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With increasing number of people around the world turning to mobile devices to access information, communicate and connect; feeling the need to have a tool which helps organizations and individuals track trends and statistics about the way the world uses mobile devices to connect, becomes obvious.

To cater to this need, Google has recently launched a tool, named Our Mobile Planet, which is a research and analytics tool that Google provides for free.

The service which involves the research done by Google in the beginning 2011, includes information from different demographics, countries, mobile carriers, and platforms.

So if you are keen to have insights on smartphone usage, mobile attitudes; and use those to create custom charts to help you derive inferences about the mobile consumer, which will eventually help you formulate support data driven mobile strategy; then you can try the Our Mobile Planet. Considering the fact that Google is offering that amount of data for free, has surprised many, you can be one too.

From where the Google’s offered data comes from:

The data comes from research by Google, Ipsos and the Mobile Marketing Association and includes information on usage patterns and behaviors, particularly with regard to social media, search, video and email messaging. The research also includes purchasing activities and mobile shopping patterns. In addition, according to Google most of the data has been compared against traditional desktop Internet use, to provide better context.

To encourage extensive use of Data:

The Our Mobile Planet allows users to choose among data sets and manipulate these as necessary. To increase the portability of data, the tool allows the data to be exported as a PNG graphic, or as a spreadsheet in either CSV or Microsoft Excel format.

Although Google expects mostly the marketers and webmasters using the tool; other people can also get interesting information. ---------

Google , Google Analytics Tool for Mobile , marketers , Mobile , Our Mobile Planet , Webmasters

Google Launches Free Analytics Tool for Mobile, names it Our Mobile Planet

Anil Singh Friday, October 7, 2011

Mozilla, the makers of Firebox web browser, has said that it plans to build an open source mobile operating system (OS) codenamed Boot to Gecko (B2G). The mobile browser space is populated by a players like Android, iOS, Symbian and Windows Phone 7.

With its new mobile operating system, Mozilla hopes to fill the voids that keep web developers from being able to build apps that are equal in every way to the native apps built for the iPhone, Android, and WP7.

To accomplish that goal of building a complete, standalone operating system for the open web, Mozilla (a non-profit software body) plans to propose a project called Boot to Gecko.

Boot to Gecko, which is going to address a number of areas, like -- web application programming interfaces (APIs) for capabilities such as telephony, camera, USB and near field communications, can be the next big thing in Mobile OS.

What Mozilla wants to accomplish with B2G:

1) A model where APIs are "safely exposed to pages and applications".
2) Special stress will be on Android devices. ---------

Boot to Gecko (B2G) , Mobile , mobile os , Mozilla

Mozilla B2G announced: An effort to develop a mobile operating system

Anil Singh Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Extending its legacy of thinking green, UK-based Orange mobile service provider, has created a technology that enables your phone to be ‘charged by sound’– all within a tidy package of a t-shirt.

Currently in its prototype stage, this “charged by sound” device follows Orange’s eco charging devices, such as Power Wellies, which powered users’ phones as they walk.

What differentiates Power Wellies from the latest device is, while the former harnessed user-generated heat to charge devices, the Sound Charge t-shirt captures nearby sound to power up the user’s phone. Watch Power Willies at work:

The new technology is developed in collaboration with renewable energy experts at GotWind.

A Bit more about the sound charging Technology used in Orange’s prototype, Sound Charge:

Sound Charge uses an existing technology in a revolutionary way. The device reverses the use of a product called Piezoelectric film (Piezoelectricity is the charge which accumulates in certain solid materials (notably crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA and various proteins) in response to applied mechanical stress. The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure. In simple, certain solid materials are found to generate electricity, when pressure is applied on their surface). Piezoelectric film is usually found in modern hi-fi speakers. A A4 panel of this modified film is housed inside a t-shirt, which then acts much like an oversized microphone by absorbing invisible sound pressure waves. These waves are converted into an electrical charge (by the compression of interlaced quartz crystals); which is then fed into an integral reservoir battery.

Once a T-shirt is put on, a steady charge is dispensed into the phone through a simple, interchangeable lead, which fits most handsets. As a T-Shirt requires to be sent to washing machine every other day; the entire Sound Charge ensemble, the Piezoelectric film panel and electronics are fully removable.

The system charges almost every brand and model of mobile phones.

To enhance the usefulness and practicality of the technology the scientists decided to place the technology inside a T-shirt as it’s worn every day.

Viability of the technology:

The team behind Sound Charge conducted live testing of the technology at the Glastonbury Festival in June, where sound levels of around 80 dB (which is equivalent to sound levels in a busy street), generated up to six watt hours of power–enough to charge two standard mobile phones or one Smartphone.

One can expect to see major improvements in this technology in coming days and months. Orange’s Sound Charge, has one limitation though. Its utility diminishes for those who like quite surroundings. ---------

charge your mobile phone with Piezoelectricity , Charge your mobile with sound , device charging by walking , Innovations , Mobile , Orange Sound Charge

Orange Sound Charge – T-Shirts That use Sound to charge a mobile phone

Anil Singh Sunday, July 24, 2011

If one tries to compare the impact made by the Fixed and Mobile phones on human lives; one finds the mobile phone scoring over its fixed counterpart on almost every aspect of human life viz. personal connectivity, social connectivity, business, emergency situations etc.

But one aspect of human life which saw an upside down change with the advent of mobile phones is the: Professional or Business connectivity.

The fact that fixed phones could never ever be proliferated like mobiles, because of serious bottlenecks like limited supporting infrastructure, high setting up costs, highly time intensive activity, Government control; fixed phones never provided the ideal environment for ideal business or professional networking.They remained restricted to only a few people who afforded one or have businesses, where a phone was considered mandatory.

But mobiles, changed all.

Not only people in professions where connectivity is a prerequisite, like marketing, sales, communications are owning them; but those in professions where a mobile phone would be the last thing to arrange for, are using them to better their earning opportunities. And this group of professionals appears to be all inclusive.

The video below, shares how the fishermen in Kerala, India; are using basic mobile phones to find the best catch:

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Fishermen in Kerala , Mobile

Kerala Fishermen gain from Mobile fishing

Anil Singh Sunday, July 10, 2011

At Open Mobile Summit, BBC research engineer Matt Hammond revealed that they are developing a Universal Control API (Application Programming Interface), which aims to create a user interface standard for the integration of cross-platform devices. In simple the API, which is still at prototype stage, will be to manage interactive dual- and multi-screen media content; a co-ordinated interaction between TV, web content and home devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs, allowing for audience interaction with live events.

Hammond further revealed that BBC engineers are working with the Autumn Watch programme to develop a complementary interactive tablet experience. This could, for example, serve information that changes depending on what point the viewer is at in a TV programme.

BBC feels that the new technology could create new interactive capabilities, including social media interactions and content migration between TV and mobile devices. To understand content migration better, one can consider a situation, where a user starts watching a progamme on his/her mobile; but somewhere in between wishes to watch the rest on his/her TV. Courtesy content migration or resume-for-home service, the TV picks up the programme at the point it left off on mobile. ---------

BBC Universal Control API , connected TV , Innovations , Mobile

BBC developing Universal Control API

Anil Singh Saturday, June 11, 2011

According to a blog post by Rose Yao, a mobile product manager atFacebook, Facebook plans to rolling out more privacy management features to users who access the social network via their mobile devices.

What will be the new additions:

1) Ability to view details about the information mobile Facebook users shared with different applications and websites.

2) The Applications and Websites section of one’s privacy settings will contain a full list of the applications being used, and Facebook users will also be able to see when these applications last accessed their information.

3) Ability to adjust their settings when they’re on the go.

4) Ability to tweak other settings, including access to one’s basic profile information, photos and videos, and friends’ information.

To know more about the privacy controls on a mobile device, visit m.facebook.com/privacy, or visit the Settings page and click on the “change” link next to “Privacy Settings.”

The new mobile privacy options are an extension of the applications dashboard that Facebook introduced in October. ---------

Facebook , Mobile , Privacy

Facebook Adds More privacy options for Mobile users

Anil Singh Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sharp has unveiled two Glasses Free 3D Phones in Japan. Although Glasses-less 3D on the small screen may have brought into popularity with the Nintendo 3DS, but with the unveiling Sharp and Spice seems to be the ones heading 3D to smartphones.

The Sharp 003SH and 005SH — launching in December and February respectively on Softbank in Japan will have the following specs and features:

1) Android 2.2 with a custom TapFlow UI

2) 1GHz Snapdragon processors

3) 3.8-inches of glasses-free 3D

4) To care of initial 3D content requirement, the handsets will come packed with with upcoming titles from Capcom, Namco, and Konami. The Capcom titles include MegaMan, Resident Evil, and Ghosts ‘n Goblins. In addition, Konami has Mobile Powerful Pro Baseball 3D slated for an Android release, and Namco Bandai will be putting out 3D version of Taiko Drum Master.

The main difference between Sharp 003SH and 005SH is that the 003SH gets a 9.6MP camera in its touchscreen only package while the 005SH gets a 8MP camera and a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. ---------

3D , Mobile

Sharp unveils Glasses-Free 3D Phones packed with 3D Games from Capcom, Konami, and Namco

Anil Singh Friday, November 5, 2010

Japan’s DeNA, that runs Mobage-town social mobile portal in Japan, today announced its earnings and in order to hit listeners with its presence revealed some interesting comparisons.

But first some numbers:

DeNA’s Revenue for the quarter was $336 million, up 216 percent from the same quarter last year (Q2 2009). With such numbers DeNA is on pace to hit $1.25 billion by year’s end (Q1+Q2+Q3 2010), largely from revenue from virtual goods for its social mobile games.

Now the interesting comparisons:

DeNA claims that its average revenue per user (ARPU) is 30 times that of Facebook; and 15 times what Zynga gets from per user.

Sounds astonishing ? It shouldn’t. Mobile users in Japan are far ahead (courtesy, technological advancement too) of Western users when it comes to embracing the virtual goods free-to-play model. In the virtual goods free-to-play model, users play for free and pay small amounts of real money for virtual goods inside games. Facebook and Zynga who are quite successful in luring people to their networks; fared relatively less spectacularly on the virtual goods free-to-play model.

DeNA’s quite attacking comparisons are not for nothing; DeNA, is trying to move to the international stage in order to compete head-on with Facebook and Zynga. Only recently it agreed to acquire iPhone game publisher Ngmoco for $403 million as part of a bid to become global. ---------

Facebook , Gaming , Mobile , Social Networking

Japanese DeNA makes 30 times more ARPU than Facebook, 15 times more than Zynga

Anil Singh

Spice Mobility, a handset-maker local to India, is offering a 3-D handset that requires no glasses (normally 3D viewing needs specialty glasses to get a viewer a 3D illusion).

The candybar shaped phone M-67 3D costs Rs 4,299 ($97 US) and uses an auto-stereoscopic display for 3-D viewing. The phone can be switched between 2-D and 3-D viewing modes with a simple press of a button.

The 3D phone has a 6 centimeter or 2.36 inch) screen that runs at low 240 x 320 px, or QVGA, resolution.

The method used for the 3-D technology, in the phone, is speculated to be the parallax barrier, the same Nintendo’s upcoming 3-D handheld system is using. In parallax method, film with slits is placed over an LCD screen, and alters the pixels viewed between the left and right eyes, producing a visual 3-D effect. Notably, the dichotomy in images viewed by left and right eyes, is the basic principle behind 3D.

Other specs are: A dual-SIM, a 2 megapixel camera, support for a 16 MB memory card, music player, FM radio, and remote wipe feature (in case of phone theft, the memory can be erased remotely). ---------

3D , Mobile , Tech24Hours India

Spice Launches 3D Mobile Phone in India -- M-67 3D-- No need of Glasses

Anil Singh Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Top mobile phones in India(handsets)for August 2010 (according to Opera):

1. Nokia 5130 XpressMusic
2. Nokia 2700c
3. Nokia 2690
4. Nokia 2730c
5. Nokia 3110c
6. Nokia N70
7. Nokia 7210c
8. Nokia 6300
9. Nokia 5233
10. Nokia N73 ---------

Mobile , Tech24Hours India

Top mobile phones in india for August 2010

Anil Singh Tuesday, October 5, 2010

According to the largest Internet browser firm Opera Software ASA, Global mobile data traffic continued to surge in August, raising the prospect of increasing demand for telecom equipment makers.

According to Opera, Global data traffic through its mobile browser rose 10 percent in August from July -- the fastest pace in previous five months.

Wireless operators, who have seen revenue decline from traditional voice calls are keen on raising revenue from Internet browsing and the social networking boom; but increased Data traffic has posed another problem, of increasingly congested networks, to these operators. Although Apple taught networks how to make users use Bandwidth, a mobile internet market has boomed since 2007 introduction of Apple Inc's iPhone; the same Apple shows how bandwidth can be problematic for networks (Read At&T).

On the other hand, Telecoms gear makers Nokia Siemens, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent -- which have suffered from aggressive pricing by Asian rivals –want people to use their devices as meant for mobile web usage. That’s why they are moving aggressively towards the same.

In all this contrasting wishes, browsers like Opera, which packages up to 90 percent of the data to save network bandwidth or are aiming at saving precious bandwidth, are gaining.

Notably, and no surprise, Opera has increased its lead over closest rivals -- iPhone, Nokia and Blackberry browsers -- in the last few weeks and commands 24.8 percent of the market in September so far, according to Web analytics firm StatCounter. The Blackberry, iPhone and Nokia browsers all are hovering around 17 to 18 percent market shares. ---------

Mobile

Mobile Web usage continues to surge in August: Opera

Anil Singh Friday, October 1, 2010

China has at least 420 million web users and is also the world's largest mobile market, with more than 800 million subscribers as of the end of June, according to official data. ---------

Internet , Mobile

Number of internet users and mobile subscribers in China as of end June 2010

Anil Singh Monday, September 20, 2010

According to data from India’s telecommunications regulator,TRAI, the Number of mobile subscribers(or wireless subscribers) in India as of June 2010 is 636 million (or 63.6 crore).

China’s 805 million (or 80.5 crore) mobile-phone accounts make it the largest market.

India’s mobile phone market is forecast to exceed 993 million (or 99.3 crore) users by the end of 2014, researcher Gartner Inc. said in a July 15 report. ---------

Mobile , Tech24Hours India

Number of mobile subscribers in India as of June 2010

Anil Singh Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Revenue from ads sold on cellphones in the U.S. is expected to increase by 43% to $593 million in 2010, up from $416 million in 2009, according to research firm eMarketer. ---------

Advertising , Mobile

Size of US Mobile advertising market in 2010

Anil Singh Monday, August 16, 2010

According to Reuters, by the end of this month, T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 U.S. mobile service will be less than half way through its 2010 network upgrade plan(upgrading to a technology known as HSPA Plus from HSPA) aimed at boosting its mobile data web-surfing speeds.

The company hopes that increasing data speeds will help it stem customer defections to bigger and smaller rivals.
According to the company it would have HSPA Plus coverage in markets with more than 75 million people by the end of June. It plans to have coverage for 185 million by year end.

The company currently offers HSPA Plus services to laptop users and has plans to sell at least one HSPA phone in the second half of the year. ---------

Mobile

T-Mobile USA hopes to retain and grow subscribers after mobile data upgrade

Anil Singh Thursday, June 17, 2010

Nokia Oyj unveiled on Thursday four new cheap phone models, aiming to protect its dominant market share on emerging markets (Nokia controls more than 50 percent of phone sales in India and Africa).

The four new simple phone models will be priced, excluding possible operators’ subsidies and local taxes, from 30 euros ($36.9) to 45 euros ($55.4). In Indian rupees the prices will range from Rs 1729 to Rs 2593.

Two of the new phones, including the cheapest 30 euro model (Rs 1729), will enable usage of two different SIM cards (or dual SIM). ---------

Announcements , Mobile , Tech24Hours India

Nokia unveils 4 cheap basic phones

Anil Singh Friday, June 4, 2010

On Thursday, Nokia Oyj unveiled a bicycle mobile charger. Aimed at developing countries with limited access to electricity; the bicycle mobile charger is a welcome news just two days prior to the World Environment Day (June 5).

Although aimed at developing countries that are attractive both in terms of mobile popularity and bicycles, spiced by power scarcity; Nokia is optimistic about the charger’s pickup in European countries as well; where cycling for work, shopping and errands is a common lifestyle.

The charger will go on sale for about 15 euros later this year, Nokia said.

So start biking, contribute to environment, by the year end you'll be able to charge your mobile while biking too. Then your contribution to environment will increase many folds. ---------

Announcements , Mobile

A bicycle mobile charger from Nokia

Anil Singh

A survey conducted by Abt/SRBI and Princeton Survey Research Associates International from April 19 to May 2 has found that one in six American mobile phone users (about 16 percent) have been shocked by surprise fees and charges in their monthly bills. ---------

Mobile , Surveys

Surprise charges in monthly mobile bills shock 16 percent Americans

Anil Singh Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Russian mobile advertising market is currently $15 million, which could grow to $100 million by 2013 .And this type of advertising, will surpass some other ways of advertising in a few years time.

[According to Mikhail Gerchuk, Chief Commercial Officer of Russia's top mobile phone operator MTS, told at the IAA conference.]

Russia and China (and India too) represent those countries where most action regarding mobiles is going to take place in coming years; this is either due to increase in affluence (as in Russia) or due to presence of large population which are at the different stages of mobile adoption. ---------

Advertising , Mobile

Size of Russian Mobile ad market

Anil Singh Monday, May 17, 2010

Opera Software, the world's largest mobile browser firm, has bought
Australian web-based email provider FastMail.FM. The buy aims to expand its own messaging offering to wireless devices

It should be noted that Norway-based Opera, whose wireless browser is more used than Apple's iPhone browser, has had its own email offering for years. The specific step in the web based email provider is seen as a proactive step from the firm in this regard, as it will give Opera knowledge of Web-based email systems, and enable expanding its current email offering.

FastMail, has around 250,000 active users. Opera has declined to comment on the price if paid for email service.

Opera too considers this buy from the perspective that most of people will be experiencing the Web on a mobile device for the first time, hence it makes sense to extend their messaging capabilities to all devices. ---------

Announcements , messaging , Mobile , Opera , webmail

Opera buys webmail firm for mobile messaging

Mr Bisht Saturday, May 1, 2010

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