line of site

where will the new playground be? (google IPO commentary)

there always seems to be one playground corporate environment in silicon valley. in recent memory, there was SGI, then netscape, both jim clark joints, who ironically complained about going public and being "drawn and quartered" in whatever that ghost written book he put out was called.

being drawn and quartered means the beginning of the end of the playground work environment, with all workers constantly watching the stock price, and EVERY business decision is based upon three month increments (i.e. the quarter) of what you have to report to the market. there are some things that really suck about working for a public company, and being drawn and quartered is the biggest one.

of course, the cash infusion is great, and allows the playground environment to exist for quite some time while the employees watch the IPO price swirl down in the direction the Coriolis Effect dictates in their particular hemisphere. i had fun witnessing this process with the most successful canadian IPO, but canadian playgrounds can't compare to those in the valley.

a recent trip to google makes it clear that google is currently the reigning king of the playground work environment, also ironically, in one of the former houses that jim clark built (they are in SGI's old offices). plenty o' fluffy couches, stocked fridges full of all the premium drinks you can get your hands on, and search ticker projectors showing the latest (porn filtered) searches in every reception area. lunchtime soccer games in the ampitheatre park, all the free food you can get your hands on in the cafeteria - who wouldn't want to work here? especially with the promise of a (at the time) looming IPO announcement and all this fun, c'mon. the day i was there alone, NBC was shooting a spot in the "quad", and sergey was leading al gore around with an entourage that sat down right next to us in the cafeteria.

now google will have some interesting challenges ahead. with the public market making sure they expand their empire every quarter, things will have to tighten up, right? don't get me wrong, this boatload of cash will fuel plenty of parties and fun sales meetings, and i don't expect those fridges to be downgraded to pepsi products any time soon. with some young founders now rich beyond their wildest dreams, how engaged will they be? expect google to make some public moves with their cash to keep the stock price afloat, and a bunch of new service offerings to squash competitors on many fronts.

so anyway, good luck to google, have fun while it lasts! who's next?

tradeyourphone.com

an interesting service tradeyourphone.com. they match you with someone else you want to trade phones with, you each pay them $10 to grease the skids.

i like this business because they are just market makers, like eBay, and assuming they can generate some volume, this could be a decent business, and it's a niche enough thing where people wouldn't necessarily to do someone like ebay to do this.

i haven't tried this, and i know nothing about this company, but it is an interesting business. of course, someone else could do it for $5 ($10) per transaction and still make money i think, which seems about the right price point.

more details on the Nokia 6600 4.09.1 Firmware

i found more information on the new firmware for the Nokia 6600. the intro is in italian, but the meat is in english.

it looks like there are some improvements, but also some new DRM features that have been implemented...so you can no longer "beam" applications around.

New firmware v 4.09.1 Nokia 6600

nokia 6600 available from T-Mobile US

i just happen to be browsing the T-Mobile US site, and saw that the Nokia 6600 is now available from a carrier here in the states:

http://www.t-mobile.com/products/images.asp?phoneid=218043&class=phone

new mobile feed reader releases, version for P800 (MIDP 1.0)

thought i'd point out a few new new versions of the mobile feed reader, even though the feedburner site isn't quite up to date yet...

FeedBurner Mobile Feed Reader P800 edition

this is genereic MIDP1.0, but not memory optimized for anything besides a P800 at this point, so that's the only MIDP 1.0 device currently supported, though if you have a device with enough Java heap, it might work.

there are also some updates to the MIDP 2.0 versions, which can be found via this page. you should be able to upgrade over your existing database no problem.

P800 version screen shots:

more on MIDP2.0 platformRequest()

from the symbian FAQ, there appears to be some new firmware for the Nokia 6600 that has fixed the problem with platformRequest() (namely, that it didn't work at all)... 4.09.1. great. how does one get that?

the faq is here:

Do Symbian OS based MIDP 2.0 phones support the platformRequest(String url) method?

also, russ tells me that this has also been fixed on the series 60 firmware that comes on the Nokia 7610.

spam 1, me 0

i've decided to give in on fighting spam with bayesian filters and move to a challenge/response system, namely, mailblocks.com. it's dirt cheap at $25 per YEAR, and if it works as advertised it seems to be the right solutions for my mobile lifestyle. that, and the continuing suckiness of my DSL provider, Speakeasy, makes me think that hosting mail somewhere else might not be such a bad idea.

i receive most of my email on the go, and although have an unlimited data plan, the alerts received from spam have gotten too annoying. plus, i can pull in the already filtered email i receive on hotmail and yahoo and consoldiate it into one account that i can pull down to my mobile devices.

on my desktop, i use apple mail, which used to catch 100% of the spam, and now catches about 25% as spammers have gotten the best of bayesian filtering. same with procmail solutions. there's probably better things i could and am able to install, but it's just not worth it as hosted email is getting so dirt cheap.

so on to the next battle, until spammers figure out C&R. is this the right solution to spam? probably not. personally, if sending spam was punishable by their choice of death or roo-roo, they might think twice about sending it.

wow, bluetooth car owners starting to get really pissed off at Sony Ericsson

as more and more bluetooth phones are entering the market, and more and more bluetooth cars are entering the market - consumers are starting to see the writing on the wall as to the incompatibilities that result from devices not supporting both the "handsfree" AND "headset" bluetooth profiles.

i've kind of shook my head in just *another* example of a device manufacturer leaving out *one critical feature* for their flagship devices. how can anyone be surprised?

those who have done a lot of reseach and layed down $800 for their P900 to work with their bluetooth car are rightly starting to get pissed. i do this stuff for a living, but how can the average consumer know about the intricacies of bluetooth profiles? they shouldn't have to! duh!

this expansys forum shows some users getting pissed off, for lack of a better term in the (american) english language:

http://www.expansys.at/forumthread.asp?code=107853&thread=134

all handsfreelink postings:

acura handsfreelink category

frustrated with US carriers

i got an easter card today via yahoo! greetings from my cousin in sicily with some cute dancing pulcini hatching from their easter eggs, which was cool, but what caught my eye was the possible responses to the card, one of which was "Invia una cartolina al cellulare di gina" which means "send a postcard greeting to gina's cellular phone".

cool. when you click on that, you get a bunch of choices that would allow me to send to her cell number she had registered in my yahoo. i went on to look at the other services such as the java games available at mobile yahoo! italia. this is remarkably easy for yahoo to support in italy. click, send to your GSM number.

compare that with something like this at the yahoo! us portal and see the "will this work on my phone?" sidebar. enter carrier. enter phone brand. enter phone model. i wonder how many people go through the motions after choosing "verizon".

ug. what a pain. but it's what we have to do to create a usable user interface for the masses here in the US.

i have clients that are struggling with this right now. they want to offer mobile services to their subscribers that happen to have mobile phones, but there's always this dichotomy between GSM/CDMA and a separate dichotomy between J2ME/BREW that needs to be accounted for in every offering, making development expensive, and customer support onerous.

there are number of companies, startup and otherwise, that are trying to bridge that gap here, in my opinion, not having a lot of success. the carriers depending on who you talk to, haven't decided whether inter-operability will help them or harm them - but the reality of situation is that non inter-operability between the wireless carriers is hurting both the carriers and the companies providing services on the carriers' network, and slowing adoption of wireless data services here in the US.

n-gage2

ah, you gotta love it when things fall off the truck.

i can't read thai, but these pictures of the nokia n-gage 2 or whatever they will call it are pretty amazing. looks like they fixed all the flaws...speaker and mic are on the flat side of the phone, not the edge, and the memory card can be removed without removing the SIM card. very cool. i can't wait.

pics of the n-gage 2 at flashfly.net

quick cameraphone shootout #3

another cameraphone shootout!

this is really just to test three new phones, not my whole battery of cameraphones.

this time, the subject is some "driveway anime" i drew in full bright sunlight.

click on each image for a full size image. they've been compressed on this page to save space.

nokia 6600 640 x 480 full size

audiovox cdm 8900 640 x 480 full size

sony ericsson P900 640 x 480 full size

handspring treo 600 640 x 480 full size

motorola v400 (same as v300/v500) 640 x 480 full size

cameraphone shootout #1

cameraphone shootout #2

turns out P900 doesn't work with any bluetooth car systems

i have posted a few times 1, 2 on the lack of blutooth "handsfree" profile on the P900 (and the P800), making it incompatible with the acura HandsFreeLink system. it turns out it is also not compatible with the Lexus system or the aftermarket BMW kits.

the following is a discussion posted from "behind closed doors" in the sony ericsson developer forum - which requires registration... it though this would be a good public place to continue the discussion. if you want Sony Ericsson to "stop the madness" and add this BT profile to the P900 contact them here and tell them: "add the bluetooth handsfree profile to the P900" - maybe they'll listen.

--------------------------

Author: 
airactivist

Date: 
21-Nov-2003 22:26 GMT EST

Subject:
Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
I could be barking up the wrong technical tree here, however, here it goes. Is
there any possibilty of a "firmware upgrade" to your new SonyEricsson P900
Bluetooth profile, to enable the phone to communicate with a hands free device?
Meaning, is it even technically possible for the P900 in the future to be
upgraded so the Bluetooth communication therein contains the "HFP", or "hands
free profile"? Or...is it static, and never alterable? Thank you so very much
for your reply. The P900 is the ultimate "smartphone", and it`s a curious
omission that the phone does not have the "hands free profile" in the Bluetooth
protocol, considering two far less expensive and technically advanced phones,
the Sony Ericsson T610, and T616, both have it. I appreciate immensely your
reply. Thank you.

Author: 
Sony Ericsson Developer Support

Date: 
24-Nov-2003 16:20 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Let me see what I can find out.

Jim
Sony Ericsson Developer SUpport

Author: 
airactivist

Date: 
24-Nov-2003 16:43 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Thank you so very much, Jim. I can`t tell you how much I want to get this item,
save for the answer to this perplexing question.

Your response is greatly
appreciated.

Author: 
jgreen

Date: 
03-Dec-2003 12:21 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Hi,

Jim handed this one off to me for some technical input. My apologies for
the delayed response but I`ve been "on the road" with a Symbian Developer Event.
..

I promise you that I will be pressing the P800 and P900 product teams
for hints about future plans, but for the moment the best I can do is to
confirm that (as you`ve already noted) the Hands Free Profile isn`t currently
supported.

Watch this space...

Regards,
Jonathon,
Sony Ericsson
Developer Support

Author: 
airactivist

Date: 
03-Dec-2003 14:55 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Thank you, Jonathon.

Of all of the "smartphones" in the crowded marketplace,
the P900`s brilliant screen, fantastic RF reception, flawless UI and just flat
out "coolness" makes it a "must have" item....except for the lack of the "hands
free profile".

Sadly, I had to return this bedazzling piece of modern
technology back to the vendor after discovering the P900 didn't support the HFP,
because, I own a car equipped with Bluetooth HFP access via its voice
activiated touch screen DVD based navigation/sound system.

This enables a
user with a mobile phone with the HFP to handshake seamlessly to a DVD data
base of over 4,000,000 + phone numbers, which can be dialed via voice command,
and then conversed with hands free through the sound system. All completely
integrated.

My guess would be that while seemingly unique now, this type of
interface will be quite common in the coming months, and indeed will become the
proverbial "killer ap" that will not only sell many phones so equipped with the
HFP, but many automobiles built this way as well.

I'll be monitoring this
forum continually hoping for news that the HFP can be either added via some
sort of upgrade to the P900, or will be soon featured on a similar model, such
as the "P1000".

Thank you so very much, once again, for your response.

Author: 
jgreen

Date: 
03-Dec-2003 15:33 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Hi again.

I can certainly understand your distress. In a previous existence I
was involved in the development of the P800 and had access to development
units well before the final product was released to the marketplace. When the
project came to a conclusion I was so distressed at having to return my
development handset that when product appeared in the shops I actually bought
one with my own money, and if I`d subsequently found that it was incompatible
with my cars onboard Bluetooth facilities I`d have been inconsolable...

Anyway, for future reference (and for the benefit of other interested parties)
I've now had a further response from my contacts within the product development
team. If a solid business case is established for the Bluetooth HFP (Hands Free
Profile), it may be implemented, and if it does it will be announced to the
developer community (and other interested parties) through the usual channels.

You may yet be able to reconcile your taste in cars with your taste in
'phones, and you may not have to wait for a hypothetical P1000 to do it!

--

Regards
Jonathon,
Sony Ericsson Developer Support

Author: 
steveobd

Date: 
09-Dec-2003 04:57 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
i second the motion for the "handsfree profile" in the p900 - it`s a huge
omission in my mind. i'm sure it's driving Honda of America (Acura) crazy as
they advertise the Acura TL HandsfreeLink as working with "Bluetooth compatible
phones" - only to have to qualify that with "that implement the handsfree
profile, and oh by the way that doesn't include the SE p800 or the p900". the
business case for SE should be if they don't put this in their best in class
phones and nokia does (and they have, all the latest nokia phones implement
HFP) the car companies are going to start telling the people buying their cars
to stay away from SE phones. most of the people buying bluetooth enabled cars
*right now* are probably making a new phone choice based on buying the car, not
the other way around. so anyway, forward that to the p900 product manager.

my question is - is it possible for one of us developers to implement this as a
BT add on or is it lower level than that?

Author: 
Sony Ericsson Developer Support

Date: 
16-Dec-2003 18:57 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Steve,

Message received. I`ll pass it in as an emphatic suggestion.

I
don't know if it's possible to add a BT profile. I suspect it is lower level
than what is accessible to application-level developers.

Jim
Sony Ericsson
Developer Support

Author: 
rbousque

Date: 
18-Dec-2003 12:15 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Hello, i was looking for this "extremely sad" answer for a while !

Here same
problem in Europe, P900 not working neither with BMW 330d bluetooth kit and,
more surprisingly, nor with Nokia car kit CARK-1W whereas my previous phone
Nokia 6310i is working perfectly.

Here in my company each person is willing
to use this device with hands free system in his car since any new now has this
kind of BT connection instead of fixed one dedicated to a particular phone.

Waiting for a next firmware release, can you confirm that with your own SE car
kit HCB-30, hands free is working with P900 ?

Can buy a new hands free car
kit .. !

Author: 
yavery

Date: 
23-Dec-2003 03:38 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
I second the motion too...

Handsfree profile is realy a MUST.

I`ve been
looking around in the SDK (c++ and java), and there doesn`t seem to be any way
to acquire the underling communication channel of an existing voice call (etel
model).

This seem to be possible over a data call,but not voice.

At first,
I was thinking of developping this add-on profile myself, since the bluetooth
part isn`t too complicated. Where the challenge resides is in building a SCO
over the voice data stream .. Anyways, I'm out
of ideas on this, so I'm
throwing the towel.

Will definitely be waiting on SE's implementation...
soon, hopefully.

Thanks for taking this issue as a priority!

Author: 
HankSz

Date: 
27-Feb-2004 21:26 GMT EST

Subject:
re: Bluetooth HFP for the P900

Message:     
Well, I guess you can add me to the list of the disappointed! When I bought my
new Lexus LX 470 and discovered it had a bluetooth interface for the phone /
navigation system, my first thought was `what phone / pda units support
bluetooth on Verizonwireless'. It didn't take long to find that there are none
(yet - they say the Treo 610 will), and that I would need to change carriers to
use GSM bluetooth units. After much research and many recommendations such as
(SE invented Bluetooth, there units are the best choice), and already owning
many Sony products, I tried a T616 and it worked great with my new Lexus, as I
expected it would. The next step was to locate the unit that had the extra
power / capabilities I needed and the P800 and P900 popped to the top of the
list. All the recommendations were to get the P900, so I found a dealer that
had them and paid a premium price to get it here. I initially paired it with my
G4 Powerbook and got everything from my Motorola T720 and Palm i705 transferred
into it perfectly! I then took the unit to my car and tried to pair it. The
P900 recognized the Lexus, but the Lexus just sat there... I don't need to say
how disappointed I was at that moment. To further aggravate the situation, I
was just told by two of your tech support people that this deficiency in your
bluetooth implementation (not supporting the Hands Free Profile, may never be
corrected. They did however say I could try back in a week or two to see if
there were any further developments. It seems to make good business sense for
SE to address this issue since the P900 is a great fit for the people who buy
the Lexus, Acura, BMW, and other cars that use this bluetooth HFP. These same
car units are even showing up in the not so high end cars like the Toyota Prius.

Also, my company develops solutions for portable devices such as Palm, and
J2ME devices. The P900 is a definite contender for some existing and new
business applications we develop.

I would really like to know if there is a
plan to release a fix for the P900 in the near future (in which case I will
hang in there), or if I should look elsewhere for a solution.

Thanks.

the death of m-commerce and other thoughts

kevin laws has some interesting observations on the death of m-commerce titled whither m-commerce? which for the most part i agree with.

i've long said that the carrier that just provides the fastest wireless 3G pipe will be the winner, with the subtext being that the simply operate as a wireless ISP.

the one thing i don't agree with in kevin's article is that verizon will be the carrier to break this open, which is truly a shame. i concur that verizon has the best voice and data network in north america - but the problem is VzW wants to control every bit that flows over their network to handsets. this is at odds with their 3G wireless PC cards, which essentially do make them a fast wireless ISP.
why the difference in control of smartphones vs PCs?

one company here in north america that has followed the european/asian model with some success is zingy and notice that they are not compatible with verizon. the reason for this is that other carriers such as T-Mobile, Cingular, and AWS make it much easier to use the open wireless protocols that exist (e.g. SMPP and MMS) to deliver applications via "backdoor" means, and for the most part the carriers are fine with this. I've been trying to get clients to think along these lines, as it does provide a real opportunity here in the US, and a much more open channel for marketing outside of the BREW platform, which is a current darling among application developers because of the grand revenue split that exists.

however now that the BREW catalogs are getting saturated, BREW carriers are starting to be very picky about who they let onto their networks, and demanding a lot of the application developers that have established themselves there. so although BREW has been the gravy train of application developers for the last year, the pendulum is starting to swing.

so yes, IP-based applications that bypass WAP and the walled gardens are surely where the money is in the coming year in wireless. and yes, verizon has the best network to support this. let's hope they see the light and support the applications that can break open the business models for 3G in north america.

motorola releases another MIDP 2.0 handset: V80

motorola's handsets are all over the place - they are making handsets for MS Mobile platform, BREW, Linux, and plenty of MIDP 2.0 compliant handsets - the V300/400/500/600 and now the V80. as much as we like to make fun of our hometown handset manufacturer for purveying technology from 10 years ago today - most of the younger crowd i spot seem to be carrying a moto.

the other thing that is impressive is that moto has done J2ME right from the get go - implementing the entire spec and offering extentions that always make sense for the handsets and networks they deploy on. they've offered some great extensions for LBS on nextel, and support some cool extensions for controlling the lights and marquee on the outside of the clamshell on some of their phones.

their shotgun approach is surely the product of mis-management rather than something terribly strategic, but ironically it seems to be working a bit. motorola is definitely staging a comeback with it's new handset designs.

one tip for the design team - get rid of the WAP browsers now! add XHTML browsers and some of these handsets would really be stylin'.

developers guide for the V80