mTrends - mobile media lifestyle trends - m-trends.org

This weekend and early next week I’m off to Sevilla for an exploratory workshop on Mobile 2.0, organised by the European Commission Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), for its project on mobile content evolution and its socio-economic impact.

The project is looking at user adoption and acceptance issues, the promotion of innovation in this domain, the new emerging mobile 2.0 applications, and the possible existence of bottlenecks with the aims to explore techno-economic models and their viability, to assess the position of Europe in this field and to identify EU possible policy options. The workshop will also serve to identify key areas for future EU research and innovation policies. Most European operators and handset manufacturers will participate, together with some application providers and experts. Looking forward to catch up again with Ajit Jaokar.

If you have any question or input related to the topic I can bring to the attention, leave me a comment or contact me on Twitter.

Monday April 28th is also the launch of the first Mobile Monday Andalucía and will take place in Sevilla and covers Mobile Innovative Services. The event will focus on new technologies such as digital signature or Near Field Communication (NFC). Mobile Monday Andalucia is organised by the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise.

I will moderate a panel including Alejandro Romero from Yahoo, Antonio Navas from Kimia, Angel Romero from AT4 wireless and Rafael Selma from TB-Solutions. I’m really excited to discover some more about the field work on new technologies trialed here in Spain recently on digital identity and Near Field Communication (NFC). Note the recent trial launch of Orange Spain to bring NFC mobile ticketing to public buses in Málaga.

Anyone who’ll be in the neighborhood and who’d like to get in touch with me, don’t hesitate to ping me.

Andalucía, Bluetooth, convergence, Conversations, digital signature, events, innovation, mlearning, Mobile Apps, Mobile Content, Mobile Events, Mobile Monday, Mobile OS, mobile payments, Mobile Search, mobile ticketing, mobile tv, mobile video, mobile web, mobilemonday, Near Field Communication, Near Field Communication (NFC), NFC, Operators, Sevilla, social media, startups, Trends, usability, user experience

The Mobile Jam Session event - focused on developers - I’m organizing with Caroline Lewko of the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) during the Mobile World Congress, is taking its’ final shape. Hosted by MyStrands in their new MyStrands offices, the event takes place on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. It is a day to inspire new ideas and innovate solutions to existing challenges.

The event is free of charge for all participants, coffee breaks, lunch and networking cocktail included. Check the attendants list, we’re quite surprised and happy with the enthusiastic reactions and feedback we got so far!

Attendants include developers from companies like Admob, Accenture, Access, Bango, Vodafone Betavine, Bebo, Kyte.tv, Dell Mobile, Facebook , Future Platforms, GetJar, Google Inc., Idean, Intrinsyc, Kimia, LemonQuest, mBricks, Mippin, Mobile Complete, Mobile Distillery, MyStrands, Nokia, OpenID, Peperoni, PixSense Inc, Qualcomm, Reuters, scanR , Seesmic, Six Apart, Shozu , Skyhook Wireless, Sun Microsystems, Telecom Italia, Telefonica I+D, Truphone, Trutap, UIQ Technology, Vertu, Vodafone, W3C, Wavefront, WURFL and Yahoo! to name the most prominent. It’s a great combination of big and small companies; carriers/operators, device manufacturers, content aggregators, platform and developer programs reps and some great start-up companies with a lot of experience in mobile and web convergence.

You can still sign up here if you’d like to attend the morning and/or afternoon sessions or want to join us for our closing networking cocktail.

Check out the Speakers and Topics designed on feedback we received by participants:

• OPENING PANEL
• IMPROV SESSIONS
• CLOSING ENCORE PANEL

Check out the Topics and Speakers:

1. Open ID
2. Mobile Web Development Frameworks – Widgets/Ajax etc
3. Mobile OS / Platforms
4. Usability / UI / Localization / Mobile Interfaces
5. Mobile media / Web Convergence
6. Open Source in Handsets

10:30am – 12:00 noon
Pre-Session for Developers Only

Come early to grab some talk time, croissant and coffee with your peers about what you are developing and your important issues. These will then be brought forward for the rest of the day.

12:00 Noon – 1:00pm
Registration, Lunch, Networking

OPENING PANEL – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
We have a complete line-up of players to open up our Mobile Jam session. A great combination of big and small companies; a carrier, a device manufacturer, an aggregator, a platform, reps from developer programs and two great small companies with BIG experience. What a great way to get started – don’t miss this one!

The Players:

• Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist at Vodafone Group
• Carl Uminski, CTO, Trutap and formerly of Yahoo!
• Souheil Gallouzi, CTO, Intrinsyc and formerly of Qualcomm
• Terrence Barr, Technical Evangelist, SUN Microsystems
• Tom Libretto, VP of Forum Nokia
• Ray Anderson, CEO, Bango

IMPROV SESSIONS 2:30pm – 4:30 pm

The Six (6) Improv discussions are designed for more one-on-one discussions and a deeper dive on topics. Also a better way for you to meet the speakers and your fellow participants.

Note: As this is about improv and flexilbity, so the speaker list still has room for some last minute additions!

1. OpenID
Discussion Leaders:

TBC

2. Mobile Web Development Frameworks – Widgets/Ajax
Discussion Leaders:

• Representative from Forum Nokia
• Dominique Hazael-Massieux, W3C

3. Mobile OS / Platforms
Discussion Leaders:

• Vincent Berge, Co-Founder & General Manager, Mobile Distillery
• Rich Killmer, Sr. Sales Director, Mobile Complete
• Oscar Gutierrez, Vodafone Betavine
• Terrence Barr, Technical Evangelist, SUN Microsystems

About this topic:
From Mobile Java to other platforms like Symbian, BREW, FlashLite, Android, PalmOS, Access Garnet and Windows Mobile.

4. Usability / UI / Localization / Mobile Interfaces
Discussion Leaders:

• Mikko-Pekka Hanski, Idean
• David Mery, Editor - Developer Program, UIQ Technology
• Morten Hjerde, Senior Interaction Designer at mBricks

5. Mobile Media / Web Convergence
Discussion Leaders:

• Carmen Sales - Product Development Coordinator, Kimia
• Jakub Danilewicz - Alembik project architect

About this topic:
Return of Prometheus: bringing the web to mobile devices. Giving the power of free media transcoding and web rendering to the mortals.

6. Open Source in Handsets
Discussion Leaders:

• Bill Lee, Developer Relations, ACCESS
• Luca Pasani, Admob and founder of WURFL

CLOSING PANEL: MOBILE JAM SESSION - ENCORE 4:45pm – 5:30pm
We’ll start off with some closing remarks from our panelists and then add in other players from the audience to ‘jam’ with them.

The Players:

• Fabio Ricciato, Mobile Handset Evolution, Telecom Italia, Mobile (TIM) Access and Terminals in Technology Division
• Bill Lee, Developer Relations, ACCESS
• Karel De Beule - co-Founder, Kimia
• Open seats to rotate audience members.

Jam - gather and play without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements.

5:30pm – 7:30pm
Reception
Let’s end the day raising a toast – Salut! Other player’s will join us.

Rudy and Caroline will choose their favorite Jazz picks for a perfect cocktail mood.

3GSM, access, Announcements, barcamp, Barcelona, betavine, community, convergence, Conversations, Cool Devices, developer, Developers, dotopen, events, Experience Design, forum nokia, Fun, Games, innovation, kimia, location based, mobile, Mobile Apps, Mobile Events, mobile jam session, Mobile OS, Mobile RSS, Mobile Search, mobile web, Mobile Web Server, mobile world congress, mobilejamsession, mobilemonday, mtrends, Multi Touch Screen, mwc2008, mystrands, NFC, Operators, rudydewaele, social media, startups, usability, user experience, wip connector, wireless industry partnership, Workshop

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at Torre Mapfre in Barcelona.

Infused with the spirit of the early days of Jazz, the Mobile Jam Session is a day to inspire new ideas and innovate solutions to existing challenges. The purpose is focused, but the agenda is improvised along the way.

Caroline Lewko of the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) and myself are ‘jazzed’ about working together to bring you the first of - hopefully - many Mobile Jam Sessions. The idea emerged to open up the mobile ecosystem and connect experienced and talented developers, with industry experts and decision makers.

Most importantly we want this event to be driven by developers – what they want to hear, who they want to talk to, what they want to say… Any mobile developer can propose a hot topic he would like to to discuss with other mobile value chain players in a workshop and productive environment, simply add your name and topic to invitation list. Be prepared to be an active participant in the sessions.

The event is free of charge for all participants, coffee breaks, lunch and networking cocktail included. We’re looking for passionate, exciting and talented developers. We have confirmed participations from Telefonica, Vodafone Group, Telecom Italia, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo!, Mystrands, Mobile Distillery, Trutap, Kimia, …

The event is hosted in the new MyStrands Barcelona offices in the Torre Mapfre at the Villa Olympica. MyStrands generously offers us the superb 350 square meter space on the 20th Floor of the building with a breathtaking view on all Barcelona, the city, the Olympic port and its beaches.

New tunes often come from unlikely associations, so… Jam on!

3GSM, access, Announcements, Barcelona, betavine, community, convergence, Conversations, Cool Devices, developer, Developers, dotopen, events, Experience Design, forum nokia, Fun, Games, innovation, kimia, location based, mobile, Mobile Apps, Mobile Events, mobile jam session, Mobile OS, Mobile RSS, Mobile Search, mobile web, Mobile Web Server, mobile world congress, mobilejamsession, mobilemonday, mtrends, Multi Touch Screen, mwc2008, mystrands, NFC, Operators, social media, startups, usability, user experience, wip connector, wireless industry partnership

2007 was a very prosperous and exciting year for mobile technology in general, still we’re just at the beginning of a new era of more magic to come in the mobile and web convergent area’s. So, traditionally I’m writing down 10 Mobile Trends for the coming year, always a good personal excercise how close one is predicting mobile market trends and an indicator of what I think will matter in 2008.

Read my Mobile and Wireless Trends for 2007 and check for yourself my gut feeling on what happened yet and what is still to come. It seems very obvious and easy but predicting trends can be tricky, just try it for yourself! Check also my del.icio.us for some interesting predictions from other technology blogs I bookmarked during holidays. One of my favorite readings during holidays is still Carlo Longino’s and Russell Buckley’s yearly predictions at Mobhappy. Do check them out!

So here are my Mobile and Wireless Trends for 2008:

1. Google’s Android and the Open Handset Alliance will definately take off in 2008. While the iPhone is doing probably the best job embracing mobile and web convergence, the Apple OS is still a closed system and used by a rather small market segment of users. Nokia’s Nseries - though all remarkeable devices - didn’t produce any breakthrough Symbian OS changes last year and is still too buggy to go mass-market - I don’t see my sister or father perform a device software update; which leaves the opportunity for Google and the Open Handset Alliance to get the new Linux-based operating system Android on several cutting-edge smartphones before year-end. Mobile OS, a truely competitive space in 2008!
   
2. The Rise of the Mobile Social Networks. M:Metrics released some promising data mid-2007 on the rise of the Mobile Social Networks. With the big social media networks all going mobile in 2007 (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Bebo, …), this trend will continue to rise in 2008, sustained by more flat rate introductions on different markets.
   
3. Apple will be seriously attacked by the music industry on its own, once disruptive, iTunes business model. 2008 will be the year of further downfall of DRM and the raise of watermarked audio-files. With Sony BMG planning to drop DRM - the last of the Big Four record labels with Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and EMI Music, to throw in the towel on digital rights management. The end of DRM might embolden a host of new, online download venues initiated by the Big Four in its searches for a successful digital strategy. Note also the rise of new business models (!) giving away DRM-free, ad-supported music downloads, like the recently founded Rcrd Lbl by Peter Rojas. Read my DRM Free at Last! for a recent overview and links to previous posts on this topic.
4. Telefonica will introduce the 3G iPhone. To be announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February?
5. The return of the Location-Based Services. Since Nokia introduced the Nseries N95 with built in GPS, Location-Based Services are becoming exciting again. A new wave of mobile services and applications build on the location of the user (cell-ID and/or GPS) will see the light this year, driven by the open Google Maps API and flickr’s geotagged photo function. Read also my early 2005 coverage on the formerly known MoSoSos.
6. First iPhone competitors coming to market. Nokia will introduce a serious competitor for the iPhone. It has the hardware manufacturing intelligence and knowledge to come up with its own multi-touch screen interface. Biggest challenge for Nokia (and other manufacturers) will be to keep the OS user-experience as simple as the iPhone. Expect some great innovating devices from HTC too in 2008! (checkout the HTC Touch Dual).
7. Mobile Video Blogging starting to taking off. Though still to be used by early adopters, mobile video blogging tools such as Kyte.tv mobile are already doing a great job with Floobs and KaZiVu also looking very promising (both still in beta), not to forget about YouTube Mobile. All eyes will be on Seesmic however that has the right start-up vibe - instigated daily by its impressive experienced shareholders (and web 2.0 icons) and its very active beta-testers community. Imagining Seesmic to be used on your mobile phone is an easy one, the challenges for Seesmic are to bypass the complex technical issues and delivery of its great idea.
8. Mobile search, as already predicted last year will continue to be one of the most important and most used mobile applications. I keep this one in my list adding that some new players might disrupt the big Search market players, not having figured out the real mobile search issues such as accuracy, context, relevance, latency and the correct display of local and niche results.
9. PRM (Personal Rights Management) and Privacy policies and procedures will be high on the agenda for every entreprise and conscious connected individuals. Already talk of the connected crowds at LeWeb3, opening the Social Graphs might appear cool in your social media community but has to be done right! As a starter, check out Dataportability.org and watch Robert Scoble explaining his recent portability issues with Facebook.
10. Twitter and the breakthrough of the ultimate Mobile Presence Tool. Yes, Twitter is the utlimate mobile presence tool, since it’s the easiest to use (through SMS and mobile web access), and most accurate to stay connected at any time from anywhere… Jaiku has a definately a richer client but Twitter is the most easily integrated into most of your social networks, checkout MoodBlast that can simultaneously update multiple chat clients and web services presence tools. 2008 will also see the rise of lifestreaming apps like Tumblr, surprisingly simple on the web and looks great on your mobile phone.

Some of the downers of 2007:

- the sudden death of great blogger Marc Orchant - my deepest sympathies to Marc’s family.

- the whole blognation’s saga - one nation, many bugs…
- and just recently Om Malik’s heart attack - wish him strength, get well soon, Om!

Definately an urge for all bloggers not to forget about their daily excercise, no less!

I wish all my readers a great and magic 2008!

2008, 3G, 3g iphone, Analysis, Android, apple, bebo, convergence, Cool Devices, drm, emi, facebook, floobs, google, htc, innovation, iphone, itunes, kazivu, kyte, kyte.tv, leweb3, location based, Mashup, mobile, mobile 2.0, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Apps, Mobile Blog, Mobile Content, Mobile Games, Mobile Lifestyle, mobile marketing, mobile music, Mobile OS, Mobile RSS, Mobile Search, mobile video, mobile video blogging, mobile web, mobile world congress, mobileweb, mowser, Multi Touch Screen, myspace, NFC, nokia, Open Handset Alliance, Operators, os, personal rights management, Predictions, prm, rcrdlbl, seesmic, social media, sony bmg, startups, taptu, telefonica, touch dial, Trends, universal, user experience, warner, watermark, web 2.0, wireless, youtube

People are consuming music on their mobile phones in an increasing way. The way most people do this now is through their operator, downloading realtunes straight to their phones. Innovative companies like Futurlink have a different idea how people will do this in the (very) near future, using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and soon NFC, I wrote on this before in my Proximity Marketing post.

At 3GSM, Futurlink presents Wili-co-ITS, a new technology to distribute and sell content on the point of sales directly to the end consumers mobile phones using an interactive touch screen with an advanced Bluetooth and Wi-Fi application platform. Dig?

Wilico-ITS includes an advanced software called Suite which permits the creation of flash movies on the touch-screen and advanced interactive mobile music catalogues to be downloaded in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi mobile phones (all versions of Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, etc.), all in an automatic way without the necessity of having advanced programming skills. Wilico Suite permits to personalise the design of mobile phone music catalogues incorporating multimedia content (images, texts, music, videos, etc.). The solution allows obtaining real time statistics remotely through an Internet connexion or GPRS/UMTS.

Just think about putting this kind of screens in a MacDonald or other FMCG POS and the possibilities of uploading and downloading content within proximity through mobile phones; think a YouTube+MySpace+Wilico-ITS combination scenario for example… get the picture?

CEO David Masó showed me a demo this week, very impressive! Make sure you check them out at stand Hall 2 - 1A05, if not I’m sure you’ll hear more about this innovative start-up this year.

3G, 3GSM, Announcements, Bluetooth, Cool Devices, Experience Design, futurlink, innovation, Mashup, mobile 2.0, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Apps, Mobile Content, Mobile Culture, Mobile Lifestyle, mobile music, mobile proximity music, mobile video, Music, NFC, Operators, podcasts, Proximity Marketing, rfid, social media, spanish startups, startups, Trends, Ubiquitous Devices, ubiquitous marketing, Urban, Viral, we media, web 2.0, wi fi

Following the response and feedback I got on the “Understanding Mobile 2.0” article I wrote at Read/WriteWeb a couple of weeks ago, I created a wiki space to start categorizing the so-called Mobile 2.0 companies.

You can acces the directory at mobile2companies.com.

I decided to use a wiki tool, called Wepaint, so companies can add their own information and keep it updated. You just need to sign-up to add your Mobile 2.0 company info page, you can add images, slideshows, video’s, and RSS feeds as well, and tag your page(s).

Companies can use the tool to keep the web community updated with latest news, elevator pitches, presentations of new products/services, etc. You can browse the wiki by category, by keywords, subscribe to the wiki feeds on new pages added or updated, comments and news, a lot of other stuff out there yet to discover.

The directory is far from complete, I just gave it an initial injection and added some companies I know to start with, so the best thing to do is add your page if you don’t find your company in there and update your page if you don’t like what I added, it’s a wiki, you know

Kudos to Carlo for helping me with the introduction texts.

Contact me if you would like to contribute to this project, to become a writer/moderator, to help develop the wiki, and for any suggestion and comments. I hope these pages will be usefull for the entire mobile value chain, spread the word!

2.0., 3G, advertising, Announcements, audio, Bluetooth, cameraphone, cell phone, community, companies, company, device, Directory, image recognition, imaging, innovation, lbs, m trends.org, marketing, messaging, mobile, mobile 2.0, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Apps, Mobile Blog, Mobile Content, Mobile Culture, Mobile Events, Mobile Lifestyle, mobile marketing, mobile music, Mobile OS, Mobile RSS, Mobile Search, mobile video, mobile web, Mobile Web Server, mobile20, mobilize, Moblog, mososo, mtrends, Music, next generation, NFC, office, Operators, podcasts, Proximity Marketing, QR codes, qrcodes, Read/WriteWeb, search, social media, social software, start ups, startups, Trends, Ubiquitous Devices, ubiquitous marketing, video, voice, voip, w3c, we media, web 2.0, wi fi, Wimax

Last weeks’ MobileMonday Barcelona on Proximity Marketing was the occasion to get briefed on the present real-world cases of mobile technologies used in a physical context. FuturLink presented their (rather impressive) content delivery system based on Bluetooth access points; Media Contacts talked about tailoring content; and Nike related on their (mostly) good experience on using proximity marketing; finally Daem Interactive revealed their MMS image recognition solution.

(from left to right: Joan Grau, Media Contacts - David Masó, FuturLink - Miguel Sola, Daem Interactive - Paulino Moraleda, Brand Communications Manage, Nike)

Carles Fereiro from Barcelona Media did a great job while I was checking out Villes 2.0, an excellent initiative launched by FING, also founders of Mobile Monday Paris. I liked a lot the speakers’ box concept they introduced at BETC Euro RSCG, you can view some of this Paris trip picture here. Thanks to Marie, Daniel, Stephane and especially Véronique of the MoMoParis team for just being so wonderful

Fabien Girardin took some pictures of the MobileMonday Barcelona evening. Check out his blog used for his Ph.D. thesis on collaborative work in the context of mobile and ubiquitous environments.

From Fabien’s Flickr images (l-to-r): FuturLink’s Bluetooth Access Point, Nike’s proximity experiment on a big Christmas ad in Barcelona, Media Contacts’ new generations of content.

Subscribed MobileMonday Barcelona users can download the presentations of that evening in the subscribers profile page. There is a very interesting video demo available from Media Contacts bluetooth campaign with VolksWagen-EOS.

Next MoMoBCN event on December 4 has topic Mobile Social Networks. Head over for more details at MobileMonday Barcelona website.

Announcements, augmented reality, Bluetooth, daem interactive, futurlink, image recognition, innovation, media contacts, mobile 2.0, mobile marketing, mobilemonday, mobilemonday barcelona, mobilemonday spain, momobcn, momoparis, NFC, nike, Operators, paris, presentations, Proximity Marketing, QR codes, rfid, Trends, ubiquitous marketing, villes20, Viral, wi fi, wifi

The W3C’s Mobile Web Initiative just anounced the new service “Planet Mobile Web”, which goal is to reinforce the community building around the Mobile Web usage, create discussions across blogs, generate new ideas, etc. The Planet provides both an aggregated HTML view and aggregated RSS/Atom feeds.

Planet Mobile Web aggregates posts from various blogs that concern the Mobile Web. While it is hosted by the Mobile Web Initiative, the content of the individual entries represent only the opinion of their respective authors of course.

I think this is a great initiative to stimulate the discussion between the various mobile global value chain players in the field. I am happy I am included in the lists of blogs, I will definately keep contributing and writing on this topic in the future. Check it out!

Announcements, feeds, lbs, mobile 2.0, Mobile RSS, Mobile Search, mobile web, mobile web initiative, Mobile Web Server, NFC, podcasts, QR codes, rss, social media, syndication, w3c, web 2.0, wi fi

Continuing with its monthly events, MobileMonday Barcelona announces its next event on “Proximity Marketing” that will take place on November 6. Kudoos to Carles from MoMoBCN partner Barcelona Media to get this interesting list of speakers together:

David Masó, CEO of Futurlink, one of our most popular and successful local start-ups will explain us about Futurlink’s experiences and future plans on proximity solutions.

Miguel Sola, Director of Daem Interactive, another Barcelona Start-up will present their latest products and services for marketing campaigns using mobile image recognition.

Joan Grau, Director of operations at Media Contacts, will explain us about implementing proximity marketing solutions, the challenges and opportunities from the demand side.

Paulino Moraleda, Brand Communications Manager for Nike, will share with us what a major brand sees in the value and potential of proximity solutions and what they can provide.

As usual, a networking party will follow the conference where participants will enjoy a glass of cava, the event takes place at the Auditorium of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

Attendance is free; all you need to do is register at www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/subscribe to reserve one of the 150 seats available. Book early to avoid being left out!

19h30 Registration and Pre-Networking
20h00 Proximity Marketing
21h05 Cocktail and Networking Party
22h00 End

This event is sponsored by Media Contacts, CIDEM (Centre d’Innovació i Desenvolupament Empresarial of the Generalitat de Catalunya) and Barcelona Media.

Announcements, augmented reality, Bluetooth, daem interactive, david masó, futurlink, havas, image recognition, joan grau, media contacts, media planning group, mobile, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Apps, Mobile Content, mobile marketing, Mobile Monday, mobilemonday, mobilemonday barcelona, mobilemonday spain, momobarcelona, momobcn, mpg, NFC, nike, paulino moraleda, Proximity Marketing, QR codes, rfid, ubiquitous, ubiquitous marketing, Viral, wi fi