DeepDarkSee

I was recently asked to brainstorm messages for the carriers. What would an LBS handset application developer like them to hear? So I got together with a couple really smart people I know and came up with the items below. Interestingly enough, most of our answers applied to the non-LBS space as well.

We want to do innovative things with your handsets. Insist that the handset manufacturers implement the features that will support this. Examples:

• APIs for full featured access to Camera and Gallery resources
• APIs to send/receive MMS and SMS
• APIs to hand-off to the browser with a destination URL
• APIs to access the serial port and bluetooth
• Much better font support
• Launching a Music Service? Think of the innovation you could enable if developers could manipulate play lists and music player features from the application environment.
• APIs to write to the external screen (and support running with the handset closed)

It’s not enough that it is in the general framework for the phone. It has to be spec’d and acceptance tested. Too many handsets don’t do things that they should because reliable delivery wasn’t enforced by the carrier. It requires specification and acceptance testing.

Many of you control which apps can run on your phones. There is no need to arbitrarily block apps from access to handset features, your test/acceptance business process can limit access, and grant it where it makes sense.

LBS Specific

• Elevation/Altitude data is very weak, we need your help there.
• Don’t restrain us to carrier sanctioned GIS data sources. Give us the flexibility to differentiate our apps.

In 1998 a 50 foot section of the main cables at mid-span of the Golden Gate Bridge had it’s wrapping wire removed and was inspected for interior damage from the elements (the protective wrapping wire was designed to be replaced). It was determined that the cables needed a new exterior coating along with a complete cleaning and painting program. In December of 2000, the Building and Operating committee of the Board of Directors rejected all bids for the work. Nothing has happened since.

We ‘always’ have time and money to do the urgent, but not the ‘important.’ I’ll pass on the cliche of long term versus short term and relating this to work, personal life, etc. But….Yikes!

“In a time of change, it is learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves well equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” — Eric Hoffer

And it’s not just more learning inside your comfort zone, it’s about learning ‘sideways.’

I’m all for intellectual property rights, but it’s impossible to support the MPAA and RIAA when they act like irrational bozos (or rational devious scoundrels).

MPAA Explains Its Bad Math: It Was Future Non-Existent Piracy:
On Tuesday we wrote about the MPAA announcing that it had shut down a DVD copying plant and seized $30 million worth of DVDs and equipment. Just about everything in the announcement turned out to be wrong. The plant wasn’t actually shut down at all. Also, the DVDs and equipment taken weren’t valued anywhere near $30 million. While there’s some dispute as to how much, the company says they were worth about $15,000. So, as the plant in question has been yelling loudly complaining about the MPAA’s assertions (things that seemed to have taken the MPAA by surprise), the MPAA has decided to respond in the most amazing way. First, they brush off the mistake about the plant being closed saying that was just a mistake (sure it was…) and that the $30 million number represented an estimate of “the value of the DVDs that could be produced by the stamping machines that were seized.” Say that again? In other words… if they seized anyone’s computer with a CD writer or a DVD writer they could claim that they had seized millions in equipment based on the possibility that at some point in the future they might make illegal copies? It’s stunning what the MPAA thinks they can get away with. They’ve learned that the press will basically take whatever they say and run with it, so why bother with the truth?

Russell Beattie is moderating the panel Obstacles in the Mobile Platform at Where 2.0 next week. I think the panel member choices are great…mostly carrier, plus a biz dev guy who has been dealing with carriers…it should be interesting. Being in a startup doing LBS product development I’m interested, but can’t justify the cost of the ticket to get in.

Russ put out a call for questions for the panel. Here is a set that I think, if put to the panel, might be good…

Mixed Messages: What’s the breakdown between “LBS Apps”, and apps that use LBS as one tool in creating a useful product? Where are the carriers focused and how will this change over time (this is important, because it may impact whether an app gets on the deck)?

Getting on the Deck: Tons of developers out there hawking ideas and prototypes – what does it take to get “on the deck?”

Premium Fees: Will carriers charge premiums to consumers to ‘turn on’ LBS? Will carriers be looking to charge a premium revenue share percentage to developers?

Deployment Delays: The roadway is littered with LBS pioneers that ran out of runway as ‘unofficial’ LBS deployment schedules came and went. What are the prospects for 2005 and 2006?

Limited Handset Availability: It’s probably a safe bet that the first phones to support LBS will be on the high end. When will LBS capability reach a broad set of handsets (in the US it’s starting to broaden on Nextel, but what about others)? When does the GSM world enter in a meaningful way?

Content: Map content, and queries to geoservers are expensive. Map images don’t display all that well on small screens. Elevation data returned from handsets is horrible. What can/are carriers doing to help with this?

We’ve just crossed another line. You can now buy an HD video camera that shoots “movie theater” quality digital video for $3500, edit it on your Mac with iMovieDVD (or other tools), and produce commercial release quality content from your desk. Musicians crossed over several years ago from lots of expensive equipment to a personal setup. Film Makers are now on the cusp.

The technology, of course, doesn’t make the film maker. That said, it certainly does open up the field for talented people to do a lot more – without renting expensive cameras and edit room time.

While in LA last weekend I got the chance to see some test footage shot by a Music Video and Commercial Director (my brother). I was blown away…seeing what a pro could do with this camera and a Mac notebook!

The camera is the Sony HDR-FX1 HDV Handycam Camcorder, and there is a consumer ‘little brother’ version for under $2K. Link to Sony.

From a broader post by Seth Godin

Somewhere along the way, people were sold that marketing [equals] advertising. Somewhere along the way, people were trained that marketers are liars (oops). And now we wonder why people are so clueless about what marketing really is. Maybe it’s because marketing has a marketing problem.

Marketing is not about trickery or even insincerity. It’s about spreading ideas that you believe in, sharing ideas you’re passionate about… and doing it with authenticity. Marketing is about treating prospects and customers with respect, and realizing that it’s easier to grow the amount of business you do with happy people than it is to find new strangers to accost.

I was part of a really interesting conversation and brain storm session today on what makes a good name for a product, product family, and company. It took place with a mobile application overlay where a significant distribution channel for the product is the mobile carrier application deck and the product name may be all some people see, followed by a sentence or two if they click.

The name as to be explanatory and compelling (and hopefully ‘cool’) all at the same time. Maybe share some ‘name space’ with related products from the same company, and maybe (but less importantly) with the company name as well. Better do this well!

And tonight I stumbled on the study referenced in the blog post below. A good read if you’re into this topic.

Lying with a name:
Karl and Andrew pointed me to this study less than five minutes apart, so it must be good. How to tell a story with your name: Florida Red or Moody Blue: Study Looks at Appeal of Off-beat Product Names – Knowledge@Wharton.

Mobile gaming & females:
Mobile Game Developer reports on a study commissioned by I-play about mobile gaming habits. Here are some excerpts.

I-play: did you know?
Female gamers play embedded games more than their male counterparts. 48% of all females have played a preloaded game on their mobile compared with 44% of males

I-play: did you know?
Females play mobile games for longer In the US, 42% of females played a single game for over 20 minutes compared to 27% of men

I-play: did you know?
Women are more likely to play mobile games to kill time than men, and are more likely to do so at home. 72% of females Vs 66% of males play mobile games to kill time. 58% of females Vs 55% of males download games while relaxing at home. 43% of females Vs 36% of males play mobile games at home while doing nothing

I-play: did you know?
Simplicity of gameplay will be a key driver to growth of female gamers in the mobile gaming market with: 41% of females compared to 31% of males, claim that simplicity of gameplay convinces them to download games.