Punjabi By Nature

History repeats itself

and those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.....

Om Malik says http://gigaom.com/2006/02/16/revenge-of-windows-mobile/

My comments:

Windows Mobile is a very strong platform at least from a development POV. Coupled with .NET Compact Framework, its amazing the ease and productivity benefits that it brings.

Next week, I am doing a roadshow in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi comparing the Windows Mobile and Symbian platforms.

http://www.microsoft.com/india/msdn/events/

What is strange is that history repeats itself. Once again, Symbian which is (was ?) a clear market leader is throwing away the advantage by not constantly innovating and building a super productive development platform.

Developers, Developers, Developers....

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be

Delhi Lights, Shades, Shadows

Last weekend, I was driving out from home and saw my friendly neighborhood dogs getting under the cars parked on the street. This was a sure sign that spring had arrived. The weather in Delhi gradually changes in February and March from the chilly winters to pleasantly warm. Eventually, these change into the searing hot days of summer.

There was a time in 80's and early 90's when one could drive through the city and feel a certain laziness in the air that came about because of the weather. Last weekend, I felt the same, except that the city had grown much bigger than anyone could have imagined, CNG had dropped the air pollution levels, cellphones are ubiquitous and a myriad other advancements have happened.

As my friend Sriram Rajamani says, Nostalgia isnt what it used to be.

3GSM Conference

The 3GSM conference is happening this week in Barcelona. There is plenty of exceitement around what is happening in the mobile world.

Some conclusions (obvious and not obvious)

(1) Consumers dont pay, Phone Operators become ISPs, Content Providers spend, and Advertisers pay :-)

(2) TV on Mobile is becoming a big bet this year!

(3) Motorola has announced a sub-40$ phone for the emerging market.

(4) Lastly, Intel's announcement about the secure transactions on the phone is very interesting.

3GSM Conference Coverage
Docomo to build core platform for HSDPA (02/13/06)
NTT DoCoMo Inc., Renesas Technology Corp., and three Japanese cell phone makers will collaborate to build a mobile phone platform consisting of a single-chip LSI and drivers, operating system and middleware for handsets supporting the High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) service.

Qualcomm plans mobile TV offensive (02/18/05)
Qualcomm Inc. said it will launch its proprietary MediaFLO mobile TV technology in the U.S. this year with an eye toward making it an international standard.

Nokia takes TV to mobile with TDF signals (02/16/05)
Nokia Corp. is showing off the industry's first live TV-to-mobile demonstration by using digital TV signals made available this week during the 3GSM World Congress by French broadcaster Telediffusion de France (TDF).

Broadcom to unleash WEDGE platform (02/16/05)
Broadcom Corp. expects to have a version of the dual- mode, quad band WEDGE (WCDMA + EDGE) multimedia platform it introduced at this week's 3GSM World Congress that has on-chip 802.11 b/g WLAN functionality, within six months.

Nokia forecasts big jump in 3G subscribers (02/15/05)
Nokia is forecasting a sharp rise in 3G network subscribers, and is suggesting that at least 70 million subscribers will be using the technology by the end of 2005.

Intel, partners put their trust in Bulverde for secure mobile transactions (02/15/05)
Intel Corp. has been shipping to selected customers a version of its Bulverde XScale-based applications processor for mobile devices that includes a hardware security block based on Trusted Computing Modules.

NTT DoCoMo pioneers 'dark side' research on mobile phones (02/15/05)
Japan's NTT DoCoMo is attempting to confront the profound social impact of ubiquitous mobile phones.

Consortium to define architectures for telecom convergence (02/15/05)
The International Packet Communications Consortium has established a working group to define reference architectures.

ST abandons GSM baseband chip development (02/15/05)
STMicroelectronics said it has abandoned a major effort to develop a second-generation GSM baseband chip set.

'User experience' haunts 3GSM conferees (02/14/05)
A group consisting of both technology vendors and mobile phone system operators at the 3GSM World Congress agreed emphatically that the customer is always right, except when he's not.

Mobile TV gets a move on, via HSDPA (02/14/05)
The grand vision for third-generation mobile telephony, according to Ericsson Chief Technology Officer Hakan Eriksson, is a "mobile triple play" that uses the power and flexibility of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem).

Sony Ericsson's Walkman to go mobile (02/14/05)
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications will take the 25-year-old Walkman into uncharted territory by launching a Walkman-branded mobile phone by mid-year.

Motorola chosen to make sub-$40 handsets for emerging markets (02/14/05)
The GSM Association has kick-started an effort to develop 'Ultra-Low Cost' mobile handsets targeted at emerging countries that would sell initially at a sub $40 cost price. Motorola launched the first such phone at the 3GSM World Congress, which the GSMA says is the first step towards a sub $30 handset target.

Nvidia launches wireless multimedia processor with Fotopack technology (02/14/05)
Nvidia Corp. is billing its new wireless media processor, unveiled at the 3GSM World Congress, as capable of realistic 3D gaming performance, 3-megapixel digital photos and camcorder-quality video capture.

Sun links with three signaling specialists for ATCA program (02/14/05)
Sun Microsystems Inc. is putting software muscle behind its Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture strategy, signing pacts with three leading signaling middleware specialists.

Alcatel, ZTE team for CDMA radio access (02/14/05)
Alcatel and ZTE have signed an international OEM agreement covering CDMA deployment, the companies announced at the 3GSM World Congress. Under the non-exclusive deal, ZTE's complete CDMA radio access portfolio will be integrated to complement Alcatel's end-to-end CDMA equipment.

Nokia targets mass market with Series 60 (02/14/05)
Nokia Corp. will target its Series 60 smart phone platform to the volume mobile phone market with the introduction of a third edition to be available for licensees in mid-2005.

Texas Instruments launches OMAP-Vox family of 2G/3G chipsets (02/14/05)
Texas Instruments Inc. has a 3G mobile phone "platform" dubbed OMAP-Vox which is intended to meet the GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS standards, the company said. OMAP-Vox adds a modem to the OMAP architecture, TI said.

CPS, SiGe Semi partner for enhanced GPS (02/14/05)
CPS and SiGe Semiconductor are completing final testing of a jointly developed enhanced global positioning system, dubbed E-GPS, that is aimed at giving existing and third generation (3G) cellular systems seamless location positioning in urban areas and indoors.

Motorola invests in RF chip specialist Sequoia (02/14/05)
Single chip multi-mode RF start-up Sequoia Communications has raised further funds from Motorola's venture arm and Third Point Ventures in an extension of the $15 million Series D round that closed last December. The total now raised in this fourth round is $19 million, the company said at the 3GSM World Congress here.

Harris extends cellular backhaul capability (02/14/05)
Harris Corporation has extended its TRuepoint microwave digital radio line-up for cellular backhaul at the 3GSM Congress here to include a version targeted at operators that require PDH-IP capability only.

Quorum readying radio IC for 3G/Wi-Fi converged handsets (02/14/05)
Quorum Systems, Inc. is demonstrating a dual radio IC at the 3GSM World Congress that combines a W-CDMA 3G transceiver with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g capabilities for companies readying converged handsets

Philips to deliver system-in-package DVB-H (02/14/05)
Philips Semiconductors has expanded the roster of companies supporting DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld), announcing it will deliver it promised mobile digital TV receiver/demodulator in a system-in-package by the end of the year.

DiBCom - TV on Mobile

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=15627&hed=Cingular+Eyes+DiBcom+Mobile+TV

The French mobile TV chip maker says the No. 1 U.S. wireless firm will test its tech.
February 7, 2006

In a move that suggests Cingular may be looking to launch a broadcast mobile TV service, chip maker DiBcom said the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier will test its chips in PDAs, laptops, and cell phones.

If Cingular embraces the French fabless semiconductor company’s mobile TV chips, which use the standard called digital video broadcasting-handheld, or DVB-H, such a plan could have significant implications.

DVB-H has been widely adopted in

Europe

, but there is likely to be a big battle over what digital video broadcasting standard will dominate in the

United States

. And DiBcom is an early-moving startup that will face larger chip companies using the same standard.

Shorthand-Aided Rapid Keyboarding

What is Shorthand-Aided Rapid Keyboarding?

Shorthand-Aided Rapid Keyboarding is an advanced pen-based text input method for mobile devices. It combines novel pattern recognition technology with a stylus keyboard. A new user may trace the letters on the keyboard to enter a word. Over time one may remember some or parts of the patterns and speed up the text writing.

Read more at...

http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/sharktext

MMMOG

Massively Multiplayer Mobile Online Gaming... How is that for a mouthful...

Nokia to bring "Space Shooter" to mobile gaming world

Massively multi-player online game to hit Java phones through the Nokia SNAP Mobile service later this year

Espoo, Finland - Nokia, the leader in mobile communications, announced today that hundreds of thousands of players will soon be able to connect through "Space Shooter" (working title), a massively multi-player online game (MMOG), available on selected Java-enabled cell phones through the Nokia SNAP Mobile service.  Building on the success of Nokia's first Java MMOG, "Pocket Kingdom," this persistent online co-operative 3D game pits humanity against alien hordes in the backdrop of outer space. 

"Our users told us they wanted deeper gameplay in the Java domain, so we're harnessing the power of Java to bring massively multi-player games like  'Space Shooter' and 'Pocket Kingdom' to phones," said Lisa Waits, head of Nokia SNAP Mobile.  "And because our Nokia SNAP Mobile service can run on any carrier and Java handset - be it Nokia or some other - our community of users has huge potential." 

All online Java games currently created for the Nokia SNAP Mobile platform are supported by Series 60 Java MIDP2.0 capable phones from Nokia and the handset support for other Nokia and non-Nokia handsets is broadened shortly.  Earlier this year, Nokia announced deals with Hong-Kong based carrier SmarTone and has several other deals in the works with other carriers to bring Nokia SNAP Mobile platform games to their customers.

"Space Shooter", developed by Monkey Business, is set in a persistent online world where players take part in a massively cooperative, ship-to-ship war against an attacking alien horde.  A live moderator keeps the game fresh by guiding the alien fleets and adding new starbases, alien nests and other challenges. 

"'Space Shooter' breaks new ground by requiring players to team up in order to counter actions taken by the moderator," said Burt Sloane, Monkey Business' Top Banana.  "We're excited to partner with Nokia to bring this experience to players using Nokia SNAP Mobile solution."  Like other titles for Nokia SNAP Mobile, "Space Shooter" offers friends list and chat, but also includes score reporting, leader boards, community news blog and offline message play.

"Space Shooter" is expected to be available on mobile phones later this year. 

Some interesting (but old) mobile news..

If you were in India in the 80s or before and were around when a cricket match happened.. you would have seen a "radio-itis" happening to several people. This condition is described as holding a radio close to the ear with one hand, neck slightly bent to hear the running commentary of cricket, with complete disregard to the work and people around you.

I believe that with mobile phones, the same thing can happen, but this time it can be even better. People can watch TV on mobile phones.

Nokia - Nokia joins The Bridge Networks' Mobile TV trial - Press Releases - Press - About Nokia

Nokia joins The Bridge Networks' Mobile TV trial
May 24, 2005

Nokia has joined forces with The Bridge Networks to become the service system and handset provider for Australia's first mobile TV trial. 

In October 2004, The Bridge Networks obtained approval from the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) to conduct Australia's first trial of DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) technology.  The Sydney-based trial is expected to commence in mid 2005 with over 500 users.

The trial users will be able to view real-time TV programs on a Nokia 7710 smartphone equipped with a special accessory to receive mobile TV broadcasts. The Nokia 7710 smartphone also enables direct links to the internet for access to background information on TV programs or sports results.

Nokia provides the end-to-end solution for DVB-H based mobile TV comprised of network infrastructure, mobile phones and service server platform. The focal point of the solution, the service system manages the broadcast of content from various content providers to consumer handsets through the DVB-H network platform.

DVB-H is a new technology that allows simultaneous transmission of multiple channels of television, radio, video, audio and IP data to a range of multi-media devices including mobile phones, PDAs, PCs and other handheld devices.

DVB-H is part of the DVB-T standard that is currently used to deliver terrestrial digital television in Australia. DVB-H makes possible the delivery of TV, radio and data content to handheld devices and is specifically designed to optimise battery life by using a technique known as 'time-slicing'. DVB-H uses MPEG-4, AAC+ and similar advanced video and audio coding and compression technologies to enable a considerable reduction in the band-width required to deliver an acceptable quality of service to small-screen devices.

Nokia is a leader in the area of mobile TV and currently, mobile TV services using DVB-H technology are being piloted in many countries around the world. Commercial mobile TV services are expected to start in 2006

Project vs Product

Many people question me, that other than the business models, which Cusumano has already written about, what is the difference between a project and a product.

I like to answer this question by giving an analogy. In the phrases below you can safely replace the word "book" by "product" and "newspaper" by "project".

A book is something that takes a long time to create. It has a deadline to be done, but that deadline is not very hard and fast, and can be move around a little. A bookwriter spends a lot of time in thinking upfront about how the book will be written. All the elements of the book must come together as a unified whole, rather than a juxtaposition of various elements. A book is used by many people across organizations, over long periods of time.

Contrast this with a newspaper article: A newspaper article has a very hard deadline. Either you ship it tomorrow morning, or else its stale food and no one wants it. The pressure in a newspaper is to get the job done and a lot of time cannot be spent on upfront planning. Sometimes newspaper articles look like a random collection. A newspaper is used once and thrown away. Very soon a new newspaper will be created, and used.

This is the difference: A Product has a long term in mind and has to be carefully designed and relevant to a lot of people across organizations. A project typically has a shorter term, hard business requirements, and needs to be done quickly else business will pass it on for some other (maybe newer) approach.