On my vacation in Spain last week I used a prepaid SIM from a new operator called Yoigo to keep up with the mobile web. Yoigo is a 3G operator with attractive rates for both voice and data. Voice calls are € 0.12/minute within Spain to both landline and mobile numbers and international calls are € 0.30/minute to anywhere except Cuba, Somalia and North Korea. Best of all data, both WAP and web, is € 0.0012/KB and data charges are … Continue reading
I’m sick and tired of network operators and handset manufacturers blocking applications from access to certain phone features in the name of “security”. This may not be an issue for the majority of mobile users who never install programs on their phones. But for someone like me interested in pushing the limits of what can be done with these little computers the limitations are very frustrating. I install every native and Java application I find just to see what it … Continue reading
2006 has been an exciting year to be involved with the mobile web and mobile data in general. I want to highlight four major developments this past year which I believe are going to have a profound and positive effect on the quality of the mobile web experience for years to come. Mobile web advertising comes of age. I credit this almost entirely to AdMob, the startup that took the Google AdSense model and applied it to mobile. Seems like … Continue reading
A couple of minor updates to WapReview and Yeswap. In response to a request from a user, I’ve added an “Enter URL” form to YesWAP.com It seems that certain carriers, including Verizon in the US, disable the browser’s option to key in an arbitrary url on some phones – presumably to discourage users from leaving the “walled garden”. The user who wrote me was able to change his browser’s home page to point to YesWAP. On some phones without the … Continue reading
I really don’t understand CNN’s mobile web strategy. Their mobile site (mobile.cnn.com) can only be reached from phones on CNN’s network partners! The news network seems to be saying that they’d rather make a quick buck today from carrier deals than build their brand on mobile. This is all the more surprising because the CNN mobile site carries advertising which means lost ad revenue too. Wikipedia calls CNN the second most watched (after the BBC) TV news source in the … Continue reading
Two big mobile web and data related announcements today. Opera has released Mini 3.0 and Verizon announced a deal that will put some YouTube videos on the carrier’s V-Cast media player for EVDO subscribers. Opera Mini is at 8 million users and Release 3.0 represents a significant upgrade. I’ve covered the 3.0 betas in some detail, the released version doesn’t add any features beyond the photo sharing, RSS feed reader and secure connections which were in the beta. It looks … Continue reading
I just got back from a week in Tokyo, paradise for mobile geeks. 3G seems to be taking Japan by storm. In wandering around the city, I saw many of the latest 3G handsets in use. One of the most popular seemed to be NEC’s Linux based N902i on the DoCoMo FOMA network. The selling point of this phone is the 2MP camera with image stabilization and auto focus, but the nicest part for me was the Netfront browser on … Continue reading
For a long time mobile visionaries have been heralding the imminent arrival of Location Based Services (LBS), and the revolutionary mobile applications and services that they will make possible. Since the beginning of this year, US cellular operators have been legally required under the provisions of E911-Phase II to furnish real time geolocation data to emergency agencies when users call 911, the nation-wide emergency telephone number. The requirements specify that the systems be able to locate the user with an … Continue reading