MMS Memo

2004-02-11T16:24:00.000Z

picturephoning.com: Special Valentine postcards with MMS Go live!

2004-02-11T10:44:00.000Z

Series 60 based Panasonic X700 Symbian Clamshell On The Way [from MobileBurn]

"The managing director of Panasonic's overseas phone division, Bob Morioka, has confirmed that the long rumored Panasonic X700 will be out in stores in July. The X700 will use Nokia's Series 60 UI and have a clamshell form factor, unlike any other Series 60 phone released or soon to be released."

2004-02-10T19:31:00.000Z

Psion's legacy for Symbian?

This is an unusually bluster free Andrew Orlowski article for The Register that raises several interesting questions about the future directions for Symbian, UIQ and Series 60.

2004-02-09T14:33:00.000Z

Nokia to Acquire Psion Plc's Shares in Symbian [from TheFeature]

2004-02-09T11:35:00.000Z

Siemens shows new mobiles and PenPhone at CeBIT [from infoSync World]

InfoSync World give a quick mention to the "world's first cordless home-phone with built-in camera and MMS capability" which Siemens will be demonstrating at CeBIT in March.

2004-02-05T14:30:00.000Z

Model MMS

Daring British mobile phone users can now compete in a nationwide search for the new face of 2004 by simply snapping and submitting a picture of themselves using their MMS camera phone. One male and one female winner will be awarded modelling contracts with Premier Model Management, in conjunction with the Daily Star and Samsung.

You needed to know that, right? ;-)

2004-02-05T10:39:00.000Z

PocketSurfer

I love the idea of a dedicated, pocketable web-browsing device that connects to the net through my bluetooth enabled mobile. But why in the blue blazes are they squeezing the keyboard into so little of the apparently available space? What a waste :-(

2004-02-05T10:31:00.000Z

WebTec announces MMS video solution [via ITWeb]

According to this press release WebTec Online Solutions has announced South Africa's first MMS Video Clip delivery channel.

2004-02-04T23:12:00.000Z

Mobile Phone Gaming [from The Register]

Tom's blog also points to an interesting Register article from today about gaming on mobile phones.

Mobile gaming substitutes micro-moments of boredom for entertainment; you don't need to be wired to a console and TV and now you can be part of a wider community. Local communications is a useful addition to the gaming experience, if not directly to the operators' coffers. However, they should realise that mobile data applications of all types will have a greater impact on the bottom line if they foster all aspects of substitution, community and mobility rather than just price and raw technology.

Next step, MMS and picture messaging?"

I've actually stopped playing games on my Nokia 3650 because I found it caused me serious eye strain. Pity though as I would definitely be more interested in playing games on my mobile than on a console, for precisely the reason mentioned in the article - it allows you to alleviate micro-moments of boredom.

2004-02-04T23:05:00.000Z

Interfaces, design, and evangelism [from Tom Hume]

Tom Hume nails it more succintly than I think I've ever seen -

"Look at the companies whose products inspire evangelism in their customers: Apple, Palm, Nokia, Sony.

Look at who invests heavily in interfaces and design. Coincidence? I don't think so. Interfaces are where you meet your customers."

Absolutely spot on. More of my friends have Nokias than another make. In fact I don't know if any of them have anything other than a Nokia,... honestly! And all 5 members of my immediate family who have mobiles also have Nokias. Wow, I never actually realized that until Tom's post made me think about it. That's amazing!

2004-02-03T19:18:00.000Z

World's smallest and slimmest camera-phone [from The Times of India]

2004-01-29T09:58:00.000Z

Irish, Japanese top Vodafone ARPU tables [from ElectricNews.net]

"Of the numbers published by Vodafone in the update, ARPU in Ireland was the highest in the world in euro terms, save for Japan where ARPU came to EUR621 (JPY82,917). "

So, do we talk more or are we just being screwed?

2004-01-29T09:47:00.000Z

Open Source Symbian site

Mobitopia IRC channel points to the first Open Source Community Center - the first open source Symbian site I've seen.

There are already a number of project on there so here's looking forward to lots more cool software for my Nokia 3650 :-)

2004-01-27T14:10:00.000Z

Study: Symbian beats Microsoft, but..... [via Slashdot]

... Linux beats Symbian. That's according to research by the Zelos Group. They base these findings on "two criteria that matter most to OEMs and carriers: openness and low cost."

2004-01-27T12:06:00.000Z

SymbianWiki [via MobileWhack]

MobileWhack also has the scoop on SymbianWiki. Go read MobileWhack for more, it's a blog that keeps getting better and better.

2004-01-27T12:01:00.000Z

Inter-carrier MMS in the US [via MobileWhack]

MobileWhack points to Zidango which "boasts the ability to send an MMS message to devices on all carriers that do MMS, such as Cingular, T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless", even if the carriers themselves aren't up to the job. Nice one.

2004-01-27T11:33:00.000Z

Full-feature OS handsets by 2008 [via Smart Mobs]

"A Zelos Group report predicts that the mobile electronics sector will be redefined as nearly half of all mobile handsets will be based on full-feature operating systems by 2008. "The mass adoption of full-featured handsets will be disruptive," said the author of the report, Mr Seamus McAteer."

Having used a Symbain 6 based Nokia 3650 for 8 months I can only say that there's no doubt about this. As the reports goes on to suggest, consumers will substitute use of PDAs, digital cameras, gaming consoles and music players. Right now my 3650 plays all those roles, albeit modestly. The camera is obviously limited as is the gaming functionality, and even though I can play MP3s it's not exactly an entertaining experience. However, I'm sure that by 2006 (never mind 2008) I'll be able to replace the phone with a new Nokia model that ups the ante in each of those departments, offering a perfectly adequate all-in-one gizmo.

2004-01-26T22:41:00.000Z

Turning consumers into producers [from Jon Udell]

Coincidetally, in following on from my post below about Douglas Rushkoff's article, I'm just after reading this Jon Udell entry which expresses similar ideas in a slightly different way. He reference Jeremy Rifkin's book The Ages of Access and summarises it thus -

[The] basic premise is that the defining principle of capitalism is now no longer ownership of property bought and sold in markets, but rather access to services leased within networks of suppliers and users.

Are you listening mobile operators?

2004-01-26T20:39:00.000Z

Mickey Mobiles? [from Investors.com]

Disney as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator)? Ludicrous!

2004-01-26T20:00:00.000Z

Content - access versus ownership [from TheFeature]

Douglas Rushkoff churns out thought provoking essays like no other journalist in the mobile media sphere that I know of. In this TheFeature article he extends his 'contact not content' theory with an examination of the trend, among younger people in particular, away from the desire to own and hoard media towards merely wishing have control of their access to it.

Central to his hypothesis is the idea that the more we accumulate and store digital goods the more of a chore it is for us to organize and access them. As long as we have ubiquitous access we shouldn't need to hoard.

So what does this mean for the wireless industry? A lot. It means that the next shift in content delivery and marketing may be as extreme as Steve Jobs' recent innovations in music distribution for Apple's iTunes (now imitated or soon-to-be imitated by the entire music industry).

It's a gamble, for sure, but the best place to invest in the future of content may be to focus on temporary delivery and always-on libraries. Kids are coming to believe that the person who takes responsibility for storing and maintaining the data is the one who deserves to be paid. And they're smart enough, at any rate, to realize that it's a job they don't necessarily want to be charged with, themselves.

Ruskoff also quotes from a Joi Ito piece that illuminates the relevance of these trends to the mobile industry even further -

"Attention is moving from commercially produced content to dynamic or contextual content. An example of this is the shift of Japanese youth spending from CD purchasing to karaoke to cell phone messaging. CDs let you passively consume content produced by companies. Karaoke is more interactive - you are part of the content. With Cell phone messaging, the customer creates the content."

I can back up these ideas with evidence from my own experiences. I used to accumulate browser bookmarks but now just use Google. Google has become my access gateway to the internet. As long as I have a map I want I don't need to store signposts. Neither will I buy CDs any more when iTunes and Napster come to Europe. I have no desire for the liner notes, jewel case or artwork, I just want the vibrations in my ear. As for movies, I use Netflix like DVDRentals.ie, no longer buying DVDs because convenient access to a large library of movies is so much better. Neither do I buy magazines any more, preferring instead to digest the vast sea of quality journalism (like Rushkoff's articles) available on the internet.

Actually thinking about these trends reminds me of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" where Jean-Luc Picard's ready-room was relatively minimalist with no clutter. There was no need for clutter of course because most things could be instantly materialised in the replicator. "Early Grey, hot!"

2004-01-26T19:27:00.000Z

New AgileMessenger version 2.0 [from All About Symbian Forums]

AgileMessenger is definitely one of the best apps I've found for my Nokia 3650. That's why I was so disappointed when it stopped working recently as it did for numerous members of the All About Symbian forums. Happily though they've sorted out the problem with a new version which your are automatically prompted to download on connection. A smooth process and its working like a dream again. Hard to believe its for free! :-)

2004-01-26T18:23:00.000Z

Vodafone launches 3G data trial in the UK [from The Register]

But it's only for corporate customers at the moment with smaller business to be brought in later. I think this slow and easy approach is the right one when compared with '3' who have made a bit of a meal of it really.

2004-01-25T19:53:00.000Z

Cell phone camera community grows worldwide [via HindustanTimes.com]

"The photos are grainy, blotchy and blurry, but for millions of people now toting cell phones with built-in digital cameras, it doesn't seem to be about the megapixels -- or at least not yet. Tens of millions of these less-than perfect pictures were snapped and e-mailed from cell phones in the United States during 2003, the first full year such services were available."

2004-01-22T22:40:00.000Z

Hiding mobile phone masts

Tom Hume points to a Register story about the business of hiding mobile phone masts -

"Mobile phone operators go to extraordinary lengths to conceal the masts that form their networks. They are being disguised as chimneys, clocks, drainpipes, telegraph poles, and even weathervanes."

2004-01-19T14:51:00.000Z

Camera Phones as bar-code scanners[from Wired News]

"During the past six months, no fewer than four software firms have released applications to help consumers turn their camera-equipped mobile phones into personal bar-code scanners. "

2004-01-19T10:06:00.000Z

Missing The Point On Camera Phones [from Techdirt]

Mike at Techdirt expresses the same sense of exasperation as I have on several occasions about the complete lack of understanding the luddites have about the new digital photography playing field.

" Of course camera phones aren't as good for taking pictures. Camera phones aren't designed right now as a replacement for cameras. They're not competing with cameras. They're offering an alternative - and that alternative leads to new and different uses. People who use a camera phone don't take the same types of pictures that a normal camera user takes. That's not what they're for."

But it seems that no matter how many times you say it you'll still get silly articles like the one that Mike links to which points out the weaknesses of cameraphones. Sheesh!

2004-01-18T19:39:00.000Z

There's money in Symbian development! [from The Register]

I never realise that there was so much money to be made with a hit piece of Symbian software -

Even in its early stages, Series 60 has spawned an impressive amount of software. Nokia says six figure sakes are not uncommon, although developers earn more for premium Series 60 smartphone applications than for cheaper Java games. For example, MobiMate sells 15,000 of its WorldMate a week - at $25 a pop - across three OSes including UIQ and Series 60.

Wow, time to dust of my programming books :-)

2004-01-17T09:45:00.000Z

New web standard helps mobile devices [W3C Press release]

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announces the release of the Composite Capability/Preference Profiles (CC/PP): Structure and Vocabularies 1.0 Recommendation. CC/PP 1.0 is a system for expressing device capabilities and user preferences, using the Resource Description Framework (RDF). Used to guide the adaptation of content, a CC/PP profile describes device capabilities and user preferences.

In simple terms, it's been clear that there needed to be a standard way for a cellphone or a personal digital assistant with Web access to be able to say to a Web server, "I am a cellphone. My display size will not allow me to see a framed site. Please deliver the content in detailed lists instead." This is an example of what is known as a "delivery context," where the device characteristics, user preferences, and constraints put requirements on how content can be effectively displayed on the device for the user.

2004-01-16T11:51:00.000Z

What about MMS Voicemail?

Also on Mobitopia Chris Davies has an interesting post suggesting that his operator should be using MMS to send him his voice mails. It seems that he currently has to wait an incredibly long time for SMS notifications of new messages but, like other commentators to the post, I certainly don't have that problem with Vodafone in Ireland.

However, I still think this this idea has much merit for the purpose of being able to store voice mail on your PC. In my experience of using AMR audio encoding it certainly achieves terrific compression ratios and would be ideal for storing a library of voice messages.

Now it may seem unlikely that you'll wish to archive regular voice messages for the long term but let's imagine alternative uses here. How about being able to accept community reports (eg. traffic and football match reports) for a community portal? Setup your Symbian mobiel to sync with the portal each morning and play them back through a bluetooth headset while you commute. Certainly beats radio :-)

2004-01-16T11:35:00.000Z

Bluetooth to the rescue [from InfoWorld]

The excellent Mobitopia IRC Channel tips us off to a great story by Chad Dickerson in InfoWorld about how Bluetooth saved the day for a few ordinary people in an ordinary, every day situation. But, as much as Chad sings the praises of techology, he rightly points out that its not technology for technology sake which is so wonderful but various technologies working together seamlessly to make our lives that bit easier -

"This experience encapsulated so many benefits about technology that I don’t really know where to begin. There’s the wireless angle, the smart phone angle, the utility of Bluetooth, and the maturation of the Internet itself as a tool for the average person to get things done in daily life. For me, though, the experience demonstrates something more transcendent than any one technology: when quick thinking and the right solution come together at the right time, technology can be downright heroic."

Wasn't it the great Arthur C. Clarke who said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguisable from magic".

2004-01-14T11:29:00.000Z

Look and Feel: NEC's Card-Sized Mobile Phone

2004-01-14T10:46:00.000Z

Multiple SIM's - one number [from cellular-news]

"Redknee has announced the delivery of its Synaxis Multi-SIM integrated network service solution to O2 Germany. The service unifies the delivery of mobile services (voice, SMS, MMS, USSD and location based services) to multiple devices (SIMs) for one mobile user. The service could enable a mobile user to talk on the phone using one device, while browsing WAP content on a second device and receiving SMS/MMS on the third device. All devices can be profiled and controlled independently through web and device based self-care."

I'm not sure I understand the implications of this but it must be useful, right? :-/

2004-01-12T19:26:00.000Z

Symbian heads 'to top' of smartphone boom [from CNETAsia]

"The Symbian OS, which grew out of the EPOC operating system originally used on Psion handheld computers, will win the most smartphone market share by 2008, largely because of wide support by mobile phone makers. Most major handset makers, including Nokia, Samsung, Siemens and Sony Ericsson, have licensed the Symbian OS and also own stakes in the company."

2004-01-10T09:35:00.000Z
MMS Picture Size Problem [from boards.ie]

This discussion from Boards.ie about the problems of MMS picture resizing when sending cross network is getting more and more interesting, if a little technical.

2004-01-08T22:30:00.000Z
Young Dudes prefer P2P [from IMediaConnection]

No longer married to TV, the elusive young male demographics’ wandering eyes are locked squarely on their PCs. A new survey shows traditional media use among 18- to 34-year-old men is down across newspapers, magazines and television—especially among the younger end of this category."

"Oh jolly good", I can hear the operators thinking, "We do internet and data so that's good for us too..... isn't it?". Well no, it's not really unless you get a clue about the whole direction you're going with 3G and exclusive content deals. Because, what the survey illustrates is that the 18-34 male demographic is also turning away from content in preference of contact. Sure, plain surfing is part of the mix but interactive multiplayer games (virtual contact) and email/IM comprise alot of the new time spent online.

2004-01-08T14:25:00.000Z
Mobile net has 'best ever month' [from BBC News]

"More people accessed the net on their mobile phones in November 2003 than any other month, said analysts.

Increasingly more services and applications are being made available to those with Wap/GPRS-enabled mobiles, enticing people online on their phones.

As people get more confident with newer handsets and technologies, the demand for such services looks likely to grow.

I'm currently working on a website project where primary access is expected to be via WAP over GPRS. Times they are a changin'....

2004-01-08T09:43:00.000Z
Handwritten Moblogging [from New Scientist]

It seems the latest moblogging twist is 'handwritten moblogging' using the new generation of digital pens -

"The Nokia Digital Pen and Sony Ericsson's Chatpen both let users turn ordinary scribbles and doodles into digital images that can be sent via email or multimedia messaging service (MMS). One web logger has put together computer code to automatically convert these doodles into weblog postings."

Of course the disadvantages are that pictures of text are so much more inefficient that normal text and can't be quoted, googled, trackbacked and so on. Still, I can think of several situations where this could be really useful.

2004-01-08T09:26:00.000Z
Wherify Unveils World's Smallest GPS Locator Phone at CES

I think 2004 is going to be the breakthrough year for moblogging. Most of the elements were in place last year except for one - location/positioning. GPS based systems like Wherify's will fix that.

2004-01-06T19:47:00.000Z
Reality TV comes to your 2.5G phone

According to The Inquirer a British company called Vemotion is claiming a first in allowing owners of the current generation of smartphones to view a live TV show over GPRS. It seems to be a bit costly though.

2004-01-06T15:30:00.000Z
Mobile-specific TLDs miss the point [from Tom Hume]

I have to agree with Tom's analysis that people who propose a mobile specific TLD are really missing the point -

Why is there an assumption that the mass market of mobile users want to know about URLs, or where the services they access reside? Do cable TV viewers care what frequencies are used to distribute different channels? Do satellite users care which satellite is used to broadcast their favourite channels? Of course not."

We techies badly need to step back more often and realise that the assumptions we make about the mass population are wildly inaccurate and that regardless how wonderful our idealised vision is we can't just force our philosophy on the great unwashed.

2004-01-05T14:47:00.000Z
Chinese unsure about MMS [from Shanghai Daily]

"More than half of Chinese mobile phone users are still undecided whether to use multimedia message services that allow for the transmission of pictures between handsets due several factors, including the high retail prices of the special handsets, according to the latest survey by a Shanghai consulting firm."

But this factor and the others are cost related or technical. They do not hint at an indifference to MMS. Operators need to realise that there is a cash cow waiting to be milked here if they can just find the right price point.

2003-12-31T12:37:00.000Z
Spread the SMS chaos

And why do a bit of load balancing by sharing some of the New Year SMS chaos with the Americans. By the sounds of it they won't be having too much of a meltdown ;-)

2003-12-31T12:29:00.000Z
Sending New Years SMS and MMS Messages [from boards.ie]

This Irish bulletin board has a discussion on how it's going to be sheer chaos sending SMS text messages tonight, new year's eve. And, as one contributor notes, you can probably forget about MMS altogether. I have noticed the same as him, that my MMS during the holiday period have all taken three or four attempts to send a regularly failed (on Vodafone Ireland). So much for having free MMS for December and January :-(

2003-12-29T21:29:00.000Z
3GPP Philips Camcoder PRO for Nokia 3650 [from AAS Forums]

Just yesterday I was extolling the advantages of using a Series 60 mobile phone for producing home movies. Today I came across a piece of software that makes this an even more compelling proposition - Philips Camcoder PRO.

It's a terrific application boasting numerous features in advance of the Hantro software that came with my 3650, including unlimited video length, a range of frame capture rates and quality options, and full screen playback. Make sure to check it out.

2003-12-28T22:28:00.000Z
3GPP Philips Camcoder for UIQ [from AAS News]

All About Symbian tells us about the Philips Camcorder software for SonyEricsson P800 mobile handsets -

It provides real-time audio video grabbing and encoding in the MPEG-4/H263 video format as specified by the 3GPP standard. It is fully integrated into phone application environments such as MMS, BT, IR and e-mail. Recorded videos can be played back on all 3GPP compliant players such as but not limited to Philips Platform4 PC Player and Apple Quicktime 6.3.

Video sofware is a killer-app on a mobile phone. Nearly ten years ago I jumped to the chance of buying a camcorder when a friend decided he was selling his. Over the following few months family occasions of every kind were used as an excuse for this wannabe Spielberg to record hours and hours video footage. And then, suddenly, it all stopped. For a number of reasons -

The camera was bulky and not easy to carry everywhere. As the best movie moments are usually spontaneuous this was a severe limiting factor to the entertainment value of captured footage

Recharging was a chore

Editing was impossible without getting extra expensive equipment and no editing meant painfully boring passages

Sharing movies was difficult

During this holiday season I've recorded dozens of 10 second video clips on my Nokia 3650 mobile phone. The phone goes everywhere, is always charged up and ready to capture an event at a moments notice.

Each video clip occupies no more than 100kb of disk space. I've used Apple Quicktime to sequence those clips, stitch them together and export a standard .mov formatted file for viewing on any PC. A 2 minute video fits in a single floppy diskette and can thus be shared easily among family and friends. Playback size is only a few square inches and video quality is certainly basic but overall this home video system beats my old camcorder hands down.

2003-12-20T22:30:00.000Z
MMS Picture Size Problem

A friend of mine finally got a camera phone so at long last I've been able to test phone-to-phone MMS. The results were puzzling and disappointing however. We're both on Vodafone but regardless of direction sent our MMS photos are being reduced in size by about 50%. Other people have noted the same problem on the boards.ie forums. This is not good! Phone screens are small enough for full size photos but half size pictures require a magnifying glass for scrutiny and are practically useless.

2003-12-20T22:00:00.000Z
CoMobi carries Push2Talk further

CoMobi looks like a very interesting new Symbian application. From their webpage -

What is CoMobi?

CoMobi is an innovative software solution for direct communication between two mobile phones. It enables clients with mobile devices based on Symbian OS to talk real time over GPRS and data call. You can also exchange text, voice messages, pictures, melodies, office documents, videos and any kind of files. All they have to do is just push a button to connect to the other smart device. They are communicating, no matter where they are, in a faster, cheaper and more secure way.

Features:

comobiDirectTalk: Push-2-Talk service. ComobiDirectTalk allows people to communicate real time over GPRS or data call using a walkie-talkie function. To talk to a friend, the user just presses a button. ComobiDirectTalk uses the phone's native voice capturing and playback mechanisms, users don’t have to buy any additional hardware;

comobiText: Presence based instant text services. Mobile users send and receive text messages

comobiVoiceMessage: comobiVoice is instant voice message service;

comobiPix: CoMobi users can send pictures to each other. When picture attachments are received they are stored on the phone so they can be accessed at any time;

comobiMusic: the feature allows users to send and receive melodies for mobile phones. Melodies can be rejected or saved on the phone;

comobiFiles: CoMobi users can easily exchange any file types like office documents or videos.

2003-12-19T16:13:00.000Z
Apple tunes up QuickTime for wireless [from CNET News.com]

"Apple Computer released a new version of its QuickTime multimedia software on Thursday, adding support for the creation, delivery and playback of video over wireless networks.

QuickTime 6.5 includes native support for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), the media standard used in wireless networks that use CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) 2000."

2003-12-18T19:13:00.000Z
Sports Photos 'in 20 seconds' [from BBC NEWS]

"Technology allowing sports photos to be sent to people's mobile phones within seconds of being taken is being pioneered by a company in Nottingham."

Ok, as a sports fan I think that's wonderful, but isn't this a bit ridiculous? -

"Empics is currently applying for a patent on the technology, which essentially delivers pictures directly from the camera."

I mean, isn't that essentially what the Nokia Observation camera can be set to do. And isn't there software available for Series 60 phones that enables them to do pretty much the same thing? [scratches head]

2003-12-18T16:44:00.000Z
Mobiclip Video Player for Series 60

Some people on the All About Symbian forums were talking about the new Mobiclip Video Player and seeing as I hadn't installed anything on my Nokia 3650 in quite a while I decided to give it a whirl.

I must say its quite an impressive bit of software even if the example clips aren't too entertaining! The viewer is free and The Mobiclip Converter software which allows you to convert .swf, .avi, .mov, .mpeg and .mp3 files into .MO format playable on the Player is also free for private use. As I'm still using Windows '98 though I wasn't able to test it out unfortunately :-(

2003-12-17T14:34:00.000Z
AnchorDesk finally gets a Bluetooth clue

Previously I complained about the extraordinary cluelessness of ZDNet AnchorDesk pundit David Coursey regarding bluetooth specification. Refreshing then to see that Anchordesk Editorial Director, Patrick Houston, is a reformed doubting Thomas when it comes to the same wireless technology -

Patrick has changed his commuting routine and saved himself five hours and 50 minutes a week -

"I owe that time to Bluetooth, which has made it possible for my Palm Tungsten T3 handheld, my Sony Ericsson T616 cell phone, and my AT&T wireless data service to work together in a surprisingly productive combination. The experience has made a Bluetooth believer out of me."

Alleluia! Another one saved from damnation :-)

2003-12-17T11:06:00.000Z
Drive, Talk, Watch TV Shows [from Wired News]

"Finland's leading broadcasters, mobile service providers and Nokia plan to start sending commercial TV programs to cell phones next year, the companies said. The Internet protocol datacast, IPDC, will bring TV to mobile handsets, and is set to begin in autumn 2004 with 500 initial users in and around Helsinki. "

This whole TV on mobile thing is going to be no more successful than 3's recent attempts to sell content. Mini mobile TV's have been available for years but I've never seen anyone using them!

2003-12-14T19:29:00.000Z
Meteor has MMS all wrong [via SiliconRepublic.com

Meteor, Ireland's third operator, are a year later than competitors Vodafone and O2 in bringing MMS to market but they still don't have a clue what they're doing. In fact they've got it back to front just like '3' (see previous post below) -

Warren Harding, GPRS project manager at Meteor, commented:

"The mistake being made by O2 and Vodafone is they see MMS as a communications service whereas Meteor sees it as an entertainment service. Too many people get tired of picture messaging. To make MMS work you’ve got to give people a better proposition than just camera phones," he declared.

With leadership like this its no wonder Meteor have a mere 5% of the Irish market and are going nowhere.

2003-12-14T18:52:00.000Z
3G is boring?

Well, maybe not 3G, but according to Gareth Jones, 3’s chief operating officer, they're not yet making the most of the media rights they've secured which were supposed to make 3G a 'killer-app'. So, has the penny dropped? Are the operators starting to realise that mobile communications is all about contact and not content? Let's hope so.

2003-12-13T22:43:00.000Z
Vodafone launches funding initiative to boost Live! content [via NewMediaAge]

"Vodafone Academy has been developed to boost the usability and cross-platform capability of content services on Vodafone Live!, while the Quick Start programme will help third parties launch content onto the Live! service. The daily running of both initiatives, which will be funded by Vodafone, has been outsourced to Bango.

'We want to help our content partners improve the usability of their services and the way that they exploit different channels such as Java, MMS and video,' said Vodafone head of content Al Russell

2003-12-12T12:22:00.000Z
Puca announce MMS marketing platform

Puca, a mobile marketing and mobile entertainment services company, has announced the launch of its new MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) platform, which enables clients to send multimedia messages to subscribers of all Irish mobile networks. Puca hosts this service on its own platform and says its technology allows companies to reach all participating customers, regardless of which mobile network they subscribe to.

2003-12-12T12:01:00.000Z
PhotoMoblog a stranger - face prosecution [via TheFeature]

And here's a perfect example of what Alan was talking about (see below). This feature article points to the prospect of photomoblogging becoming a crime in Hungary -

Hungary's data protection ombudsman ruled Thursday [Dec. 11] that mobile telephone users who transmit pictures of people who are unaware of being photographed are liable to prosecution, and their cellular service providers could be, too.

Ombudsman Attila Peterfalvi said he started an investigation after one of Hungary's three cellular providers ran an advertisement saying: "If you see a good-looking girl or guy on the street, don't hesitate to share the aesthetic experience with your friends via MMS (multimedia messaging)."

How dumb is this cellular provider? Did the really think its smart to be so risque?

2003-12-12T11:53:00.000Z
Another day, another article about banning camera phones [via Reiter's Camera Phone Report]

Alan Reiter makes a very good point in relation to the growing incidence of city municipalities banning camera phones, that the manufacturers are really asking for it by the nature of the advertising they do. But, I have to ask, how stupid are these government officials? Do they really think that the extra speed and convenience of posting to the net with camera phones is so hugely different than what could be done previously with an SLR camera and scanner if someone was so inclined? For goodness sake miniature cameras have been available for years and I'd argue that Casio wristcameras could be put to much more insidious use thank bulky phones.

So why have camphones been singled out? Alan must be right - the manufacturers have foolishly waved a red flag to a bull.

2003-12-11T21:37:00.000Z
Bluetooth PDA Keyboards To Be Released in March 2004

And about bloody time too! Even though the article only mentions Palm and Pocket PC compatibility I'm assuming here that I'll be able to use one with my Symbian based Nokia 3650. Surely?

2003-12-10T22:57:00.000Z
Video Moblogging!!

Wow, textamerica.com, the moblogging website, has announced that it is accepting video submissions in 3GP, MOV and MP4 formats. This is fantastic stuff and bound to revolutionise on-the-scene news coverage. If you thought all those blackout, firestorm and snowstorm photo blogs were exciting can you imagine if they had been video blogs?

2003-12-10T22:37:00.000Z
Webraska GPS for Smartphones [via Scotsman.com News]

More moblogging goodness -

"GPS-navigation is now available for a wide range of mobile devices with genuine mass-market appeal, and is set to become one of the mobile killer-applications driving value-added service revenues. Webraska supports the latest versions of the operating systems for mobile devices – currently Symbian Series 60 v6.1 and higher – as well as Microsoft Windows Mobile for Pocket PC and Smartphone 2002 and 2003. Webraska’s GPS navigation software is compatible with the smartphones being launched in time for Christmas such as the Nokia 6600"

There's no doubt but that GPS is the key moblogging element missing in the current crop of smartphones. Services like this will plug the gap.

2003-12-09T11:16:00.000Z
Reaxion Announces BREW(TM)-based MMS Client

"Reaxion Corp., a global provider of entertainment and communication software for mobile networks and devices today announced the availability of its Multimedia Message Service (MMS) client developed for QUALCOMM's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless(TM) (BREW) platform. The MMS client is now available in Australia to subscribers of Telstra's Mobile Loop wireless data services."

2003-12-07T22:31:00.000Z
Bluejacking as a learning opportunity [from Tom Hume]

Tom Hume makes a welcome return to the blogosphere by posing an interesting question about the social conventions to be built around new technologies, such as Bluetooth, that broadcast our willingness to 'hook up' with each other to varying degrees, in public places.

Er, go read Tom's post to make sure you interpret that summary in correct context ;-)

2003-12-06T10:44:00.000Z
AgileMessenger - the best IM for your phone!

The previous version of Agile Messenger connected to ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and AOL through Agile's own servers. But I'm currently beta testing the new version which connects directly to the Instant Messaging services instead. The stated aims are to improve speed and reliability and so far both of those are being met.

On top of that there are some nice little UI tweaks that, as well as making everthing look neater, make it easier to track multiple conversations.

Cliche ahead warning..... the best just got better.

2003-12-05T14:52:00.000Z
Mobile shipment boom continues in Europe [via ElectricNews.net]

"Mobile handset shipments are still booming in Western Europe, rising significantly in the third quarter of this year, according to new market research. Analyst firm Strategy Analytics is reporting a 23 percent rise in shipments compared to the third quarter of 2002. Shipments were up 7 percent on the second quarter of this year. The firm reported that a healthy demand for colour-screen phones and cameraphones was mixed with a continuing strong demand for low-end handsets."

Extracting the main poits -

Finnish manufacturer Nokia remains top of the pile in Europe, with shipments growing from 13.5 million units in the third quarter of last year to 13.7 million units in the third quarter of this year.

Siemens performed very well, with shipments standing at 5.5 million, up from 2.5 million units in Q3 of last year.

Samsung, meanwhile, enjoyed a period of steady growth, coming in at number three in the table.

Sony Ericsson climbed into fourth position, doubling shipments from 1.1 million to 2.2 million.

The report brought bad news for Motorola, however, which was down to fifth position from third a year ago, having been overtaken by Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

The main surprise for me is the performance of Siemens. I still don't know anyone personally with a Siemens phone but the last time I was in the Vodafone shop I could appreciate just how much they'd improved looks-wise. However, my friends continue to upgrade with Nokias. It's an incredible brand image and reputation that the Finnish manufacturer enjoys.

2003-12-05T11:21:00.000Z
Camera phone photo printing goes nationwide [picturephoning.com]

One of way to know when a new technology has crossed the chasm from novelty gadget to mainstream 'go-get' is when it's very own ecosystem takes root. That's what has happened with cameraphones. We have MMS storage services, postcards services, blogging and now printing. Just like we've seen with the blogging phenomenon vis-a-vis Technorati, Feedster, Blodgex, RSS, Aggregators, Blogshares, Blogstreet, etc, an ecosystem confers a self-sustaining momentum which makes it impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.

2003-12-04T22:21:00.000Z
The first billion done, the second to come. [from BizIT Singapore]

"After taking more than a decade to hit its first 1.28 billion mobile subscribers worldwide as at end-September this year, the industry is poised to hit its second billion within the next five years, according to Ericsson."

2003-12-04T11:55:00.000Z
T-Mobile T-zones attracts 5 million to MMS since launch [from netimperative]

"T-zones attracted more than 4.9 million unique active users in October, while 15 million MMS messages were sent in the first 10 months of the year, the company said. This includes users in the US as well as across its five European markets: Germany, UK, Austria, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands."

2003-12-03T10:11:00.000Z
DoCoMo to use Linux and Symbian? [from asahi.com]

"To forestall Microsoft Corp.'s attempt to dominate cellphone operating systems as well as lower handset prices, NTT DoCoMo Inc. plans to adopt an OS based on the open source Linux software, sources said. At the same time, DoCoMo is also looking into the possibility of developing a standard based on an OS made by Symbian Ltd., a British firm whose OS is used widely in Europe and in some handsets in Japan."

I know that Linux is making some progress in the PC market but isn't it refreshing to see such a hyperactively competitive landscape as we see in the mobile space.

2003-12-03T10:03:00.000Z
Where is the perfect phone UI? [from The Register]

Orlowski rambles a bit, again, in this Register article but poses a very pertinent question in closing -

"The interesting part of this field is that phones don't have so much of a legacy in UI terms. We're still at the experimentation phase. We'll see our share of Microsoft Bobs and Mac OS X Docks, but I think the phone designers have been paying much closer attention to what users want to do than OS companies. (Apple Computer, and the late Be Inc. being a noble exceptions) . Whether they get the opportunity to do so, or whether they simply end up crafting static web pages for the carriers' branded services, is the big question."

Indeed that is the big question, and the big fear! It's the main reason I've railed, at length, against the growing power hunger of the operators (such as Vodafone), whose vision of a intelligent UI seems limited to a cartoon web page.

2003-12-02T20:12:00.000Z
Amazing streaming video solution

Sometimes its amazing what you come across when aimlessly surfing the web, which I was doing for a time this morning while waiting for a phone call. I'm not quite sure how I got there but boy was I delighted to come across DV4.com.

Among other digital media technologies, DV4 offer a solution for streamed live or on-demand video to mobile phones over GPRS. Unfortunately you need to fill out a form to arrange a demo of their 'traffic camera' on Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin but believe me, if you have a Nokia 3650 or similar phone its more than worth it! What I saw was by far the smoothest and highest quality streamed video I've ever seen on a mobile phone. In fact, it was much better than anything I've ever seen through Realplayer on my PC over a 56kps dial-up! Eye-popping stuff. I never imagined live video could be so good pre-3G.

2003-12-02T15:08:00.000Z
Women want MMS [from Unstrung]

"European women are particularly interested in mobile services such as e-mail. In all three countries, women are more interested than men in the possibility of sending photos and videos (MMS). "

Well I, for one, am not at all surpised by this finding. Not only do most women I know take way more photos when on holiday, at weddings, etc, than I ever will but they all spend alot more time on the phone too!! Now, take both of those activities and combine them and it's a recipe for gold. Call me a sexist pig but it's true ;-)

2003-12-02T10:33:00.000Z
Fixed-line MMS in 2004 [from Telecom.paper]

"Several leading telecom carriers are planning to launch fixed-line MMS services in 2004 to allow residential customers to send and receive person-to-person MMS messages, reports Telecom Markets"

You know I'm not sure this is going to fly. We've had fixed-line SMS in my household for the last 4 months and have hardly used it at all. Why? Well I think its a combination of two factors -

1)The nature of texting, which tends to be personal. Texting in general tends to be alot of whispered sweet nothings, jokes and howya's. Messages like that are obviously personal in nature and you want to be sure the intended recipient is the only recipient!

3)The age profile of texters. By this I mean that most texters, here in Ireland at least, already have their own mobiles. The main use for fixed line texting then is contacting family members who don't have mobiles, who tend to be older non-texters. Which is a bit of a catch-22 if you think about it.

So it seems to me that adding SMS and MMS to home-based fixed-lines is a bit like adding fax capabilities - a largely wasted effort because of a mistaken understanding of the of device. However, if the user interface can be optimally simplified there will be at least one great use - sending family photos (eg. of grandchildren) to grandparents.

2003-12-02T09:54:00.000Z
Cellular's Saving Grace [from Business 2.0]

"Just in time for the holidays, and as voice revenues decline, camera-equipped cell phones top many consumer wish lists."

Well I hope so because I'm getting pretty tired of having no-one to photo message! Especially now when Vodafone Ireland are offering free MMS for the months of December and January :-(

2003-12-01T22:55:00.000Z
O2 first with MMS interconnection in UK [from The Inquirer]

2003-11-30T22:33:00.000Z
MMS mess? [from Unstrung]

“Even with Vodafone there are MMS compatability issues across its operations because of different platform vendors and legacy systems."

2003-11-29T11:26:00.000Z
Europe falling behind the US on wireless says Nokia [via Techworld.com]

"Europe looks set to lose the lead it currently holds over the US in the use of wireless mobile communications, according to a senior Nokia executive.
The US has seen a revolution in both wireless technology and more importantly pricing, according to Bob Brace, VP of mobile solutions at Nokia Internet Communications, speaking at IDC's Mobility Conference in London."

(Via Textually.org, via Mobitopia IRC Channel)

2003-11-28T15:22:00.000Z
Driving MMS Deployments to mass market success [presentation]

Anyone in the vicinity of Dublin on December 10th might like to catch the Wireless Wednesday Breakfast Briefing being held in association with Meteor and Nokia. Entitled 'Driving MMS deployments to mass market success' it features Gavin Barrett, Business Development Manager Nokia talking about ‘MMS – Success cases from World markets’ and Warren Harding, Project manager GPRS, Meteor on 'Launching MMS in a sophisticated market as the third operator'

Location is The Shelbourne Hotel, Stephens Green, Dublin 2 and registration will take place between 7.30am-8am. Might be worth going along, for the Nokia presentation, not the Meteor one :p

2003-11-28T11:46:00.000Z
I repeat, Bluetooth is not dead [from InfoSyncWorld.com]

While nosing through the latest InfoSyncWorld.com stories I noticed that Jørgen Sundgot echoed my previous thoughts on Bluetooth by refuting the inane musings of some so-called technology pundits in regard to premature proclamations of Bluetooth decay.

2003-11-28T10:29:00.000Z
Sendo X, the best Series 60 phone?

infoSync World is emphatic -

"According to Sendo itself, the company has had Series 60 running on its hardware since January, and contrary to what one might believe it does indeed seem as if though the manufacturer is about to pull off the brilliant stunt of delivering a device that rivals - and perhaps even surpasses - the very cream of its competitors.

The hardware design of the unit is also incredibly slick, and compared to Nokia's 6600 it appears much smaller - which it also is, but the design emphasises this. In fact, one might go as far as saying the X is the first truly pocketable Series 60 smartphone.

I hate to sound a negative note but I think Sendo is really going to be up against it in terms of brand recognition, of which they have none! But I hope they prove me wrong and help the Series 60 platform to flourish.

2003-11-27T22:44:00.000Z
Mobile tones ring in the changes [from BBC NEWS]

Korean firm WiderThan's service lets you choose what the person calling you hears when phoning. "It replaces your normal dial tone with music or any kind of content you want," said WiderThan's Jonathan Kim.

The service has been very popular in South Korea, and could be offered by European mobile networks by mid-2004.

Call me a luddite but I just cannot see ring-back tones taking off here in Europe.

2003-11-27T12:20:00.000Z
Demotelco FoneBlog

So I decided to try out the FoneBlog demo and must admit it works rather nicely, with sound clips and all. However, the fact that Vodafone in Ireland limits the size of MMS to 30kb means I can only use the basic quality setting on my photos if I want to submit them in large format. Why such a miserly limit? :(

Anyway, here's my foneblog.

2003-11-27T09:31:00.000Z
NewBay announces FoneBlog V2

FoneBlog v2 adds enhanced messaging functionality designed to drive increased MMS traffic. Visitors to FoneBlog can now forward picture messages directly from the web or WAP site. In addition, FoneBlog can notify users of comments on their site by sending alerts with embedded links using WAP Push, MMS and SMS messaging. This encourages the development of user driven phone communities resulting in increased data activity.

It sounds like this product is developing in all the right directions, fusing the best of blogging, community message boards, multimedia, push messaging, interactivity, and most of the uniquely powerful mechanisms of the wired and wireless internet. Newbay seem to recognise the mantra that contact is king and content is the catalyst.

2003-11-26T20:00:00.000Z
Nokia clarifies new structure [via PMN]

Interesting clarification from Nokia -

Effective from the beginning of 2004, Nokia will be split into four divisions with profit and loss responsibility - mobile phones, multimedia, networks and enterprise. Nokia expects phones to account for 65 percent of revenue, networks 20 percent, multimedia 10 percent and enterprise 5 percent.

A bit of an eye-opener for me - the expectation of multimedia bringing in twice as much revenue as enterprise!

2003-11-26T19:54:00.000Z
Microsoft to moblog

Sounding a little ominous, Microsoft warns us to, "Get Ready for Moblogs. Turn an ordinary blog into a moblog by including pictures from your Pocket PC or Smartphone. Check back here in December to learn how to create yours." Forgive me if I forget Mr. Gates :p

2003-11-26T19:14:00.000Z
SENT, a phonecam art show [via Boing Boing]

SENT will invite professional photographers, filmmakers, media personalities, and regular folks to explore the camera phone's potential as a creative tool. Here's some very insightful commentary from their site -

"Phonecams are changing the way we see the world, and our place within it. They're an extension of urban eyes. They democratize, hack, and deconstruct photography. When everyone is both photographer and publisher, how will art change? How will human conversation change? What will be the difference between professional and amateur?"

Is it annoying anyone else that we can't seem to settle on a single term for mobile communications devices with digital image capture capability? What's it going to be people? Camera phones, camphones, phonecams, or phone cameras? Or if you've got another suggestion please leave a comment :-)

2003-11-25T13:59:00.000Z
Nokia's view of itself, wireless, camera phones and multimedia [from Reiter's Camera Phone Report]

Alan informs us that Nokia may now, already, be the largest digital camera vendor in the world. As he adds, "this is indeed momentous". And it reaffirms the viewpoint that there is a whole new and separate market out there for disposable photography.

2003-11-25T11:01:00.000Z
Self-created content is mobile warcry [from Australian IT]

"Self-created content is probably one of the biggest opportunities in the mobile market, ' Gartner analyst Robin Simpson says. 'We haven't yet thought about SMS and MMS as self-created content, but basically that's what it is."

Precisely. Because self-created content is 'only' the catalyst for contact between people and contact is what's king.

2003-11-25T09:50:00.000Z
Sony Ericsson P800 is now a MMS camera! [via PDA Live.com]

"Yellow Computing, a software developer for various mobile devices, has released MMS CAM for the UIQ P800 from Sony Ericsson, a utility that enables you to receive images from the built-in camera in return for an SMS message."

After the novelty wears off, is something like this of any real practical use?

2003-11-24T22:53:00.000Z
Russ reviews the Nokia 6600

And a thorough review it is too. I knew Russ liked Series 60 but the rate at which he's moving through the complete range (7650,3650, N-Gage, 6600) is really making me jealous :-(

2003-11-24T10:34:00.000Z
Vodafone reject Opera?

Can anyone confirm if the commentator on Russell Beattie's blog, Tom Price, was correct about Vodafone requesting the Opera browse not be included on their phones in Europe, even though the Nokia 6600 was supposed to come with it? If this is true it's yet another example of the operators losing the run of themselves. According to Tom the reason may that they don't want any 3rd party apps to be installed, possibly for support reasons, but haven't the PC makers been shipping 3rd party apps... forever? Can you imagine getting a PC without a 3rd party app?

2003-11-23T19:56:00.000Z
Mobile phones set to sparkle amid Christmas sales gloom [from The Sunday Times]

"Strong demand for phones with colour screens and integrated cameras, partly driven by low prices, has left many shops struggling to obtain supplies of the most popular models."

2003-11-22T10:30:00.000Z
It's Nice to Share [from TheFeature]

I've long chastised the wireless operators for trying to be something they're not, for building walled gardens, putting their silly logos on handsets, and branding themselves as hip media companies (vis-a-vis Vodafone with David Beckham).
Douglas Rushkoff similarly takes them to task for these misguided notions of self-importance -

"The wireless strategy, as currently espoused by this admittedly biased wing of the cellular industry, is to “move up the food chain” away from wireless access and into what they believe is the rarefied and more profitable realm of content creation. Or at least content deals. So they spend their time, energy, and money trying to woo branded content providers – from sports leagues to television networks – into exclusive contracts to distribute some scaled-down version of their entertainment enterprises."

Like I've said before, it's a recipe for disaster. We don't care about the data pipes any more than we care about where our electricity is coming from. A utility company is a utility company.

"Wireless companies will, one day, be able to charge their customers for the minutes they use. The object of the game is not to turn into another kind of company, but to do the job of fostering good communication, the sharing of data and programs, and the development of self-organizing communities of users. "

2003-11-21T11:16:00.000Z
Why camera phones are so darned popular [ZDNet AnchorDesk]

AnchorDesk's David Coursey is still a luddite when it come to camera phones and only grudgingly and condescendingly acknowledges them as a huge success story. Who made this guy a technology pundit? Talk about a fence sitter - "I'm not exactly calling camera phones a fad, but I'm not exactly not calling them a fad, either." Sheeesh!

And what about this for a cop out on his previous acerbic dismissal of Bluetooth -

... but I think Bluetooth is probably a better alternative. This could be one of those times when Bluetooth actually becomes useful. I've been skeptical about the wireless technology in the past, but I'm feeling better about it these days, for reasons I find hard to explain rationally.

Sorry David, but you've passed your sell by date.

2003-11-20T19:50:00.000Z
Sony Ericsson P900 owners can now record and send video through MMS

2003-11-20T19:47:00.000Z
Symbian handset sales quadruple [from silicon.com]

"Symbian's licensees shipped nearly four million high-end mobile phones running the company's operating system during the third quarter of this year, which ended on 30 September, the company said on Thursday - nearly quadrupling last year's figures."

2003-11-20T15:17:00.000Z
mobilerss.net -- RSS News for the mobile user

In my never ending quest to find the perfect RSS aggregator for my Nokia 3650 I noticed today that Feedster now allows a 'QuickSub' to an aggregator called mobilerss.net. While it's designed for PDAs it reformats the feeds beautifully for a mobile phone too and goes straight to the top of my chart!

2003-11-19T21:06:00.000Z
Advanced MMS Wireless Interoperability [from 3G.co.uk]

"The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for GSM mobile operators, confirmed today that more than 100 GSM network operators – the vast majority of those currently deploying Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) - have already implemented agreements to accelerate MMS evolution. By committing to follow the same MMS standards specification and implementation paths these operators will ensure international roaming and interworking between networks to allow the transfer of messages on a national and international scale."

2003-11-19T11:37:00.000Z
Second generation smart mob(loggers) [from BBC NEWS]

Most sane people still don't know what a first generation smart mob is but we already have second generation smart mobs appearing! This one is using camera phones and other mobile tech to disrupt George Bush's UK tour and spoil his stage managed PR photos.

"We have been described as a second generation smart mob. We are encouraging people to use camera phones and send us e-mails with photos," campaign co-organiser Richard Wild explained to BBC News Online."We are trying to spoil the PR, so we are not doing anything directly, but encouraging people to protest by turning their backs in press photos so they can't be used."

Whatever your political leaning you must admit this is darn funny and clever :-)

2003-11-18T19:07:00.000Z
Camera phones set to be fastest-ever selling consumer product [via Reiter's Camera Phone Report]

Alan points to a USA Today article telling us that, "camera phones are set to become the fastest-ever selling consumer device -- beating DVD players." When you think about it's not too surprising. These devices are cheaper than DVDs were at first but also, most importantly, their viral, in the sense that you have them on you most of the time and love showing them off to friends. And once your friends see them they understand that they need to get one to receive your MMS photos and videos. In fact, as viral as PSTN telephones, faxes, and mobile have been in the past I'd say that camera phones must surely qualify as the most viral hardware devices of all time?