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Mobile Web Megatrends - 19-Jan-2009- The power of App stores

Book sections: Implementing Mobile Web 2.0

This page contains  chapters for the book Implementing Mobile Web 2.0. We have tried to make each chapter self contained. The overall approach in implementing Mobile Web 2.0 is to take the idea of Web 2.0 and extrapolate it across the Telecoms stack - including devices. 

Book chapters will be pdf document attachments below as they are being written.

How do we actually implement Mobile Web 2.0?  and what will be the impact on business models?

In my book Mobile Web 2.0 , I have been talking of Mobile Web 2.0 as extending Web 2.0 to the Telecoms domain.

At a minimum, Web 2.0 can be characterised by three properties

a) The use of the Web as a backbone

b) Harnessing collective intelligence and

c) Creating a database/body of data that becomes richer as more users contribute to the system .

If we can fulfil as many of these three criteria through mobile devices – then we have a Mobile Web 2.0 ecosystem

Extending the three criteria to the mobile domain implies - harnessing collective intelligence from mobile devices coupled with the use of the Web as a backbone with an enriched data repository being maintained on the Web.

This leads to a typical ‘iPod like’ application.

Note that -  to harness collective intelligence from mobile devices, you don’t need the Web itself to extend to mobile devices – it can very easily be done using any other client(such as Symbian or Java) as long as you have a Web backbone and maintain a body of data which is enriched by a growing user base.

This is all good .. however if mobile devices are merely relegated to capturing content and sending it to the Web, then we lose the uniqueness of the mobile device. I have called this the 'deep blue sea' problem i.e. once content is sent from a mobile device to a site like Flickr – then it goes into the ‘deep blue sea’ of the web.

So, the question is: How does the mobile device adopt the ethos of the Web and yet maintain some unique advantages?

There are many approaches – not all will satisfy the three criteria but many come close.

At least twelve implementations are possible. These are listed below and I will start adding chapters as we complete them.

1) The Operator implementation – This will be likely based on IMS/SDP and increasingly also LTE

2) The handset implantation – This approach is best indicated by Nokia’s Ovi strategy and the iPhone. The device is a strong brand in itself and in the case of iTunes and Ovi – the operator billing relationship changes with iTunes . With features like GPS and an excellent user interface, the devices can be a significant force in themselves especially if the relationship between the device and network becomes ‘one to many’ i.e. there are different types of networks(like Wimax, Wifi, cellular etc) and the customer has a choice to connect to them

3) The Enterprise network strategy – Best epitomised by Cisco’s foray into Web 2.0 based on recent acquisitions such as Tribes and Five Across but also in the whole success of HSDPA and what it means to new services(i.e. through the laptop)

4) The Web players coming to mobile .. Best example of this approach is Android and the iPhone

5) Mobile Web 2.0 and Devices – Here, the basic idea is network access is ‘resold’ by devices. For example – when you acquire a subscription for Amazon Kindle – you don’t buy a phone or you don’t sign up to a contract with a network operator. You get a connection implicitly. In addition, browsers are being deployed to devices – for instance the Opera browser in the Nintendo Wii.

6) SCWS(Smart card web server) –  Chapter download. A relatively new approach with the SIM cards being increasingly powerful and with the deployment of a web server on SIM cards. 

7) Identity and Security – Identity and Security       chapter download Privacy can complement almost any service and a telecoms network has an advantage there. For instance – most people will trust their music preferences to Apple but when it comes to protecting minors from malicious content/users – may well trust the Operators

8) Browser APIs/DOM extensions – This one does pertain uniquely to the mobile browser. Inspite of rapid strides, the browser does lack some key elements – especially access to APIs. A whole raft of capabilities are possible via browser extensions(plugins) ranging from Location aware browsing to offline browsing. This is another area that can contribute to making the browser as a more integrated platform for Mobile Web applications. GSMA network APIs, OMTP Bondi, Google Gears, HTML5 are all examples of this approach.

9) Voice Call detail records to create social graphs – Chapter download. The use of voice call detail records to create social graphs has been discussed before. Xtract is a good example of this approach 

10) Make it quicker / easier – users will always pay extra for the small improvements which make their life easier even when other(more cumbersome) ways exist which may be cheaper - for instance 'One click' blogging or status updates to social networks/Twitter etc

11)  Umbrella social networks  i.e. a social network which spans the Web and the Mobile web. I see users primarily interacting with the one (social) web and that web will make it the distinction between the Web and the Mobile Web transparent. This idea also relates to cloud computing

12)  Converged address book - the converged address book is a de-facto social network on a device and could be a trigger to many new services.

Business models: This section will discuss how the Web and Mobile business models interact and their mutual impact

So, these are the techniques by which I believe Web 2.0 can map to Mobile devices. Of course there may be more .. and I welcome comments

Some notes:
a) There is no ‘one way’ – I believe a number of options are possible as I have outlined above – and indeed there could be more. In considering the ideas of Mobile Web 2.0 – I consider the idea of extending Web 2.0 to the Mobile domain(and Web 2.0 being defined primarily by the three ideas at the beginning of this post)

b) Many of the techniques involve big companies – for instance Gemalto, Cisco, Google, Apple, TIM, Amazon and so on. I think this is reflective of the traction needed to make this work across the value chain

c) The interplay between the Web and the Mobile Web is also a business model issue which we will also discuss.