W3C Standards Make Mobile Web Experience More Inviting

W3C today announced new standards that will make it easier for people to browse the Web on mobile devices. Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0, published as a W3C Recommendation, condenses the experience of many mobile Web stakeholders into practical advice on creating mobile-friendly content.

“Mobile Web content developers now have stable guidelines and maturing tools to help them create a better mobile Web experience,” said Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, W3C Mobile Web Activity Lead. “In support of the W3C mission of building One Web, we want to support the developer community by providing tools to enable a great mobile Web user experience.”
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Latin American on Mobility: Productivity + Personal Balance

With a 52% service revenue share in the telecommunications market, far exceeding that of fixed telephony (35%), mobile telephony services, including voice and data, are the industry’s top performer in Latin America, and show the regional users’ need to be continually connected. These conclusions were addressed by IDC Latin America Telecom Director Romina Adduci during the conference hosted by Nokia in Buenos Aires.

This mobile services growth is being mainly supported by access to personal and professional communication resources, ranging from email solutions, messaging and Internet navigation to more complex, business-related applications, including CRM, ERP, Workforce Automation, etc., which are supported by the corporate intranet in the mobile environment.
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Speaking travel guide wins best handset application award

XS2TheWorld has won a bronze award in the category “Best Handset application” for their “Mobile Speaking Travel Guides” at the international Mobile Content Award (MCA) conference 2008.

XS2TheWorld was nominated earlier for both ‘best handset application’ and ‘best entertainment service’ by the judging panel at the Mobile Content Awards (MCA).
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Study Indicates Strong Consumer Demand for a Better Mobile Web

dotMobi and AKQA Mobile announced the results of an extensive consumer study of mobile Internet usage and attitudes. Conducted by the AKQA’s Research & Insights department in conjunction with dotMobi, the survey reveals key insights into the importance of a better mobile Web for consumers in the U.S. and U.K.

The survey findings indicated a strong consumer desire for practical mobile content on phones. Rather than basic entertainment and ringtones, consumers stated that their most-wanted mobile activities included phone-optimized banking and travel planning.
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WiMAX Forum Announces First North American Applications Lab in Collaboration with University of Maryland

The WiMAX Forum today announced it has named the MAXWell Lab at the University of Maryland as home to the first WiMAX Forum endorsed applications lab in North America. Companies located in the United States and across the globe will benefit from and be able to more quickly take advantage of new applications for the mobile broadband Internet as a result of the WiMAX applications testing and development work conducted at the MAXWell Lab.

Designed to be an environment where future innovators from the university and corporations can develop and test new WiMAX applications, the MAXWell Lab will support application testing in a real-live environment at a technologically neutral site. The initial focus of the MAXWell Lab, which is part of the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, will be location-aware applications. For example, with the deployments of WiMAX in the Washington D.C. area, the Maryland-based MAXWell Lab will be an ideal site to test any applications that run on that system.
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Big Growth in Data Traffic Will Spur Changes to Wireless Networks, says Heavy Reading

The exponential growth of data traffic carried by wireless networks is likely to force mobile service providers to accelerate their efforts to upgrade their networks to a flat, all-IP architecture, according to a major new report titled, Flat IP Architectures in Mobile Networks: From 3G to LTE, published by Heavy Reading, the market research division of TechWeb’s Light Reading.

Flat IP Architectures in Mobile Networks: From 3G to LTE examines network architecture evolution in response to rapidly growing 3G data traffic and the planned introduction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and System Architecture Evolution (SAE) technology over the next two to four years. The report focuses on the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technology track and specifically on the network elements that make up flat radio access networks (RANs) and the next-generation mobile packet core.

The 61-page report analyzes data from network operators and technology suppliers to determine how continued growth of data traffic volumes will affect mobile network performance. The report then delivers a detailed analysis of the technology options available to enable network operators to make the transition to flat IP networks. The report covers the full range of issues facing mobile network operators, including:

— Economic drivers for migrating to all-IP networks
— Mobile broadband service pricing trends
— The need to prepare for 4G technologies
— The effect of non-3GPP technologies (including UMA/GAN and femtocells) on carrier networks
— Direct Tunnel architecture strategies
— LTE/SAE architecture and Evolved Packet Core
— Mobile packet core issues and deployments, including deep packet inspection

Flat IP Architectures in Mobile Networks: From 3G to LTE also delivers a competitive analysis of product and migration strategies of 14 of the world’s leading mobile IP technology suppliers.

“The steep rise in data traffic volumes being carried by wireless networks is unmistakable,” says Gabriel Brown, Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading and author of the report. “In 2007, some large operators in Europe were carrying 2,000 GB of data traffic per day — an eightfold increase over traffic volumes compared with 2006. Mobile operators have to manage rapid traffic growth across a network infrastructure that simultaneously provides lower cost per bit and greater flexibility in the pricing structures of end-user services.”

A major key to achieving that goal is to adopt flat, all-IP network architectures to replace the hierarchical architectures that characterize legacy wireless networks, Brown says. “IP affects all segments of the mobile network architecture, including the radio access network, voice core, packet core, integration of non-3GPP/3GPP2 access, and the transmission network,” he adds.

Other key findings of Flat IP Architectures in Mobile Networks: From 3G to LTE include the following:

Lower prices and higher data rates are the main reasons for the huge recent growth in mobile data traffic. Usage is dominated by laptop modems, while “small-screen” services on handhelds is not yet generating significant traffic volume.

Mobile data revenues grew more than 40 percent in 2007 and revenue growth could be higher this year, as more users take advantage of cheaper services. There now appears to be evidence of positive elasticity for mobile data, but growth in the market to date is driven by the early-adopter community.

A 3G network capacity crunch isn’t likely before the end of 2009, which means operators still have time to hone their transition strategies — but the clock is ticking. Operators will use a mixture of software upgrades and deployment of additional carriers to enhance 3G cell site capacity for the time being. But within two years, operators of 3G networks will have to begin to migrate to Evolved HSPA, offering peak data rates of 28 Mbit/s, and then 42 Mbit/s per sector.

Flat IP Architectures in Mobile Networks: From 3G to LTE is essential reading for a wide range of industry participants, including the following:

— Mobile technology suppliers: How will soaring mobile data traffic
volumes affect demand for infrastructure products in coming months?
Which regions are going to see the most activity, and which network
operators will be leading the way? Which technology choices are
emerging as the front-runners in the move to flat IP architectures? Are
your products and marketing messages in line with customer plans and
expectations? Or are there significant gaps in your product line
coverage that need to be addressed to meet future demand for mobile
broadband data networking solutions?
— Mobile network operators: How do your plans for mobile broadband data
network expansion compare with anticipated increases in traffic
volumes? How does your IP migration strategy compare with the
strategies of your competitors? Does your migration path deliver the
best cost-performance option, or are there other alternatives that will
deliver greater efficiency? How do your projected costs and migration
timetables match up with the rest of the industry? What is the
competitive threat posed by other operators using other technologies?
— Investors: Which technologies are emerging as the winning solutions for
mobile data broadband services, and which companies are the leading
providers of those solutions? How will the migration to flat IP mobile
architectures affect profitability for the mobile sector in the coming
months and years?

Mobile Device Management Services, a $20 Billion Opportunity by 2013. But Who Will Manage?

A very complex mobile value chain and a growing business reliance on mobile products have created the need for services that help businesses maximize the value of their mobile investments. In a recent report from ABI Research, mobile device management (MDM) services are forecast to grow from $583 million in 2007 to over $20 billion by 2013, for a compound annual growth rate of 80%.

Mobile device management services include policy development, procurement and asset management, billing audit and reconciliation, enhanced customer care, device/content security, and additional services that are vertical- and occupation-specific. According to principal analyst Dan Shey, “The range of services needed to manage a business’s mobile investments requires inputs from many different wireless equipment and services providers including operators, MDM platform vendors, IT services providers, telecom expense management firms, and mobility management services firms. All want to be part of the action.”
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Monsoon Multimedia Announces HAVA TV Place-Shifting for the Nokia Internet Tablet

Monsoon Multimedia announced HAVA support for the Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets (updated with the latest operating system), and the upcoming Nokia N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition, allowing customers to view and control their home TV from anywhere in the world over WiMAX or Wi-Fi. The HAVA Player for the Nokia Internet Tablet features an easy-to-use touch interface, as well as support for hardware keys, allowing users to effortlessly control their home TV on the tablet using their thumbs or stylus.

“Beside the pool or across the globe, our innovative technology gives customers more options and flexibility to watch their home TV anytime they choose and from anywhere they happen to be,” said Vadim Dagman, CTO and Co-Founder of Monsoon Multimedia. “Our support for Nokia’s line of Internet Tablets is a great addition for HAVA customers who can now view local news or catch the latest basketball game, in the palm of their hands, wherever WiMAX or WiFi is available.”
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Innovation and Customization to Drive Mobile Messaging Growth to $212 Billion by 2013, says ABI Research

SMS is taking off in the Americas, mobile e-mail continues its strong growth in developed regions, subscriber growth is driving messaging adoption in Asia-Pacific, and social networking is lifting the messaging boat across nearly all regions. The combination of these factors is expected to grow revenues from mobile messaging to $212 billion by 2013, according to a new study from ABI Research.

Messaging services growth will have different regional specific drivers. Despite the differences, however, the common growth denominator is that messaging services provide a timely, cost-effective, customer-specific communication and information capability. Principal analyst Dan Shey says, “You will not find many customers worldwide who don’t find messaging cost-effective and valuable for communications and delivery of information. The range of capabilities, services and pricing options can be fit to the economic and social differences of each region, and the result quite simply is steady growth over the next five years.”
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ABI Research Finds Carriers Losing Control Over Mobile Content As the Mix Diversifies

A recent consumer survey conducted by ABI Research shows that today’s mobile phone owners use a mix of mobile content obtained from the Web, from their personal collections, and from their wireless carriers. As an example, today’s mobile consumer is more likely to watch a video from YouTube on his or her phone than a video from the carrier’s own service, but is more than twice as likely to get ringtones from the carrier than from any other source.

“Perhaps more with the mobile phone than any other consumer electronics device, content is obtained from a variety of sources,” says research director Michael Wolf. “This shows that despite the strong control most carriers retain over the network, their control over the mobile content ecosystem remains limited. The consumer will see more and more options for obtaining rich media in the future.”
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Sprint Customers to Get a PC-Like Experience of the Open Internet on Their Phones

As customers increasingly look to their wireless phones for their Internet “on the go,” Sprint will continue its leadership in employing an open Internet model with the launch of an enhanced mobile Web browsing experience on virtually all Web-capable Sprint phones. As the first U.S. carrier to launch the OpenWeb solution from Openwave Systems Inc., Sprint customers will be able to get faster, more user-friendly renderings of Internet sites, even those not optimized for the mobile device. This enhancement will be automatic for customers who currently access the Internet on their phones and will require no additional action on their part.

“Whether clicking through the Sprint portal or typing in a URL, both new and existing customers can use their Sprint phones to search virtually any Web site and it will appear quickly and in a format they’re used to seeing on their computer screens,” said Kevin Packingham, vice president of wireless product management for Sprint. “By working with Openwave, we’re making that Internet experience even more customer-friendly and useful by enhancing the ability to translate non-mobile sites onto the mobile phone. While other carriers are just beginning to talk about open ecosystem initiatives, Sprint is continuing its efforts to give customers an even better experience with the Internet that we have always allowed.”
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Mobile Search Revenues to Reach $4.8 billion by 2013, forecasts Juniper Research

Annual revenues generated by mobile search services are expected to reach $4.8bn by 2013, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The report says that while revenue generated by data charges associated with mobile search is significantly higher than that generated by mobile advertising at the present time, the gap will close over the next five yea as the relatively young mobile advertising market establishes itself. It also finds that local search services will be the most popular with advertisers, attracting 40% of mobile search adspend over the 2008-2013 period.
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Consumers Increasingly Embrace Mobile Phone Commerce, finds Harris Interactive study

A new Harris Interactive study finds that mobile phone users are increasingly comfortable making banking and purchase transactions while on-the-go – a virtual taboo until now. The survey finds 16 percent of mobile phone subscribers already use mobile banking services, with 60 percent of these people using the services at least once a week. Many others presently not banking and buying on-the-go expressed interest in mobile banking, with 35 percent open to checking bank account balances and transferring funds via their mobile devices. A third of those surveyed (33 percent) also said they would like to receive text message alerts from their financial institutions.

The survey also finds that on-the-go mobile purchases are on the rise. About 25 percent of mobile phone users with mobile access to the Internet now use their devices to buy goods and services online via a credit card. One in five respondents (20 percent) said they would like to someday use their phones like a “mobile wallet”, where charges would be billed directly to their mobile accounts. In addition, ten percent of the survey participants said they would consider wire transfers and stock trading via their mobile phones.
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Aircell brings Internet via EV-DO and Wi-Fi to in-flight passengers via Gogo

AirCell’s Gogo service will allow browsing, emailing, instant messaging in flight over a modified EV-DO Rev A connection aimed to the skies. A router on-board will convert the EV-DO signal to Wi-Fi in a method similar to terrestrial EV-DO routers. This uses the same technology that Verizon and Sprint deploy, but it does not use their towers. Approximately 125 Aircell towers are placed across the country and aimed at the skies.

Gogo is launching this year on select American Airlines and Virgin America flights. At launch Internet access will be available on:
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W3C Workshop to Examine Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development

As part of its mission to ensure that the Web is available to all, W3C invites people to attend a Workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development in São Paulo, Brazil, on 2-3 June 2008. The goal of the Workshop is to identify the challenges of providing e-services on mobile phones to people in developing economies.

“We are witnessing an extraordinary explosion of mobile phone use in developing countries,” says Stéphane Boyera, of W3C’s Mobile Web Initiative. “People in rural communities can get a mobile phone much more easily than a desktop device. This W3C Workshop will investigate the strengths of various mobile technologies for providing e-services to improve people’s lives. In particular, we plan to discuss how Web technologies might play a decisive role in promoting social development.”
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