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The world of mobile services finally opens up for girls in France… Sabine Allaeys launches a new part of her unique universe for Fashionable girls. I wrote about her and MiniFizz before here and here. I have always been a fan of Sabine’s attractive and original designs and the way she imagines and develops the MiniFizz community. It is as varied, multiple, complex and not stereotypical… in a word, she designs the perfect girls! They are young (14-24 years old), independant, active and of course very mobile.

The idea? Create a web & mobile universe of multi-facetted girls, with diverse interests, and not at all stereotyped as most services targetting girls are.

Minifizz site is animated by 5 virtual young girls, that are modern and very up-to-date, sharing with us their lives, their passions and of course their STYLE ! SofiaFizz, JulieFizz, LisaFizz, LilouFizz, ChristieFizz and many others to come are here to enlighten us with their beauty, health and fashion tips…

The MiniFizz offers us kind of a girly magazine filled with news, fashion hits, cultural agenda, beauty articles, all presented with humour and wit.

When you connect to www.minifizz.fr or via a WAP site on your mobile, you first create your own avatar (your Popp’s) and style it as you like with actual clothes and accessories adapted to the Popp’s. Then you start sharing with other members of the community via your FizzBlog or on the Forum.

Stay connected with other MiniFizz members through your FizzBlog. Share your mood, pictures, projects, passions… And comment or answer on so many different topics. Interactivity is a must for girls!

Moreover, the Community is constantly animated with games, quizzes and contests and you can win many prizes of which the actual clothing and accessories of your Popp’s !

Check it out of you can!

“Cucumber time” is the Flemish expression for this time of the year where everybody seems to be on holiday. My holidays come a bit later this year so I thought it was time for a check on most read articles of the last year here at my m-trends.org blog. I normally don’t check my blog statistics very often since I haven’t considered any advertising yet and I know approximately my average audience traffic. When I did an overview of the last year however, I was delightfully surprised, seeing I passed half a million unique users and a 6 zero figure on pageviews (since August 1 of last year). Maybe I should start considering advertising at last?

I made a short overview of the TOP 20 of the most read articles at m-trends.org during this period. It gives a good indication on what’s popular - watch the Carnival of the Mobilists! - and it gives some insight on what topics my readers like me to write on. Page views run at a couple of thousand each (at least for the TOP 10).

1. Carnival of the Mobilists 03
2. Women in Mobile
3. 3GSM Gathering of the Mobilists
4. Open Letter To Vodafone
5. MoSoSo + Wi-Fi
6. Carnival of the Mobilists 33
7. 3GSM Gathering Of The Mobilists - Line-Up
8. mUXP - Mobile User Experience
9. 3GSM Afterwrap
10. Advertising 2.0
11. Mobcast Advertising (= Mobile Podcasts Ads)
12. Mobilicio.us
13. The Mobile Internet (as seen on TV)
14. MusicStrands Mobile
15. Google Music all about Mobile!
16. European answer to Google Wi-Fi?
17. 3G in Spain
18. Mobile Music For Families. No thanks!
19. Independents and Mobile Music Distribution (2)
20. Wapedia Works!

NOTE: five women featured in the “Women in Mobile” interview series are represented in the (then included) TOP 25 but I voluntary left them out here since I do not want to make this a womens’ contest, I’m sure they’ll forgive me

It would be great hearing your opinion on what topics and issues you would like me to write and rant in the future, so don’t hesitate to send me your input and suggestions. And oh, if any sponsor is interested to advertise on my blog, I’ll consider any offer

The Women in Mobile interview series seem to be really popular among m-trends.org readers so I thought it might be good to bundle some of the latest interviews not published yet for your summer reading.

What I like about the series, apart from getting to know all these wonderfull women of course is the diversity of characters interviewed but especially how passionate they all are about the potential of Mobile. Whether they work as software engineer, as executive or entrepreneur, as artist or designer or as activist, they are all very open-minded and forward-thinking, how diverse their job functions may be.

This post to bundle the following 4 Women in Mobile interviews:

- Sarah Blow, behind the London Girl Geek Dinners

- Julia Dimambro, CEO of Cherrysauce, a mobile adult entertainment company

- Stephanie Rieger, inventing and designing mobile lifestyle at Yiibu.com

- Katrin Verclas, Executive Director at N-TEN (The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network)

If you are a woman working in Mobile or if you know a woman that you think should be part of this interview series, please drop me a note (email at the right in sidebar). Enjoy the reading!

Image © phonemag.com

NYC connection Justin Oberman from mopocket.com brought me in touch with her recently. Katrin runs her day job in an organization called N-TEN—an umbrella association of nonprofit technologists and the people that provide technology service to nonprofits and civil society organizations. She is also very involved in MobileActive. MobileActive is a global network of nonprofit and non-governmental organizations, mobile technologists, and grassroots activists who are using mobile phones in their civic activism.

BACKGROUND - WORK

- Can you explain more about your work?

The MobileActive network started in 2005 when we held the first-ever conference on using mobile phones in civic action and activism in Canada with activists and mobilists from around the world. Since then, we have built a collaborative website at www.mobileactive.org where we collectively track campaigns from around the globe that are using mobile phones. We maintain a lively mailing list for peer networking, have produced local events in Europe, Asia, and the United States. There have been numerous partnerships and collaborations between mobile techies and civil society organizations – for human rights, voter mobilization, advocacy and organizing.

Please check out the many stories, campaigns, and people in our network at www.mobileactive.org!

Incidentally (and as a sneak preview here) we are going to be producing a series of white papers – the MobileActive Strategy Memos – that will be how-to guides analyzing existing campaigns and making recommendations for campaigners wanting to use mobile phones in these areas:

1. human rights
2. voter registration and mobilization
3. legislative and policy advocacy
4. issue advocacy
5. fundraising

We are releasing the first in the 5-part series later this month – stay tuned!

- Are you more social, business or technical oriented?

All social – all the time ☺ But we play with tech and the potential new mobile technical developments have for activism and organizing.

- What brought you into mobile?

I love technology ☺ And I love technology for social change. The mobile medium has enormous potential to reach and connect people who are otherwise not online/on the Internet. Mobile phones are organizing tools, communication tools, information sharing tools, tools for political expression (ringtones, and political jokes, for example), they can be used for monitoring tools and data gathering for civil society purposes. They are easy to use and ubiquitous, cheap, and accessible. I want to make the world a better place and use the smartest and most appropriate and accessible technology to aid in this work. I am drawn to the potential for collective action to do so – and hence am very interested in the possibilities of mobile phones as organizing tools for activists and campaigners who are in the trenches all around the world.

DIGITAL LIFESTYLE

- Which tools you use to publish, blog or moblog your work?

I am too busy to blog much… I know I should do a lot more of it, though. I live on my Treo 650 when traveling – texting, web, email (at least checking), phone, of course.

But even with a qwerty keyboard (the English-language keyboard) blogging and doing anything other than 160 characters is pretty much a pain.

- Which applications and services do you use regularely on your phone?

Google local ☺, text messaging, right now the handy World Cup score tool that updates me when there is a goal… email, contact database, games for my kids.

- Would you use your device to interact with other machines? Yes!

- Which machine-to-machine can you think of would be handy to interact with?

Every possible one – ranging from ticket machines for the subway to my still-used iPod (replacing that one with my mobile would be good, but because the sound quality is better, I have not yet)

- Would you download mp3 tunes on your phone? Share them with friends? Mobsharing? Any thoughts on DRM?

Yes on mp3s. I wish the world was licensed Creative Commons. DRM is a much longer conversation..

- What about Mobile TV?

No thanks. Well, soccer would be cool.

GEEK STUFF

- How do you experience the Mobile Internet? Which mobile browsers do you use?

How? Painfully. It’s no fun. Wishlist for 2007: The ubiquitous mobile Internet, and full mobile compatibility of all web sites.

- Web 2.0? Do you use it? What does it mean to you? Does/will these evolutions influence mobile technology? How?

I dislike the term. It is, in the end, all about community, peer- and user production, the ease of use and pervasiveness of tools and really, in the end, about the democratization of innovation.

Mobile phones are all about that – as evidenced by the fact that there are now vastly more than 2 billion of them in use, and the many, many creative uses people deploy them for – in social interactions and every-day, in sophisticated political campaigns, in music and entertainment – you name it. There are new ideas, new uses, creative innovations every day. Look at the Kuwaiti elections where women are texting their opinions about candidates, the political ringtones that sprung up all over, the political jokes surreptitiously passed on in Zimbabwe – there are more creative uses of the medium than I have seen in a long time.

- What are your favourite mobile user-generated content projects?

Oh, good question! Other than MobileActive ? I have no idea! Yours? Love to hear about them!

- MoSoSo + wi-fi + urban networks = ?

Social change.

- Do you develop content/technology yourself?

Content, yes. Mobile content, no. Tech, no.

FUTURE OF MOBILE

- How do you see the future of mobile?

Very bright! Let’s just hope commercial interests do not take it over (such as television) to close it off in some way for civil society uses.

- What do you think about the Fixed-Mobile-Internet convergence? 3G vs. Wi-Fi? Hybrid phones?

I’ll leave this to the industry experts – I’ll watch you all closely, though, and see what can be used/appropriated/deployed in and for our work in the NGO and nonprofit sphere.

- What differences do you see of mobile use in USA – Europe - Asia?

Vastly different social uses based on different technical infrastructures. Much more pervasive texting, obviously, in Europe and Asia, though people in the US are taking sms by storm. Different social uses have implications for political organizing and social change work, of course, so they are of great interest to us and we are tracking the socio-cultural dimensions of mobile use closely.

- What is gonna be the next *big thing* in mobile?

Well, if I had my druthers, global mutual aid networks

PERSONAL FAVORITES

- Who inspires you professionally?

More people than I can count ☺ My partner who runs an international NGO and who is a brilliant man, my children for whom I do this all in the first place, many of my colleagues who are building and running incredibly creative campaigns and organizations, and really someone every day who makes the world a little better. I have the great privilege of seeing this work and reporting on it, connecting, and aggregating, building community and running programs that disseminate learnings from this rich, inspired community that I work in.

- Your favorite mobile technology blog?

Yours, my friend. And Emily’s textually – that girls rocks the house.

- Your favorite mobile device?

My Treo right now, may be different tomorrow ☺

- Favorite mobile application/service?

Texting.

- Your ultimate dream scenario including mobile?

A better, more just, more equitable world.

- The ultimate tech device not invented yet?

Ah, I am not a futurist in that kind of way…

- Who else could you recommend to be interviewed next?

I want a Kuwaiti woman ☺ Talk to Becky faith of Fahamu, too! And Emily. Definitely Emily!

-> FYI: Women in Mobile interview with Emily Turrentini from textually.org here

- Anything else you would like to add? Something the big players are missing?

Mobile phones and radio are two of the more subversive tools out there. Forget the internet in vast parts of the world.

Thanks Katrin for your time and good luck with the new projects!

Reading (and hosting) the Carnival of the Mobilists let you discover new ideas, insiders’ insights and especially new talented people in the Mobile market space. One of those talents I discovered when I hosted the Carnival of the Mobilists 33 was Stephanie. I selected her “Casual Mobile Snacks for Everyone” as my favourite post of that week!

Based in Vancouver, Canada, she creates unique and engaging content for emerging mobile technologies and devices with some other mobile passionates at Yiibu. Besides her blog Keitai where she writes on mobility, culture and user experience, she is also involved in Mobile Monday Vancouver.

I especially like the refreshing way she’s looking towards mobile, something that many people loose on the way trying to make business, but in essence, a quality we all should foster to keep innovation close to our hearts… Well, it’s not only happening in the head if you see what I mean

BACKGROUND - WORK

- Can you explain more about your work?

My background is in interactive project management, content development and specifically—educational multimedia for kids. I also spent several years working as a teaching assistant in an elementary school in Toronto as well a brief period teaching English overseas so educational products always seem to be on my mind.

My current work is varied—out of necessity really. I do a lot of research (mostly just to keep up) but also spend quite a bit of time managing content projects and taking care of QA and testing. I’ve also been blogging a lot lately which I find really useful to get my ideas out.

- Are you more social, business or technical oriented?

I would say all three at this point (which can be a problem at times—there’s too much to do and too much to learn

If I could switch to focusing on just one thing right now it would probably be the social/cultural or user experience side of mobile.

- What brought you into mobile?

I don’t think I would have started working in mobile (so soon) if it wasn’t for all the time we spent in Asia over the past few years. There were lots of little experiences—seeing a fellow traveler call his grand-mother in Norway from the top of a mountain in Borneo, renting a mobile on the street for a quick call on the Malay border, watching our roommate in Indonesia endlessly text her mother in Scotland to exchange gossip about Survivor and Big Brother, walking into MBK for the first time in Bangkok and seeing thousands of people earning a living, socializing, doing business—all based on this one type of device. And then seeing variations of all this in country after country.

And from a content point of view, there’s the immediacy of a device so small that you can hold in one hand—yet offering so many possibilities. It’s yours, it holds your stuff, it helps you in your work or study, it brings you closer to your friends and family, you take it everywhere. You can’t really say that about many other things we carry.

Besides, I’m a handset geek. ☺

DIGITAL LIFESTYLE

- How does mobile technological progress influences your daily routine in your work?

Years ago, I remember going on vacation and leaving my computer behind. Now I’m not sure I could really do that. I’d need to feel connected. Not just to the net but to people, to my data and my work. And as I have a lot of data; right now having just a mobile doesn’t cut it.

So last year I bought a tiny Sony VAIO and that is now also my mobile. I work on it, make calls on it—yet I can carry it around all day without really thinking about it. Combine that with a ‘real’ mobile, and I feel pretty connected.

- Which tools you use to publish, blog or moblog your work?

I blog using Wordpress. I’m not currently moblogging but am hoping to start publishing/experimenting with the Widsets platform soon.

- Which applications and services do you use (daily/weekly) on your phone?

Not many I’m afraid. I’m dying to use data services for all sorts of stuff but the data plans in Canada have historically been too expensive for me to justify purchasing. I’m finally about to cave and sign up for a plan because not having one is starting to affect my work.

Would you use your device to interact with other machines?

I use Bluetooth a lot when designing and testing applications. Sometimes I transfer 20-30 files an hour as I hate testing in an emulator—you end up missing all sorts of things—including design and content related stuff like alignment issues, typos etc. For some reason these seem much easier to spot on a real handset.

By comparison, I find synching an iPod painful and un-intuitive ☺

- Which machine-to-machine can you think of would be handy to interact with?

This isn’t technically machine to machine but I find 2D barcode scanning (QR etc.) via mobile fascinating. Assuming the handset integration is good, it’ll solves a lot of problems related to content/information acquisition or discovery, customer conversion etc.

- Would you download mp3 tunes on your phone? Share them with friends? Mobsharing? Any thoughts on DRM?

I don’t currently download music—but I do download podcasts quite regularly.

GEEK STUFF

- How do you experience the Mobile Internet? Which mobile browsers do you use?

My most recent phone is an E60 which I purchased specifically for the wireless LAN access. It also has a very high resolution display so the browsing experience is really quite enjoyable—especially with the new Nokia browser (although for some reason my WLAN connection times out more often with the Nokia browser than with Opera.) I’ve also recently installed WinWap’s mobile desktop browser which is super handy to browse WAP sites on your computer.

All this is of course a work-around for the fact that mobile data is too expensive here ☺

- Web 2.0? Do you use it? What does it mean to you? Does/will these evolutions influence mobile technology? How?

One lovely aspect of Web 2.0 that has not yet come to mobile but really needs to be there from a longevity point of view is an open network/platform that welcomes access and participation—at the very least in the area of content and services.

An area that scares me a bit however is the concept of user generated content on mobile. I think we can all agree that there is some great user generated content out there but there’s also lots of junk. Even with a good ‘social/recommendation network’ it takes a long time to weed through it all.

This additional ‘noise’ is disruptive enough on a big screen—never mind a small one. So I’m looking forward to seeing lots of mobile content from lots of sources but I’m not sure if we’re ever going to have time to get things done during the day if we add yet another layer of distraction to our mobiles

- Do you develop content/technology yourself?

Yes I do. My company—Yiibu creates small mobile games, content and experiences with learning and lifestyle in mind. We’re currently developing using Flash Lite as it’s so easy to prototype with and offers a good level of functionality along with good design capabilities for the final product. Player adoption is still low but finally growing at a reasonable pace.

FUTURE OF MOBILE

- How do you see the future of mobile?

We will (hopefully) see more diversity in content and applications. More local content, more personal content, more mobile use in education, more opportunities for small companies and individual content creators. And fewer walled gardens.

- Hybrid phones?

I suppose I have one already with the E60. Setting up WLAN access points is still a bit tricky and my connection seems to drop quite a bit but I’m sure all that stuff will work itself out in future iterations of the device. The biggest barrier I still see to adoption is still the operators. In markets where you can simply walk into a store and buy a handset, I’m assuming these will be very popular as long as they work well and are reasonably priced. But in markets like Canada where the majority of the population purchases a device direct from the operator, I think we won’t see these phones on the shelves for quite some time. (Hopefully someone will prove me wrong though

- What differences do you see of mobile use in USA – Europe - Asia?

The differences are huge. It’s quite fascinating actually, because even within regions the uses change when you cross from one country to another. One thing I feel reasonably comfortable generalizing about is the perception of technology in Asia (or at least—my perception of the perception of technology in Asia

Every country I’ve been to has large, thriving technology marketplaces. Their presence—in my opinion—results in a general lack of apprehension regarding new technologies. When purchasing spare parts, mobile pre-pay access or other technology services you’re just as likely to be served by a man or woman, young or old. Sure there’s geeks and early adopters but—perhaps because some of these technologies came about much quicker (i.e. spotty fixed-line access leading to quick and widespread mobile adoption)—there doesn’t seem to be this “should we?..or..shouldn’t we?” I hear so often in North America. If you don’t know how to do something, you’re bound to know someone who does. If it works, you use it. If it doesn’t, you don’t. And (assuming your network/operator/budget allows it)—you experiment with stuff.

Then because the device is so personal and social, there are all sorts of uses that are specific to culture. And thanks to these, we see innovations in business models and trends that maybe won’t work elsewhere but can still provide inspiration for things that will.

This is not meant to suggest that the only innovation in mobile is (or will be) coming from certain parts of the world. I simply think that—especially in the case of mobile, it’s very dangerous to base all your assumptions on what’s going on in your back-yard. You’ll miss out on a lot.

- What is gonna be the next *big thing* in mobile?

High handset adoption (i.e. network connectivity) in emerging markets.

It’s going to have all sorts of effects….

• Way more people connected. How will operators and their services adapt? How will the OEMs?
• Way more people connected. How will economies adapt? Will some jump ahead due in part to their increased ability to connect locally, regionally etc. Will others fall behind because of their lack of connectivity or the lack of openness in their networks? (I would say some already have.)
• Way more people (eventually) connected to the Internet (in some way.) Will mo-blogging create even more opportunities for social and political discussion around the world? Will walled gardens interfere? Will we all have access to the same mobile web?
• More people who will own a (very?) basic multimedia device. How will this affect content creation and distribution? Will we see more local, niche (long-tail) content? (Will big media and operators allow it?) Will off-deck grow faster in certain areas due to sheer mass of participation?
• More opportunities. Will we finally start to see widespread use of devices for learning? Not just traditional ‘elearning’ on mobile but locally sponsored and relevant learning related to areas of literacy, health, social and financial independence and quality of life.
• Waste. What will we do with several million devices being discarded every few years?
• Experimentation and innovation. Someone will do something totally unexpected that will shift mobility as we know it. What will it be? Different behaviours? New business models? Products?

- The mobile trend(s) for this and next year?

I’m hoping this will finally be the year we start to seriously discuss what business models will work off-deck and how to make them happen without alienating the operators.

PERSONAL FAVORITES

- Who inspires you professionally?

Way too many people to mention. I’d miss someone and feel terrible about it

And I don’t know what I’d do without blogs to learn all this stuff and keep track of all these conversations.

- Your favorite mobile technology blog?

Hmm…hard to pick. My favourites tend to be folks at Nokia (not sure why but that’s just how it’s worked out so far.) Jan Chipchase, Cognections and the Series 60 User Experience blogs. Also Experentia —not necessarily a mobile blog but provides a wealth of links about design, user experience, ethnography—mostly related to technology.

Oh..and Carnival of the Mobilists of course.

- Your favorite mobile device?

I love the display on the E60, the form factor on the 6600 and 6630, the colour and style of the L’Amour collection by Nokia and the feel of the Motorola Pebl (the UI on the Pebl is terrible though.) I’d also still love a Nokia 770 but it’s not yet available in Canada.

- Your ultimate dream scenario including mobile?

Reasonably priced unlimited data plans worldwide, and an open, well-supported and consistent development/publishing platform. ☺ LOL

- The ultimate tech device not invented yet?

A good, easy to use/carry/easy on the eyes, open format e-book reader. Something that will allow the e-book ecosystem to grow.

- Anything else you would like to add? Something the big players in mobile are missing?

We’ve never been very good at keeping technology simple and promoting balance in how we use it (ex. three car garages, Hummers, video-game addicted adolescents, ‘Crackberry’ addicted professionals, PC and mobile carpal-tunnel syndrome etc.) Now OEMs and operators are racing to connect the next billion subscribers. Before we turn every handset into an ‘always on,’ ever social convergent ‘multimedia computer,’ let’s make sure that we all really need one and that it maybe comes with software and applications that promote balance and allow/(compel?) us to switch off with as much ease as we ‘switch on.‘ ☺

I came to Sarah’s blog somewhere last year during my web 2.0 related research for MuLiMob. It was a discovery for me since Sarah writes from her own experiences with a very down-to-earth approach. I found her input very relevant against the so much hyped-up space of the mobile market, we’re used to.
You can download a 3gp video of her web 2.0 in the mobile space presentation at the Mobile Monday London in June. She’s also organising the London Girl Geek Dinners, if I were female (and geek) I definately would not want to miss one. But enough from me now, let’s hear it from Sarah!

BACKGROUND - WORK

- Can you explain more about your work?

I am a software engineer working for a Medical Device manufacturer. My role is to design, develop and maintain Microsoft C# applications for the Windows CE platform. I don’t work on mobile phones but the devices do have a wireless capability and use the same underlying platform as windows mobile.

Prior to this I was at university in Manchester UK, and wrote software for PPC phone edition and Windows Smartphone utilizing the camera and GPRS to send images and data to remote servers.

- Are you more social, business or technical oriented?

I am more technically orientated than anything else. I run London Girl Geek Dinners but that is not my day job. Technology and technical depth are what I am focused on at the moment. I am constantly learning and I enjoy the technical challenges, which is what keeps me in the industry.

- What brought you into mobile?

I ended up in mobility totally by accident. I did my undergraduate in Computation at UMIST in Manchester and entered an ideas competition whilst I was there to extend my final project to include a mobile front end for data capture. I won the scholarship to do the masters and that is where mobility came into my life.

I went to my first World 3GSM conference whilst at university and from then on I have been pretty much hooked on the stuff. It’s something about the small screens, the limitations and need to problem solve that draws me to the market. I love a challenge!

DIGITAL LIFESTYLE

- How does mobile technological progress influences your daily routine in your work?

At work mobile technology progress influences me little in my day to day workings as we tend to ensure that our hardware has a longer lifespan than most mobile devices. We look more to military and car manufacturing components for hardware. In terms of software we are pretty much open to ideas.

As a blogger mobile technology progress has had a reasonable impact as outside of work I do blog and write about mobile technologies, the issues that I see with them and some of the ways of overcoming those challenges. I have spoken at Mobile Monday here in London about Mobi-Web 2.0 and by the looks of things everyone has a different opinion on what they see this as.

Mobility has caused a lot of changes to occur in peoples every day lives, some of it for the better and some for the worse. What I see needing to happen in order for mobile to take off is for close coupling between developers, phone manufacturers and network providers (be that the likes of Vodafone or even Wifi or WiMax owners).

- Which tools you use to publish, blog or moblog your work?

My blog is hosted by Geekswithblogs. I can publish from my mobile, or direct on the site or via an e-mail. It’s fairly flexible and it does the job for me. I don’t blog about my work as I am under NDA on the work that I do as I work in a research and development department.

- Which applications and services do you use regulary on your phone?

I only tend to use my day to day mobile for answering calls, and sending text messages. It’s (was) a Symbian OS Samsung phone. It has a camera but I rarely bother to use it. It can access the internet but I find it easier and quicker to do that when I am at home. The size of the screen makes me question the usability as does the input method. (I managed to drop it in water a week ago! Now it’s dead and I need to get a replacement!)

If I need a phone that can browse the net and stuff then I usually swap sim cards over to my old XDAII as that has a bigger screen and better input facilities. I also sync my e-mails to this phone as well, however it’s too bulky to carry around all the time… (maybe it’s time for a Smartphone… but I hate the UI on them!)

- Would you use your device to interact with other machines?

If I used the camera on my Samsung then I would send the photo’s to my laptop via Bluetooth. Other than that I don’t tend to use it for device to machine interaction.

- Which machine-to-machine can you think of would be handy to interact with?

Any to any would be nice… use phone to pay for can of coke… rather than carrying money… um… interactive maps for when you get lost… inter-car communications.

- Would you download mp3 tunes on your phone? Share them with friends? Mobsharing? Any thoughts on DRM?

I don’t download music to my mobile phone. I tend to have that on my matchbox MP3 player.

DRM…. File encryption… need I say more…. Limiting, slow and needs to become a lot smarter before people will accept it and be happy with it. It’s easy to get around at the moment and most people try to avoid it. It’s a bit of an annoyance but it’s nothing that can’t be worked around one way or another.

- What about Mobile TV?

Nice idea but why would you sit and watch TV on a small screen? Great for advertisers but not really all that practical for the average user, overly expensive and will cause chaos with drivers…

GEEK STUFF

- How do you experience the Mobile Internet? Which mobile browsers do you use?

Mobile internet… I use it on my PPC but I avoid it at all costs with my Symbian phone. I use the IE browser on PPC as it is there and just works. It is fine for doing mobile browsing. I’ve never had an issue with it. Symbian on the other hand…. :S I say nothing. (silence speaks louder than words!)

- Web 2.0? Do you use it? What does it mean to you? Does/will these evolutions influence mobile technology? How?

Web 2.0: RSS, Blogs, Wiki’s, Tags, Open API’s…
Yes I have an RSS reader, and also an RSS publisher. I use Wiki’s for organizing and planning the London Girl Geek Dinners. I have 2 blogs. One that everyone knows about and the other is a private one with non mobile and relatively non-tech stuff on it… I tag things when I feel like it and I will use Open API’s as and when I need them.

Web 2.0 is just evolution with a fancy name. It really isn’t all that definable because the boundaries of what it is will always change. I try to avoid fitting things into boxes of web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc… it doesn’t make logical sense to do that!

The past always influences the future as the past is the building blocks of the future. So yes Web 2.0 will influence mobile technology, however mobility has different issues when looking at the evolution of the internet as it has different constraints to the standard pc, with issues of small screens and sometimes connected devices.

- What are your favourite mobile user-generated content projects?

My favourite user-generated content projects… I would have to say miki… the mobile wiki site… It just makes sense to me… a quick way of collaborating and sharing info online… ☺

- MoSoSo + wi-fi + urban networks = ?

A whole load of new and innovative products… ☺ I can’t wait!

- Do you develop content/technology yourself?

I develop content through wiki sites, my blog, my website and the London Girl Geek Dinners website. I develop software as well… I guess it depends on what you mean by develop technology… maybe…

FUTURE OF MOBILE

- How do you see the future of mobile?

Ubiquitous… pervasive… intuitive… intelligent… context, content, location and socially aware. Many applications, many implementations, not hardware constrained, personal… expressive and interactive.

- What do you think about the Fixed-Mobile-Internet convergence?

I think it will bring on some interesting new companies and business ideas. I look forward to seeing what comes out as a result of it.

- 3G vs. Wi-Fi?

3G & Wifi… both have their own uses and have their own very different usage scenarios. Both bring with them different benefits. I still await the day when I have Wifi, GPS and 3G on a single mobile device with the camera and the MS Mobile OS… that would be a very useful business device. ☺

- Hybrid phones?

Hybrid phones… hmmm… will become the norm, as will VoIP. I welcome the day when calls and communications become cheaper.

- What differences do you see of mobile use in USA – Europe - Asia?

Having not been to Asia I can’t comment on that and the last time I was in the US was a very long time ago… as such I can not comment on the differences between the markets. (that I will leave to the market experts)

- What is gonna be the next *big thing* in mobile?

Who knows…. If only I had a crystal ball… If I knew that I would be a multi millionaire… there are loads of great apps out there but I haven’t seen the “killer app” yet!

- The mobile trend(s) for this and next year?

Usable interactive systems with ubiquitous communications channels. Attention marketing, smart information location services pushed to mobile. MoVideo uploads, live podcasts, RSS to mobile.

PERSONAL FAVORITES

- Who inspires you professionally?

On a professional level I am inspired by Richard Branson for his innovation and enthusiasm to put his everything into making things happen. I am also inspired by the likes of Celia Francis (Wee World) who has an amazing way of multi tasking and has the drive and determination to get to where she wants.

- Your favorite mobile technology blog?

My favorite mobile blog… hmmm… I don’t have a favorite… I have my most used mobile blogs but I don’t have a favorite mobile blog… my favorite blog is gapingvoid. I just love the drawings ☺ (keep up the good work Hugh!)

- Your favorite mobile device?

I change my mind daily… usually it is small, light, fast, with the most features to it relating to communications and data transfer. ☺

- Favorite mobile application/service?

I found my favorite mobile application just before the London to Brighton thanks to Paul at Modaco. It is the frwd performance monitoring system. It has a mobile UI to the GPS device over Bluetooth and gives heart rate, altitude, speed, and location details direct to mobile. (but only for the Symbian OS… but I don’t mind that!) The software is truly awesome. (I love sports so it’s great to be able to analyze performance and data both whilst doing sport and also after races!)

- Your ultimate dream scenario including mobile?

Hmmm… I think that would be owning my own company and writing mobile applications and having unlimited device access from the phone manufacturers.

- The ultimate tech device not invented yet?

Voice reactive device that is wearable, portable with discrete screen. (Such as in glasses screen)

- Which links would you like to be included?

www.londongirlgeekdinners.co.uk
www.sarahblow.com
www.gapingvoid.com

- Who else could you recommend to be interviewed next?

Nicole Mathison at HP

- Anything else you would like to add? Something the big players are missing?

Oh they miss so much… too much for me to put here!

Thanks!

I first heard about her through Russell’s interview he did with Julia back in January, so I thought there’s nothing I can add to that. But Julia is living in Barcelona just like me so one day we decided to catch up and see if there was enough material to do another interview worthwhile for you to read without repeating too much stuff

To be honest, when I saw her picture first, I expected a hard-dealing though business woman but surprise, surprise… Julia is a very warm-hearted, intelligent person with a great sense of humour, and she has a case! I was mainly interested to Julia’s role in the adult industry and her entrepreneurial spirit to develop from scratch her own company Cherrysauce. The adult industry is mainly driven by men so I thought it was interesting to know more about her role as a woman in this industry and her ideas she’s developing for Mobile.

BACKGROUND - WORK

- What brought you into mobile?

The 11th of September in New York.

I was living and working in Manhattan, working for a well respected and award winning digital design agency. I left with my entire life in a suitcase two weeks after the 11th of September disaster, under the cities growing anxiety towards a looming world war and consequently, increasing difficulty in getting back to Europe via commercial flights. I decided to take a sabbatical with my parents who had recently retired to Barcelona and sent my CV out to a couple of agencies to probe the work market in Spain and fell in love with Cataluña. The first company to reply was Private Media Group, whose headquarters are based just outside of Barcelona and is one of the largest Adult Entertainment companies in the world. To demonstrate my innocence, I didn’t even know who they were when they called me up (the job posting said “leading European content provider”. My parents had to tell me!!

A year later, at the end of 2002, I joined an amazing guy, Dave Jarvis, to set up the wireless division of Private. It was the first of its kind and ahead of its time in the marketplace. Operators were having NOTHING to do with glamour or topless content at this time, let alone +18 content, which dominated the Private portfolio. Subsequently, Dave and I created many new ideas of how adult entertainment would or could really have commercial viability on a very small screen. We came up with ‘interactive movies’, where the end-user would effectively be the camera. He would approach the bar where two Private stars would be sitting and would be asked which one he wanted to invite for a drink. The scenario would continue ‘all the way’, so to speak, using video clips interspersed with choices and of course payment points. The trick was that with each video clip, the end-user wanted to see the next one EVEN MORE, thereby almost guaranteeing an increased ARPU. But it also offered the end-user better value for money by creating a more immersive experience, and more contextual viewing. Not just a selection of random 15 second clips of a girl wiggling her bum, or touching her breasts, because that was all the operators would take. There is no context or value there and the user MUST feel short-changed! I have only recently seen these ideas of ours of 3 years ago starting to appear on the commercial market as a working product (it was inevitable, of course, that someone would do it in the end and good luck to them them. It’s what consumers want!)

- Can you explain more about your work?

Cherry Media S.L. is a Spanish registered company and was launched in September 2003. As such, it was one of the first dedicated Mobile Erotic companies on the market. I was previously the Wireless Commercial Director at Private Media Group, one of the largest Adult Entertainment companies in the world. Cherry Media is 100% owned and self funded and was solvent after the first 4 months of trading. It has also made a profit both years it has been running and increased its turnover by 350% in 2005.

Cherry Media’s main brand, Cherrysauce, is a direct-to-consumer mobile entertainment portal, a collection of many different brands, sites and content levels, appealing to different audiences and territories. Cherrysauce also offers a diverse and innovative range of ‘entertainment’ packs based on our own D2C experiences. This allows other distribution partners to build an erotic experience for their own consumers and platforms. We don’t simply send wallpapers and videos, we come up with interesting navigation ideas, share conversion tricks and customer appeal successes, sales approaches, special genres, themes and much more. Our B2B team really gets involved with distribution partner strategies and where the content is positioned on the deck. With how many clicks the user must make to purchase an item, what it looks like graphically, which content to select and prioritize, etc.

- Are you more social, business or technical oriented?

Definitely social! I really want to answer this question as business orientated, but it’s the first company I have run, so I really learn as I go along, as both the market and our company develops. I have made mistakes along the way and I have also struck lucky and done exactly the right thing at the right time in the market. However, good or bad, it has bought me to point where I have a much greater depth of knowledge and experience of setting up and running a company in a very competitive and male-orientated environment.

I come from a creative and design background, so I leave the technical aspects of Cherrysauce to the experts! I know enough to understand the technical scope of what I want to achieve or offer our customers, but have no idea of how to get it to work!

DIGITAL LIFESTYLE

- How does mobile technological progress influences your daily routine in your work?

For Cherrysauce it simply allows us the capability and freedom to offer better products and richer experiences to our customers. This increases ARPU and revenues (so everyone is happy!) and also brings us closer to the commercial potential of the internet. Let’s face it, our ‘area of business’ is visually based. WML of 3 years ago was very, very, restrictive – image, text, link, image, text, link and it didn’t go much further than that. AND all images had to be no more than 100pixels wide so all handset screens could see it! In just 3 years, we have come such a long away! There are some amazing applications hitting the phones and we can offer much better wap sites with better earning potential for us and a better experience for our users.

- Which tools you use to publish, blog or moblog your work?

Content production:
Coming from a design background, we use the traditional tools such as Photoshop and Premier to format our products.

Wap Platforms:
We use different platform providers depending on what we are delivering. Cherrysauce sits on a tailor-made platform and ‘author’ built by Safira Solutions. We partner with Mirror Image Access for larger scale projects, such as managing the adult areas for network operators or multi-brand portals for leading media owners.

- Which applications and services do you use regulary on your phone?

Wap for testing and a lot of text messaging.

I am one of the people in the stats released at Mobile Content World in September last year who said that the mobile industry didn’t use the content and applications it sells to end-consumers. Although, you have to admit, in my case – it’s a little understandable! ☺

Also, with the 16 hour days and intensity that we work under, trying to grow the company (which is 100% self-funded), I want very little to do with a mobile in the few hours I have off! Haha! It would be like a busman’s holiday!

- Would you use your device to interact with other machines?

Absolutely! The great thing about mobile is that it is ALWAYS with you. If you forget to take it anywhere, it’s like you’ve lost an arm. For this reason, convergence with some of the other crap I carry around everywhere with me would be great! See below for more details.

- Which machine-to-machine can you think of would be handy to interact with?

I love the idea of using the mobile as a credit card / payment mechanic – being connected directly with your bank and for example using PSMS for vending machines or the mobile bar-codes for purchasing things in shops. If it continues to develop in this direction, the check-out would become just putting stuff in the bag and removing the security tag (which would go off if you HAD NOT scanned prior to leaving the shop of course!) and you would have fewer queues. I would like all receipts to come in as text messages, so you wouldn’t have to carry them all in purses, bags and pockets.

I also like the idea of your mobile also being used as the remote control for interactive TV. Using it to cover both navigation and payment. .It would also be so much easier for content and production companies to integrate with as apposed to the ‘set-top-box’.

- Would you download mp3 tunes on your phone? Share them with friends? Mobsharing? Any thoughts on DRM?

I adore music and can’t work without it, but have never downloaded a song to my phone. Maybe I am just too old! But again… I like the idea because it minimizes my having to carry lots of different machines around for different purposes! The idea of having 1 or at most 2 machines to manage all aspects of my life, coupled to a great and secure back-up system, sounds like heaven itself!

We are just starting to integrate DRM now and basically, because it is included in a new platform we are using, I do feel it is one of the important missing links for mobile entertainment. It was always going to happen, the question was when.

- What about Mobile TV?

There is so much hype about this, but I can’t get it to sit in my head comfortably as a great idea. My first question is WHY? Why would I want to watch TV on my phone instead of on my 32” TV for example? Is it because I am going to be late home and don’t want to miss Eastenders? In which case – train / tube /motorway and associated bridges would not give me a smooth and continuous reception, which would frustrate me.

I have spent my entire adult career working with ‘new media’ channels, but feel very frustrated when that new media is a simple translation of exactly the same product it was in another channel. They say that when television first aired, they tried to make it as much like radio as possible (still images with voiceovers), so that people could relate to it. I wonder if that is what is happening here.

I have written a lot about how consumers interact with their mobiles differently than they do with TV, the radio and even their computer. TV is a passive media, Mobile isn’t. It has many distinct features, such as mobility, impulsiveness and instant access that no other media can copy and as a result I can’t understand why we aren’t focusing more on creating new entertainment products that commercially blend with the consumer’s natural behavioral patterns with his phone! Simply putting TV programs on mobile seems like such a cop out.

I know the first thing you will ask here is if this isn’t the same issue for adult videos on mobile. It’s different for many reasons – Arousal and natural human drives and desires bring me the consumer demand. The mobility of mobile allows and caters for impulsiveness and instant gratification. A combination not possible in other medias because if our customer waits until tonight when he gets home and is in front of his computer or TV, our ‘consumer demand’ will have probably passed! Also, without going into to much detail, I have learnt that adult movies are put into scenes for a very valid reason. Therefore putting full length adult movies on mobile is not what it’s about either! The user’s natural interaction with adult entertainment lends itself well to the ‘clip/scene’ nature of PSMS and mobile.

GEEK STUFF

- How do you experience the Mobile Internet? Which mobile browsers do you use?

Just the standard ones in the mobiles we have.

- What are your favourite mobile user-generated content projects?

Not so much favourite, but I aspire for the mobile internet to be like the internet.. Geocities for mobile. From bizarre to informational and everything in-between. Having a free creative/informational space for the general public, but with the added benefit of mobility!

- MoSoSo + wi-fi + urban networks = ?

This means nothing to me ☹

- Do you develop content/technology yourself?

What Cherrysauce specializes in is bringing these different elements together in a rapidly developing industry to offer the best possible to the end-consumer. There are a lot of companies in our space that have a mobile background and want to add an adult element or visa versa. Cherrysauce’s background is in both! We really understand the adult consumer, his behaviour and what he wants, but we also understand the potential and restrictions of the mobile environment. Putting the two together successfully, whether for adult entertainment or anything else is the combination of both business and consumer fulfilling his objectives and getting what they wanted out of the experience.

Around this time last year, we saw a big gap in the market for content produced specifically for the mobile space. With videos for example, if a clip can only be 30 seconds, needs to offer value for money by arousing the end-consumer, can’t show anything explicit AND at the same time needs to be under 250k (i.e. a typical mobile spec for a glamour clip!) you have a problem. Simply taking a DVD clip of a girl touching her breasts for 30 seconds really delivers a poor experience, taken out of context. The novelty factor of being able to see this on a mobile has helped out commercially, but consumers are savvier now and DESERVE to get value for money.

We did some of our own production and actually produced the video content for the Vodafone 3g bikini-babe screensaver. (She does something different depending on whether you get a call or text message etc). But it wasn’t the direction we want to take the company in and it was taking our focus away from the core business.

However, we are now seeing the emergence of a new breed of erotic and adult production companies, so we work with these guys instead of continuing to produce our own. Their focus is on producing image and video based products that are shot ONLY for the mobile environment – on-deck and off-deck. And you can really see the difference, not only in the quality, but also in value to the customer and resulting sales. These guys achieve all the technical restrictions above whilst retaining quality and customer experience. As a result, more compelling mobile-optimised products are created, based on planning, pre-production and shooting with an in-depth understanding of the mobile space.

FUTURE OF MOBILE

- How do you see the future of mobile?

More convergence AND integration with other technology products/gadgets. Commercially, I think this will continue to develop related to target audiences like we are already starting to see with the N-gage for gamers, the Sony Ericsson Walkman for music lovers or the Simbian phones for business guys.

Increased payment options and integration with billing companies and banks to use mobile as a payment devise for content and services NOT on the mobile.

Location based services – both for dating and information (show me an Indian restaurant/record shop in a 5km radius).

- What do you think about the Fixed-Mobile-Internet convergence?

As Cherrysauce’s D2C offering is based around wap (and not shop-front wap, but more of a website experience in a mobile handset), this is obviously an important part of our business focus. We have always produced our wap site to turn the technical restrictions into another quality for the consumer. For example, back in 2003, instead of just showing text lists of image galleries in wap, we added text and anecdotes to entertain the user and take him on more of a journey. Technology is advancing rapidly and of course it is possible to view full website in mobile, although again, I feel this is simply trying to translate one media to another (a bit like TV to mobile). Mobile Internet is dependent on choice, diversity, information and creating specific products that utilise the benefits of the mobile environment.

I really look forward to the day where we have the speed, usability and choice to use our mobile internet in the same way we use our PC internet!

- 3G vs. Wi-Fi?

Again, specifically for Cherrysauce, wi-fi has appeal due to the data-charge issues that 3g and the operators will bring. It’s still being finalised as to how the operators will charge for this, but you can bet your bottom dollar, that it will be the content providers who foot the biggest chunk of the costs and we are already last in line for payouts despite it being our content that brings the value to the sale. Therefore, will we see that the technology and media owners gear their products and services to a wi-fi environment??

However, it will be 3g that the operators push to market and this will be what the general public will buy as a result. It will be a PC – Mac scenario. PC for general public, Mac for the passionate or dedicated!

- Hybrid phones?

For market segmentation - Yes (i.e. walkmans, n-gage etc), but it will probably be reliant on public take up of handset trends. I work in the industry and find buying a mobile so bloody confusing, so many different handsets that all do different things, some have this, but not that, some are better for some features, but miss others I really want. I don’t know if I want more choice, but I certainly would like more clarity for my specific needs!

- What differences do you see of mobile use in USA – Europe - Asia?

Coming from a Cherrysauce angle, the differences are based around the gaps between what consumers want to purchase and what the networks are willing to offer. I believe the UK has been incredibly innovative and dynamic in its approach to erotic and adult entertainment in mobiles. Competing network operators came together to find a solution and more importantly, a way to benefit commercially, whilst securing brand perception and the protection of minors. A wonderful example of the different sides of the industry coming together to expand the potential of an industry. A mere 18 months ago, you could not show nipples on Vodafone live, now, with the use of the Vodafone’s access controls, consenting adults can view the same level of content as they can on Cable TV (we call it ‘simulated’ – it’s obvious what they are up to, but you don’t actually see any penetration).

Asia is starting to open up to some erotica very slowly, but it is mostly still paid for and downloaded from the web, which defeats the benefits that mobility brings.

And the same with the States, we are getting increasing requests and interest from the states, but we are still talking ‘bikini’ level content (excluding lingerie in many cases). I get the feeling it will happen in a similar way to the UK, but over a much longer timeframe.

- What is gonna be the next *big thing* in mobile?

From an adult perspective - live video chat!
Text chat was a total boom in mobile and webcams in internet and is still one of the best ARPU, customer-loyalty related products around. It effectively brings web-cams and mobile together and is just a killer app! Compulsive, totally immersive and REAL! It will go crazy!

Cherry is working with CC Media to deliver live web-cams. We had been approached by many companies who had a lot of talk, but were missing ‘something’ in the application of their service from a consumer perspective or it simply didn’t work. Quite often it worked in a 3g phone (which has no market penetration yet), but not in a 2.5g phone and because it is self-funded, Cherry looks for immediate returns in all its endeavours.

CC media come from the internet environment and have been running ‘flirt’ and adult web-cams for 7 years, so their technology is 2nd to none, but it actually WORKS in both 2.5g and 3 phones! However, what really sold it to me was the great consumer-focused front-end experience - the usability, billing and quality of the ‘chat-hosts’.

- The mobile trend(s) for this and next year?

2006 – The world Cup! It will open up a plethora of great new applications, technology, content and consumer demand!

(fyi: the interview was taken before the World Cup)

2007 – Location based services and applications.
- Video based domination of entertainment products

PERSONAL FAVORITES

- Who inspires you professionally?

The smaller boutique companies in our wonderfully diverse industry. These are the guys who have little or no investment, can’t get traffic or sales simply by throwing tons of cash at placements and have to use creativity and innovation to find their customers and sales. They work long, long hours and build the business the old-fashioned way – from the ground up!

- Your favorite mobile moblog or technology blog?

However hard I try, I never seem to find enough time to read blogs on a regular basis! ☹ If and when I do, it’s the Mobhappy blog. I find many of the articles very relevant and it covers a lot in mobile entertainment . General as well as adult.

- Your favorite mobile device?

Nokia / Symbian phones. However hard I try to move to something else, I find them cumbersome and ill-suited to how I navigate and use my phone.

- Favorite mobile application/service?

From a business perspective – I still have to stick with Live Video Chat. I just think it’s the perfect application for the mobile space and the ABC1 target audience.

- Your ultimate dream scenario including mobile?

The same speed, usability, richness and choice for the mobile internet as we have in the computer based internet – but to confirm my previous point, DEFINITELY NOT the computer internet squashed into a mobile screen!

- The ultimate tech device not invented yet?

I read BEING DIGITAL, by Nicolas Negroponte when I got my first job in an Interactive Design Agency. I totally fell in love with the idea of the ‘digital butler’. He was a small hologram who was connected to and managed all the other electrical and technology gadgets in your life. The cool example I remember was if you were driving home, he would inform you that you were out of milk and that you were about to approach a garage that sold the particular brand you liked.

- Which links would you like to be included?

www.cherrysauce.com

And for the amateurs on your Mobile:

http://wap.com/babetastic - recent launch
http://wap.com/cupandsaucy - world cup glamour site

I have been told these are glamour sites – so the worst you will see is a nipple!
- Who else could you recommend to be interviewed next?

Anne Thomas, Business Development Director, wapple.net

- Anything else you would like to add? Something the big players are missing?

Mobile entertainment is about creating NEW services for a new environment and a new audience, not re-using what we already have pushed into a smaller screen

Thanks, Julia - it was great meeting you, another cocktail?

Note: Julia looks much better irl then on this picture

While some of us are working and wondering what’s going to be the next new business model or next killer application in mobile technology, other people in different parts of the world are using the mobile phone to fight injustice. Trixie Concepcion of TXTPower, the group that popularized the Hello Garci protest ringtones in the Fillipines, is one of them. I think it’s essential for m-trends.org readers to know a bit more about her and her activities (thanks to Katrin Verclas from mobileactive.org, now at N-TEN for putting me in touch). * Picture by Justin Oberman.

The Hello Garci scandal (or just Hello Garci) is a political scandal and electoral crisis in the Philippines started somewhere in June 2005. The scandal involves incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who allegedly rigged the 2004 national election in her favor.

Trixie explains what actually created the Hello Garci incident and craze:

“Sometime in June 2005, a lawyer from our National Bureau of Investigation released a wire-tapped conversation between Mrs. Arroyo and an election official. The conversation was about ensuring that Mrs. Arroyo win by a margin of one million votes. This is what actually sparked the political crisis besetting Mrs. Arroyo until now. In any case, someone or some group made several ringtones of the significant parts of the conversation. The ringtone then was being passed on from phone to phone but the demand for it was already high and people were asking where they can download the ringtones. Some txtpower convenors thought to use our website to host downloads of the ringtone.

At that time of course, the government was threatening to arrest/sue anyone who had in their possession wire-tapped materials. We had to consult some lawyers before we proceeded with that plan. It was good we did as it was a success. So far, no lawsuit is coming our way because so far, no one has admitted that they were the voice in the tapes.”

There are loads of articles on the Internet about Hello Garci but as a starter, you might want to check the BBC NEWS articles about the Hello Garci ringtone craze and the Philippines’ mobile politics situation:

“More than a third of Filipinos have mobile phones. In a country where many live in poverty, they are often seen as a cheap way to stay in touch. But for some the mobile is also being used as a powerful political and social tool.“

You can download the ringtones and remixes (yes!) at TXTPower. A 3gp video is now also available for download. An estimated one million Filipinos are using the Hello Garci ringtone, making it the Philippines and arguably one of the the world’s most popular ringtones.

But we’re here for an interview with Trixie herself… Don’t expect answers on geek stuff and latest mobile trends in this interview but I think it’s more interesting to know how 1st generation GSM phones are used virally to distribute a message when people have something of importance to say and share.

- Can you explain more about your work and background?
I volunteer for a scientist-activist group that is involved in people’s issues. This group involves itself on issues pertaining to environment, public utilities, food, industrialization and the promotion of a scientific culture. This group is the convenor of TXTPower, of which we are a part of.I am also an environmentalist working on marine mammal issues. We closely monitor fishing companies that they practice sustainable fishing that do not harm non-target species. As an animal-rights advocate, we campaign against marine parks and similar facilities.

- Are you more social, business or technical oriented?
Academically, my background is in the earth-sciences. In my work, I use such a background for campaigns and advocacy.

- What brought you into mobile?
Mobile communications is now a critical medium in our work in campaigns, mobilization, advocacy, and education.

- How does mobile technological progress influences your daily routine in your work?
Mobile communications has helped much in mobilizing and organizing at the shortest possible time. The exchange is information is faster, and our campaigns can be adjusted to the latest developments on the ground.

The disadvantages though, in having such a technology is that people sometimes think that organizing a campaign is just an SMS away. Not really. While mobile technology really helps in mobilizing, the initial education work must really be done face to face and in person.

- Which tools you use to publish, blog or moblog your work?
In the Philippines, only about 10% or less of the population have access to computers. Texting or SMS is still the fastest mode of communication. A good segment of the middle class though do blog. But I would think mobloggers are even a smaller group. For our work, we would email our media advisories to media outfits.

- Which applications and services do you use on your phone?
Cellphones in the Philppines are still primarily used for texting. Other applications are still not as popular since most handsets are still not 3G capable.

- Would you use your device to interact with other machines?
Yes if this service is cheap enough and if the model of my phone will allow.

- Which machine-to-machine can you think of would be handy to interact with?
ATMs, Computers, fax machines.

- Would you download mp3 tunes on your phone?
Most phones in the Phils do not support the downloading of ring tones. Even if I did my phone had that capability, I may just use it mostly for my work.

- What about Mobile TV?
That would be cool if the handset cost would not be prohibitive and if the telco’s can provide such service at a reasonable cost. The cost of telecom services is a big issue in the country.

- How do you experience the Mobile Internet?
I have not used this service on my phone. Important: I am actually a campaigner and not really a techie…

- How do you see the future of mobile?
Mobile technology can play a bigger role in the advocacy for more democracy in many poor nations, human rights, environmental protection, etc. Any technology no matter how ‘low-tech’ once embraced and USED by the broadest number of people will be the tool for genuine change. I believe that this is the best use for any mobile technology.

- What differences do you see of mobile use in USA – Europe - Asia?
The issues confronting the mobile user of the US is very much different from the issues confronting the mobile user of Asia, for instance.

In poorer parts of the planet, access to mobile technology is very much an issue. The pricing, costing and distribution of mobile services are rallying points for mobile phone users in the Philippines, for instance.

In the US and in more affluent countries, the issues with regards to mobile tech is that the technology is already there, it just needs to be used by the citizens of these countries in furthering their political advocacies.

* NOTE for the readers (from Wikipedia): “In May 2006, Amnesty International reported a growing concern over human rights violations committed under the Arroyo administration, particularly the deaths of 605 people including dozens of journalists, making the Philippines the second deadliest country for reporters, after Iraq.”

This week’s Carnival of the Mobilists is pink and is hosted by the amazing Darla Mack.

If you don’t know Darla by now, she’s one of the most productive bloggers writing on a daily basis different articles on everything mobile with a female touch. Darla took also the lead in the Women In Mobile series.

No need to repeat the Carnival is some of the best weekly writing about mobile from around the web. So head over to Darla’s Carnival

The Carnival is growing week by week and invites new writers about mobile as well as old friends to participate - you don’t need a special invite. Send your entry for next week no later than next Wednesday, 9PM PST to: mobilists@gmail.com.

I met Xen for the first time during 3GSM at the mobilists gathering but organising a cocktail doesn’t necessarily mean you have the time to talk to everybody as you would like to. Luckily I started this interview series so I can catch-up with Xen and talk a bit more in-depth with her. Let me share with you her passion for the mobile phone and its influence on people’s social behaviour.

- Can you explain more about your work and your background?

I work at Comverse in the Avatars Group. Our group has developed a new mobile personalization service, called “The Klonies”, which brings the popular Web avatar experience to the mobile environment. This new communication experience enables mobile users to define how they appear on their friends’ mobile handsets.

“A Klonie” is basically an Avatar persona that can be created and personalized on the fly (from the handset or the web) and be used as caller ID; meaning that I can decide how I look on my friends’ mobile screen each time I call them or send them SMS.

Since it’s a web based service, we are about to launch a website and a blog as well. Currently we’re working on concepts, content, look and feel for the website and blog… it’s very interesting and creatively challenging!

- Are you more social, business or technical oriented?

I’m more social oriented, there’s no other way of looking at it I think today we have reached a point in which technology has a vast effect not only on the business, but also on the social. Take for example communication technology such as IM or Mobile - totally changing our social behaviors and lifestyle. I’m interested in people, in how they use technology, in how technology meets people’s need and how it influences social behavior. Of course learning and widening areas of expertise are always an advantage in life, you never know when knowing a thing or two might be handy…

- What got you into mobile?

Well, I did my university degree in communications so it was very natural for me to look for a job in the telecommunication field. It’s amazing to be in the place were the technology of tomorrow is being developed. I won’t forget one class when we discussed the influence of the bonfire as an important mean for communicating between distant tribes. And I was scratching my head and thinking to myself – “wake up academy! Haven’t you heard of NEW technologies? Web identities? Mobile? IP TV?”

DIGITAL LIFESTYLE

- How does mobile technological progress influences your daily routine in your work?

I think I have a little addiction issue… since my work can go with me anywhere - it does! I keep checking my emails, stats, comments everywhere I go. It is really hard to keep myself offline and do other things like go to the beach on a nice Saturday morning (Saturday here is like your Sunday). It’s very hard to draw the line between the personal and the professional. Oh, and we haven’t talked about the delight of working from home once in a while (eating cookies and not being forced to spend 4 hours on the road to get to the office and back)… That is something that in the past I really just *couldn’t do*. I served the army at the intelligence force so being 24-7 at the office meant being literally at the office.

- Which tools you use to publish, blog or moblog your work?

I use TypePad as my platform, it’s very friendly to use but limiting when it comes to more advanced stuff… besides that I use Bloglines to get my readings and Del.icio.us to keep interesting things I come across the web.

- Which applications and services do you use regularely on your phone?

Making calls, sending SMS, downloading ringtones, taking pictures and changing my Klonies wallpapers. I also use the calendar and the reminders and I use my mobile as a watch because I don’t ever wear one. Oh, almost forgot, I use the mobile as my alarm clock… suddenly I remembered that before the mobile I had a radio alarm. I guess it would be nice to get the mobile to wake you up with a nice mp3 song, wouldn’t it?

- Would you use your device to interact with other machines?

I think that paying for small things like a pop soda at vending machines or paying for parking would be a great thing. It releases you from the need to always keep change (and makes my bag a little lighter). And on cold nights, it would be really great, if I could use the mobile to turn the heat on 15 min before I get back!

- Would you download mp3 tunes on your phone?

Sure, as long as the price is reasonable… my phone bill is already huge!

- What about Mobile TV?

Mobile TV is a great way to pass the time when you’re waiting for the doctor’s appointment or when you’re on the train\subway yet it’s a bit anti-social. Lately I take the train on my way to work and back so I’ve realized that people like to interact with their ride neighbors (Israelis are very friendly, sometimes too friendly if you’re trying to read the paper or to get a short nap). Only if there aren’t any interesting people to communicate with, they grab the mobile into their hands and pass the time (mostly talking, texting or downloading ringtones). However, TV has always been a conversation killer (don’t you know those moments when you have to turn the TV off to talk with your partner?), moreover with the size of the mobile screen - there is no social activity here…

GEEK STUFF

- How do you experience the Mobile Internet? Which mobile browsers do you use?

It’s so so so expensive here in Israel that I try to avoid it if it isn�