Erik Sundelof who is mentioned in this article is a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University. I am an alum (2002-03) so I got mail from the program.
I do not know the cell/SMS domain well but this leads me to believe that with ring tones and premium SMS we may only scratched the surface of whats possible. I will try and learn more about SMS its transactional possibilities and its limitations.
If there are some particulary good short articles that people know of please point me to them. Thanks.
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Another interesting page from the website of a company operating in this space.
Hi Sanjay,
This link on SMS-based opportunities could be of interest to you. As much as the main article, the links around it might be equally helpful.
Cheers,
Sreekanth.
Alap/Ashish,
Very useful thanks. I think in a few days I have learnt a lot and think that the SMS iceberg is worth exploring.
What may really interest us all, is location based messaging services.
Location-based services are services provided to customers based on where they are positioned in a network operator’s cellular coverage area. Location-based services answer three questions:
• Where is the subscriber?
• What is around the subscriber?
• How long has the subscriber been there?
They determine the location of the subscriber by using one of several technologies for determining position, then use the location and other information to provide personalized applications and services. As an example, consider a wireless emergency aid service that determines the subscriber’s location automatically. Such a service would be extremely useful, especially to subscribers who are far from home and don’t know local landmarks. Traffic advisories, navigation help including maps and directions and roadside assistance are natural location-based services. Other services can combine present location with information about personal preferences to help users find food, lodging, and entertainment to fit their tastes and pocketbooks.
There are two fundamental approaches to implementing location-based services:
• Process location data in a server and deliver results to the device, on-demand.
• Obtain location data for a device-based application that uses it directly.
To discover the location of the subscriber based on the device being used, LBS must use real-time positioning methods. Accuracy depends on the method used.
Locations can be expressed in spatial terms or as text descriptions. A spatial location can be expressed in the widely used latitude-longitude-altitude coordinate system, which is irrelevant to network operators. A text description is usually expressed as a street address, including city, postal code, and so on.
Providers can call on any of several types of positioning methods.
• Using the mobile phone network
• Using satellites
• Using short-range positioning beacons like devices with Bluetooth and Wireless LANs
Using the mobile phone network, the current cell ID can be used to identify the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that the device is communicating with and the location of that BTS. Clearly, the accuracy of this method depends on the size of the cell, and can be quite inaccurate. A GSM cell may be anywhere from 2 to 20 kilometers in diameter. Other techniques used along with cell ID can achieve accuracy within 150 meters.
Some implementations don’t need high accuracy, but others will be useless if the location isn’t accurate enough. It is permissible for the location of a tourist walking around town to be off by 30 meters, but other applications and services may demand higher accuracy.
In a vast majority of countries, the triggering of a location based message is always initiated by the subscriber. The subscriber explicitly “asks” for a message to be sent to him, containing offers pertaining to the location they are in. This is required because the subscriber may or may not want to receive unsolicited SMS. Some are also offended that their location is being tracked for marketing purposes.
Hope this was helpful.
Well I have been thinking of starting a blog to write about the current state of Mobile Technologies. I guess this is an opportunity for me to share some of my knowledge with the readers of this Blog.
About me: I work for Nokia, Canada and I am responsible for new product concepting, technology strategy/ technology roadmapping and these are my personal views.
SMS Vs MMS
SMS:
SMS is a 15-year-old technology, and many advanced IP-based messaging technologies have been available for several years. But still, SMS heavily dominates the messaging traffic in mobile networks. I believe, operators have so far failed to exploit the messaging technologies.
In terms of functionality, SMS is a fairly limited technology. Messages can contain only plain text, up to a maximum of 140-160 single-byte characters, and session/dialogue features such as threads or buddy lists are not supported.
Challenges:
Lack of local-language input handsets: This means customized handsets to support local market requirements, resulting in costly handsets. As a consequence, most SMS are sent in English, confining the active text market to a small group of educated users, primarily based in the cities. Although SMS in China is a different story, thanks to China’s economies of scale.
Relatively high pricing of SMS compared with voice tariffs.
lack of interconnect: Interconnection of SMS messages is a pre-requisite for growth.
MMS:
MMS is almost a classic example of “how not to launch a service”. Operators launched MMS in 2002 and it has some early setbacks. Those early woes have had a lasting effect as there is still a widespread perception that MMS is hard to use, unreliable and expensive. MMS marketing peaked way too soon. Finally MMS is becoming mainstream and MMS volumes and revenues continue to grow at a steady pace but way below of earlier expectations.
Challenges:
I have spent a lot of time participating in standards definitions and understanding carrier requirements as well as dealing with the issues of interoperability between 3GPP and 3GPP2 domains. i.e GSM and CDMA domains and I believe GSM CDMA interoperability is still the biggest hurdle for MMS.
For example, if you try to send a video from CDMA to GMS phone, audio portion of the video is encoded using the standard audio encoding algorithm of QCELP. Now QCELP is well-known in the CDMA world, but AMR is the codec of choice in the GSM world – and indeed is the mandatory codec required by 3GPP2 MMS specs. Alas when you will receive the video on your GSM phone, chances are you wont be able to hear the audio. Ofcourse the MMS specification defines exactly how this transcoding is to be performed In the network, this network-based transcoding handles these network and device differences but I don’t think they are fully implemented in the networks yet.
The problem is non standard implementation of picture and video messaging used by operators. For example, Lightsurf was originally adopted in the Sprint PCS network as a non-standard implementation of picture and video messaging. However, for a long time now, they’ve been promoting their compliance with MMS but its NOT.
Critical mass: Finally becoming mainstream:
MMS settings and provisioning: not for the faint of hearts
Usability Issues: Too complex to create a MMS
Missing MMS interconnect: Just try sending an image from GSM network to the CDMA network
Unreliable Message delivery
Degraded picture quality:
SMS Vs MMS Pricing:
SMS is flat rate
MMS pricing alternatives:
Tiered volume: The price of the MMS varies according to the amount of data contained in the message.
Content based: Different price levels for MMS containing photos and those containing video.
Flat rate: MMS containing anything up to a maximum Kb of data at X cents per message.
Peak & Off peak: The price varies according to the time at which the message is sent.
Bundled Pricing: End users are able to purchase a bundle of messages for a fixed amount.
In Western Europe, MMS is twice as expensive than it is to send a text message.