Sprint OpenWeb Update

I’ve found out a little more about the OpenWeb transcoder that US CDMA/EVDO provider Sprint is rolling out which I wrote about last week. If you missed that piece, Sprint has added a transcoder from OpenWave called OpenWeb to at least some of their WAP gateways. The stated purpose of OpenWeb is to transform full web pages that wouldn’t be usable on handsets into something mobile friendly. The problem is that the OpenWeb software modifies the browser’s http headers, removing … Continue reading

How to Define Open Mobile?

There’s a lot of buzz about openness lately. Google is developing Android, an open mobile operating system. The three biggest US mobile operators have pledged to “open” their networks. So what does this really mean for users and developers? I can’t predict what the networks and device makers will actually do but I’ve been thinking a lot about openness means to me as a user and as a developer. This post is an attempt to define what I expect from … Continue reading

T-Mobile/Twitter and Mobile Net Neutrality

Over the weekend there was an incident that points out, oh so clearly, why we need net neutrality on the web and on the mobile networks. It started last Wednesday when T-Mobile USA customers started getting errors when posting to Twitter. Initial indications were that T-Mobile was blocking Twitter traffic. There was an uproar on the blogoshere and on at least one popular forum and now the issue seems resolved. Twitter announced late yesterday that SMS from T-Mobile users to … Continue reading

Verizon’s Open Network?

I awoke this morning to headlines in Yahoo Finance proclaiming “Verizon Opens Up Network“. Seems like pretty exciting stuff. What an amazing turnaround for the carrier that kicked my wife’s Amp’d Mobile Motorola e816 off their network last July when Amp’d folded. The same company that reportedly started banning new activations of Verizon branded Windows or Palm smartphones on their prepaid service just a few days ago . The Verizon that just last month stopped activating Verizon branded prepaid phones … Continue reading

Sprint Shares Location Data with Mobile Web Site!

I’ve been waiting for this to happen. I know most of you are probably tired of all the hype around mobile location based services (LBS). Location is not a panacea, it’s just another technology that can enhance a limited number of mobile services. As Russell Beattie said, “Most LBS applications are a black hole of wasted time, effort, money, and opportunity.” I generally agree, but as even Russ in one of his better rants admits, an area where location really … Continue reading

Vodafone’s Heavy-Handed Transcoder

Vodafone rolled out a new transcoding proxy a couple months ago in the UK, their home market. Its stated aim is to make the full web available to Vodafone customers by reformatting web content designed for PCs – making it usable on mainstream mobile phones. This is not a new idea, Google has been doing this for six years. There are many other mobile transcoders, I compared 6 of them two years ago. I’m in the US so I have … Continue reading

My Amp’d Mobile Experience

Amp’d Mobile the upstart 3G MVNO for young adults is, barring a miracle, gone. Bidding closed today for Monday’s auction to liquidate Amp’d’s remaining assets. Mobile service will terminate at 12:01AM Tuesday July 31st. Amp’d which has burned through $350 million of their backers money in 19 months, owes $100 million more and had only $9,000 cash on hand at the beginning of the week. There are plenty of theories on what went wrong. My take is that Amp’d’s strategy … Continue reading

T-Mobile Blocking Java Apps?

It looks like T-Mobile USA has just made it harder to use data aware Java applications like Opera Mini, Google Maps and gMail on the $5.99 (and grandfathered $4.99 and $2.99) T-MobileWeb unlimited data plans. While some users are saying T-Mobile is blocking Java, I think they are just requiring the use of the T-Mobile proxy to get to the Internet. Java applications should be able to use the proxy but on many phones, especially recent T-Mobile branded ones, there … Continue reading