A few random updates of interest from last week’s CTIA Wireless event…
CTIA was as interesting and busy as ever, although I would guess that the numbers were likely way down this year for obvious reasons… on the up-side, Vegas is pretty much giving away hotel rooms due to high vacancy rates so if you need to go there for a business trip you’ll be able to do so on the cheap very easily (airfares are also very reasonable). I caught wind of some amazing technologies in the mobile space while there, many providing data sharing solutions using mobile technology that take advantage of the cloud so you can easily share documents with colleagues, interact with your docs via mobile and even communicate and access remote computers at home of office from your phone! If mobile media is important in your job you’ll be pleased to know that some great solutions are coming enabling you to do much more and likely wow your colleagues at the same time.
8 mega pixel cameras in your mobile will be plentiful and we’ll even be treated to some fine HD video enabled devices very soon (like the Samsung 8910 and Nokia N97) complement these devices with services like Twitter and Qik which will be supporting HD in the near future and you’ll be able to do some very cool stuff with your phone.
Some fine enterprise mobile solutions are here (or coming soon) like the very cool QuickOffice for iPhone - imagine, for just $20 you can have full MS Office-like functionality on your iPhone (they also support Blackberry and S60) enabling creation, sharing, editing or office documents ala mobile.Users can take advantage of QuickOffice in order to access Office applications and documents via mobile, also new in this application is some enhanced file management support.Capabilities provided by QuickOffice include: copy/paste; undo/redo; formulas, enhanced formatting; mathematical functions; worksheets; and even quick send (email) of files to your contacts.
A meetup with members of the QuickOffice team informed me that the full suite is just $19.99 (great value although it may scare looky-loos in the iTunes marketplace who are used to free or $1 apps!) Users needing only QuickSheet (spreadsheet) or Quick World (word processor) can purchase those apps individually for $12.99, although I suggest you go for the full suite. The stand-alone QuickOffice Files can be purchased for $3.99. See www.quickoffice.com for more.
A cool or WOW technology seen at CTIA Wireless was a mobile being billed as the World’s first social mobile from INQ1. The device has been designed to be very affordable and very simple to use, integrated with your favorite social mobile applications. Users will have instant access to some of their favorite social media services like facebook, skype, Win Live messenger and others using this clever little device. See http://www.inqmobile.com/ The device was kicked off at GSMA and won first prize in the Global Mobile Awards! We grabbed a short video demo,provided below. The device is available in Europe in select markets and will come to the US in the near future. The device weighs in at just 100grams, supports HSDPA and GPRS, has a 3.2 mega pixel camera and will run most Java apps.
For developers, Nokia will be rolling out their new marketplace at Ovi next month. This means consumers will have simple access to applications and more, while developers will have another sales channel putting their apps in front of millions of potential users. If you have an idea for a mobile app then you need to check out details of publishing on Ovi. Finally, no surprise here as the LBS space is showing no signs of slowing down. NAVTEQ selected the winners for another LBS Challenge and again, the number of entries this year set a record. Interesting to note that of the almost $8 billion in mobile revenues in Q4 last year, 1/3 of that was generated from application sales and GET THIS, apparently, some 70% of these apps were location aware. Location is indeed presenting opportunities to many developers (keep in mind, this year we are seeing “hot” mobile LBS apps that incorporate some kind of advertising and “green” solutions are also very hot. Something to think about! FYI, you can check out some images from CTIA HERE
You don’t need Zoltar to know the future of mobile we saw it at CTIA
A device that was everywhere at CTIA was the Nokia E71 - recall, AT&T recently was announced as the US carrier for this awesome device and consumers can purchase an E71 for just $100 - an amazing deal (2 yr contract required). Of interest, at the NAVTEQ LBS Challenge, more than 3/4 of the finalists showed off their application via screen grabs using an E71! Those of you considering your first Symbian S60 device (particularly in North America) this is a great pick and take note, coming soon will be the E75, a similar device although slightly smaller, packing all the same punch but also including a very handy slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Keep your eyes peeled for the E75 to hit your market!
Speaking of the US market, we heard from the T-Mobile CEO at the opening keynote and he had some interesting words about the US market. Of interest, he noted how every element of life is now looking to mobile and the USA is currently the largest wireless data market. Recall T-Mobile last year rolled out the first Android mobile device. Some interesting numbers from the company as they point out that 81% of G1 users regularly browse the mobile web; 4/5 of users download applications weekly; and the G1 user consumes some 50X more data than the traditional voice customer! We're told that T-Mobile is apparently planning on rolling out 3G service in 130 more cities by the end of 2009. For more apps and info about the G! be sure to check out our Android resource on the LBSzone.
Blackberry users got some cool news at CTIA as the company officially announced the Blackberry Application World, a one-stop search and discovery portal for Blackberry device users. Interesting to note that Blackberry currently holds the #1, #3, and #5 most popular smartphones in use in the US. Look for Blackberry to move fast in the area of mobile music with some innovative partnerships coming (like a sponsorship of the U2 concert tour) and connected music services for Blackberry in the works. Recall that last week Skype was officially announced for Blackberry and Networks in Motion rolled out a navigation service for Blackberry (see video) - Gokivi Navigator
iPhone users got loads of news at the event, one item that got my attention was the newly updated Yahoo! mobile for web. This app has been available for all mobiles for some time but was recently given a big update (its no longer clunky and slow like it was!). iPhone users can grab the app in the iTunes Shop or any other mobile user can access the web service via http://new.m.yahoo.com. Once configured, users can access local news, weather, event information, local search, their favorite RSS feeds and much more. Yahoo! mobile is definitely worth bookmarking on your mobile.
