Wireless Muse: Reiter's Wireless Internet Weblog

Cellular-based location services to produce huge global ramifications, good and bad

After years of kicking and screaming against incorporating location capabilities into phones — even being fined by the government for non-compliance — cellular operators in the United States finally have begun to offer it.  In many countries around the world, GPS has been a major service for years.

Location technologies — GPS, cellular triangulation, WiFi presence — will offer fascinating new and useful services for consumers and businesses.  But location also presents scary challenges that aren’t going to go away.

I wrote about the present and future development of cellular location technologies — their advantages and challenges — in my recent weekly mobile communications column in “Thinkernet” on CMP’s “Internet Evolution” Web site (see below).  Location will be one of the major controversial technologies of our time.

Help for directionally challenged, Big Brother

I have no sense of direction, so the more location help I get, the better.  One new Nokia phone, that I discuss in the column, will make it much easier for me to find where I’m walking.

But shades of Big Brother (and “Minority Report”-like targeted advertising) also are present in these new location technologies.  Our concept of personal privacy is changing, especially for kids.  And it might not be for the best.

Nokia's Mark Selby discusses radio station use of cellular phones

I’ve been meaning for a while to write about a conversation I had with Mark Selby, the vice president of sales and industry collaboration for Nokia, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (that I attended courtesy of Nokia).  But I returned to the U.S. with a cold, so I haven’t posted this as quickly as I’d hoped.

Selby was one of several top Nokia executives with whom I spoke during the conference.  He was one of the most interesting.

I (and two other bloggers/journalists) asked a fair number of questions about high end cellular capabilities.  But the discussion that especially stuck in my mind was about a, well, “primitive” use of cellular — for plain ol’ voice communications.

Radio community networking

While I was asking about such features as mobile television and live video streaming, Selby discussed how a radio station in a developing country was using cellular.  Relatively few people have cellular phones (or landline phones, for that matter), so the radio station drove into the countryside, with a tuk-tuk, and recorded audio interviews with residents over a week or two and would use those interviews as part of a “talk” show.

Residents who had cellular phones or people who borrowed phones would call into the program, live, to discuss those recorded audio interviews.  The talk show host learns the voices and names of the people interviewed and the people calling and creates a very social environment.

By the way, Selby did an excellent job of detailing the advantages of Nokia’s new N82 five megapixel camera phone (that I hope to receive relatively soon) in a video shot with the N82 (see left).  Lots of good information about the handset’s camera phone capabilities, that Nokia is promoting (see below).

In November 2007 I wrote about Selby’s presentation and the details of the N82 in my camera phone weblog.

Mobile World Congress WiFi sucks, Yoigo data rocks

Although I disdain employing the curse word "sucks" that is now so favored by the lower orders and the tech community, it is the appropriate term to characterize the quality of WiFi at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

It's up, it's down, it's slow, it's fast usable.  For a journalist or blogger who wants to or must file articles right now, using WiFi is an exercise in frustration.  Perhaps I shouldn't complain because at least there is WiFi -- that's free -- when the prices for European WiFi are often so high that it would be laughable, if it weren't pathetic.

But I am complaining because wireless data isn't a "nice thing to have"; it's a necessity.  If the electricity, heating or air conditioning worked with the consistency of WiFi at the conference, attendees and exhibitors would be rioting.  Access to the Internet makes me smarter and more useful -- both conditions that I sorely need.

Journalists and bloggers can use the reliable (although not always speedy) Ethernet connections in the huge, multi-room press center (see below; just one small section).  Also, the WiFi in the press center seems to be more reliable than around most of the exhibit halls.

A good cellular data solution

But there are eight buildings with 1,300 exhibitors at 1,500 booths, plus the panel discussions, and I want to visit a significant percentage of those exhibits.  I need to write on-the-go, and not be tied to the press center.

The solution is to use multiple devices and multiple methods of communications.  One of the best is buying a prepaid SIM from Yoigo, the fourth Spanish cellular operator that's also a Mobile Virtual Network Operator on Vodafone. 

The prepaid SIM is 10 euros ($14.57) and that includes a daily rate of, I think, 1.2 euros ($1.74) for unlimited data over EDGE.  In other words, for the time I'm at the Mobile World Congress, I am paying less then $20 for all the data I can use.

The SIM also includes voice, but I don't need that.  (MAXRoam is one of the less expensive services for international cellular voice roaming.)

I need a keyboard!

Using Yoigo for checking e-mail on my phone, often using Gmail, and surfing the Web is a pretty good experience from a data speed standpoint.  Although Yoigo is only 2.53G, it's pretty fast, even downloading Web pages.

(I'm using a Nokia N95 five megapixel camera phone.  I really like this phone.  Yes, I get it for free from Nokia, that is paying for my trip to Barcelona.  But I'd tell you if I didn't like any Nokia handset.  No strings attached.)

But the N95 has a keypad only, not a keyboard, and I hate using keypads for even short SMS (primitive communications method), let alone writing paragraphs or pages of text.  Some of the other bloggers invited to Barcelona by Nokia, and I, are connecting a Nokia phone (the N95, in several versions, seems to be the favorite) via Bluetooth to a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet (see below).

The N810 has a large, relatively high resolution touch screen and WiFi connectivity.  It incorporates a slide-out keyboard as well as an on screen keyboard.   When connected to a cellular phone -- an easy Bluetooth procedure -- it's a cinch to use Yoigo for Internet access.

Check out how Alec Saunders, one of the bloggers invited by Nokia, used this combination for podcasting.

Not perfect

I could use the N810's WiFi capabilities to connect to the Internet.  But not only is the WiFi connection generally awful but the N810 isn't always good finding and connecting to weaker WiFi signals.  My laptop computer has been able to find and connect to WiFi at the Mobile World Congress while the N810 sometimes couldn't find a signal or connect.  (At home the N810 finds my WiFi router very quickly and stays connected.)

In addition, the N810's keyboard isn't especially good for typing lots of text.  It's fine for typing URLs or a few sentences.

But there's no space between the keys, the key travel is short and, for me, it takes a bit more effort than I'd like to press the keys.  I prefer keys that respond to a light touch.

One hand, other hand

On the one hand, the N810 isn't designed for heavy (or moderate) text entry.  It's designed primarily as a portable Internet browsing and multimedia device.  It's good for Internet browsing as well as watching videos, listening to music, accessing FM radio and Internet radio stations and reading weblogs.

On the other hand, the slide-out keyboard is better -- but not that much better -- than the on-screen keyboard that has large (albeit virtual) keys.  If a manufacturer is going to incorporate a physical keyboard, I'd certainly like it to be much more usable.

It's a complex design problem -- creating a device that looks classy and sleek and is extremely portable while at the same time providing excellent keyboard functionality.  Matt Miller, who writes the excellent ZDNet weblog, "The Mobile Gadgeteer," and is also one of the invited bloggers, mentioned that Nokia could have put some of the navigation keys on the bezel surrounding the screen to create a wider keyboard.

Large isn't always the answer

The problem is a bigger keyboard isn't necessarily a better keyboard.  I can enter text much faster on the smaller BlackBerry Curve's keyboard, as an example, than on the N810 and many other cellular phones that have clamshell QWERTY keyboards.

I'm still looking for the take-everywhere wireless typing device that's small enough to fit in a large pocket.  A tremendous amount of effort is going into designing small, powerful mobile devices, such as the so-called MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) that I discussed in my weekly "Thinkernet" wireless column on CMP's "Internet Evolution" Web site.

Sony Ericsson just introduced a new QWERTY keyboard on a powerful multimedia cellular phone, as I wrote, but the keyboard seems worse than the N810's.

So, I'm still looking.

Sony Ericsson debuts slider phone with touch, QWERTY keyboard

There's a lot of excitement over Sony Ericsson's new Xperia X1 slider phone (see below) with a full QWERTY keyboard and touch screen that runs Windows Mobile and includes a 3.2 megapixel camera with a "photo light" (not an LED or Xenon flash), video recording, WiFi, A-GPS and HSDPA/HSUPA, as the company's press release says.

I got a chance to very briefly touch the keyboard at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where it was introduced (see below).  The keys are small, although they are slightly "bumpy" for a better touch.  If you're a keyboard fanatic, as I am, I don't think you'll be impressed.

I didn't get a chance to test the keyboard -- or anything else -- so text entry might be better than I'm assuming.  I can type on just about anything, although the experience is often terrible on cellular phones and other mobile communications devices.

There are many videos about the Xperia X1 on YouTube, including this one.

Nokia debuts Maps 2.0 with pedestrian features, "compass"

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Nokia introduced its new mapping software, Nokia Maps 2.0, that includes features for location when walking rather than just for in-vehicle navigation (see left).  This is a very useful feature that also highlights Nokia's "big picture" thinking about societal trends.  Location is based on A-GPS (Assisted GPS) and the location of known WiFi hotspots. 

This is similar to the Apple iPhone announcement at Macworld in January where Google Maps incorporates location based on triangulating cellular towers plus WiFi hotspots through a service from Skyhook Wireless.

Nokia has also added a "compass" feature in select new handsets that is, well, a compass, that tells you what direction you're facing.  As someone who has no sense of direction, this is a godsend. 

Which way do I go?

The example Nokia has used -- that's extremely relevant for me -- is the problem of exiting a subway or train station and not knowing the direction you're facing.  You can look at a map, but which way do you turn, especially if signs with the cross streets aren't in front of you?  That's we're compass comes in.

I can't wait to test this feature.  A beta version of Maps 2.0 is available for download (see below) and the commercial version is slated to be launched in the second quarter of this year.

Societal trends

One reason Nokia has begun to emphasize location technology for walking is the trend to, well, walk more as well as the increasingly use of public transportation.  More people are concerned about their carbon footprint and taking subways and buses.

London traffic is so congested that for several years the city has levied a fee for entering the city with a car, truck, etc. (see above).

I will be writing much more about location services -- especially the integration of new Internet database services -- in the months ahead.

Update (2/14/08):  Andy Abramson, the head of the public relations/marketing firm Comunicano, that's coordinating the "bloggers trip" to Barcelona from Nokia, asked if I had looked at the notebook and pen Nokia has been handing out (see below).

The notebook says on the back, "I used to be a car tire."  The pen says, "I used to be a games console."  It's part of Nokia's campaign to be greener, hence the recycling.  I like the rubbery "tire" cover.  It's easier to carry than the heavier non-flexible covers of other notebooks.

However, the plastic pen is just, well, plastic.  It won't replace my Montblanc pens!

This ties in with what I previously wrote about the societal trend to be greener, that helped influence Nokia's decision to include the pedestrian navigation and "compass" features.

My new business cards for Mobile World Congress

As I previously wrote, I'm attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and I needed new business cards because some of my URLs had changed so I ordered cards from Streetcards in London.

The front (or back, depending on your view) has an illustration by Hugh MacLeod (see above).  He's a marketing consultant and prolific blogger who has generated quite a lot of attention from bloggers and techies for the cartoons he draws on the back of business cards, and he has turned his hobby into a business.

The back (or front!) of the card has my contact information reversed out in white on a red background (see below).  MacLeod typically draws about technology and human relationships.  I wish he drew cartoons about mobile communications, but the one I selected is appropriate -- much too appropriate <g> -- for me.

I paid extra for lamination, and the cards feel quite substantial and slick.  I like 'em.  I think they will go over well with the conference attendees I meet in Spain.

Heading to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Saturday

I'm heading to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona (see below) on Saturday, arriving on Sunday.

 

I've been to Spain several times and to Barcelona twice, but never for the MWC.  In 2006 some 50,000 people attended the show, that used to be in held in Cannes.

I'm going as a guest of Nokia, through its "blogger relations program," and expect to receive a couple of great new toys -- that I certainly intend to put to good use during the conference.  I'm especially interested in attending panel discussions and exhibits about multimedia products and services, such as -- surprise! -- camera phones for photos, videos, live streaming and mobile television.

Assuming I can get some good wireless data connections (hopefully free or Boingo-affiliated WiFi hotspots) I'm going to try some live streaming cellular videos.  Stay tuned next week.

Mobile advertising requires creativity, innovation for mass market, leading-edge phones

Mobile advertising is a red hot topic in the wireless industry.  The Internet advertising behemoths — Google, Microsoft, Yahoo — are targeting wireless as the next very big thing for them. 

Also, a huge number of new companies are champing at the bit to get a piece of the supposedly enormous mobile advertising market — that has been forecast but hasn’t emerged….yet.

I agree that mobile advertising could be a significant business, especially when it’s integrated it with location technology, such as GPS, being incorporated — finally — into cellular phones. 

But I also believe it will require creativity to deal with the problems of mass market handsets (such as small, low resolution screens) as well as innovation to push the envelope for advertising over leading-edge handsets that have superior screens and browsers.

Mobile advertising column

I wrote about this in my weekly “Thinkernet” mobile communications column on CMP Publications’ “Internet Evolution” site (see below).

The cellular operators have been moving slowly to implement advertising for phones because they are extremely concerned about alienating their customers — and rightfully so.  However, I think we’ll see an order of magnitude increase in the number of mobile advertising efforts this year.