The Newest Handphone: ReadWriteWeb's Sprint CTIA Roundup

Rights Watchdog Says Mobile Web Would Have Changed Nazi Germany

How important is Twitter in the political revolutions sweeping the Middle East? That was the topic of discussion on stage at the CTIA mobile and wireless convention today in Orlando, Florida and two very different, very strong opinions were voiced.

"I don't think anyone in their right mind would say that sending a tweet is the equivalent of activism," said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, "but it's another tool people can use." Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world's most respected human rights organizations, framed things very differently though. He said on stage (above) that mobile technology in general would make it impossible today for something like Nazi Germany to unfold again the way it did historically.

Pen-based Apps? HTC's Scribe Technology Will Open to Third-Party Development

Even if you're only casually following the developments in the tablet ecosystem, you've probably heard a little something about the HTC Flyer. It's the tablet that works with a pen. Not a stylus, mind you, but a pen. "A stylus is just a dead stick," HTC PR guy Keith Nowak told me during a briefing today. A stylus is used for navigation, he explained, but you don't need the pen to navigate the Flyer. In fact, you don't use it to navigate at all. You draw. You write. You scribble. Well, only if you want to, that is. The pen is an optional accessory.

The new pen has a pressure-sensitive tip and can be used with the tablet's built-in apps like Sketchbook and Notes, both of which offer the ability to draw directly on the tablet's screen using pen-based input. But the really exciting thing about the pen? The technology, which HTC calls Scribe, will be opened up to third-party development.

How 50 Billion Connected Devices Could Transform Brand Marketing & Everyday Life

Web-connected devices, not just mobile phones and 3G tablets but everything from home electronics to consumer packaged goods instrumented to transmit data to the Web, have become a part of every major speech here at the wireless industry's giant conference in Orlando, CTIA. "All devices that can benefit from connectivity will be connected," Hans Vestberg, CEO of Ericsson, said in a keynote, predicting that the world's nearly 5 billion mobile phone subscribers today will be surpassed by 50 billion connected non-phone devices in 10 years.

Some people think that may be a conservative estimate of the possible impact of what's called The Internet of Things. Chetan Sharma is one of the most respected analysts in the wireless industry; his original research is cited everywhere from the world's biggest business and technical publications to the CTIA leadership's opening adress at this, the wireless industry's leading conference. I sat down with Sharma today and listened to him describe what he thinks a future of ubiquitious connectivity will look like.

CTIA: PayPal Talks Future of Mobile Commerce

Fabio Sisinni of PayPal's Mobile team was at this week's CTIA Wireless 2011 conference in Orlando, Florida to talk about the company's vision for mobile commerce. Paypal's usage on mobile phones has soared over the past few years, and the company is now processing around $6 million in mobile transactions per day. It's on track to produce a total payment volume of $2 billion in 2011 on mobile, Sisinni says, a figure that's up from just $24 million in 2008.

Along the way, PayPal has been experimenting with different types of technology, including everything from barcode scanning to NFC (near field communication).

Smart Phones & Devices Now Growing 3X As Fast as Babies Are Born [Stats]

Did you know there are 3X as many smartphones being activated every minute around the world than there are babies being born? That's according to Hans Vestberg, CEO of Ericsson. "Those of us in this room can remember when mobile coverage was rare and we chose when to go online," Vestberg said on stage today at the CTIA wireless conference. "This next generation being born will expect coverage everywhere, will take being online for granted and will choose when they go offline."

Day two of CTIA began with a heavy emphasis on statistics from the morning's keynote speakers and some of the numbers may surprise, delight and inspire you. Or they might make you worry that humanity is about to be overrun by smart devices. You might also feel inclined to contest one or two of them - but here they are.

This App is Rated R: Mobile App Stores to Institute App Rating System

The CTIA Wireless Association announced this afternoon that it will add a new voluntary App Rating System to its list of industry guidelines. Participating app stores will allow parents to block access by children to apps rated suitable for adults only. It seems likely that new adult apps will thus be made available as well. From the sacred to the profane, effective content ratings and guidelines could create a safe haven for all kinds of new apps and commerce to flourish.

No such ratings system has been built yet, but the organization announced today the availability of a Request for Proposals for outside vendors to build it. The guiding principle will be that app creators will submit information about the contents of their apps at the time of submission to participating app stores and then the ratings would be applied automatically. No list of which app stores will participate is available yet, but the organization's membership includes both Apple and Google, among many others.

Will AT&T Kill the Golden Goose of Mobile Industry Competition?

Is innovation at risk in what could be the most innovative sector in the history of the United States? Fresh off the news that AT&T seeks to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion, that was the question at the center of conversation this morning as the CEOs of the 3 largest mobile companies in the United States took the stage with MSNBC's Jim Cramer to kick off the CTIA conference in Orlando, Florida.

It was a moment of high drama and the players didn't dissapoint. When asked point blank about the consequences for innovation of the deal AT&T's Ralph de la Vega focused on the positive and Verizon's Dan Mead yawned at the supposed threat. Sprint CEO, underdog and the Chairman of CTIA itself Dan Hesse, however, was quite explicit in sounding the alarm.

What Forward-Looking Web Lovers Can Watch For at CTIA

One of the biggest mobile technology conferences in the world, CTIA, is about to begin in Orlando, Florida and ReadWriteWeb's Sarah Perez and I are on the scene to find out what's hot for mobile device power users, mobile developers, the Internet of Things and more.

Mobile is no doubt the future of the consumer computing experience and a world of connected devices are sure to make huge new sets of data available for developers to play with. The movement of mainstream markets will open up new possibilities for experimentation, too. Here's what I'll be looking to see at this giant event.

The Newest Handphone

Friday, March 25, 2011

ReadWriteWeb's Sprint CTIA Roundup

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