Posts on Wireless  

Julie Ask | July 10, 2008, 02:21 PM
Short Line in SF at the Apple Store
I was on my way back from a meeting early this morning downtown when I wandered by the Apple Store. It was mostly a typical scene at 7am in downtown San Francisco. Streets were being cleaning. Vendors were opening up for the day. A handful of homeless people were beginning...( more )

Julie Ask | July 10, 2008, 01:51 PM
Apple's Apps
I'm really jazzed to see some of my favorite applications making their way on to the Apple platform and into the applications store. And some of the best ones are FREE!!! The majority of cell phone users (ok, well the minority buy applications, but among those who do buy and...( more )

IanFogg | July 10, 2008, 01:09 PM
iPhone 3G Strategy and Prospects
The initial bunch of (mostly) US iPhone 3G reviews have missed the point. Almost all of these reviews have been written from the point of view of existing US iPhone owners that are considering upgrades. That's not what this launch is about. The iPhone 3G's main goal is to grow...( more )

IanFogg | July 10, 2008, 01:04 PM
WiMAX in Europe
Great post from my colleague, Thomas Husson, on WiMAX. I agree, and I can think of quite a few additional reasons too! Stop the hype with Mobile Wimax...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 10, 2008, 03:23 AM
Digital Dividend: the golden spectrum fight
UHF frequency band (470-862 Mhz) is currently being used by broadcasters (TV and radios). However, new spectrum resources freed by the digital switchover (move from analog to digital TV) will be re-allocated in the coming years in all European countries. In France, administrative authorities have ruled until recently in favor...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 09, 2008, 06:51 PM
Stop the hype with Mobile Wimax
The first time I really discovered Mobile Wimax was in 2004 when I attended a conference called "Wifi on steroids". This was 4 years ago. 2 years ago at 3GSM, it was viewed as a potential threat to 3G. At this year's Mobile World Congress, the debate was more about...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 04, 2008, 05:11 AM
Together we can do more
Orange's New Vision and Brand Campaign - Premiers in the UK tomorrow with its new “I am” film. So exit "the Future is bright" and welcome the new vision expressed in the statement "together we can do more". The rationale behind this global campaign is quite interesting. See excerpt from...( more )

IanFogg | June 24, 2008, 10:55 AM
Symbian OS Becomes Free
Symbian OS will be available to all without payment of a license fee. And, to enable this, Symbian becomes a non-profit organisation with Nokia buying out the other current owners. See: www.symbianfoundation.org Note - I'm writing this ahead of the news conference, so more details may emerge soon. Also, I'm...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 24, 2008, 02:40 AM
Nokia to acquire Symbian
Well, more precisely Nokia has announced it will acquire the approximately 52% of Symbian Limited shares it does not already own. Simultaneously, a Symbian Foundation is to be established to provide a royalty-free open platform. Such initiative is announced to be backed by Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung (the 3 manufacturers...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 23, 2008, 08:57 AM
Nokia to acquire Plazes
Plazes is a start-up providing context-aware social-activity service. The company headquartered in Zurich is quite small but its team has a good expertise in adding the elements of "place" and "time" to social networking. From Loopt to Gypsii, a couple of players have embraced this trend, which seems key...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 17, 2008, 03:14 AM
AdMob Stats for Europe
Like Julie Ask, I am a regular reader of AdMob Mobile Metrics report. The forthcoming monthly report will have a focus on Western Europe stats. As stated by Admob, it only offers a snapshot of the data in their network. It is indeed dependent on the development of the off-portal...( more )

Julie Ask | June 16, 2008, 12:00 PM
Admob Servces 100M Mobile Ad Impressions Each Day
Admob hit (what I think is) a big milestone in May. They are now serving 100M ad impressions each day to cell phones. (See their May Metrics report) The US represents 45 percent of this traffic. Admob serves ads on to 5000 publisher sites. They are not the only mobile...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 16, 2008, 10:20 AM
Green Porno
Green porno represents an experiment in storytelling for digital platforms according to the Sundance website. These short series about sex life of insects (?) have been specifically designed for the small screen. Not a joke at all. Budget of 70,000 $. Conceived, written, directed by and featuring Isabelle Rossellini. Bought...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 12, 2008, 04:35 AM
SFR Music
Echoing Mark's Mulligan take on Orange Musique max and the launch of Napster Mobile, unlimited music subscriptions are gaining ground and are welcomed by the music industry in the fight against piracy. Despite the price (TDC in Denmark launched a similar but not equivalent offering for free last April), Orange's...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 10, 2008, 01:24 AM
iPhone 2 - a new business model
So the iPhone 2 has finally officially been announced. Lots has already been said on the device: A-GPS (but with no navigation software embedded), HSDPA-enabled (a must-have), Microsoft Exchange support, 2MP camera only (no auto-focus, no flash; btw not a big deal if there is no front facing video camera...( more )

IanFogg | June 09, 2008, 11:35 PM
MobileMe
Surely the clue is in the name: this is a personal service for sync'ing personal stuff, not social networking. Or, did I miss something important in the speech while I watched the football, and which is not listed on Apple's MobileMe site? (oh yes the photo gallery, surely that's just...( more )

Julie Ask | June 09, 2008, 06:33 PM
$199 iPhone - a real price point for consumers
Finally, with a keynote today, the speculation ended on what would and wouldn't appear in the new iPhone. Lots of press on this topic today, but I'm going to focus on a couple of the highlights for me coming out of the event. The price point of $199. Wow. A...( more )

Julie Ask | June 09, 2008, 06:08 PM
Apple's MobileMe and 3G iPhone
MobileMe - this was the portion of the announcement that I was most excited about. To date, Apple has been one of the few companies (perhaps only) pulling together the content pieces (photos, videos, music) that increase the switching cost to consumers. When it comes to cell phones, consumers aren't...( more )

IanFogg | June 09, 2008, 01:53 PM
Coin-Op Public WiFi
Some products defy analysis. I could, but it's just not worth the effort here....( more )

Thomas Husson | June 06, 2008, 04:23 PM
Where will you watch the Euro 2008?
on such a screen? I was ironic about it 2 years ago at the time of the World Cup. Tomorrow, the European football cup will start and last until the end of June. Several operators will try to leverage the event to launch DVB-H. This is the case for...( more )

Julie Ask | June 05, 2008, 08:50 PM
Smart Marketing Tactics for Verizon/MediaFLO's Mobile Video
I was watching the Stanley Cup Finals last night. There was a really good mix of ads from Verizon. (I have Tivo, but I slowed down to watch these ads). They were promoting NHL video content during an NHL game. They were promoting goals scored, highlights, etc. The ads featured...( more )

Julie Ask | June 05, 2008, 11:50 AM
Verizon's Bid for Alltel - Implications for Sprint?
I heard the concrete rumors yesterday, but this topic has been one that folks have been speculating about for a long time. All morning long, people have been asking me what it means for Verizon Wireless? Short answer: #1 wireless carrier in the US with 80M subscribers. Alltel adds 13M...( more )

IanFogg | June 05, 2008, 10:29 AM
Ofcom Intervenes on Speed Marketing
Ofcom is introducing a voluntary code of practice on how ISPs should market broadband speeds. This is something I have been advocating for some time (see here on the 'ISP prisoner dilemma' where, back in 2006, I advocated regulator intervention to make speed marketing clearer, or here, or more recently...( more )

IanFogg | June 04, 2008, 02:20 PM
Vodafone Offers Home Broadband via HSPA / 3.5g
Vodafone Italy is now offering an innovative home gateway that has both ADSL2+ and HSPA (ie a 3.5g mobile radio). What's special is that the mobile radio is used completely differently to normal discussions of fixed-mobile or femtocells. Here, the HSPA radio offers an alternative to ADSL2+ to route a...( more )

Julie Ask | June 04, 2008, 01:45 PM
Screenvision Speaks to Audience with Txt'ing
Verizon made an announcement today (see Fierce) that they will be enabling an interactive text polling program to poll users on their music tastes. Results will appear on the screen. There will also be some marketing around Verizon's Vcast service. I don't get the polling on music tastes. What I...( more )

IanFogg | June 03, 2008, 11:43 AM
FON-ISP Partnership Vastly Grows Hotspot Reach
BT has just announced it has reached 100,000 WiFi hotspots through its use of FON public WiFi sharing on its broadband customers' home gateways. This is a vast number. Hotspot directory Jiwire currently lists just 28,697 total hotspots in the UK. Clearly, they aren't including the BT FON ones. How...( more )

Julie Ask | June 02, 2008, 05:05 PM
Mobile Content: It's Not Just About Ringtones Anymore
So, we knew this and we've been showing this in our forecasts for sometime. Personalization applications have been phenomenal for wireless carriers for the past few years, but we've believed that it would take more applications oriented towards entertainment and utility (e.g., information services, mapping, etc.) to drive demand beyond...( more )

Julie Ask | June 01, 2008, 11:37 PM
BREW 2008 - My Thoughts
I attended my first BREW conference in San Diego last week. It was an excellent event by all measures - good sessions, announcements, and people. It's easily one of the best wireless events I've ever attended. Qualcomm introduced a number of new components into the BREW platform. I had seen...( more )

David Schatsky | May 29, 2008, 08:55 AM
Congratulations to M:Metrics
Mobile measurement firm M:Metrics has been acquired by comScore. Story here. Congratulations are in order for M:Metrics founders Seamus McAteer, a JupiterResearch alumnus, and Will Hodgman, a colleague of ours from the days when AdRevelance was part of Jupiter Media Metrix. Best wishes, gentlemen! This is the second time in...( more )

IanFogg | May 29, 2008, 03:04 AM
How Laptop Warranties Impact Mobile Broadband Prospects
Consumers are adopting laptops in large numbers. In the 80s, the PC industry targeted putting one PC on every desk. The 90s saw a shift to selling one PC into every home. Now, the market has moved again and now the industry is selling one PC to every person in...( more )

Julie Ask | May 25, 2008, 07:48 PM
Leopard Sharks: Why I need 5MP, 8GB, and Cark Zeiss Optics in my Cell Phone
I reluctantly went swimming with a friend this morning at Aquatic Park in San Francisco. "Reluctant" is the word I use because the water is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and it's hard to see anything when you're swimming. In fact, it's hard to even see your outstretched hand. There were...( more )

Julie Ask | May 23, 2008, 01:30 PM
TV: Do Consumers Want it in Their Cars?
Seems to be a hot topic this week that my colleague Michael Gartenberg and I are discussing. Whether or not consumers want TV in their cars is a good starting point for a discussion of in-vehicle entertainment, but the other looming question is ... is it technically feasible? let alone...( more )

Julie Ask | May 23, 2008, 12:52 PM
AT&T and American Idol Set SMS Voting Record
The season is over, and this is my first blog on Wireless and American Idol. It shouldn't be though as there was a lot of good stuff in this season's show. Here's the press release. Highlight: 78 million text votes compared with 64.5 million last year An excerpt from a...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 22, 2008, 07:18 PM
Mobile Monday Shangai "house rules"
If you guys are in Shangai, I would advise you to attend the next Mobile Monday there: May 26th, from 7pm to 9.30pm at Kathleen’s 5 restaurant and bar (325 Nanjing West Road, inside Museum of Modern Art, angle with Huang Pi Road). Reading the 10 "house rules", looks like...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 22, 2008, 06:30 PM
Orange / Nokia agreement: beyond the PR blurb
Following agreements between Nokia and other operators (Telefonica, Vodafone, T-Mobile), Orange is finally extending its strategic international agreement with the leading handset manufacturer. Worth noting that Nokia managed to sign deal with the Top 4 European carriers. Initial reactions here and there could have let you think this may not...( more )

Julie Ask | May 20, 2008, 10:23 PM
Good Uses of SMS in Presidential Campaigns
I wrote an article for RCR last summer on how Presidential Candidates were using SMS and blogged. See posts. Overview Barack Poor Execution (post) Interestingly enough, the two candidates utlizing SMS are still in the race. (Ok, they likely also raised the most money and had the bandwidth, staff, and...( more )

Julie Ask | May 20, 2008, 02:20 AM
How much personal information does it take to earn a free cell phone?
This might be the most random collection of marketing bits I've seen stuffed together in one place. I was in the 10th or 11th hour of my trip home from a rainy NYC last Friday evening when I came across this page in my magazine: "Win a cell phone every...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 16, 2008, 02:58 AM
Orange to bring the iPhone in 7 European countries
Orange just announced a new agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Orange customers in 7 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland) but also in Egypt, Jordan, and Orange's African markets later this year. Just 2-3 observations in line with my previous comments on Vodafone's recent...( more )

Julie Ask | May 15, 2008, 02:46 PM
Another Mobile TV Standard ... ?
MocoNews had a small write-up on this LG / Samsung initiative. VuNet had this piece. This was at the tail end of the story: A study commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters suggested that the adoption of a single mobile digital TV standard would drive the sale of 130...( more )

IanFogg | May 14, 2008, 06:11 PM
iPhone Revisited: Signs and Portents
I've not been using the iPhone as my main phone (various reasons, nothing exciting). This week I had another go and I was impressed all over again. It's so easy to forget this is still just a version 1, given the smoothness of most of the experience: version 1 hardware;...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 14, 2008, 06:18 AM
Mobile Internet for dummies
Brought to my attention via MobHappy, an interesting blog from Russell Buckley and Carlo Longino. Russell (in charge of European operations at Admob) has just been elected Chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association for EMEA (in replacement of Richard Saggers from Vodafone). Congrats and good luck to him....( more )

Thomas Husson | May 14, 2008, 05:56 AM
MVNOs better than their hosts?
According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 UK Mobile Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study released recently, Tesco Mobile ranks highest in customer satisfaction with pre-pay mobile telephone service for the first time, while Virgin Mobile ranks highest among contract mobile phone customers for a second consecutive year. There are obvioulsy...( more )

Ina Sebastian | May 07, 2008, 01:45 PM
Deal for a National WiMAX Network Announced
Sprint, Clearwire, and additional investors (Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House Networks) have reached an agreement regarding a national WiMAX build out through a new company named Clearwire. My colleague Julie Ask wrote a very insightful blog on the motivations of the investors yesterday. As she implied, success of...( more )

IanFogg | May 07, 2008, 11:13 AM
BT Broadband Goes Mobile, Sortof
[updated 15.04 UK time] BT has just announced that they are bundling a mobile smartphone service as part of their home broadband package. Interestingly, this new bundle will be presented as a new top tier for BT's Total Broadband home DSL, rather than as a mobile tariff. The name for...( more )

Julie Ask | May 06, 2008, 06:02 PM
WiMax Whispers ... Sprint Lines up Partners to Invest and ?
MocoNews reported this afternoon that the WSJ is reporting that Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are about to announce a new JV that includes a bunch of other partners - and their capital. So far, not a lot of surprises. There has been talk and reporting for months now that Sprint...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 06, 2008, 03:38 AM
Vodafone to offer Apple's iPhone in ten markets
After the UK (02), Germany (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Austria (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), the iPhone will be available via Vodafone in 4 new European countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic). Interesting to point out that Spain is not included in this announcement, probably meaning Apple will find another partner (Telefonica?)...( more )

IanFogg | May 01, 2008, 04:37 PM
Vodafone: Unlimited Mobile Internet Offered for Free
This move by Vodafone is a game changer for mobile Internet usage. In short they are offering mobile Internet access for free to their contract customers. The data limit is generous too: 500Mb (Which is an enormous amount to use on a mobile handset. I consider myself a heavy user,...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 29, 2008, 10:07 AM
DVB-T just in time for EURO 2008
Echoing my previous blog, I just received some more news on mobile TV: Vodafone Germany will launch two new DVB-T models just in time for EURO 2008. It reminds me of DVB-H just in time for the Football World cup. What happened in 2 years' time? Well, to the great...( more )

IanFogg | April 28, 2008, 12:41 PM
New Skype Mobile App
Skype Tests Software for Mass-Market Mobile Phones. It's interesting but not anything like as earth shattering as their press release headline suggests. The applet offers text chat, buddy list, and incoming and outgoing calling. But the telephony part uses Skypeout credits for a user to receive incoming calls so is...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 28, 2008, 06:54 AM
Swedish dongles - part 2
I don't read Swedish but like me you'll understand that beyond SE performance in 3 Sweden shops, the key takeaway here is the fact USB Modem Turbo 3G sales more than any phones in the list below --------------- Sony Ericsson dominerar aprils mobilförsäljning på 3! Sverige är ett Sony Ericsson-land...( more )

Julie Ask | April 25, 2008, 02:20 PM
Wireless - Why am I paying to sign up? But they pay me to take the phone ...
So, I tried to switch service providers the other day. I really wanted to switch, but I couldn't figure out the math or get a deal that suited me. I wanted to get a voice plan (ca. 900 minutes) and a data plan. I also wanted to be able to...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 24, 2008, 08:23 AM
Swedish dongles
I spent a few days in Stockholm recently. Really nice city by the way. I was intrigued in 2007 by some stats from Telia reporting that for several months in a raw modems / USB Sim cards were the top-selling units in Telia 76 Swedish shops. So I decided to...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 24, 2008, 08:00 AM
100,000 subscribers for Blyk
Blyk just announced that they had hit the 100,000 member target six months ahead of initial plan (end 08). The ad-funded MVNO has announced it will launch in the Netherlands (sometime in S2 2008) and is willing to expand in other European countries. It is an interesting concept. The company...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 24, 2008, 05:11 AM
DVB-H to be launched in Switzerland and Austria
As expected with the forthcoming UEFA Football cup, Austrian and Swiss players will soon launch DVB-H mobile TV offerings. See here and here. As in 06 with the German World cup, the idea is to leverage a sport event as a marketing catalyst to educate customers on new services. It...( more )

Julie Ask | April 22, 2008, 10:24 PM
My Growing Addiction to Text Alerts
I admit, I've become addicted to text (SMS) alerts in a way comparable to my Outlook calendar. I no longer function without a 15 minute reminder that I have meeting approaching. The same is true of my reliance on SMS alerts to know what is happening in the Presidential campaign....( more )

Julie Ask | April 22, 2008, 10:15 PM
Mobile Marketing Well Done - Coke Zero & Euro2008
I came across one of my favorite examples of well-executed mobile marketing last week in Switzerland. Coke was running a sweepstakes to win tickets to UEFA Euro2008. Tickets were being given away every 90 minutes thereby encouraging more purchases of Coke products. (A Coke in Switzerland, by the way, costs...( more )

Julie Ask | April 22, 2008, 10:07 PM
Anti-HotSpot Campaigns
I was down in Palo Alto a couple of months ago and saw this sign out on the sidewalk. The concept of ubiquitous broadband and how to convey the idea to consumers without tech-speak is a tough one. As consumers, how soon will we simply be connected without having to...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 18, 2008, 07:25 AM
Are you smoking? No, just making a phone call
See this article in the IHT. The mayor of Graz city in Austria is ordering commuters to keep their cellphones in silent mode while riding the citys public transport. So, just imagine what a transatlantic flight would be if your neighbour was chatting all the time! Indeed, there have been...( more )

IanFogg | April 16, 2008, 03:50 PM
Fring VoIP on iPhone First Take
A beta of Fring has just been launched for Apple's iPhone. The downside is that it's only available for jailbreaked iPhones (ie those that have been hacked to allow unauthorised third party software to be installed). Quick observations, prior to trying it out: Skype calls on iPhone are now possible....( more )

Thomas Husson | April 16, 2008, 02:53 PM
Orange & Telia Sonera?
According to French daily Le Figaro, Orange is contemplating buying Telia Sonera. TeliaSonera (merger of the 2 Swedish and Finnish incumbents) is still partly owned by the Nordic States (37.3% stake from the Swedish State and 13.7% from the Finnish State). Needless to say this would mainly be a complex...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 14, 2008, 03:06 PM
Grapevine
I received a couple of e-mails from contacts in the music industry saying our latest report on mobile music sounded a bit pessimistic. I then discovered a couple of headlines from selected blogs saying "mobile music does not interest anyone"...which was the translation of another blog "a majority of consumers...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 09, 2008, 05:46 PM
"Smart" pipes, "big fat" pipes & Citizen Kane
Tectonic shifts are happening in the mobile industry. New entrants and new approaches of existing stakeholders in the value chain are forcing operators to redefine their roles. They were some interesting quotes reported in the press in the recent weeks made by the CEOs of 2 leading operators: “…Carriers must...( more )

David Schatsky | April 02, 2008, 02:33 PM
Intel Pushing Mobile Internet
Product announcements and strategic pronouncements at Intel's Developer Form event in China this week (NYT coverage; CNET Coverage) speak to a research report my colleague Julie Ask recently published on our site. I would leave it to her to blog about but she's swamped at CTIA this week. So I'll...( more )

IanFogg | April 02, 2008, 11:59 AM
Brand Madness
If other mobile operators copy T-Mobile and trademark similar aspects of their brand, and worse then enforce them as T-Mobile appears to be with Engadget Mobile over the latter's use of the colour magenta... I can see some nasty implications for anyone writing about the UK mobile industry. Or, at...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 26, 2008, 05:11 PM
Mobile Internet
I have been skeptical at launch and ironic recently about the .mobi initiative. My point is essentially that consumers should not even have to think about the url they are typing. It should be a smooth and direct experience. From a media / brand perspective, it makes sense to have...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 21, 2008, 11:47 AM
"State of the Telecom Union"
2 days ago, the EU commission published its 13th report on the state of the European Electronic Communications market. Definitely worth a read if you want to know the state of the Union and better understand the telecom competitive landscape in Europe. On a different topic and as expected, The...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 18, 2008, 07:47 AM
Hard Candy
7 tracks of Madonna’s new album will be distributed and promoted exclusively to Vodafone customers around the world*, 7 days prior to the April 28th global release of Madonna’s 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records. Those kind of partnerships between labels and operators are now more and more frequent....( more )

Thomas Husson | March 17, 2008, 05:19 PM
Mobile 2.0
(For French readers only). Christophe Romei, who edits servicesmobiles.fr, a good source of information on current mobile trends, is organizing the second edition of the mobile 2.0 conference, to which I will participate. The conference will take place in Paris on April 8th and I really think it will be...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 17, 2008, 04:55 PM
Back from Praha
I had the opportunity to speak at the mobile youth conference in Prague last week. Last time I was in Praha was back in 1996. No doubt the city is really beautiful and nice walking around. It was already crowded at that time but now seems overcrowded with tourists. I...( more )

Julie Ask | March 17, 2008, 10:54 AM
Mobile Internet: Improving the Experience with FLASH
This morning, Adobe made the following announcement: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) today announced that Microsoft has licensed Adobe Flash Lite software, Adobe’s award-winning Flash Player runtime specifically designed for mobile devices, to enable web browsing of Flash content within the Internet Explorer Mobile browser in future versions of Windows...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 14, 2008, 06:33 AM
Napster Mobile
As my colleague Mark Mulligan just analyzed, 02 UK and Napster have announced today a partnership to launch a mobile music service. Single tracks will initially be priced at 99p (for a promotional period) or you can benefit from 5 tracks for £4. O2 UK is not the first operator...( more )

Julie Ask | March 13, 2008, 06:23 PM
Places I Visited in Morocco with Better Coverage Than My Home in SF
Here are a handful of places that I visited in Morocco that have better voice coverage on a GSM network than my home in San Francisco. You can argue that the cityscapes are flatter and waves may be better able to penetrate clay than the building materials used at home....( more )

Julie Ask | March 13, 2008, 05:32 PM
iPhone in the High Atlas Mountains
We had an 8 to 10 hour drive between Marrakesh to M'Hamid. Our guides - especially Habib and Abdul - were wonderful singers, but we couldn't do Arabic music for that long. The only non-Arabic cassette that they had was U2 Boy - which is a great album, but it...( more )

Julie Ask | March 13, 2008, 05:14 PM
My Theory on Why Ringtones Were Created
I spent a lot of time in crowded souks on my trip. The Noka ring tone was more common than any other noise I heard. Each time I heard it, I reached for my backpack to check to see if it was my phone. It drove me crazy....( more )

Julie Ask | March 13, 2008, 05:00 PM
In a Land Where There is No Mobile Marketing
I just returned from 10 days in Morocco including a trip to the Sahara desert. I've got a series of posts that I'll put up today. My first Mobile Marketing encounter (or lack thereof) was in JFK when I landed from San Francisco enroute to catch my flight on Air...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 12, 2008, 04:26 PM
"Litcast" ?!
This is the first time I come across this neologism. A 'litcast' is a short story written especially for mobile phones. "We are opening up new ways of distributing good literature," says Svein Henning Kirkeng, Division Director in Telenor. According to Telenor, "The First Time I Died" is the first...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 10, 2008, 03:46 PM
iPhone apps
Articles about the iPhone last month were mainly focusing on the 4M sales mark and the smuggling happening in some part of the world. Such a phenomenon can be explained by a couple of elements: the fact that the $ is at its weakest, that beyond o2 Ireland no new...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 06, 2008, 04:38 AM
"Human penetration"
I came across this strange expression in a Mobistar analyst presentation, mentionning that "human penetration" had reached 84% on the Belgian mobile market for 2007. This obviously refers to individual penetration (end-user owning a mobile phone) by opposition to SIM card penetration / connections. At Jupiter, we value this approach...( more )

IanFogg | February 28, 2008, 12:56 PM
VirginMedia Results: Multiplay good, but ARPU down.
Today, VirginMedia report their q4 2007 results. As usual, as an industry analyst I'll comment solely on the operationals. Note - this is being written ahead of the conference call. Key points: - Broadband customers are up year-on-year to 3.5m using VirginMedia's hybrid coax-fibre (HFC) network -- plus another 287k...( more )

IanFogg | February 28, 2008, 12:19 PM
Mobile Web vs Applications/Widgets
Michael Mace nails it: mobile devices are different from PCs, the market for add-on software is stumbling, and has not been as great a success as most would like. (+ also see my footnote). The issue for the handheld software industry now, is that the number of mobile platforms that...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 27, 2008, 01:41 PM
Mobile Internet Tariffs
Not a single conference or mobile event I attended in the last 3 years without media companies or Internet players complaining about mobile data plans. No doubt that non affordable and non transparent data pricing schemes have been a key barrier (but not the only one) to the uptake of...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 27, 2008, 01:35 PM
m.brandname.com
m.facebook.com m.linkedin.com m.yahoo.com... .mobi, where are you?...( more )

Julie Ask | February 26, 2008, 04:36 PM
How much messaging can a Pres. Candidate do in an SMS?
My inbox is full of messages from Barack and Hillary. Barack sends 3-4 times as many as Hillary. I'd like to say it's too many, but the combination of things he's doing seems to be working. They typically both send text messages before events like the debate in Cleveland, OH...( more )

Julie Ask | February 26, 2008, 01:55 AM
Short Codes, Peanuts and Bar Napkins
I was traveled on US Airways last week from San Francisco to Charlotte, NC. When they set my "Coke Light" (do they sell this in the US?) on my tray table, they also handed me a snack pack and a napkin (see photo below). They were offering to let passengers...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 20, 2008, 04:12 AM
zaOza - Vivendi Mobile Entertainment
As my colleague Mark Mulligan pointed out yesterday, Vivendi officially launched its new content portal zaoza. In fact, the service was announced back in November (see here) and launched in beta under the name "magic zaoza". The idea was to create buzz among VIPs who could access the content for...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 14, 2008, 03:49 AM
Back from Mobile World Congress
It is difficult to wrap up so many news but I tried to step back a little from the flow of information when flying back from Barcelona. After the 2007 takeaways, here below is my vision of the 2008 mobile mecca pilgrimage. MWC is and will continue to be a...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 13, 2008, 10:54 AM
Why 2008 Won't Be The Breakthrough Year for Mobile Advertising
Apparently Nokia mobile ad bigwig Jeremy Wright cracked a joke last week about 2008 being the seventh year in a row that mobile advertising is supposed to break through. He's right: for nearly a decade, mobile has been promoted as the next big thing in advertising. And the sector looks...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 12, 2008, 02:46 PM
Best Mobile Entertainment Services - Mobile World Congress
Yesterday evening, at the Gala dinner of the GSMA, the Global Mobile Awards were attributed. In the mobile entertainment category, the winners are highlighted in bold below among the other nominees in the shortlist: 1a - Best Mobile Game Cellufun: Call of the Pharaoh EA Mobile: BURNOUT Fox Entertainment: Are...( more )

Mark Mulligan | February 11, 2008, 11:21 PM
MusicStation Max: First Take
Tonight Omnifone announced that they have partnered with handset manufacturer LG to create MusicStation Max (MSM), a pre-licensed, free, unlimited mobile music download offering. LG will fully subsidize the cost to consumers and operators will run the service. MSM is an ambitious response to Nokia’s Comes With Music (CWM), but...( more )

Julie Ask | February 11, 2008, 11:12 AM
Some Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks?
AT&T announced this morning together with Starbucks (but not T-Mobile) that they will offer a combination of free and paid Wi-Fi. It comes just a few days after Earthlink announced that they want to sell their Municipal Wi-Fi business. First, the AT&T/Starbucks announcement is exciting for a lot of reasons....( more )

Julie Ask | February 08, 2008, 06:41 PM
Marketing High Speed Data Networks - or Not
I was on a U.S. carrier's web site today looking up some information on 3G phones. All of a sudden a "chat" box opened up. I thought what fun. I'm searching for this information and now someone is here to help me. The problem was ... they seemed to have...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 07, 2008, 12:22 PM
Barcelona - MWC
From a US perspective, Mobile World Congress may be perceived as an event to keep an eye on. In comparison to the 150,000+ delegates at CES and other shows in Las Vegas, it still is pretty small. However, it clearly is the most important mobile / telecom event of the...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 06, 2008, 07:10 AM
Orange 2007 results
France Telecom announced this morning its annual results for the full year. As always, I am neither going to comment the financial results nor the fixed / broadband results even though I find it quite impressive that out of the 11.6 European ADSL accesses, 41% use VoIP and 11% IPTV,...( more )

Julie Ask | February 04, 2008, 06:46 PM
Will the real Chocolate Cell Phone Please Stand up?
Ironically, Samsung is producing this one for Hershey's. In an unlocked phone environment, these make sense....( more )

Julie Ask | February 04, 2008, 06:33 PM
Another MVNO Says "Good-bye"
Voce slipped away rather quietly today. A journalist pointed me towards this story in the LA Times. It's not surprising that they've closed down. It's more surprising that they lasted as long as they did. I'm not in any way criticizing their efforts - it's a tough business acquiring customers...( more )

Julie Ask | February 04, 2008, 06:20 PM
Last Message before Super Tuesday
At precisely 3:13 pm pst I received a text message from Barack Obama's campaign. Within 10 seceonds, I received a second one from Hillary's campaign. How does this happen? Hillary's campaign doesn't text met that often so I was more curious about this message. [Before I continue, I have to...( more )

Julie Ask | February 04, 2008, 03:36 PM
SMS Ads ... What warrants an alert? and when?
Last summer I did a couple of blog pieces on the Presidential candidates using text messaging to reach supporters. There was the Tootsie Roll analogy in this one. And a reference to an RCR Wireless piece in this one. I now receive messages from his campaign whenever he is going...( more )

IanFogg | January 31, 2008, 11:44 AM
Skype on PSP - Initial Impression
Skype is continuing to become a more ubiquitous communications service. Now, it arrives on the PSP. Skype is being offered for free to new PSP owners and to older ones that choose to upgrade their firmware. This distribution method will push Skype in front of a large number of users...( more )

Ina Sebastian | January 23, 2008, 09:01 AM
AT&T Differentiates with Public Wi-Fi
AT&T just announced some exciting news for its broadband customers – and public Wi-Fi models in general. AT&T broadband customers that subscribe to the 1.5, 3, or 6Mbps plans will be able to use the company’s public Wi-Fi network (AT&T Wi-Fi basic) for free. While the offer was initially only...( more )

Julie Ask | January 22, 2008, 11:34 AM
Services or Access? What sells? And who Pays?
I saw this press release from the NY Times and AT&T Wireless today. It's an interesting business model that we discuss a lot in our research. Will people pay for plain old access for their cell phones as they do for their homes? or will access be bundled with services?...( more )

IanFogg | January 20, 2008, 11:41 PM
iPhone Sales: the Danger of Not Reporting Figures
The FT reports that UK iPhone sales are below target (also covered on the Inquirer if the FT story is behind the subscription wall for you). Apple has chosen not to report Europe-splits for iPhone data, just as it has always done for the iPod. I hope we'll hear more...( more )

Julie Ask | January 17, 2008, 04:14 PM
Ordering Pizza on the Phone - What's the big deal?
We've been using our phones to order pizzas for years. I am old enough to remember when "pizza delivery" was a big deal, but not when ordering it on the phone was novel. I still do this the old-fashioned way with my cell phone. I use Google SMS to get...( more )

Ina Sebastian | January 16, 2008, 03:59 PM
Jiwire Points Out Ad-Supported Free Wi-Fi Option for iPhone Users
Location-based ads on public Wi-Fi networks are interesting as well, as the vast majority of public Wi-Fi users is still not willing to pay for services. Jiwire announced that iPhone and iPod Touch users would be able to leverage its member network in exchange for viewing ads. Though relatively few...( more )

Ina Sebastian | January 16, 2008, 03:56 PM
Apple Leverages Wi-Fi with Skyhook Wireless
Yesterday’s keynote at MacWorld included an announcement of a partnership with Skyhook Wireless. A software update to iPhone and iPod Touch enables location-based mapping without GPS. While the iPhone uses cellular triangulation and Wi-Fi, the iPod Touch of course relies on Wi-Fi only. Skyhook Wireless provides location data to Wi-Fi...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 16, 2008, 03:49 PM
T-Mobile , Yahoo! and mobile Internet ad euros
T-Mobile and Yahoo! today announce a strategic partnership which will see the first display advertising appear on T-Mobile’s Web'n'Walk service. I don't think there is any major difference between this agreement and that already announced between Vodafone and Yahoo! Interestingly, both operators have selected Google as their mobile search engine....( more )

Thomas Husson | January 16, 2008, 03:19 PM
Thorough phone reviews
So, v 1.1.3 for iPhones is now available. Some of the basic stuff is hopefully now fixed (SMS to multiple folks). The most important one is clearly the ability to customize the homescreen and the upgrade capability itself. Apple has already sold 4M iPhones. That's pretty impressive when you compare...( more )

Julie Ask | January 16, 2008, 01:02 PM
The Power of Nokia’s Brand (Philippines Series)
I was wandering around a small market in a town about 90 minutes outside of Manila. One of the small stalls was selling candy shaped like cell phones. (I think “sugar globs” were just called “Dots” when I was young and that seemed to be enough to sell us on...( more )

Julie Ask | January 16, 2008, 12:35 PM
How does one send 200 SMS each day? (Philippines)
I just spent a couple of weeks with a family in the Philippines. There were two teenagers – a sixteen year old and a fourteen year old. The sixteen year old is in college (common age to start college in the Philippines) and lives away from home. The fourteen year...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 16, 2008, 12:26 PM
JupiterResearch Forecasts European Mobile Ad Spending Will Reach €1.3 Billion in 2012
We've just released a new report that forecasts the European mobile advertising market (which includes mobile display advertising and mobile search marketing, but NOT mobile messaging ads like SMS and MMS ads) will reach €1.3 billion in 2012. The biggest driver for the growth of the market will be consumers'...( more )

Julie Ask | January 15, 2008, 06:38 PM
Apple's Webclips
Lots announced at Apple today. iPhone has some software updates. One of the new features I like is the Web Clips. You could argue that they are simply bookmarks with a graphical link on the home page, but they do more. Moreover, you can sort your icons (applications and web...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 11, 2008, 08:57 AM
What's your job?
Being an industry analyst outside US/UK* inevitably exposes you to be asked: "Could you remind me again, what's your job?". We are not financial analysts. We look at market trends within various industry segments. At Jupiter, we try to have as much as possible a marketing angle to avoid focusing...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 08, 2008, 05:17 PM
Sarkozy and the French media landscape
Today was the first press conference from Sarkozy, the newly elected French president. Surprisingly, he announced that he would like an analysis to be made to "totally ban advertising on French public TV and other financing solutions to be considered such as a tax on ad revenues from private TV...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 08, 2008, 07:38 AM
Welcoming A-VSB again ?!
A year ago, I posted a comment on the new mobile TV technology promoted by Samsung. See more info here. Apparently, Samsung is giving much more details at the CES show in Las Vegas. See the article from Carlo Longino at Moconews....( more )

Thomas Husson | January 06, 2008, 03:52 PM
iPhone v 1.1.3
Orange France officially announced to have sold more than 70,000 iPhones (launched Nov 29th) in France while o2's CEO recently expected to reach the 200,000 ceiling early January (launched Nov 9th). Both operators will meet the target they officially announced but there was no major "Christmas effect" (however, I don't...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 04, 2008, 05:10 AM
Ringtones on the decline
This is always quite funny to see how a press interview is being picked up. My colleague Mark Mulligan initially gave an interview mid-December to the International Herald Tribune / New York Times about the maturation of the ringtone business. I found out recently many new articles on various websites,...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 03, 2008, 10:05 AM
My 2008 predictions
I quite like Samuel Johnson's quote: "the vanity of being trusted with a secret is often the prime motive to disclose it" as mentionned by my colleague Michael Gartenberg. The idea here is not to disclose anything unofficial but simply to highlight a couple of key trends in the mobile...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 02, 2008, 04:31 PM
Welcoming MPH
According to the Chosun Ilbo (a South Korean newspaper), LG will demonstrate a new mobile TV technology at CES in Las Vegas. It is named MPH ("mobile pedestrian handheld") and developed for the North American markets. Please join me in welcoming MPH in a fragmented world....( more )

Thomas Husson | December 21, 2007, 10:30 AM
2007 Predictions Reviewed
Russell at MobHappy said "even professional analysts aren’t that brave (to review their predictions) as they need their clients to generally believe that they’re right all the time and so to admit to fallibility would be shooting themselves in the foot". I don't think it is really the case for...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 21, 2007, 05:13 AM
VIVENDI's SFR buys Neuf Cegetel - First Take
It is now official. SFR, VIVENDI's subsidiary (at 56%), will buy 9 Cegetel. Here below is the big picture of the French telecom market end q3 2007 if the acquisition had been completed at that time (still needs to be approved by the anti-trust authorities): Background: - Vivendi sold Cegetel...( more )

Julie Ask | December 19, 2007, 03:53 PM
Mobile Widgets & Zumobi/Zenzui
I've been trialing the beta version of Zumobi's new application. I highlighted them in a piece of research this year on why cell phones (well, consumers really) could use a companion for their cell phone browsers. One of the basic ideas in the report is that it's difficult if not...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 18, 2007, 07:41 AM
Mobile TV news
There have been quite a lot of mobile TV news over the past few weeks. So, here's a wrap up: - 3 Italia is taking part to the 1st DVB-SH trial in Europe. See press release from Alcatel here. Given S-band is available (not the case of the golden band...( more )

IanFogg | December 13, 2007, 06:09 PM
Feedback: Apple Over Here
Yesterday's post appears to have created some discussion. To be clear, I still think the iPhone is an astonishing v1.0, but like most version ones the iPhone has flaws and quirks. Here's a reply to one email: "I agree the keyboard is OK'ish. What I was trying to say in...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 13, 2007, 02:15 PM
Why Free should care about its marketing?
I thought that in 15 months Free / Iliad (3rd ISP on the French market) would have improved their marketing and their client service. They simply haven't. I already commented my previous experience but when I finally decided to call Free again to let them know I still had a...( more )

IanFogg | December 12, 2007, 12:43 PM
Apple Over Here
Here's a reply to a longterm Mac-owning UK friend of mine, that asked me to advise on mobile phones for personal email usage. He was concerned that the iPhone keyboard would be irritating even after a month's usage, and that the iPhone represented poor value: "Re iPhone keyboard, well I'm...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 11, 2007, 04:39 PM
"1st Screen" by SFR
I had a closer look on SFR's 1st screen offer and was striked by an interview from Patricia Levy, managing director of SFR Regie. She is quoted saying: 1) "Mobile is the only medium which avoids audience fragmentation": I tend to see such an argument as "fallacious" or at least...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 11, 2007, 03:50 PM
1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th Screen?
There are various definitions of mobile phones in the context of mobile advertising: - according to SFR, it is the 1st screen ("Premier Ecran" is the name of the newly created ad sales network from French mobile operator). The first screen you see in the morning (using the alarm clock...( more )

Julie Ask | December 10, 2007, 06:15 PM
Shopping for Phones Online
Forbes did a piece today on TryPhone - an online information site and simulator of sorts for cell phones. It's still in beta. I tried the Blackberry Pearl - had a hard time using the Pearl, but you could get a sense of the screen layout, available features, etc. To...( more )

Ina Sebastian | December 05, 2007, 05:28 PM
Future of National WiMAX Network in Question
After the termination of the letter of intent for a national WiMAX rollout and service in partnership with Clearwire, Sprint is seriously reevaluating its WiMAX plans. The company may now spin off the WiMAX unit, according to a recent article. Certainly, rollout would be expensive. Sprint initially estimated $5 billion...( more )

IanFogg | December 03, 2007, 01:09 PM
Mobile Nagging on Network Use
I can't say how much I agree with Martin Geddes' post about the way Nokia Series 60 phones nag everytime they need network access. (Telepocalypse by Martin Geddes: Tiresome LAN). There are a few options Martin hasn't found but the spirit of what he says is very true. My 'favourite'...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 03, 2007, 05:39 AM
5 mobile advertising "myths"
Last week I attended the IIR mobile advertising conference in Budapest. Good conference but as often with lots of vendors and operators familiar with the theme. When I asked people in the audience to raise their hands if they were an advertiser or an ad agency, only 2 people did...Probably...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 28, 2007, 11:06 AM
SFR Illimythics - part 2
pic taken in the tube via my cell and typical of the outdoor ads flourishing in Paris those days SFR just announced 40,000 sales of its Internet Illimythics 3G+ packages...in 14 days. I got a final confirmation that off-portal is included (provided you use the WAP protocol via Vodafone-live...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 28, 2007, 02:33 AM
iPhone & Orange France - part 2
Eventually, Orange France confirmed the voice/data plans to be made available tonight with the iPhone. A few comments: - phone available as expected at 399 euros. 549 euros for Orange clients who do not want to benefit from one of the four plans. 649 euros for others (naked phone...( more )

Julie Ask | November 27, 2007, 11:45 AM
Open Access ...Verizon Adds Their Name to the List
Verizon Wireless announced today that they are opening up their network. Verizon Wireless today announced that it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 27, 2007, 02:14 AM
iPhone & Orange France
The iPhone will be available in a few Orange shops from Wednesday evening onwards, including a brand new Orange shop on the Champs-Elysees. Now that I have been using* one for the last 2 weeks, I can simply confirm it is one thing to read the US press and to...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 22, 2007, 04:30 PM
Nostalgia
I recently came back in the small town where I spent my childhood. 2 minutes from my house, there used to be a fixed call box. As most of them, they have simply disappeared. I used to call friends from there when I wanted to be untroubled. I also remember...( more )

Julie Ask | November 15, 2007, 07:11 PM
UGC on Cell Phones
One of the hot topics and potential killer applications for cell phones (if such a thing can exist on a device that has the potential to be used in so many ways) is user generated content and social networks. One of the challenges has been with moving content from the...( more )

IanFogg | November 15, 2007, 05:46 PM
Why So Many Mobile Posts
Regular readers may wonder why I've been blogging so much on mobile-related topics. There are a few reasons: - I've been working on a major report on digital communications that looks completely cross platform: mobile and fixed, pstn and voip, IM and email etc. So, I've had numerous briefings with...( more )

IanFogg | November 15, 2007, 03:20 PM
Palm OS Classic Available for Nokia - First Take
When I wrote the the N810 was a platform play, I really didn't expect Palm OS classic/garnet to suddenly be launched, officially, for the Nokia tablet range. That report was focused on Nokia's thinking on OS and mobile platform choices, not Access with Palm Garnet OS. I've installed it. The...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 15, 2007, 05:50 AM
ZaOza
VIVENDI announced yesterday the imminent launch of its multimedia portal, named zaoza and developped in the Vivendi Mobile Entertainment subsidiary over the last few months. Such a platform will ditribute free and premium content to be accesible via PC and mobile devices. The objective is clearly to distribute legal content...( more )

IanFogg | November 13, 2007, 05:42 PM
Mobile UI is All the Operators Fault, Right.
As handset makers have so little control over the handset user experience, compared with operators, we'll just have to blame O2 and T-Mobile, not Apple, if the iPhone doesn't resonate with European tastes. Further reading: - Vodafone, nope, not them, announces touch screen UI for Nokia's Series 60 platform. -...( more )

Julie Ask | November 13, 2007, 01:02 PM
Mobile Browser - In Need of a Companion (Again)
I published a more in-depth piece on the role of the browser on the cell phone. See report. The concept revolves around giving the browser a companion for "glanceable" content needs whereby one needs frequent and easy access. There are a number of companies with interesting solutions already on the...( more )

Julie Ask | November 13, 2007, 12:57 PM
Alltel Plans to Launch Free Parental Controls
See release. I like that it's free to parents. All of the carriers need to be thinking about giving people more reasons to sign themselves and family members up for data services....( more )

Ina Sebastian | November 09, 2007, 11:53 AM
Setback for WiMAX in the US
Sprint and Clearwire have just announced that they have not come to an agreement regarding a partnership for the build out and operation of a national WiMAX network. Sprint noted that, while committed to developing WiMAX services, it would review the strategy and comment in early 2008. The final decision...( more )

IanFogg | November 09, 2007, 10:02 AM
iPhone is an Astonishing v1.0
I've been using an iPhone for a couple of weeks now (*). The iPhone is a really astonishing phone. How Apple differentiates from the competition is not through a long list of features as loved by other handset makers, but instead through the way in which the iPhone does the...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 07, 2007, 04:22 PM
Illimythics by SFR
"Illimythics" is the commercial name of a new offering to be launched by Orange France's main competitor on November 14th. At first take, it seems to be one of the best mobile Internet offering I have ever seen (there are some surprises in fact at second take, see updated comments...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 06, 2007, 05:45 AM
Blurring Boundaries in the mobile world
As often stated in this blog, it is simply amazing to see how boundaries are being blurred in the mobile value chain. APPLE managed to obtain a voice & data revenue share from operators for its first ever mobile phone. NOKIA likes to define itself as an “Internet Company” and...( more )

IanFogg | November 05, 2007, 05:59 PM
Google Android: Nokia and Apple Reaction
Google unveils Android mobile phone platform, Open Handset Alliance My first reaction to this, is that Apple and Nokia have already reacted, pre-emptively, to Google's announcement that there will be shipping products sometime in late 2008 with the Google-inspired OS! Google's news release is only a few hours old, the...( more )

Julie Ask | October 31, 2007, 09:38 PM
Monetizing Mobile Ad Inventory
4INFO announced a deal with NBC Universal today to place ads on their text-based content. It's a sign of the mobile advertising market growing up. Most text alerts are served without ads. Most content providers have had the mentality of "let's focus first on the consumer experience and worry about...( more )

Julie Ask | October 25, 2007, 08:39 PM
Mobile Browser - In Need of a Companion
See story....( more )

Thomas Husson | October 23, 2007, 04:09 PM
Bebo / Orange
Bebo mobile is now live with Orange UK. The service will be free for the first month and then will cost 3€ for unlimited browsing to Bebo mobile website and unlimited text uploads (to your friends or to update a profile or a blog) and unlimited text alerts & reply...( more )

Julie Ask | October 23, 2007, 01:37 AM
MobiTV - Three Millon Subs
MobiTV announced that they passed the three million mark recently for mobile video subscribers worldwide. Yes, it's worldwide. Yes, it's across 20 operators which doesn't amount to a ton per operator. It's still an impressive number. The third million came much faster than the first or second - good sign....( more )

David Schatsky | October 22, 2007, 09:31 AM
A Chat with Israel's Minister of Communications
I've been prodded to provide more information on my recent business trip to Israel, so I'll write about my meeting with Ariel Atias, Minister of Communications. It was interesting to hear first-hand from the government official responsible for a telecom sector that is at once relatively small (there are just...( more )

IanFogg | October 18, 2007, 05:45 PM
Nokia vs Apple: History Repeats with the iPhone SDK
Apple has announced a limited application development initiative for the iPhone (and, as I predicted, for the iPod Touch). Apple's smartphone rivals are already open, have numerous applications available and actively encourage independent development (i.e. Nokia with Series 60, SonyEricsson's UIQ (*), Microsoft on Windows Mobile). I wonder if Apple...( more )

IanFogg | October 18, 2007, 12:57 PM
Skype is Profitable
From eBay's financial release: "Skype delivered a third consecutive quarter of segment profitability, excluding the goodwill impairment charge of $1.39 billion. Geographically, all three major regions, Europe, North America and Asia exhibited robust revenue growth. Skype net revenues totaled a record $98 million in Q3-07, representing a year-over-year growth rate...( more )

Julie Ask | October 17, 2007, 02:53 PM
Carriers Getting Serious about Mobile Advertising
Boost Mobile and Cellfire announced a partnership today to put Cellfire's coupon application on their cell phones. The article doesn't say that Boost will pre-load the application, but a spot on their portal is a start. Makes great sense given their customer base....( more )

Julie Ask | October 17, 2007, 02:31 PM
Admob Network Metrics
Admob released a set of metrics about their business today. They provide some well-organized and clear data around the number of ad impressions they are serving and to what devices in what countries. They'll send you a copy for free if you email them at metrics@admob.com. There is a lot...( more )

Ina Sebastian | October 17, 2007, 01:18 PM
Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks? Maybe, but Fee-Based Wi-Fi Will Not Disappear Soon
Computerworld published an article, in which they predict that Starbucks Wi-Fi will be free within a year. They argue that the fee-based model, introduced by T-Mobile/Starbucks in 2002, is outdated. Free iTunes access with the iPhone is an indicator for more free models, as Starbucks seeks to leverage Wi-Fi for...( more )

Julie Ask | October 16, 2007, 06:03 PM
One reason why it's hard to be a wireless start-up
I've spoken to many small innovative companies that are looking to provide an alternative offering that is lower priced than an incumbent. It's not a sustainable advantage unless the cost structure is fundamentally lower to provide the same level of service. We saw it with Wi-Fi - many cities looked...( more )

Julie Ask | October 16, 2007, 05:55 PM
Managing Mobile Access
AT&T announced a online complement (My Media Net) to their mobile portal that allows users to personalize their home page content. It's a good step forward though not yet "game-changing." Only a handful of the cell phone users we surveyed were interested in such a feature, but a fairly high...( more )

Julie Ask | October 11, 2007, 03:20 PM
Local Content on Cell Phones
Verizon Wireless announced a partnership with Verve Wireless to bring Verve's local content to Verizon's portal. (See Fierce story) I realize it probably doesn't seem like a big deal to most people, but twice as many people are interested in this service as have used it to date. Total use...( more )

Thomas Husson | October 09, 2007, 05:06 AM
1st Mobile Web Camp in Paris
Philippe Jeudy, a well-known figure in the mobile entertainment microcosm and Louis van Proosdij, a web 2.0 specialist, will organize the first MobileWebCamp in Paris, next Saturday (October 13) from 11am to 11pm. There will be around 130 attendees and it will take place in Le Cirque d'Hiver, a very...( more )

IanFogg | October 06, 2007, 05:17 PM
Touch Smudges
I love this: Original phone concept: a button for every function. iPhone concept: a smeary finger smudge for every function. Martin’s concept: the surround of the screen is touch-sensitive, making for one big strokable virtual soft key and scroll interface. Also read this take on Nokia vs Apple handset UI...( more )

Thomas Husson | October 05, 2007, 06:59 AM
I just want to make a phone call.
I used to live in the center of Paris, not far from Montmartre. I moved to Nogent sur Marne 18 months ago to find a larger flat and be closer to nature (5 mns walk from the Vincennes Woods). Who cares? I am not going to turn this into a...( more )

Thomas Husson | October 04, 2007, 03:32 AM
02 & MySpace
Sounds like the exclusive agreement between MySpace and Vodafone is now over, since O2 UK just announced that 02 customers would enjoy a free access to MySpace for November and December 2007. It makes sense for Newscorp to try to reach the widest audience possible. A free access is the...( more )

Julie Ask | October 02, 2007, 05:54 PM
Mobile Banking - Driving Adoption
Another day in the life of Julie ... if you're killing time, why not do some field research .... I had some time to kill at a local bank recently. (Had left my ATM card in the machine, and the only person with keys was out moving her car and...( more )

Julie Ask | October 02, 2007, 05:39 PM
Voice Spam - Who is protecting us?
I've just received my third call this week ON MY CELL PHONE from an automated system from company within the wireless industry leaving me voicemails telling me about upcoming events. If you are reading this blog, you likely have as well. Seriously, if we can't abide by common courtesies amongst...( more )

Julie Ask | September 28, 2007, 01:11 PM
Another Innovative MVNO Falls (Disney Mobile)
Disney announced yesterdday that their wireless service will be shut down at the end of the year. It's too bad (though not surprising) to see them go. Many of their services and offerings to families (parents and kids included) seemed to really hit the mark. Like many other MVNO's, they...( more )

Thomas Husson | September 25, 2007, 07:22 AM
Political round up for mobile TV
No less than 3 ministers (Economy, Culture, Entreprise & Commerce) attended yesterday a press conference to officially sign a document saying France would use DVB-H and S DVB-H as broadband mobile TV technologies. Waouh ! Beyond the technology norm (though, it is still unclear to me how satellite and terrestrial...( more )

Thomas Husson | September 24, 2007, 05:05 PM
BLYK & some other mobile ad stats...
So, the details of the launch of the UK ad-funded MVNO are eventually available. A few interesting points: - Blyk seems to exclusively target 16/24 years old, with even some age verification methodology. I guess there are various reasons but the main one is that they want an homogeneous audience...( more )

Thomas Husson | September 21, 2007, 03:59 AM
Google to acquire UK spectrum ?
Google has already and clearly expressed its interest in acquiring spectrum in the US. According to Bloomberg, Google may bid for the new spectrum to be allocated in the auction to be held by Ofcom. It is not clear to me yet which spectrum they are referring to: 900Mhz, 1800...( more )

Julie Ask | September 19, 2007, 01:21 PM
3G Google Phone - Why Wouldn't They?
Ok, so 2/2.5G chips are cheaper, 3G isn't available everywhere, hard to make a phone that works in multiple countries, carriers may be cautious about the type of deals they are signing on their best networks - there are a list of reasons. But, if revenue is derived from page...( more )

Julie Ask | September 19, 2007, 01:02 PM
Mobile Ad Networks Posting Real Traffic - Admob
Admob released some real numbers around their traffic today. They are closing in on delivering 1.5 billion ads per month. More than a third of this traffic is in the US. Some of the growth has been organic while some has been driven by adding partners to their ad network....( more )

Thomas Husson | September 19, 2007, 06:32 AM
Apple iPhone & T-mobile - First take
Again, rumor is now officially confirmed. T-Mobile will be the exclusive German carrier to distribute the iPhone from November 9th onwards. Nothing really new in comparison to yesterday's O2 announcement. There is no announcement for other T-Mobile subsidiaries in Austria, Netherlands, Croatia or Hungary. The 8GB device will be sold...( more )

Julie Ask | September 18, 2007, 06:51 PM
Disney MVNO's Prospects
Disney's CFO mentioned that the MVNO was having some challenges. (See Silicon Alley article) I don't think there is a lot of news here. Going in, I'm sure that they knew there would be a lot of challenges and scale + customer acquisition would be a challenge and they would...( more )

Julie Ask | September 18, 2007, 06:28 PM
Location-Enabled Search
Sprint announced (see Fierce story) the launch of GPS-enabled search today with Microsoft (Tellme acquisition). Tellme signed a deal with AT&T prior to their acquisition by Microsoft. GPS adds a new layer to the solution. It's a good step forward for Sprint - takes one step out of the process...( more )

Thomas Husson | September 18, 2007, 06:38 AM
Apple iPhone & 02 - First take
So, it is now official. o2 will be the exclusive operator to distribute the iPhone in the UK, from November 9th onwards. Despite 02's acquisition of The Link high-street stores last year, the iPhone will also be available exclusively at Carephone Warehouse, to make sure the coverage is exhaustive. Apparently,...( more )

Ina Sebastian | September 17, 2007, 04:38 PM