Author Archives: ceo

About ceo

Long-time Mobilist, for fun and profit -- see http://about.me/cenriqueortiz

Android Dev Austin (May 2012) | Topic: “Android app performance and analysis”

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Join us on May 24th 2012 for our next Android Dev Austin meeting. The topic for the night is “Android app performance and analysis” with speakers covering the following topics:

1 ~ Using the Memory Analyzer tool to find memory leaks/inspect memory usage
2 ~ Android Performance monitoring and configuration SDK with InstaOps
3 ~ Introducing CoreDroid (An OSS app framework to ease up some of the pain of app development)
4 ~ Also, the Evernote Android SDK
5 ~ Open discussion

Food and drinks will be served. For headcount purposes, please register at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3493177187

Event Info:
Date: 5/24/2012
Time: 6:45-9pm
Where: Evernote Corp. 6504 Bridge Point Pkwy, Suite 400 Austin, TX. 78730

If you would like to present please email me (enrique.ortiz at gmail.com).

For more information visit the Android Dev Austin website.
ceo

On SMS traffic and revenue (early 2012)

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Today I read the following (Strand Consults):

“Facebook is killing the mobile operators’ SMS traffic and revenue… The golden days where SMS traffic and revenue simply continued to grow are almost over, as customers are now moving part of their mobile communication traffic over to Facebook.”

But I would say it differently:

“Facebook *Data* is killing the mobile operators’ SMS traffic and revenue”.

Yes, Facebook is definitely helping kill SMS revenue, but *data* is what is really killing SMS usage and revenue — data is what enables Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the many other content and messaging apps and tools.

Network Operators have known that this day would come, and, operators are making tons of money with data today.

I’ve been seeing something interesting among the Net-generation (teenagers, young adults) — they are preferring Twitter over Facebook when it comes to messaging. Let’s not under estimate the power of “short and straight to the point” messaging. What this tells me is that Facebook will peak, and others will take its place w.r.t. messaging.

Data taking over SMS was a matter of time. The “death” of SMS, time-wise, is actually happening as expected:

ceo

On Ambient and (Mobile) Context

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Recently I have been seeing the word “ambient” used a lot to describe “context”; a good example is Alohar Mobile and its Mobile Ambient Analytics Platform. Alohar Mobile are also the makers of Placeme.

Is Ambient the new Context?

It is not. Context is more than just ambient information; ambient information is a subset of Context:

  • ambient: “of the surrounding area or environment”
  • context: “the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.”

The following illustrates the elements of the mobile context:

The Mobile Context, May 2012

(Above diagram is an update from original The Mobile Context)

Ambient information is about sensory information while context is much more complex. Context is about the (set of) information related to a given user-event-in-time. It is the intersection or overlap of the different sets/elements above, at any given point in time, as it relates to a given event (search, browse, gift, purchase) for a given user.

Those who are able to truly capture, analyze and understand Context, are the ones who will be able to bring true meaning to (and reap the benefit$ from) Mobile.

ceo

APIs and Copyrights (Oracle vs. Google)

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The Oracle vs. Google case on Java is such a precedence case that any ruling on APIs vs. copyright might open a can of worms. The outcome of this ruling literally will affect any software company and developers designing APIs (and protecting those as Intellectual Property).

(I personally believe programming languages and its APIs should not merit copyright protection — languages are the means of unique expression, not the expression itself).

In the meantime, Europe courts just ruled on this exact matter (SAS Institute Inc. v. World Programming Ltd) against copyright.

A couple of key quotes from the article Oracle V. Google Jury Deadlocked? (Information Week):

“Google’s position is that APIs, like computer languages, cannot be copyrighted; Oracle disagrees.”

“…if the jury finds that Google infringed and that Google’s actions don’t qualify as fair use, then the copyrightability of APIs comes into play.”

“The primary issue that might be made moot is whether Oracle can even make a copyright claim. The judge has made clear that he reserves the right to rule on whether APIs can be copyrighted under the law. But presumably, he’d rather not if there are other means to resolve Oracle’s claim. If Google is found not to have infringed, he doesn’t need to rule on the copyrightability of APIs. If Google is found to have infringed, but to have done so as permitted under the fair use doctrine, he also doesn’t need to rule on whether APIs can be protected.”

Above: note how the judge is trying to avoid having to deliberate on APIs and Copyright; trying to stay away of such “debacle” and its consequences.

On Thursday, that very question was resolved in Europe: The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in a similar case, SAS Institute Inc. v. World Programming Ltd, that neither the functionality of computer program nor the format of its data files are expressive enough to merit copyright protection.

Read the whole article Oracle V. Google Jury Deadlocked at Information Week.

ceo
(Happy Cinco de Mayo)

Retail Stores vs. Amazon (2012)

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Something subtle but very important occurred yesterday. I am talking about Target’s decision to stop selling Amazon’s Kindle e-readers (hyperlink: USA Today).

In the above article you can find one sentence that summarizes the struggle that Retailers have been facing:

Target’s decision to phase out the Kindle is also occurring as the retailer, along with other major merchants, is trying to fight a growing practice called “show rooming.”

Consumers visit a physical merchant/store to see, try and feel a product, then compares prices online via their smartphone in real-time, then leaves the store. Many will go ahead an buy from Amazon, way cheaper, as Amazon has mastered the art of inventory, moving inventory and adjusting prices (in real-time). In addition, Amazon, to complement such sale, will show you something that pretty much is guaranteed that you will like and potentially buy.

There is such a huge opportunity for whomever solves this problem; of keeping the customer within the store and helping close the deal, right there — by bringing the right information to the floor, including adjusted prices, in real-time. As the article reads, retailers are trying to combat this via “exclusive merchandise” but that is not the right answer — the answer is “inventory-demand-data/intelligence + consumer lifetime value index + price adaptation, all in real-time”. Easy to say, hard to do. Amazon not only knows this but it has the advantage.

(Disclaimer: back in 2008 while at eZee, we saw this problem coming and we tried to build the above. Not only we were too early, but it is a very hard thing to build – we had to pivot the company. Merchants were not seeing what was coming their way. Today, merchants are not only recognizing this problem, but are living it; Best Buy, a company we tried to get into, is a good example of what I am talking about).

ceo

Oracle vs. Google on Java (2012)

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Some background: I spent many years as an individual contributor to a number of J2ME expert groups including MIDP 2.0, MIDP 3.0 and a number of J2ME APIs ~ around 10 different JSRs over 8+ years. I was a huge proponent of Java for mobile and still am.

In the next couple of days, the jury will decide in the trial of Oracle vs. Google on Java.

The Google vs. Oracle Java debacle is in my opinion, for the most part, the result of how Sun left behind a loosely defined and ambiguous Java, from the perspective of open source software (OSS).

To attract developers and win the community, Sun played the OSS “game”; but did it partially. I recall Schwartz claiming Java as open source, then trying to understand GPL classpath exceptions and whatnot.

Then Google started Android with Java, and Android became very successful.

As Sun shopped themselves around, Oracle, a coined-operated company, clearly understood the monetization opportunity that presented itself with Java and its state.

And here we are today.

Everyone in the business of SW knows that 3rd party SW must be licensed. The questions are “what is SW?”, “what requires a license?” and “what is up for fair use?” Is it the Java Programming language and related core APIs? The Virtual Machine and related bytecode? What about all the APIs developed by the Java Community and led by other companies such as Nokia and Motorola and others? All the above?

Google made a bet and decided to take risks — perhaps based on Schwartz’s OSS claims or the claims from the JCP vs. “fair use”.

But soon the court will decide, and all this will be over. Google may have to pay a lot of money for using Java, or maybe not, or maybe some kind of IP + $ arrangement is done between the companies, or maybe Google ends up using a different programming language on top of their VM.

ceo

Mobile Monday Austin | Nokia USA Tour visits Austin – Apr 30, 2012

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Mobile Monday Austin

Please join us April 30 for our next event when Nokia visits Austin for its “Nokia Lumia USA Tour”

WHEN: April 30, 6-9pm
WHERE: Buffalo Billiards, 201 E. 6th St.
WHO: Mobile Monday Austin & Nokia

Please RSVP at Eventbrite: http://momoaustinapr2012.eventbrite.com/

If you have a Windows Phone application, Nokia Developer wants to see your app – visit http://www.mobilemondayaustin.com for more information.

Drinks and appetizers will be served. Nokia is giving away 2 Nokia Lumia 800′s, plus other! For more information, visit the Mobile Monday Austin website.

Also see our new Facebook Page!

See you there…

ceo