Today's Contents

• It's been a while, hasn't it?
• Barcelona: The Mobile Epicentre For One Week
• My Wife: "I think I need an iPhone"

Friday 12, February 2010

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Thank you for your patience.  It got a little bit busy there.  When things get busy at Mobile Industry Review -- and I mean ridiculously eyelids-held-open-with-sticky-tape busy -- I end up having to prioritise the clients.

It's only right, isn't it?  They, after all, are paying to keep me mobile phone habit alive.  I have been straddling the hemispheres dear reader.  Straddling.  One moment I'm in London, the next moment I'm in New York, Los Angeles, Palo Alto or San Francisco.  Sometimes in the same 24 hours.

I do have one tip if you're traveling often across America: Virgin America.  Although their destination map is limited, the service is fantastic.  I once spent 7 hours on a US Airways jet flying from Boston to San Francisco.  One of the worst flights I'd been on since I booked a shit ticket (I forgot that America is that wide) and ended up staring at a repeating blurry Friends episode on one of the three on-board TVs.  Never again.

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Barcelona: The Mobile Epicentre For One Week

Yes, it's all kicking off.  The press releases have been written and approved.  The fancy exhibition stands have been designed and shipped to The Fira.  The rooms are booked, the suits are pressed, the business cards are ironed. 

Oh yes.

It's Mobile World Congress time!  

And boy!  Boy!  We've got some fantastic coverage planned.  I say 'we', because I've teamed up with Rafe Blandford of All About Symbian to create what I hope will be some brilliant coverage. (Read the announcement post from last week)  Our focus this year is going to be very much video-based.  I'm taking the camera and a flight-case fully of related equpiment to make sure we deliver some hugely compelling content.  We've got interviews arranged with some of the highest Nokia executives.  We'll be following Lee Wililams (Executive Director of Symbian) around the conference.  We'll be sticking the camera in the faces of some of the best mobile developers we can find.  And we'll be manhandling the latest devices and gizmos at the various press events surrounding the event.

I know that a huge amount of readers have thoroughly enjoyed the various 'walk about' videos that I've filmed featuring Rafe.  Originally I think Rafe felt he was an unlikely candidate for on-screen 'talent' -- so much so that getting him on camera to talk about the latest happenings has not hitherto been entirely easy.  He knows his stuff, back to front -- and not just about Symbian.  When I originally discussed the concept of him doing a tour of Nokia World (link | link) last year, his eyes lit up -- "You mean, like Martin Brundle doing a pit-lane walk about?" he asked, deep in thought.

"Exactly!" I said.  If you're not familiar with Martin Brundle, he's the former Formula 1 racing driver now working for the British Formula 1 television company (currently BBC) as a pundit, analyst and commentator.  Since he knows absolutely everybody at the pit lane on a personal basis, including the drivers, watching him traverse the pit lane is both entertaining and insightful. 

Well, we've done the same with Rafe.  We did it last year at Nokia World, then at the Symbian Expo (link | link ). The videos have attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers.  So the opportunity to do it again at Mobile World Congress -- the biggest event in the Western mobile industry calendar -- is very exciting.  Rafe, you see, is lauded.  Lauded by the Nokia chaps.  So much so that when mid-level executives find themselves in the same room as him, they are invariably starstruck.  (Here's some video proof -- Note: I didn't quite understand how the iPhone camera worked... ).  Rafe is characteristically bemused by the attention.  Which makes it all the more interesting to film.

The underling point in all this is, of course, that on account of being directly involved in the industry for so many years (since the EPOC days of Symbian), Rafe is able to offer unparalleled perspective and insight on-demand.  We're aiming to attend the various events and happenings throughout Barcelona together.  Most of the time it'll be Rafe in front of the camera, but occasionally I'll pop up. 

I'll also be doing some 'phlogs' ("phone blogs") via ipadio where possible.  And I'll be rattling off some short updates via the BlackBerry as necessary.

The calendar is jampacked -- from Sunday to Saturday.  If there's anything in particular you think we should be directing our attention toward, just drop me an email and we'll do our best.  One of the easiest ways of getting an interview on camera with us at the event will be to simply introduce yourself.  You will be able to spot me -- because I'll be wearing the traditional 'MOBILE INDUSTRY REVIEW' jacket which is difficult to miss (you can buy one here !).  Rafe similarly will be wearing a jacket with a flippin' massive ALL ABOUT SYMBIAN logo on the back.  There's much more chance of us being able to do a quick interview and demo there and then, rather than arranging a specific time.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there.  Event coverage starts tomorrow!

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My Wife: "I think I need an iPhone"

I arrived back from Los Angeles on Wednesday morning.  After my wife greeted me, she promptly explained that she needs an iPhone. 

"Oh... right?" I replied, slightly confused.  You see, my wife has been talking about wanting to get a BlackBerry for quite a while, especially after the amount of time that her younger sister, Edwina, is investing in her BlackBerry (or, more accurately, BlackBerry Messenger).  It's my policy that whatever technology my wife wants, I'll buy it.  Immediately.  It's not often that you get to buy technology for other people and I do enjoy the experience.  But she knows this.  And, given the choice, she'd much rather blow 500 pounds on some bed linen rather than an unlocked mobile phone.  This is why she has resolutely retained the services of T-Mobile and her old HTC G1 Android phone.

The contract finally runs out in March.

So she's been looking and she's been angling for a BlackBerry -- either a Curve or the latest Bold 9700.

However she's entirely changed her mind in the two weeks whilst I was away.

The reason?

Touchnote.

Now, Touchnote is a service I have been raving about for quite a while.  There is an online version but I'm far more interested in their mobile version.  The mobile service enables you to snap a picture via your handset and have it sent to anyone as an a physical postcard.  The concept isn't new, but their implementation is.  It's smart, fast, and priced at about £1.50 per postcard.  Entirely reasonable.

Touchnote launched first on the Nokia Ovi Store and then, a month or so later, they hit the iPhone App Store.  I find the iPhone app a lot easier to use and I have been sending my grandmother (and, occasionally, my mother) a Touchnote every week or so.  Sometimes it's a photo of the house, sometimes a photo of Chiswick (where I live) or a photo of the recent snow.  It doesn't really matter, I don't think.  It's the thought.  It's the surprise and deilght of the recipient.  Unsually for most services, Touchnote isn't very satisfying to use.  The actual sending process is... well... routine.  Take the photo, address it (multiple people if you wish), write in a message.. pay... send.  Done.  The joy and value is gained at a later date.  I like getting text messages from my mother saying 'We got your card'.  It really is a service that does 'touch'. 

I resolved whilst I was away in the States for two weeks to send my wife a few Touchnotes.  She's been aware of the service, she's seen the joy in my mother's face as she recounts being surprised by the postcards arriving.  But she's not actually experienced it herself.

I sent the first Touchnote to her from the plane.  I took a picture of the cabin, addressed the postcard, wrote a little message and stored it for transmission when I arrived at New York (If there'd been on-board WiFi, I could have transmitted it over the Atlantic!).

Then as I walked around New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco and LA, I snapped photos and transmitted them.  I did one every couple of days.  As a result she got a bit of a collection building up that she placed on the bookshelf in the kitchen.  Friends and relatives who popped round whilst I was away were continually remarking on them. 

So much so that... well, that's it.  She's getting an iPhone.  She's sold on the concept and she'd like to be able to send frequent Touchnotes to her parents and friends herself. 

Not only is this good news for Touchnote, but it's a rather interesting insight into the handset decision process.  She decided against BlackBerry because it doesn't have Touchnote.  And this is because Touchnote are really busy working on other platforms at the moment.  I find it fascinating that despite the millions upon millions of dollars that BlackBerry have invested in marketing their devices, they've lost out entirely, not because of anything they've done specifically, but because a third-party developer has chosen to prioritise other platforms above them.

I wonder how many other device purchases are beginning to be made on the basis of what-you-can-do (apps wise) rather than the traditional looks and basic feature evalutation?

Right! I'm off to pack for Barcelona...

Ewan

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