Gabor Torok's Forum Nokia Blog

Gabor Torok's Forum Nokia Blog http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog <p>Software architect working in Symbian/S60 area since 2000 and still being enthusiastic about mobility. Please visit my introduction page on Forum Nokia Champions web page.</p> tote_b5 2009-11-23T15:24:21Z On Google's move in navigation http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/11/05/on-google-s-move-in-navigation <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #333333"><p>It's been announced a couple of days ago that turn-by-turn GPS navigation would be supported soon on devices based on Android 2.0 platform. <strong>Free of charge. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal">The new <a href="http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/">Google Maps Navigation</a> offers free turn-by-turn navigation garnished with Google's core business (search by voice and in plain English, search along route) and existing services (traffic, satellite and street views) for Android devices.</span></strong></p><div><div><br /></div><div><strong>I was shocked to hear this news.</strong> The two biggest map data providers, <strong>Tele Atlas</strong> and <strong>Navteq</strong>, have been acquired a few years ago, former for $2.9bn by TomTom latter for $8.1bn by Nokia. Their main revenue sources were <strong>licensed map data</strong> and <strong>value added services</strong> e.g. turn-by-turn navigation. Since Google uses either its <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline">own map data</span> or one that is freely available, I think I told everything: they do whatever they want. It is still unknown how Google will monetize on the new service - other than ruining competitors -, but advertisement seems to be a very likely option.</div><div><br /></div><div>On a related note, I found Bill Gurley's article on <a href="http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/10/29/google-redefines-disruption-the-%E2%80%9Cless-than-free%E2%80%9D-business-model/">Less than free</a> business model quite interesting. Briefly, Google offers Android to OEMs free of royalty, even more, they pay ad split to them. In other words, it's not only that <strong>OEMs</strong> don't have to pay, but on the contrary, they will <strong>get paid</strong>. One of the commenters of this article gave a hint on <strong>another business model</strong> that Google may try to follow: don't bother with ads, but offer a package to navigation device makers, news agencies, automakers, roadside advertisers, etc. <strong>A package that is based on continuously updated traffic data</strong> that can be used to provide always optimal routing information.</div><div><br /></div><div>How can competitors react on Google's move? <strong>Without own map data it's very difficult to compete</strong> with someone who's giving away the same service that we are selling.</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><strong><em>Stefan from IntoMobile</em></strong> suggested that <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2009/10/29/there-is-only-one-way-someone-can-beat-google-at-the-mapping-game-now.html">Nokia should make map data free and wait for the flood of new mapping services</a> - let's see what innovation will result in. Not a bad idea, but would leave Nokia in a bit of passive role, wouldn't it?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">The other option could be to do the same as Google may do in the future: <strong>sell a package instead of showing ads</strong> (see above). Why Nokia? Because it has maps data. Which platform? It's rather Maemo than Symbian - we're talking not only about mobile phones, but other embedded devices, too.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Finally, the third option is <strong>advertising and provide free service</strong>. Who? Microsoft doesn't have own map data, but has Bing and Yahoo! search, which is a good basis for advertising. Whereas Nokia doesn't have search, but has maps data (I told you that <a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/nokia-should-buy-yahoo.html">Nokia should have bought Yahoo</a>!). Perhaps these companies should form an alliance?</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Looking forward to your comments,</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-googles-move-in-navigation.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a> </div></div></span> Business Opportunities/Services Mobile OS Windows Mobile Symbian Android Nokia Market 2009-11-05T02:37:11Z tote_b5 Smartphone statistics, 2008 http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/03/12/smartphone-statistics-2008 <span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><p>Gartner released their <a href="http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=910112">statistics</a> about worldwide smartphone sales, which contains useful information not only the previous quarter (Q4 2008), but the whole past year. I'd like to share the following two figures with you:</p><div><br /></div><div><p align="center"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VZrzn8O0xcE/SbksMWzJ9NI/AAAAAAAAAkk/TzhMIZg1x44/s400/Worldwide+smartphone+sales+2008+by+Vendor.jpg" border="0" /></p></div><div><br /></div><div>Comments:</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia </span>is still #1, but it's <span style="font-weight: bold">market position is seriously challenged</span> by RIM, Apple and HTC.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Even Apple is suffering</span> from decreased sales in Q4, but that didn't prevent them from being ranked as the third vendor by sales.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><p align="center"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VZrzn8O0xcE/SbkvhkAyx1I/AAAAAAAAAks/EyNSnUs7hFc/s400/Worldwide+smartphone+sales+2008+by+OS.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p></div><div>Comments:<br /></div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Symbian had lived better days</span> a year ago, but it's still a bit more than <span style="font-weight: bold">50% of smartphones</span> that runs this operating system.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">RIM and Mac OS X performed exceptionally well</span> even during the tough economical situation.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Although the share of <span style="font-weight: bold">Windows Mobile</span> shrank a bit, it still maintains its <span style="font-weight: bold">third position</span>. Only blinds can't see that <span style="font-weight: bold">not for long</span>.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, some words on regional sales:</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Dramatic increase</span> (69%) is experienced in sales of smartphone <span style="font-weight: bold">in North-America</span>, which now accounts for 20% of mobile phones in this region. Carriers are agressively<span style="font-weight: bold">pushing data plans</span> that is beneficial for vendors, too, offering vertical mobile solutions from hardware manufacturing to providing developer SDKs to cloud services.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">While overall device sales dropped, <span style="font-weight: bold">Asia/Pacific recorded a 2.3% growth</span> in smartphone sales.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">EMEA region were up by only 2%</span>, Western-Europe sales increased by 9.6%. <span style="font-weight: bold">Samsung drove sales</span> in 2008 with Omnia as its most successful product.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a></div></span> Business Opportunities/Services Mobile OS iPhone Windows Mobile Symbian Android Nokia Security Market 2009-03-12T17:16:54Z tote_b5 What is the world's most recognized song? http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/01/19/what-is-the-world-s-most-recognized-song <span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><div class="post-body"><p><span style="color: #333333">Thanks to the <a href="http://mobili.st/?p=156">Carnival of Mobilists</a> and more importantly the <a href="http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2009/01/a-study-in-digi.html">great analysis from Tomi Ahonen</a> I learnt where the original Nokia tune is from. I'm not a tune-addict, still I can't stop listening to this one. Enjoy!</span></p><p style="text-align: center"><object height="344" width="425"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hsp6dR-fL4A&hl=en&fs=1"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> </param></object> </p><p>Tote </p><p><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a> </p></div><div class="post-footer" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 14px; font-size: 88%; color: #999999; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_grey.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 8px; margin: 0px"></div></span> Nokia 2009-01-19T23:10:03Z tote_b5 Predictions for 2009 http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/01/05/predictions-for-2009 <div><span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333">I'm only a little bit more experienced in predicting future trends than I was <a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/01/predictions-for-smartphone-industry-in.html">last year</a>, still I'd like to continue what I started a year ago. Who knows, maybe I'll be at least as right as I was last year?</span></div><div> </div><span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333">Let's start with reviewing what I wrote previously and what really happened in 2008:<div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">I commented on <span style="font-weight: bold">ad-driven content</span> and how much e.g. <span style="font-style: italic">Google </span><span style="font-weight: bold">depends on operators</span> in allowing their users to use the Internet at a fair price on their mobile. Well, it was only a concern that I raised, but Google's (and Apple's) move was brilliant: they showed that it is <span style="font-weight: bold">not impossible to change the rules</span>. What I really mean is that both companies have their phones offered by network operators with a <span style="font-weight: bold">flat-rate data tariff</span> (it's according to the agreement between the handset vendors and operators), which is really the way for free Internet usage.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">As to <span style="font-style: italic">NFC</span>, I <span style="font-weight: bold">disagreed with the statement</span> of one of my fellow champions, <a href="http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/paul-coultons-forum-nokia-blog/2008/01/02/looking-backwards-and-forwards">Paul Coulton</a>, that 2008 would be the year for the <span style="font-weight: bold">rise of this technology</span>. I now think that <span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">I was right in this question</span>: this technology had so many challenges (let it be technical or political between banks and operators, for example) that <span style="font-style: italic">2008 would have been too early</span> for the rise.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Touch</span> - I have only seen the hype around Apple's new phone at the time of writing my previous prediction, but <span style="font-weight: bold">even the early signs were enough</span> to predict that other manufacturers will try to <span style="font-style: italic">copy Apple's success</span>. <span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">I was right in this</span>, but of course, having only this new feature is not enough for success, though obviously<span style="font-style: italic"> is a mandatory component in the recipe of success</span>.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">As for <span style="font-weight: bold">Java</span> and that it would be <span style="font-weight: bold">becoming more popular </span>again on mobile platforms, to be honest <span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">I can't see any measurable change today</span>. Okay, Android development environment requires mostly this knowledge (not to mention Brew), however, this platform is yet too young to have significant influence on Java's success.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Awakening of North-America to smartphones</span>: <span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">it DID happen</span>. People on <span style="font-style: italic">that</span> continent has finally realized that there are other features that a mobile phone can offer, there are other services that they can use with their favourite gadget, and in general there is much more that they can do with their cell phone that they could ever imagine. And since North-America is in a very strong position when it comes to technology, the awakening of people living there will surely give a boost to innovation and further spread of smartphones.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Finally, I wrote that <span style="font-weight: bold">manufacturers who really think in big </span>will not only sell phones, but <span style="font-weight: bold">also provide Internet services </span>to users. <span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">This has also become true</span>, although this will be a never-ending process currently with two-kinds of players: one that has already proven on service-front (e.g. Apple, Google) and the other which is already a recognized brand in mobile (e.g. Nokia).</li></ul><div><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">What will happen in 2009?</span></span></div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Most importantly: the <span style="font-weight: bold">trend will continue for smartphones to become a commodity</span>. Despite the financial crisis more and more people buy smartphones as they become more affordable (mostly due to binding contracts, though prices get lower, too) and once users get used to advanced features they'll be reluctant to give up using them.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">As to advanced smartphones with binding contracts, the two newcomers, <span style="font-style: italic">Apple </span>and<span style="font-style: italic"> Google</span>, managed to achieve that their <span style="font-weight: bold">devices are sold in a contract with flat-rate data tariff</span>. The obvious effect of this is that users will use the internet much more and will be online for much longer.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">More services will become available, their integration is a key factor</span> for handset vendors (<span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia</span>: <span style="font-style: italic">Life Tools, Comes With Music, Mobile e-mail and mail on Ovi, etc.</span>; <span style="font-style: italic">iTunes & MobileMe </span>for <span style="font-weight: bold">Apple</span>; <span style="font-style: italic">Zune </span>for <span style="font-weight: bold">Microsoft</span>; <span style="font-style: italic">GMail, Calendar, Docs</span>, etc. for <span style="font-weight: bold">Android</span>-powered phones, etc.). Thanks to these services network operators will be in a worse position to fight for users who not only purchase phones and pay monthly subscription-fee, but also willing to pay for additional services.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Touch still rules</span> with such innovative ideas as <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/02/apple-patent-reveals-iphone-gloves-for-warmer-hands-on-experie/">gloves</a>, multiple devices to <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/09/30/microsoft-patent-application-has-future-devices-sharing-resources-battery-video-processor-sharing-coming-soon.html">share their resources</a>, etc. Even more, touch display will not remain a smartphone-only feature, but other devices in the lower-segments will also be equipped with it (e.g. Nokia's first feature phone on Chinese market: <a href="http://www.mobilemonday.net/news/nokia-announces-shows-chinese-touchscreen-phone">http://www.mobilemonday.net/news/nokia-announces-shows-chinese-touchscreen-phone</a>).</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">3</span><sup><span style="font-weight: bold">rd</span></sup><span style="font-weight: bold">-party apps and app stores</span>: we'll see the introduction of new and re-newed application stores with client integration. Commercial software can be downloaded as well as freeware, revenue share will be more advantageous for developers than it's been so far. The fact that handset vendors are providing their application stores, too, will cause hard times for such independent players as Handango, for example. On the other hand, the obvious advantage of these regular providers will not really disappear: the variety of mobile handsets for which they offer content is much bigger than the coverage of any of the new stores will ever be.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">NFC</span> - it seems the time has come for this buzzword to become more popular. In last November, GSM Association <a href="http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/gsma-calls-pay-buy-mobile-handsets">called for Pay-Buy-Mobile handsets</a> so that NFC technology be built into commercially available mobile handsets from mid-2009.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Android phones spread all over the world</span>: we have already heard about the second handset that Kogan, an Australian company <a href="http://androidcentral.com/kogan-releasing-australian-android-phone-january-29th-2/">will ship</a> this January, but rumours have been told about HTC, Huawei and other companies, too, that there will be other phones based on this platform.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia finally to gain more market share in North-America </span>thanks to AT&T for <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/12/07/at-i-wanna-fly.html">seeing lots of potential</a> in Symbian to become the main smartphone OS in their portfolio</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Use of <span style="font-weight: bold">mobile phones in new areas</span>: <span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia Life Tools</span> for users <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153349/nokia_from_technical_development_to_human_development.html">at the bottom of the pyramid</a> (mid-range, low-end phones mainly), <span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia Home Control Center</span> for advanced users who wish their <span style="font-style: italic">smart</span> home to be controlled by their smartphone, etc.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Transforming smartphone market shares</span>: <span style="font-style: italic">Motorola, Palm </span><span style="font-weight: bold">getting weaker</span> (former betting on Android, latter introducing yet another proprietary system), <span style="font-style: italic">RIM, Sony Ericsson</span> "<span style="font-weight: bold">to survive</span>" (RIM closed a surprisingly good 3th quarter in 2008; Sony Ericsson is also <a href="http://androidcommunity.com/sony-ericsson-android-by-summer-2009-20081211/">giving a try</a> to Android), <span style="font-style: italic">Apple</span> <span style="font-weight: bold">getting strong</span> (iPhone Nano in the queue), <span style="font-style: italic">Samsung</span> <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">remaining</span> strong </span>(very innovative company challenging Nokia, the leader, all the time), although <span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia's position gets slightly weaker, it still remains the most dominant player</span> (one of the most versatile players in this arena with lots of innovation in different areas of mobile space), <span style="font-style: italic">Microsoft</span> <span style="font-weight: bold">to struggle</span> (has any one of you heard anything about them lately?).</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Open-source model to gain ground</span> - license-free handsets, free development environments, high inspiration for developers & tech companies to help each other, etc.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Long_Term_Evolution">LTE</a> - let's return to 4G and LTE next year, okay?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAX">WiMAX</a> - don't expect mass adoption of this technology in mobile phones yet (though <a href="http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2008/wimax-mobile-phone">pioneers</a> have already <a href="http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/10/htc_wimax/">appeared</a> in 2008)</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Mobile TV</span> - the future is still foggy: which standard to follow (DVB-H or DVB-T?), will people buy this service at all, etc.</li></ul><div>Did I miss something? Sure. Can you correct me in anything I wrote? Anything to add? Please do! Thanks!</div><div><br /></div></div></div></span><div><span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333">Tote</span> </div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2009/01/predictions-for-2009.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br /></div> iPhone Windows Mobile Symbian Android Nokia 2009-01-05T02:44:53Z tote_b5 Nokia should buy Yahoo? http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/11/26/nokia-should-buy-yahoo <span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><p>It's already known to most people that <span style="font-weight: bold">Yahoo!</span> is in big financial trouble. Even worse, they were tried to be bought by a company (<span style="font-weight: bold">Microsoft</span>) they didn't want to sell themselves to. They successfully fought against that attempt, however, their value was much higher at that time than what it is today. They were even "helped" to survive by a company that they normally call a competitor (<span style="font-weight: bold">Google</span>). But this help didn't last long as <span style="font-weight: bold">Google </span>was afraid of the consequences of a deeper relationship with <span style="font-weight: bold">Yahoo! </span>(i.e. antitrust).</p><div><br /></div><div>Now <span style="font-weight: bold">Yahoo!</span> has an even bigger problem with much lower valuation. That, among others, inspired <a href="http://www.telecoms.com/itmgcontent/tcoms/news/articles/20017592419.html">telecoms.com</a> to speculate on whether it would be worth <span style="font-weight: bold">for Nokia</span> to buy <span style="font-weight: bold">Yahoo!</span>. Besides the fact that <u>financially it would be a good deal</u> for <span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia</span>, they would even <u>win a very popular brand (especially in the US!</u>) for themselves. And all this along with that <span style="font-weight: bold">Yahoo!</span> is very strong in (web) services would <u>make their position much stronger</u> against <span style="font-weight: bold">Google</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold">Microsoft</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold">Apple </span>and the likes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Putting aside the negligible fact that there's a world-wide financial crisis lately is this option not worth considering?</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Update:</span> El Reg <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/02/nokia_yahoo_no_buy/">reported</a> that Nokia CEO <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo</span></span>had answered this question during MWC 2008 saying 'no' to a possible acquisition of Yahoo!. </div></span> Business Opportunities/Services Nokia 2008-11-26T12:31:11Z tote_b5 Mobile Monday in Hungary http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/11/25/mobile-monday-in-hungary <span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><p>I don't know if you've ever heard of the event, <span style="font-weight: bold">Mobile Monday</span>, but if you visit their <a href="http://www.mobilemonday.net/">site<img class="snap_preview_icon" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v3.57/t.gif" /></a> you can see that it's <span style="font-style: italic">a global community of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influentials fostering cooperation and cross-border business development through virtual and live networking events to share ideas, best practices and trends from global markets</span>.</p><div><br /></div><div>Now it has finally arrived to Budapest, Hungary! I attended the very first event last evening and I was surprised to see how many people are involved and interested in mobility in this small country! It wasn't a very long event and there were only <a href="http://mobilemondayhungary.com/2008/11/17/mobile-monday-starts-in-hungarybudapest/">two presentations<img class="snap_preview_icon" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v3.57/t.gif" /></a>, but hey, it's the first one, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>Actually I was interested in <span style="font-weight: bold">Torsti Tenhunen</span>'s presentation (<span style="font-style: italic">Mobile Media – connecting and consuming everywhere</span>) and was also wondering how many people have ever heard of Ovi, for example. Not too much as I could see in the audience. There was a Q&A session at the end of the presentation and since the audience didn't dare to ask anything (including me ... sigh), some people were randomly picked up to ask questions. I was picked up, too, and managed to ask a tough question. At least, even the presenter admitted that it was tough.</div><div><br /></div><div>What was my question? Well, relating to Ovi I always wondered what Nokia's view on entering a competition with such big names as Apple and Google who have already proven in (web) services. My question was something like "<span style="font-weight: bold">How does Nokia intend to compete with those popular services that people have already got used to (iTunes and Google's bunch of services) and in general how do they see their position in the new<span style="font-style: italic">devices + services</span> setup where manufacturers are rolling out their own services, too</span>"? Well, I admit that it's not a question that's easy to answer. As I mentioned even the presenter admitted that. Of course. I like to ask tough questions. Anyone can ask easy questions, but not so many people can point out things that are behind a presentation. This was the first <span style="font-weight: bold">full</span>presentation that I saw about Ovi (of course, I had already known a lot of things about it beforehand) and although it was a new concept to most people I wanted to know more.</div><div><br /></div><div>To be honest, my question was only partially answered. Some marketing hype was included in the answer (<span style="font-style: italic">we're good at services, people will buy the idea, because they're gonna be very good, we have our brand name, etc.</span>) in addition to pointing out the fact that Nokia has nice programs for emerging markets (think of <a href="http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Microsites/Entry_Event/phones/Nokia_Life_Tools_datasheet.pdf">Nokia Life Tools<img class="snap_preview_icon" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v3.57/t.gif" /></a>). This argument is valid, indeed, I've even already <a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/random-thoughts-on-recent-news.html">discussed</a> about it lately. On the other hand, my addition to this list would have been something like:</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">the coverage of offerings these companies offer (including Nokia) varies and that gives users the freedom to pick up their choice of service provider,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Nokia plans to set up its own MVNO in Japan (read about the consequences and how it's supposed to affect e.g. Ovi <a href="http://www.rethink-wireless.com/?article_id=768">here<img class="snap_preview_icon" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v3.57/t.gif" /></a>).</li></ul><div>Anyway, I'm happy to attend upcoming MoMo events in Budapest in the hope of stiring up the "local" water. With unpleasant questions if necessary. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/mobile-monday-in-hungary.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br /></div></div></span> Nokia Mobile Monday 2008-11-25T16:14:29Z tote_b5 Random thoughts on recent news http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/11/06/random-thoughts-on-recent-news <span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><p>Hi,</p><div>So many things have happened in mobile world recently that I can hardly cope with their sheer volume. This time I would just add my quick thoughts to some of them, one-line comments that I would like you to comment, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's start with <span style="font-weight: bold">VirusGuard</span> <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/11/05/android-antivirus-software-virusguard-coming-to-android-market-in-2009.html">Coming to Android Market in 2009</a>: yeah, a clear disadvantage of full openness coupled with user-controlled security policy is that such a software is necessary. Remember that famous anti-virus software vendors also tried to gain a foothold on mobile phones based on Symbian OS, too? Unfortunately, Symbian's security mechanism works so well that there is no real demand for such software on these phones. <span style="font-style: italic">Note:</span>since <span style="font-weight: bold">Android Market</span> is  only for free software (yet), this commercial software can be purchased from <span style="font-weight: bold">Handango</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've read two interesting reviews on the user experience of T-Mobile G1 and Nokia S60. In fact, these two were compared to each other. It was funny to read how two people with different needs could come up with contradictory results. Whilst <span style="font-style: italic">Matthew from Darla Mack's blog</span> <a href="http://www.darlamack.com/darlamack/2008/11/android-vs-s60.html">found</a><span style="font-weight: bold"> Contacts, Syncing, E-mail support and a "lot of other things" being superior on G1</span> he confirmed it too that there are many things that need improvement in upcoming Android-powered devices as well. <span style="font-style: italic">Chris Walters from TheNokiaBlog</span>, on the other hand, <a href="http://thenokiablog.com/2008/11/04/why-i-came-back-to-my-nokia-n82-from-g1-android-phone/">found</a> just the opposite: he thought he could at last forget about S60 and can enjoy all the things Android can provide, but realized that <span style="font-weight: bold">S60 is still superior to Android in many aspects: build quality of device, camera, not being locked to any carriers</span>, etc. There are two immediate conclusions I drew from these (and other) reviews:</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Don't believe to any reviews, but make your own decision based on your own needs.</span> For example, how would you decide based on these two reviews cited above when they both claimed that G1/S60 was superior to the <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">other</span></span> platform<span style="font-style: italic">in Syncing</span>?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Nokia had been the king of user experience</span> on mobile phones until iPhone and G1 appeared on the horizon. The structure of menus, applications, settings, etc. were logical, consistent and compatible across a wide range of devices. It was engineering-driven so it couldn't be in any other way.<span style="font-weight: bold">Following an engineering-driven approach, however, is not enough anymore.</span> In my opinion these companies could learn a lot from each other. It's not a sin (well, generally) to copy one's idea if that has proven whereas ours has not stood the test of time. The point is better user experience, which is better both for users and vendors.</li></ul><div>The third thing I found worth being mentioned is <a href="http://conversations.nokia.com/home/2008/11/see-your-friend.html">Nokia Friend View</a>. This beta software is similar to <a href="http://www.iyouit.eu/portal/">IYOUIT</a> (for example) that I've already given a try to and liked much. I can see this kind of software being useful from another point of view (than what they advertise), too: I'm a family man and although my kids are small I know that the time will come quickly when I will let them hang around but still would like to know where they are. The wide-spread of such a software (and hardware!) will hopefully keep me relaxed in those times.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, Nokia has made a very important announcement in the past week: they introduced <a href="http://www.nokia.com/A41403253">Nokia Life Tools</a> along with <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/11/04/nokia-intros-new-services-and-7-new-phones-under-e100-%E2%80%93-7100-supernova-and-5130-xpressmusic-included/">7 new models under €100 price range</a>. According to the press release, <span style="font-style: italic">Nokia Life Tools is a range of innovative agriculture information and education services designed especially for rural and small town communities in emerging markets</span>. Knowing that<span style="font-style: italic">the opportunity at the bottom of the pyramid is huge, and handset manufacturers and network providers alike are working hard to fill it with phones</span> (this time cited from <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153349/nokia_from_technical_development_to_human_development.html">PCWorld</a>) it's no wonder why these new models can be purchased at never-seen prices. Nokia has finally entered the war fought for phone owners with thin wallets with the introduction of Ultra Cheap Phones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/random-thoughts-on-recent-news.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br /></div></div></span> iPhone Symbian Android Nokia 2008-11-06T15:38:38Z tote_b5 Transforming mobile industry http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/10/16/transforming-mobile-industry <span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><div>I read the following quote from Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia CEO, in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210605168">InformationWeek</a>:</div><span style="font-style: italic"><div><br /></div>"The industry as whole is in the middle of a transformation, and it's a very exciting time," said Kallasvuo. "It's moving from a device industry to an experience industry, and we're making a conscious long-term effort to capitalize on that."</span><br /><div><br /></div><div>It is so true that it inspired me to write a summary on how things have changed in the "smarter" segment of mobile sector (read:<span style="font-style: italic">smartphones</span>) lately. Let me recap what was the situation in the near past and then talk about how things are changing recently.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the classic <span style="font-weight: bold">device manufacturer - network operator - user </span>triangle the roles were as follows (simplified version): user purchases mobile phone from network operator (or elsewhere) and uses those services that are primarily provided by the network operator. The <span style="font-weight: bold">manufacturer never gets any money after purchase</span> and the <span style="font-weight: bold">user  is often unhappy</span> with the content/quality of provided (value-added) services.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is now about to change. The two most important changes (as I see it) are that 1: the above triangle is "<span style="font-style: italic">rectangularized</span>" by an old/new member of the value chain, a separate <span style="font-weight: bold">content/service provider </span>and 2: that device manufacturers such as Nokia and Apple OR operating system vendors such as Microsoft and Google want to get money after sales, too: <span style="font-weight: bold">they'd like to enter services business</span>. As to point #1, not as if <span style="font-style: italic">content providers </span>hadn't been present so far, however, the means to access content and the capabilities of devices have not been ideal so far to say the least. As for point #2, there are two reasons why manufacturers would like to enter services business (take it over from operators?): <span style="font-style: italic">first</span>, there's a great demand from users to consume content that operators have not been good at providing and <span style="font-style: italic">second</span>, there's great money in it. Apple and Google are very good at providing services now they'd like to be involved in adding new means (i.e. phones) to accessing their services. Whereas Nokia and Microsoft are both in a strong position in smartphone market and naturally they'd like to get more money out of the whole business.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another aspect in the new business model is whether or not shall <span style="font-weight: bold">mobile OS</span> vendors require <span style="font-weight: bold">license fee</span> for their software to be included in shipping devices. I'm talking about free and open-source mobile OSes, like mobile Linux. Although <span style="font-style: italic">mobile Linux</span> stacks have not gained so much popularity in the past years, they still do attract manufacturers wishing to lower their bill-of-materials (BOM). Google <span style="font-style: italic">Android </span>and the new <span style="font-style: italic">Symbian (Foundation) OS</span> are another two good examples for "<span style="font-weight: bold">license-fee-free software stacks</span>" and Windows Mobile is for <span style="font-weight: bold">fee-based.</span> iPhone's Mac OS X cannot be mentioned here, since <span style="font-weight: bold">Apple doesn't allow anyone to license</span> their software stack, but make everything on their own.</div><div><br /></div><div>How do mobile OS vendors pamper their developers?</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Of course, with a <span style="font-weight: bold">free SDK</span> to develop on. Most of them can be used only on <span style="font-style: italic">Windows </span>(except iPhone on Mac OS X), <span style="font-style: italic">true emulation</span> is available on Windows Mobile and iPhone, where development is done on the same platform as the target platform,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Free tools for development</span>. Unfortunately not everything can be done with these tools, but you have to pay for their fee-based version should you need to use more advanced features (e.g. <span style="font-style: italic">on-device debugging in Carbide.C++</span>),</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Signing </span>your own installation package is <span style="font-weight: bold">mandatory </span>for both iPhone and Nokia S60 phones, but not on Windows Mobile and Android. Latter advocates that the user is always capable of making proper decisions on security-related questions and it does not restrict the availability of 3rd-party applications by requiring signature. As Symbian's <a href="http://www.dw2-0.com/2008/09/google-says-oha-operators-must-agree-to.html">David Wood put it</a>: let's see what operators will say on it.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">As to <span style="font-weight: bold">developer support</span>, old players are in the best position here: there's a great community support for Windows Mobile developers as well as materials to train themselves. The same is true for people who are developing for Nokia phones. Whereas the first non-beta Android SDK has just been introduced (you can imagine the level of support Google provides at such an early stage), not to mention Apple who wanted developers to sign an NDA that essentially prevents free information flow, writing books on development, etc. This has changed recently, since Apple finally <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/apple_kills_iphone_nda">scrapped their iPhone NDA</a> and promised a new contract with less restrictions. <span style="font-style: italic">Note:</span> if Apple hadn't made this step they would have lost the majority of their developers.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Developers reward programs (<a href="http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/">MVP</a> from Microsoft, <a href="http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/forum_nokia_champion/">Forum Nokia Champion</a> program from Nokia), <span style="font-weight: bold">fee-based support</span> for ISVs willing to pay for advanced services, <span style="font-weight: bold">webinars, trainings, books</span>, etc.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Stores to capitalize</span> on applications, themes, etc.</li></ul></div><div>As to the stores mentioned above,</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Apple's (in)famous <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/appstore.html">App Store</a> acts as a central distribution channel for 3rd-party applications. Unfortunately, Apple keeps this place under such a strict control that bitters lots of developers' life who simply don't understand why their programs can't be sold just because they're similar to the built-in applications. On the other hand, Apple keeps only 30% of revenue making <span style="font-weight: bold">App Store</span> more compelling than lots of rival portals, such as Handango.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Having introduced <a href="http://www.t-mobileg1.com/">T-Mobile G1</a> a few weeks ago, Google has also thought that it was a wise idea to create their own <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/28/google-talks-android-market-app-store/">Android Market</a>, a market place for downloading Android applications. What is surprising, though, is that Google is <a href="http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2008/09/android_-_iphon.html">not planning to capitalize</a> on sold applications, but expects mainly <span style="font-style: italic">freebies</span> to populate this place. It wouldn't be Handango if they didn't <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/handango_android/">make the best out of this</a> situation: why not use Handango to get some money for your Android app? It's also worth noting that Google, similarly to Apple, will be able to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/152338">remove any 3rd-party applications</a> (downloaded from Android Market) from Android-powered handsets if those applications turn out to violate developer distribution agreement.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Nokia already has their <a href="http://www.softwaremarket.nokia.com/">Software Market</a>, however, things might change with the start of Symbian Foundation next year: as Antony Edwards from Symbian <a href="http://www.symbianone.com/content/view/5776/">put it</a> <span style="font-style: italic">"[they're]  pushing hard for a ensuring a zero, or a close as possible to zero, cost to the software vendor: so no cut of revenue for the Foundation"</span>.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Finally, Microsoft hasn't maintained their own single portal that ISVs could use for selling their 3rd-party applications, but people had to (and still have to!) use other providers. This <a href="http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080831/microsoft-launch-skymarket-applications-marketplace-windows-mobile-7/">article</a> shows what one can conclude from job postings: with the coming of new devices based on <span style="font-weight: bold">Windows Mobile 7</span> a new portal, <span style="font-weight: bold">SkyMarket </span>will also come in Q1 2009.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Nokia is very keen on transforming from being a device manufacturer to an "<span style="font-style: italic">internet company</span>". Their Ovi and Mosh are two examples of already launched services, which they just want to further improve with Instant Messaging (by <a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/8187_Nokia_To_Buy_Oz_Communications.php">buying OZ Communications</a>) and <a href="http://sachendra.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/a-look-at-nokias-comes-with-music/">Comes with Music</a>. On the other hand, whilst strengthening their services portfolio they restructure their businesses so that they focus less on own product development (<a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/8176_Nokia_evolves_enterprise_strat.php">selling Nokia IntelliSync</a>). Sometimes lowering the prices raises the revenue - wonder how the recent <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/10/01/nokia-to-lower-mid-range-handset-prices-in-taiwan-rest-of-world-soon/">price cut</a> will work out. It's especially important that since  more and more people own Nokia devices, it <span style="font-weight: bold">increases after-sales revenue</span>, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been already thinking on what Microsoft's reaction will be to open source and then found the answer: Steve Ballmer doesn't understand <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/09/30/microsoft-picks-on-android-and-symbian-windows-mobile-not-going-the-open-source-way/">what's good in open source</a> for Symbian and Google and anyway they won't get into handset business as long as they can make a lot of money from software only.<br /></div><div>What they've started to work on lately, which you might have already heard of in the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/151731/ballmer_os.html">news</a>, is '<span style="font-weight: bold">Windows Cloud</span>' OS. <span style="font-style: italic">This idea </span>is not new at all, however, it might affect the way how people use their mobile phones today: all you need is a portable device with a tiny display, some computing power and a good browser (you can call it '<span style="font-style: italic">smartphone</span>') plus a good connection to the "cloud". Data, business logic, resource intensive heavy computation - all done on remote server(s) and you get only the result to your handset. I wrote '<span style="font-style: italic">this idea</span>' was not new, however, what is new is Microsoft's patent on <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/09/30/microsoft-patent-application-has-future-devices-sharing-resources-battery-video-processor-sharing-coming-soon.html">sharing device resources</a>. Now this one is really new, but I don't know how much I can expect from it in real life - what it shows you, though, that it would be too early to write Microsoft off. <span style="font-style: italic">Side-note:</span> let me recommend you <a href="http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2008/10/scws_sim_as_the.html">Ajit Jaokar's thought-provoking blog</a> on how network operators could make use of cloud computing.<br /></div><div>One more point to add to why M$ is not to enter the handset business today: HTC, designer & manufacturer of feature-rich phones, says that although they can see the potential in Android devices they do belive that Android and Windows Mobile <a href="http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/29/htc_android_wm_complementary/">complements each other</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>As to Android, it's amazing to read about the <span style="font-weight: bold">ambitious plan to reach 4%</span> US market share by the end of 2008. If that's so easy with a single device, a not perfect software and hardware AND suppose that they will achieve it - may I ask <span style="font-style: italic">how on Earth Nokia could not do the same?</span><br /></div><div>Anyway, I found a great analysis over at <a href="http://www.telco2.net/blog/2008/09/guest_post_nows_the_time_to_st.html">Telco 2.0</a> on the strategic impact of Google's first handset on the mobile industry. I especially liked the statements, such as "<span style="font-style: italic">increasingly intense competition with new entrants who are willing to change the rules</span>" and "<span style="font-style: italic">the world in which handset manufacturers crammed the latest technology into devices simply for the sake of having the best specification sheet and operators flogged them to consumers on the basis of megapixels and memory is changing</span>" and finally "<span style="font-style: italic">it has been fascinating to watch ‘old school’ industry commentators pick apart the technicalities of the G1 spec sheet and Android platform, all the while forgeting to look at this announcement through the customer’s eyes</span>".</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, some words about other members of the mobile industry whom we don't hear much about (well, at least I haven't lately).</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Sony Ericsson has <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/30/sony_ericsson_reorg/">rationalised their R&D investment</a> recently. This move, however, didn't prevent them from announcing a new run-time environment, called <span style="font-style: italic">Capuchin</span>, <a href="http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2008/09/capuchin-sony-ericsson-strikes-back-in-the-application-environmentis-it-a-strike-what-does-it-mean-for-the-development-platforms-fragmentation">mixing Java ME and Adobe Flash Lite</a> technologies. SE is eyed-up on Android, too, not only Windows Mobile (Xperia X1) and Symbian so this along with Capuchin will make their way to follow Nokia's approach by offering lots of alternatives for mobile software development.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Motorola is also interested in Android, so much that they are <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/28/motorola-building-up-350-person-android-team-nokia-also-sniffing-around/">building-up a team</a> of 350 people to develop on Android.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Samsung is not interested in <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/10/04/uk-samsung-says-we-are-not-doing-content-we-make-devices.html">anything else but manufacturing</a>. This will not make their position stronger in today's competing market.</li></ul></div><div>That's all for now about mobile industry news, thanks for reading so far!</div><div><br /></div><div>All comments are welcome,</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote<br /><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/10/transforming-mobile-industry.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br /></div></span> Browsing Business Opportunities/Services Enterprise Mobile OS iPhone Windows Mobile Symbian Development Linux Android Nokia Symbian Foundation 2008-10-16T16:44:30Z tote_b5 Silicon Valley doesn't respect Nokia http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/08/20/silicon-valley-doesn-t-respect-nokia <p> In response to the article I found on <span style="font-weight: bold">Forbes.com</span>, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/08/18/nokia-iphone-symbian-tech-wire-cx_bc_0818nokia.html">Nokia Software Problem</a>, let me collect my remarks on the statements in a single post. The list of statements below simply follows the same order as they appeared in the original article.<br /> <br /> "<span style="font-style: italic">Nokia sells close to half of all smart phones worldwide</span>"<br /> Well, around 70% would be more accurate, but then it couldn't have been said that "<span style="font-style: italic">close to half</span>".<br /> <br /> "<span style="font-style: italic">N95's only edge was in watching video</span>"<br /> Hmm, let me smile at it. I think GPS, 5 megapixel camera, WiFi, etc. also come in handy every now and then. These things were all new in a Nokia device at the time when N95 was introduced and although Nokia might not have been the first in introducing them, the point is that <span style="font-style: italic">video </span>was not the only thing users could enjoy.<br /> <br /> "<span style="font-style: italic">Symbian is not dead, but it has a limited amount of time to act to capture developer mind share before it is too late,</span>"<br /> I don't know how many times I wrote this on various forums: developing for a Symbian-based device does <span style="font-weight: bold">NOT </span>mean pure <span style="font-weight: bold">Symbian/C++</span> development. On the contrary, the range of possibilities is much wider: you can program in <span style="font-weight: bold">Flash (Lite), Java (Mobile), Python (for S60/UIQ), (Open) C, Widgets, .NET, NS Basic</span>, etc. My question is not solely addressed to Apple: is there any other manufacturer in the world who can compete with this at this very moment? Is it the not-closed-but-not-too-open-either Apple who although enables Objective-C development, but nothing else? For example, Java, which is not only available on all <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic">other</span> platforms, but also the primary language for 3d-party development on Android? Not as if I had heard too many good things on iPhone developer support, but are they really the ones who will save the world?<br /> <br /> "<span style="font-style: italic">Applications written for the iPhone, by contrast, will run on every iPhone.</span>"<br /> Ehh, typically naive, beginner approach. I wouldn't write an article if I were such a beginner, though. How many iPhone models can we talk about at the moment? <span style="font-style: italic">Two</span>. There's a <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/08/04/rumor-revisited-apple-iphone-nano-slated-for-q4-2008-launch.html">rumour</a> on Apple introducing <span style="font-weight: bold">iPhone Nano</span> still this year and I bet that that device would introduce variation both in hardware (e.g. screen size) and software. And having spent almost a decade with mobile software development, I can tell you that software development becomes exponentially more complex with the introduction of variations. I think we should get back to this question in 1-2 years time-frame and then we'll see how programs written for old models will work on new ones and vice versa.<br /> <br /> "<span style="font-style: italic">Carriers here have been loath to give Nokia much love over the years</span>"<br /> Yeah, this one is a hit on the nail. I find it very <span style="font-style: italic">interesting</span> how much North-American carriers favour US phone manufacturers (Palm, Microsoft, Apple) and Canadians (RIM). It is one of the root causes (if not THE) why Nokia has failed to successfully enter North-American market.<br /> <br /> As to developing software for mobile platforms, it's worth noting that it's becoming more and more popular to rely on a thin client software responsible mainly for the User Interface, while storing data and implementing heavy business logic on a remote server. So often, the thin client is a browser or an application capable of providing "browser-like" behavior. This is something iPhone, the latest Nokia S60 phones, Windows Mobile are (and the newcomer Android will be) good at. And lots of people say that this architecture is the most suitable solution for cross-(mobile)platform software.<br /> <br /> In my opinion, it's too early to talk about the dethronement of Nokia by Apple and RIM. Just count the number of phones sold, how many models various manufacturers have on market, how long has a manufacturer been on market, etc. and we'll have just the right amount of information ... to be silent. <span style="font-weight: bold">The author of the article fails to see that global market is not equal to American market, over-emphasizes the importance of Silicon Valley and can't think of the possibility that these platforms, devices, manufacturers can co-exist with one another.</span><br /> <br /> Otherwise the article was good,<br /> <br /> Tote :)<br /> <a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/08/silicon-valley-doesnt-respect-nokia.html ">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a> </p> Mobile OS iPhone Platform Security Windows Mobile Symbian Development Android Nokia Symbian Foundation 2008-08-20T23:57:50Z tote_b5 Brief status report about smartphone market, mid-2008 http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/08/07/brief-status-report-about-smartphone-market-mid-2008 <p> Having followed the news of mobile industry in the past week, I thought it would be worth collecting some articles in a single post to see things from a bird's view, thus having a better overview on what's been going on lately on smartphone market.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/08/06/rim-mounting-blackberry-counter-offensive-against-apple-iphone.html">RIM has been getting stronger</a> in US market and <span style="font-weight: bold">Palm is unhappy</span> with that. Although Palm's popularity had started to fall even before Apple entered mobile phone market, the new iPhone has just "helped" to boost the process. As to Apple, <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/08/06/new-countries-confirm-august-iphone-launch/">new countries have confirmed August launch</a> enabling iPhone (3G) to gain bigger popularity and increasing its market share in other countries than US. In addition, the name of <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/08/04/rumor-revisited-apple-iphone-nano-slated-for-q4-2008-launch.html">iPhone Nano has appeared again</a> whispering words about the introduction of this device still this year. Apple is on its way to become stronger and stronger, but they're still in the "Other" segment of mobile devices according to <a href="http://www.abiresearch.com/press/1202-2008+Global+Mobile+Device+Market+Still+on+Course+for+1.3+Billion+Units+Despite+Economic+Woes">ABI Research</a>. And if Apple is making <span style="font-style: italic">tsunami </span>"from the bottom", <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL151325920080731?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=10218">Nokia is doing the same</a> from the top with their price cut - I wouldn't like to be the <span style="font-style: italic">stuffing in this sandwich</span>.<br /> <br /> It seems that we're living the time of foundations: this time it's LiMo that has <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/08/06/limo-foundation-picks-up-11-new-members.html">picked up 11 new members</a> to become stronger in the fight against Google <a href="http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/">OHA</a> and <a href="http://www.symbianfoundation.org/">Symbian Foundation</a>. With the <a href="http://www.limofoundation.org/en/limo-handsets-2.html">first LiMo handsets out</a>, I wonder how they can catch up with industry leader Symbian, the also very powerful Windows Mobile and the likes. I did not mention Android deliberately, because to me it still exists only on "paper".<br /> <br /> As to the creator of Windows Mobile, it's already well-known that Microsoft's <a href="http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1197788">Silverlight will come to S60</a>. What is <a href="http://www.zunescene.com/nokia-zune-phone/">rumoured</a> now, though, that Zune would also be available on Nokia devices. Zune clearly a competitor to Nokia's <a href="http://www.ovi.com/">Ovi</a> - will M$ and Nokia ever join their forces to fight against their newest pretender? I bet Apple will never open MobileMe to non-Mac device owners.<br /> <br /> A new feature has been introduced on <span style="font-weight: bold">Ovi.com</span>, namely <a href="http://www.ovi.com/ovi/app/ovi/web/files">file sharing</a>, a fee-based storage option. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic">Files on Ovi</span> is a similar service to MobileMe's <span style="font-style: italic">iDisk</span>. As to <a href="http://www.apple.com/mobileme/">MobileMe</a>, the transition from .Mac to MobileMe was not as smooth as Apple had hoped. As Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, said "It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store". Well, although lots of people already think that Apple can only teach things to other players in mobile arena, I stronly believe that the opposite is also true.<br /> <br /> Finally, let me recommend an article that well-deserved the title of <span style="font-weight: bold">post of the week</span> at <a href="http://mobili.st/?p=126">Carnival of Mobilists</a>. The <a href="http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2008/07/the-7-centres-of-gravity-in-mobile/">great post</a> written by <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic">Andreas Constantinou from Vision Mobile</span> was definitely a very useful foundation of this article.<br /> <br /> Interesting times we're living,<br /> <br /> Tote<br /> <a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/08/brief-status-report-about-smartphone.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a> </p> Mobile OS iPhone Windows Mobile Linux Android Nokia Symbian Foundation 2008-08-07T23:21:06Z tote_b5