A new day and a new post from San Francisco. This time the topic will be on one of the presentations from the actual conference that I found generally interesting, but particularly from a Rebtel perspective.
The session was entitled Mobile Ajax and the Future Web and was held by Daniel Appelquist. Daniel is senior technology strategist with the Vodafone Group based in London, UK, where he primarily works on Web and Internet projects and industry activities.
The first part of the talk (which I found most interesting) was a lot about the two different (and today separate) entities we refer to as “The Web” and “The Mobile Web” and how a convergence between the two is taking place.
In a (not too distant) future there will only be one Web when referring to mobile devices as well as regular laptops and desktops. Thematical Consistency, ensuring that content across all devices is provided coherently and consistently, will be ubiquitous and the standard to aim for. Thanks to devices like the iPhone (which naturally was mentioned as a groundbreaking device in this field), the task of obtaining Thematical Consistency becomes significantly easier.
Daniel also mentioned that today, mobile devices are slowly overtaking desktops and laptop based web usage (so cool). Mobile browsing is in other words seriously on the rise and with that device from Apple that came out last year securing a fourth place overall on the Internet browsing market share list with its 0.15%, we can get a hint of what’s to come. In as little as five years, the majority of the total worldwide web usage is predicted to be mobile (!).
A cool little detail during the talk, which felt very reassuring for us coming from someone like Daniel, was that he mentioned Rebtel (see the picture above) as one of the companies that truly are in the forefront in mobile technology and web. Thank you Daniel, you are a rock star!
Share This:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Last month the iPhone dominated the news, but now that the ipodtouch is hitting the stores later this month, Apple’s two-pronged strategy is becoming clear. In a surprising move that will have put frowns on the faces of AT&T’s board of directors, Apple is making the new touch available including wifi capabilities, and with the possibility to download songs directly from iTunes onto the iPod. AT&T will be none too pleased about this: a shrewd bit of strategic maneuvering had Apple out-witting them. On CNN Money, Stephanie Mehta points out:
The Wi-Fi capabilities built into the touch - and other devices such as Nokia’s N95, Samsung’s T409 and a number of Windows mobile devices - in the long run could end up by-passing wireless phone networks altogether. How? If a user downloads ringtones or searches the web on a Wi-Fi network, he or she is not consuming minutes on the carriers’ data networks, which phone companies are spending billions to build.
Elsewhere I’ve been saying that a wider availability of Wifi enabled devices coupled with VOIP services will be a substantial kick in the behind of Mobile Operators. It’s easy to see why AT&T disabled VOIP on the iPhone, and now Apple has gone the other route and has released a device that is – at this moment – a phone without a microphone. All this to the relief of AT&T directors, no doubt. However, it’s also abundantly clear, that the iPod with a microphone, or a device like it, will come. When the iPhone was first released, there were a lot of comments on the stranglehold AT&T was supposed to have on Apple. It’s now obvious that this is the other way round. And it is like this for all of us. I’m cited in the article as bragging of “using (my) hotel’s Wi-Fi connection to make a 90-minute VOIP call to Europe” where roaming charges would have bought me a new phone altogether. Today that’s as true as it was then. Apple has now changed the landscape. Device manufacturers but also the likes of Nokia have tried to push wifi and therefore voip for a couple of years now. For consumers wishing to make cheap international calls, Voip is a success story that is as yet poised for success. Its breakthrough may be one step closer but we are still missing an open platform strategy from the device manufacturers. Meanwhile, manufacturers are reproaching Telcos for not opening up their platforms to enable innovation as seen on the tethered Internet. Neither Apple nor Nokia have ever been known for such an open approach. Compared to them, even Microsoft looks decidedly open source.
Share This:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
