StayGoLinks » Cell phones http://www.staygolinks.com The Mobile Web From A Desktop Perspective Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:12:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Mobile Web Dead - No, It’s Ubiquitous http://www.staygolinks.com/mobile-web-ubiquitous-web.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/mobile-web-ubiquitous-web.htm#comments Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:30:57 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/?p=209
The mobile web is just around the corner.

ReadWriteWeb seems to have created quite a furor in publicizing the views of start-up entrepreneur Russell Beattie.

The former Yahoo! Mobile evangelist announced today that he’s calling it quits for his company Mowser because the market for mobile browsing is taking a fast turn for the worse.
“I don’t actually believe in the ‘Mobile Web’ anymore, and therefore am less inclined to spend time and effort in a market I think is limited at best, and dying at worst. I’m talking specifically about sites that are geared 100% towards mobile phones and have little to no PC web presence. Two years ago I was convinced that the mobile web would continue to evolve in the West to mimic what was happening in countries like Japan and Korea, but it hasn’t happened, and now I’m sure it isn’t going to.

In other words, I think anyone currently developing sites using XHTML-MP mark-up, no JavaScript, geared towards cellular connections and two inch screens are simply wasting their time, and I’m tired of wasting my time.”

Many others disagree. Greg Sterling proclaims The ‘Mobile Web’ Is Dead, Long Live the Mobile Internet.

The iPhone and its clones, mobile usability improvements from search engines/portals and pure-play mobile companies, together with flat-rate pricing will drive mobile Internet adoption. Time is the “X-variable.” But it will happen. I guarantee it.

Indeed it’s more fundamental than that. As AmediaCirc.US points out, It’s Not The Mobile Web, It’s The Web. Just see the comment from Dean Collins to understand the possibilities. What we really are discussing is the Ubiquitous Web that the World Wide Web Consortium has promoted so strongly. If you really had any doubts, then check out Google’s philosophy.

Google’s goal is to provide a much higher level of service to all those who seek information, whether they’re at a desk in Boston, driving through Bonn, or strolling in Bangkok.

Their fifth ‘truth’ reads as follows:

You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
The world is increasingly mobile and unwilling to be constrained to a fixed location. Whether it’s through their PDAs, their wireless phones or even their automobiles, people want information to come to them. Google’s innovations in this area include Google Number Search, which reduces the number of keypad strokes required to find data from a web-enabled cellular phone and an on-the-fly translation system that converts pages written in HTML to a format that can be read by phone browsers. This system opens up billions of pages for viewing from devices that would otherwise not be able to display them, including Palm PDAs and Japanese i-mode, J-Sky, and EZWeb devices. Wherever search is likely to help users obtain the information they seek, Google is pioneering new technologies and offering new solutions.

With supporters like that how can the mobile Web fail?

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/mobile-web-ubiquitous-web.htm/feed Keep Your Snoopy Eyes On The Road Ahead http://www.staygolinks.com/speech-enabled-gps-navigation-mobile-phones.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/speech-enabled-gps-navigation-mobile-phones.htm#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:54:59 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/throw-your-maps-away-nuance-mobile-and-telenav-deliver-speech-enabled-gps-navigation-to-mobile-phones.htm
 
You don’t need maps for driving now.

Given the safety concerns of using a cell phone while driving, the words of that old Paul Evans song from the 60s (Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat) may strike a chord or perhaps a ringtone is now more fitting.

Nuance Mobile and TeleNav have just made it a whole lot easier. They’re encouraging you to throw your maps away. They do this by delivering speech-enabled GPS navigation to mobile phones. Here is part of their description of what they offer:

Using the Nuance Mobile Speech Platform on select devices, TeleNav now provides the ability to enter destinations for driving directions and business category searches by voice, so that subscribers no longer need to use a telephone keypad. Users can simply state the destination address, or select from a database of more than 10 million points of interest by stating a category, such as “pharmacy,” or by stating a specific business name, such as “Walgreens.”

Mobile users can conveniently access TeleNav GPS Navigator on a device they already carry with them and receive information in real-time based on their current location. Voice destination entry, which makes navigation services easier to use on mobile phones, has the ability to significantly enhance an already fast-growing market for mobile navigation. Industry analyst firm, In-Stat predicts that the total number of mapping and navigation mobile phone subscribers could exceed 70 million worldwide by 2012.

It certainly seems to be the right time for such voice technology.

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/speech-enabled-gps-navigation-mobile-phones.htm/feed Voice Search On Mobile Phones For A Better User Experience http://www.staygolinks.com/voice-search-on-mobile-phones-for-a-better-user-experience.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/voice-search-on-mobile-phones-for-a-better-user-experience.htm#comments Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:49:59 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/voice-search-on-mobile-phones-for-a-better-user-experience.htm
 
Fingers do not walk well on cell phones.

Bill Meisel, president of TMA Associate and the non-profit Applied Voice Input Output Society arranged the Voice Search Conference held in San Diego, California, March 10-12. One question posed there, according to Usability News, was Will Voice Search be THE Usability Breakthrough for Mobile Phones?

The dilemma according to Meisel is:

It’s not unusual for user interfaces to get “stuck” on one model. The layout of keyboards hasn’t changed for decades, for example, despite some efforts to make it easier to use (by putting oft-used letters under the strongest fingers). The telephone’s 12-button keypad is similarly persistent. Persistence of the user interface is a major barrier to increased use of mobile devices beyond communication.

He believes that “voice search” will come to dominate mobile phones. He has some powerful companies who share his view: just think Google, Microsoft and Nuance to name but three. This is an idea whose time has come.

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/voice-search-on-mobile-phones-for-a-better-user-experience.htm/feed Google Moves Ahead In The Mobile Web Race http://www.staygolinks.com/google-moves-ahead-in-the-mobile-web-race.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/google-moves-ahead-in-the-mobile-web-race.htm#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:17:17 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/google-moves-ahead-in-the-mobile-web-race.htm
 
Google leads the mobile Web race.

“Yahoo Racing Ahead of Google in Asia’s Mobile Race?” was the question raised in June 2007. For its mobile search service Yahoo! oneSearch, which it then launched in seven Asian countries, including India, Yahoo! was targeting a subscriber base of 100 million through various partnerships. The article raised the question whether Yahoo could manage to stay ahead of Google in the mobile race in Asia. Clearly Yahoo has other things on its mind at the moment.

A much more important victory is heralded by this week’s headline, Google Wins Japan’s Mobile Net Battle. (Hat tip to Lee Messenger of Cre8asite Forums for that.) It suggests that the company’s deals with NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, Japan’s two biggest wireless carriers, have cemented its lead in mobile search. The article does point out that in the long run, the search companies and the carriers have interests that diverge more dramatically. The carriers want to channel subscribers through a proprietary Net gateway using proprietary browser software on mobile phones so they can charge subscribers for services, not just airtime. That’s at odds with Google’s mission: to give everyone Net access and make the online experience on a mobile device virtually indistinguishable from that on a PC.

Another important stage of the race is opening up with Voice Search. Voice Search is poorly understood. What will speech technology support? What applications do customers want? What will they pay for and how viable are ads in voice-search applications? The Voice Search Conference will be held in San Diego, March 10 - 12, 2008, to address these issues. Needless to say this is another area where Google is strongly represented.

As John Roese, CTO Nortel, muses as he returns from the Mobile World Congress 2008 – Oh, what a difference a year can make a:

You cannot consider wireless networks without including the carrier VoIP market, which is the agreed-upon method that will be used to make voice and real-time communications possible in these new networks. And you cannot consider the fate and shape of the wireless industry without including IT companies like Microsoft and Google and technology companies like Apple in the total view of the industry.

To boldly go where no man has gone before: that’s the Mobile Web. .. and Google must be a strong favorite in that amazing race.

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/google-moves-ahead-in-the-mobile-web-race.htm/feed Fingerless Cell Phones http://www.staygolinks.com/fingerless-cell-phones.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/fingerless-cell-phones.htm#comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:06:47 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/fingerless-cell-phones.htm
 
Lose the keyboard then the display.

Engadget Mobile often has some intriguing glimpses of what may be in our future. On the left below is their picture of what is rumored to be the Samsung i900. In their opinion, this is a phone that takes the keypadless, finger-friendly formula that’s oh-so-popular these days and injects some Windows Mobile 6.1 into the equation. They feel it will be a strong competition for a similar phone, the LG KS20.

Using a touchscreen clearly is becoming more popular with the Apple iPhone. However finger-friendly this way of working may be, it’s still not a very precise way of controlling your phone. Perhaps this is only a step towards what we have suggested before, the ultra-simple keyless cell phone. Cell phones are above all devices for handling sound. Why use any other kind of input? The image below on the right shows how simple it might be.

Samsung i900
keyless cell phone

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/fingerless-cell-phones.htm/feed Mobile Devices With Voice Control http://www.staygolinks.com/mobile-devices-with-voice-control.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/mobile-devices-with-voice-control.htm#comments Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:58:08 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/mobile-devices-with-voice-control.htm 2008 will undoubtedly see explosive growth in the mobile Web and in the functionality of mobile devices. If you wish to envision what may be possible with your cell phone, then it’s intriguing to watch what is happening with your automobile. Miniaturization is rarely a major challenge so the transfer from automobile to cell phone is entirely doable. Look at these examples to see the possibilities.

Sam Abuelsamid tells us that Ford’s new navigation system helps you find low gas prices

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, Ford will be showing off their latest in-car communications systems including an updated navigation system. The system set to debut this summer on the new Lincoln MKS and includes a new Sirius Travel Link system. Among other things, the Travel Link system has the ability to get fuel price data from stations in the area. It can even be set up to automatically give you directions to the station with lowest gas price.
…
Ford is answering the call with the best technology solutions from companies like Microsoft and SIRIUS, connecting customers with mobile devices, important information they need on the road and bringing the experience to life with the latest in navigation technology and branded audio.

Seyth Miersma reports that the Australians Are Developing High Tech Holden Cop Car. It’s almost like a James Bond car, 2008 model.

australianpolicecar.jpg

The Holden police car contains voice recognition software that let officers keep their hands in place on the wheel, as well as cameras that can beam the action in real-time to communications centers. There’s also an automatic license plate recognition camera proficient enough to scan 5000 to 8000 cars in a 10-hour period.

Which of these functionalities comes to your cell phone first will be influenced by market demand and supportive technology. However full voice control of your mobile device seems a strong contender.

Related: The Keyless Cell phone

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/mobile-devices-with-voice-control.htm/feed Speech Technology Will Be Really Big - Watch Google http://www.staygolinks.com/speech-technology-will-be-really-big-watch-google.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/speech-technology-will-be-really-big-watch-google.htm#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:10:12 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/speech-technology-will-be-really-big-watch-google.htm
 
Phonemes wanted - talk to Google

If you want confirmation that speech technology is the next big technical and economic opportunity, then keep an eye on Google. This year they encouraged the formation of the Open Handset Alliance. This undermines the walled gardens created by the existing telecom companies. The picture now is very much a more level and competitive playing field.

It is interesting to see how Google is now developing its own stake in what will be a highly profitable marketplace. Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of Search Products & User Experience, in an interview (Google wants your phonemes) revealed one part of the effort.

You may have heard about our [directory assistance] 1-800-GOOG-411 service. The reason we really did it is because we need to build a great speech-to-text model.

The speech recognition experts that we have say: If you want us to build a really robust speech model, we need a lot of phonemes, which is a syllable as spoken by a particular voice with a particular intonation. So we need a lot of people talking, saying things so that we can ultimately train off of that. … So 1-800-GOOG-411 is about that: Getting a bunch of different speech samples so that when you call up, we can (understand) with high accuracy.

This approach is adopted because Google Is All About Large Amounts of Data. Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, believes the following:

The way to get better understanding of text is through statistics rather than through handcrafted grammars and lexicons. The statistical approach is cheaper, faster, more robust, easier to internationalize, and so far more effective.

We wanted speech technology that could serve as an interface for phones and also index audio text. After looking at the existing technology, we decided to build our own. We thought that, having the data and computational resources that we do, we could help advance the field. Currently, we are up to state-of-the-art with what we built on our own, and we have the computational infrastructure to improve further. As we get more data from more interaction with users and from uploaded videos, our systems will improve because the data trains the algorithms over time.

Google is certainly in a privileged position to gain access to large amounts of data that can be used to improve other services. However it seems somewhat paradoxical to be using number crunching to better understand language and speech.

Others take a different view. For example, Powerset is building a consumer search engine based on breakthrough natural language processing technology licensed from PARC and developed internally. The search engine aims to leverage the structure and nuances of natural language to ultimately transform the way humans interact with computers.

It will be interesting to see which approach wins out.

Related: Can You Hear The Future?

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/speech-technology-will-be-really-big-watch-google.htm/feed Cell Phone Competition Is What Canadian Consumers Need http://www.staygolinks.com/cell-phone-competition-is-what-canadian-consumers-need.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/cell-phone-competition-is-what-canadian-consumers-need.htm#comments Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:16:11 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/cell-phone-competition-is-what-canadian-consumers-need.htm
Let’s hope for better Canadian cell phone service

The CBC headlined it as Ottawa opens up wireless industry to more competition. In the Globe and Mail it was Cellphone giants lose stranglehold. The oligopoly of Bell, Rogers and Telus are clearly most unhappy at this turn of events. However what received less attention than it might is the large number of Canadian cell phone customers who were highly delighted by the news.

You can get a measure of that by looking at the large number of comments on the Globe and Mail story or those that were added to a CTV news item on the topic. Of course the fact that Canadian consumers are unhappy with cell phone service is not news. Earlier in the month, the Financial Post pointed out that Canadians Increasingly Dissatisfied With Cellphones. Hopefully this action will turn the situation around.

Related:
How Good is Customer Service from the Canadian Cell Phone Companies?
Real Competition Coming To The Canadian Cell Phone Market

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/cell-phone-competition-is-what-canadian-consumers-need.htm/feed Real Competition Coming To The Canadian Cell Phone Market http://www.staygolinks.com/real-competition-coming-to-the-canadian-cell-phone-market.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/real-competition-coming-to-the-canadian-cell-phone-market.htm#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:36:21 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/real-competition-coming-to-the-canadian-cell-phone-market.htm
 
We’re No Worse Than The Other Guy.

Tom Peters suggested that for many big companies the words to the right could be the company motto emblazoned in gold letters over the entrance. He was describing banks but according to a recent survey on customer service the cell phone companies are the lowest on the totem pole.

Politicians like to take popular decisions. So it was no great surprise to hear yesterday’s announcement from Ottawa that it will hold an auction of the wireless spectrum in May 2008. This could mean more competition and lower cellphone rates for Canadians next year. Industry Minister Jim Prentice said that about 105 megahertz of spectrum will be sold to bidders. Forty megahertz will be set aside for newcomers to the industry. Not surprisingly Telus described this as “deeply disappointing” news. I am sure that Bell and Rogers would feel the same way.

The three of them of course form an oligopoly.

An oligopoly exists when a few companies dominate an industry. This concentration often leads to collusion among manufacturers, so that prices are set by agreement rather than by the operation of the supply and demand mechanism.

Canadians pay more to use their cell phones and this is particularly so for broadband data transmission rates. Undoubtedly this has held back the development of the Mobile Web in Canada. This is particularly disastrous for an industry that should be one of Canada’s strengths.

Not surprisingly this news has been greeted with applause by many. What the oligopolists do not realize is that poor customer service creates rebels. After all as someone has suggested, bad news travels 10 times as fast as good news. Many consumers are just waiting to get the cell phone service they deserve. Any well-funded newcomer who can deliver the cell phone goods will find an army of evangelists waiting to spread the word.

Related:
News: Ottawa’s wireless auction could cut cellphone rates
News: Ottawa opens up wireless industry to more competition
Forum: Canadian Cellphone market will be opened to more competition
Blog: Bring on the Cellular Auction
Blog: Cautious Optimism With Wireless Auction Plan

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]]> http://www.staygolinks.com/real-competition-coming-to-the-canadian-cell-phone-market.htm/feed Do You Want The Full Web On Your Phone? http://www.staygolinks.com/do-you-want-the-full-web-on-your-phone.htm http://www.staygolinks.com/do-you-want-the-full-web-on-your-phone.htm#comments Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:56:59 +0000 Barry Welford http://www.staygolinks.com/do-you-want-the-full-web-on-your-phone.htm
Preaching to the choir on cell phones

One of the topics that does not receive enough attention in web design is Usability. That’s true even for web pages designed to be seen with desktop PCs. User tests just don’t get done. User experience is something of concern only to a fraction of all web designers. Perhaps in some cases it stems from the tyranny exerted by some graphic designers. Just like some architects, they know what is best for us.

When it comes to web pages that may be seen on a cellular phone, the challenges are even greater. Of course there is something appealing about the notion of web pages that can be seen satisfactorily on all devices, whatever their screen resolution. It’s called the one Web principle. The WAP Review is promoting this with its request for The “Real” Web on Phones.

The mobile web is always evolving and one current trend is the rise of the full web on phone. By the full web, I mean being able to use any and all the web content available on a PC on a mobile. It’s happening, thanks to better browsers and transcoders that can render almost any page on a phone screen. I’ve still believe that a made for mobile page will give a better user experience than a programmatic conversion of a page designed for an 600X600 px screen into something that fits the 176×220 px window of a mobile. But we need the full web on mobile phones too.

There are many who are strong proponents of this view. The Opera browser has done sterling work to create a version, Opera Mini, to handle such full web pages and has received critical acclaim. Nevertheless even though the experts are comfortable with all this, how do persons in the street feel about what appears on their cell phones? I believe if user tests were done on what is acceptable on a cell phone, very much simpler web pages would be needed for mobile devices.

The Google search web page has been one of the best examples of simplicity even for desktop PC web pages. Perhaps that will be one of the spin-offs of their Open Handset Alliance. It may well be that such simpler web pages would also need to be designed to work with voice commands. That’s moving even farther away from what works on desktop PCs.

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