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updated posting on March 30, 2008
google spectrum - wireless everywhereI'd call it hubris, except that Google actually has an achievable plan to change the entire way that we use wireless spectrum. In years past, of course, we've used this same spectrum for broadcast signals -- from TV to radio. Yes, yes, I know Google's proposal is specifically targeting the "white spaces" in this spectrum, but the word from news blogs that have tracked Google's $4.6 billion attempt to win the 700mHz auction tells us that the "white space" proposal is just another way of getting what Google wanted in the first place. The Googlers want to turn the entire U.S. into one big wireless hot spot -- simply by using spectrum that floods us right now (TV white space, etc.), but that carries no useful signal. As C|Net put it: "Google on Monday said it has a plan to have American consumers from Manhattan to rural North Dakota surfing the Web on handheld gadgets at gigabits-per-second speeds by the 2009 holiday season." That's an aggressive timeline! There are a few more details that make this possibility highly possible -- this portion of the spectrum can propagate long distances and through obstacles, and it also has the bandwidth to support vastly faster data rates than today's standard Internet service offerings. I guess it's appropriate that Richard Whitt from Google is tossing around "Wi-Fi on steroids" as a naming possibility. This is incredible news.... to say the least. Oh, but there are some down-sides, especially in regards to face-to-face relationships, so over at Geek Dad, I've posted some additional thoughts about the impact on family life >>
mobile device as marketing vehicleChanges around the world presage the future of media as a mobile entity -- any kind of content, you'll be able to get on what we used to quaintly call a "phone." What's really interesting is that the money is absolutely there. In the developing world, the "phone" has already become the principal form of communication, so for example, in this article on India, the phone can become the primary marketing vehicle. Think about that for a moment -- the mobile device is bigger in India than newspapers, than magazines, than jingles on the radio, than TV advertising, and even bigger than billboards. That's huge. That's a paradigm shift happening right before our eyes. Mobile media is witnessing an explosive growth in India. It is already fueling the growth of the world wide web. India's mobile subscriber base has already crossed the 200-mn mark. This is creating a potential for the mobile to be the biggest medium to marketers. As should be obvious to any observer -- because mobile marketing/advertising is taking off in a big way, marketers and mobile operators are looking for new ways to monetize services and develop new streams of revenue. Right, wouldn't you?
the next mobile platform?
Because of my interest in messaging as a primary necessity for any platform (see: recent updates to LinkedIn and Facebook that make messaging a core piece of their value), I'm intrigued to see Apple immediately embrace the messaging clients. AOL was first Web chat app chosen for iPhone demo, but may not be the only one to run on it. Here's where C|Net provides coverage of AIM on the iPhone. AOL was chosen to build a test version of AIM for the iPhone in two weeks, Apple said at the event. I have it from an inside source that the app they built was a "bit of a hack." But still, the fact that something exists means that this thing is for sure better than Google's mostly-dead-on-arrival OpenSocial fiasco. Here's what they have in AIM on the iPhone so far: The AIM on iPhone application offers a buddy list, the ability to easily toggle among multiple instant-messaging conversations with a finger swipe and the option of using a photo on your iPhone as your buddy icon. With AIM being the top IM client, it's no wonder Apple chose AOL over Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google. But it's got to be a snub to Google, its partner on other iPhone applications. AIM, meanwhile, is interoperable with Google Talk, so maybe I'll be able to get to my Google contacts on the iPhone like I can via Gmail. AIM has about 50 percent of the IM market, followed by MSN/Windows Live Messenger with about 33 percent, Yahoo Messenger with about 30 percent and Google Talk with about 2.5 percent, according to Nielsen Online. The figures are close estimates based on the percentage audience each IM application has of a total unique audience. That's why the percentages of market share add up to more than 100 percent.
More Past Entries in this Section... >>
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Here's the list of mobile platforms we know today: BREW, Symbian, J2ME, WAP.... Pretty lame, isn't it?
In the coming months, I think that Adobe AIR / Flash and Microsoft Silverlight will make credible plays for being a platform developers
will love on mobile devices. However, the big news of the day -- the news you've all been waiting for -- is the fact that the device
with the largest browsing base in the world -- the iPhone -- now has a sorta-real footstep towards becoming a platform. At least John Doer
thinks it's a platform, and he put $100 million on the table to make it so.
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