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Administrator on January 27th, 2006
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bluepulse - the write once, play anywhere mobile platform. at MobHappy
bluepulse - the write once, play anywhere mobile platform.
by Oliver Starr on January 22nd, 2006 in Analysis, Mobile techie stuff, New launches
bluepulse logobluepulse, a product of Bluepulse Pty. Ltd in Sydney, Australia may just be the first company to have “cracked the code� to one of the single most significant and confounding problems faced by mobile developers, carriers, handset manufacturers and most significantly end-users.
The company has developed a proprietary technology platform called OADP (Open Application Delivery Platform) which when combined with their SPOT (Small Portable Object Technology), the company claims (and my experience so far as well as that of a number of people besides myself) confirm that their bold claim, that they’ve overcome the barriers of
* compatibility
* connectivity
* billing
* distribution
IS TRUE.
In the real world this means that regardless of phone or carrier, you can download their bluepulse software platform, install a few widgets that are available either free, can be developed by the end user or professional developers or purchased, and in just a few moments experience a substantially similar experience as any other user on any other phone and any other network.
I previously blogged about bluepulse over at my other blog, MobileCrunch where I suggested that we may be seeing the first giant application success of Mobile 2.0. Let me go one further. If what I’ve experienced and what’s been reported to me bears out to be true over some time, what we’re really seeing is the kind of essential technology development that will make Mobile 2.0 possible! Bold words to be sure, but until the barriers come down and users everywhere can have a common experience regardless of where they are or what phone or carrier they have we’ll never see the sort of mass adoption and use that we enjoy with the PC.
In fact, this is a topic that I think bears much greater analysis and discussion; the disparity in sameness that is a huge barrier to global adoption. As much as the IEEE and other standards bodies spend bickering over standardization, why is it that as much as I know about phones, I have to poke around like a newbie every time someone hands me a phone I’ve never seen before? You’d think with the great reduction in number of entry methods on a typical phone (a keypad vs. a keyboard) it would be simple enough to arrive at some basic standards that hold true no matter what the phone.
Think about this for a moment. When you log on to a PC there are some basic steps that are always the same no matter what. You log in, either click a desktop shortcut or the “start� button on your taskbar and from there you activate programs and go about your business. With a phone about the only standards are that you dial numbers and hit send. For mobile data the rules go out the window. This is why bluepulse excites me so much. I put it on several phones from the high end Motorola A1000 smartphone to the Nokia N90 to the Nokia 6820 with its brilliant (but tiny) screen. Although the display real estate is really different the display itself and the operation of the program and the widgets I’ve installed.
Although not all the widgets are free there are enough that you can get a real feel for the application, particularly since it includes a chat client that consolidates AIM, Yahoo, MSN and ICQ into one interface (think Meebo for phones as Mike Arrington at TechCrunch put it).
The one complaint I have relates to pricing of the widgets that are not free. Fees are billed in credits which you can buy with a credit card or (if you’re in Australia) via SMS. The problem is that it’s a little confusing keeping track of what you’re really being charged. If I buy 2000 credits, which is apparently the smallest increment I can buy (and which costs $25) and a widget is 8 credits a day how many days will it take to use up my credits? Of course the answer is 2000/8 which equals 250 (days), but I would suggest that a simple conversion is done that provides end users with some additional information to include cost per credit in your local currency ($25/2000 = $ 0.125 per widget) and your daily spend is calculated based upon the total pulse credits required for your widgets times whatever your cost per pulse credit happens to be. In other words, for US a credit is one and a quarter cents so 8 credits equal 10 cents. Thus, if my daily spend is 8 credits, I’m spending 10 cents per day. I think making this all transparent would be very useful as people gain a lot of comfort from seeing that what they’re buying is only a few pennies. Clarity brings confidence and confidence is what supports purchases.
Anyway, although I’d blogged this before, I felt that this was something too important to overlook and since I don’t know which Mobhappy readers also check out MobileCrunch, I though it would be a good idea to post this here too. I’d deeply appreciate feedback from readers on this too. If you’ve tried bluepulse could you please comment your experience along with your carrier and your phone? I’m trying to get an idea of just how far this “universal compatibility extends. Also, do tell what widgets you’ve tried especially if you’re using some beyond their free stack. Thanks.
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By
Administrator on January 24th, 2006
Posted in Devices | 1 Comment »
Mobile Monday - Breaking News: Nokia adds Bluetooth to two clamshell phones
Updates to popular models
Nokia adds Bluetooth to two clamshell phones
Ilya Poropudas
6 Jan 2006 at 11:06
The new models are based on the Nokia 6101.
The new models are based on the Nokia 6101. Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia announced on Thursday updates for two of its popular clamshell handsets. The major addition to the mid-range fold-style phones is Bluetooth capability.
The Nokia 6102i is an update of the Nokia 6102 model, while the new Nokia 6103 is a revision of the Nokia 6101, and features a updated design. Both models feature VGA cameras, dual color screens, integrated FM radios, and support for MIDI and MP3 ring tones.
The Nokia 6102i and Nokia 6103 phones will be available in a GSM 900/1800/1900 version primarily for markets in Europe, Africa and Asia while a GSM 850/1800/1900 version will be available primarily for markets in the Americas. Both phones are planned to be available during the first quarter of 2006 and are expected to retail for approximately 200 euros, before applicable taxes or subsidies.
Nokia offers a wide array of Bluetooth technology-enabled enhancements such as wireless car kits and wireless headsets as part of its line of mobile enhancements. On Thursday, Nokia also announced three new wireless headsets.
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By
Administrator on January 24th, 2006
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Mobile Monday - Breaking News: Nokia adds Bluetooth to two clamshell phones
Updates to popular models
Nokia adds Bluetooth to two clamshell phones
Ilya Poropudas
6 Jan 2006 at 11:06
The new models are based on the Nokia 6101.
The new models are based on the Nokia 6101. Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia announced on Thursday updates for two of its popular clamshell handsets. The major addition to the mid-range fold-style phones is Bluetooth capability.
The Nokia 6102i is an update of the Nokia 6102 model, while the new Nokia 6103 is a revision of the Nokia 6101, and features a updated design. Both models feature VGA cameras, dual color screens, integrated FM radios, and support for MIDI and MP3 ring tones.
The Nokia 6102i and Nokia 6103 phones will be available in a GSM 900/1800/1900 version primarily for markets in Europe, Africa and Asia while a GSM 850/1800/1900 version will be available primarily for markets in the Americas. Both phones are planned to be available during the first quarter of 2006 and are expected to retail for approximately 200 euros, before applicable taxes or subsidies.
Nokia offers a wide array of Bluetooth technology-enabled enhancements such as wireless car kits and wireless headsets as part of its line of mobile enhancements. On Thursday, Nokia also announced three new wireless headsets.
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Administrator on January 24th, 2006
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MobileTechNews - Pan-European mobile music agreement
Pan-European mobile music agreement
Posted: 23-Jan-2006 [Source: Ericsson]
[Ericsson and EMI announce pan-European mobile music agreement providing full-track downloads and ringtones from EMI’s catalogue in Europe.]
Ericsson today announced a pan-European mobile music agreement with EMI Music. The agreement allows Ericsson to enable European mobile operators to distribute ringtunes and full-track downloads from EMI’s catalogue in Europe, including tracks by Coldplay, Faith Evans, Gorillaz, Norah Jones, KT Tunstall, and Robbie Williams, and Bebe (Spain), Tiziano Ferro (Italy), Wir Sind Helden (Germany) and Raphael (France).
Around 12,000 ringtunes and 200,000 full-track downloads will be made available to consumers through Ericsson under the terms of the agreement. Ericsson’s Personalized Music Portal is a white-label business-to-business solution, and is the most widely commercially deployed personalized mobile music service among operators today.
Ericsson’s Personalized Music Portal is based on the Service Delivery Platform for media services (SDP Media), which enables operators to easily and quickly launch ringtunes and full-track download services at low cost. Content providers, including EMI, provide Ericsson with digital content, and Ericsson negotiates with operators to provide a full management service. This allows the content provider to concentrate on creating and marketing new content, while operators can focus on promoting the service and billing the consumer.
Doug Lucas, Vice President, digital development and distribution for EMI Music in Europe, says: “Music fans across Europe have consistently shown that they want to use their phone to listen to full tracks from their favorite artists, or to personalize their device with a ringtune. This agreement with Ericsson further increases our ability to provide millions of consumers with great music from EMI’s catalogue wherever and whenever they require it.”
Johan Bergendahl, Vice President Marketing, Ericsson, says: “The Ericsson Personalized Music Portal is already a great success and we expect that the demand for the service will increase even further with the great content and promotion opportunities that EMI and its remarkable roster of artists brings to this partnership.”
More…
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By
Administrator on January 24th, 2006
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Mobile Monday - Breaking News: Americans find Nokia phones hardest to use
Usability study finds media downloads difficult
Americans find Nokia phones hardest to use
Timo Poropudas
13 Jan 2006 at 00:05
Nokia 6620 was the most difficult phone out of 13 in the study.
Nokia 6620 was the most difficult phone out of 13 in the study. The global ring tone market is projected to surpass USD 9 billion during 2006, according to LogicaCMG (2005), and yet new phones are no easier to use than older products.
Usable Products Company just completed a comprehensive, expanded study of mobile media shopping, purchase, and use. The study highlights Cingular’s Motorola RAZR, T-Mobile’s Nokia 6101, and Virgin Mobile’s Audiovox Flasher, in addition to ten previously-studied phones (2004).
The Motorola RAZR, available from Cingular, ranked 11th out of 13 phones tested in late 2005. Nokia’s first US flip phone, the 6101, available from T-Mobile, scored 7th. Audiovox’s Flasher V7, available from Virgin Mobile, scored 6th.
23 percent of all US cell phone users downloaded at least one ringtone in 2005, according to Ipsos Insights. In October 2005 alone, 3.5 percent of all cell phone users purchased a wallpaper and 3.0 percent purchased a game for their phone (M:metrics). LogicaCMG predicts the global ringtone market to triple in size from mid 2005 to mid 2006, to USD 9 billion.
Usable Products Company’s independent study of mobile telephone media purchase usability indicates that, despite being a multi-billion dollar global industry, media purchase usability remains as challenging as ever.
Sprint’s Samsung and Sanyo phones are the easiest to use while the Motorola RAZR is much harder to use than expected, as is T-Mobile’s newly-released Nokia 6101 flip-phone.
Usability rankings for mobile phone enhancement purchase and installation:
1. Sprint Samsung a680
2. Sprint Sanyo 5500
3. T-Mobile Motorola v600
4. Verizon Samsung a670
5. Cingular LG L1400
6. Virgin Mobile Audiovox Flasher V76.
7. T-Mobile Nokia 6101
8. Verizon LG VX7000
9. Sprint Nextel Motorola i710
10. T-Mobile Blackberry 7100t
11. Cingular Motorola RAZR
12. T-Mobile Nokia 3660
13. Cingular Nokia 6620
These rankings reflect Single Usability Metric scores based on performance and perception data. 20 one-hour usability interviews were conducted on each of 13 different mobile telephone models. Audiovox, Blackberry, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sanyo phones and service were purchased from Cingular, Sprint (and Sprint Nextel), T-Mobile, Verizon, and Virgin Mobile.
In December, 2005, Usable Products Company delivered the first commercially available Single Usability Metric results. This metric enables a true ranking of usability of mobile telephones with respect to enhanced user services like ringtone, wallpaper, and game shopping, purchase and installation, according to Usable Products Company CEO, Scott Weiss.
“The Cingular Motorola RAZR’s poor usability surprised us, coming in with a 47 percent success rate for ringtone download and installation, as compared to a 94 percent success rate for the T-Mobile Motorola v600. Participants had difficulty finding the place from which they could buy media, and the extra steps required to complete downloads stymied users.
“Nokia’s first US flip phone, the T-Mobile Nokia 6101 fared little better, with a 60 percent success rate for wallpaper download and purchase, though it was much better than the 7 percent success rate achieved by participants using the T-Mobile Nokia 3660.
“The Audiovox Flasher V7, new to this study, was slightly better than average,� stated Weiss, with a 79 percent success rate for wallpaper, but an 84 percent success rate for game downloads.
The Media Download Usability Study is a complete snapshot of the usability of thirteen mobile telephone handsets available from U.S. mobile carriers. Company-wide licenses are available for immediate purchase.
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Administrator on January 24th, 2006
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Mobile Monday - Breaking News: Mobile music gets more attention than mobi-TV
BT, Virgin Mobile test 1000 users
Mobile music gets more attention than mobi-TV
Timo Poropudas
13 Jan 2006 at 13:29
UK mobile phone users are more interested in music than TV, according to the findings of a recent BT/Virgin Mobile trial, reported in the UK press. The Guardian newspaper says to have seen an analysis of the recent BT and Virgin Mobile Group pilot scheme, which involved 1,000 mobile customers being given the chance to try out mobile TV and music services.
Consulting company BWCS quotes Guardian saying that 59 percent of those involved in the recent trial service said that access to TV on their handsets was an “appealing� option. However, on the other hand, 65 percent of the trialists rated mobile digital radio at the same level of interest. The Guardian reports that users watched an average of 66 minutes of TV a week on their phones while they listened to an average of 95 minutes of radio.
The research also shows that users are prepared to pay around GBP 5 a month for access to TV services on their phones.
The trial is one of the most extensive of mobile TV services being carried out at the minute and involved users within the greater London area. BT’s Movio service uses a portion of the digital radio spectrum currently available and allows mobile customers to receive live television programs as well as digital radio stations.
Emma Lloyd, the head of BT’s Movio business, told the Guardian newspaper, “I would characterize it as radio being even more attractive than TV in the trial. We will be able to piggy-back on the attractiveness of digital radio and I don’t think that is a negative thing; I see it as a positive thing because the UK leads the world in digital radio.�
The Movio service uses normal broadcast signal. It works using Internet technology and part of the digital radio spectrum owned by national digital radio broadcaster, Digital One. Taiwanese company HTC is already making the first commercially produced handset capable of receiving the broadcast TV images.
Virgin Mobile is hoping to land a period of exclusivity for the technology in Britain and says it will offer several TV channels to its customers from this summer.
MmO2 is due to report back on the results of its trial next week. The former BT mobile wing has been trailing the Nokia-backed DVB-H standard, which relies on different radio spectrum.
Lloyd said yesterday that BT is aware of the strengths of DVB-H in broadcasting multiple channels but had made the decision to go with DAB because the network is already in place across the country.
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Administrator on January 24th, 2006
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Mobile Monday - Breaking News: Mobile phone revenue decline predicted for this year
005 peak USD 115.1 billion
Mobile phone revenue decline predicted for this year
Timo Poropudas
17 Jan 2006 at 09:08
Nokia 1100 is advertised for about EUR 60 in Shanghai.
Nokia 1100 is advertised for about EUR 60 in Shanghai. Worldwide mobile-phone market revenue is expected to decline in 2006, and will not recover to the peak level of 2005 until 2009, iSuppli Corp. predicts. The reason for this development is slowing growth and falling prices.
Worldwide factory revenue from production of mobile phones will decline to USD 109.7 billion in 2006, down 4.7 percent from USD 115.1 billion in 2005, which represented the historic high for the market.
Revenue growth will resume in the subsequent years, but only by single-digit percentages. By 2009, revenue will recover back to its 2005 level of USD 115.1 billion.
Lack of new subscribers
A major factor behind the revenue contraction is the decelerating growth rate of mobile-phone unit production. With most worldwide markets saturated, growth in mobile-phone manufacturing is being driven by replacement sales, rather than by new subscribers, leading to slower growth.
After rising by 30 percent in 2003, 25.1 percent in 2004 and 13.6 percent in 2005, global mobile-phone unit production growth will decelerate to only 4.9 percent in 2006, rising to 850 million units, up from 810 million in 2005.
Growth also will slow on an absolute basis in 2006, with factory production rising by 40 million units for the year, compared to 97 million in 2005, 143 million in 2004 and 131.5 million in 2003.
Price keeps going down faster
Another key element in the revenue contraction is the precipitous decline in the mobile phone Average Selling Price (ASP). The global mobile phone ASP typically declines on an annual basis due to decreases in component costs. However, the ASP reductions are accelerating in 2005 and 2006.
The global mobile phone ASP is expected to decline to USD 129 in 2006, down 9.2 percent from USD 142 in 2005. This follows a fall of 8.5 percent in 2005 from USD 155 in 2004. In contrast, ASPs deceased by a mild 2.7 percent in 2004.
Several factors are contributing to the fast decline in ASPs, according to Scott Smyser, director and principal analyst, communications and consumer electronics for iSuppli.
“Low-end, ultra-low-cost mobile phones are being pushed into emerging markets in large numbers. Meanwhile, at the high-end, wireless communications service providers are continuing to demand lower-cost 3G mobile phones in order to spur greater consumer adoption of 3G services. These two factors are driving down the overall ASP in 2005 and 2006,� Smyser said.
ASP erosion will settle down in 2007, with the average price declining to USD 128, down only 1 percent from 2006, iSuppli predicts. Pricing will decline by a mere half a percent in 2008 and 2009.
The rising production of high-end 3G phones will offset continuing pricing erosion in low-end models, leading to a slower decline in the ASP.
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Administrator on January 24th, 2006
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Mobile Monday - Breaking News: Ericssonto deliver EMI tunes in Europe
Downloads and ringtunes
Ericssonto deliver EMI tunes in Europe
Timo Poropudas
22 Jan 2006 at 23:45
Ericsson has announced a pan-European mobile music agreement with EMI Music. The agreement allows Ericsson to enable European mobile operators to distribute ringtunes and full-track downloads from EMI’s catalogue in Europe.
The agreement covers music by such EMI artists as Coldplay, Faith Evans, Gorillaz, Norah Jones, KT Tunstall, and Robbie Williams, and Bebe (Spain), Tiziano Ferro (Italy), Wir Sind Helden (Germany) and Raphael (France).
Around 12,000 ringtunes and 200,000 full-track downloads will be made available to consumers through Ericsson under the terms of the agreement. Ericsson’s Personalized Music Portal is a white-label business-to-business solution, and is the most widely commercially deployed personalized mobile music service among operators today.
Ericsson’s Personalized Music Portal is based on the Service Delivery Platform for media services (SDP Media), which enables operators to easily and quickly launch ringtunes and full-track download services at low cost. Content providers, including EMI, provide Ericsson with digital content, and Ericsson negotiates with operators to provide a full management service. This allows the content provider to concentrate on creating and marketing new content, while operators can focus on promoting the service and billing the consumer.
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Administrator on January 24th, 2006
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Mobile Monday - Breaking News: China’s music downloads to reach USD 222 million
Forecast for 2008
China’s music downloads to reach USD 222 million
Timo Poropudas
23 Jan 2006 at 00:02
A new report from In-Stat says that by 2008, China’s market for legal online music downloading will reach annual revenue of USD 222 million.
The In-Stat report talks about promising signs in 2005 include the launch of several third-party online music stores, and some unauthorized services legitimizing their services.
The end of 2007 will be the turning point for China’s legitimate digital music market, according to Anty Zheng, In-Stat analyst.
“By the end 2007, several mega online music stores will have opened; the user base of portable music devices will have surpassed 100 million; a major crackdown on music piracy will have been in effect for several years; third-generation (3G) mobile communication system access will be rolled out; and consumers will be adequately educated about legitimate digital music.�
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