BeyondVC

 As I look around post-holiday season, I am seeing more and more regular, non-technical friends and family get connected on their mobile devices.  What does that mean? A great example is that of my father-in-law who got rid of his old Motorola Startac and exchanged it for an iPhone.  Yes, he got an iPhone, and [...]

As I have mentioned before, Nokia is one of the few handset manufacturers to get it (See my post from 2/07 on this).  Nokia understands that hardware margins are eroding and like in many technology businesses the value is in the software and monthly service revenue.  In addition, as time goes by, more and more [...]

There is a ton of hype on the wireless front especially with the announcement of Android, the Google operating system for mobile phones.  I too am quite excited about the prospects of having applications that are written once on the Google OS that can be ported to any other phone on any other network that [...]

As I have said before, Nokia’s biggest competitor in the future may be Google.  If Nokia doesn’t offer value added services and software on its phones, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft will.  In a world of shrinking margins on handset hardware sales, finding every valuable cent per user per ad or selling services for monthyl revenue [...]

The Wall Street Journal announced another Nokia mobile internet purchase today of a company called Twango which allows users to share photos, video, and media.  According to the WSJ, the Twango service will be integrated into Nokia phones and will start with a free and premium based subscription model.  While this acquisition in and of [...]

I am sure you have seen the news all over the web and Techmeme about Microsoft’s purchase of TellMe, which is rumored to be around $800mm.  As you can see from this Microsoft press release, the big opportunity is for Microsoft to use the TellMe voice-driven user interface as a key component for mobile handsets:We’ve [...]

I noticed today that Nokia released a free mapping program called Smart2Go which can easily be downloaded over the air to cell phones.  In and of itself, I did not find the news terribly interesting as Google Maps is a great app which is also free and there are countless others going after the space.  [...]

It is pretty clear that Scott McNealy’s pitch years ago that the "Network is the Computer" is finally coming into fruition with broadband penetration at 50% and wireless data speeds getting faster and faster every year.  Having a network available to you 24/7 makes it easier to keep your data in the cloud and accessible [...]

As you know, it is no secret to look to Europe and Asia to understand the future of new wireless services.  As I mentioned in the past, having a hit wireless app can be a big play, but the chances of making it happen are far and few between, especially since business success hinges on [...]