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Volume 3, Issue 10
Ask The Experts: Q&A With Ron Mandel, Chief Architect of Openwave Developer Products What wireless company can boast products that have been deployed on more than 900 million handsets around the globe and over 600 mobile phone platforms? Or that over 100,000 developers are creating apps for its platform? Or that its infrastructure, deployed by more than 70 of the world's largest wireless operators, is used to manage over
The answers are all "Openwave", the most successful wireless company you depend on without knowing it. This month we sat down with Ron Mandel, Chief Architect of Developer Products at Openwave (NASDAQ: OPWV). Ron is one of the key forces behind the company's continued growth and one of the most qualified people on the planet to discuss trends and challenges in mobile data. Looking to raise your wireless-cred factor? Read on... AP: Describe Openwave's role in the mobility ecosystem and your role at Openwave. RM: Openwave is the leading independent provider of open software products and
Within Openwave, I'm the Chief Architect of Developer products, responsible for defining, describing, and supporting the interfaces to Openwave's products that are exposed to the outside community. AP: What will we do with mobile devices two years from now that we don't do now? RM: We're going to get exactly the data we want. As the capabilities of devices continue to improve, more and more content is available. Instead of the tens of thousands of sites that deliver content designed specifically for mobile, the rest of the internet will open up and the site you want to access will be available at all times, wherever you are. AP: What has held back adoption of mobile data applications in the United States? Do you expect that to change? RM: There are a number of factors which inhibit the adoption of mobile data applications here in the States. Some of these are purely cultural like the fact that largely we commute in cars and talk on phones while commuting, rather than using data apps. Some are economic, related to the cost of data plans and the cost of applications. Some are technical, related to device capability and application platform fragmentation (e.g. Brew or Java, Symbian or MS SmartPhone). Still others are related to application discovery and distribution - how simple (or difficult) it is for users to find the applications they want or need, and how developers take their apps to market. The device fragmentation issue is not going to change for the better anytime soon, and I don't see us all flocking to mass transit (although with gas prices as they are, you never know...) but we can hope for improvement on the other fronts. AP: What advice would you give companies embarking on their first mobile data projects? RM: Focus on the user experience. Mobile data applications are only valuable if they're used, and users are more likely to adopt them if they're intuitive and simple. Just because you can provide a feature or function doesn't mean you should. Test your application not just through your QA department, but through real users. AP: What gets the award for the coolest mobile application you've seen? What about the most absurd? RM: There's often only a very fine line between the two. One of my favorites is an application from Hong Kong called Super Stable. It's a multi-modal tomagotchi-like app where you feed, care for, train and race a virtual horse. The training and interaction with the horse is done via WAP and SMS, and the races take place over a voice call, complete with announcer describing the weather and track conditions before calling out the race. Both cool and absurd all at once. For more information about Ron's day job, visit the Openwave Developer Network online. It's a must-use resource for anyone implementing a mobile strategy or developing mobile apps. Index of Wireless Activity IOWA soared 12.9% this month despite a miserable month for wireless stocks. Industry stocks sagged 11.8% while wireless-related headlines increased an IOWA-record 90.8% over the previous month. Why are stock prices and headlines moving in opposite directions? The broader Dow Jones and NASDAQ indices were down 3.3% and 3.2% respectively on continued concerns about rising interest rates and oil prices, hurricane clean-up, and economic growth. Meanwhile, the wireless industry unleashed a barrage of significant news that included surprising announcements from Palm and RIM, Palm and Microsoft, Nokia, and Motorola. These developments won't necessarily affect earnings for some time but they were enough to have trade publication news editors everywhere working overtime. Upcoming Events Seattle Remedy User Group Seattle, WA November 4, 2005 FrontRange Focus San Diego, CA November 6-9, 2005 Industry Buzz Palm and BlackBerry, Long-Time Foes, Team Up Wireless Carriers Squeezing More From Data Users Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments Exceed 200 million in Third Quarter Tip of the Month: Disappearing Alerts Disappearing acts aren't just for Hogwarts anymore. Mere Muggles can use Aeroprise to create alerts that disappear according to pre-set business triggers. For instance, "alert me until Bill in IT returns from vacation." Or, "alert me about urgent laptop problems until the CEO's investor presentation is finished." Here's what you do: in your Personalization Console, (1) create a new alert, (2) select the applications it's tied to, (3) name it, and (4) specify your alert criteria. For instance, "sev one laptop issues affecting VIP customers for the next week." When your criteria expire (in this example, at the end of one week), your alert will no longer get triggered. No need to change the desktop app, no need for admin intervention. Just like magic. But don't let the power go to your head. We strongly urge against the use of transfiguration charms on your boss. Trivia Question: Question: How many SMS messages were sent worldwide in June 2005? (a) 1.1 billion (b) 4.7 billion (c) 7.2 billion (d) 11.0 billion (e) 19.5 billion source: In-Stat [answer in next month's newsletter] Last month's question: How many wireless subscribers were using data applications at the end of 2004? (a) 29 million (b) 47 million (c) 82 million (d) 121 million Last month's answer: At the end of last year, (b) 47 million wireless subscribers were using data applications. That represents a 58% increase over the 29 million wireless data users at the end of the same period in 2003. Those 47 million subscribers spent $4 billion on wireless data, a number that is expected to grow to $14 billion by 2008. Resources Aeroprise Newsletter Archives Aeroprise Newsletter Signup Mobilizing Your Applications: A Primer Aeroprise online demo Aeroprise customer case studies Aeroprise Partner Portal Questions o: +1(866)809-9102 f: +1(650)404-1185 information@aeroprise.com If you'd prefer not to receive future Aeroprise updates please click here. We never share subscriber information with anyone. |
