Saturday, August 5, 2006|
US and Japan to Lead Mobile TV Market. WWJ Editors, 2 August 2006 A recent report from analyst firm Juniper Research predicts that Broadcast Mobile TV will reach revenues of $11.7bn worldwide by 2011. Japan is predicted to lead the market with revenues reaching $2.9bn and the US will follow closely at $1.8bn. The UK is also predicted to be a key market at $989m. [Wireless Watch Japan] 6:35:07 PM  comment
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3 Business Ideas - They are all yours. hey, im busy. You may or may not be.
here are 3 ideas that if i werent so … busy, I might take a flier on.
1. Txt messaging for 911 and Hospital Emergency rooms.
Most phones have text messaging. Soon, all will. Every city should have an emergy room SMS number that anyone can text with info saying, who they are, what happened, and that they are coming.
It could easily be extended so that anyone could go online and register their phone number and insurance info, so that when a txt was received from your phone number, it automatically pulled up any insurance information and/or patient history so that the entire process can be shortened in the hospital.
it obviously wouldnt work for everyone, but if the process is sped up for some, its sped up for everyone.
And for 911, of course, straight from any horror flick, the 911 for the time you cant or dont want to make a sound, or when a whisper isnt loud enough. TXT 911 with the problem and information. They can text you back.
2. Many high end cars are coming with navigation systems. Put in an address and find it. At least in my car, its connected to a DVD in the back of the car. Someone who is smart, could open up the specs for the DVD and create custom DVDs with the basics like information on the closest 7-11, but also customized information as well.
And if car makers are smart, they add a USB port and a rack so that hard drives can be used and then they publish the specs so that all sorts of cool apps could be created. Or better yet, they could make it IPOD compatible, and chop out 10gbs of the IPOD for this application and the rest could be piped in for music or back seat video.
3. if i had no money, i would start a business going door to door with a laptop and a scanner and scanning peoples pictures for a buck a pic for up to 10, then discount from there. Beats the hell out of mowing lawns or shoveling snow and any kid or adult could do it. If you want to think big time, set up a service with the local drugstore and have people drop off their pics and you go by every day and return them the next day.
Easy money
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments 6:32:01 PM comment
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Tax Man Chasing Qualcomm In India. Qualcomm is not having a good time in India lately. First there was the whole furor over its talks with Indian CDMA mobile operator Reliance Communications breaking down as it refused to lower royalty charges. Then Reliance Communications, which operates India’s second-largest private mobile service, said it would focus on enhancing GSM services, which analysts see as a not so subtle threat to Qualcomm. Now, India’s tax department has sent the Indian unit of Qualcomm a notice seeking details on royalty collection in India, The Hindu Business Line newspaper reports.
The department has also approached Reliance and Tata Teleservices, both major clients of Qualcomm. According to local tax rules, if the patent holder has an office in India it must pay a certain percentage as service tax on royalties collected, the newspaper reports. If the patent holder is a foreign company with no office in India, the recipient Indian company, that is the user, has to pay service tax on royalty paid. “The financial statements of these companies have not shown any separate allocations for royalties paid to the US-based company,” a tax official told the newspaper.
If royalty is collected on the basis of Intellectual Property Rights, Qualcomm, which has offices in India, will have to pay 12.24 per cent on every invoice, a senior service tax consultant at Ernst and Young told the newspaper. “But if royalty is collected on the basis of a technical transfer agreement, the company will have to pay only about 5 per cent on every invoice,” the consultant said.
But a Qualcomm corporate communications official told the newspaper via email that only handset device makers, not operators, have to pay “associated royalty” to Qualcomm. “Average royalty paid on devices sold in India over the past 12 months is around 15 per cent lower than royalties that have been paid to Qualcomm in markets like Korea, Japan and the US,” the email said, adding that India accounts for only about 2.2 percent of our handset royalties.
6:29:58 PM comment
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Mobile Internet Dead - and why Wibro will fail commercially.
We group with people who tend towards our interests, but luckily even within that group each person reads and writes and analyses with different feelings about the same words.
My article The Mobile Internet should be pronounced dead drew the full gamut of responses, from Ajit Jaokar of futuretext and author of the book Opengardens who remained unclear about its central theme and urged me to clarify it, to Dean Bubley who agreed with the headline but completely disagreed with its assertions, to raddedas of TECHYPE who said that he "thought it one of the best pieces I've read in a long time - so good I didn't blog about it because I couldn't think of much useful to add".
Gauba says that Internet space is horizontal, inhabited by the web sites of both small and large businesses [base ']Äì servicing a very general but large information browsing need.
His view is that a small but a growing population of these sites is focusing on the specific needs [base ']Äì which are in fact Internet verticals.
Coming to South Korea, Gauba talks of "its obsession to replicate its DSL success" - which is grossly missing the subtle difference between the roles of fixed and mobile technologies. He continues:
Now there's a view which should really pull a few jabs from left right and centre! So far, outside of Japan and Korea, Gauba's analysis of the (strugggle of the) mobile web and mobile data and services paradigm, adds value in understanding what to do next.
Is there an i-mode project or news that you think we should feature? Email tips@imodestrategy.com. Thanks!
Technorati Tags: 5:42:50 PM comment
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There was a lot of interest in 
If you'd like to join Mike Gauba and me in a Group Skypechat on this topic then IM your Skype username across to Skypename "the.3G.Guru" and we'll link you in.|
| 06.07.23 | Weekly i-mode Business Newsletter.
What's On
The i-mode Content Forum is a media partner for London's Mobile Content World, 19-21 September 2006 - and our members qualify for a 10% discount off the registration price (£1995 + VAT) for all i-mode Content Forum members. more...
For Australia AUGUST 7 - on the event list is Mobile Monday Melbourne - networking for the mobile content industry - when: 6.30pm to 8.30pm 7th August - where: Horse Bazaar, Digital Art Gallery Bar, 397 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne - cost: free. Guest speaker @ 7pm: Walter Adamson, of Digital Investor, speaking on Mobile TV - the next digital content revolution.
If you're interested in mobile search news, see the latest at Goobile.com
1. Citing poor handset range MTS halts i-mode promotion
From Cellular News a bombshell report that DoCoMo's Russian i-mode alliance partner MTS "does not plan to undertake any activities linked with the service until September".
Spokesperson Kirill Alyavdin said that the operator would continue supporting the service "for its existing subscribers".
This lack of handsets has been at the core of many of i-mode's problems outside Japan.
The Japanese i-mode handset makers have had to have been so focused on competing and producing Japanese handsets, of which the "2G" ones were unique to Japan, that they have been unable to put in place competitive strategies for the non-Japanese i-mode market. DoCoMo is reportedly "studying the problem", but makers are in tough shape and unlikely to take the initiative without substantial financial incentives from DoCoMo.
The solution is not obvious and is a rising threat to the task of expanding the i-mode world.
Post your opinion below
2. New handsets for O2 i-mode
According to The Register, O2 is set to increase its (currently limited) range of i-mode phones with two new handsets later this month - the LG L343i and the Samsung SGH-S401i.
The LG L343i is a clamshell handset with a 300k pixel camera, speakerphone and tri-band connectivity. The Samsung SGH-S401i is also a clamshell, along with Bluetooth connectivity and a VGA camera.
Both have poor imaging capacity so are well behind the curve in the new handset race overall, compared to say the Sony Ericsson 3G-capable i-mode handset, the K610im which comes with a 2 Megapixel camera or the NEC N902iS with a 4 Megapixel camera. Nevertheless, the addition to the O2 i-mode range is welcome, especially in light of the crisis caused for i-mode at MTS due to lack of handset choice.
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3 Reasons why you should Join the i-mode Content Forum
3. DoCoMo lays bets for digital broadcast to mobile
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that DoCoMo plans to take a roughly 2.5% interest in Nippon Television for about Y10 billion. DoCoMo already bought a 2.6% stake in Fuji Television Network earlier this year to prepare for digital broadcasting to mobile, which has been launched successfully.
4. Guam divided over DoCoMo's purchase plans
In Guam DoCoMo faces supporters and opposers to its planned acquisition of Guam Cellular & Paging, and Guam Wireless Telephone. DoCoMo would like to capture roaming fees from the core visitor group of Japanese, who make up roughly two-thirds of tourists to Guam.
5. Refining discovery in i-mode - keywords
In a response to the issue of how to provide convenient content discovery DoCoMo announced that users will be able to perform keyword searches from the top page of the Japanese i-mode portal - for access to official i-mode sites.
In addition, the search results page will provide links to nine search engines so users can view non-official i-mode sites and other websites with the same keyword.
The keyword searches will be free for all i-mode users, excluding packet communication charges for accessing sites. No special set-up is required, and the search box will be automatically displayed from the service launch. The new searches to be made available in October 2006.
Independent audits, analysis, project reviews and i-mode strategy business advice, seminars and round tables, conference chair and speaking, magazine articles and press comment - to discuss these and other opportunities, please call or email. | <a href="callto://walter/">
5:39:14 PM comment
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Walter | |
| 06.07.30 | Weekly i-mode Business Newsletter.
What's On
The i-mode Content Forum is a media partner for London's Mobile Content World, 19-21 September 2006 - and our members qualify for a 10% discount off the registration price (£1995 + VAT) for all i-mode Content Forum members. more...
For Australia AUGUST 7 - on the event list is Mobile Monday Melbourne - networking for the mobile content industry - when: 6.30pm to 8.30pm 7th August - where: Horse Bazaar, Digital Art Gallery Bar, 397 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne - cost: free. Guest speaker @ 7pm: Walter Adamson, of Digital Investor, speaking on Mobile TV - the next digital content revolution.
If you're interested in mobile search news, see the latest at Goobile.com
1. DoCoMo profit hit by customer conversion costs to 3G
"But by hiking procurement of inexpensive 700 series FOMA handsets, I would like to bring down overall sales costs a bit," said DoCoMo President Nakamura. The low-end 700 series cellphones now sell for about US$100 each.
DoCoMo's average monthly revenue per user fell to 3,170 yen in the first quarter from 3,320 yen a year earlier, and the average monthly usage per user declined to 62 minutes from 74 minutes. DoCoMo also revealed that it's sold more than 1 million Felica-equiped "wallet phones", 18 months after the first phones using the contactless IC chip technology were put on sale. Including the 902i series, DoCoMo has a total of 17 types of phones with the function.
Post your opinion below
2. O2 i-mode tariffs confuse retail staff
Good offer, poor sales training.
O2 have now axed that tariff, and replaced it with new offers which cover a wider range of customers. There are reports of a series of bungled communications about tariffs between O2 and its retail outlets and subscribers. The latest one follows previous adverse reaction to plan changes in which subscribers were meant to notified by SMS, but many complained that they did not see the SMS and subsequently ran up large phone bills as the replacement plans came into affect.
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3 Reasons why you should Join the i-mode Content Forum
3. Funk taps into user-generated content through i-mode
Funk "sunglasses + equipment" a hip provider, has launched a promotion in Germany through GoFresh and i-mode. GoFresh is hosting the promotional campaign on its itsmy.com site, a mobile community accessible only through the mobile internet.
GoFresh specialises in user-generated mobile content and this campaign is a great brand reinforcement for the Funk style and its community-driven marketing.
4. Data revenue grows 39% in Japan
Contrary to gloom among some industry watchers Informa Telecoms & Media report that 2005 mobile data revenues exceeded the combined fees paid so far by European operators for their 3G licences. Global revenues from mobile data services surpassed US$100 billion for the first time, in 2005, at US$102.1 billion, and strong data revenue growth has continued into 2006, with the first-quarter figure of US$28.4 billion up 17% on-year, the research indicated.
Of course, outside Japan the vast majority of data revenue is from SMS. Within Japan the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry announced the results of the mobile content and commerce market research. The report shows that the mobile content market grew to 722 billion yen (US$6.26b), which is 39% growth from the previous year.
The mobile content including ring tones, mobile games, videos, and photos, grew by 21% to 315 billion yen (US$2.73b) market.
The mobile commerce including shopping sites, booking sites, and transaction sites (stock, auctions, etc.) grew by 57% to 407 billlion yen (US$3.53b) market.
5. 3G take-up accelerating globally
3G is catching on and also is another good news story, not the usual bad news. Just like data revenues it is growing strongly, and most strongly in Asia. The number of mobile users adopting 3G services - such as WCDMA and CDMA2000 1x EVDO - exceeded 100 million at the end of June 2006.
In Japan, as reported above, DoCoMo is aiming to have two-thirds of its subscribers using the 3G FOMA service by the end of March 2007 and DoCoMo President Masao Nakamura told a press conference that 90% of new handset sales were now 3G.
Even in Australia, Chief executive of Hutchison 3 in Australia, Kevin Russell, said 3G services had grown from around 5 to 6% of the total mobile revenue market at the start of 2006 to around 12% today. With mobiles generating more than $10 billion a year, that equates to roughly $1.2 billion. But the news came with a warning that margins in the mobile industry are likely to fall as voice services get cheaper and operators struggle with new data services.
Independent audits, analysis, project reviews and i-mode strategy business advice, seminars and round tables, conference chair and speaking, magazine articles and press comment - to discuss these and other opportunities, please call or email. | <a href="callto://walter/">
5:26:33 PM comment
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Reporting on a 
UK i-mode alliance partner O2 have hit the news again over tariffs - for perhaps the wrong reasons and the right reasons. The tariff was specifically designed to be sold on 
On the |
3G in Australia: subscribers are growing. 
Until now, 3G subscribers in Australia have been relatively small in number and growing slowly relative to comparable European and Asian markets. Yet 3G growth is now picking up. Several factors are contributing to this: natural migration to 3G is accelerating due to the closure of networks, 3G handsets are vastly improved and 3G-based packages are forming a greater percentage of the overall mix. Consequently, we expect 2.3 million 3G subscribers in Australia by the end of 2006 - around 10% of the overall base. |
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Main players will pick DVB-H for mobile TV. 
The mobile-TV technology that finally dominates will employ open standards and a competitive market, according to Nokia. "The analogy here is GSM [global system for mobile communication], which made possible personal telephony and affordable terminals," says Harri Mannisto, director of multimedia business at Nokia. "This was based on open standards and a competitive ecosystem, and you have the same possibility here for DVB-H [digital-video broadcast-handheld], which will succeed for personal TV and video." |
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Cellular in the Central European Markets 
Iíve always been fascinated with Central Europe; primarily because when I was a youth the majority (excluding Austria and part of Germany) was behind a mysterious Iron Curtain and more recently due to the tragic break-up of Yugoslavia and the entrance of several countries into the EU club. The large Cellular companies have wasted no time in taking large stakes within Central Europe. We have not quite reached the end-game but are getting quite close. 
In a few countries the invasion of the Western Cellular Companies has not quite finished: Bosnia is due to sell itsí three state owned companies over the next 12 months; Slovenia still has to privatize itsí state-owned company; the third Bulgarian license, Vivatel is actually owned by the Icelandic company behind the infamous Saunalahti MVNO in Finland; and I canít see any long term strategic reason for Tele2 holding a license in Croatia. I believe all of these licenses will be sold to the majors over the next couple of years to consolidate the Central European market further. Also, there is a possibility of several countries licensing a third player: Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania fall into this category. I believe the final end game will be when the smaller regional players start selling out or making alliances will the larger players: we see this happening with Vodafone / Telekom Austria network partnership deal. I can quite easily envisage an environment where TelefÛnica and OTE do a similar network partnership deal to Vodafone/Telekom Austria. Several of the big players such as Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile face difficulties in taking control of several venture (eg Polkomtel) and squeezing out minorities. These problems I can see dragging out for several years. As per normal, the wildcards are Orange and Telenor. I canít see Orange being happy with itsí extremely weak position in the fastest growing part of Europe, but given that they are cash constrained at the moment their options are severely limited. An obvious solution to this difficulty is some sort of merger of Central European assets given the lack of overlap of properties: in Austria both own minority positions in the same operator, One. It is difficult to understand Telenor current strategy, so who knows what will happen. The three key variables in looking at attractiveness of cellular markets are population, GDP and size of countries: Germany is by far and away the key market. A strong position in this market will pay for all sorts of expansion elsewhere. 
4:53:17 PM comment
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Last update: 9/14/06; 3:38:02 PM .
