In a move that both underscores how quickly enterprise mobility is growing, while at the same time pointing out that the enterprise giants (SAP, IBM, etc.) will continue to gain mindshare at the expense of the independent mobile vendors, earlier this week veteran mobile applications platform vendor Kony opted to acquire fellow independent mobile vendor Sky Technologies. The two companies appear to offer solid mobile synergies for each other.
Sky is a SAP-focused mobile developer that need far more reach than it currently has, and Kony was in huge need of landing more direct internal enterprise access to mobile projects. It will be interesting to see how the marriage works, but the deal does strengthen the hand of each player going forward.
Wireless Data - Cheaper or More Expensive?
Last week Verizon floated its first "top tier" shared data plan gambit, a fairly substantial 20 GB plan for $150 per month. This week T-Mobile USA, which is finally starting to get its LTE groove together, gets into the data plan act with several approaches to offering unlimited data. Earlier this week the company unveiled new 4G unlimited data plan that becomes available following Labor Day. While AT&T and Verizon find themselves in need of both capping plans and throttling back data speeds, T-Mobile (along with Sprint) looks to be positioned to move forward with a potential competitive advantage.
T-Mobile has also unveiled (or we should say has "re-unveiled") a 2010-era Android smartphone, the Concord, which is manufactured by China’s ZTE. The phone has a basic 2 MP camera and runs the old Gingerbread version of Android - it's all available for $100 with no contract and a monthly unlimited data plan. We somehow doubt this will turn things around for T-Mobile, but in fact there are hundreds of thousands of potential users for exactly this type of lightweight phone when the unlimited data is factored in.
We will also note that venerable old Radio Shack still continues to hang in the game - in partnership with Cricket Wireless, the Shack will soon be offering no contract mobile plans to users - while certainly not upscale, the Shack plan can open mobile wireless doors for many folks who might not otherwise be able to play.
As T-Mobile and Metro PCS begin delivering unlimited plans, it becomes an interesting question as to whether or not the gamble will pay off. One of the problems is that the companies will capture users but may eventually begin to experience the backlash of over-enthusiastic usage by those users - much as AT&T and Verizon have had to.
Further on the LTE front this week, Rogers Communications has brought LTE to New Brunswick, CA. And finally, Verizon is getting the needed government signals that it will be able to move forward on acquiring a good deal of new spectrum from several cable providers, while also selling some of it to T-Mobile. Interestingly, the Department of Justice offers what some of us believe to be a superficial analysis of market competitiveness and offering customers the best services and choices.
Although it has no one to blame but itself for having sunk so low over the course of the last decade, it is still sad to see just how far Sony has fallen. Sony Mobile is no exception, and will be shedding over 1,000 jobs in short order. The company will be moving its headquarters back to Tokyo, a move that may end up saving a few dollars but that will move the company ever further away from the midst of where the mobile action really is. We doubt Sony Mobile will be able to retain any sort of position here, aside from also-ran status.
Mobile Commerce
Mobile commerce continues to move forward unabated. Wal-Mart, Target, and 7-Eleven are all working together to create a new mobile payment network that has been dubbed the Merchant Customer Exchange. It's anticipated that the new effort will compete head on with Google Wallet. Behind the scenes, mobile banking continues to mature, a clear sign that more and more consumers will become "financially mobile."
Finally, this week a new Juniper report points to the acceleration of mobile-messaging based ad spending rapidly increasing, with expectations of hitting $7.4 billion by 2017. In particular it will be the combination of the wide spread reach of text-based messaging, coupled with utilizing location based services to better target mobile audiences that will drive new revenue here.
Roaming Charges Still Not Friendly
A new iPass report claims that great numbers of mobile users are still encountering over the top roaming charges and surprise bills often exceeding $1,000 for a given month of roaming charges. Of course iPass just happens to offer alternative connectivity possibilities through its own global network of Wi-Fi access points - a definite option to roaming.
Interestingly, this week also brought us a report that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and New Zealand Minister for Communications and Information Technology (DBCDE) are looking at ways to reduce mobile roaming costs for voice, data and texting between Australia and New Zealand. We're not sure yet what is to evolve from this effort, but reducing roaming charges would be a boon to mobility in this global region.
A new study conducted by Cisco, and a separate study conducted by Ipsos meanwhile, both suggest that Wi-Fi will continue to play a critical role in mobile device connectivity to the Internet and Web. There isn't anything particularly surprising here, and we anticipate Wi-Fi continuing to provide a key means to wirelessly access the Internet.
Gadgets and Mobile Software Toys
Oddly named ooVoo, a social media-driven videoconferencing player has announced a new set of iOS and Android apps that will greatly extend the social streaming video capabilities of any well-powered Android device and iPhones. Want to see your best friends' faces streamed live on your mobile phone (or tablet or Windows or Mac PCs) while conversing about such banalities as where to have dinner? Then check out ooVoo.
Bitzer Mobile now manages Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in enterprises in a secure fashion. ForeScout Technologies, a provider of automated security control solutions, has announced the addition of mobile security to its current NAC-as-a-Service platform packaged for managed service providers. And Jumptap, a company specializing in targeted mobile advertising, very recently announced a new partnership with Evidon, a company that helps protect a business’s privacy by enabling them to assess cookies and protect audience data.
We'll wrap up the week by noting that Toshiba has developed a new integrated circuit (IC) for use in mobile phones that will deliver a measurable and non-trivial extension to mobile device battery life. It isn’t something end users will ever see or hear about, but it is a new IC that will improve the user experience. Huzzah!
Those are the week's mobile highlights. For much more make sure to scope out Mobility TechZone directly.
Want to learn more about today’s powerful mobile Internet ecosystem? Don't miss the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5 2012, in Austin, TX. Stay in touch with everything happening at Mobility Tech Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.
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