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IEEE ComSocSCV Workshop on Mobile Apps, 6/24/10

June 24 Workshop on Mobile Apps,  Microsoft Campus in Mt View, CA

IEEE ComSocSCV and TiE-SV Wireless SIG  have recruited many top notch speakers, moderators and panelists for this very timely workshop:   "New Platforms and Infrastructure for Mobile Apps" to be held on June 24, 2010 from 3:30- 9:00 p.m. at the Microsoft Campus in Mountain View, CA. 
 
Be sure to attend this exciting event with discussions on platforms and infrastructure for mobile applications. The information provided, perspectives shared and the networking opportunities with speakers and fellow attendees will further your knowledge and understanding of the mobile applications space.  

Registration link is at:

http://sv.tie.org/TGS/EM/viewevent/viewEventPT?id_event=4659&from_where=chapter_homepage

Advanced registration is $45 for IEEE members, which includes dinner and drinks: 

The keynote talks and panels will present and discuss the mobile applications development platforms that are available today, their features and functions as well as the mobile access and broadband infrastructure that enables and facilitates mobile applications. 

In Track I on Applications Platforms: Development and Business Considerations,  the speakers will discuss technical considerations in developing mobile apps for the consumer and enterprise, such as  the OSes, SDKs, APIs, developer communities and features available on hardware platforms i.e. mobile phones and note/netbooks/pads/readers etc. Business considerations such as promoting apps, building virality, monetization, types of apps and traction, entrepreneurial opportunities will also be discussed. 
 
Track II Infrastructure & Technology Trends  the discussion will be centered on mobile access and broadband enablement by carriers and equipment vendors. Mobile Wireless technologies such as 4G, WiMax, LTE and the present and future trends will be discussed with a view towards multimedia applications that will be enabled and supported by these technologies and investments in them. 

New Platforms and Infrastructure for Mobile Apps" – June 24, 2010, 3:30pm-9:00pm
 
Track I – Applications Platforms: Development and Business Considerations 
 
Theme: What are the development platforms available and what are the development and business considerations, market characteristics of Consumer and Enterprise mobile apps? 
 
Topics:

  1. The Development Platforms and Development Considerations: Devices and OSes, APIs, SDKs, Developer communities/forums, multi-platform tools
  2. The Business Considerations of Apps: Creating, advertising, viral/other marketing, monetizing apps with appropriate business models, building scale.
  3. New Applications Markets, Opportunities and Funding Landscape. 
Keynote Speaker(s) Track I: Usman Abbasi, PayPal Mobile
 
Panelists/Speakers: 
Anand Iyer, Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft
Oliver Gunasekara, Alliance Management, Symbian
Adam Blum, CEO, Rhomobile
Praveen Alavilli, Developer Evangelist
Vishal Gurbuxani, CEO Mobclix
Others: TBD
 
Track II – Infrastructure & Technology Trends 
 
Theme: What is the application development infrastructure and what are the new technologies and trends to enable apps?
Topics: 
  1. Carriers'/network enablement: Present and future carrier plans for enabling mobile apps; wireless broadband technologies and equipment, secure, scalable and inter-operable integration with the enterprise and consumers  
Keynotes, Track II: "4G Trends" Lars Johnsson, CTO Beceem, "IP Ethernet in Access and Backhaul Mobile Infrastructure", Michael Howard, Infonetics Research
 
Panelists/Speakers: 
K. Nagesh, Director, Service Provider Marketing — Mobility, Cisco Systems, Inc. 
Anne-Louise Kardas, Sprint
Ashoka Thiyagarajan, Director Platforms and Strategy, Samsung
Jorgen Odgaard, Ericsson 
Others: TBD

Venue: Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus Conference Center, 1065 La Avenida, Bldg. 1, Mountain View, CA, 94043 

Program Schedule:  

3:30 p.m- 4:00 p.m.  Registration and Networking
4:00 p.m.-4:10 p.m.  Introductory remarks by Chapter & Workshop Chairs
4:15 p.m.-4:40 p.m.  Keynote(s) for Track I
4:45 p.m.-6:00 p.m.  Track I Panel Presentations, Panel Session, Q&A
6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.  Dinner and Networking
7:00 p.m.-7:25 p.m.  Keynote(s) for Track II 
7:30 p.m.-8:45 p.m.  Track II Panel Presentations, Panel Session, Q&A
8:45 p.m.-9:00 p.m.  Closing comments and Networking
 
Program Chairs:
 
Chris Vora, TiE Wireless SIG
Terry Rodrigues, TiE Wireless SIG
Sameer Herlekar, IEEE ComSocSCV
 
Program Advisor:  Alan J Weissberger, IEEE ComSocSCV Chair

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

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By Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

Ken Pyle is Marketing Director for the Broadband Forum. The mission of this 25+-year-old non-profit “is to unlock the potential for new markets and profitable revenue growth by leveraging new technologies and standards in the home, intelligent small business, and multi-user infrastructure of the broadband network.”

He is also co-founder of Viodi, LLC and Managing Editor of the Viodi View, a publication focused on the rural broadband ecosystem, autonomous vehicles, and electric aviation. He has edited and produced numerous multimedia projects for NTCA, US Telecom and Viodi. Pyle is the producer of Viodi’s Local Content Workshop, the Video Production Crash Course at NAB, as well as ViodiTV. He has been intimately involved in Viodi’s consulting projects and has created processes for clients to use for their PPV and VOD operations, as well authored reports on the independent telco market.

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3 replies on “IEEE ComSocSCV Workshop on Mobile Apps, 6/24/10”

Pyramid Research: Free apps will dominate the mobile app market over the next five years, creating a potentially serious problem for network operators hoping to create new revenue by selling apps to mobile users, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com).

Pyramid estimates that the total download volume (free and paid) will … See Moreincrease by a factor of seven between 2009 and 2014 from 5.7 billion to 41.1 billion, notes Jan ten Sythoff, analyst at large for Pyramid Research and author of the report. "Although paid apps have increased substantially in volume with the emergence of app stores, free apps have really boomed, revolutionizing the mobile advertising market," Sythoff says. Including operator portals, the proportion of free downloads increased from around 30 percent in 2008 to 54 percent in 2009, and it is expected to stabilize at around 80 percent in 2014.

"This is a key trend, and it will drive new revenue streams, namely from advertising," say Sythoff. "We believe, for instance, that Apple's acquisition of mobile advertising network Quattro Wireless in early 2010 demonstrates that the company wants to monetize the billions of free apps being downloaded onto iPhones."

"Attracting developers is perhaps the most difficult challenge for operators given the lead the vendors have established, platform fragmentation and limited adoption of devices with operator stores enabled," Sythoff explains. "In regions where the vendors are already well established, such as the U.S., it will be difficult for operators to establish their own stores. In other regions, vendors have yet to establish themselves, giving operators the opportunity to take the initiative."

Mobile apps will be looked at from every conceivable angle at our June 24 ComSoc-TiE workshop.  Please register now:
Registration link is at:
http://sv.tie.org/TGS/EM/viewevent/viewEventPT?id_event=4659&from_where=chapter_homepage

I just registered for the event and am eagerly anticipating a great panel with many networking opportunities!
Also, a bargain at $45 which includes catered dinner and soft drinks

Here are the questions I've prepared for the two panels  This has taken me quite a bit of time and research.  Of course, it is not an exhaustive list and the order is random:
 
Track I on Applications Platforms: Development and Business Considerations
 
1.  The overwhelming majority of apps written today have been for smart phones.  Will apps written for tablet PCs (e.g. iPAD), or eReaders or other devices have the same user interface,  look and feel, e.g. touch screen?  What about apps for social networking sites, e.g Facebook?  Or will the same app have to be rewritten for each hardware platform- even if it uses the same mobile OS/ software platform?
 
2.  While the mobile apps world is all abuzz  there are several potential problems that could hold back customer acceptance.  Please evaluate the following in terms of being a barrier to acceptance of new and future mobile apps:
 
-Tiered pricing replacing unlimited mobile data transfers:  how much data will that app use?  The uncertainy may cause users not to consume bandwidth intensive apps like video games or mobile video streaming/ downloads.
-How to monetize the app?  According to the NY Times, very few app developers are making money. 
-What;s the app business model for developers- app stores, direct sales, advertising supported, etc?? Is the free or cheap app supported by advertising model still viable? 
-Walled garden reconstructed by the device maker via tight controls, e.g. Apple not allowing Flash and rigidly specifying app development criteria; Google possibly exerting too much dominance over the Android alliance, other
-Inserting ads in the app (Apple plans to do this) may irritate or annoy users
 
3.  With Apple and Android being by far the two most popular app development platforms, where does that leave RIM, MSFT, Nokia, HP/Palm and others who have created their own mobile OS and development platforms?  Can these other mobile players gain market share in the smart phone/device market with their own platforms or will it be an Apple/Android world?  Note that HP has said it would use Palm;'s Open OS in its future line of tablet PCs.
 
4.  The achiles heal of powerful new devices seems to be battery life.  It seems to be even more important than mobile network access bandwidth and coverage.  Is this over rated or is it a factor that will limit growth?  Apps like video chat consume a tremendous amount of power and hence drain the battery.  So do having multiple radios on at the same time in the mobile device.  Any near term fix?  If not, will this limit many of the more powerful functions in mobile apps?
 
5.  Will mobile video/ premium content ever become the big business it was hyped to be?  It faces at least two problems:  too many video players, consumption of too much bandwidth (could saturate the mobile network unless a separate mobile DTV band was used).
 
6.  Most mobile apps provide built in access to web pages.  They perform a self contained job or tasks without requiring the user to browse the mobile Internet.  Will this trend have an adverse effect on mobile search and negatively impact Google's plans to dominate that space?
 
7.  What the future of LBS's?  It was a long time before it gained market traction, but it seems to be here now (especially on the iPhone).  Will LBS's be effectively combined with mobile advertising or help a user find what he's looking for in the immediate vicinity of his or her location?
 
8,  Can the mobile operator making any money off apps?  If not, is it just a dumb pipe provider that is and will continue to be marginalized?  Any way operators can participate in the mobile app market?
 
Track II Infrastructure & Technology Trends 
 
1.  How will the operator get a decent ROI on the network upgrades and new build outs (e.g. LTE) that it's planning, if its revenue only comes from subscriptions/ tiered pricing and it continues to subsidize new hand sets?
 
2.  Is mobile backhaul the real choke point for improved aggregate access bandwidth to users?  Will different backhaul technologies be needed for different mobile access networks, e.g. Mobile WiMAX, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE, TD-LTE, etc.  In particular, when will it be necessary to use Fiber backhaul in place of Microwave or copper backhaul, which is now far more prevalent (at least in the U.S.)
 
3.  Can topology tricks like pico cells, femtocells, off loading traffic to WiFi hot spots be effectively used to improve bandwidth per user?  Or is this just a gimmick?
 
4.  Pico cells require more backhaul points.  Are operators planning for this?  How about recovery from failed cells (since there will be more cells in a given area)?
 
5.  Mobile WiMAX seems to have faded into the background, with HSPA+ upgrades, LTE coming on line and TD-LTE being considered by Sprint/Clearwire, and Yota planning LTE (rather than WiMAX 2.0) for its future network.  Does mobile WiMAX have any future and is IEEE 802.16m (WiMAX 2.0) now DOA?
 
6.  Any hope for WiMAX to be used in the BWA band recently auctioned in India?  Will TD-LTE be used instead?  Is there room for both, considering WiMAX is here now and TD-LTE is several years away?
 
7.  What will be the role of Self Organizing Networks (SON) in mobile infrastructure.  Is it passed the research stage and ready for deployement anytime soon?  One advantage would be to dynamically assign users to a sector/ cell/ Base Station based on traffic loads of all the cells near the user, e.g. the user is not simply assigned to the closest cell.

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