Mobile Wallet was not a happy one, a small mono screen, slow connection speeds and complex interface made for a frustrating time. However the Mobile networks are starting to come together on micro payments with the launch of Simpay.

This Summer we will see a service launched in Spain that allows the phone user to make payments for content not just on the mobile phones network but also other peoples websites. They will settle the payment on there phone bill and authorise the payment with a simple pin number. We can expect to see the service in London in time for Christmas shopping.

With the role out of SIMPAY we can expect to see a number of retailers getting excited as they see an opportunity to charge for Papers, Coffee, etc. using a mobile phone and pay a lower charge in terms of transaction fee. The reason is that the mobile network gets money from the text messages sent to authorise and pay the bill, they also want to increase my experience as a 3G customer.

If SIMPAY takes off it will mean that on weekends I can leave the house with just my Keys and Phone. Hopefully within a few years I can use my phone to start the car and open the door of my house but that will take time for another new technology to take off called near field communication.

Just a little plug for my favorite browser.

Remember when...

James Enck has posted a great thumbnail on his early experiences with Orange having found a spacehopper in his shed that was given to him as part of a loyality scheme.

The iten has reminded him that how just a short time ago Mobile was still not mass market and Orange was fun. Happy days! I can remember when Orange had an Imaginear, Prophets and ran Futurology not only were thay agreat brand marketing company they also invested in technology to bring about change quicker. To see what was spoken about before they were owned by France Telecom look at http://www.receiver.vodafone.com/01/articles/index05.html when Kenny Hirschhorn wrote about what he hoped would happen in 2005!

As for me well I have Orange corkscrews, bags, pen knives, watches and a brolly.

Just what's up with Sky?

I have always been a fan of Greg Dyke, today in The Independent's media review he has written another great comment on Why Sky fails compared to HBO in the US.

"We now know that Dawn Airey, the managing director of Sky Networks, is a great fan of Home Box Office (HBO) - the US cable channel responsible for such outstanding dramas as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City and Band of Brothers. We know this because she told us so in her recent, inspiring Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture, which was broadcast on BBC television. But in her lecture, Airey ducked the real question: why hasn't anything remotely similar to HBO emerged from pay television in Britain?

Airey did claim that such programmes were only possible because of the advent of multi-channel subscription television which is, she says, "liberating the creative genius of the programme maker". Well, it certainly has in the US, where, during the past decade or so, HBO has transformed itself from a channel playing movies and big boxing matches into the cable channel smart people have to have - and pay for - because of the quality of its drama production. But that still doesn't answer the question, why hasn't it happened here?"

Mr Dyke goes on to say that whilst Sky has been creative in News & Sport it has not been so in Drama. He argues quite well that this is becuase Sky is the Monopoly broadcasters and as such has not commissioned Drama because of the production costs.

I have to say that whilst we have had some success with Drama here in the UK most is dire rubbish and with the consumer moving away from broadcast to narrow cast it can only mean more reality TV and UK's Top 100 type cheap broadcasting. The real problem is that we have developed a generation that does not watch TV. Look at young people today and they flick from one channel to another faster than us niddle aged folk and see just what it was that flashed before our eyes. My nephew resently stated life was not worth living during a recent outage of his adsl connection, he watched no TV prefering to game online when not playing music in a local band. Because we as parents have placed TV's & Video Games in childrens bedroom we have failed to educate todays youngster how to watch TV. Thus just like the parents who are killing our kids with too much junk food we are killing TV by not showing our kids the benefits of sitting and watching good television. The only problem is just what is good program making?

BBDO - CELL PHONES AND SEX ACTS REPORT

The US Trade Magazine has another interesting Mobile Phone Report from BBDO; this week they tell us about some research into cultural differences to answering the phone whilst making Love. The bad news is that over one in five Germans and Spanards have stopped making love to take a phone call, if your lover is Italian they are least likely to take the call and a sixth of Americans have stopped making love to take a call on their cell phone.

Now the Advertising agency says that the perpose of the study was to figure how people use there mobile phones and the results show an anxity amount users to missing calls. I find this interesting to some extent as its my experience that some people who have too many calls are more than happy to drop some.

Maybe its because I am a fat old man soon to be forty but I can say that I am most unlikely to take a call on my mobile whilst enjoying some quality time with my partner; the opportunities are few and far between and if I were to take the call in might just means that they would become even fewer!

On the other front an Associate last week did complain that whilst he was trying to make love with his wife he gave up when he saw that she was writing an email on her Blackberry! At the time we just suspected that he was too drunk to perform rather than his wife was suffering from "Communication Anxity" ;-)

Mastermind in your pocket

The Independent has a technology feature on a new mobile company called AQA, (Any Questions Answered)which will attempted to reply to a question sent by text message for £1. More than just a call centre staffed by pale skinned uber geeks who can drive google faster than you it uses a number of researchers as well as search engine who are able to reply in 160 carracters.

The story has some simple comments about how the service can be used to cheat in pub quizes and no school exams. The examples given however seem to be more general such as "what numbers should I play in the lottery?"

Not sure if this is just a small opportunity or something bigger, but hey I said to the founders of Shazam that I did not see the business being a hit so what do I know about the future!

Blogs in the machine

Weekend FT has a feature on how some Blogs are not as trustworthy as those written by Journalist. Now as a well written article its well done it argues that the ability to take on the mainstream media(MSM) technology has allowed us all to post comment.

The issue is that how do we establish the credability of the writer of a Blog. Some of those bloging have stong principles however others can be bought. In the technology world we have the recent spat between Engadget and Gizmodo over sponsorship of CeBIT reporting. The guys at Engadget had declined the money and when their biggest rival took Siemens cash with strings attached they published just what they had been offered and why the turned it down. Now in the MSM when were we told that the wonderful luxury hotel holiday was the reult of a free trip from BA?

The difficult issue is that we all have our price, the question is one of context. You can get we to evangelise your technology for a realatively small amount my soul costs more!

Didn't see that coming, did you?

Weekend FT has a great article on Futurology - the business of looking at the future and attempting to predict it. Following the demise of the dot.com empire we see that a number of businesses have given up thinking wht might be and how we can achieve it.

Orange at one time had a Chief Imagineer, Head of Prophecy, Visionary Planners all working in Futurology. They had the ear of the CEO and his board and so were able to help the business put together the technology needed to make "the future bright". Not only were they able to wisper thoughts they had money to burn on fancy office space and other businesses such as Wildfire.

Now that they are part of France Telecom the Prophets have become Product Managers, the Imagineer has gone off to write and play music. They now have a Strategy Group staffed by clones from the leading business schools. It is my opinion that it is worse off for losing the people who were prepared to question and think big thoughts. Now instead we have a business full of Product Managers who are not interested in being the best, all they want is to be better than the others! In doing so I as a customer am frustrated that some of the best technology I see is not available to me. Others are not happy that the customer service ethic has declined and so hope that the grass is greener on the other side and are leaving to join David Beckham!

Why does this happen? Because those with passion have been replaced by engineers who think that they can segment me into a box. The problem is that in the course of the day, I have a number of roles, parent, employee, consultant, consumer, communter, parent and as such have different demands on my mobile network. It is no longer a function of price it is a question of service and coverage, after 20 years I do no expect to have ubiqutious connectivity, I want data as well as voice services, as for messaging how about working out the best context to deliver them to me.

A Big Opportunity for the Smallest Screen

Multicasting has started to feature large on my radar screen at the moment. For the last few years it has been called tomorrow's internet. Now we have Nokia & Crown Castle in one corner and Qualcomm in the other developing technology that allows broadcast quality messages to be sent to a select group similar to videoconferencing and teleconferencing.

Now the delivery of mobile video is something that I am not that impressed with at present, a two minute highlight video is not broadcasting but with the development of multimedia services based around the same technology used for Freeview makes for a very different case. To start off with we have mobile networks looking at quality networks built with little/no latenacy, then we have the coverage limited to specific areas. What we could see is an opportunity for venues such as golf courses capable of showing replays without the benefit of big on site screens.

Is the development of such a service the content golden egg, or is it just another pipe dream? I for one will not be a fan, the though of listening to breakfast TV when stuck at the points on the tube is just the thing that would send me into a rage rather than sedate me!

The curse of the Blackberry

Infoconomy has a great feature on how the must have pocket accessory for senior executives has a dark side - and those in IT know all about it.

The bottom line is that this little box in your pocket has far more status than value. Those that push it say the device is important in that it allows constant communication. The issue is that the mobile networks don't have the coverage necessary to make it the device as sold.

RIM feels that it has come up with the iPod for the executive class, I think that they have come up with email plague. The problem is that the messaging market is developing and presence is more important, I communicate more with IM and voice than I do with email because when I want to communicate I prefer a two way process and with email its not aways on. The thing that convinced me that Blackberry was not for me was the fact that not all those at the top of the mobile operators were carrying one, despite the fact they had two or more handsets!

On top of that we have RSI reports that too much usage was a bad thing!