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LAS VEGAS--It seems there are going to be as many ways to run a mobile application store as there are stores themselves.
RIM's BlackBerry App World is a model of how mobile OS vendors are trying to balance consumer needs and carrier needs.
(Credit: Maggie Reardon/CNET)One of the big topics this week at CTIA 2009 has been mobile applications, as Research in Motion unveiled BlackBerry App World and Microsoft talked about its forthcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile. The dam has truly broken with mobile applications; for years, most consumers seemed indifferent to third-party applications, but now they are viewed as an essential part of any smartphone, just like they are on a PC or Mac.
Most of the credit for that trend has been prompted by the success of Apple's App Store, as both Apple's friends and enemies in the mobile world will readily admit. But few competitors are attempting to pull off Apple's my-way-or-the-highway approach, preferring to integrate the wireless carriers in a nod to the entrenched power those companies have in the mobile world.
Some might argue that's because they don't have devices with the consumer cachet of the iPhone. But it's clear after talking to several companies on the sidelines at CTIA that they think there's a way to make sure they offer quality software to their customers without cutting the carrier almost completely out of the equation, as Apple has done with AT&T.
Still, the burning question is whether the carriers and handset makers will permit software companies to do what they do best, or whether they will continue to try to put their stamp on mobile application development in order to avoid their possible fates as "dumb pipes" or widget makers.
"There's a big measure of trust there," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation, which was created by a foundation of carriers and handset makers to develop software that provides a common underpinning for developers to write mobile applications. "We have to trust that the companies that build the devices and the operators that package this know what they are doing."
The idea of mobile application stores is not new, but the faster networks and more sophisticated devices available these days have created a way for users to download applications directly to their device, bypassing the PC altogether. There are various ways that mobile companies are approaching this new reality.
Apple's approach has been covered exhaustively. But Apple has a unique advantage compared with its competitors: its applications only have to support two devices that are essentially identical (the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G), and for the most part Apple works only with a single wireless carrier per country. Therefore, it can have a central application store and guarantee that those applications will work on any iPhone, and at the same time not have to worry as much about ensuring its carrier partners have unique ways to sell the same phone.
Billing strategies
But while RIM, for example, is launching BlackBerry App World with the money flowing outside of the carrier's control through an exclusive relationship with PayPal, co-CEO Jim Balsillie made it clear that he would find a way to make sure the carriers have a chance to participate in the billing for those applications. "Different carriers have different billing strategies, so it's quite frankly a bunch of work," he told The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft is likewise steering a middle ground, with plans to let carriers offer their own "store within a store" inside Windows Marketplace for Mobile and giving users the option to choose how they want to be billed: directly via credit card or through their monthly wireless bill.
The idea that the carrier owns the billing relationship with the end user for almost all of the mobile experience is virtually sacrosanct for everyone but Apple and AT&T. But there is a concern among some in the mobile industry that carriers will extend that relationship to demand a role in creating software and services for end users marked with their own brand.
Verizon did nothing to assuage those fears by announcing plans to join the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) this week, essentially signaling that it plans to make sure Verizon-stamped software appears on future handsets regardless of what operating system is running underneath the layer presented to a phone's user.
To be fair, there are valid reasons why carriers are so concerned about the types of applications that run on their networks. Modern wireless networks are more fragile than one might think, as demonstrated by the problems AT&T encountered when iPhone-bearing geeks descended on Austin, Texas, for SXSW 2009 and brought local AT&T data service to a crawl.
Still, Aaron Woodman, a director in Microsoft's mobile communications business, thinks carriers fundamentally understand the shift that has taken place in the mobile industry over the last several years.
Form vs. functionality
For years, the business of selling mobile phones was about making sure you had phones that looked good and ensuring distribution ran like a clock, Woodman said. But over the last decade, business phone users started to demand features in addition to style, and that trend has exploded with the consumer demand sparked by the iPhone.
"People all of the sudden were walking in and asking for core level of functionality, and that started to change the conversation from about sourcing devices to functionality," Woodman said. "That functionality is going to be very difficult for operators to provide with significant help from others. Expertise and experience (in one area) doesn't yield expertise and experience in another area."
Organizations like Symbian, which controls the world's leading smartphone operating system, believe the balanced answer is to create an "app mall" rather than an "app store," according to David Wood, executive vice president for research at the Symbian Foundation.
For example, Symbian will do the dirty work of processing, certifying, and hosting the applications, but will give its various partners their own storefronts within that mall to sell Symbian-certified applications as they see fit. Microsoft's approach is somewhat similar. This way, carriers can feel they still have the opportunity to sell their software and services to end users without operating system vendors having to cede control of the user experience on a modern smartphone.
As has been often stated, the beauty of the modern mobile computing market is that established business models and philosophies from the PC market or older cellular phone market aren't necessarily relevant: several executives will (privately) admit they are essentially making this up as they go along.
There's little doubt that Apple's iPhone has shaken up this market the way Apple's Macintosh shook up the personal computing market 25 years ago. But unlike the past, several companies--not just two--are going to dictate the future of the truly personal computer.
And since different people want different things from their mobile phones, there's room for more than one approach to selling smartphones and mobile applications. There is not, however, room for seven approaches, which means operating system vendors, handset makers, and carriers will have to be extremely vigilant about evolving customer perferences in a world where consumer tastes can change virtually overnight.
The universal mobile communications in-box is emerging as a trend at CTIA 2009 in Las Vegas. Variations on the theme combine visual voicemail, text messages, e-mail, calling, and call forwarding in one online deck that's as easy to manage as your e-mail in-box.
RocketVox is a slick, powerful freemium in-box that's a long shot against Google Voice.
(Credit: RocketVox)Skydeck (Skydeck review) has a traditional e-mail layout that does calls, voicemail, text, visual voicemail, and call control for a fee. RocketVox is a great-looking private beta that manages e-mail from multiple accounts (including Gmail), IM, SMS, voice-to-text, VoIP calling, visual voicemail, faxing, conference calls, calendars, and screen sharing with a vague social networking angle. RocketVox is currently an AIR application that will graduate to a Web service later down the road, and will also take on a freemium model ranging from $10 a month to $25 for professionals.
The much lighter YouMail does a visual voicemail Web service and mobile management app, also with the in-box metaphor, but emphasizes social interaction and customization, like personalized greetings in addition to technical offerings like voice-to-text transcriptions. At CTIA, YouMail announced an upcoming iPhone app that has been submitted to the App Store.
Even Microsoft has been touting its online mobile backup and sync service, MyPhone. MyPhone is in very early beta stages and can't do too much at the moment beyond syncing photos and text messages in a searchable in-box, but it will become more capable as Microsoft nears its Windows Mobile 6.5 release, in which MyPhone will play a larger role. Look for contacts, calendars, tasks, multimedia content, and documents as the service matures.
A glimpse of the Google Voice in-box
(Credit: Google)Despite the diversity, the forthcoming Google Voice--with its universal number, visual voicemail, and advanced calling features--could mow them all under when it enters public beta. Google has been effective at dominating much more established software providers with its technology, its brand clout, and its ability to integrate with other successful Google services.
Since Google Voice will be free, Skydeck, RocketVox, and YouMail are in big trouble on the voice transcription front. YouMail has a niche that Google could well blow open with its own customization features and on-phone management app. RocketVox is the most compelling solution of the bunch at this year's show, but it's going to have to really work some magic to counter Google Voice's advance. Ironically, Microsoft's less feature-rich MyPhone backup and sync service stands the best chance of gaining its own identity, if only because it will come preloaded onto Windows Mobile 6.5 phones and will provide a seamless, out-of-the-box solution for those phone owners. This is definitely a space we'll be keeping a sharp eye on in the coming months.
Microsoft's Robbie Bach (left) and Gian Wilson demonstrate how Windows 7 offers built-in software for connecting to 3G wireless networks.
(Credit: Maggie Reardon/CNET)LAS VEGAS--Microsoft had little new to say about its Windows Mobile phones at CTIA 2009, but reinforced its intention to play in all the future arenas of personal computing.
Robbie Bach, head of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, ran through essentially the same news that his boss, CEO Steve Ballmer, presented about six weeks ago during the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain. The company demonstrated how Windows 7 has built-in software for connecting to 3G wireless networks, showed off some of the features of Windows Mobile 6.5, and played a quick video highlighting its mobile application store, Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
The demonstrations were all geared around Bach's central theme of the "three screens": the PC, the television, and the mobile phone. Microsoft intends to make sure Windows is able to give people access to their personal data, information, and services on all three of those screens.
Microsoft spent as much time showing off how HP's Mini 1000 Netbook is capable of connecting to 3G wireless networks with software built into Windows 7 as it did demonstrating Windows Mobile 6.5, and barely mentioned Windows Marketplace for Mobile during a week when mobile application stores are a big topic.
But Bach promised that Windows Mobile phones will be the subject of Microsoft's next big advertising push, and said the company's partners will have 10 phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 ready when that operating system arrives in the second half of this year.
A look at Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which will be on display Thursday at CTIA.
(Credit: Microsoft)Microsoft plans to show off its forthcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile this week at CTIA 2009, as well as its ties to the fashion world.
Microsoft's Robbie Bach plans Thursday to discuss Microsoft's take on the mobile phone application store, an old concept that is being reinvented for the smartphone following the success of Apple's App Store. Windows Marketplace for Mobile won't arrive until later this year, along with Windows Mobile 6.5, but this week the company will demonstrate how users can select, purchase, and download an application from their Windows Mobile handsets.
We've already heard a bit about Windows Marketplace for Mobile: Microsoft plans a similar revenue-sharing model as Apple, with 70 percent of application revenue going to the developer and 30 to Microsoft. The company promises that its submission process will be "transparent," in a clear dig at Apple, and it also plans to charge developers more money for multiple submissions.
Bach will announce that Windows Mobile users will have 24 hours to return any application they purchase for a full refund. Applications can be purchased on the phone or through a Web site, and billing will be handled by credit card or through the wireless carrier's bill.
Microsoft is emphasizing that it plans to give wireless carriers a chance to get in on the mobile application fun, with plans to let carriers set up a "store within a store" on Windows Marketplace for Mobile, said Aaron Woodman, a director in Microsoft's Mobile Communications business.
Woodman declined to comment on whether or not Microsoft would be sharing any of its 30 percent cut with carriers, but it does plan to let carriers have a link off the Marketplace homepage to showcase their own applications.
While Microsoft and its partners work out the details for the Marketplace, the company is also announcing a deal to let Windows Mobile users add a little bit of style to their phones. Microsoft has cut deals with two design houses--Design Museum London and Council of Fashion Designers of America--to have artists and designers create themes and wallpaper for Windows Mobile phones. Isaac Mizrahi will be the first to participate.
Microsoft is roaring into CTIA. Redmond's grab bag of assorted announcements take in new Windows Live applications, the Windows Mobile application Marketplace (including word of that elusive Facebook app), and new themes featuring designs from haute fashionista (and Target chum) Isaac Mizrahi. The news gives Microsoft's mobile arm a much-needed jolt of excitement to follow up on its February announcement of the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.
(Credit:
Microsoft)
Windows Live, Hotmail, Facebook
For more than a year, we've been wondering when Facebook and Microsoft were going to grace Windows Mobile phones with an official and native Facebook app like its free, downloadable applications for BlackBerry, iPhone, and Palm. While we weren't able to get anything out of Facebook back then, on Tuesday, Microsoft made Facebook's presence official. Microsoft's Facebook application is due in April, followed by a native MySpace application set to descend sometime "in summer."
For those who live in the moment, Microsoft has already made Windows Live for Windows Mobile available to download on platforms running version 6 of the operating system or higher. The Windows Live services suite installs mobile versions of Hotmail, Messenger, Live Contacts, Spaces, and Live Search on the phone. Those with older phones can still access Hotmail with a new beta version optimized for the Web, accessible at m.mail.live.com.
Windows Marketplace: Apps and refunds
Not to be outdone by Apple and BlackBerry, Microsoft is readying its own application storefront, dubbed Windows Marketplace for Mobile. The few details released in advance of Microsoft's Thursday keynote showcase application developers whose apps will be featured in the mobile Marketplace. EA Mobile, Gameloft, and Hands-On Mobile are well-known game makers. AP Mobile, Accuweather, and Pandora also stand out in an otherwise obscure lineup.
Also Marketplace related, Microsoft says it will let customers buy applications two ways--through a credit card, or as an add-on to the monthly cellular bill. In addition, Microsoft will let remorseful users return unwanted applications within 24 hours of purchasing, a refund service that neither Apple nor RIM has offered so far for the iTunes App Store or forthcoming BlackBerry App World.
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SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft still isn't quite ready to release its new mobile browser, but I did get an advance look at Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Mobile at a Microsoft event Wednesday night.
The biggest benefit will be the fact that it is the full IE 6 rendering engine, meaning that any page that renders properly in IE 6 on the PC should do just fine on Windows Mobile. Tim McDonough, a senior director in Microsoft's Windows Mobile unit, showed me the browser running the standard MSN home page.
The current version of mobile Internet Explorer, seen here, leaves a lot to be desired. A new version, based on the same rendering engine as Internet Explorer 6 for the PC, promises Flash support and other improvements.
(Credit: Microsoft)I saw the browser running on Windows Mobile Standard--meaning on a non-touch-screen device. The browser makes good use of a D-pad controller to go from link to link, but it's still not as elegant as on a touch screen. I'll be interested to see how the browser works on a touch-based Windows Mobile device, but am still not expecting navigation to be up to the iPhone level.
Navigation may be better on the iPhone, but IE 6 will have some advantages, such as full Flash support.
"The market today is really at 'Can I see a page?' Very quickly we're getting to 'Can I do something?'" he said. "That's where we will really shine."
Another interesting option on IE 6 is the ability to quickly shift from a site's mobile page to its standard desktop version. Just because IE 6 can show the full site, doesn't mean that's always what people want. It's particularly true in Europe where even so-called "unlimited" data plans typically have data caps that can easily be reached by loading a lot of standard Web pages. IE 6 toggles between mobile and standard Web pages by sending a different user agent, depending on which page type a user wants to see.
McDonough didn't offer much of an update on timing for IE 6, except to say that "it's still this year."
That's left Windows Mobile device makers scrambling to try to better compete against Apple's browsing experience. To fill the gap, many are turning to Opera's Windows Mobile browsing, which offers better navigation and rendering than the current mobile Internet Explorer.
SAN FRANCISCO--Nokia took aim at smartphone rival Research in Motion Tuesday with plans to expand the number of devices that will automatically be capable of accessing Microsoft corporate e-mail.
Nokia N81
On the eve of the CTIA I.T. & Entertainment tradeshow here, Nokia announced it will embed Microsoft Exchange Activesync on all Nokia phones that use the S60 Symbian operating system. As a result, 43 different models of Nokia phones will have easy access to Microsoft corporate email. Nokia will also add the Microsoft Exchange support to all new N-Series and E-Series phones that hit the market in the future.
Until this announcement Nokia offered Microsoft email support as a download for only a handful of devices. But the feature wasn't well publicized, and it was somewhat difficult to download.
Now Microsoft's ActivSync software will be automatically available for 80 million of Nokia's already shipped devices, and it will be available as a standard feature on all new Nokia N-Series and E-Series phones. Having the software embedded on the phone or as an automatic software update makes setting up corporate email access on a Nokia phone so easy that most people can do it themselves without the help of their IT department, said Bill Plummer, vice president of sales and go-to-market for Nokia Americas.
The enhancement is a big deal, especially in the U.S., where Nokia has not made significant traction in the smartphone market. Instead, Research in Motion has dominated the smartphone category in the U.S. with its BlackBerry devices.
The integrated Microsoft email support will now make Nokia a more appealing choice for corporate users. But winning over corporate customers may still be difficult. Nokia rivals such as Palm and Motorola , already have ActiveSync available on their smartphones, and BlackBerry continues to beat these companies. Apple has also introduced Microsoft ActiveSync for its iPhone users.
What's more, most of Nokia's phones that will offer the embedded e-mail software are not sold through carriers in the U.S., which means they aren't subsidized. And with price tags in the range of $450 to $950, Nokia smartphones could be out of reach of some U.S. consumers, especially when all four of the major U.S. carriers offer subsidized BlackBerry's for around $100.
Click here to start the Smartphones CTIA 2008 slide show
It's a wrap! CTIA 2008 has come and gone and the show produced quite a number of smartphone announcements. Research in Motion unleashed a fleet of new BlackBerrys; Microsoft unveiled its latest mobile operating system; and we even saw a new entrant into the field. There was plenty more action, so take a look at all the new smartphones in this photo gallery.
Windows Mobile 6.1
(Credit: Microsoft)Of the four major mobile operating systems (Palm, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry), we hear plenty of complaints from users that Windows Mobile devices are the hardest to use because of the laborious navigation. And we certainly agree. Seriously, do you really need to go through several steps just to open or close an application? To be fair, Microsoft has heard the cries and made some headway in making its smartphones easier to use with Windows Mobile 6. But there's plenty of room for improvement, and the company is hoping its latest build will solve some of the problems.
At CTIA 2008 on Tuesday, Microsoft announced the latest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.1. The update includes several new features designed to make the devices easier to manage and help users save time. Here's a rundown of what you can expect:
New home screen
To start, there's a new home screen that provides a more attractive interface but more importantly, quicker access to key information and applications. There are now a series of panels, which you can scroll through up and down, left or right, to view your missed calls, e-mails, and voicemails; check upcoming appointments; peruse your multimedia library; and access certain settings, such as the Task Manager. There's also a Getting Started wizard that will walk you through your e-mail setup, changing the background image, and setting up Bluetooth connections. For Bluetooth headsets, it will even bypass the whole passcode process (the system automatically enters the manufacturer's default passcodes--usually 0000 or 1234) and automatically connect to the headset. Once you've set everything up, you have the option of removing the Getting Started panel from your home screen. And though minor, the clock size has been increased--a feature Microsoft says its customers have been asking for.
Internet Explorer Mobile
Navigating Web sites is made easier thanks to a feature that allows you to pan in and out. Instead of mercilessly scrolling through an entire page just to get to one part of the site, you can pan out, find the spot you want, and then pan in. Microsoft also announced that it will bring Internet Explorer 6, which means Adobe Flash support, to its smartphones around the holiday season.
Messaging and more
As for messaging, Windows Mobile 6.1 offers just a couple--but key--improvements. First, there's support for threaded text messaging. And you can now select multiple e-mails at once. Other enhancements include richer Windows Live capabilities (check out CNET News.com's Elinor Mills's story for more) and System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 and Exchange Server 2007 SP1 support for better device management and security.
So you're probably wondering, when can you get it? Windows Mobile 6.1 will be available sometime in Q2, and a number of manufacturers (HTC, Samsung Electronics, Motorola, Pantech) and carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Alltel) have already announced that they will offer the upgrade. A sample of supported smartphones include the Samsung BlackJack II, AT&T Tilt, Sprint Motorola Q9c, Sprint Mogul, and Alltel Touch. For the full rundown of devices and features, check out the Microsoft Windows Mobile Web site.
Updated 4:40 p.m. to note Microsoft not interested in bidding for wireless spectrum.
SAN FRANCISCO--Cell phones are so great these days that some people have started carrying two.
Well, that's not exactly true. A growing number of people do have multiple cell phones, but it's actually a failure, not a success of the industry, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday.
People are finding they need one phone for work and another for home, or one phone for e-mail and another for making phone calls.
"That strikes me as incredibly odd," Ballmer said in a keynote speech at the CTIA Fall 2007 trade show here.
The goal of the industry--and of Microsoft--should be to create devices that work for both home and work and are capable of handling running business applications, unified messaging and gaming.
"In a sense we have to think about the phone as almost a universal remote control for your life," Ballmer said.
Ballmer even conceded that the phone is taking on a more central role than the computer for many people.
"The phone has a unique role," he said. "While the PC is the most powerful device, the phone is most popular device." In a world of services (think Windows Live) that run over a variety of devices, it is the phone that any individual is most likely to have at any given time, he said.
In some cases, the phone will be the computer.
"In many countries the phone will be the PC for people that have very little money," he said, pointing to a scenario in which the phone plugs into a docking station and connects up to a keyboard and television to act as a PC-like device, something Microsoft has been developing in its labs and hopes to start testing over the next 12 months.
How many devices do you carry? For those that do carry more than one, what would it take for you to carry one? Feel free to sound off below or drop me a note.
Update: Ballmer also noted that Microsoft is not planning to bid in the upcoming U.S. wireless spectrum auction as some of its rivals are said to be planning to do.
"What would it buy us to own a piece of spectrum," he said. "It would probably do a lot to alienate the telecom industry."
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