S60 Open to new features

Some say it is a cynical strategy to keep the FCC off of their backs, others say it is a watershed move that will finally transform the US wireless industry...either way, I was surprised to hear the news this morning. To be honest I kind of ignored the headline over coffee...wasn't until I took a second look at page B9 of the Wall Street Journal that the headline caught my eye: "Verizon to Open Cell Network". Why Verizon? Why now? It you'd asked me 2 months ago which carrier in the US would be the first to open their network, I would have guessed "None". And if forced to guess, I probably would have put Verizon dead last. But times change...and now not only will Verizon open their network to devices, but Sprint and T-Mobile are falling over themselves to show how "Open" they are as well. From WSJ:

In statements, the other two major wireless carriers, Sprint and T-Mobile, touted their openness to new features but stopped short of saying they would duplicate Verizon's move.

Open to new features?!? Somebody stole our tagline!

S60 Ambassadors in Cali -- if you signed up, by the end of this week you will have gotten your S60 swag (hats, cups et al).

We are in the final stretch...there are some new names in the Top 10, and some jostling for the number 1 position.

Remember, the winners will be chosen after midnight on Dec 3, so get those last reports in now. There is especially room at the bottom of the Top 10 to get your name in there.

Here is the list as of November 21st:

1) James Robillos
2) Eric Brodeur
3) Alexander Huf
4) Jivan Kulkarni
5) Patrick Perez
6) H.A. Geisendorfer
7) Pablo Jimenez
8) Amir Allatabahsh
9) Al Pavangkanan
10) Bryon Summers

Some of you may have gotten two packages of initial swag...your gain to keep due to my inexpert execution of the campaign :-)

Good news is that this program will be expanded as of next year, and I'll have help in running it as well.

Keep those reports coming and stay in touch via the Consumed blog.

When Apple came into the mobile phone space, Nokia's official, COMMs-approved reaction was "Welcome to the Industry, and thank you for validating our vision of converged devices." When Google announced they will soon join the open mobile OS space, Nokia's officical, COMMs-approved reaction was "Welcome to the industry, and thank you for validating our vision of open, licensable OS platforms."

These kinds of statements strike many as total BS. But there is truth to the statements. In what way? Here's a personal example.

I've been in the mobile/software industry for 10 years. In those 10 years, my mom -- my own mother -- has never -- not once -- asked me about the industry I serve or software I market. It's not that we are estranged. We talk just about every week or so, and she visits my son, her grandson, around once per month. It's just that she is not remotely interested in technology or software. She does not own a mobile phone. She refuses to carry an ATM card. She doesn't own a computer and she rarely checks e-mail. She likes her interactions, whether with family, friends, or salespeople, to be up close and personal -- Face to face whenever posible. So the only time she asks about work is when I travel somewhere, and then it is to ask about what the people or the food are like in Germany, Finland, China, whereever.

So I was visiting my parents last Sunday. My son had slept over and I was picking him up. We talked about my latest trip. How was the family, the neighborhood, etc. All is well. After a couple hours it is time to go. I'm getting my six year old packed. He of course doesn't want to leave, grandma's house is a wonderland. I finally get him out the door. I hold the door open and step out, one foot over the threshold, the other still in mom's kitchen, when mom asks "So what's this about Google making a cell phone?" I stop, dumbfounded. What is mom saying? I look at her to see if she is kidding. I am used to questions from the press and from analysts about this, but not from my mom. I mumble something about the fact that they are not making a phone, they are providing software to make phones, but she is off on her own now. "Yeah well" she says, "I heard on NPR that cell phones are too confusing to use and that's why Google has to make their own phone now". By this time cold November winds were blowing into the kitchen, and my son was down to the end of the driveway and getting close to traffic. I quickly explained to her that my N95 was actually not very confusing to use, and that Nokia also made software for mobile phones, and that lots of people not only knew how to use these phones, but actually liked using them. I also promised we would talk about it more the next time we meet.

On the drive home, I thought about how Google was able to reach my mom when Nokia wasn't. That was a bummer. Bu at the same time, I was happy to have finally been asked about software for mobile phones. So in that sense, Google' announcement was a positive for Nokia and S60. Google's announcement really did help us "Grow the Pie" in the sense that people are talking again about software for mobile phones. The Google announcement prompted a flury of phones calls to my department. Suddenly people were asking "Hey, doesn't Nokia also make software for converged devices". Well, the answer is yes, we do. And we've been doing it for some time. In fact, we've been licensing the code for 7 years. And in that time we've maintained at least 50% market share in the OS space for 28 straight quarters and sold over 100 million S60 devices. But long term success is not as exciting to talk about on a radio show as "New entrant in new space" stories are. So getting an excuse to talk about S60 again is a good thing. And Google's announcement has brought Nokia, Symbian and S60 back into the spotlight.

So I'll say it for posterity "Hello Google. And welcome to the industy."

Had an opportunity to travel to China last week. One of my favorite places in the world. Though the time change always kills me. Anyway we did a customer meeting plus some strategy related stuff. And some good old fashioned team building. Lots of fun was had: Beautiful scenery:

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great food:

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And of course Karaoke.

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Towards the end of the trip we saw this sign:

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. In this case Starbucks has a strong enough brand that just creating a facsimile of the logo creates the same feelings of warmth, taste, convenience that Starbucks itself creates. Or at least the owner of this particular shop hopes.
There are those who say that way back in the 1990s, when MS Windows was being pirated and thus propagated throughout mainland China, Microsoft benefited. Windows became ubiquitous, and when Bill Gates eventually went to China to meet with the Premier, the groundwork was in place for MS to start capitalizing on a huge user base.

We saw lots of 3rd party apps for sale in the mobile phone stores in Southern China. I guess most, if not all of them, were pirated. I wonder how 3rd party developers feel about piracy of 3rd party apps for S60 in China? I've heard that even official, state-sanctoined publications include instructions/hacks that teach users to how install and run licensed software w/o paying for licenses. Is there real concern about this among our developer community? Is piracy eating into revenues? Are there developers out there who are happy just to have the word spread about their applications, even if it does come at short term cost?