This is an interesting list. Here are my top 5 take aways from CTIA
1) iPhone: Don't hate the players, hate the gamers.
While the iPhone and AppStore have caused a lot of confusion for intermediary companies that link content and carrier, the fact remains that iPhone is more an indicator of platform play to retain control and user experience for the smart phone and mobile computing device. Games that provide amusement lead to devices that can do other things. Games have pushed the envelope so that there are latent capabilities in the hardware people carry in their pockets. The video streaming demos and tag line "we have a social network function too..." tell me that the game community ethos will spill out in ways that are not immediately apparent today. Maybe getting a MMOG team together for an assault might not be so different than trying to sync an enterprise calendar, contact list, and/or multiple communication paths for the humble business meeting. Hmm indeed.
2) We know you like LOLcats and we plan to sell this information to Purina
The presence and story from deep packet inspection (DPI) companies in attendance as well as the looming roll out of the capped ISP package from larger cable operations in the US all point to the micro-billing defense of sustained and normalized ARPU for mobile data plans. You will be tracked as a trend of use. You will be pushed into a data plan that lets us count on regular repeating revenues. The final visual in mind from last night was the Sprint commercial throwing around stats that would only come from intense scrutiny of what the subscriber aggregate is doing - right now.
I think there are a lot of companies that would pay to know what mobile subscribers are doing. Don't you?
3) Your local loops. Give them to me.
I saw a lot of progress in the wake of the Sierra/Cradlepoint swallow fest. That progress is the explosion of mobile access routers. I'd expect these kinds of non DSL and non Cable and non Fiber connected SOHO routers to explode in popularity. Related to this, I was pleased to see the number of picocell, femtocell, etc. in pleasing kits, form factors, and generally speaking to the demand and customer expectation of ubiquitous access (i.e. promoting defensible monthly data plan rates).
4) Little. Yellow. Different.
I was impressed by multi-function devices like Option's uCan. While sites like Gizmodo attract comments to the effect of "I don't get it", the marketplace for carrying around your PC in your pocket, or in the cloud has traction. While the form factor of the USB cell modem might seem odd now, the ability to find terminals to launch the modem's OS or app stack might shift to what is possible on data cards in data centric mobile phones. iPhone, BlackBerry, and Nokia Nxx have shown that people will be attracted to smarter and smarter mobile computing. Push and replication of assets to the cloud (securely) will be of increasing value. The fact that you can toast your iTunes music and movies (DIY backup!) on a desktop vs. the ability to re-download licensed applications for iPhone from the AppStore show that there is creative thinking taking place to reduce consumer friction and increase satisfaction.
5) The Hills Have Eyes... and an array of trending, reporting and related automation modules.
Remote telemetry and sensing operations will be on the rise as truck roll oriented meter reading declines for obvious cost reasons. eFarming initiatives and US stimulus packages will place soil probes and resource meters in remote and vast locations. Solar panels and new methods of powering for purpose and sustainable operation will increase. Automation will require wireless backhaul technology to connect nodes and sensors to the backbones for final visualization and staffed call centers, purpose minded NOCs, and new management models will emerge as we SAP-ize all manner of processes outside of supply chain. All the piece parts were on display at CTIA and while they might not be the biggest booths, they will be a uniform dusting of the world around us going forward.
All of this points to expansion of world economies... there were a lot of bitter, dejected, or jaded folks at CTIA I'm sure but my head is exploding with ideas and challenged assumptions.
All Comments
1) iPhone: Don't hate the players, hate the gamers.
While the iPhone and AppStore have caused a lot of confusion for intermediary companies that link content and carrier, the fact remains that iPhone is more an indicator of platform play to retain control and user experience for the smart phone and mobile computing device. Games that provide amusement lead to devices that can do other things. Games have pushed the envelope so that there are latent capabilities in the hardware people carry in their pockets. The video streaming demos and tag line "we have a social network function too..." tell me that the game community ethos will spill out in ways that are not immediately apparent today. Maybe getting a MMOG team together for an assault might not be so different than trying to sync an enterprise calendar, contact list, and/or multiple communication paths for the humble business meeting. Hmm indeed.
2) We know you like LOLcats and we plan to sell this information to Purina
The presence and story from deep packet inspection (DPI) companies in attendance as well as the looming roll out of the capped ISP package from larger cable operations in the US all point to the micro-billing defense of sustained and normalized ARPU for mobile data plans. You will be tracked as a trend of use. You will be pushed into a data plan that lets us count on regular repeating revenues. The final visual in mind from last night was the Sprint commercial throwing around stats that would only come from intense scrutiny of what the subscriber aggregate is doing - right now.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/files/ystg_9040...
I think there are a lot of companies that would pay to know what mobile subscribers are doing. Don't you?
3) Your local loops. Give them to me.
I saw a lot of progress in the wake of the Sierra/Cradlepoint swallow fest. That progress is the explosion of mobile access routers. I'd expect these kinds of non DSL and non Cable and non Fiber connected SOHO routers to explode in popularity. Related to this, I was pleased to see the number of picocell, femtocell, etc. in pleasing kits, form factors, and generally speaking to the demand and customer expectation of ubiquitous access (i.e. promoting defensible monthly data plan rates).
4) Little. Yellow. Different.
I was impressed by multi-function devices like Option's uCan. While sites like Gizmodo attract comments to the effect of "I don't get it", the marketplace for carrying around your PC in your pocket, or in the cloud has traction. While the form factor of the USB cell modem might seem odd now, the ability to find terminals to launch the modem's OS or app stack might shift to what is possible on data cards in data centric mobile phones. iPhone, BlackBerry, and Nokia Nxx have shown that people will be attracted to smarter and smarter mobile computing. Push and replication of assets to the cloud (securely) will be of increasing value. The fact that you can toast your iTunes music and movies (DIY backup!) on a desktop vs. the ability to re-download licensed applications for iPhone from the AppStore show that there is creative thinking taking place to reduce consumer friction and increase satisfaction.
5) The Hills Have Eyes... and an array of trending, reporting and related automation modules.
Remote telemetry and sensing operations will be on the rise as truck roll oriented meter reading declines for obvious cost reasons. eFarming initiatives and US stimulus packages will place soil probes and resource meters in remote and vast locations. Solar panels and new methods of powering for purpose and sustainable operation will increase. Automation will require wireless backhaul technology to connect nodes and sensors to the backbones for final visualization and staffed call centers, purpose minded NOCs, and new management models will emerge as we SAP-ize all manner of processes outside of supply chain. All the piece parts were on display at CTIA and while they might not be the biggest booths, they will be a uniform dusting of the world around us going forward.
All of this points to expansion of world economies... there were a lot of bitter, dejected, or jaded folks at CTIA I'm sure but my head is exploding with ideas and challenged assumptions.