SK Telecom set to spend immensely on mobile software
SK Telecom Co, South Korea’s top mobile carrier will spend US$894 million over the next three years to develop its own mobile software like Facebook, Google Maps and iTunes for smart phone users home and abroad.
According to Chief Executive Jung Man-won, the investment will be mostly allocated in research and development, to support the creation of smart phone applications and services that will work on various mobile operating systems (OS), as well as SK Telecom’s own proprietary mobile OS.
The company’s CEO also stated that in the mid to long-term, the wireless operator will build its own proprietary mobile OS to fend off the increasing control by mobile OS creators, such as Apple and Google.
SK Telecom is also planning to build a wide range of mobile software from maps, social networking, instant messaging, commerce and content exchange store that are adapted, distributed and created into thousands of smart phone applications by developers.
According to the company’s statement, what the Korean wireless carrier aims to provide will be akin to the services offered by non-telecom companies like Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc.
The company will unveil the so-called application programming interface (API) of the company’s maps, music store and other services, to invite developers to create applications based on them, which the company hopes will attract more smart phone users and enrich their phone experience.
SK Telecom is setting its prospects on markets in the United States, China and Southeast Asia as developers use its software.
Mobile advertising poised for substantial growth: Google exec
Diana Pouliot, Google executive addressed the opportunities and advantages of mobile advertising at the International CTIA Wireless 2010 conference.
According to Pouliot, mobile Web usage is driving consumers in new ways and is creating opportunities for advertisers and content owners. She stressed on four key factors including ubiquity, the mobile Web, location and driving action.
Ubiquity is one of the main factors which influence the advertisements. While Smartphones accounted for 9 percent of global mobile phone sales in 2008, they are predicted to rise to 46 percent by 2013. In the past two years, mobile search traffic has increased by five times and Google maps for mobile have also increased by over 50 million active maps for mobile users.
As per the data referred by Pouliot, more than 60,000 Android devices are shipped per day. These users are active and highly engaged with their devices.
Web is another driving innovation. There has been a considerable shift in mobile and companies such as Amazon and Facebook tap into resources that are accessible via mobile Web.
With location, mobile advertising becomes even more powerful. To add to it, mapping and directions also form a big part of how Google wants to provide information to users and marketers can also take advantage of these products.
Sprint & GetJar offer 60,000+ free apps
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Independent app store’s 60,000-plus free applications will be offered under the new partnership between Sprint and GetJar to all feature phone subscribers as well as BlackBerry and Windows Mobile smartphone users. A link to the GetJar catalog is now live on the Sprint portal across most of its handsets.
Facebook Mobile, Google Maps, YouTube, Weather Channel Mobile, ShopSavvy and Loopt are some of the popular applications offered by GetJar. 750 million GetJar apps have already been downloaded by the consumers worldwide.
According to Sprint director of product management and development Kevin McGinnis, the company has been fairly open about its views on storefronts and they want to provide the greatest amount of choice and support operating systems, as opposed to their own proprietary storefront.
Multi-touch added to Nexus One
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A number of new features including multi-touch capability, a pinch-to-zoom mechanism for the phone’s web browser, gallery and maps, via an over-the-air software update, have been added by Google in its Nexus One device.
Some 3G connectivity problems that users had been experiencing has also been fixed after the update besides making Google Goggles augmented reality software available by default from the apps menu. The update will roll out gradually, and will not be available for most users until the end of the week.
Google Maps software include synching of user-selected starred map items between handset and computer, and a new night mode for Google Navigation which will automatically adjust the brightness of the screen at night for easier viewing.
Helio unveils phone with location services
Helio, a venture of EarthLink Inc. and SK Telecom, teamed up with Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. to deliver a new phone with features such as a friend locator service and driving directions. Reuters reports.
“Wireless provider Helio said its customers would be able to find out their current location and look up traffic conditions or directions to specific addresses by using Google maps and satellite positioning technology in Samsung’s Drift phone.
The phone, which sells for $255, also gives users the option to look up the location of nearby friends, or to have their own location show up on their friends’ cell phones.”
