Tribes "Big In Japan"
When my good friend Ajit Jaokar saw our mobile content discovery tool
Tribes for the first time, his comments was "This is solving a problem a lot of MNO's don't know they have ....yet!". This got us thinking (happens sometimes) and we thought: well where is the most advanced mobile market in the world? Let's sell Tribes there! There is a lot (really a lot) of excellent Japanese mobile content sites out there but how does Tanaka-san on the Shibuya high road find it?
So the wheels were put in motion and all the activity culminated this week, when alatto signed a distribution agreement in Tokyo with a distribution partner
U-bit. This has resulted in a lot of press coverage in Japan in journals such as
ITmedia and
Keitai Watch.
Nokia's Content Discoverererererer
Nokia's Content Discoverer is on-client (symbian) application to browse content. I have downloaded today and installed on a 6630. It works well but I note that it doesn't include a search function so user must navigate through traditional hierarchial menus. So IMHO not really a "Discoverer(sic)" just another portal.
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To quote from Nokia:
"Nokia's Preminet Solution has been relaunched as Nokia Content
Discoverer. Nokia Content Discoverer is the evolution of Nokia's
mobile content distribution solution. It offers a best-of-breed,
on-device portal and supporting components to help stimulate growth of
the worldwide ecosystem for sales of mobile Java™ and C++/Symbian OS
content and applications. Nokia Content Discoverer provides a
device-resident client and supporting components that improve a mobile
consumer's experience in the discovery, download, and purchase of
mobile content. Mobile consumers will experience Nokia Content
Discoverer as a mobile-content "shopping mall" that contains stores
run by content providers, including network operators, content
aggregators, and branded-content owners. The Nokia Content Discoverer
client application runs on S60 and Series 40 mobile devices."
Google sees Europe as the way forward in mobile search.
According to an
article in the London Times Google's "mobile division is expected soon to become the biggest driver of new business". This is an important statement but is perhaps stating the obvious. More interesting: it appears this push towards mobile services will be driven out of Europe. With
Microsoft's recent acquisition of European mobile search specialist Motion Bridge it indicates that Europe is a hotbed of activity in mobile search and discovery.
alatto's
Tribes is of course developed and supported from Europe. Tribes goes beyond traditional mobile search by allowing one click browsing to sites that are deemed relevant for the individual user.
Suggestion for Pierre Danon new Chairman of Eircom
Here's an innovative thought for Pierre Danon the new Chairman of
Eircom (incumbent fixed line carrier in Ireland)
Femtocells: i.e. tiny mobile basestations in your home or office connected via broadband.
Recall Base Station 101:
Macrocells are used outdoors and cover large areas. (max. 15 km)
Microcells have a maximum range of 500 meters and are mainly installed in towns and cities.
Picocells provide coverage inside buildings.
For more information on just how practical these femtocells might be see
here.
Deployment of such a solution could capitalise on Eircom's
unique position in Ireland as incumbent broadband provider
and GSM license holder (since takeover of
Meteor.
Also could provide Eircom with an effective means of countering the threat of VoIP, UMA or VoWiFi.
Of course the femtocell concept is geared towards 3G technology but 2G deployment seems possible. Also of course there is real possibility that Eircom will be awarded a 3G license in Ireland following
withdrawal of the UMTS license from
Smart Telecom.
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