Monday, November 14, 2005|
Apple's biggest threat may be a wireless carrier. "To my (admittedly limited) knowledge, KDDI operates the only all-IP cellular network on earth. Skype helped prove that for terrestrial networks, voice is just an application, and KDDI is taking this concept to the wireless world." [del.icio.us/nivi] 5:36:18 PM  comment
|
|
Ofcom's digital switchover cost report questioned... Matthew Wall of the Sunday Times Doors section hammers Ofcom over the regulator's recent report on digital switchover cost and power consumption issues. Wall labels Ofcom's report a 'dubious attempt to play down the true costs of switching...' - Russ [| OfcomWatch |]Read for yourself folks, but basically Wall claims that The Times / Doors estimates the digital switchover costs at about one billion GBP, while Ofcom's 5:35:58 PM comment
|
|
How far ahead is Japanese Mobility?. I ran across this summary of a new survey in Japan about mobile web use, including this chart:
And unlimited data plan users accessed an average of 20% more often as well. Take the numbers with a grain of salt since it wasn’t a particular scientific survey, but think about a similar survey (on the main menus of internet enabled phones) in other countries for comparison purposes. Okay, ready? So I ask a very simple question: How far ahead is Japanese Mobile Web use from US, Europe and other parts of Asia? One year? Two? I won’t listen to anyone give me junk about how the Japanese are “different” - you’ve seen me bitch about that before - they’re not. They simply have more advanced networks, more powerful phones and more compelling mobile web services which drive nearly 3/4 of those polled to use the mobile web every day. That, my friend, is ubiquity if I ever saw it. So how far away is the rest of the world from these types of sky-high usage? It’s impossible to gauge perfectly, but let me throw out my thoughts. I’d say that the U.S. is only about 18 months behind the Japanese, and (ready for this?) the Europeans in general are about two years behind because of carriers’ resistance to unlimited data plans. Other regions I’m not sure about - China’s probably 2 years out as well, South America is catching up fast in various regions as are some European countries. India is taking its time. What my predictions mean is that in the U.S. we’re going to see big upswings in mobile web usage over the next year (pushed by MVNOs and carrier competition), reaching near Japanese levels of use by mid 2007. Within six months of that on either side, we’ll see other countries really get on the train as well. What say you, Senate? -Russ [Russell Beattie Notebook]5:35:30 PM comment
|
|
The Internet of Things. ITU ’s latest report The Internet of Things: “We are heading towards what can be termed a “ubiquitous network society”, one in which networks and networked devices are omnipresent.” [Om Malik]5:35:16 PM comment
|
|
Innovation and R&D. Michael Schrage wrote a great op ed piece for the Financial Times on November 8. Under the headline of "For innovation success, do not follow where the money goes", Michael rips in to those who equate R&D spending with innovation... [Edge Perspectives with John Hagel] 5:25:43 PM comment
|
|
Turing's Cathedral A visit to Google on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of John von Neumann's proposal for a digital computer.
Google is Turing's cathedral, awaiting its soul. We hope. In the words of an unusually perceptive friend: "When I was there, just before the IPO, I thought the coziness to be almost overwhelming. Happy Golden Retrievers running in slow motion through water sprinklers on the lawn. People waving and smiling, toys everywhere. I immediately suspected that unimaginable evil was happening somewhere in the dark corners. If the devil would come to earth, what place would be better to hide?" 5:13:29 PM comment
|
Last update: 12/2/05; 12:04:02 AM .
