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!

Opera, the Forgotten Browser!

Wired Newshas an interview with the CEO of Opera Software in which they outline that Firefox has stollen most of his clothes. The article goes on to give the good news that "the show ain't over till the fat lady sings" And Opera intends to put on a grand performance this year that hopefully will see the browser take off in North America and Asia with its new version.

I am an Opera fan having first bought the browser for my Psion PDA some five years ago. I use Opera on my laptop and am at present a very happy user of the beta version which has added sound. When running Ad-Aware on my laptop I have very few hits compared to when running it on my childrens machine with IE. The same is also true for Spyware, Pop Ups etc.

My only gripe is with site owners who have configured themselves only for IE which means that I have to put switch to see what I want or go somewhere else!

Here is to a great year at the Opera!

Lucy Kellaway: I refuse to hobnob for advantage

Lucy Kellaway wrote in yesterdays FT that she was not attending Davos this week despite that fact that her profile is high enough to be invited!

Davos is the winter get together in Switzerland where you can meet the great and the good and enjoy some skiing.

She tells the story of a successful businessman who at 60 has decided that networking was a waste of time. Nothing positive had happened from all the events he had attended in the past, what he liked was the ego boost of seeing and been seen and over time his ego no longer needed tickling by glad handing over warm white wine and canapes.

Kellerway goes on to say that the point of networking is to meet someone more important than you are. But if everything goes to a party to network, the whole exercise becomes self-defeating.

Whilst I agree that groups such as Ryze, Tribe, Ecademy and Spoke are only going to make money for the founders who are selling the snake oil of importance, power and connectivity. These are networks that seem to work on a numbers basis that grow buy getting as many as possible to join because the life span of members is limited.

However the point of Davos is that it is an invitation event that therefore controls the quality of those attending. This means that for those of us in business Davos is good, for a journalist on the FT yes its limited because she can get to see almost anyone. I will be going to Davos hopefully I well meat some more interesting people, it might not result in business quickly but it does help with introductions for people who don't have a brand name employer. My advice is just do not sell what you do be interesting and then others will ask your help opinion and realise that your time has an economic value.

A Digital Pen: Mightier Than a Keyboard?

internet.comhas an a review of Logitech's io2 Digital Writing Pen which uses Anoto technology platform to enable digital capture of your handwriting. This is something that I have been using for the last nine months thanks to friends at Destiny Wireless. I think that this year we will see a major drive in Digital Pen uptake.

What I like about the technology is that rather than hiding behind my laptop at meetings I can use a Black & Red notebook to take notes in a meeting and then back at my desk these notes are digitised and transfered into either my electronic notebook or emailed to others. The impressive feature with my Nokia pen is the ability to change colours electronically when taking mind notes.

When others have seen the technology in action they have asked about it and are now looking at ways to use the pen within their business, it is just like my experiences with my PSION pda when they were first on the market. This is a technology that sells itself via demonstration rather than ROI calculations.

The Futures Bright

Having given up on T-Mobile after ten years "service" I find myself a member of the Orange network.

I now have a 3G handset and better coverage at home. The handset is in someways similar to my previous one in that I have stayed loyal to Sony Ericsson and so the text input and address book have some common features. In terms of the network based services well a lot has changed first off I have a customer service team who are seeking to help me make the most of my phone and the network. Thus this blog is being posted via my Orange phone as it the modem at the present because I cannot find a hotspot.

What does 3G mean at present well it does seem to give better voice coverage, just as I get to the tube station I "drop back" onto the 2G network and so those that I talk to can hear the difference. As for data on my phone well it is interesting getting Sky news video on my phone but I never was a big consummer of wallpaper, ringtones etc. and so as far as Orange are concerned I am not a big user of data.

So far the experience has been good, lets see what happens this week when I leave the UK and try and use my phone in Italy!

Predictions for 2005

Today's Independenthas predictions for 2005 which are common at this time of year.

Some of the highlights from the piece are:-

"The rise of broadband will lead to internet devices that can do a limited range of things (such as internet radio, or a barcode reader that can "Googlefridge" a recipe from whatever objects you scan past it)."

"3G phones will start to sell big, but video calls won't until screens get a lot bigger. Viral film clips for phones will be a huge hit, but sent by Bluetooth rather than expensive video messaging."

"Really good text-to-speech and speech-to-text programs will emerge, using the power of the fastest chips. You'll get e-mail read out on your phone, voice-mail turned into e-mails and be able to interact via Bluetooth headsets with your machine from a distance."

"Go wireless. With broadband, get a wireless router that sits between you and the link: it's harder to hack and it's easier to move the computer around. But ensure you password-protect your network and, if possible, the router."

I agree with a lot of what Charles Arthur has written, I already am a big user of Bluetooth, Broadband and VoIP. What would I add? In a similar vane to the text-to-speech comment I would say that we can look forward to more Anoto based solutions which ofer script-to-text using bluetooth and OCR. It has proved a hit with some police forces and hospitals who have had issues with training workers to use tablet pcs and keyboards.

Be interesting to see how the predictions look in 12 months time in terms of accuracy.

Now mobile phone masts can be buyilt right next to schools.

The Independent reports that Minsters give into legal ruling that health concerns should not prevent rapid riase in the number of transmitters.

Now working in the Mobile Industry I have to say that I have some interest in this. The first this that caused concern was a few months ago when the CTO of one of the UK's networks said that, he would not allow a transmitter to be built near his home or child's school.

Last week the same paper reported that some 8,000 new masts are to be erected around Britain over the next three years as the 3G system expands. Now having paid a very large sum to the Government for just such a service why should anyone be surprised that the Networks can build without formal planning permission?

If I had spent £23 billion then I would expect a little help from the guys who took my money to help me get a return on my investment. My only advice is make friends with someone who works in a senior position for one of the Networks and if you can afford it send your children to the same school as them.

Phone booths resurrected

The Wall Street Journal has a great feature on how having ripped out eight million plus phone boxes they are making a return. This time without the phone!

Now some restaurants, libraries and other businesses are slowly bringing back phone booths. The interesting snipit is that "the quest for privacy drive 98% of Americans to go to another room or outside when talking on a cell phone. Some retreat to a toilet to make calls; "few things are more irritating than having to listen to the sound of toilets flushing during an important conversation" says Sprint's wireless-phone-etiquette spokesperson.

As well as custom designed booths from Finish furniture designers costing $thousands the old fashioned cast iron red British phone booth is popular.

My only concern is that here in London the restaurant owner is likely to place such booths next to the toilet door just where we get no coverage and so we are going to have to still put up the lout who shouts on his phone when you are enjoying a meal.

Broadband wireless goes head-to-head with 3G

vnunet has yet another piece questioning 3G following a report from Analysys. What we have is someone commenting on work by another about WiMAX replacing 3G.

Now what I have a problem with is the fact that WiMAX is not likely to be available for at least another two years, even T-Mobile will have built a 3G voice network by then!

NTT DoCoMo are at present developing 4G technologies that DO use broadband wireless to improve data speeds and network coverage, nowever these are not for voice they are for value added services. Whilst I do believe in the validity of some claims for VoIP at the enterprise and techie need of the market I feel that we are a long way off mass market adoption. This being the case just how do you think you Granny is going to make a call over a broadband network?

Looking at a number of recent VoIP implementations all I can say is that a Chief Executive is happy to be without his email for a few hours or days each month but he is very upset if his phone does not work! This being the case I just dont think that we are very close to seeing the roll out of mobile voip.

Handicapping Social Networking Business Models

Stowe Boyd wrote back in March an interesting piece on Social Networking on the darwin website. Now I have been using social networks all my working life. The last few years has seen a number of these networks become on line as well as offline groups.

Whilst helping to run Digital People it became obvious that with people becoming more time poor there needed to be somethinbg that allowed people to connect when they were ready rather than just turn up for beer and friendship.

Over the years I have attended events run by such diverse groups as Company of Friends, Ecademy, Ryze, European Technology Forum, TEN and MIT Club of Great Britain. I agree that the issue is "who's paying and who's invited?" Without such knowledge now am I to know if my membership of the network is worthwhile or just another marketing pitch.

When Ecademy went online it became an interesting place, then as it grew an could no longer fund itself via corporate sponsorship it changed to a model that was chargeable but still allowed basic members to interact with the community. Now with falling renewals the owners have decided that Power layers with those that pay and the more you pay the more power you have! Thus in doing so the Management have removed all content that does not fit with their own views and repeat offenders are asked to leave the community.

LinkedIn has been a very good tool for my business over the last year, allowing me to build bridges with organisations I have lost contact with. However the cost is that I find myself in the middle of a number of chains from people I have no understanding of seeking to do business with contacts who I am sure would not like to be snowed under with such requests. The network is more business than social and so is excellent in joining up people but it does not have an area where you can enter into a discussion and thus "find" new connections based on the strenght of your intellect and experience.

I guess that what is needed is to join a few of these and play an active part, if you find them useful then pay something towards the cost of running the service. This payment does not have to be cash it could be content or services!

However whatever it is that you decide to do do not stand and watch interact.

Remembering we all need downtime

Tony Hallet writes an interesting feature on how "Advances in mobile and wireless technology can please employers by leading to improved productivity but are too many staff unwisely working longer hours, the victims of 'connectivity creep?"

This is something that has concerned me for the last few months, as someone who runs a small consultancy I am aware that clients buy into what we do not just because of price bvut also because of speed of responce. People work for me rather than large firms because I do not want them to be in the office all day and night. However I am coming across a number of intelligent people who have allowed themselves to be dictated to by the firms email system via their Blackberry.

I do not think that a smart device is a smart idea! Giving somebody something that allows them to work anyplace anytime is not a responsible act. What is needed is for everyone to respect the time and space of those who the interact with. The most effective people I work with use technology as a tool rather than always reply to every email, text message, voicemail as soon as they receive them evem when it annoys me that it is so.

I would be interested to see if its a cultural thing, with Italians and French executives not "suffering" the same connection issues as their English and American co-workers.