Future of QR Codes-Japan's Colour Code Technologies

TOKYO -Colour Code Technologies showcased their patent-pending QR code innovation at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong last week.

Their innovative Colour Construct Code (CCC) is capable of storing more than x100 the amount of data of more conventional barcodes by using pixellated colours. Through their technology, QR codes can be used to encode any type of digital data without requiring an internet connection to import information.

Chris Carey, Director at Colour Code, showed me some examples of the kind of content they are converting into QR codes. One of these was the latest single by Japanese rock group, The Tenka (see photo above). By scanning the QR code on the leaflet, the software installed on a mobile phone is capable of converting the data into a song almost instantaneously.

Another advantage is that the Colour Codes can be printed on paper and stickers with inkjet printers, so reducing distribution costs and extending mass market opportunities.

Colour Code is in talks with various Japanese government agencies to use their codes for public services, for example for storing and accessing patient records in hospitals.

QR codes are extremely common in Japan and part of daily life whether you are a visitor at the airport (used at passport control) or a shopper in retail stores (commonly used for promotions).

Colour Code Technologies is therefore well positioned in its home market to deliver the necessary data storage upgrade to QR codes to allow them to meet the data hungry needs of increasingly rich media.

iPhone experiences of the Japanese kind

TOKYO-23rd November 2009


Before making my trip to Tokyo, I dutifully researched whether my (unlocked) iPhone would work normally in the land of the rising sun. I read internet blogs, asked friends who lived in Japan and read various on- and off-line guides.

The result was a set of conflicting viewpoints: no, it wouldn’t work at all; yes, it might work if I had the 3G or 3GS model, but only for data (not voice); and maybe it would, but on no accounts would I be able to slot in a Japanese SIM card.

So, when I landed in Japan, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I was, however, able to ascertain immediately what didn’t work. A SIM card I had bought earlier in Hong Kong (and had provided commendable service over there) did not work at all.

Fighting jetlag, I decided to make it over to the nearest cellphone operator shop I could find in Tokyo. Having listened the day earlier to Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son address the Mobile Asia Congress, my autopilot navigated me to the Softbank store.

Inside, my lack of Japanese immediately led to a total inability to conduct any meaningful conversation with the customer service clerk. But, she did call a number from her phone and she connected me to an English-speaking Japanese call centre clerk.

“We are not sure if your European iPhone will work in Japan” was the answer, followed by “If you buy our SIM card, we cannot guarantee it will work”. Not the confidence-inspiring answer I was expecting.

With already 1 million iPhone users in Japan according to Fortune magazine, it is perhaps surprising that the only Japanese cellphone operator to offer the iPhone isn’t sure about network’s SIM compatibility with foreign iPhones. But then again, I mulled as I observed sushi-shaped USB sticks in the neighbouring shop window, things are a little different in Japan.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, my iPhone worked just fine in Japan with my European SIM card –not the cheapest option, but better than paying €50 to rent a Japanese cellphone for 3 days.

Google Acquires AdMob-what say you, mobile?

AdMob announced today in a mailing to its customers that it was being acquired by Google for $750m.

"After our deal closes, AdMob will work with Google to accelerate the pace of innovation in mobile and do an even better job for you. We believe this deal will benefit our developer and publisher partners by:

Building even more powerful technology and tools to monetize mobile traffic.

Increasing the effectiveness of display advertising on mobile devices by leveraging Google sales team, infrastructure and relationships.

Improving the already high level of service and support we deliver to our publishers."

said Omar Hamoui, from AdMob in his email earlier today.

But what does this mean for mobile advertising?

Google's logic for making the deal is to ramp up its position in mobile advertising, seeing that growth in this ad market is likely to be higher than in traditional Pc-based web. It also can be interpreted as a sign that its own AdSense product for mobile was not sufficient in itself to give Google the edge in this market.

Where Google can really innovate is in the area of location based advertising on mobile, by stepping in the gap being left wide open by all the big mobile ad networks (who have capability to deploy LBS ads but lack the commitment from other members of the mobile ecosystem). It is no secret that Google has the best generic mapping product in the market (which was also skilfully deployed on mobile).

By combining its current capabilities with its web know-how and AdMob's mobile ad network, Google is now in a great position to transform the market and can deploy quickly, thanks to its Android platform.

Le Web Paris 09-a taste of le web to come

With the French flair and panache followers of Loic Le Meur are well used to, a preview of what is to come at Le Web Paris 09 has been released. Teaming up with co-organiser and wife Geraldine, Loic describes the exciting programme for this year's event.Click here to watch the video.

Some of the great themes that will be covered this year include:

-Mobility: get it now, immediately

-The Free culture

-Building the new business models

-Buying is one click away

-The Real-Time web through the eyes of “Generation Young”


If you are grappling with these fundamental issues already, don't miss out on the debate in Paris. Contact me to obtain a special 10% discount on the ticket price for being a reader of this blog!

Motorola Droid-first mover on Android 2.0 operating system

When Eric Schmidt from Google talks about future market trends (with convenient bite-sized quotes) people sit up and listen. When he recently announced that there would be 'an explosion of Android adoption', a lot of people got very excited and his may indeed soon become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

One of the catalysts for this explosion could very well come from the sleek and feature-packed Droid, just out this week in the US. It boasts a big screen with great resolution (about double that of the iPhone 3G), pull out QWERTY keyboard and a 5MP camera with flash and zoom.

All the right bits of hardware seem to be in place but what about the software? Android 2.0 (codename 'Eclair') is definitely a step up from its predecessor and more and more apps are coming on stream in the Android Market. Sure, we are still far from the mecca of the Apple App Store, but things are moving on nicely.

As Apple and Google begin to diverge in their strategic objectives for mobile (Apple limiting releases of some Google products like Google Talk and Google pre-releasing new products on Android, such as the new Google Maps Navigation software, part of the hegemenony of Apple will clearly be challenged.

Sooner or later, I expect Apple to drop Google Maps altogether and replace it with its in-house mapping product Placebase. Boy, will that be a landmark for the iPhone! And it will also mean that consumers will more and more make their handset purchase decision based on whether their preferred software is featured or not.

Le Web 09 Paris-Get ready for Real-time web, European-style

PARIS- LeWeb09, the leading event in Europe for tech start-ups focussed on both web and (increasingly) mobile, is just round the corner, with Loic and Geraldine LeMeur preparing a packed agenda for the 2-day event.

Last year, Paulo Coelho, Dave Morin (Facebook) and Marissa Mayer (Google) presented their ideas about the future. This year, following the Twitter hype, founder Jack Dorsey will give a keynote, together with a power line-up of speakers including Niklas Zennstrom (Skype founder now at Atomico Ventures) and controversial figure Michael Arrington (of Techcrunch and protagonist of a heated debate at last year's event).

The event is expected to pull in over 1800 participants and be a complete sell-out, so don't miss out if you want the inside track not only of the European but also the global tech start-up scene.

I feel priviliged to have been selected as Official Blogger for the event, so will be bringing you news straight from the frontline..stay tuned for more...

Tooio is to mobile what Tuenti is to web

Tooio (pronounced Two-ee-yo) has been pioneering Location-Based Mobile Social Networking since 2008, with its own twist -firstly, though maps feature within its app they are not, perhaps surprisingly, the main feature and secondly, Tooio's strategy has been to focus exclusively on Spain.

Having initially launched on Blackberry, Java-enabled phones and iPhone, Tooio is now releasing its Android version -sign of a clear commitment to product development.

The company raised $2m in November 2008 reflecting a clear show of faith in Tooio's CEO Rafa Casado's capabilities in launching new services and his pedigree as former chief of Terra Networks, a leading web operator in Spain.

But competition in Location-based social networks is tough, and models that work great on the web (such as 'Spanish Facebook' Tuenti) don't easily translate on mobile. This has meant that despite Tooio's brave efforts, it hasn't been able to gain the traction it requires to develop a critical mass of users. Reviews of its iPhone app are mixed (though the later release seems to have improved things) and its decision to limit and then reduce the number of free messages allowed between community members was heavily criticized by users.

A key success factor for Tooio will be the ability to import relevant (and original!) content and create that unique catch that will make it popular -the long tail of marketing is (very) long and a one-size-fits-all strategy is increasingly making way for unique niche-marketing.

Tooio has great potential -it has built a leading position in its geographical market and has the product development firepower to deliver- but will need to focus on offering a great all-round user experience if it is to stay ahead of rivals.

Ikea Augmented Reality Concept-coming to a smartphone near you (maybe)

For those of you who missed it, last August an AR concept for IKEA was launched based on a simple premise of allowing customers to picture what a certain piece of furniture would like in their home. The concept reflects the increasing possibilities of Augmented Reality to marry the real with the digitally-enhanced world within sound commercial solutions.

The application, of which you can see some screenshots below, allows users to view an overlaid picture of the desired piece of furniture and place it within the intented position in a room by viewing the room through the mobile device's videocamera.



The user can also save the picture and send it via MMS if they wish to do so.

While it may be some time before these types of applications become mainstream, the current prediction for smartphone sales suggests this will be sooner than you think. Smartphone sales that support AR apps account for less than 20% of the overall global market but are growing fast and are predicted to reach 50% of the mobile market within the next five years.

LG $10,000 Chocolate Mystery-deadline set for midnight on 30.09.09

Following the interest my earlier blog post arose over the mysterious $10,000 reward offered by LG for returning one of 5 LG Chocolate phones manufactured with serial numbers:

· 802KPAE821224

· 803KPBF578597

· 803KPXV578330

· 803KPVH578503

· 803KPJP923836

...I am publishing a short update here.

The good people at the PR agency managing the LG Chocolate Reward have told me that the phones in question were produced between February and March 2008. This date is found in the identifier label as shown in the picture with this post. The next numbers in the label indicate the factory, so you can see that the 5 handsets were made in the same factory of PyungTaek in Korea.

So if you have one of the lucky phones, you need to be sharpish in contacting LG by mailing them at:inform@lge.com. The deadline for returning them ends at midnight on the 30th September 2009. $10,000 plus a brand new BL40 phone could be yours!

Facebook and Nielsen launch joint ad effectiveness product

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook new COO, more recently VP of Global Ad Sales at Google, talked today to the press about the launch of the joint Nielsen/Facebook product to measure the effectivess of ad campaigns on Facebook web and mobile platforms.

Dubbed Nielsen Brand Lift, the new service is designed to help Facebook demonstrate that online ads on their social network are effective...as Facebook is expected to turnover more than $500m in the latest reporting year (most of which from ad sales), it is essential that they convince advertisers that this ad spend pays off. Ad sales for Facebook increased more than 70% this year compared to last year thanks to its growing user base, now exceeding 300m globally.

After their acquisition of Friendfeed earlier in the year, Facebook steps on the gas again to maintain its social networking supremacy and introduce a tool that will undoubtedly help justify ad spend. This is even more important as more and more of their users move to the mobile platform in order to educate advertisers of the high impact and effectiveness of this medium.

uLocate and NAVTEQ's Traffic.com team up on iPhone

BOSTON's uLocate has been steadily building up its WHERE LBS platform to be able to deliver a wide range of applications and services across the major carriers in the US. Its strategy is paying off, as it sets to deploy yet another useful service, this time on the iPhone by teaming up with NAVTEQ owned Traffic.com.

Below is an extract from uLocate's press release of the 14th of September:

Traffic.com is the largest provider of traffic related data in the U.S. with coverage in 124 major metropolitan areas, providing fastest and shortest routes to commuters based on real-time traffic and incident data and traffic patterns. Joining Traffic.com’s comprehensive data with uLocate’s expertise in location-enabled mobile application development and award-winning WHERE® platform provides commuters with a traffic service that will help them reduce time spent driving.

“Traffic.com is the #1 traffic-only website in the U.S., helping commuters save time and frustration in their daily lives” said Jeff Mize, Executive Vice President of Sales from NAVTEQ. “We are delighted that uLocate will leverage the brand by enabling the services on Traffic.com across mobile with their proven WHERE platform.”

The Traffic.com application’s advanced features and functionality includes:
• MyTraffic™ personalized drives that are synced with the Traffic.com website to allow users to create customized routes.
• Unique JamFactor™ calculations to quickly inform drivers of the severity of traffic delays using real-time data as well as historical speed flow.
• Real-time, color-coded traffic flow moving maps that can be panned or zoomed to quickly view area traffic congestion or set to GPS mode to move along with commuters built on the NAVTEQ MapTP platform.
• Comprehensive incident data that includes accidents, construction, events, weather and congestion.
• The ability to save favorite roads and road segments for quick access through the traffic dashboard.
• Top traffic hotspots by city or selected roads.
• Mass transit data from local transportation departments.
• Location-enabled discount offers from relevant and trusted merchants enabled through NAVTEQ’s LocationPoint advertising platform.

Traffic.com’s data comes from GPS probe devices, commercial and government partners, center staff members, and a proprietary network of 1,000 digital traffic sensors, creating the most comprehensive traffic data available. Sensor networks update real time speed and volume information every few minutes and incident information is updated continuously throughout the day by local traffic operations staff.

Expect an Android, Palm and Blackberry version soon.

The $10,000 LG Chocolate mystery

LG took out a quarter page advert in the Financial Times yesterday to announce that it was 'globally searching' for 5 of its Chocolate phones, with the serial numbers: 802KPAE821224, 803KPBF578597, 803KPXV578330, 803KPVH578503 and 803KPJP923836.

In what could be the most expensive mobile handset global hunt ever, LG offers a $10,000 reward per handset returned to them. The advert refers readers to the LG Mobile web page for more information. You can click here for more details.

However, the company remains cryptic as to the reason of the recall and even imposes a deadline for returning the wanted handsets by the 30th September 2009, somewhat unusual for a product recall.

The mystery remains over LG's unusual advert, with observers torn between it being a rather unorthodox marketing ploy or a quest to recover experimental microprocessing chips accidentally inserted into the handsets in question.

Android misses handset growth target for Spain

BARCELONA

Since the launch of Android devices in Spain in April this year and up until last week, only a very limited range of handsets from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC have been available on the market.

An article in today’s Expansión reveals that this is set to change, with Samsung launching its Galaxy model on Monday and Motorola looking to launch its Dext model in November.

However, all of this is unlikely to alter the fact that Android’s target for an installed base of 6m units in Spain by the end of 2009 will not be met. Current estimates show that Android devices represent only 2% of the handset market share in Spain. Whilst the push by new manufacturers entering the market, coupled with HTC’s launch of the Tattoo model may drive market share up a notch or two by the end of the year, Android still has to compete with other smartphone platforms with more established user bases.

Market estimates for an overall market share of 8-10% by the end of the year seem over-optimistic, and it appears more likely that they will not materialise until the choice of handsets and embedded services significantly improves.

Acrossair muscles into Augmented Reality (AR) arena with iPhone app

London-based Acrossair recently rolled out its own take on the Augmented Reality (AR) story, by releasing an application that allows New Yorkers to point their iPhone camera at any city street and get an overlay of how close and in which direction the nearest subway stations are.

Hold the phone flat and it shows all the subway lines in coloured directional arrows.Raise the iPhone and it will point you to the nearest subway station, with distances shown.

You can see a quick demo video here:





Acrossair is clearly pitching itself against media darling Layar and, with its nifty new applications, muscling itself into position to grab some of the AR limelight.

Competition is clearly hotting up, not only in the US but also in Japan, where Tonchidot launched its own iPhone app, Sekai Camera that adds a social networking dimension to AR.

This definitely remains an area to keep close tabs on, with new smartphones enabling new consumer applications that were perhaps unthinkable until only a few years ago.

Facebook for Android -coming soon

The summer holiday season being in full swing, it is that time of the year when 'real' news gets replaced with products of the rumour mill.

Speculation over what the future may bring once the industry movers and shakers are back in their office seats is rife.

One rumour to have recently hit the web is the launch of a new Facebook app for the Android platform. This would be a logical step for Facebook, having recently announced the launch of a revamped iPhone application (which will allow video uploads in addition to current photo uploads).

However, it seems Facebook is relying on external resources from the Android team at Google rather than managing all development in-house, so exactly when the app will be released involves a large degree of guesswork.

A Facebook launch on Android would give a big boost to Android's positioning vis-a-vis the iPhone, at a time when over 12 new Android devices are due to hit the market worldwide in Q3 and Q4 of this year.

The Android Market still has some catch up to do with respect to the iTunes app Store, with many apps still failing to project that sleek finish and desirability endemic to all things Apple.

Plus, if we look at a chart of daily worldwide releases of new apps on the Android market over the last 100 days (courtesy of androlib.com), things seem to be plateau-ing at Android and a new stimulus is required to pick up the momentum if Android is to realise its potential as a serious contender to the iPhone.

Centrl iPhone LBS App to feature Push Notification

I have been reviewing several apps on the iTunes store over the last few days to see what is the current state of location-aware apps with a social networking element.

I came across New York based Centrl even before I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Murat Atkithanoglu, Centrl's founder, and found the app to be one of the best in its class, both in terms of feature range as well as simplicity of use.

Centrl gives users the power to search for people and places but also special offers within their immediate vicinity. All this may sound familiar, but make no mistake. Centrl comes packed with a whole series of nifty, practical features in what is clearly a thoroughly thought out application.

You can save not only your favourite places but also special deals of interest (such as money off coupons), with the option to share that information with people in your buddy list. Centrl also remembers your last location, so that even if you are relying on the Wi-Fi you can still get relevant information around you.

Needless to say, both Facebook and Twitter accounts can be connected to Centrl making importing contacts easy. Plus, Centrl comes with a public chat function, allowing members to talk in real time to their buddies nearby.

And when it comes to content, the user has a choice from a number of providers, from Yelp to 11870.com to Oodle.

The real innovation will be the upgrading of the app to include Push Notification (available within iPhone OS 3.0) , alerting users to messages when the application is not actively running in the foreground. This is a key feature for social networking apps and is increasingly seen to be indispensable to maintain activity levels of the community.

If you have an iPhone, I encourage you to check Centrl out-it is a free app and is available on the iTunes store.

Marketing to the right audience on iPhone and iTouch

As the market for smartphones in general increases (they account for over 10% of mobile phone sales, up 12.7% in Q1 2009 compared to growth of 9.4% for standard phones, according to Gartner), and the segment captured by iPhone in particular increases (now accounting for close to 11% of overall smartphone sales as opposed to close to 6% a year earlier), it is useful to take a closer look at the new demographics of an iPhone user.

According to statistics for the US released by AdMob for the first 5 months of 2009, only 26% of iPhone owners are below the age of 24 (see chart pictured courtesy of AdMob).

That means that if you are targeting the youth segment (or 'Digital Natives') the iPhone may not be the best option for you. In contrast, iTouch users have a considerably younger age profile, with over 70% being under 24. While the device itself carries its limitations (you need a Wi-Fi network to do pretty much anything apart from listen to music), the spread of (free) Wi-Fi means that there are untapped opportunities to exploit the iTouch in order to address the youth segment.

I haven't seen a marketing insight report on the iPhone (in the sense of an in-depth qualitative study of a group of iPhone users conducted through one-on-one or group interviews over an extended period) but this could shed some light on whether the reality is that kids are getting their hands on their parents' iPhone and effectively sharing the within the same household.

The appeal of the iPhone and its exquisite aesthetics certainly represent a pull for kids and if cross-sharing is indeed taking place, this would mean that the 'real' proportion of the youth segment using the iPhone is much greater than the quantitively measured 26% being reported.

Layar Augmented Reality-Now Open for Developers

I first came across Layar at Mobile 2.0 Europe when I met Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald (aka DutchCowboy to Twitterers) and he demo'd the latest version of his augmented reality software on a G1 Android device.

I had previously taken a look at all the companies entered into the Mobile 2.0 start-up competition and, out of all of them, it was Layar that had really captured my imagination.

Why? Firstly, because it was something new (though not the first of its concept, it is certainly the best marketed augmented reality mobile software to date) that immediately brought to mind the famous Terminator movie, where Arnold Schwarzenegger, as The Terminator, scans the street and an overlay of information about the height and weight of people ahead of him is projected onto his vision.

Secondly, because I believe that the future of mobile is all about interacting intelligently with the surrounding environment (or location) and information overlays on street-view maps point in the right direction of this.

Today, Layar announced that it is opening up for business with developers, allowing access to its platform to a new wave of digital map layer pioneers. 50 developer keys are to be provided to interested companies from around the world.

You can see the full press release about this here: http://bit.ly/RgwTP

Mobile 2.0 Europe-Priya Prakash presents Nokia's vision on 'Beyond Free'

BARCELONA -Priya Prakash (formerly at Flirtomatic) presented Nokia's vision on what she see's as the customer's perception on what is (or should be) free on mobile. One of the insights included the fact that customers can perceive greater value from a mobile proposition purely by the fact they have to pay for it. More insights are in the presentation here.

Publish Post

Mobile 2.0 Europe-roundup

BARCELONA -Mobile 2.0 Europe has come and gone again this year, attracting once again some of the finest mobile minds and entrepreneurs to Barcelona.

The (now 2-day) European showcase of mobile startups and trends in mobile this year gave everyone some extra food for thought with Tom Raftery on Mobile Sustainability and Regine Debatty on Mobile Culture.

Tom gave a thought-provoking presentation on why most telcos are not doing enough about achieving sustainability (with some squirming in the front seat from Carlos Domingo of Telefonica but pleased faces from Vodafone, with Tom's thumbs-up of their corporate web policy on green issues).

Regine offered a visually pleasing interlude of examples of not-for-profit mobile art and culture, with examples of giant SMS mobile screen projections (SMS Guerilla Projector) on the backs of innocent pedestrians (check out www.we-make-money-not-art.com) .

The panel on 'Beyond Free' managed to top last year's after lunch panel (on the role of Mobile Operators in fostering innovation) in terms of provocative debate, fuelled by some diverging points of view between Inma Martinez (Moderator) and Ian Ginn (seasoned web/mobile entrepreneur).

The conclusion from the panel, if there was one, is that mobile startups are still seen as an (un)necessary evil by most VC's but are treated as misunderstood children because they don't fit in the VC's risk/return equations.

You can find all the links to the presentations on the official event site here. A big round of applause to Rudy,Carles and the rest of the Mobile 2.0 Committee for organising (and pulling off) yet another great mobile event in Barcelona.

I will post some of my videos of the presentations by Ted Morgan of Skyhook Wireless and Priya Prakash of Nokia, starting with this one below: