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Friday, February 15, 2002 |
DoCoMo to Test Streaming Ads
"Participants will use wireless-enabled Sharp Zaurus handhelds that incorporate technologies from the three companies. Testers, which the vendors call "monitors," will receive 15-second streamed ads and can request further streamed content. The ads will adhere to individual profiles for each of the users and the testers will be polled afterward to test the effectiveness of the ads." [allNetDevices Wireless News]
Well, my first thought here was jeez, advertising on my phone... no way.
"In addition, the companies will test a system that links the wireless devices to special terminals installed in convenience stores. The terminals will respond to streamed promotions, will provide sales information and will support a frequent buyer's program."
But after reading this part, I'm thinking yeah, if I can control who's sending me ads, this might be okay. After all, I want to be enable micropayments and get location-based information via GPS services. It's a trade-off that I'm willing to make, and Net Gens will expect it as a service.
10:42:06 PM 
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Sprint Gives Phones Ability to Synch
"The Contact Synchronization Software, created by FutureDial Inc., will go on sale at Sprint Stores next week for $29.99. The software reads contact information from both the Sprint phone and Microsoft Outlook, and offers two options for address book editing. The phone list view displays existing entries for the phonebook for editing and updating, while the Microsoft Outlook view displays a dual screen with both the phonebook list and the Microsoft Outlook contact list. Users can "drag and drop" entries from Outlook to the phone list." [allNetDevices Wireless News]
Score! It supports my phone! Elation! Wait... the fine print:
"The company also said that the Contact Synchronization Software requires a cable that comes with Sprint's Wireless Web Connection Kit, available online or at Sprint Stores for $59.99."
Dejection. Grrrrrr. It's not worth $60, let alone $90, to get all of my Outlook contacts on my phone, especially since I've already programmed in the important ones. Et tu, Sprint?
10:29:31 PM
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Your Phone as Your Wallet, Part 2
"At this time, welcome PayBox, a German company that is establishing itself slowly but surely. To use the system, you register with your bank account and PayBox then acts as a link between your mobile phone and your bank account. If I would like to pay for a cab then I give the driver my mobile phone number, or alias, and he enters it into his system. I then get a phone call and a nice voice tells me that this cab driver is requesting an amount of X EUR. I can then say yes and enter my password and the money is securely deducted from my bank account. For me, the entire system is free. The system is gaining acceptance on the web, at least in Germany, but for paying in stores it is moving along at a slower pace, partly because a POS (point-of-sale) terminal is needed there...."
"Paying for a coke with your VISA card is not really efficient but if you pay with your phone bill then it might work a lot easier. You can already get a coke out of a vending machine with your mobile phone in Finland, and I am sure this will be something that we will be accustomed too fairly soon. An example of this can be what Europolitan Vodafone and TietoEnator are launching a new payment method in Sweden. I also recently learned that you can pay for drinks and subway tokens with your mobile phone in Santiago (Chile)." [InfoSync]
Suh-weet! This is definitely the entry point for micropayments to become widespread. So when can I pay my library overdues using my cell phone?
9:16:36 AM
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Mobile IM: It's a Revolution
"Wireless Village, the initiative sponsored by Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and over 100 other Supporters, has issued version 1.0 of the Wireless Village specifications, which aim to enable interoperability of mobile instant messaging and presence services (IMPS). If sucessful, the initiative could force major present Instant Messaging giants such as Microsoft and AOL to open up their systems as the number of potential mobile IM users is likely to outgrow that of current and potential stationary IM users by far." [at InfoSync]
It takes a village to raise IM interoperability. (Sorry, I just couldn't resist.) Note though, how much faster this is moving towards a standard than eBooks are.
9:06:38 AM
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Thursday, February 14, 2002 |
Microsoft, WebEx Ink a Digital Deal
"Attempting to boost momentum behind its Tablet PC initiative, Microsoft on Monday showcased its 2.5-pound pen-based device and announced that WebEx would support its digital ink capabilities. Online conferencing vendor WebEx said at the Demo 2002 conference in Phoenix that it will build Web conferencing services for the Tablet PC, taking advantage of the portable form factor to boost enterprise communications in meetings, according to K.V. Rao, director of platform marketing at WebEx in San Jose, California.... In addition, Groove Networks says it is building a secure collaboration offering based on the Tablet PC that will allow users to work together on projects in real time, sharing comments in digital ink." [at PC World]
I hadn't thought of this. I've been focusing a lot on how PDAs can make reference librarians more mobile, but I hadn't considered that the Tablet PC could do this but with more screen real estate. Things that make you go hmmm.......
10:57:13 PM
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802.11b and Bluetooth, Meet Ultra-wideband
"The technology simply put uses a large radio spectrum to send pulses of binary data without requiring a locked frequency to do so.... XtremeSpectrum president and CEO Dr. Martin Rofheart commented that the value of Ultra-wideband will be found in its high data rates, low power requirements, and low cost, three things which other wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and 802.11b cannot claim as a whole." [PDABuzz.com]
On the other hand, a News.com article notes the controversy in this decision because police and fire officials say it encroaches on the frequencies they use.
8:37:23 PM
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GLOCOM has posted a report that outlines four different scenarios for the future of the Japanese wireless market, projecting that it could reach a worth of 2-10 trillion Yen and 4G status (a high-speed, 4th-generation network) by 2010. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, since the Japanese are already headed down the 3G road. It outlines six "service characteristics that control the demands of mass users" and therefore impact future adoption:
- Transmission service
- Service areas
- Brand of carriers
- Device
- Contents and Applications
- User Interface
When you look at their chart of "3G Services vs. non-3G services" (towards the bottom of the page) the positives on the left and negatives on the right illustrate why Japan (on the left) is so much further ahead of the U.S. (on the right). Not every negative characteristic applies to the U.S. (or vice-versa), but enough of them do that we haven't made much progress in technology and adoption rates. [via Dave Farber's IP list]
10:00:13 AM
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Comments by: YACCS
© Copyright 2002 Jenny Levine.
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