What happens when you promise end-users a persistent connection to data, applications and services regardless of the device they’re using? Mobile cloud computing aims to deliver just such a promise. Mobile access to popular web-based services such as Facebook and Gmail, combined with next-generation smartphones like the iPhone, Palm Pre and Android devices, is driving broad adoption of mobile data. However, the center of economic gravity is shifting. Historically, access to the mobile network was the service. But as users have expanded the uses for those bits, what the user does in a given session becomes fundamental to how much the service provider can charge the user or a third party (e.g. an advertiser). Thus, it’s likely that the mobile, IT and MCC sectors will continue their current marriage of convenience to attack a rare convergence of both short-term and longer term opportunity. However, in the process of adapting to an Internet that’s becoming more global, mobile and web-based by the day, the mobile and IT industries will be forced into new ways of doing business. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Helsinki…you have a problem! (Actually it’s Espoo which has a problem, but Helsinki sounded better.) If you want to know why Nokia is in trouble, you need to look no further than its market share declines during the second quarter of 2009 in the company’s home […] Read more »
[qi:gigaom_icon_geolocation] At our Mobilize 09 conference, someone joked that Nokia was the Yahoo of the mobile world. I’m sure he meant that Nokia was bereft of direction and purpose. You can also extend that argument to Nokia’s acquisition strategy. The company has been buying up tiny […] Read more »
[qi:gigaom_icon_mobile] The Linley Group released a report last night in which it claims that about 150 million handsets are missing from the official calculations of phones sold in 2008. The research firm notes that while some 1.2 billion cell phones shipped last year, 1.43 billion cellular […] Read more »
Take away India’s mobile miracle and you soon realize how much the country lags in terms of PC penetration and broadband adoption. According to recently released data from the Indian government, the total broadband subscriber base rose to 6.8 million in July from 6.62 million in […] Read more »
The mobile content distribution industry began to undergo a seismic shift last year with the launch of Apple’s App Store, and a host of competitors from across the mobile spectrum are in various stages of following Apple’s lead. Google was first with Android Market, which is built on an open-source platform backed by a consortium of dozens of key players in wireless. Research In Motion jumped on the bandwagon in recent weeks with its BlackBerry App World, and Microsoft, Nokia and Palm – among others — are set to launch offerings this year.The motivation to build an application-distribution channel varies from segment to segment, of course. This report identifies the major players in the application-distribution model and looks at how the trend will affect carriers, handset manufacturers, developers, content owners and end users. It also examines key factors that will contribute to the success or failure of specific app stores, general shortcomings in the new app-store model, what solutions are already needed and how the space will evolve over the next several years.
UPDATED Aug. 31, 2009 (9:31a.m.): Report re-posted with summary table included Read more »
Mobile epitomizes the shift in power to consumers, who have grown accustomed to controlling the kind of media they consume, how they consume it, when they consume it, and how they share their experiences through it. While the enormity of options available might seem overwhelming, it presents a rare opportunity for advertisers to communicate directly with the intended audience through sophisticated targeting, to precisely measure the impact of individual campaigns, to positively persuade the consumer to buy, and finally, to achieve the elusive nirvana of tying the purchase back to the advertising campaign in a scientific manner. Mobile advertising presents a unique opportunity to the media ecosystem not only to make traditional media more accountable but also to reinvent interactive advertising in the most fundamental way. Mobile ad networks play the important role of a broker between advertisers and publishers. The ad ecosystem has evolved over the last 12 months. In this report we will take a look at the value chain, the evolution and the players, and discuss some emerging themes in this segment. Read more »
