Showing posts with label register. Show all posts
Showing posts with label register. Show all posts

Sunday, November 11, 2007

iPhone launch in UK and Europe


Few people in the stores

Might be premature for any conclusion, but The Register has an interesting article.
United Kingdom stood cold to iPhone hype. At least for now.
Interesting part is when they cite mr. Ian, a reader from Souththampton, who offered his analysis in a post to Slashdot.
Might be very true for whole Europe:

Quote:

As to why, I'm sure everyone knows, but here's a recap as to why it's not the saviour of the UK's mobile industry;

1. We're used to either paying for the phone, or the contract, but not both;

2. We're used to accessing mobile internet on 3G, which was rolled out wider and earlier here than across the USA;

3. There have been several competing devices launched recently, which appeal to a range of demographics; for example, techies will like the N95 while fashion victims will like the Prada wotsit;

4. It's quite chunky as phones go - which might sound pernickerty but the market here is very much geared towards fashionable, neat phones (for example, no manufacturer would dare launch a phone with an aerial here within the last few years as they look so dated, while I hear they're still available in the US).

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Nokia widgets to charm


Woohy, woohaa, widgets. Hijack !

Andrew Orlowski hits Nokia for its widgets business strategy.
I have to disagree this time with him.

I belive he had mistaken Nokia's Web 2.0 marketing thingie-lingie language and the real reasons coming from the fact that UI concepts tend toward data-centric intefraces ( instead of list-based, now they are becoming more richer ).

I don't like Web 2.0 fancy schmency either, so I agree with him only on the part Nokia hadn't had to mentioned Web 2.0 at all.
But this time, Orlowski in the name of IT security whispers PC bloatware is coming...
We'll see.
I never liked or used widgets on my desktop, but mobile has much more sense, IMHO.

To me, there's real business logic to give web community tools to mobilise more easily their properties etc.

S60 will be software platform that enables the creation of widgets using familiar standards-based Web technologies.
Why uploading html pages ( sometimes ) when you can streamline those data more conveniently, faster and cheaper ?

Widgets will be distributed to users through several channels, one of which is WidSets, a popular consumer Internet service launched by Nokia, which allows users to personalize their mobile Internet experience.

FOLLOW UP:
Microsfot ZenZui bets on widgets
uLocate GPS widgets
GetMobio lifestyle portal
Properazzi widget for real estate

The conclusion:
Enticing vision of what the mobile deck could be if carriers opened their minds to the possibilities of a truly customizable interface. Even if this ether of floating widgets were just the front end to the content portion of a deck, it would be a vast improvement over what we have from any carrier now. First, it lowers the personalization bar so low that almost anyone with a Web connection could be enticed to manage his or her decks from a Web site.