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Panel Detail:
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
The Mobile Web
Speakers:
Len Lauer,
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Qualcomm Inc.
Mary McDowell,
Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer, Nokia
Greg Skibiski,
CEO and Co-Founder, Sense Networks
Moderator:
Steve Ellis, Worldwide Managing Director, Bain & Company
Increased personalization and perfecting the user experience will be key to increasing the reach of the mobile Web, panelists said.
Mobile media devices are becoming intrinsically linked to one's sense of self, said Len Lauer of Qualcomm, because you "don’t leave home without the mobile device." The devices are a way to bring connectivity to those in rural areas in both the U.S. and abroad. However, as the devices increasingly permeate the market, mobile Internet companies face challenges in privacy and user acquisition and retention.
Manufacturers such as Nokia and Qualcomm are exploring using the mobile Web to expand Internet into developing countries that lack the infrastructure for wired service, including more of the 2.6 billion people who live without a phone.
Mary McDowell discussed Nokia’s Life Tools program that provides Internet access using 35-year-old technology and slower Internet speeds. Life Tools lets individuals in rural India who have GSM coverage access the Internet for educational and agricultural purposes via an easy-to-use graphical user interface. Lauer said similar initiatives can serve more people in developing countries via handsets with a $17 entry price or bring browsing to any home that has a television via a modem and an applications processor.
Qualcomm also is working with the federal government on a broadband initiative to increase access for rural Americans. Greg Skibiski of Sense Networks is excited about bringing people on the grid because it allows companies to track the physical locations of mobile customers and use the information to predict outbreaks of disease, challenges to public safety and other purposes that could improve the quality of life for people in developing countries.
For those with ready access to the wired Internet, what will lure them to the mobile Web and keep them there? In five to 10 years, Lauer said, all devices will be connected to each other via local area networks or even wider networks. Lauer is confident mobile devices will be developed that will allow the convergence of consumer electronics, wireless and computing in one device but cautions against companies developing a cheap notebook computers as the answer.
McDowell agreed that convergence is coming but said the mobile Web is “about the transformation of the Internet, not rendering pages on a tiny screen.” She said the mobile Web also should be harnessed to deliver custom content. While the panelists agreed that applications on systems like the iPhone are exciting, some wished for portability between devices.
Privacy is a key issue, given that user information is a major source of data about users and their habits. Skibiski said that individuals should have possession, use and disposal rights to their information and that companies should diligently dispose of an individual’s information after it has been analyzed.
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