Yo! Inspiration…

There’s nothing better than meeting someone who’s done it! Business I mean! Recently I went along to a talk by Simon Woodruff of Yo! Sushi and Dragon’s Den fame.

Very impressive indeed. Enterprise Ireland sponsored this event, which was a surprise, and even better, it was on my doorstep here in Limerick. What wasn’t a surprise was that the EI guys messed up the projector just before Simon arrived and their collective brains couldn’t fix it! However, Simon’s talk was much the better for it, as are most talks without silly presentation material - it was off-the-cuff, polished, he worked the room and was animated and exciting. I’d highly recommend anyone to go to see Simon if he’s “playing” at a venue near you. Some of his wise words I jotted down -

Successful people work hard - but annoyingly some don’t…

Successful people don’t succeed all the time…

Passion is no longer good enough - you have to be outrageous, different and creative…

The more “ticks of failures” you have, the closer you are to success…

Search all the parks and streets in all the land, you won’t find a single statue to a committe…

Life is what happens when you are busy doing other things…(I think it was Lennon who said that)

After closing the deal to sell Yo! Sushi, the lawyers suddenly turned into people…

“CANI” - Constant and Never-ending Innovation

In the future, what you stand for, will be every bit as important as your product and price…

You can read as many books on business as Amazon can shove through your letter box, but for me, nothing beats meeting and hearing from people who have been there, done that, and bought the T-Shirt.

The Evolution of the Mobile…

Conor O’Neil of Louder Voice (www.loudervoice.com) pointed this one out to me, and it’s well worth watching. The video highlights the evolution of the mobile from 1985 until today, illustrating all the key milestones along the way. It’s an amazing testament to an industry that didn’t exist 23 years ago, and has now spawned thousands of companies, giving employment to hundreds of thousands of people, and more importantly - connectivity, closeness and a voice to over half the worlds population.

Required watching for anyone in the mobile space…

Material Girl thinks mobile is the future too…

Madonna, somewhat of a serial earlier adopter in my view, and although heading towards her fifties, shows she’s in touch with her audience by doing a live concert from New York, available exclusively via mobile.

Press Release -

Madonna fans in the UK and 13 other countries will be able to watch her perform live in in New York - on their mobile phone.

Streamed live from the Roseland Ballroom, exclusively outside the US to Vodafone customers, the concert celebrates the release of the pop queen’s new album, Hard Candy.

Wednesday’s performance will be the first time Madonna plays live songs from her new album.

Vodafone customers in Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain and the UK will have access to the show via their mobile phones on Vodafone live! and streamed via their PCs at www.vodafone.com/music.

They will also be able to interact with other online show-goers and select camera angles to move around the stage to get the best view.

“Offering millions of fans around the world live, interactive access to a unique, intimate Madonna show is a powerful way to showcase a new album,” said John Reid of Warner Music Europe.

Madonna’s latest hit, 4 Minutes, featuring Justin Timberlake, stayed at the top spot in The Official UK Charts Company’s singles chart this week.

The concert went out a few days ago, and is still available to view on some operators portals. The carriers said it was the first time a live concert was broadcast simultaneously on mobile around the globe as fans sang along in unison at the venue. The four songs performed by Madonna have also been archived on Verizon Wireless’ Vcast Performances channel, which will be available to Verizon Wireless customers throughout the month. Exclusive video footage of Madonna, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake’s remix recording session is also available on the carrier’s video service.

Wonder would she like to send video highlights out via Bluetooth at her concerts? If so Madonna, you have my details…

You didn’t come all this way to watch TV now did ya?

Spotted an interesting review in the Sunday Times In Gear section this weekend (here). Joseph Dunn writes -

One of most irritating ironies of going to live sporting events is that you would probably have got a better view if you’d stayed at home in front of the television.

and I couldn’t agree more. When attending a live sporting event, or any event for that matter, you’re there for the atmosphere, the sense of occasion, the camaraderie of the gathered fans and the spectacle of it all. Indeed for some it is just the case of saying that they’ve “been there”, but for most it’s a shared experience. However, as Joseph Dunn points out - what you gain from the live experience, you loose out in the detail. Yes there are big screens to relive moments, but they aren’t great at the detail either when you’re a rugby pitch away. To solve this problem, and the subject of Joseph Dunn’s column, a Canadian firm Kangaroo TV (www.kangaroo.tv) has come up with a handheld gadget that receives live broadcasts in a venue. These units are available to hire for the duration of an event and show live feeds of the action along with various info and data too.

My take on this? Great idea, good concept and very much a plus for some sports e.g. Formula 1 where much of the action takes place out of sight. But, for most sports and events it begs the question - “You didn’t come all this way to watch TV now did ya?”

However, highlights and other action, delivered directly to fans mobiles, before, during and after the event so that they can be relived, kept (not rented) and shared with friends - now that would be something! Then again, I would say that!

Digital Ireland: Generation Mobile

Great piece in this month’s Digital Ireland supplement with the Irish Independent entitled Generation Mobile by Marie Boran. It leads off -

We are the connected generation, the information generation, and the mobile handset is both our lifeline and our badge of honour. Without our mobiles we feel loss, that something’s missing; our connection to the people we love, the world we live and work in and our means of staying informed and entertained.

Our mobiles are an expression of self. At once they are a fashion item, an expression of status and wealth and power.

Very soon there will be more mobile devices in the world than people. Entire industries will feed this device, from finance and banking to art, media and entertainment.

The mobile generation is right here, right now. Are you ready?

The full article is too large to reprint here, but you can read it here on the Silicon Republic website.

There’s some great people interviewed for this article - John Herlihy of Google, Travis Katz of My Space, John O’Shea of Zamano, the mercurial Pat Phelan of Cubic Telecom, Rachel Channing of 3 and of course yours truly (hence this post!). Here are some of my mutterings amongst this esteemed company -

Of all these players, the iPhone is the one that has changed the nature of the game and not because everyone is using it, says Shane McAllister, CEO of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi marketing firm, Mobanode.

“It alone, more than any other phone, has sparked thousands of ‘the future of mobile’ debates.
“It changed the game by pairing your phone with your computer, creating the mindset of a phone as an upgradeable, feature-rich device. Heretofore, you bought a phone, kept it for a yearor two and then upgraded to the latest model.”

and

“Android will certainly impact the industry and lead to innovative applications, but its effect on the consumer will be harder to gauge,” says McAllister.

“Most people stick with what they are given – hence Windows proliferates in the desktop world despite more robust and user-friendly alternatives like Linux or Mac OS X.”

and lastly, and getting in the final word as I do -

“Humans are social animals, we love to talk, interact and communicate, and anything that facilitates that will succeed: it is the social tool of choice,” says McAllister.

“The mobile started off as a business tool, but now with a mobile penetration in Ireland of 114pc, it is ubiquitous and essential.

“The personal nature of the device, coupled with its portability and small size, means it has impacted people’s’ lives more than any other previous technology.”

I hope these quotes stood up to scrutiny! Thanks once again to Marie for the coverage.

A World without Ads

I came across this a while back, but only now found the YouTube video that went with it. Back in January 2007 the city of Sao Paolo placed a ban on all outdoor advertising and signs. The result is shown in the video below and also in this flickr set and is detailed in this International Herald Tribune article.

The question is, is the city better off without them? The city, in my opinion, in many respects now looks dull and lifeless. I would argue that there is a case for banning the very large billboard style ads perched high in the air blocking views and the sun etc., though as you can see from the Video, when the ad goes, the ugly skeleton of the supporting structure remains. Which is better?

There also are many parallel arguments regarding freedom of speech, choice, lost revenue and lost business, but I don’t have enough time to go into them here. I believe a happy median can be achieved and that creative advertising can be entertaining, enlightening and informative.

As an aside, I’m not sure which came first, but Sky Movies created an ad paralleling this new cityscape of Sao Paolo to promote the fact that they have no ads in their movies - but then again, you do have to pay for their movies.

So the choice is there - No ads, but paid for content, or ads and content for free? Would you accept interesting, relevant and targeted content on your mobile for free if it contained a small ad? Or would you like to continue to pay either exorbitant data rates, or “price per clip” to the mobile operators? The debate starts here!

Heading to XCellerate 2008

As Anton writes in his blog here, it’s either a feast or a famine - there are loads of Tech/Web2.0/software/Investor events this week and for the next couple of weeks. So many, that it’s really hard to choose which to attend, and it’s a pity that many of them overlap. However, I have decided to make it to two events (well, one and a third really!).

Tonight sees the opening party for the Irish Web Technology Conference (IWTC2008) and never one to miss a party and since Barry Alistair asked, I’m going to pop my head into that for a while.

iwtc.jpg

Tomorrow (Wednesday 27th) sees XCellerate2008, which is aiming to bring a little bit of Silcon Valley to Dublin - a reverse Paddy’s Valley as it were! The panel is good, and the topics are punchy and to the point.

xcellerate.jpg

So if you’re attending either of these events, I look forward to seeing you there…

There’s no stopping it…

Report after report is written about the mobile market from various different angles, but one thing that they all have in common is that they all agree that the market is exploding and the mobile phone, more than any other technology, will have unprecedented reach across all boundaries. It’s not just a first or “developed” world thing, it’s not just for emerging economies - the mobile phone is for everyone - globally - full stop!

According to Idate consulting and research -

The world mobile terminal market is forecast to grow by 8.42 percent per year to 1.43 billion units in 2011 from 1.14 billion units in 2007 and 987 million a year earlier. The lower growth (versus 15 percent in 2007) is attributed to the mobile market becoming increasingly saturated in the middle-class population in emerging markets.

According to The NPD Group, a leading consumer and retail information company -

Mobile phone sales to consumers in the U.S. reached 146 million units by the end of 2007. NPD estimates total 2007 consumer sales of $11.5 billion, after rebates and promotions.

Further reports suggest that in the decade that spans between January 2001, and December 2010, our global society will have transformed from one where 13% of us carried a mobile phone, to one where 70% will carry one – that’s one hell of a leap with some massive implications! A lecturer of mine in college (in the early 90’s) once told an incredulous (and slightly indifferent!) student audience that the Chinese government were going to make it so that everyone in China had a mobile phone purely because there was not enough copper in the world to give them all standard phone lines!

Did somebody say tipping point?

Mobile World Congress

Just about back to normal after spending a few days at the Mobile World Congress last week. Had never been before, so it was great to be there (thanks to Helene and Grace at Nubiq). My initial reaction after I got over the size of the event itself, was to be amazed by the sheer scale of the Mobile Industry, an industry that to all intents and purposes did not really exist 15 years ago! To see over 1300 exhibitors, 80,000 attendees at a show for an industry only 15 years old, and to realise the extent of the mobile ecosystem was breathtaking! Who knows what shows, expo’s or congress’ they’ll be holding in 15 years from now for an industry we’ve not yet woken up to (social networks anyone?)

Shane @ MWC Barcelona

So, about the show itself? Firstly, and others have said it already (Pat Phelan, Niall Larkin), hats off to Enterprise Ireland for their stand. Amongst the other “Nation” stands (UK, Canada, Belgium etc) it really trounced them on many levels - great location, good design, use of space and above all, an interesting set of companies exhibiting (see http://www.3gsmireland.com for a full list). Oh, and they had a free bar too - always helps ;-)

The folks from Sentry Wireless (www.sentrywireless.com) - Ciaran, Matt & Sharon, were using MobaNode’s BlueTooth Access Point to deliver a short video demoing their software “Kidsafe”. I was delighted that they used my delivery platform and am grateful to them for the opportunity - thanks guys. I got some really good feedback from it (and hopefully contacts and business!)

Outside of the Irish companies, I was slightly underwhelmed by the lack of true innovation at the show. The main halls were dominated by the big players intent on out-doing each other’s stands and the only real hall that showed promise was Hall 7 - the infamous “content” hall (though tamed down this year I hear!). Here there was companies such as Taptu (Hi Vero - another cool company with a bar instead of Demo space), Vringo (Video Ringtones) and Yahoo (cool stuff, even cooler ice cream), Zyb (online contacts & social networking - crap name) and Gypsii (mobile social networking - not the best name either, esp in Ireland “hey, let’s connect on Gypsii!”). However I was disappointed to see that there were tons of people in the Mobile Portal space and mobile web design - how long are we going to have the “web” and the “mobile web” battle? Converge now please, ala iPhone!

Where were the Voip companies? Where was Apple? Where was Google Android (ok - it was on the Texas Instruments stand), where were the disruptor’s (ala MaxRoam - yes I know you were there Pat, but not exhibiting), the innovators, the hungry start-ups? Is there another World Conference for them? If so, book me a place…

Outside of the congress there was plenty to do and see with many events organised around various spots in the beautiful (but dodgy late at night!) city of Barcelona. Mobile Sunday was on in a Bar called Belchica, which kind of became the place to drop into if your were anywhere else over the few days. Indeed, the Irish contingent ended up gate crashing the Swedish Beers party there after Pat Phelan’s generous Maxroam party on the Tuesday night where I won a Cubic Telecom GSM and Wifi phone - thanks Pat.

Hasta luego Barcelona - who knows, perhaps I’ll be on the EI stand next year, or better still, in Hall 7 on a MobaNode stand!

I’m with you Eric…

At the World Economic Forum in DAVOS, Switzerland last week, Reuters reported the following under the headline “Google CEO bullish on mobile Web advertising

The arrival of a truly mobile Web, offering a new generation of location-based advertising, is set to unleash a “huge revolution”, Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday.

Eric Schmidt

“It’s the recreation of the Internet, it’s the recreation of the PC (personal computer) story and it is before us — and it is very likely it will happen in the next year,” he told a panel at the World Economic Forum.

Something must have rubbed off on him when I passed him in the canteen line at Google last December on the Paddy’s Valley tour - he’s speaking my language! He also went onto say…

“…the mobile Web was reaching a tipping point.”

and the article continued -

Google aims to be a prime mover by bidding for coveted airwaves to launch an open U.S. wireless network, pitting it against established telecommunications players. The move will take the Silicon Valley-based company well beyond its core Web search and online advertising franchises.

Some analysts are worried at the high costs involved but Schmidt said he was confident location-based advertising — which could, for example, direct hungry travelers to nearby restaurants — would be “a very, very good business”.

I’m right there with you Eric, so you know where to call next time you’re in the Google office in Ireland. Only too glad to meet with you - if I have a free slot in my schedule that is ;-)

You can read the full Reuters article here