Posts Tagged ‘communication’
Written on August 31st, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
SPB TV for Android phones, announced today, a subscription-free mobile IPTV viewer, designed for tuning in to publicly available digital TV channels from all over the world.
Developer SPB Software says the SPB TV features exclusive and patent-pending usability innovations like picture-in-picture mode, and gives the mobile subscribers easy access to over a hundred of international TV channels, directly from their phones.
The freeware version has limited features and channels. A full version is available for 9.95 USD from the Android Market. SPB TV requires a reliable 3G or WiFi network connection for proper streaming.
SPB TV 1.0 is available for smartphones running Android 1.5 with HVGA screen resolutions, as well as Windows Phones running Windows Mobile 5 and later Professional and Standard editions, S60 3d edition FP1 or higher, qVGA, VGA, Square QVGA, and WVGA screen resolutions are supported.
SPB Software says it’s been a stratigic partner for many carriers, who manage a wide range of mobile devices. With this release SPB TV becomes available for Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android platforms providing diverse mobile carrier customers with the next generation mobile TV experience.
In other video-related news, Portland’s Rick Turoczy, who writes Silicon Florist Blog, which covers local startups, is now producing a weekly video called memePDX.
Hosted by Rick and Cami Kaos of Strange Love Live, it features both local and national tech developments.
Newsy.com is a multiperspective online video news site that synthesizes video news clips.
Newser’s coverage of Apple’s rejection of Google Voice (above), illustrates their approach to video aggregating.
Source: Dailywireless
Written on August 31st, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
One of the major benefits of mobile advertising is being able to target your audience by location. A slew of iPhone apps are popping up trying to capture eyeballs based on GPS location, giving advertisers new opportunities to reach customers who are, literally, within reach.
Take Metromix.com, for example. Today, the online entertainment site launched an updated version of their iPhone app called “What’s Nearby.” Owned jointly by Gannett and the Tribune Company, Metromix is the traditional print company’s major digital player targeting 21 to 34 year olds in major cities. The online network attracts over 4.0 million monthly unique visitors and generates over 60 million monthly page views.
The free application lets users find nearby entertainment options based on their GPS location. It also lets you find restaurants, bars and clubs, events, music, movie theatres with showtimes, and other things to do within walking distance or a short drive.
Already downloaded over 100,000 times, “What’s Nearby” also provides Metromix’s four million monthly users – located across 37 U.S. markets – the ability to post reviews and photos to Metromix.com using their iPhone, as well as to share those submissions on Facebook using Facebook Connect.
Last week, Metromix competitor Yelp released an updated version of their iPhone app with a similiar nearby search functionality. The Yelp app features movable maps which let you search for special offers near your location. Registered Yelpers (members of Yelp) can even find special deals available just for them within walking or driving distance. Source: Mobile Marketng Watch
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Written on August 29th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
The Federal Communications Commission decided unanimously on Thursday to review the state of “innovation” in the wireless industry (pdf), reports C/Net. The FCC will investigate (pdf) the state of innovation and competition in the U.S. wireless market, indicating that more regulation may be coming to the industry.
The FCC will look for ways it can stimulate innovation and competition, said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski (pdf). The agency will take a three-pronged approach in its investigation:
- Innovation and investment in the wireless market (pdf)
- “Competitive conditions” (pdf)
- Consumer billing practices (pdf)
It plans to ask industry players and the public to comment on the issues and summarize its findings in a report that could lead to new regulations.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said (pdf) he favored policies that promote “investment, competition and consumers.” He also noted that the industry is at a “pivotal moment” as consumers seek to do more with their mobile devices and cellphones.
But the commission’s two Republicans questioned whether the FCC should get significantly involved in pushing for more innovation and competition. Ninety-four percent of U.S. residents have at least four mobile carriers to choose from, said Commissioner Robert McDowell.
Over the past seven years, the mobile-phone industry has invested an average of US$22.8 billion a year to update networks and provide broadband services, added Republican Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker. “We stand on the verge of the next generation of wireless broadband products, and the government should proceed with great caution so as to ensure the best outcome for consumers,” she said.
The FCC is already examining the wireless industry’s practice of locking some handsets to particular carriers and, following a controversy involving a Google Voice application for the iPhone, looking at the way Apple vets submissions to its App Store.
The CTIA, which represents more than 200 wireless companies, says the average U.S. consumer pays 5 cents per minute for voice service — a rate cheaper than other advanced telecom markets, such as the U.K., Germany, South Korea and Japan, according the the organization (pdf).
Public Knowledge, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest group said, “The Commission took exactly the right path today when it voted to look at all aspects of competition in the wireless industry. For too long, the appearance of competition among a few carriers has masked underlying anti-competitive industry practices ranging from consumer contracts to roaming agreements.”
Written on August 29th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
The Seattle Times today announced partnerships with the West Seattle Blog, Next Door Media (publisher of MyBallard.com, PhinneyWood and other sites); The Rainier Valley Post and Capitol Hill Seattle.
The Seattle Times’ move comes just a few days after Fisher Communications — publisher of KOMO-TV and KOMO Radio — launched 43 hyperlocal neighborhood news sites in the Seattle area. It also follows Msnbc.com’s purchase of EveryBlock, a Web site that offers neighborhood news in 15 cities including Seattle.
Earlier this year, the Seattle P-I shifted to an online only format and aggressively started recruiting bloggers and reporters to cover local issues in neighborhoods.
The Times partnership with the local blogs is funded through a grant from the Knight Foundation. It includes four goals, according to the press release.
- Enhancing communication between the respective Web sites and The Seattle Times, and discovering ways to share news tips and collaborate on future news gathering.
- Linking to and promoting stories on partner sites when it may help fill coverage holes.
- Exploring tools that could enhance advertising opportunities across the partner sites.
- Learning about how such partnerships can benefit the respective sites.
Neighborhood news blogs have attracted followings in recent years in Seattle, in part because of their ability to tap people who live in the communities who offer news tips and foster discussion, says TechFlash.
WikiCity is one of the latest to jump on the hyperlocal bandwagon, which includes traditional news sites, blogs, and hybrids. WikiCity started in late 2008, notes Nieman Jouralism Lab, but announced itself formally this summer with local content for just more than 22,000 U.S. communities.
Portland news blogs such as Our PDX, Neighborhood Notes, Oregon Media Central, or even the sites managed by Willamette Week and Portland Mercury are wondering if they will be getting some love, too.
According to a Pew Research Center study, the tipping point occurred last year when more people in the U.S. got their news online for free than paid for it by buying newspapers and magazines.
Time Magazine’s Walter Isaacson says, “We need something like digital coins or an E-ZPass digital wallet — a one-click system with a really simple interface that will permit impulse purchases of a newspaper, magazine, article, blog or video for a penny, nickel, dime or whatever the creator chooses to charge.
The Seattle Times was an afternoon paper for 104 years until March 6, 2000, when it switched to morning delivery to avoid the fate of other afternoon newspapers that had shut down. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, founded in 1863, stopped their print edition on March 17, 2009, when it became an online newspaper. Source: Dailywireless
Written on August 29th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
It’s that time of year when SXSW Interactive puts all the approved talk submissions up for public vote. We hope you’ll take a moment and vote for these mobile and device user experience sessions. Voting ends September 4th.
1 // “Convergence: Already Here, and Gosh It’s a Mess!“
Speaker: Gabriel White, Punchcut
Convergence is here and it’s a big mess. People are using services and media within hacked-together ecosystems; systems without neat connections or beautiful symmetries. Punchcut will share the user insights and design principles needed to create applications and services that integrate into emerging digital lifestyles and convergent ecosystems.
2 // “It’s Slow, Ugly and Not What I Designed: How to Ship Good Design”
Speakers: Patricia Slechta & Christian Robertson, Punchcut
Has your user experience ever been lost in translation? You see the mobile device in the marketplace and you hardly recognize it? Punchcut will share insights and explore organizational principles that bridge design and the go-to-market reality. We will discuss ways to prevent user experiences from being lost in translation.
3 // Crowd Sourcing The Planet: How Mobile Devices Become Sensor Arrays That Can Aggregate A World Of Content
Moderator: Henry Tirri, Nokia
Mobile phones are becoming mobile computers with multiple sensory inputs such as cameras, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, light sensors, NFC and etc. Users of these devices have an enthusiasm for sharing data and content, and as more contribute the possibility of aggregating content together into new forms has wild potential.
4 // “Innovation for Hire: Innovating in the Client Relationship“
Speaker: Jodi Burke, Punchcut
Being a consultancy (or a freelancer) means working with clients to develop innovative concepts, but how do you prevent them from being pared-down, watered-down or shelved? This process-oriented session will present battle-tested techniques on how to partner with clients in order to get innovation to market.
5 // Time + Social + Location. What’s Next In Mobile Experiences?
Moderator: Josh Babetski, MapQuest
As more devices become location aware, social uses will continue to evolve beyond just who and what, to WHEN. Adding the temporal dimension creates new opportunities for social interaction. Learn about ways to leverage and use technology to add features at the intersection of temporal, social, and location.
6 // Death of the Browser
Speaker: Daniel Jacobson, National Public Radio
With the tremendous growth of the iPhone and other mobile devices, are we about to witness the death of the traditional desktop web browser? If so, how fast will it happen? Or can the browser and mobile phone live in harmony in the years to come? This panel will explore the future of the mobile space and how it will impact the way we interact with the Internet.
7 // Mobile Technology: What’s New, What’s Out, What’s Next?
Speaker: Anup Murarka, Adobe
There’s lots of talk about creating engaging experiences for consumers on their mobile phones… but what’s the reality? Hear some of the industry’s top players as they hash out what’s hot with mobile technology, what needs to be changed, and what the future holds.
SXSW Interactive 2010 is held in Austin, Texas in March 2010. Source: Idlemode
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Written on August 29th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
I came across a rather interesting article out of the Philippines that talked about the concept of wireless carriers using digital marketing to help lower the costs of subscription rates for its customers- much like magazines use the revenue generated from print advertising to make the magazine itself inexpensive for consumers.
It’s a concept I’m surprised I never thought of before, most likely because I always thought wireless carriers would always charge what they charge no matter the revenue they’re generating elsewhere. ”If telcos will get revenue from mobile marketing ads, the more they can lower subscription rates to customers,” said Emmanuel Allix, managing director of mobile advertising firm Pudding Media (Asia Pacific), during an interview with Computerworld Philippines.
To be fair, the interview was conducted with someone that obviously has an interest in mobile marketing, and therefore would love to see wireless carriers utilize the medium in large quantities, but the idea still makes sense. ”Through simple mobile phone functions like ring tones when someone is calling or when you’re receiving text messages, we can insert ads of businesses. And ours is even non-intrusive, permission-based. It is both opt-in and opt-out,” Allix continued.
Wireless carriers are already using the practice to some degree, but as revenue from digital marketing goes up, prices will undoubtedly stay the same- at least for the foreseeable future. We’ve already seen telcos try to offer completely free wireless service based on ad-revenues, and while it does work, it’s by no means a sustainable business model for large-scale carriers. Finding a happy medium would be a boon to the industry, but It’s definitely a long way off.
Source: Mobile Marketing Watch
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Written on August 29th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
Last month, Opera released its findings and statistics related to its view of the mobile Web and stated that Opera Mini users had reached a milestone- 10 billion mobile pageviews in the month of June.
Yesterday, Opera released its “State of the mobile Web” for July and, among other interesting tidbits, stated that its users visited over 12 billion pages, a 15 percent jump over June, representing an even larger milestone for the mobile browser.
The report highlighted the large growth in the Middle East when it comes to mobile Web consumption, stating that in Iran, for example, there were more Opera Mini downloads in July than there were unique users in June, but Iran showed only a 32% growth in unique users from June to July. Furthermore, between July 2008 and July 2009, the number of unique users in Iran actually decreased by 22.4%, whereas the only other decreases were seen in Saudi Arabia and Israel (under 10% each).
Despite the decrease, Iran is still at the top of the list for the Middle East. Page-views per user in Iran went up from 119 to 188 between July 2008 and July 2009. In addition, the report also states that Google is by far the dominant search engine in all of the Middle East, and that Facebook is the reigning social network everywhere in the Middle East except for Saudi Arabia where Friendster is dominant.
As for Opera growth overall, the browser had nearly 29.1 million users in July 2009, a 9.9% increase from June 2009 and more than 145% compared to July 2008. As for data consumption, Opera Mini users generated nearly 187 million MB of data for operators worldwide in July. Since June, the data consumed went up by 11%. Data in Opera Mini is compressed up to 90%. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed over 1.7 PB of data in July. Since July 2008, data traffic is up 223%.
While this in only a snapshot of a broader picture when it comes to mobile Web consumption, it’s still interesting to see the raw numbers. It would be nice if other browsers would take the time to release it’s usage data as well so we could have a decent comparison.
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Written on August 19th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
Long-range, low-cost wireless Internet could soon be delivered using “whitespaces” — radio spectrum once reserved for use by TV stations. This week at ACM SIGCOMM 2009, a communications conference held in Barcelona, Spain, a computer network that uses “white spaces” in a fashion somewhat similar to Wi-Fi was outlined.
Networking over UHF white spaces is fundamentally different from conventional Wi-Fi, explains Ranveer Chandra of Microsoft Research, a main contributor to the paper. Their WhiteFi approach is a Wi-Fi like system constructed on top of UHF white spaces. WhiteFi incorporates a new adaptive spectrum assignment algorithm to handle spectrum variation and fragmentation in unused television channesl, and proposes a low overhead protocol to handle temporal variation.
Most of the prior research in UHF white spaces has focused on accurately detecting the presence of incumbent RF signals, says Chandra in the paper (pdf). Researchers are now beginning to look at the problem of establishing a wireless link between white space devices. Their research pushes the state-of-art to the next level by going beyond a single link.
Matt Welsh, a Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University, and one of the authors of the paper (pdf), tells Dailywireless that the paper was presented at the conference by Rohan Murty at Harvard University, one of his Ph.D. students who contributed to the work along with Ranveer Chandra of Microsoft Research. The paper (pdf) is a joint effort between researchers at Microsoft Research and at Harvard.
WhiteFi focuses primarily on the problem of setting up a Wi-Fi like network, consisting of an Access Point (AP) with multiple associated clients. It uses a new spectrum assignment algorithm with a new mechanism that quickly discovers APs operating anywhere in the 180 MHz white space, using any arbitrary channel width. They also described a new technique for handling disconnections where clients signal to the AP without interfering with ongoing wireless microphone transmissions.
They estimate UHF spectrum fragmentation in 3 settings: urban, suburban and rural (population less than 6000). In all 3 settings there is at least one locale in which there is a fragment of 4 contiguous channels available, that is, 24 MHz of spectrum. In rural areas fragments of up to 16 channels are expected.
Microsoft researchers tested the new protocol, called White Fi, in the Redmond campus. It uses UHF white spaces and adaptively configures itself to operate in the most efficient part of the available white spaces. TV spectrum could provide good long-range connectivity in rural areas, and help fill in gaps in city networks.
The spectrum between 512 megahertz and 698 megahertz was originally allotted to analog TV channels from 21 to 51. It offers a longer range than conventional Wi-Fi, which operates at 2.4 gigahertz. “Imagine the potential if you could connect to your home [Internet] router from up to a mile,” says Ranveer Chandra, a member of the Networking Research Group at Microsoft Research behind the project.
The FCC ruled last November that companies could build devices that transmit over white spaces but also gave strict requirements that this should not interfere with existing broadcasts, both from TV stations and from other wireless devices that operate within the same spectrum. Chandra and his colleagues say their “White Fi,” protocol can successfully navigate the tricky regulatory and technical obstacles involved with using white spaces.
A second approach, which is being considered by the IEEE 802.22 working group, involves an explicit channel renegotiation protocol between clients and APs when they detect a wireless mic. This approach, however, assumes that control messages will not induce audible interference on the wireless mic.
The White Spaces Coalition consists of eight large technology companies that plan to deliver high speed broadband internet access in unused television frequencies between 54-698 MHz (TV Channels 2-51). The coalition expects speeds of 80 Mbps and above, and 400 to 800 Mbps for white space short-range networking. The group includes Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips, Earthlink, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics. The White Spaces Database Group maps out available spectrum.
On February 27 2009, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Association for Maximum Service Television, Inc. (MSTV) asked a Federal court to shut down the FCC’s authorization of white space wireless devices. The plaintiffs allege that portable, unlicensed personal devices operating in the same band as TV broadcasts have been “proven” to cause interference despite FCC tests to the contrary.
In (somewhat) related news, researchers at Harvard University and BBN have developed CitySense, an urban scale sensor network testbed. CitySense will consist of 100 wireless sensors deployed across a city. Each node will consist of an embedded PC, 802.11a/b/g interface, and various sensors for monitoring weather conditions and air pollutants.
Harvard’s Sensor Networks Lab has also deployed three wireless sensor networks on active volcanoes.
Read Write Web reviews on Citysense and WikiCity, iPhone applications that integrate sensor networks with social networks. A recent W3C Workshop on the Future of Social Networking, held in Barcelona in January, reviews the trend of sensors mixing with social networks and offers some real-world applications.
Both Social Networks and Sensors information can be modeled using Semantic Web technologies, says the paper. They can be connected in an interoperable and straightforward way. The W3C’s Resource Description Framework (RDF), is an open Web standard that can be freely used by anyone.
By combining social networks and social activities to Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities, the Semantic Web can map existing applications in new and innovative ways.
Products involving Web-connected devices include flood gauges, air pollution monitors, stress gauges on bridges, and mobile heart monitors. CardioSign hopes to commercialize a wearable blood pressure sensor.
Sensor Web XML-based specifications were created in consideration of Semantic Web technology, which allows data from various sources to be used with a common semantics for the data.
Source: http://www.dailywireless.org/2009/08/18/microsofts-whitefi-wi-fi-using-whitespaces/
Written on August 19th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
The problem has been around forever, yet the mobile industry is still fighting for a solution to SMS spam. As such a quickly growing problem, the FCC and several mobile-specific organizations are still trying to define what is and what isn’t considered mobile SPAM- a process that’s easier said than done.
Mobile spam can be sub-divided into two general categories: legitimate marketers not following best practices and sending unsolicited messages, and the more devious malware attacks, in which malicious messages are sent through text or e-mail to attack a phone’s operating system. Either way, this spam is annoying to consumers, and is giving legitimate rule-following mobile marketers a bad name.
The MMA and other mobile communities have been busy creating industry best practices, rules and regulations to help legitimate marketers stay a step ahead of spammers and to remain transparent in their efforts, but the entire landscape changes so quickly that staying ahead of the curve is getting increasingly difficult.
Contributing to the intolerance of SMS spam is the fact that consumers often will stop what they are doing to read a new mobile message, and will likely have to pay a fee for receiving it. Getting more and more spam messages makes consumers that much more weary of opening any marketing-based SMS message, legitimate or not.
Wireless carriers are doing their part in trying to curb SMS spam, such as AT&T allowing customers to restrict the sources of email that can reach their devices, or replying BLOCK to any email or SMS message deemed unsolicited, but as it does via traditional spam, carriers are usually a step behind the spammers.
“Marketers should enable the end user to control the communications that are received at the device, and enable them as a user, not through the carrier or customer service, to say, ‘I don’t want any messages from short codes’ and also to create lists of who can get through,” says Daniel Hoffman, SVP of communications at SMobile Systems. ”As you eliminate the ability to do targeting what you are doing is making it closer to spam,” Wehrs adds. “So, there is a delicate balance to being targeted and relevant without going too far and making the user feel that their privacy is being invaded.”
It’s a delicate balance, and a problem that won’t be going away any time soon, but the carriers, the FCC and most mobile-based organizations are busy trying to distinguish, fight and regulate spam the best they can. It just reiterates the fact that if you’re a mobile marketer, industry best practices should be your number one concern at all times. Source: Marketing Watch.com
Written on August 16th, 2009 by ADMINno shouts
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is constantly updating its “Global Mobile Marketing Guidelines” to keep up with the latest trends and methods regarding the mobile industry. Being an ever-evolving industry means the MMA usually has a lot of catching up to do, hence the release of the latest guidelines dubbed version 4.0.
The association announced Friday that it has opened a public review period for the latest version of its guidelines, to be under review through August 31st. The public, MMA members and MMA partner organizations will have a chance to review the draft version of the new guidelines before it takes effect in September.
Although not as extensive as previous updates to the MMA’s guidelines, version 4.0 includes several major updates and additions, including:
- The MMA’s new Universal Mobile Advertising Package (UMAP), which provides industry-standard ad-units to be used with mobile marketing campaigns.
- An expansion of the Mobile Application section to go from including only North America to Worldwide coverage.
- An expanded MMS section, including new universal ad-units and further guidelines.
- An expanded Mobile Video & TV section, with new universal ad-units and further guidelines.
- An expanded Mobile Application section with new ad-units and expanded and updated guidelines.
The review period is designed for not only those involved with the industry and partnering organizations, but also the public to be able to make sure nothing has been left out, or that nothing is to ambiguous in the new guidelines. ”The MMA’s Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines are designed to provide the timely, actionable guidance and insights necessary to continue mobile advertising’s phenomenal growth,” said Mike Wehrs, MMA president and CEO. “By making each new version of the Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines available for public review, the MMA ensures that this resource meets the needs of the entire mobile advertising ecosystem.”
As with other updates coming from the MMA, version 4.0 looks to be including more guidelines for mobile-based Video and TV, as well as Mobile Apps- two areas that have seen the most growth in terms of mobile advertising.
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