Author: Ken McGuire

Smartphone users with handsets driven by Windows Mobile are in for a treat, Skype having released a beta of version 2.2 of the VOIP app. Until recently, Windows Mobile support was only available as a Pocket PC option. Now, having used Skype on my iPAQ 6515w I can say I’m impressed. Worked well off the wi-fi connection and the response time was relatively quickly. With over 5 million downloads of the Pocket PC version, its about time that the Smartphone option started getting more attention.

• ONLamp.com — Rolling with Ruby on Rails
  Introduction to Ruby on Rails (which I’ve been introduced to over the last day or so), a basic guide behind it, introduction to installation, running locally, developing first application etc.
  (tags: ruby rails rubyonrails)

O2 are going musical for the festive season, having announced Napster Mobile’s availability on the network in conjunction with Ericsson. Mobile users will be able to “search, browse, preview and purchase full-length songs from Napster’s immense catalog and enjoy Ericsson-aggregated personalization content via their i-mode, WAP and Java-enabled wireless handsets”.

Given that one third of children share music on mobile phones I guess they’ve (the kids) got something to look forward to now. No mention though on what the copy protection elements (if any) would be for Napster’s downloads.

Have people simply downloaded too much music? Figures released today might just indicate that (or at least its one possible suggestion) as Reuters reports that Apple’s monthly iTunes revenue dropped by 65% overall since January of this year. Interestingly enough, digital music purchases accounted for only 4% of music transactions in the US for the year. Given that Apple have shipped out over 1.5bn tracks since launching their iTunes stores as well as being the leader in terms of web music sales, that still leaves a whole lot of people who’ll be getting CDs for Christmas.

Wouldn’t mind seeing figures for Irish digital music downloads, especially now that O2 are launching Napster Mobile.

Though in fairness, I do love getting a CD for Christmas 🙂

Mark Walsh writes for Online Media Daily that cost is the biggest barrier to mobile web – I’d have to agree with them on that one. If in terms of mobile phone usage I could count the amount of times on one hand that I used my mobile for web and rss access while away recently in Canada and I can tell you that the figures on the phone bill aren’t coming in singles – O2 nicely roasting me in the run up to Christmas, cheers.

Of course, my gripe there is with roaming charges. When it comes to accessing anything subscription based like ringtones, video etc. I’ll find them online myself, upload them to me own server and have them accessible to the mobile should I need them on the move – or better still, just download them straight to the phone via the bluetooth dongle or data cable. But thats just me and I can tell you now that majority of people with mobile phones wouldn’t have a clue what about anything I just mentioned.

I am, therefore, avoiding the costs.

The biggest complaint of 38.5% of mobile consumers was that data services are “too expensive.”

Data services in general in the Irish market are too high. GPRS charges are extortionate, as are 3G rates, monthly subscriptions and more. One way to alleviate this, as is currently being done in the UK and US is to attach adverts to data services, such as video subscriptions. Hell, I don’t mind sitting through a 15-30 second ad on my phone if its going to cut a huge chunk of my charges. Other people however, don’t see it like that.

…consumers were asked to indicate how willing they would be to accept three ads a day in return for half-priced data services or content. Rating on a scale from one (very willing) to seven (very unwilling), the average was 2.45. Only 6% of respondents said they were “very willing” to accept advertising in return for lower service costs. About 16% indicated at least some openness to advertising.

Of course, we get pummeled with ads on the TV but it does nothing about the ever-rising TV license fees. Still, if you were a heavy user of mobile web services and data services, would you not be willing to accept a short ad in exchange for a nice reduction on your monthly charges?

Fair play to O2 for bringing in flat-rate GPRS charges but I think its too little too late for some of the bigger roamers and subscribers in the country…

BT look like they’re ready to re-enter the mobile market in the UK, so does that mean we’ll see a return of Esat, or Esat-BT in Ireland to the mobile market? Eircom flogged Eircell to Vodafone a few years back and got back in the game with taking over Meteor, while BT flogged its then network to MMO2, now O2 in the Irish market.

Of course, they’ll still have to win the license bid…

I’m in the market for a second hand piano, or to pick myself up something nice software-wise like a copy of Aperture or an Mbox 2 with Pro Tools. Mind you, having just gotten back from Toronto I’ve got to behave for a while and pay the bills off. I do, however, also like to buy myself something around Christmas to mark the end of the year, however big or small.

So what do bloggers want for Christmas in this country eh?

Thought that was an interesting statistic to open up the morning RSS trawl, with Cellular News reporting that almost one third of kids share music on mobile phones. Gone are the days in 99/2000 when your Nokia 3210 was the absolute business. Its worrying for those in the music industry I guess but I’m still impressed (given the age group was 8-13 year olds) with the use of the technology.

The research, carried out by New Age Media magazine and Intuitive Media (see comments below) also revealed

…a unique new insight into the increasingly important kids mobile market. With 72% of 6-13 year olds now owning their own phone and 26% spending at least £1 or more on content a week, mobile content providers, network operators and media companies can no longer afford to ignore mobile for this demographic.

Intel have completed and unveiled their first WIMAX chipset out in Hong Kong at the 3G World Congress and Mobility Marketplace.

The firm is to bundle the chip with its multi-band WiMAX/Wi-Fi radio chip to create a chipset it calls the Intel WiMAX Connection 2300. The design brings Intel a step closer to its aim of a integrated wireless system-on-chip that it believes will help drive WiMAX adoption.

Good news for mobile internet users!

Does anyone else have this problem –

You’re sitting by your desk, mobile to one side of the keyboard, optical USB mouse (not wireless) to the other side of the keyboard. The buzzing sound on your clock radio tells you that you’ve got a text message coming through then your mouse hangs. Patiently it waits until the text message is delivered to your mobile, then it resumes its normal service.

The mouse might either

• run up the screen of its own accord or
• stop working entirely, freezing on the screen, disconnecting and reconnecting itself when the sms has passed

Bar changing my mouse (which I actually like, its a nice Microsoft one that came with the natural keyboard), or moving the phone away (normally I’d have it connected to the PC for syncing if I’m home), can anyone suggest a workable solution, or have you even come across it in reality?

Looks like from today onwards, Ireland’s ever-increasing (in terms of subscribers) mobile operator Meteor will be offering their website through Irish – something that none of O2, Vodafone or Three currently do.

Andrew Kelly, speaking for Meteor, said

At Meteor we listen to our customers, and there was the demand for our website to be translated into Irish, so we simply made it happen. We are committed to providing all of our customers with a simple, easy to understand website, and we’re delighted to offer this service to our Irish speaking customers

I think its a shame the other operators don’t do it. When I was in Canada it was hard to find something on a shelf, in a store, or on a sign that wasn’t also written in French as well as English. Why can’t we just do the same over here? At least encourage the language or help people see what some of the most basic words and instructions are?

The site is also available in Polish, Latvian, Mandarin and Lithuanian.

Post also on kenmc.com.