Fastest Download You've Ever Seen

We came across an article on the mobile marketing watch website today that says the "theoretical" nature of the 4G is going to be fast, very fast. Download speeds are said to hit 100Mbps with 50Mbps uploads. The fastest rates current phones transfer are only at 7.6Mbps. To put this speed into perspective, the speeds will be faster than the current generation of typical home wireless networking technology and comparable to the emerging 802.11n standard.

The keyword here is "theoretical". I believe we can and will achieve these high speeds. But the question is whether or not the US operator platforms will be properly equipped for the new 4G technology. Also, whether or not the appropriate electromagnetic spectrum is going to be available for such use. One of the reasons all television broadcasts are switching from analog to digital is to free up a large chunk of the spectrum. Digital occupies approximately 25% less space on the spectrum than analog. The freed up space will belong to the government who will in turn auction it off to the highest bidders.

Some studies have been conducted whereas they suggest the majority of future Internet connectivity will be done through a mobile device.

See the full article here.

Phoneflix - Netflix Phone Management

Recently we wrote a story about the latest OnDemand movie rental product, Blockbuster's 2Wire set-top box service. 2wire appeared to be another punch in the fierce battle between the two movie rental powerhouses, Blockbuster and Netflix. The two companies originally had very different business models, but since Blockbuster released its mail rental program they are both competing head to head.

The latest tech launch from Netflix is their mobile phone management application called Phoneflix. The application allows a user to easily make updates to their account or queue while on the go from their mobile phone. We see the major advantage of the application being the ability to quickly search and add a movie title to your queue. How many times have you been somewhere away from your computer discussing various movies with friends when you told yourself you'd add it to the queue when you got home. Several online reviewers stated the biggest drawback was the inability to tell if a movie is already in your queue while searching for movies via the mobile search.

All in all we recommend the application based on our review. The ability to successfully add movies to your queue definitely outweighs any disadvantages we have come across. Plus the application is free for blackberry and android users.

Gmail adds SMS

Application developers are still finding new and creative ways to integrate SMS into their software. Gmail users can now use a text messaging widget from their Gmail account alongside the chat feature.

As XMPP and SMS continue to grow in popularity, you can rest assured that there will be increasingly clever applications for text. We have a lot of creative ideas forthcoming at TextMovers too. Stay tuned!

Blockbuster Goes Set-Top Box

Blockbuster, Inc. has introduced a new set-top box that brings the movie rentals directly to your television set. The new device works similarly to the way that cable television set-top boxes currently provide on-demand services. "Eventually, we'll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an Internet connection and a screen," said Keith Morrow, Blockbuster's chief information officer.

We love the idea of Blockbuster entering into this market. In reality, they are sort of catching up at this point but we are hopeful they take it much further by offering a variety of new features. The company teamed up with Microsoft and is using the Live Mesh platform to provide the rental services.

Its another step in the right direction for the movie rental market and the competition should further boost the technology and pricing models. The mail order program that Blockbuster introduced a few years ago to compete with Netflix offered some major advantages over its rival. The ability to turn in the movies to a nearby store location in exchange for another rental had many people running back to Blockbuster.

We want to know how the new set-top box is going to compete with their current mail rental business? What would be the cost per movie or how many do you get per month for the subscription price? If each movie rental is similar to the price of an in-store rental, I could see a slow adoption rate among the members of the mail rental program. Someone using the mail rental program to its fullest potential could see 20 or movies per month for a little over $20.00.

Play Mobile Demos in Facebook

A new gaming application, Mobile Arcade, has been released on Facebook by MPowerPlayer, Inc. (mplayit.com). The application allows you to play demo versions of popular mobile phone games, such as Guitar Hero and Spore Origins, inside of Facebook. You no longer have to waste any of that precious dough on a game that you end up hating. Of course if you must have the full version you can purchase the games too.

This new app has a ton of utility compared to most of the other Facebook apps out there. We've always enjoyed playing games over sending virtual drinks to our friends list. Let us know your thoughts on the application.

Holiday Shopping Goes Mobile

First there was Black Friday, the dreaded over-crowded shopping day when people literally trample each other. Then came Cyber Monday, an online shopping day filled with amazing Internet specials. And now comes Mobile Tuesday, the newest marketing campaign designed to grab your consumer dollars in the days following Thanksgiving.

Mobigosee started the campaign to try and beef up sales on the very slow Tuesday after Thanksgiving. We're not exactly sure of all the details regarding the program, but special offers are sent to users that have signed up or opted-in to the Mobile Tuesday campaign. More than 18,000 people were signed up prior to the event. Personally, I think there are some inherent problems in such a campaign. Such as how many coupons would actually be sent to your phone in that one day? Or what time of day will I receive all my coupons?

Overall, I think it is a great idea and it would be a tremendous success if they have solved these issues. We'll keep you posted if we receive any additional news and whether it was considered success.

TV is becoming more portable than ever!

If you think your G3 phone is "all that and more", then just wait until the next phase of mobile television broadcasting. Sure, you can probably watch some streaming live video now, but that is all approved content provided to you through your cellular carriers.

The Advanced Televisions Systems Committee has recently approved a proposed standard specification, called Mobile DTV, which will extend the range of U.S. television broadcasters. In other words, this technology would allow television broadcasters to create mobile channels that are sent directly to your phone, laptops, or other portable devices. However, the cellular carriers would need to sell phones that are equipped to handle these specifications. Getting them on board may be the catch. Traditionally, the cellular carriers have not allowed devices capable of carrying content in which they are not controlling, or selling.

Mobile DTV would likely be subsidized by providing mobile-directed advertising in the programs. For example, a subway commercial may ask you to text SUBWAY to a short code number to get a special coupon. The advertising could also be location based as the user would be identified via GPS.