Mobile web to be worth $16 billion in 2011

Apparently, some people are confused as to why there is so much fuss about mobile web. Well; the short answer is - $16 billion.

1. Analysts say that mobile web will be worth a whopping $16 billion in just three years from now. Now, a $16 billion market is something that is too big for even giants like Google and Yahoo to be taken lightly.

2. Also, the size of the mobile phone market is three times bigger than the size of the web market. In other words, there are three mobile phone users for one PC user. Now, where do you see more opportunities?

3. Apple iPhone, in more ways than one, changed the landscape of the mobile world. Since its arrival, mobile internet usage has increased as most of the iPhone users regularly surf the net from their phone. Add more high-end phones like Nokia N95, Blackberry, and other such smart phones to the equation and you have the perfect recipe for a mobile web revolution.

4. With 3G and 3.5G networks, high speed mobile browsing is very much possible for mobile users. This will significantly increase the number of mobile web users in the future.

Hence, the excitement.

While Google is busy with Android, Yahoo has been silently working its way to the top. Both these companies have kept people guessing what would be their next move in the mobile world for quite some time now. In my opinion, Yahoo has a slight edge over Google as it’s already set its foot firmly in the mobile market. However, if Android could do to Google what the iPhone did for Apple, we’d be looking at a completely different situation. Either way, the competition is going to be interesting to watch.

Categories: Mobile Web.

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What does Nokia plan to do with Symbian?

Ever since Nokia acquired Symbian and announced that it will be made free of cost, a lot of questions have been raised. The most important question, and the most obvious one too, is the one about the hundreds of millions of dollars that Nokia stands to lose by giving away Symbian free of cost. But then, I’m surprised to notice that a lot of people can’t see the woods for the trees.

Nokia’s plans are very clear. It wants to put Google, Apple, Research In Motion, and Microsoft out of commission by making its open source software the most wanted and the most used mobile software in the world. What this open source software means to developers around the world is that they now have the opportunity to develop as many applications as possible. This will make Symbian handsets more popular than ever.

In my opinion, a lot of developers might prefer Symbian over Apple iPhone or Google Android. The reason is simple. The iPhone, as popular as it may be, is not exactly the market leader. And Google is yet to come up with Android. So, at this situation, developing apps for Symbian, which is the most popular mobile software as of now, sounds really sensible.

If developers around the world started building useful apps for Symbian handsets, it would make Symbian handsets even more popular than what they are right now and the sales will increase exponentially. In other words, Nokia will sell more mobile phones than what it does right now, thanks to this move. And that is exactly what Nokia wants.

Now, it will be interesting to see the reactions of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and RIM. Something’s gotta give. Let’s wait and watch.

Categories: Nokia.

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Google Android to be launched within this year

Ever since Google made the announcement about Android, much has been talked about the mobile software system. Almost every other day, you could see someone talking about Android. The kind of buzz it created in the market was incredible. The initial reaction was nothing but excitement for Android, then it was seen as the potential Apple iPhone killer, and things were looking bright. But then, after some time, some people questioned Google’s logic of making people wait for a long time to get a glimpse of its product. The wait, however, is over.

Last week, at the Annual Developer Conference at San Francisco, Google unveiled the near-completed Android platform to people. The reaction from the crowd gathered there, unanimously, was a big ‘wow.’

Sample this – you can unlock phones by drawing a certain shape on the touch screen. No need to enter passwords or any such thing. On the homepage of the device, you can bookmark all your favorite web pages. There is a magnifying tool that you can use to zoom in on the text in the web pages. And there is an automatic compass tool which helps you with road maps. With all this and more, Android certainly caught everyone’s attention at the conference.

Google has also made it clear that Android will be launched within this year. Google firmly believes that its open source mobile platform will benefit users more and will become the major player in the future.

Analysts believe that with close to 3 billion mobile phones in the market, the scope for an open source mobile platform like Android is huge. They estimate that Google could be able to rake in as much as $5 billion every year from the mobile advertising market.

I have no doubt that Android will be a very useful, very innovative, and very futuristic platform. However, the important thing here is its ability to change certain perceptions about mobile web like the Apple iPhone did. Before the launch of iPhone, surfing the internet from the mobile phone was considered a cumbersome process and very few did that. Bang came in the iPhone and made mobile surfing so much easier. Similarly, if Android could change certain perceptions about mobile phone and offer great user experience, we are in for another revolution in the mobile industry. Are you excited about the launch of Android? Will you give it a try? Most importantly, do you think it will live up to its expectations?

Categories: Google.

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A mobile web portal to access the German stock exchange

Wallstreet:online, the largest finance community in Germany, has released its mobile web portal. Mobile users now will be able to follow the German stock exchange right from their mobile phone. Netbiscuits, a famous mobile internet platform provider, has helped bring Wallstreet:online to the mobile web space.

I think this is a brilliant move. The timing could not have been better, as Germany now is considered a huge market for mobile phones and mobile web in particular. Even Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently stated in an interview that almost every German has got a mobile phone. Also, stock market is something which is closely followed by millions every day. What better way to do it than from your mobile phone? It makes things easier, as you don’t have to carry a laptop or sit in front of the PC to follow the stock trading by the hour. This mobile website is also optimized for Apple iPhone, as there are quite a few iPhone users in Germany.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Web.

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Mobile News Network from the Associated Press

Joining the list of companies that have launched their own mobile portals, the Associated Press released a multimedia news portal for mobile users called Mobile News Network. This news portal will have everything from local news to national news and international news and you can access it any time you want to, right on your mobile phone.

Unlike the usual run-of-the-mill news sites, the Mobile News Network aims to offer a complete multimedia experience for mobile users as it lets you access photo galleries, videos, and a variety of other news content. You can get your daily dosage of entertainment, breaking news, weather forecasts, sports, and finance right from this portal. Also, you will be able to rate the news items and share them with your friends on the go, which I think is a very useful feature.

If you are an iPhone user, you’ll find this news portal even more interesting, as this web application is optimized for Apple iPhone. You can access it from www.iphone.com/webapps. Since it’s optimized to offer a rich experience for smart phone users, AP is sure that they will find this app very appealing. I think this news portal has the potential to serve as a single access point for all sorts of news, especially for smart phone users.

AP has also mentioned that it will release improved versions of this app in future which will have additional content from other broadcasters and special features to improve user experience.

Categories: All things mobile phones.

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