Uncool Mobility

Tethering coming soon to iPhone 3G?

Tethering coming soon to iPhone 3G? | Apple - CNET News.

Interesting news both because it would be a great feature add and for the question it raises.

If Apple or its service provider partners come up with a feature or service they want to add will Apple kill cheaper/free applications on the AppStore to avoid cannibalizing these revenue opportunities?

Microsoft online services head leaving

Kevin Johnson is leaving Microsoft-a big blow to figuring out the online strategy.

Mobile Metrics - Free Mobile Market Level Data | AdMob

Link: Mobile Metrics - Free Mobile Market Level Data | AdMob.

AdMob breaks out worlwide mobile browser share by vendor on this month's report, showing Nokia leading with 34% while Openwave follows at 29% and AccessNetfront is the only other double-digit share at 12%.

With Microsoft Mobile Explorer and Blackberry browser both below 5% the report is one more reminder that basic and feature phones continue to dominate and most people experience mobile applications on/through them.

Google announces new SDK version; readies Android

Business Week has a nice roundup of Google's Android expected features. As T-Mobile confirms it's upcoming release of the Android-powered HTC Dream, Google has also begun testing ads on mobile Youtube.

Google has prioritized maps and Youtube over email and IM connectivity as can be seen from it's updated SDK. They are also not able to include IM or bluetooth in this release.

Mobile software developers are in demand. - Aug. 19, 2008

Link: Mobile software developers are in demand. - Aug. 19, 2008.

The war for developers in mobile phones: Nice summation of Apple, RIM, and Google programs and incentives as the effort to win end customers shifts focus to an effort to win developer share.

Xumii Mobile Social Networking | GoMo News

Link: Xumii Mobile Social Networking | GoMo News.

One more service to check out in the crowded social addressbook space. These features from the linked post caught my eye:

Xumi promisses to offer the following in their private beta:

All contacts from all social communities in the one place/list

Presence & Availability – Status updates from mobile phone, social networks and IMs

Ability for IM and offline communications that are persistent and threaded (history of chat)

Groups – a microblogging shared private space one can invite others to

Share rich graphics, photos, music, video, interactive apps (widgets)

Master List of Removed/Pulled AppStore Applications - Mac Forums

Link: Master List of Removed/Pulled AppStore Applications - Mac Forums.

Here is a neat contribution--a list of the applications pulled from the iPhone AppStore. This is an indicator of where Apple sees itself in policing and editing the channel.

10 Worst Web glitches of 2008 (so far) | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET

Link: 10 Worst Web glitches of 2008 (so far) | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET.

This roundup is a fun list and a good recap of the downsides of cloud computing. Note that two of the top 10 were infrastructure outages, and two of the consumer solutions listed (Apple and Netflix) are having more problems as this was posted.

Ad spending in wireless - Ad-spending-in-wireless - RCR Wireless News

Link: Ad spending in wireless - Ad-spending-in-wireless - RCR Wireless News.

When you add in the iPhone hype, RIM's massive branding campaign for Blackberry, LG's and Samsung's spend for their new devices, and HTC's planned branding intro--smartphone pricing which has already been impacted by iPhone's US$199 subsidied price will continue to see heavy pressure.

Device manufacturers increasingly require integrated services just to see market traction and prevent churn.

Movable Type, Wordpress becoming social platforms | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET

Link: Movable Type, Wordpress becoming social platforms | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET.

This is very cool--blogging and social networking continue to merge with some excellent tools being provided by Movable Type and Wordpress. The extension of tools and feature sets back and forth from social networking sites to blogging sites will render the distinctions meaningless, with the important differentiator being the type of content shared (written word, short text posts, video, images, links, etc.)