Facebook and Skype: Something old, something new

Yesterday, Facebook announced its video chat feature in concert with Skype as part of a larger redesign of their chat functionality – including uplifts to the interface. On the surface, this isn’t groundbreaking. Google offers video calling, Skype has a solid business model and installed base of users, and Facetime is gaining steam in the iOS realm. Two observations stand out from this product launch. First, Microsoft’s purchase of Skype makes even more sense thanks to a quote from Mark Zuckerberg at yesterdays launch. ”We have a very longstanding relationship with Microsoft,” said Zuckerberg, who noted that Facebook had actually been working with Skype prior to Microsoft’s acquisition. Any questions about Skype valuation, and the price Microsoft paid, can be put to bed. 750 million Facebook users just entered the fold of access, and the innovation potential is high.

Second, since no blog entry is complete without mentioning Google, group video chat is not available on Facebook’s service. Google Hangouts (part of Google+) supports this functionality and in the short term, will be a differentiator. Great products are born from great competition, and Facebook will close this functional gap quickly.

Enterprise Considerations

I have the unique opportunity to engage with many CIOs through the Telwares CIO Global Forum, and the topic of using social media to uplift the customer experience (and revenues) is a tremendous hot button. Introducing video to the social mix, on a very practical level, adds complexity to achieving uplift. Facebook by nature is both personal and business for many users. Think about training requirements, dress code, policy on harassment, legal exposure, and bandwidth consumption. On the strategic side, how do you leverage the video component to uplift service in the context of a social platform? Draw pictures? The value for now will come from the intimacy of the interaction, and brand uplift from embracing a cutting-edge service. While both have intrinsic value, they don’t necessarily provide the hard ROI necessary for capital or operating investment.

For now, both Facebook and Google have viable roadmaps for video. Both organizations are extremely nimble and I would expect refinements to video features from both organizations. How consumers and enterprise adopt the functionality, since they are community-driven, depends on one simple question: who do you want to talk to?

Smart Phone Sales Projections Raised

Mobile phone vendors are projected to ship 55.4% more smart phones this year than they did in 2009, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

IDC raised its projection 10% from its previous forecast after several new models were released recently, including the BlackBerry Torch, EVO 4G and iPhone 4, the research firm explains in a press release. Device vendors are now expected to ship 269.6 million smart phones this year, up from the 173.5 million sold in 2009.

While a majority of those devices will be sold to consumers, enterprise IT departments will continue to see increases in the number of requests they get to support individually purchased smart phones.

Android and iOS devices have stolen market share from traditional players like RIM and Microsoft, and Android is on track to be the fastest-growing operating system over the next five years, IDC’s study reveals.

Android will cut into Symbian’s share, but expect Symbian to retain its leadership in smart phone sales, IDC says. Windows Mobile is projected to regain lost share and BlackBerry devices will retain their current level of popularity, while iOS phones will decline gradually, the study finds.

The smart phone market will remain fragmented, supporting as many as five operating systems during the next five years.

The booming yet fractured smart phone market makes it even more critical that enterprises understand, evaluate and take action on their mobility strategies including device procurement, policies, liability models and expense management, Telwares’ mobility experts add.

Enterprises should also be actively planning on the integration of mobile end points into their overall network strategy. More devices are hitting the market every day that can support and satisfy end-user computing requirements, and this will have a drastic impact on planning, sourcing, implementing and managing next-gen networks.

Android Grows Market Share, Others Drop in Popularity

Google’s Android was the only smart phone platform to grow its U.S. market share during the three months ended in May, according to a study released July 8 by Reston, Va.-based comScore, a digital marketing intelligence firm.

As many as 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices as of May. More than 49 million of those mobile devices were smart phones – an 8.1% increase from the previous three-month period, comScore finds.

Android’s market share increased to 13% from 9% in the prior period.

The open-source platform was developed by the Open Handset Alliance, a group of 71 technology and mobile companies that includes Google, HTC, Sprint and Motorola.

The recently announced Android 2.2 (code named “Froyo,” short for frozen yogurt), features updates like portable hotspot functionality, support for Adobe Flash within the Android Browser and improvements to Android Market.

RIM remained the smart phone platform market leader in comScore’s study (with 41.7% of the market), followed by Apple (24.4%) and Microsoft (13.2%). Palm trailed with 4.8% market share.

Aside from Android, each smart phone platform lost between 0.4% (RIM) and 1.9% (Microsoft) of its market share. But the declines don’t reflect a shrinking of the market; comScore says the smart phone market overall continues to grow.

comScore notes its data doesn’t reflect the impact of Apple’s iPhone 4, which launched in June. (Click here to read Telwares’ analysis of iPhone 4.)

Samsung is the top handset manufacturer in comScore’s study (22.4% market share), followed by LG (21.5%), Motorola (21.2%), RIM (8.7%) and Nokia (8.1%).

NTP Sues Apple, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft and Motorola

The company that sued BlackBerry maker RIM for patent violation and incited enterprise panic in 2005 is at it again.

Richmond, Va.-based NTP Inc. filed suit July 8 against Apple Inc., Google Inc., HTC Corp., LG Electronics Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Motorola Inc. in federal court. NTP alleges the six companies infringed on eight of its wireless e-mail delivery patents and wants the companies to pay licensing fees for using the technology.

There’s precedent from NTP’s suit against RIM: The BlackBerry maker was found to have willfully infringed NTP’s patents and the verdict was affirmed on appeal. RIM paid NTP $612.5 million to settle its patent infringement lawsuit in March 2006, which included a perpetual, fully paid license going forward.

If the court finds NTP’s new claims to be valid, the six manufacturers and developers named in the suit must pay the fees or cease use of the technology.

Telwares believes settlements and fees are the most likely outcome. As in the RIM case, NTP has little interest in stifling smart phone sales or use; its revenue will come from licensing fees.

So enterprises shouldn’t worry about losing their iPhones, Android handsets or Windows Mobile phones. The real question is whether licensing fees will increase device and service costs for enterprises, according to Telwares experts.

NTP is a privately held intellectual property firm and claims its founder, the late Thomas Campana Jr., invented wireless e-mail in 1990. NTP already has licensing agreements with RIM, Good Technology Inc., Nokia Inc. and Visto Corporation.

“Use of NTP’s intellectual property without a license is just plain unfair to NTP and its licensees,” says Donald Stout, NTP’s cofounder, in the company’s press release. “Unfortunately, litigation is our only means of ensuring the inventor of the fundamental technology on which wireless e-mail is based, Tom Campana, and NTP shareholders are recognized, and are fairly and reasonably compensated for their innovative work and investment. We took the necessary action to protect our intellectual property.”

Google Chrome-based OS for Netbooks

Google has announced its entry into the Netbook operating system world, via a Chrome-based OS. While this move seems centered on taking market share from Microsoft, there is momentum building around netbooks, their capabilities, and more importantly the subsidy-type model for provisioning these devices. Best Buy and Sprint announced a 99 cent netbook, with a two year agreement for data services. This eliminates the capital question for consumers, but opens the gates for a broader penetration of the market for service providers. It’s early in the adoption curve, but should provide interesting market metrics for the next year in terms of adoption, and real revenue impact for the carriers.

More on Google from Rethink Wireless (http://www.rethink-wireless.com/?article_id=1651):

Google’s hesitancy about Android appearing on netbooks becomes clearer now – the firm is developing a separate, though related, operating system for this platform, which could be extended to take on Microsoft head-on in the PC market. Based on the Chrome browser, the OS, optimized for web services, will be targeted initially at netbooks, said the search giant.

This move is partly to strengthen Google’s play for Microsoft’s enterprise market dominance, which it has previously attacked from the sidelines with applications like Gmail. But it is also a bolder quest to put Google in a Microsoft-style position across all client platforms, dominating the cloud computing era – and, as PCs and phones converge, the netbook holds a key strategic position as the first example of a new wave of highly mobile, web-oriented devices.

http://www.rethink-wireless.com/?article_id=1651