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Hello Kitty May Be Key to 3G Survival
wa4osh writes "It's scary to think that sophisticated 3G mobile systems may depend for their survival on Hello Kitty (a cutesy Japanese pink cat with whiskers but no mouth) according to the recent Commdesign article "Hello Kitty may be key to 3G success". The article suggests that 3G's main market is downloading ringtones and backgrounds. Reading between the lines, it also suggests that 3G did not find a killer application. For example, what happened to 3G Video phones, or using 3G to send video clips to each other? These are all things that can be done with today's 2.5G technologies - GPRS and 1XRTT. So what's 3G really for? Perhaps Wi-Fi / 802.11 is solving the real need for broadband data mobility." The Wall Street Journal has an article which suggests that cellular companies are turning to Wi-Fi to hedge their bets.
Hello Kitty cellphone/vibrator combo. Hey, it's definitely not out of the question when we're talking about all things Hello Kitty.
If you build it...
...nerds will come.
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
For example, what happened to 3G Video phones, or using 3G to send video clips to each other? These are all things that can be done with today's 2.5G technologies - GPRS and 1XRTT.
True they *can* be done with other technologies, but I think that the point is that people just don't need to do this stuff, with *any* technology. It's still just gee-whiz stuff without any real purpose outside of, "check out my new toy, Bob!".
I, for one, don't understand how major companies with gigantic R&D and marketing budgets can proceed to spend billions on infrastructure without doing just a bit of market research first. I think that asking a few thousand people, "Would you use a video phone if it cost this much?" would cost a few grand, and would very quickly tell them what they needed to know. Sounds like these companies didn't even do that much.
The article does have valid points, and yes Hello Kitty is (scarily) still quite a big thing in many parts of asia, much more of a thing than here. But the article is slanted in that it makes a much bigger deal about things then they really are.
Of the world's 70 million mobile-data users, 80 percent are in Japan, noted Kurt Hellstrom, president of troubled mobile-phone giant Ericsson.
This may be true, but you have to understand that they have a FAR superior infrastructure and are years ahead of most of the US and Canada, but remember tha once the rest of the world catches up that figure will change drastically - remember these are mobile data users and its a lot more common down there to do mobile data comm... for now until other places catch up. Singapore is also quite impressive. Going on a subway when I was in Singapore was almost like a video arcade with nearly 60-70% of everyone staring at their phones playing games or sending SMS's around to their friends.
Once data sending is more widley available in phones and our networks are built up a bit more things will change drastically. Reliant on Hello Kitty? I don't think so....
Sure it would be cool with video-phones and all that, but I'm not going to pay 10x the price for something I can't use because none of my friends have it, and batteries will die after a few minutes.. :P
I prefer my cheap old Nokia 6150 which I use to make phonecalls (surprise!) and send SMS with. Batteries last for about a week with normal usage.
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
MicroSoft(tm) follows suit in the icon trend and replaces mr paperclip with an american ico, martha stewart, a microsoft p.r. was quoted,"People love martha's advice, and we feel this "could be a good thing".
"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
G-spot success
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
So what they're saying is, people are only getting these phones for their customizability? That would be analogous to buying a car not for transportation, but just so you can paint it puke green and stick "Type R" stickers and a ridiculous fin on it (although that may be a bad analogy, because I think some losers DO that).
Does anyone have a sub-etha sens-o-matic I can borrow? I think the collective IQ of this planet has dropped to the point where I need to leave it and find another.
~Philly
3G's main market is downloading ringtones and backgrounds
This focus on non-core functionality is rampant throughout the technical industry. Take MP3 players for example; the main feature of MP3 players (winamp, Musicmatch etc.) nowadays in skinning.
Who cares what the music quality is, as long as I can make my player look like Tux it must be good.
There's so much crap out there, I don't understand why designers don't try to make their product stand out by actually working properly instead of looking pretty.
Ask yourself the question.
Would you pay £4 ($6) per half-megabyte for GPRS in the UK?
I wouldn't. I don't.
Normal people just don't want to pay that much.
Get your own free personal location tracker
As soon as it becomes cheap enough for 3G to survive...
People don't like spending their money, and since the economy is in a slump, they are going to be even more uncertain about spending it on a product they don't really need.
3G means faster internet, etc. But, unless the users have the money to pay the price required, 3G won't move far...
But the concept of 3G will survive in some form or another until it becomes cheap enough for the casual user to purchase a 3G device.
Hello Kitty works in Japan, because the market is different there. In the States, Europe and Canada, either something that will get the consumers willing to pay the extra bucks is needed, or just plain old time, so the price of the 3G devices go down.
~ kjrose
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2002/09/kitty.html ;)
(Score:-1, Wrong)
I have the Sony Ericsson T68i that does pretty much what you are talking about. With my iBook I can use it as a wireless modem. If you got a Sony Clie with a BT adapter I would assume you could send/recieve data through that. The CommuniCam is a 1 megapixel camera attachment that you could send photos with, but it doesn't have a flash :(
--Joe
"How would this sentence be different if pi equaled 3?"
Just gimme an IP address.
I'll roll my own content and killer app.
Thanks.
Oh no! Do you people have any idea what this will lead to?!
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Third Generation networks will be adopted, no question, because the large mobile players have the financial ability to push it to their customers and customers have a willingness to try it.
The long-term profitability of 3G technology, however, depends on if it can drive new users to mobile technology and if it will inspire current users to spend more money using wireless service.
Right now, 3G is used for downloading ringtones, sending small pictures and faster mobile web. Great! . . . but I, as a mobile telephone user, could care less about those things. Mobile web . . . the killer app? Gag me. I got on the "mobile web" with Verizon, simply because it was included as a "bonus." After using it, I can definitely say that I'd never pay for it, because it provides no real value.
For 3G technology to be successful in the long run, wireless companies must provide a data service that compliments and adds real value to mobile telephone service.
Well, I prefer business models depending on Hello Kitty to business models depending on Hello Pussy - any day!
.-)
Unfortunately, I think the latter will be the real killer application. Yes - once again - gampling and pornography will save a new technology. It is saddening that the human race can only get viable business models from decadency. But hey - the phones are cool!
Pawlo.com
Voice over IDSN was what was supposed to happen to analog telephony. Voice over ISDN is actually quite nice. You get end-to-end digital quality (but still only 8Khz 8-bit mono), a path for caller ID and charging info, and a feature set comparable to typical office PBX systems.
For some wierd reason, US ISDN voice doesn't provide power to the subscriber, and you need a local power supply. European ISDN does provide power over the phone line, so the phone will still work even if local power goes out. This is another reason that voice ISDN never went anywhere in the US.
A friend of mine in Tokyo recently bought one of those cell phones that can take movies and snapshots and email them to someone (over the G2(?) 144kbps link). So I had the idea to set her up with a blog and use procmail and xmlrpc to autopost her cell phone media captures to her blog.
Next thing I know, this concept is a big deal and I find similar systems popping up all over the place.
It seems to be an up and coming meme, and I imagine that this nascent meme combined with 3G speeds could really turn into something exciting.
... there is only war.
'nuff said.
http://www.talknerdy.org
I think many many people dream of just using a laptop of PDA for true wireless internet access -- if the costs are reasonable.
Right now the wireless telcos are pricing themselves out of the market.
This isn't a complete technology leap, though. This stuff exists, it's just expensive and hard to find, primarily because of lack of demand. I think a more appropriate question in 1870 would be: "If you could talk to anyone in the country any time from your own home through a box on the wall for $0.xx per minute, would you do it?" A person in 1870 would be a big flabbergasted, but they'd be able to think, "Sure, I could talk to my family without having to take a 3 day trip, I could talk to the guys at the store before making a 1 hour drive there, etc."
These companies asking "would you send pictures/video, etc. via your phone if it cost $xx.xx/month?" isn't a big leap. People know that it could be done. They know what it is. It's just that there honestly isn't any use for it for most people. I know, that I have no idea why I would want this service. If I need to send someone a picture, I turn on the computer, and send via email. It's done. I've never been anywhere where the need to send a picture or a video was so great that I *HAD* to do it right there over my phone, like they're showing in the ads. It's just ridiculous. They're trying to fill a non-existent need for a non-existent market.
Audio-on-demand. From anywhere you want. THAT will kick ass. MP3s have been one of the killer apps for the web. Being able to build a little MP3 player that can play MP3s, record them from the radio, AND stream any song you want over a 3G network - that will rock. Again, it's not a fucking cellphone. I want a small cellphone that I can talk into. Maybe a bluetooth headset would be nice. And an ultra-high density fuel cell to power the handset. But other than that, I am pretty satisfied with my cellphone as a thing I use to call people, not a thing I use for video, picture-taking or music-listening.
I mean, this stuff doesn't take much creativity to come up with. Sending phone-quality pictures to my friends from my cellphone? Eh. Not that impressive. Videophones? They've failed utterly though the technology has been there for years (and the bandwidth is actually there in many households for it to work quite well). No reason to think that video-cellphones will do better. People like cellphones because they can do other shit while they talk on them - I drive and use my cell all the time because I'm a BUSY fucking person (before I get flamed, I always use my handsfree set so I can devote most of my attention to the road).
So, in short, think of all the cool apps that could be built with 3G wireless bandwidth that ARE NOT cellphones. My car should have a GPS console, with integrated 3G wireless, that lets me search the web, auto-updates the map data (I don't know how the current car-GPS units do this). And audio-on-demand in the car - that would be great. Anyway, there are still things *I* can't do with *my* cell phone - real SMTP email access, real web browsing (not the current shitty excuse for this), download email attachments and view them - I suppose these examples are mostly 2.5G compatible apps, but the ones above seem to require 3G.
He's back!
He's mad!
And he's looking for a little pussy!
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
For those of you who have no idea of what 'Hello Kitty' is, you may want to check the web site.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Okay that sentence was retarded, forgive me, I typed that post hastily as I had to run out and grab some dinner. It should read "MP3s have been one of the killer apps for broadband internet". Don't ask me what the fuck the web has to do with it, since these days most MP3s are leeched from Kazaa et. al. Though if you remember the old skewl days, we used to have scour.net and other great web-based MP3 leeching systems. Back in 98 and 99 when I was in college we used to download MP3s off the web all the time.
I wish they'd spend more time focusing on interoperability than on gee-wiz features. I want my phone to be able to easily talk to my computer and my palm pilot. I want it to know when I'm in the office and switch to its 'quite enviroment' settings (ie, with a battery powered do-hicky I leave by my monitor that tells my phone via bluetooth or whatever, 'hey, keep it quite'.
I want to check my bank balance with as few keypresses as is secure. I want to beam any phone number to any other phone with a keypress. I want to be able to send RC5 codes so I can control my TV and my Tivo with my phone (why? because I always have my phone clipped to my belt, who knows where that damn remote is?).
I want a completely configurable menu system. I'm convinced that the Sanyo SCP-4700 was designed specificly to force one to waste time online while using the incredibly bad UI.
I want my phone to have a fast wireless connection to my computer and flash memory so I can carry around important files. I want to put my credit card info into it so I can use it to authorize payments at stores without dragging out a silly plastic card. I want it to use SecurID or something to generate dynamic numbers so I don't have to worry about the clerk, his manager or some hacker stealing my credit info. I want it to unlock and start my car.
I want it to speak X10, I want it to let me provide location info to systems in buildings that support it, so I don't have to turn on lights. I want the PC's I use to automaticly know my prefered desktop settings and my favorite web sites. I want it to hold my MP3 collection so I can listen to music on whatever playback equipment is nearby.
I want it to have more *#$%*#*$ buttons so I don't have to use T9!
This is a piece of technology that I carry with me or have within reach ALL THE TIME. Its rugged, its small (the electronics are so small now that the UI is the limiting factor), it has so much potential that phone makers just don't seem to get. Many of these features are really hard. Many are really, really easy, and would help to get people to see how useful it is to have one device that can do these things.
This is the whole problem with 3G, why I don't own any stock for companies having anything to DO with 3G, and I why I think 3G is a big sick joke. Here in Canada, I have a digital phone, filled with lame ass options that cost a fortune to use (so I never use them). I don't really need to check a stock quote from my phone, and certainly not at $0.50/minute (or worse). They might as well not be there - this is an important observation.
The phone companies want to bend you over for the service, then bend you over AGAIN for the content. It makes too much sense just to give you an IP - then they can't profit at every turn. I really don't understand why they don't get this. In Japan, i-Mode services MADE the digital network there. People can add their own little stupid things, and whatever is trendy, gets used. This is "revolutionary" and "radical" thinking. I hope the telcos get burnt even worse than they are now - they've effectively STOPPED (wireless) infrastructure development here. I can't complain too much about broadband, but it will never exist where I live in the woods.
There's a gotcha that the telcos don't know about though. It has to do with those "Features" my phone has I never use, and don't even consider because they cost so much to use. It's about to bite them in the ass, hard. What's that? It's the social use and acceptance of technology. In North America, most people associate the cellular phone with voice calls. Period. Different in europe and asia, but not here. Cell == Voice. No association with data.
If 802.11 takes off in a big way - all indicators are it will, it's great stuff - then the social acceptance of that technology will happen. People will associate "mobile wireless" with a 802.11 enabled PDA or notebook. They won't think about using mobile wireless services the way they use a cell phone - they'll just expect it as a feature of where they happen to be, offered by a mall, coffee place, school, office. It won't be the cell phone providing that connectivity.
Once that gets entrenched, it's all over for 3G wireless. I think it's already stillborn.
I hope the WiFi people take these people to the cleaners. Bend THEM over. Own your own infrastructure. WiFi gives people what they want, and you know what, $300 for an access point - or even $1000 for a few - isn't really that much compared to what equivilant service would cost me, if it ever happens. When infrastructure is cheaper than service, ya gotta start asking questions.
Maybe I'm wrong. 3G is a non-issue in my life, though.
My $0.02 (cdn)
..don't panic
What i see in the commercials doesn't look good at all. People get pics from their friends or family but is it worth it? I think it would be... cool... or something... if i got one of these but ist not worth it. Think about how much you use it compared to how much you pay for it. Lets say you get 50 pics a month. You spend $100 on the phone and maybe $40 a month. Thats still going to be over a buck a pic even if you sue it for months. Why do that? If i got a pic i would sit there and think "was it worth a buck to get this pic?". Probably not so im not going to buy it.
unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
BZZZT! Wrong!
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/08/16/cell.phone.drivin g/index.html
Probably nobody else will see this because the parent article is days old by now, and the mod wave has passed by, but maybe you'll come back and see if anyone replied to your comment, and then at least you'll be ONE person who's had their vision adjusted.
When you talk on the phone, your driving skills are compromised; using a hands-free kit doesn't help much. I'm also a busy fucking person, I carry a cell phone, and I don't talk on it while the car is moving (even stop-and-go traffic). You need to stop kidding yourself. Sorry.
One simple rule for its versus it's