Universal Convergence

I can see the 3G waves breaking on the US shores and the people are getting excited by the mobile surfing they will be able to do.

Time to get your feet wet in 3G Microsoft!

I was at lunch today with a great local mobile solutions company and we discussed some of the trends that are happening in our market space.

The discussion came around to instant messaging & username password applications. I made the point that the real focus needs to be at a lower level than just the applications and that is,
Presence – which is the ability for the users "state" to be seen by their friends or workmates, in turn allowing this to become and actionable event such as making a video call or playing a game or starting an IM session.
Identity – a system whereby the user only has to remember one username & password to access multiple services and content as well as the ability for systems to recognise users identity and give them appropriate information & services.

Presence & Identity servers are prolific, but their needs to be better synchronicity from the Telco world with what is already happening in the Internet world. In other words I need my Internet identity to follow me into the mobile environment fluidly.

Cellular News has an interesting article on the size of the Presence market.

The US has always had a different view on wireless trends due to its disparate telco environment, this has in turn bred a strong WiFi use in various parts of the country with a strong PDA focused deployment. In Europe and Asia this has been reversed due the the early adoption of 3G & other high-speed, non-WiFi type wide-coverage style networks utilising smaller mobile phone devices.

A mobile application will fail if it doesn’t sustain a positive user experience. In the end, it is the user of the technology that will drive the success, not ROI or TCO or bundled cheap voice/data rates.

That user experience encapsulates the interface, access speed & the device.
I’m enjoying the articles filtering through from the US about how they are discovering the joys of 3G networks.

If data interconnect agreements follow these 3G deployments in the US, then we should see an explosion of mobile data products from this huge market.

We have all enjoyed the newfound freedom associated with mobile phones, but with it comes responsibility and frankly, some down right respect. When someone answers the mobile phone I’m ringing with, “I’m in a meeting, can I call you back?” my response is always “Why did you answer the phone?”.

Of course we are slaves to the system when this is your customer that does this, but I’ve been known on more that a few occasions to walk out of a meeting with suppliers if any of them interrupt the meeting by answering their mobiles. Frankly, if they are too busy to talk to me, I’ll find a supplier that has the time and the manners.

When I’m in a meeting, my phone is on silent and I do not answer it, as I have dedicated that time to whoever is in that meeting with me. If people call, they are directed to my voicemail, to which I can call back when I have the time to do so. If, in the remote chance that I am expecting an urgent call, I will tell the people I’m meeting with that this may occur in advance. Common manners.

PostGazzette.com has an interesting article about some businesses that are taking back the reigns to common decency in business. I guess the biggest issue we have with mobiles is that we are compelled to answer no matter what the cost. In fact, we forget that it is just a tool for our use rather that it being the ringing bell of slavery.

There should be a tag attached to every mobile phone that reads:

WARNING!
Congratulations on your new mobile phone purchase! Be aware that, unfortunately this device will give you a false sense of holier-than-thou symptoms and outright rudeness. You will be tempted to use the device to, interrupt conversations, speak loudly & gesture foolishly in public places, make your customers, business associates, friends and family feel utterly insignificant, not to mention ruin the lives of other patrons around you at restaurants, movie cinemas and sporting events as you become an experimental success of Pavlovian Conditioning. Enjoy!

Take a challenge this New Year, choose to answer, or not.