Samsung's ChatOn Is The Latest In The Very Crowded Mobile Messaging Space

Yesterday Samsung announced it's SMS killing Mobile Messaging application ChatOn. Sounds quite impressive actually. At launch available in 120 countries and provide group text and video sharing. Also available across platform. So at launch available on Samsung Bada, iOS, Android and BlackBerry. That's quite huge.

Assuming that it will be pre installed on Samsung phones? Samsung are currently the 2nd largest phone manufacturer behind Nokia (with only 70.2 million units shipped!), and the ChatOn client will apparently work on their feature phones as well as their smartphones. If pre-installed this marks access to a significant user base without having to even try!

More information about the launch here and here.

Still despite the potential huge user base, the service doesn't default to the lowest common denominator in the event that a Customer cannot, or does not want to install the client. This is something GroupMe does, although admittedly only in the US!

There is still a huge gap in the market in sharing experience unless you have a phone that you can install a client on. Also with the Group Messaging Market so saturated now, you have to potentially install several clients so you can talk to different groups within your social network.

If only there was a mechanism that would allow universal access to anyone with a mobile. Oh wait. Yes there is. I forgot about SMS. ;-)

Still very much under utilised in the group messaging space, admittedly due to it's cost. Still another, very large scale group messaging app eating at SMS revenues might add fuel to the fire to actually do something inventive with SMS with an audience reach of several billion.

Oh if ChatOn is pre-installed on Samsung devices will mobile carriers try to get it removed with their Mobile Terminal Requirements? I wonder! ;-)

Cheers

m

Addition: The Samsung Press release for ChatOn. Doesn't mention if the client will be pre-installed on their phones or not.

2011's Hollyhock Class Is Over

Our Hollyhocks start to flower in early June, but by the end of August there really are only a few straggler flowers left on the plant. Due to the copious amount of seeds on each hollyhock stem, and not wishing to be completely over taken by the plants next year, today I cut off the last of the stems. Simple process. Cut them off right at the base of the stem and try to ensure seeds don't scatter everywhere!

They really are my favourite Summer flower though. Mainly due to their rather odd growth. Some in our garden were well over two meters tall this year. Maybe even close to three meters. A shame when they are done, but they really do give a good almost full two month display so one mustn't complain ;-). A few pictures of this year's hollyhock life cycle below.

In May it was clear that they were coming back with a vengeance!

Early June saw the first buds start to flower

By The End of June the flowers were progressing nicely up the stems putting on a fine display.

By the end of August, one of the very last flowers to appear

Looking forward to their return at the end of next Spring! Fingers crossed ;-)

Cheers

m

Disco Is Dead! Long Live SMS! SMS Is Not Dead!

.... yet!

So Slide, the social apps company that Google acquired for around $200 million just over a year ago is being shut down. A couple of stories about this here and here.

Disco, Google's (nae Slide's) attempt at group messaging is one of the apps that will go the way of the Dodo, which as we all know from the Goodies, went belly up as a species due to their exquisite taste. It doesn't surprise me to be honest, but I sort of figured that it would disappear as part of Google+ branding exercise. I guess that this still might be the case with it integrated as part of this product? Similar to the Beluga/Facebook Messenger integration

I would not be surprised at all if we see this a few more times, as group messaging is now such a crowded market place! Crowded, yet in the overall scheme of things, still without adequate reach. All of these group messaging apps still all suffer from the fact that to join in the fun you all have to use the same app. I.e. If you don't have a 'smartphone'* with the same app as all of your friends then you are stuffed! That is of course unless the app defaults back to SMS as the lowest common denominator as a transport mechanism. A thing GroupMe does, who were acquired by Skype early this week for a cool $85 million give or take the odd $10 million. Not too shabby for 16 odd months work.

It's interesting, KPN (a mobile network in the Netherlands as an example) sees the rise of Group Messaging as such a threat to their SMS revenue. the uptake of the WhatsApp Group Messaging app grew from 0% of Hi's (KPN's youth brand) Android phone base in August of 2010 to 85% in April 2011. They suggested changing the charging model of traffic used by the app as opposed to simply shutting down access to it. Very generous.

Surely the rise of Group messaging should be seen as an opportunity, as opposed to a threat. Unless of course the group messaging app is being used to organise riots in London. Mobile networks still own the distribution network that can reach almost any mobile globally. I would have thought a Twilio style opening up of the network would see people flocking to some carrier based alternatives, should the alternatives be priced appropriately for developers to use and Customers to engage.

Who knows. More customers paying less might lead to opportunities elsewhere for revenue streams to compensate for the losses elsewhere. I.e losses due to a competitive pricing market for SMS.

Just a thought.

Cheers

M

*honestly I hate the term 'smartphone'. A phone is only as smart as the user who uses it. Just because my phone doesn't hook up to a data network doesn't mean it looks bad.

The Hedge Cutting Results Are In!

OK so at the end of April and the beginning of May I started a hedge cutting's experiment. I trialed three different methods of taking cuttings to see which was best:

1. Bung the cuttings in a pot with some fertiliser
2. A more conventional method i.e. taking it seriously
3. and as above but attempting to root the cuttings in water first

I took 10 cuttings using each method, so a total of 30 in all. Some died along the way (RIP) however 21 were still standing to some extent this weekend. I decided to repot the cuttings in a pot one size larger then their current housing and while doing so I could inspect them to see if their roots had taken.

Of the 21 remaining, 4 had no roots at all leaving 17 in total. Not too shabby, but not out of the woods yet. I assume that a few might perish along the way, especially as the weather cools as some of the roots did not exactly look that healthy. Still 17 still going so far.

So for each method:

1. Of the 10 that were bunged in pots (and I am not talking premier league football bungs) only 3 survived. So 30% success. Interestingly though the root balls on these cuttings were by far the healthiest and largest.
2. Of the more conventional manner of rooting 7 survived through the summer so a higher 70% success rate. The roots on these were larger than the last group, possibly simply because they have been in compost for longer
3. Of the cuttings rooted in water, again a 70% success rate, however as mentioned above the root balls on these were by far the smallest. Describing them as root balls might be stretching it a little. The roots were very immature, however they were definitely taking. Again I am wondering if this is simply because of the fact they have not been in soil as long as the others. Most likely.

The 8 other pots that you see in the foreground of the above picture are 8 other cuttings that I took about 6 weeks ago and have left in water since. I potted these, possibly a little late given Summer is almost over, but lets see what happens.

So varying results. In terms of numbers the latter two, more sensible methods, seem to be correct but in terms of success of each individual plant the crude bung method works a treat also - you will simply get fewer plants taking for your efforts.

There we go.

Cheers

m

Augmented Reality Agile Application - Scrum It!

Ever get sick if incessant over use of Post It notes? Do you realise that for every Post It note produced a tree is cut down in a rain forest? It's not for the paper, rather the gum on the back of the Post It note is manufactured from very rare Amazonian rain forest tree sap. An entire tree is needed for each note*. Well if you are sick of the over use of Post Its and you want to save the rain forest then this app is for you! It's an Augmented Reality Scrum application - Scrum It!**.

Point your mobile at any surface and have your Tasks, WIP and Done Post Its magically projected in front of you. Simply move your tasks from one column to another using your mobile screen and the updated task detail will be updated on all of your colleagues mobiles as well. Watch your velocity graph update in real time on any wall you choose to point your phone at! It's a hoot! Trust me this is going to become the next spectator sport!

Note, this will only work for iPhone, iPads and Android smart phones and tablets but you are an IT professional so access to such a smart piece of kit won't be a problem!

The beauty of this is you no longer have to rely on unreliable post it notes, thus saving the worlds pristine rain forests! Also it's geek chic technology for geeks, built by geeks. It's simply geek-tastic! Scrum's will become a delight to attend! Or not attend as it may be, as you can project this on anything, simply dial into your scrum from the beach, project your tasks on the underside of your beach umbrella, and let folks know that today's tasks are tanning and drinking Pina Colads!

Of course if you have no tasks, then, as described this morning, you may as well not exist ;-) If you do run out of tasks, or have none to complete, never fear because the share a task feature of the application will allow overstretched scrum teams to share tasks they cannot complete within their sprint. You can simply select one of these tasks, specify your fee, and within minutes you will be notified to drop that pina colada and start implementing that must have registration user story!

Yay for Scrum It! It's today's developers must have App. Remember if you don't Scrum It! YOU are responsible for the destruction of pristine rain forest. Do the right thing and Scrum It! now

cheers

m

*this might not actually be true

**this application doesn't actually exist yet, but rest assured when it does you will want it

Update On Who's Suing Who In The Mobile World

An update on the post I wrote earlier this month trying to figure out who was suing whom in the mobile industry at the moment. The above image, originally posted on the Thomson Reuters site shows the spaghetti incident that is the current state of the mobile industry doing its best to stifle any creativity it can!

Some may call it stifling creativity. I call it a chance to re-release the children's game Snakes and Ladders, with a subtle name change. Possibly Lawyers and Patent Trolls. Then again perhaps they both represent the downwards slope ;-)

Cheers

m

Community Gardening at Denison Ludlow Green

Behind the houses on Denison Road and Ludlow Road, in the Brentham Garden Estate, lies a patch of park land known as Denison Ludlow Green. The land is actually owned by the residents of Denison and Ludlow roads so it is their responsibility to keep the area in check. The lawn is taken care of by a paid contractor but the residents are responsible for the rest of the up keep of the area. It's worth looking after as well as the oak, pictured above, is 300 years old and sets off the green beautifully. Don't think the residents use the area enough! That being said the Summer party is coming up. Fingers crossed Summer lasts. Hmmm maybe fingers crossed Summer starts!

So about 6 times over the Spring, Summer and Autumn the Denison Ludlow Green Freeholders Association organises 2 hour gardening sessions in the hope that the residents will turn out and lend a hand with the up keep. I think there are 65 houses around the green so truth be told the turn out is usually pretty poor :-(. This past Saturday there were only 5 of us. I think the first one I did last year there were about 8. Fingers crossed there will be more next time around. To be fair though Saturday mornings are pretty busy for folks!

Still even with only 5 people it is amazing what can be achieved. This time around we were cutting back the edges that were encroaching into the gravel road around the green. In two hours the 5 of us cleared about 20 odd meters of the worst affected bits of the road. Now cars and trucks are able to drive down the road without having to veer off the side damaging the grass in the process. So a pretty sturdy effort by those who attended!

Looking forward to the next one, and I hope more people are able to turn out to lend a hand. The reward at the end is worth it, see below, although the goats milk coffee was a little odd ;-)

A picture of the green during winter showing off the massive oak tree!

Have fun,

Cheers

m

If You Are Susceptible To Seasickness Have A Look At This

It all kicks off* at about 20 seconds.

What's this got to do with Gardening? Well I took this on a trip back from the Isle Of Wight a few years ago during a very windy day on the Solent. They love their gardening down on the Isle Of Wight!

What's this got to do with mobile? Well as you can see from the outstanding quality of the footage, this was filmed on a mobile. I believe this was in the days when I carried a Sony Ericsson K800i. Still one of the best cameras on a mobile! OK the video is a bit rubbish ;-)

OK the links are tenuous.

Next post is back to gardening ;-). I have to report on the hedge cuttings!

Cheers

m

*when I say kicks off it's OK but it's not going to change your life ;-)

Speaking Of Mobile Companies Suing Other Companies ...

Did Motorola, logo pictured above, ever sue Williams Pinball, logo* pictured below, for using their logo? ;-)

*the Williams logo pictured above might be upside down. I am learning the Apple method of litigation ;-)

What's The Latest On Who's Suing Whom in the Smart Phone Wars?

Anyone have a clear idea of who is suing whom, and for what reason in the smart phone/tablet patent war? The above was published in the Economist in October 2010. Since then their seems to have been a lawsuit a day regarding one patent (or several) or another from one company against another. It would be interesting to see where we are at now.

Or perhaps it wouldn't be ;-)

According to Mashable (an interesting read) maybe the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google might end the patent wars! Lets see.

First Phone To Be Launched By Google After They Acquire Motorola Mobility

So Google are going to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion. The picture above will be the first phone they launch in 2012*. With this in mind it would have been a cheap acquisition at three times the price!

I cannot wait and will be queuing up several weeks prior to launch at my local Google-Motorola phone shop!

*this might not actually be true