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We are always asked about market size and growth. Steve Largent, CTIA president, opened the conference citing some key statistics about the wireless industry:
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, addressed the attendees of CTIA this morning by providing his vision of mobility. He believes that the phone has a unique role. A while the PC is the most powerful device, the phone is obvioulsy the most mobile. He believes that MSFT has to provide applications for the time in which a single mobile device services both professional and personal styles and that his company not only must provide those kinds of applications but the platforms which support them as well. He also discussed his view of the computing world which he believes is broken into four areas:
1. Thick clients
2. Big servers and thin clients
3. Online computing
4. The world of devices
“We have to meld these models of computing into one. And we have to bring together the business models in ways that are acceptable…If we want innovation to proceed, we have to meld and weave those business models together."
This from MapQuest PR:
MapQuest has launched a new version of its MapQuest for Mobile Web WAP site, with a number of significant upgrades relevant for travelers and on-the-go users who are looking for maps and directions. New features available today by pointing a mobile web browser to http://mapquest.com include:
- Pedestrian directions
- Multipoint routing
- Gas Prices by Lowest price (default) or distance or alphabetical
- Aerial images
As you may know, MapQuest for Mobile Web is one of the top mobile internet sites, estimated by Telephia* to have approximately 13% of the total mobile internet audience, and ranked as the top mobile mapping site in a comScore Media Metrix / Telephia study.
The more I see articles like this one from TechDigest the more I have to admit these will become a part of the fabric of the real world. My question to the author: Why should they? What’s the business case? For direct monetary reasons? As “social media” outlets? As advertising media?
Update: Urban Mapping’s data (that’s Ian White’s comapny) is in the app, per a blog post from that company.
Pelago will lauch Whrrl. The free service encourages them to evaluate restaurants, etc. Then, those who are seeking eateries can see thematic maps of those “votes.” That’s free. The GPS version, when released, will have a fee. It will, with user permission track their travels. If they eat at a restaurant, and do not review it, even that will be recorded in the database.
