The theme of the day at the World Mobile Congress today has been mobile Internet. Accessing the Net from a mobile device has always been rather awkward, if not even a little scary, thanks to slow connections, high data charges and unusable software. Today there was a noticeable sense of optimism from within the mobile industry over the future of mobile Internet. Discussions at the keynotes centred around how to make the Internet easier, faster and cheaper on a mobile, and we saw plenty of Net-enabled apps that are impressive enough to get mobile users connecting. Here are some of the things that we saw today:
Improving mobile Internet: Today’s keynote presentation saw the top minds from Skype, Google and Telstra outline their ideas for how mobile Internet can really take off. Each of the speakers was coming at the issue from a different angle, but all made valid and interesting points. Sol Trujillo, CEO of Australian mobile operator Telstra, explained how the Aussies are now benefitting from 99% mobile Internet coverage at speed of up to 42mbps. He sees the mobile Internet being used on a wider scale than just for Web browsing and entertainment, and pointed out examples of how 3G technology is being used in Oz to improve healthcare, education, farming and the environment.
Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering of Google, said there were three key drivers for the mobile Internet: cheaper and clearer data plans, improvements in browsers, and software innovation. He went on to give some impressive demos of Google’s new Latitude and voice search apps.
Josh Silverman, CEO of Skype, reiterated the importance of the role software developers play in driving forward the mobile Internet. Buoyed by yesterday’s announcement that Skype will be pre-loaded onto the N97 and other Nokia N-Series phones, Silverman delivered a strong message to mobile operators that cheap data plans are central to increasing mobile Internet use.
Bolt: Vic Gundotra of Google spoke today about the importance mobile browser software will play in enhancing the mobile Internet experience. We now have a bright new hope in this area in the shape of Bolt, which unveiled the beta version of its mobile browsing app at the show. The free program promises full PC-style Web browsing on all mobile devices, where you can enjoy content in its original form without being condensed. Best of all, Bolt feel really, really fast – and it consumes 1/3rd less battery power than other mobile browsers.
Spb Software: We caught up with one of the pioneers of Internet-based mobile applications, Spb Software. The developer is ramping up its offering by developing more apps for Symbian and iPhone rather than solely the Windows Mobile market. We were given a demo of the Spb Wallet product, which allows users to manage all of their personal information securely, as well as syncing it with the desktop. Particularly impressive was the fact it holds details and images of more than 70,000 types of credit card from around the World. We also checked out the latest version of Spb Online, which delivers high quality live TV from around the world to the handset. The new version looked pretty polished and included access to more than 40 channels in a range of languages.
Mobi4Biz: Another neat Net-driven app that caught our eye was this one from mobitv. Mobi4Biz presents allows users to watch business and financial TV news directly on their BlackBerry, as well as getting live personalized stock information within the same neat interface. Browsing the channels using Mobi4Biz was very easy and the inclusion of a live news ticker at the bottom of the interface means this could be a real indispensable tool for business people. Currently only available in North America, mobitv announced that Mobi4Biz will be coming to Europe devices in 2009.
Another Android phone: Just when we were giving up hope on ever seeing Android on anything without the initials ‘HTC’ above it, we stumbled across the DST L1 tucked away in a stand at the back of the show. The General Mobile device comes equipped with a dual SIM card, allowing users to quickly flick between which number they’re using to make calls, browse the Web or access their content. The hardware itself is pretty good, coming with a 5 mega-pixel camera, 4GB internal memory within a nicely-designed handset.