Qix is a product of Zi Corporation, and it’s an on-device system for helping users quickly and easily discover the many features of today’s more advanced handsets. Currently available for Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets, Qix’s technology introduces a native enhanced search functionality that helps users make the most of their handset. Basically, with Qix, you could simply dial ‘522′, and you would be presented with a screen full of options, from the ability to actually just dial 522, to the phone realizing that 522 also spells ‘JAC’, and that you have a folder full of Jack Johnson music on your phone, and offering a direct link to that folder. (example ‘borrowed’ from the Qix homepage).

Telus, one of the major Canadian carriers, is going to be the first North American operator to offer Qix as part of their OEM customization, so that it will be built into every handset. Obviously the first handsets supported will be Windows Mobile and Symbian-based, but the goal is to have it available even on the featurephones, for all users.

I think it’s pretty cool that for once, carrier customization’s goal is to make it easier to use a handset, rather than to restrict features and lock things down. Obviously the ulterior motivation of highlighting more revenue-producing features of the handset is there, but I think that’s more of a lovely side effect, personally.

The world’s fastest mobile network is set to go live in Australia from next year, with the country’s incumbent operator Telstra promising speeds of 21Mbps next year and 42Mbps by 2009 from its Next G network.

The carrier says it already shares top spot in the speed stakes with Singapore’s Star Hub with a downlink of 14.4Mbps. Interestingly, it seems there might be a correlation between speed and data consumption - according to Telstra, its revenues from non-SMS data are now beating those from SMS.

The only downside of having a super-fast network is that the mobile phones aren’t keeping up in speed terms. Hopefully device will take it as their cue to get some rapid handsets on the market in time for Telstra’s new network - and hopefully with some new services too.

This one caught my attention yesterday morning — Tecore Networks, a leading provider of multi-technology mobile networks for emerging operators has merged GSM and CDMA into a single platform for Islandcom Telecommunications Ltd., the only locally based mobile communications provider for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Just in case you were wondering, the Turks are 575 miles south east of Miami in the West Indies (thanks Wikipedia). Perhaps we should host an Unlimited Drinks event and SMS Text News conference there to check out the GSM/CDMA integration?

Tecore’s all-IP network bridges the technology spectrum providing connectivity for voice, text messaging and packet data. The crucial point though, for Islandcom, is that they’ll shortly be able to serve local residents and the global tourist population (think bucketloads of Americans on Sprint and Verizon paying megadosh for international roaming).

Tecore supplied a converged core platform, the GSM and CDMA radio access network, a customer care and billing system, and professional services.

More at tecore.com.

AT&T has filed a lawsuit against Wireless Exclusive, L.L.C., for pre-paid phone trafficking. What on earth is pre-paid phone trafficking? Well, Wireless Exclusive is allegedly buying pre-paid phones in bulk (or making several smaller purchases), unlocking them, and selling them overseas for a premium.

Excuse me, but I’m not quite sure I understand how this is illegal. Supposedly, signing a contract with AT&T gets you a subsidy on a handset, correct? Thus, purchasing a pre-paid handset at ‘full retail’ to use with no contract should entirely eliminate that subsidy, right? Wrong. Turns out, AT&T (and other carriers) still offer a subsidy on those prepaid phones, assuming purchasers will actually use them.

So now, these purchasers, who did not sign any sort of contract or other binding agreement, are exercising freedom to unlock these handsets and sell them elsewhere. I suppose that I also broke the law when I purchased a Nokia N75 from AT&T a while back, unlocked and unbranded it, and sold it online? The contract is still in place, and will be for who knows how long.

In any case, AT&T (and T-Mobile and Nokia in the past) have filed a lawsuit claiming that the practice ‘amounts to theft of subsidies.’ Hmmm, I thought buying a phone without a contract eliminated that subsidy?

Given that pre-paid handsets do not require anything other than my birthday to purchase and activate, I fail to see how this is illegal in the slightest bit. Sounds to me like AT&T (and any other carrier) is offering a discount in good faith to customers, and when that goes awry, turn to the legal system.

Via: RCRNews

BuzzMyGoat.com is a cool new service brought to you by Outcast TV and allows users to pull from a large library of professional video clips to create quality custom videos to share with friends and family. The service sends the recipient an SMS containing the weblink to view their message.

BuzzMyGoat lets you send your first video for free, and the rest cost anywhere from free to 2GBP, depending on the content and level of personalization. ‘Buzzes’ can be video or audio content and are produced by a team of former BBC filmmakers.

This is a killer idea and a great way to make use of the hours of random footage that’s sure to exist from comedy shows.

Vodafone Spain has claimed the title of the first European operator to offer Spinvox’s speech-to-text services. Dubbed DictaSMS Automatic and DictaSMS 115, the services allow Vodafone users to easily receive their voicemail as convenient text messages.

With DictaSMS Automatic, when a Vodafone user attempts to call another Vodafone user who either does not have voicemail or is out of coverage, the message will automatically be converted to text and delivered as an SMS.

With DictaSMS 115, users can prefix their outgoing call with 115 to be asked if they want to record a message, which will be delivered via SMS. This service works for calls to any network.

The coolest part is that the service is free, billed only for the minutes used to record the message.

Helio has teamed up with “location-based arts and entertainment” firm Buzz’d to give its data-savvy users real-time reviews and info on the bars, clubs and restaurants near where they are. The service covers most of the major US cities and comes with editorial input from the likes of Flavorpill, TimeOut New York, and CitySearch.

As well as restaurants and the like, there will be events updates with pricing and news, so bored clubgoers can keep each other updated on the latest hotspots. The service will work on a membership basis, with Buzz’d users able to post their own reviews and ratings and find and message other members.

This is the sort of services that should receive a shot in the arm once GPS is more mainstream, especially when a ‘find my friends’ location-based service can show you on a map which pub or bar your mates are in.

Virgin Mobile, an MVNO using Sprint’s CDMA network, unofficially reported some Q4 2007 numbers, and they’re not looking great. The company went public in October and previously claimed they would add 400,000 in the holiday season. Unfortunately, they only managed to snag a little over 200,000, roughly half. However, their financials improved quite a bit during 2007, with earnings coming in at $100 million, slightly over the $90 million they had expected. Also, net loss was reduced drastically, from $36.7 million in 2006 to between $6-7 million in 2007.

Definitely makes me wonder how well they would have done if they had been able to garner all 400,000 of those planned subscribers. Note, however, that these numbers are preliminary, final numbers are expected in March.

Helio, one of the few MVNOs that seem to be successful, has dropped the price of its all-you-can-eat mobile service plan. For $99/month, subscribers get unlimited voice, data, and messaging on Helio’s high-speed EV-DO network (it’s really Sprint’s, but whatever). The plan used to cost $145, so it’s a pretty big savings, and it’s for a limited time.

Helio’s target market is the young professionals and tech-savvy who want to always be connected. I’ve been reviewing the Helio Mysto, a recently announced slim slider manufactured by Samsung, and I have to say it’s easily the most connected and multimedia-rich non-smartphone I’ve ever played with. Helio’s service, at $99/month, is really a killer deal.

If you’re wanting to get as much of the mobile web goodness as you can, but aren’t into smartphones for whatever reason, you may want to give Helio a better look.

If reports are correct - and I really hope they are - the costs of data-roaming could be about to come down. According to a report in The Telegraph, T-Mobile is working to broker a deal between Europe’s mobile operators to cut roaming charges - before the EC steps in and makes them do it anyway.

The EC Commissioner in charge of such things, Viviane Reding, managed to cut the cost of voice roaming by up to 70 percent last year but didn’t mandate any cuts in data costs at the time. Now, she told Reuters she’s ready to take on data roaming and would like to see some action on costs before the summer, although probably not as much as consumers would.

If last year’s voice roaming saga is anything to go by, we can expect the operators to fall over themselves cutting prices in an effort to dissuade the EC from passing some more regulation. Whether regulation is needed or not is a matter for debate - oddly enough, the operators say no and the regulators say yes - but either way, it looks like mobile data will only get cheaper.

AT&T and 1-800-FLOWERS are seeing a greenish-red this year for Valentine’s Day. The largest GSM carrier in the United States has added a link to the 1-800-FLOWERS mobile shop to its MediaNET deck, as part of their ‘Cupid Goes Wireless’ campaign. AT&T subscribers can login to send their special someone a free animated flower bouquet (hopefully with a disclaimer for men that mobile flowers will not cover them for the entire holiday).

There’s also a contest to win a $50 gift pack from 1-800-FLOWERS.com. This is obviously great for 1-800-FLOWERS to have exposure on AT&T’s MediaNET homepage, as its currently the default homepage for the mobile browser on most of AT&T’s 65+million subscriber’s handsets.

AT&T has struck with a multi-year pact with Yahoo which will see the internet company’s search and display ads appearing on AT&T handsets, and a new co-branded portal for mobile web users emerge. The deal will also see the pair cosy up with joint services for AT&T’s broadband customers.
The union comes on the back of some interesting announcements at both AT&T and Yahoo of late - the mobile operator just announced a set of quarterly results where it revealed 2.7 million subscribers joined its the fold - the largest quarterly add for any US operator ever - and mobile data revenue up 57.5 percent on the year before. Meanwhile, Yahoo has recently had a change of leadership, with Jerry Yang taking over as CEO, and a restructuring which will see 1,000 jobs lost.
Archrival Google has also been focusing its sights on the mobile world - last week, it struck a deal with DoCoMo. Under the agreement, Google will become the default search for DoCoMo users, Google services will get polished up for i-mode handsets and Google Maps may come preloaded on some i-mode mobiles in the future.WIth mobiles set to become the dominant way of accessing the internet in the future, it’s surprising there aren’t more of these deals being struck, especially in emerging markets.

It’s all change at Helio, the lovechild of Earthlink and SK Telecom, with Sky Dayton has moving from the CEO position to non-executive chairman of the board, and Wonlee Sull switching from president and COO to the job of CEO. Sull has previously worked at head of the Platform R&D Center at SK Telecom.

Helio hasn’t had it easy in recent times, following Earthlink’s decision to stop funding the MVNO last year after it posted a net loss of $92 million in the third quarter and SK Telecom stepped in with its cheque book to the tune of $270 million.

With the change of leadership, Helio has revealed some stats on its performance. The operator now has “nearly” 200,000 subscribers and an ARPU of $85, $35 more than the industry average. Helio also said 95 percent of its users access the internet through their mobiles and send an average of 550 texts a month.While the words “US MVNO” can’t help but conjure a battlefield littered with the corpses like ESPN and Disney Mobile, Helio’s stats hopefully indicate that the company is actually getting hold of the data-hungry customers it always promised it would.

You read correctly, AT&T, the biggest GSM carrier in the United States, will be once again raising the cost to send or receive a message. Text message rates will go up $0.05 to $0.20 per message, while MMS rates will also increase by a nickel, up to $0.30. Note that these changes only affect subscribers who are not currently on a monthly messaging plan, and will not increase the overage rates for those already on a plan.

Note also that the big carriers are so desperate to convince customers to use messaging on their handsets that they have resorted to bullying them into signing up for a monthly package. For instance, AT&T currently offers the Messaging Starter package, which includes 200 messages for $5 per month. At these new rates, 200 text messages would cost $40!

Surely there is a better way to convince people to sign up for a package than by bullying them into it, specially since it costs AT&T less than a penny to deliver these messages?

These new rates are set to go into effect on March 30, 2008.

Thailand’s The Nation newspaper is carrying a story this morning about China Mobile and their privacy policies. The top man at China Mobile, Wang Jianzhou, was giving a speech to delegates at the World Economic Forum…

The head of China’s biggest mobile phone company, which has more than 300 million subscribers, stunned delegates by revealing that the company had unlimited access to the personal data of its customers and handed it over to Chinese security officials when demanded.

The admission, described as “ bone- chilling” by United States Congressman Ed Markey, sent shivers through an audience of telecom experts at the World Economic Forum who immediately saw the potential for misuse and surveillance.

Obviously in the US and the United Kingdom, along with many other countries, authorities need some sort of court order to obtain your telecom records from operators. It’s apparently the same in China as Wang explained:

He explained how the company could use the personal data of its customers to sell advertising and services to them based on knowledge of where they were and what they were doing. When pressed about the privacy and security implications of this, he said, “ We can access the information and see where someone is, but we never give this information away … only if the security authorities ask for it.”

The critical issue is whether there is any independent oversight of the Chinese authorities making disclosure demands.
One fascinating figure to comprehend though:

Wang’s company adds six million new customers to its network each month and is already the biggest mobile group in the world by users.

Not a lot for a company that’s already got a whopping 300 million customers. But, SIX million new customers, a month? Logistical nightmare…!

Sprint Nextel, the same company that recently gained a President and CEO has now lost its CFO, CMO, and President of Sales and Distribution. Paul Selah, the CFO, was previously standing in as President and CEO while the board was looking for a replacement, and is making quick to leave since Dan Hesse is in place. Tim Kelly, currently the CMO and Mark Angelino, currently the President of Sales and Distribution will also be taking off as of today.

These execs are leaving as Sprint also announces massive job cuts and retail store closures, which is not a great sign for the 3rd largest carrier in the United States.

I thought it was a bit fishy when AT&T got ahold of Om Malik to ‘clarify’ that no contract was needed for the SIM-only deal, and wanted to check to see exactly how easy it was for Joe Blow to get. However, I don’t need another SIM card, contract free or not, but my friend Matt does. I asked Matt if he would mind attempting to order the contract-free SIM card online, and he quickly obliged.

However, we’re not off to a good start, as Matt couldn’t even find the SIM-only deal on AT&T’s website anymore. As such, he decided to engage ‘Natalie’, the friendly online chat sales representative, to see if she could help him. The conversation follows:

Thank you for your patience! An AT&T, sales representative will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with Natalie, an AT&T, sales representative.
Natalie: Welcome to AT&T online Sales support. How may I assist you with placing your order today?
matt: hello Natalie, I had a question: where on your website can I buy the sim-card only, no contract deal?
Natalie: Unfortunately the sim card only purchase is out of stock here online.
Natalie: To start service on a phone you already have you would want to visit a local store or call our sales department at 866.246.4852.
matt: Ok, thank you for the heads up… two more questions for you
matt: One, where on the site would I find that for future reference?
matt: And two, can the sim-only option be added with just an unlimited data plan, or does it require voice?
Natalie: The sim card only option is for activating new Contract or Prepaid service using your own device. The process was always available in the stores and over the phone but it was not available here online.
matt: I understand, but I was under the impression that had changed.. that it was now available as an option online. Thank you for clarification.
Natalie: You are welcome.
matt: Do you know whether I can use my own device and add the PDA Unlimited plan, using the sim-card only?
Natalie: Would you have any more questions I can help you with online?
Natalie: Yes you can use a data only option on the PDA phones . You will go to plans and choose data plans and add the PDA data plan to that line.
Natalie: The line is still automatically assigned a number but you are not required to sign up on a voice plan. However, if the phone is used to make or receive a phone call, you are just billed $.40 per minute when used.
matt: Ok, that makes sense… and I know that this isn’t your realm, since it’s not an online option… but can that same plan be used with my own device with the no-contract sim do you know?
Natalie: If you choose the Prepaid option for service you will not have the data only option for service.
matt: I’m sorry, I don’t mean the prepaid option I mean using the month-to-month option where I bring my own device, and get a no-contract sim card.
Natalie: We do not offer service month to month. The sim only if when using your own phone with our service. You still have to choose a contract option for our service.
matt: There were several news announcements a couple of days ago saying that if you were to bring your own phone to AT&T, you could get a sim card with any of their regular plans (not promotional plans) and get just a sim card, and not have to sign a contract.
matt: Natalie, here’s a link with the news: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/22/atandt-says-sim-only-service-available-contract-free-2-year-plan/
Natalie: With the sim card offer you still have to sign a contract for your service. The offer is for customers who had their own devices that they wanted to use with our service. When the sim was only you had a 2 year agreement if you choose a regular plan or no contract if you choose the Prepaid service plans. It was never without a contract on the regular service plans.
matt: I’m sorry, but that’s directly in contradiction to what your company has said… I AM bringing my own device to the table, so should I be able to get a sim with no contract then? (Not prepaid)
Natalie: It also states it here on the page you sent to me: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/20/atandt-offers-sim-only-service-attempts-to-maintain-most-open-s/
matt: yes, which your company later issued a correction to, stating that there was no contract required
matt: That was the link I sent you
Natalie: Unfortunately that is incorrect information. You are more than welcome to check in the local store or call sales at 1-888-333-6651 to verify the information.
matt: Ok, thank you Natalie
Natalie: You are welcome.
Natalie: Thank you for visiting AT&T. I look forward to chatting with you in the future. Have a great day!

So it appears as though ‘Natalie’, whom AT&T has entrusted with interacting with consumers online, is not only unaware of any statements that AT&T has publicly made regarding the SIM-only contract-free, but she also has no issues making very direct and absolute statements regarding such deals. Has anyone else tried to get their hands on a contract-free SIM-only deal?

Hope it goes well…

Link: StrategyEye :: Visual Market Intelligence

Disney has confirmed plans to launch a MVNO service in Japan on Mar 1, in cooperation with Softbank Corp, which will let it use its network. Unveiling a series of branded mobile phones, the entertainment giant claims to be “extremely confident” about the new venture, despite the fact that its previous attempt at a MVNO service, in the US, failed and shut down last month. Disney, however, points out that this flop, using Sprint Nextel’s US network, was mainly due to the fact that Disney had to handle everything on its own. In Japan, by contrast, Softbank has agreed to take care of the entire network management, including billing and customer care.

Link: Developers: Verizon Wants You! - GigaOM

Two months after saying it would open up its network to other devices, Verizon Wireless is inviting developers to a mid-March conference where they can learn more about building software and devices that will run on its network.

Gahh.

What a stupid, stupid arse of an announcement from Verizon. There is nothing worse for me than reading about mobile operators who’re falling over themselves to help developers build software and devices for their (proprietary) networks.

Next.

When will they eventually realise that what all developers crazy is ubiquity. Facebook Applications, for example. Not entirely ubiquitous as not everyone uses Facebook, but .. can you imagine the development hell if Facebook decided to change parameters for each group, network and country area? It’d be a total unmitigated arse to develop for. Have you got that image of despair in your mind? Good. Welcome to the mobile industry…

In Tomi’s piece the other day, he set out his viewpoints, all of which I agree with, relating to the rather challenging position Sprint finds itself in at the moment.

Link: Communities Dominate Brands: Nightmare continues for America’s worst company: Now Sprint Nextel laying off 4000 in desperate move

The nightmare following the world’s most damaging marketing action ever, is continuing to devastate Sprint Nextel as it now issues emergency statements and desperation moves.

Everywhere I go, people tell me just how bad Sprint is.

There have definitely been some blunders — Tomi’s right that Tim, their Chief Marketing chap either needs to go quickly (or fix the situation pronto). ‘Terminal decline,’ as Tomi puts it, isn’t good news. Especially when the mobile market in the States is growing substantially month-on-month.

However it’s not all bad. Definitely not. I’ve been using Sprint for two months, fault free. The service I’ve had has been impeccable. Absolutely impeccable. In-store service across the Bay Area was friendly, pleasant and enthusiastic. Call quality is good, the data network is lightning fast and the rate plans are astonishingly good (particularly compared to my experience in the United Kingdom). I’m paying $100 a month for everything. Unlimited minutes, texts, picture messages, data, mobile television, the whole shebang. (When will someone in the UK introduce this? Come on 3… you know you want to…) And what’s more it’s only 6 cents or 3 pence a minute to call the UK with the international option (I think it’s $4.99/month or similar). Right on.

And it works. Lost my phone at the weekend and I had a replacement in one business day no questions asked. I’ve called Customer Service for a few questions — they’ve all been friendly and helpful.

Tesco Mobile, like Virgin Mobile, is one of the UK’s MVNO success stories. Through their extensive in-store and online promotions, they’ve managed to net a super number of customers. I couldn’t find up to date subscriber numbers — but it’s in the millions.

Tesco just announced a new offering — Standard Plus:

Tesco Mobile has announced their latest ‘pay as you go’ tariff, Standard Plus, which offers a monthly bonus of 500 free texts or 150 free minutes when users top up by £15 or more per month.

“The new Standard Plus tariff is the perfect option for people who top-up regularly and want great value from their mobile service provider, combined with pay as you go flexibility,” said Andy Dewhurst, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco Mobile. “We want to offer our ‘pay as you go’ customers similar bonus airtime or text benefits to those of pay-monthly customers.”

I suspect that for a subset of Tesco Mobile’s subscribers, this will be an excellent deal.

Recently, AT&T made this big claim that they are the most open network. They’ve recently begun offering a SIM-only option in their online shop, so that users with unlocked handsets can sign up without having to fork out for a new handset. Sounds good, right? Wrong. The stupid part of this is that it still requires a contract. Why? For YEARS AT&T (and the other carriers) have been telling us that the contract is to subsidize the handset. So then why am I expected to sign one WITHOUT getting any equipment? You’re trying to say it’s to subsidize the SIM card? Horsefeathers.

Next up, let’s assume you *DO* go ahead and start using an unlocked/unbranded handset on AT&T’s open network. For instance, I’m using a Nokia N95 NAM, and my fiance is using a Nokia N81 8GB. AT&T doesn’t offer either, and therefore, they’re technically ‘unsupported’. No biggie, Nokia’s smart enough (on the S60 handsets at least) to pull the necessary access point information for data and MMS straight off the SIM card for me. However, AT&T is stupid enough to cripple my MMS. They call it ‘MMS Adaptation’, and basically it means that if the receiving handset isn’t listed in their ’supported handsets’ list, the network assumes it is the lowest common denominator, which is somewhere along the lines of the Nokia 2610, which doesn’t support video playback, and only has 2MB of internal memory. Thus, if I attempted to send Christina a video message between my N95 and her N81 (both of which have no issues with the content), it’s stripped out by AT&T’s ’smart’ and ‘open’ network because it assumes that her phone isn’t capable of it.

Genious, guys. This is equivalent to a walled garden that opens its doors, but lines the walkway leading out with broken glass. Sure, it’s open and you can get out of the garden, but we aren’t going to make it easy. It’s garbage, that’s what this is, not ‘openness’. I was afraid of this, when the major networks started advertising that they would open their networks. It’s all fake PR nonsense designed to make themselves look good in the headlines for a few days.

UPDATE: It appears as though AT&T has clarified that the 2-year contract requirement was a website error. You can indeed sign up for a SIM-only plan, with no contract, though you will not be eligible to receive ‘promotional elements’ on the plan. This is currently the Mobile-to-Mobile feature on AT&T’s nationwide rate plans. Personally, I would still suggest that you sign a 2-year contract, take the phone you get and flip it on eBay for ~$150-200, and just hang on to the cash in case you need an ETF in the future.

Well, I’m a chump. I don’t know WHAT I did with my handset. Perhaps I was robbed without me knowing it. Or more likely, I left is somewhere highly stupid. It’s lost, though. Searched high and low.

I phoned Sprint straight away when I realised I’d lost it at about 11pm. Alas, they were closed.

The next morning — this morning — I phoned. I asked if I could sort it out at a Sprint store (i.e. walk away with a new handset immediately). Alas no. I was transferred through to the Sprint handset support people. Sprint doesn’t replace handsets — it’s their partner, Asurion, who takes care of that (for a $50 non-refundable fee), provided you’ve been paying the monthly insurance fee. Which, cleverly, I have. Normally I don’t ever do that. CDMA handsets though. You need insurance.

I thought the whole process might be a bit painful.

I gave my phone number and password. Explained I’d lost it. The nice lady from Asurion took my credit card details for the $50 fee and explained I’d have my new handset in four business days.

Now, that was the first surprise… (actually, the first surprise was how nice and simple the process was)… FOUR business days? In the UK, it’s next business day by 10am. We can’t operate without our handsets. FOUR days. If you lost your phone on Friday, you wouldn’t get a replacement until… next THURSDAY.

The lady offered me an express option for $15 — I’d get the handset in two days. Done. I accepted.

All told, 3 minutes. Nice.

Discuss.

As told by commedian Lenny Bruce…

Link: Lenny Bruce Quotes

Communism is like one big phone company

Phoneboy’s done a wicked study comparing the services costs between the USA and Indonesia… worth a read

Link: Reality Check: Wireless Service In Indonesia

The CTIA says that other operators worldwide want to become more like the U.S. carriers. No wonder: they’d love to get away with charging for service they don’t provide, and overcharging for the services they do provide, just like U.S. mobile operators! Pity most people in this country haven’t seen how it works elsewhere to know there’s a better way, let alone demanded it.