When iPhone4 launched, I could not stop thinking how much this design aligned to the thinking of a small device that could be mass-configured with changeable covers.  In many ways it is what Modu wants to become!  As I was a lead architect back in the 90’s when Nokia had the mass personalization effort around changeable covers,  we debated as to what would hold true in the future of personalization.  The mobile world has come a long way since the 90’s, but if you have a chance to watch Frank Nuovo on Charlie Rose in 2000, you will see clearly that Nokia had painted a very good picture of what was to come in the future on personalized experiences. Frank was a thought leader 10 years early…

What I beleive has happened is that we have evolved this  unique opportunity of two different types of devices.  Of course there is the personalization of the services and the overall internet, but I am referring to the Hardware aspects of personalization.  Mixing hardware with Fashion.

1) Devices that have hardware that is designed with fashion in mind that target a certain demographic. Multiple colors of the device, target look-n-feel to meet a certain market segment.   ( Mainly this has been the latest thinking of Android HW manufacturers, RIM, NOKIA, Microsoft)

2) Devices that are skinned down simple designed basics that then offer a chance for mass-customization via personalized accessories ( APPLE, MODU)

While Google Android, Nokia and RIM have gone down type 1),  Have a look at the recent announcement of Motorola with Android blasting Apple because they have a cover and used the Antenna issue as a way to market their products.   In many ways, I beleive this is unique approach as blasting them based on a feature, but why kill the Jacket?  As well, Nokia has recently abandoned the concept of simplicity with changeble covers ( Even though they invented it) to build full design elements to target certain demographics.   Then look at Microsofts KIN.  They build hardware to target a certain demo ( young students) and we saw where that went…

On the other hand we have two unique companies, Apple and Modu.  That are building out a strategy of a simple elegant product that is small and that is a starting block for massive personalization.  Yes, users can have the product on its own as it stands alone in its beauty, but how it fits into the accessory ecosystem is a key part of the overall product strategy.

I was sitting in a cafe recently and across the table from me was a police officer from the NYPD.   He was playing with his iPhone while waiting for his lunch to be served.  The beauty of all of this was that he had a very unique leather, urban with rubber jacket on his device! It matched his personal style and his needs.  iPhone’s basic design can reach everybody and then they have the ability to not only personalize the overall look, while still keeping the product small, but the user can as well customize the screen.    We will see Jackets of all kinds…. Metallica Jackets, New York Yankee Jackets…. Ferrari Jackets, as well as Company Jackets…. so what is wrong with the Jacket?

Even though Apple designed a product that was as small, simple and clean as they could go, with a fundamental beyond-physics strategy of embedding an antenna into the body of the product ( nobody had ever succeeded with this really in the history of mobility) they were bound to take criticism and it was a risk!  But in my mind a very amazing risk in that having this kind of simple product as a base to a variety of other accessories and architectures is an avenue to hardware personalization as a means of fashion.   They pushed the envelop to get the size as small as it could go with such a large screen and keeping the product very thin.  Having the antenna in the body was a very difficult and yet impossible challenge, but it was a method for getting the smallest product possible potentially.

I personally think the view of personalization and small framed designed products with ability to add accessories  is a  key driver to real Fashion statements, mass-customization and mass end-user adoption.   The very simple strategy like in the case of Apple that can scale to build its business for starters, is key as part of this thinking.   I think bringing the Press over the Jacket was potentially the wrong thing to do in the long-term….  Apple should highlight more about the opportunities for customization over the fact they pushed the envelop a bit too far with Antenna design.

So where is MODU in all of this?  I would image these Israeli’s are in the labs looking at the smallest iPhone killer Android device that could be configured or skinned with multiple accessories.  They have done done the small match-box route…. why not the Android with a large screen thin route like Apple?  This would be a very interesting competitor of Apple!

Frank Nuovo, ex-Chief of Nokia Design,  talks about mobile devices as “Objects of Desire” and he personally moved down the Fashion route with his move to run design over at Vertu.  In my mind,  this architecture of design personalization and mobile  has really taken form and that these simple products with less buttons and objects of design can now grow toward multimedia rich and configurable products along with the hardware configurations.  Apple is clearly on the right path as a vision,  lets see if this media and the antenna challenge is not big enough for them to get pulled off this strategic path?

As this is going on in the background, Lenovo’s CEO  Yang Yuanqing announced on Monday the Company’s entry into the mobile arena citing that he expects about 10~20% of their revenue to come from mobile in the next 5 years.   He joins his fellow PC Manufacturers: Dell, Acer to the mobile movement powered by Android.   Many of these players are building product in China and or Chinese manufacturers that are beginning  to drive Android’s presence to the marketplace.  There was a story in history about a walled garden and China, and it is strange at this time we are potentially seeing a lesson in  history repeat itself.  The Great Wall of China

As Google continues to rope in more and more manufacturers to the table with the Android system,  Apple is living off a one-trick pony of a strategy with only its one product roll-out step by step.  Yes there is an advantage to having a very strong pillar of a strategy and the consistency for all the developers of the world, but with one crack and this pillar could come down?

As it took a simple guardsman to let through the Mongol’s in the quest of conquering China, the Great Wall was rendered useless by the act of a few.  A simple mistake at Apple could cause the entire thing to come tumbling down amidst the competition.    I found this quite interesting on the day Lenovo announces thier entry with Android,  Apple / Gizmodo/ Techcrunch/ Mashable and others  while Apple is requesting its lost prototype back and squabbling  with the media.

If Apple is to take on Google and Android, they need a bit more of a diversified and syndicated strategy.  So that they are not missing a Bang with one product release affected.  I guess we can say that now is the time for History to repeat itself, or live and learn from History?

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Additions to the blog-post [ june 24, 2010]

After the release today, there have been rumors of recall due to  a miss design of the Antenna grounding. When left handed people use the device, it drops calls instantly.  Mobile devices are complex as as Google has mainly focused only on the OS and the Cloud services surrounding it, they are leaving all liabilities of hardware up to the phone manufacturers.  One blip, and Apple could loose it all with the IPhone.  They need to diversify fast as this Chinese Wall could potentially come down fast….

With this rapid shift there is really still many opportunities for companies to join the competitive fray and  bring their products into the market.  This year at CTIA there was a flood of Android devices with many of the 2nd and 3rd tier handset manufacturers all getting on the smartphone bandwagon.  Even Tim O’Reilly ( O’Reilly Media) was recently caught Twittering about how surprised he was to see that ” the Android mobile web access is approaching the iPhone”.  Apple has just released its next 2 iPhones that should bring additional momentum to the smart phone battle ( Especially with Verizon).  Is this going to be enough for Apple to keep its lead? Where is the iPhone killer?  It was mentioned from an Apple employee that there is nobody that wants to create an iPhone killer more then Steve Jobs himself!

With this massive shift in Smart Phone devices and advanced applications makes you wonder how the Carriers are going to leverage this for longer term business models.  I have liked seeing the back-n-forth between Verizon and AT&T with 3G coverage.  This is the kind of  fuel needed to throw into the fire on the battle of capacity and end-user network needs.

By 2013 the overall Data consumption requirements are going to skyrocket and continue in a hockey-stick like pattern to 2015.  People will be consuming more media then ever from there mobile devices, and it is really fair to say that Mobile will really become the 1st screen in our lives by 2015.  However, with this growth, there is surely going to be innovation surrounding our online environment as well.  The seamless integration of websites, apps and the cloud is clearly the future in the next couple of years.  Therefore I believe it is fair to say that 2012~2013 is clearly the transition timing for real cross-media  integration.  For the companies making investments to be leaders  for the next couple years out need to really think of their strategies on how all their media strategies should come together with platforms that support all of the different extensions of access.

I  believe we will potentially see innovation in compression technologies and the efficient delivery of content. Companies like Speedbit and Strangeloop Networks are very well positioned to offer these kinds of tools that publishers need to deliver the right experiences to end-users no matter what device they are carrying.

So the transition continues from Feature to Smart Phone and the craving for new applications and services will continue.  This shift has finally happened and mobile is now here to stay.  Getting a mobile strategy that is sustainable is now the chance to grab this opportunity.

Given that Google has greater then 70% of the search traffic share in the US and over 50% globally….they do have the ability to market themselves all the time, and make it clear there value proposition of their products front and center.  It has become routine in our lives to use Google as a search engine…..  it is even a “VERB”.

Getting back to my story…. This evening,  I went to Google to check out something on Google Maps, and searched “Google Maps”.  Yes- it has been my mapping search of default these days.  Even though  I used to be a big fan of MapQuest, Yellowpages and others,  it has just become routine for me just to use  Google out of pure convenience.  This  again is a key factor and asset they have going for them all the time.  It validates why search is so powerful as the first point of the User-Interface we all use, and Google is clearly leveraging their search asset to drive business leads to their other services and products.  I guess why would they not do this?  It is only smart business practices.

Well what I found was shocking.  The first results for Google Maps  search was the Nexus One from the Google News…. [See picture below]  It was not the Google Maps product or something pertaining to this, but it was traffic to drive me to that feature on the Nexus One.

The only results on the page were about “Google” ( www.google.com) .  None  of their Strategic Partners?  No iPhone with Google Maps? etc… As this was one of the key features for many of their Partners, developer communities, it is very clear that Google has an incredible position to trump the very partners now with Google maps when it comes to marketing the feature with their new device.  So as a company that partners with Google to embed maps into product as part of your core business, you must have a very careful strategy on how you market Maps and Location based services as part of your product. It is clear that some of that marketing  spend could even drive traffic to Google’s mobile initiatives.

I tried to find “iPhone and Google maps” as one of the results as this should be very relevant today.  Well, I looked on page 2 of the search results and then finally found a reference for iPhone at the bottom of the second page. Not many of us users go to the second page.

I then wanted to see what Google Maps search result would be on the site GoogleminusGoogle ( www.startupbin.com).  I found these results.

This time we do see iPhone.  It is #6 in the search results behind Wikipedia, etc…. Not many bloggers sites or third party developer sites talking about Google Maps, and no other handset manufactures on the first page.

So from now on, regardless of the mobile device we own….. any time we look up any of those Google Services, we will get information about Android and Nexus…. It is just the way it is going to be I guess.   There is clearly a price for using Free services as part of your product strategy.  In the case of Google, their ROI for the Free offer is clearly leveraging your marketing spend and distribution to continually drive more traffic back to Google.

When entering a new channel or market, sometimes it makes sense to keep variables to a minimum and get that service and product right with that channel first before bring in the complexity of the long-term vision and strategy.  The next step was to launch the iPhone with a similar formula as the iPod.  ”Make a sexy device that the market wants and sell like mad”.  Then keep the incremental improvements and focus. [4] Shortly after came the iPhone App Store.   When we look back and connect the dots this all seems so easy,  but is was a long-term strategy and plan to tackle and grow in the consumer service and entertainment space one-by-one.   Focus and putting energy one step at a time with consistant improvements and scalable growth with a  strategythat could win has really proved to be correct with this one.

I look at the other mobile handset manufactures and the complexity of their products and  the jump from generation to generation tells me the unbalance between strategy and focus has not solidified the foundation that Apple was able to achieve.  Now there is going to be incredible competition from Nokia, RIM and Google in the next wave, what is the next step in this process of focus to keep expanding  growing thier loyality and market position.

Apple does not have its own advertising platform for mobile to facilitate the free, but has been doing quite well without it.  Will Apple need its own advertising solutions to potentially offer as part of the free solution?  If I were a mobile ad exchange,  I would be talking to Apple about how to integrate the solution into the App Store process with the best yield management to give developers with their free offering the best revenue streams through federating in even Google and Admob. Was this not a problem that AdMob had not to long ago? At the end of the day as Apple is managing the platform, they are in a position to give developers the best revenue streams through yeild management and discovery.  This is what Facebook has done.  Enable their own advertising platform for their marketplace.  I think this trend will continue with platform providers all having their own solution for ad-serving and federating in ad networks and ad-tags.  I think who ever has an app store will now need an advertising exchange platform for support the delivery of free apps.   Not only that, having this facility will also enable some of the best opportunities for data optimization and relevancy targeting.  How will this now sit with AT&T that Google has better analytics of what is happening in the free community of iPhone?   Apple made the decision to drop Google maps and to bring in their own unique map platform?   Will Apple keep to the D2C only strategy and not get into these services further? As iPhone now grows,  so does Google with the acquisition of AdMob, giving them the data insights and strategies to see what is hot and what is not through the analytics of free in the iPhone Marketplace. We may someday forget the very powerful great reports that AdMob delivered to us about the state of the mobile industry via their network, as this will potentially go “dark” as Google has not been so forthcoming with that type of industry analytics for free. Yes- we get products and services for free, but the “secret behind-the-scenes analytical intelligence” is something worth its weight in gold and now a key asset they have to expand further.

iPhone is leading the pack when it comes to velocity, but Android is making its mark… with this we are bound to see Apple needing to expand to the other carriers in North America and also potentially open up a bit.  I would love to see stronger alliances with iPhone between the likes of RIM, Motorola, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, HTC but those bridges seemed to be burned long ago? or not?

We are still in the early days of penetration of smart-phones and the overall potential of mobile access of the Internet in my opinion.   There are 150M Websites out there that are getting hit everyday even with mobile devices.  Many of them are iPhones that set the marketplace here in North America for full HTML browsing.  What is 100K apps compared to 150M websites? less then 0.1% of the size and potential of the Internet and with all devices in the future accessing the web, we are bound to see millions of widgets and mobile-versions of websites.

So when we say Apples to Apples comparison with iPhone,  I really feel we are talking about Apples to Gorillas unless Apple does make some major moves with strategic alliances and acquisitions.  I was once told, ” There is always somebody out there smarter and stronger then yourself in many ways, so leverage the community”.  Apple going at it on its own will now be a challenge with the Open Android approach that is sucking in so many of the hardware companies.  With Google now behind Motorola ( the giant that has been dormant for the last couple of years) and many others, it was fine for Apple to become great friends of the consumer, but they need more friends in this overall marketplace….. So lets hope and see if Apple will become the Gorilla in the room in the years to come.

I am excited to see that even with all the GaGa only about iPhone Apps ( understandably so, but) that there are new announcements every day on some of the most practical usage cases of mobile linked to web development and the mobile browser.

As it does make sense to have an application based strategy, there is still a lot to be said about the browsing experience off of the

OpenSource Webkit ( Safari) browser that is used on Android/iPhones/Nokia devices and many more.  As the browser is equivalent to web browsing we experience on PC’s, having a mobile experience that lends itself to the smaller screen size and the user interface of a mobile device is a very smart approach for scaling your existing web/publishing digital strategy to mobile.

I am a very active user of Gmail on both my PC and Device and find that the hardware does not matter anymore. What matters is my seemless ability to connect to the services that I use frequently and email is something that is extemely important for me to have virtually on all the time and extendable in a very usable form from either my PC or my Nokia E71.    I did find it strange that Google has only launched this for iPhone and for Android, when it would make sense to have this for all devices that support webkit from the starting point.  I am sure we will see the announcement for Nokia support in the near future.

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Gmail has announced a new web interface for iPhone and Android platform based mobile web browsers. Built over a new engine, this Gmail Mobile interface closely resembles the Gmail Desktop version. The whole mail browsing, reading and composing experience has become faster, even over weak network connections.

The user interface has been optimized for snazzier inbox, a new ‘floaty bar’ and offline Gmail support. The new floaty bar allows archiving, deleting or more options for the email like Mark as Unread, Add star or Report as Spam. This floaty bar follows as one scrolls down further to select more emails. Navigation and display of threaded email conversations has been simplified and made faster.

Searching specific mails quickly is possible by poking the Magnifier button representing search. More messages can be viewed by hitting ‘Show more messages’ and the page hardly takes half a second to load more emails.

The new Gmail for Mobile is available on Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices with firmware 2.2.1 or higher. All Android-powered phones are supported.

The iPhone OS 3.0 brings landscape keyboard support in the Mail application but it still takes a while to load messages. Scrolling between the messages often results in sore fingers. Also, search emails and labels are still difficult to use. However, the Gmail team has made many Gmail fans happy with the new desktop-like mobile web interface iPhone and Android platform.

Nine Inch Nails iPhone App Release [ Wired Mag Article]

The flavor of the month for a mobile strategy has definitely been to build an  iPhone App, and given Apple’s leadership in the music industry, iPhone is clearly a mobile strategy in North America over other devices that support different content distribution strategies potentially better.  There is a need for a good white paper on  ” My Mobile Strategy, or just build an iPhone App” – that I have started to work on.

With that said, what this App does is exactly what is very important to the industry and the monetization process…. build a relationship with the fans and bring them into the entire dialog withNIN.   Through this can lead to enormous monetization opportunities.  NIN’s Trevor Reznor states….” Now and artist needs to be a Marketer”

I hope this does bring a bit of clarity to the Music industry again that the traditional methods are now dead and building a Social Media Fan strategy with the right ownership of  Analytics is key. Does a strategy with MySpace enable Artists to own thier own Analytics and dialog in its full form?  With that said,   is not a silver-bullet strategy  to go out and develop an iPhone app at a price of $20~50K USD.  I would say the NIN iPhone App is North of $50K with all the Google Earth integration etc….

There is definitely hype here today and with Apps there is always a compatability issue that needs to be resolved. When Apple launches iPhone2, all the costs incurred with the development of App V1, might go out of the window.  The real value is to look at everything it takes to build a  CRM structure and strategy for your artists to embrace the new social media tools and get a strong dialog with the fans.  All of your artists should begin to look at how to best leverage Twitter, but with a clear understanding of how to capture the dialog and analytcis of the fans.

Here is an example of a search on Twitter for “The Trews”.   Just 3 hours ago, there were Fans tweeting about ” the Trews”.  The first thing that is important is for someone at Bumstead on behalf of the band to go and click ” FOLLOW” of each of the individuals tweeting about the Band.  Just think how great a fan will feel when they are being followed by the band themselves.  It is a process of feeling inclusive.

This is an easy way to aggregate Thousands of Fans that a direct dialog can be created every day.  Twitter allows for picture releases, even small clips, etc….. by having all this linked back to the Artists website and even a mobile version of the site can build a major engagment marketing process of having a dialog with Thousands of Fans on a day2day basis.

Just a quick Reference, today NIN has 13,917 Followers.…. Not alot, but after this announcement this will go up clearly and they will have an opportunity for greater dialog.

…. building Brand enagement with Twitter is a first step that will link to a mobile strategy, and a relationship that can lead to unique possibilities in monetization.  The difference is that this can be done for Virtually Zero Cost, where an iPhone App is a bit costly….

Why not build that base and then have the opportunity to share an iPhone/Android/S60/Blackberry App + your Website, Myspace page all linked back you your Mobile View

What still amazes me is that they were able to get that product out, build a business of over 500M downloads and mass-market penetration of services with out a single cent of that download tarriff going to AT&T. With over 22% of the downloads as games and over 18K available application titles, there is truly a new meaning to the concept of developing and application for a device and not build it through the browser.

As it is rumoured there will be an explosion of Android devices soon to hit the market, it is curious how Google will now embrace this content community to play catch-up with Apple. My gut tells me at this point the the ecosystem built up of applications for apple may tend to be more webcentric with Google.