Skype and Nokia are bonding – will it lead to marriage?

Latest news from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is that Skype and Nokia have announced a partnership to provide free and low-cost calling for Nokia's N-series of Smartphones, starting with the N97 later this year.  Skype’s software will be integrated into the phone's address book, providing presence detection when other Skype contacts are online, as well as enabling use of the Skype instant messaging client.  Significantly, the Skype service will be available both over Wi-Fi and 3G high-speed networks, so users won't need to be near a wireless hotspot to make Skype voice calls. Users will be able to communicate with Skype-to-Skype voice calls, as well as make mobile and landline Skype calls at their low VoIP prices.  Sony Ericsson also has a Skype on its Xperia  X1 device, running Windows Mobile 6.1 and Skype has a mobile ‘lite’ version running in beta on LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson phones.

How will this go down with the operators I wonder?  I suspect this will not be viewed as such great news by the operators, who may view this as an attempt by Skype and Nokia to eat their lunch.  In future I expect that the major operators will be less than happy to offer subsidised VoIP capable Nokia phones to their users.  This story clearly has legs and given that eBay have indicated that Skype is no longer compatible with their long term strategy and have effectively hoisted a large “For Sale” sign over them, this move just might make Skype a good fit with either a hungry operator or an aggressive handset manufacturer.

Are you on your way to work or still in bed?

Today Google is introducing a new mobile widget to let you broadcast your location to select friends, family, and colleagues based on the coordinates of your mobile phone (via GPS or otherwise).  GPS enable mobiles are becoming increasingly popular and this sounds like a great new application. Google Mobile Maps new application is called Google Latitude and will enable you to let whoever you wish to know precisely where you are at any moment in time.

Now that is fine from a social perspective, but how long will it be before that company phone has the feature enable and your boss can track your every movement.  No more saying you are stuck in snow at the station when you are really taking a day off in bed!

Don’t feel like being tracked? Well you can just hide yourself from select “friends,” or manually enter a false location as your current one. This might arise certain suspicion on the part of you boss or partner though.

Still I think for most people it will be a fun new application.  You can download it from your mobile browser at google.com/latitude and start to encourage your friends to do likewise.  Latitude will work in 27 countries including the UK and most major European countries on Blackberries, Windows Mobile, and Nokia S60s. Android will begin rolling out over the next week, and an iPhone app is coming soon.  You can add it to your PC or Laptop to.  Another great application for the “mobility” to log into.

Will 2009 be the year of the Dongle?

With the global market for 3G dongles set to grow from 20 million units in 2008 to 26 million units in 2009, the dongle is set to become a standard accessory for the “mobility”.  Fuelled by subsidized access from the major mobile networks such as Vodafone and 3, the dongle is grabbing an increasing share of the internet access market.   Nokia was reported in December to be launching a new Nokia dongle which has been unofficially christened the “donkle”.

This is all very bad news for traditional fixed line ISPs and Cable operators who with one or two notable exceptions have failed to capture any significant numbers from the IPTV developments.  Now plain utility broadband (PUB) is about to be squeezed by the major mobile companies aggressively moving on to their turf.

With 3G Broadband dongle service costing as little as £10 a month and you get a free laptop offers, ISP’s PUB service is going to find it hard to compete.  As we have seen with the growth of the mobile telephony market, the market has seen the entry of all manner of players from telcos to supermarkets, all seeking to tie their users in with some very low offer just to retain customers for a broad range of services.  ISPs look like a threatened species and will need to evolve very quickly if they are to survive.

Whilst Europe is seeing double digit growth for the major mobile players, the US market which is traditionally slow to adopt mobile developments is just beginning to see the dongle develop a small market share.  The entry of Nokia and the proof of success in Europe will undoubtedly see the likes of Vodafone and T-Mobile seeking to capitalise on their European experience in the US.   This will undoubtedly drive some of the middle rank ISPs to the wall.  2009 will be a very interesting year.

Is Watching TV on Your Mobile Worthwhile?

With 3G now the de-facto standard across a whole range of mobile phones, one of the apparently most attractive applications is broadcast IPTV. It is now possible to watch the range of BBC content and Sky content over the mobile networks. The only problem is likely to be your download limit which could make “free” TV seem very expensive.

BBC iPlayer is available on the Nokia's N96 and it is possible to use your iPhone or iPod Touch to pick up the latest BBC re-runs. The BBC is aiming to deliver TV to an increasing number of mobile devices. Take a look at Freebe TV and you will find a incredible range of TV that can be viewed on you mobile. So there is no shortage of content and it is increasing daily.

However, is watching TV a realistic option on your mobile. The largest mobile screens tend to be limited to a maximum of 12 cm by 6 cm or about the same size as a packet of 20! This is considerably smaller that most portable DVD players. Sport has been one the most promoted services particular football, but it does tend to turn into a video version of that old standby the “Spot the Ball” competition.

Using Laptops terminals such as the latest Sony Vaio Z Series or the ASUS EEE PC to access TV is fairly accessible, but watching a 2 inch square screen is a very different proposition.

Maybe the way to go is to use a “Personal Media Viewer” from Myvu or Vuzix, which offers both a stylish way to watch TV and a “big screen” effect. The glasses are still an expensive add on to your iPhone or Nokia from £100 to £250, but from my perspective it is the only way to go to get an enjoyable experience. The effect is to appear you are watching the equivalent of a 44 inch wide screen TV. The most expensive devices allow you to look through the screen to be aware of what is going on around you. It will come as no surprise to learn that these devices have evolved from the military industry.  

I suspect that Mobile TV is probably unstoppable, but it will be largely a gimmick unless you get a pair of personal media glasses!