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Dear ,
**Warning** This newsletter has gotten unusually long - just lots of good content I guess!
The newly renamed Mobile World Congress (MWC) held a month ago in Barcelona was a great event for WIP. Our Mobile Jam Session was overwhelmingly successful, with a great turnout of developers and industry leaders. More below on the next session in Las Vegas March 31, and watch for others later in the year around the globe. I also had fun MCing the Mobile Monday awards again, and hosting a dinner for Developer Programs.
Pictures are: top - Ben Wang (Forum Nokia), Rudy deWaele (dotOpen) with me at Mobile Jam sesion Bottom - Marc Nadell (Navteq), Karen Arnett (Sun) with me at the Developer Program dinner.
However, we seem to be entering a phase in our industry I'm calling "Shell out and Suck it up". I think MWC has peaked in terms of size and robustness of the event, because it has outpriced itself, and Las Vegas is soon on the way. Costs have skyrocket from exhibition and venue space to hotel rooms to at least 5X the regular rate - they see us coming. Big companies are feeling the pain (did you know that just to rent a pad of pavement in the Fira courtyards was an average of $1million, then you have to build up from there). This really affects our small developers and innovators who want to be there, as the costs get prohibitive. Even many of the country specific booths (Canada included) make it impossible for small companies to get visibility. I and a few of our ARC members have tried to talk to GSMA for over 2 years to work with us to develop an emerging company pavilion at MWC, but calls continue to get unreturned. That was one of the reasons Rudy and I put on the Mobile Jam session. (A big Thank You to CTIA for supporting our WIP-ARC members with a booth and meeting space - see more below.)
The other instance of "Shell out and Suck it up" is still reflected in the attitudes of many of the carriers, especially when it comes to testing and certifications. I had a few Tier One's say to me that they only want to deal with the big media companies who can bring them a million subs, and that they don't have time to fool around with the small companies who are lucky to bring in 10,000 subscribers.
Not a big surprise that developers are turning towards web based application development. There were some fantastic comments and threads to follow on the Carnival of Mobilists last week, with most posted around Michael Mace's blog who concluded that Mobile Applications, RIP.
So is this industry pushing out the small players? I sure hope not, because we still need the emerging companies for innovation and nimbleness that the big companies just don't have.
Here are some of WIP's upcoming activities, let me know if you'd like to meet:
BB Best, Caroline
Caroline Lewko, CEO and Founder
Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP)
The 'Connector' for the mobile and wireless industry
PS WIP is working on a really interesting project and we need some developers experienced with nice looking wiki sites. |
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Quick Links |
WIP MEMBER DIRECTORY - ADD your company to the FREE listing to pinpoint your next customer, partners, investment.
WIP RESOURCES - find technical organizations, standards bodies, research labs and more....
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Mobile Jam Session
Las Vegas coming up March 31 and Barcelona Round up |
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 Las Vegas, March 31
Las Vegas Convention Center
9am to 5pm and 5pm Essence Reception
Register now for your invitation to participate in Las Vegas. We want your input for speakers and topics. This time we want to ensure more developers participate as discussion leaders - so don't be shy - put your name forward!
If you register by March 14, we have free passes to CTIA that gets you into the keynotes and exhibition hall. Let us know if you need a pass and we'll send you the information the code to access the web registration.
Sponsored by: dotMobi Developer Forum, Motorola and Mobile Distllery
Barcelona Round Up
 Our first one in Barcelona (February 12, 2008) exceeded our expectations and was a great success, how could we say no! If you haven't yet - check out the pictures on our Flickr site - you can see the hum in the air! Thanks to our Mobile Jam Barcelona sponsors: Forum Nokia, ACCESS, Kimia, Vodafone Betavine and MyStrands.
Here are some comments from the last session:
· Congratulations for the event it was really well organised, very good feedback from everyone too. Looking forward to the CTIA one now
· Thank you for the Mobile Jam Session. It was very well organised and you have managed to get really good speakers and participants. I am already looking forward to the next one. . .
· Thank YOU two! It was a great event and very well moderated. I had the impression you must have done hundreds of mobile jams before - so I was even more surprised to learn that this was the first mobile jam :)
What is Mobile Jam?
We wanted an event focused on developers - to hear what they have to say and to make it easier to make a connection which can be really difficult at big conferences like this. The Mobile Jam Session is a day to inspire new ideas and innovate solutions to existing challenges. The purpose is focused, but the agenda is improvised along the way. Mobile Jam is a partnership between dotOpen and WIP. |
| WIP Members in: New Members |
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Welcome to our New WIP Members:
AlpinaSearch Partner with innovative wireless & content technology companies to recruit world class sales, marketing and business development www.alpinasearch.com
Mvolve Online Networking Organization www.mvolve.com
MWC.mobi Mobile Strategy Consultant & Minister of Mobile Media www.mwc.mobi
Tele Atlas Digital map and location content that powers the worlds most essential solutions www.teleatlas.com
Mobility Partners Leading pure-play wireless mobility consultancy to the enterprise -- co-authored "Work Goes Mobile: Nokia's Lessons from the Leading Edge"
Funambol, Inc. The leading provider of open source mobile email & PIM sync solutions for the mass market. www.funambol.com
Your membership listing is free: go to http://www.wipconnector.com/membership_signup.php
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WIP - Alliance of Regional Clusters (ARC)
Visit us at CTIA Las Vegas: Booth 4014 |
WIP-ARC will be represented at CTIA by WCA (SanJose), AWA (Austin) and PACA Mobile (Marseille, France). Thanks to CTIA for partnering with us for a booth and meeting room.
Members of WIP, WCA, AWA and PACA Mobile receive:
- access to the booth, feel free to use it as a base
- extra promotion (be sure to tell your representative that you are attending)
- access to a private meeting room
- member pricing to the CTIA conference sessions
- Free passes to keynotes and exhibition hall
Note: the Free CTIA passes must be registered by March 15. Ask your association rep or WIP for the access website and code.
Reach, Information, Contacts
ARC is a group of industry organizations and trade associations that develop, promote and facilitate economic growth in the wireless industry in specific geographic regions; playing a crucial role in strengthening our industry globally. From our vantage point, we know what is happening on the ground floor of the wireless and mobile industry.
ARC is available for networking, research projects and has many sponsorship opportunities. Collectively ARC represents over 1500 companies and links to over 40,000 contacts with their mailing lists and activities.
WIP is pleased to facilitate the Alliance of Regional Clusters.
Contact us today to include your organization.
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| Next Gen App Development: MIDP3 |
I bumped into Paul Su and his colleague John Rizzo of Aplix, in the lost luggage line at the Barcelona airport. Paul is involved in the review of MIDP3.
This is important - so take a bit of time to share your input in the next gen of mobile app development.
MIDP 3.0, also known as JSR 271, is the next generation specification for mobile application development in Java ME. Not simply a refresh of the MIDP 2.1 APIs, MIDP 3.0 defines new functionality and behaviors that allow developers to take full advantage of application concurrency, and provides additional flexibility in the development and deployment models for Java ME applications.
The following is a list of new functionality proposed for MIDP 3.0:
· Mandatory CLDC 1.1.1 compliance
· Mandatory JSR 135 v1.1 compliance
· Mandatory concurrency support
· LIBlets/Shared Libraries
· Events (system, application-generated)
· Inter-MIDlet communication
· Notification manager
· Application Access Authorization
· Extended Permission model
· Auto-start MIDlets
· Screensaver MIDlets
· Idle screen MIDlets
· User restrictions on application lifecycle control
· IPv6 support
· Record store interchange format
· Record store encryption support
· Record store tags
· Mandatory PNG, GIF, & JPEG support
· Multiple-screen support
· Mutable Images
· Animated Images
· Application-defined fonts
· TabbedPane LCDUI component
· Menu LCDUI component
· Layout policies for Forms
· Application-defined splash screens
The MIDP 3.0 specification is currently in public draft review, which is scheduled to conclude on March 24 2008. The public review draft of the specification can be downloaded from the JSR 271 page, Final draft of the specification is expected to be completed around Q3 of 2008.
The MIDP 3.0 expert group is actively seeking comments from developers on the specification in progress. Any comments on the specification should be submitted to the JSR 271 project page on opensource.motorola.com. New users should create a new account on opensource.motorola.com and request membership in the JSR 271 project. Comments can then be submitted in the issue tracker under "Public Review Issues". More information on requesting an account and submitting comments can be found in Section 1.5 of the specification document.
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NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge® News |
It's almost springtime, and the 2008 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge is in full swing! From the Americas to Asia-Pacific to Europe-Middle East-Africa, new location-based applications are being developed and winning big prizes. Here's an update on Global LBS Challenge participants around the world.
Americas Semifinalists Announced
NAVTEQ recently announced the semifinalists for the 2008 Global LBS Challenge - Americas. One Grand Prize Winner and three Runners-up will be revealed from a field of 15 semifinalists during an awards ceremony at CTIA in Las Vegas on April 2, 2008. All CTIA attendees are invited to attend the awards ceremony, which will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall Meeting Room N258. To view details about the semifinalists and their applications, visit www.LBSChallenge.com.
APAC Registration Extended to March 7, 2008
The registration deadline for the Global LBS Challenge - APAC (Asia-Pacific) has been extended from February 29, 2008 to March 7, 2008. Developers who missed the registration deadlines for EMEA and Americas may still register for the APAC region by March 7, 2008.
One Grand Prize Winner and three Runners-up will be announced at the Global LBS Challenge Awards Ceremony during CommunicAsia in Singapore on June 18, 2008. All CommunicAsia attendees are invited to attend the ceremony.
Watch the Replay of the EMEA Awards Ceremony
For the first time, the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge - EMEA Awards Ceremony was broadcasted live from Mobile World Congress on February 12, 2008. NAVTEQ announced the Grand Prize Winner, UbiEst, and Runners-up Senda, Oxford Softworks and gyPSii from a field of 12 semifinalists.
A replay of the EMEA Awards Ceremony can be viewed on the Global LBS Challenge website at www.LBSChallenge.com.
About the Global LBS Challenge
The Global LBS Challenge invites developers from around the world to build location-enabled applications that work with mobile phones and/or wireless handheld devices using dynamic positioning technology and NAVTEQ® map data for a global prize pool valued at nearly $3 million U.S. For more information, visit www.LBSChallenge.com.
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Upcoming Events, Activities and Discounts for WIP Members |
Wavefront presents the first NAVTEQ workshop
for the Pacific NW developer community.
March 11, 8 - 11am
2010 Commerce Centre, Vancouver, BC
NAVTEQ is more than just maps! Learn how you and your team can harness NAVTEQ's vast mapping and geo-information datasets to explore new application development opportunities. The event is free and includes a light breakfast - but space is limited and registration is required.
Visit http://www.wavefrontac.com/events.php for more information.
WDF Cambridge Conference 08
March 10
Cambridge, UK
The Wireless Developer Forum Conference, now in its second successful year, brings together key players in the mobile and wireless market, with developers of applications and services. The conference addresses vital issues to the community to drive forward successfully. More information at: www.wirelessdeveloperforum.org
OSiM US -Open Source in Mobile
March 11& 12, 2008
San Francisco
The largest Open Source in Mobile gathering in the world with the key players from all aspects of the ecosystem. Register at: www.osimconference.com/usa
IPTV World Forum 2008
March 12-14
Olympia, London
It will feature over 30 telcos and ISP's discussing IPTV deployment issues, and leading content providers speaking about technical and strategic issues they face.
Please visit: : www.iptv-forum.com
April 1-3, 2008
Las Vegas
WIP Members receive member rate to attend.
The Most Important Global Technology Event of the Year!
The convergence of more than 1,200 exhibiting companies, dozens of industries, and over 40,000 professionals from 125 countries all working toward the common goal of revolutionizing wireless. Check out: http://www.ctiawireless.com/
Fast Track with MOTODEV
April 1, 2008
CTIA Wireless 2008 - Las Vegas Convention Center
Join Motorola at the MOTODEV Fast Track event where you can sign-up for "speed dating" to pitch your application, engage with MOTODEV experts, and get exclusive access to tools and resources to bring your mobile applications to market.
Orange Partner Camp
April 14 - 16, 2008
Faro, Portugal
This is the 7th Partner Camp by Orange, who've been running 'non-conferences' since 2004!
Join Orange and their sponsors and they'll hand-hold you through the processes of doing business with Orange and the France Telecom group. www.orangepartnercamp.com
Location Intelligence Conference 2008
April 28-30
Santa Clara, California
The world is sold on geospatial technologies and this conference is a welcoming place where you can hear about them in action - solving real-world problems and improving operations in many different industries Please visit: www.locationintelligence.net/
For your 20% discount, please use this code : 3bfe3133
Mobile Content World Asia 2008
5th-7th May 2008,
Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore
Running on it's 3rd successful year, Mobile Content World Asia 2008 will be an event developed with the audience in mind, providing a platform for information exchange between industry players and extended business networking.
For more information please visit: www.terrapinn.com\2008\mcw or email karin.lee@terrapinn.com
Managed Services for Developing Markets
28th - 29th April 2008,
Courtyard by Marriott, Dubai
More than ever before, network operators are being forced to focus on maximising profits and reducing costs. Facing pressure from rising competition levels in a recently liberalised market, it is crucial to accelerate the time to market of new technologies and services, and attract new customers.
5 free hours of Device Anywhere.
WIP has partnered with Mobile Complete to get you started on extending your reach to more devices.
Simply log in with your WIP code
Choose from the hundreds of devices and the networks supported. Start testing.
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