Well we definitely jammed at CTIA!  The Jam sessions have been so well received for their ability to have all members of the mobile community come together to share information and even a few laughs. What had been missing was a way to capture the dynamism of the day, and the great information and ideas that were discussed. 

Hmmm what to do.  We decided to hire Visual Link to create a mural of the day - and it turned out to be way cooler than we expected!  Bigger and a lots of detail.     The images in this message come directly from the mural, including the picture of me (not a bad likeness!).    

Check out the results and the mural by going to http://www.wipconnector.com/mobilejam/index.php.

So how accurate is the mural to what was discussed and what is happening in the industry?  Let me know, or add your comments here.  We’d like to ensure the information and thoughts continue to evolve and we plan to try this again at another Jam session, and revisit this first mural next year for comparisons.

We’ve asked our speakers and sponsors to provide some blog fodder as a lead up to Mobile Jam on September 12.   Sean O’Sullivan from Dial 2 Do weighs in, with a little help from Raj Singh:

 I’m helping run a couple of session sat the Mobile Jam Session at CTIA Wireless San Francisco next week, so I said I’d write a few words as input for the session. 

From a mobile developer’s perspective, the last few years have been wonderfully frustrating. It’s a classic case of “on the one hand….but on the other hand”. I think we should use the session to flesh out both sides of today’s current position for a mobile developer, and then present a summary at the end of the day. And we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. So without further ado, here’s a straw set of input on what’s better, what’s worse, for mobile developers, today…

Life is better as a mobile developer today because

• The toolset these days is composed of more than just vi
• There’s evidence that some people do actually buy mobile apps these days
• The handset guys are finally starting to let us at the cool stuff (address book, GPS, SMS…)
• The carrier will now let me keep more than 2 cents on the dollar In fact, Mobile advertising finally allowed the independent developer to make money although only pennies compared to going premium on-deck  (for most apps)
• I don’t have to mortgage my house anymore to have an application certified for a network
• The PalmOS has died a death so I can just forget about developing for it. Phew!
• Things are not bad If you focus on the mid-development-tier :  i.e. not native apps - but create great web applications and just bet on better browsers across all phones
• Carriers now treat me like their friend
• I can use images larger than a postage stamp
• Analytics for everything has improved - so we don’t have to go to court to figure out my app was downloaded a million times
• Social networks have created a whole new pull for rich, connected mobile applications; connecting the online world with my mobile world is a truly rich new vein for cool apps
• Apple are dragging the whole ecosystem in to the 21st century

Life is worse as a mobile developer today because

• Turned out Java wasn’t the answer!
• They said life was going to get simpler; Android, iPhone, LiMo, WinMobile, J2ME - they lied! Apple has just added more fragmentation – the target platforms are going through a shift but there is still a ton of platforms – porting is as hard as it has ever been, if not worse (aside: as the platfroms become richer, with GPS, 3D graphics, this porting problem becomes worse not better)
• The carriers man, the carriers - don’t talk to me.  Apple’s App store has been executed well - but it has only shifted the walled-garden (i.e. Apple will not list local music playing apps or even a competing browser like Skyfire, ha!)
• The Widget ecosystem is a mess – too many proprietary runtimes although a chick of light appears with regard to standardisation on web runtimes for widgets finally starting to happen
• Browsers are different; APIS are different; busness models are different; permissions are different - gimme a break!
• “Allow this application to access the internet” - excuse me?
• Seamless convergence is not really in the interest of the carrier - so I have a hard sell for my “converged app”
• I’d need a Cray just to run all the toolsets I need 
• They still need a note from my parents before they’ll deploy my application (well, that’s how it feels)
• Thanks Mr Carrier, your API is waaaay cool. It’s just a leeeetle different to to every other carrier’s API….. but thanks anyway

More suggestions? Send them to sos “at” dial2do with the subject “Jamtastic”

 We’ve asked our speakers and sponsors to provide some blog fodder as a lead up to Mobile Jam on September 12.  

   Steve McDonnell, the Global Alliance Manager, Strategic Platforms & Internet Technologies at Motorola has a few things to say about how the mobile web is going to open up: 

 There are so many people talking about widgets and mobile web today and is it really any wonder? I remember watching TV shows where the characters (Captain Kirk, Batman and the whole Justice League, for example) had access to the types of communication devices that are only now becoming a real possibility. I’m not optimistic about driving a jet car any time soon, but I’m pretty close to having a gadget that will surpass Kirk’s communicator, (GPS and voice, big deal.) 

Why is mobile web so exciting, and why are widgets making the whole thing more real for so many people, here’s what I think.

Mobile is the most personal, immediate and convenient way to access the web

·         Personal - A consumers phone is possibly the most uniquely personal computing device they own

·         Always with the user - Instantly accessible

·         The only always-on mass media

Today’s the web experience on mobile is like the Internet circa 1997

·         Mobile browsing is not living up to user expectations

·         Without widgets, users need to actively search to find exactly what they need

·         Once there, many pages are static

·         Or there is limited information on a small screen, so they need to scroll or search further

Consumers are demanding a better mobile web experience.

We don’t have to open up the mobile web, consumers will do that, 25% of all mobile phone users around the world access the internet on their phones, a staggering 825 million people (Real Networks, 2007). Paid content on mobile is already $31.3 Billion globally…greater than Hollywood or video games. Consumers are demanding a better mobile web experience.

Widgets and web applications provide consumers the mobile internet experience they want, reducing friction on the way to getting the information and services they’re looking for.

  Agree or disagree?  Steve will be on the UnPanel #1  - Opening the Mobile Web.  Give him more to think about by providing your comments!   

Interested in exhibiting at CTIA, but are worried about the cost.

WIP has negotiated a special exhibitor rate for developers and emerging companies.  For $1600 you receive a 5X10 square foot booth that is complete for you to move in.

Find out more here:  http://www.wipconnector.com/pavillion.php

Fill out the paperwork available on the website and send it into CTIA asap while those special spots remain.

We are excited that this time Mobile Jam Session is a Special Interest Seminar for CTIA’s Wireless and IT Show in San Francisco.

This is great as it opens up Mobile Jam and Developers to everyone who comes to CTIA and even for those who spend time just looking at the site.   It gives developers extra recognition and a special time and place during this big event!  Check out our page on the CTIA site:  http://www.wirelessit.com/events/event_details.cfm?calID=746

So what does this mean for registration? - ’cause we still want to make sure that Mobile Jam is open to all developers who want to attend.

Attendees must be registered for CTIA, with a minimum of an Exhibitors Pass.  You can register on the CTIA site and get one, you can get an exhibitor to offer you one, or we have a number of passes to distribute - but let us know soon so you don’t miss out.  Be sure to let us know when you ‘Request an Invitiation’ on the Mobile Jam site. 

We recently met with a group of developers to get some advice and input into topics and speakers for  Mobile Jam.  Here is a sneak peak at the schedule thus far:

10:30am - Noon  ‘Unpanel’ discussion:  Opening the Mobile Web

How do we open up the mobile web to ease development and really open up the mass market to consumers?  Let’s talk about native apps and web apps; suggest common interfaces and consistent security; and review best practices. Contribute to OMTP’s BONDI initiative.

 1:00pm – 3:45pm  Improv sessions

Led by developers and industry leaders alike, where everyone gets a chance to be heard and have their questions answered in small discussion groups with these topics:

• Mobile Security and Anti-viruses
• Mobile banking and payments
• Browsers & widgets
• Device attributes  - vendors and mobile use cases
• Porting, Testing and Certification
• Distribution and channels

  4:00pm – 5:00pm  ‘Unpanel’ discussion:  The Broken Path to Market

Where’s the money?  Following the path from investors to customers and all links in-between.  How do developers make choices and get rewarded.

 5:00pm – late   Wrap Party:  offsite  

You have to attend Mobile Jam to find out the location, but it will be the best party of CTIA!

Mobile Jam Session

Moscone Center, San Francisco

Friday, September 12, 2008
A day for Developers! No ppt, no ties, no panels and it’s free.

It all starts as we open up the mobile ecosystem and connect experienced and talented developers, with industry experts and decision makers. We know this is often difficult at big conferences, but the Mobile Jam Session makes it possible. 

The day includes:

• An unpanel discussion
• Improv sessions led by developers and industry leaders alike, where everyone gets a chance to be heard and have their questions answered
• Developers pitching their applications
• And a Wrap party!

Topics we will likely cover includes:

• Specific topics such as mobile payments and messaging
• Developer resources such as certification, porting and developer programs
• Tips on penetrating the big guys and getting to market.

Most importantly this event is driven by developers so it all depends on YOU:

• What do you want to hear?
• Who do you want to talk to?
• What do you want to say?

Sign up.  Let us know. We make it happen.

Get ready to join us for the next Mobile Jam session on Friday, September 12.  It will be held at the Moscone Center in San  Francisco, along side CTIA Wireless show.

We are calling for:
- Discussion Leaders - maybe it’s you!
- Topics that interest you
- Speakers - tell us who we should invite

Drop us a line or add your comment below.

On behalf of DotOpen and WIP who have partnered to bring you Mobile Jam session – thanks to all the participants, the speakers, the sponsors and Teresa Ostman for making things work smoothly.  Watch the website for upcoming opportunities to Jam On! And check out the photos on Flickr.  

Here are notes takes from the Mobile Jam Las Vegas.  Some of these were taken during the sessions, much were taken directly from the flipchart notes made during the Improv Sessions.  If you see a mistake or something taken out of context – correct it with your comments! 

The 2nd Mobile Jam Session was held the day before CTIA in Las Vegas.  We had 100 folks attend throughout the day, mostly developers from North America, but a good sprinkling of folks from Europe and Asia as well.  Thanks to our sponsors, session speakers and all the participants. The most common comment heard at the end of the day was: “I’ve run out of business cards, I didn’t think I’d meet so many people”.  Excellent – that’s what we wanted to hear! 

We started off with an UnPanel of Developer Programs featuring James Pearce of dotMobi, Claudia Backus of MotoDev, Mikael Nerde of Sony Ericsson, Thibaut Rouffineau from Symbian, Amy Bang from AT&T and Steve Glagow of Orange Partner.  They got the opportunity to ask the audience questions.   

On the question of Barriers to Development, the top issues for developers were:
- access to devices- the need for more platforms such as Flash on devices
- accessibility to good market data and use cases- certification
- lack of business models (most thought big revenue was still 5 years off).
- Lots of questions and discussion on web vs native apps and how the devices and operators are dealing with these.   

There were supposed to be 6 Improv Session in the afternoon, but really on 5 happened.  The Session on Developing drew limited interest, which as mentioned above was far different from the session in Barcelona where it was full all the time.  The session that drew the most interest were Mobile 2.0 and Go to Market and Channels.  

Session 1 Mobile OS and Platforms
We weren’t able to get notes from this discussion, so let’s encourage the leaders Vincent Berge from Mobile Distillery to share a few with us.  

Session 2 Mobile 2.0
Lively discussion led by CellSpin – Vince Laviano, Rococo – Sean O’Sullivan and Idean - Santtu Toivonen
 - Voice or Text- what are the demographics
- Service discovery still an issue , the willingness of users to download and install, and actually use social networks
- What is the definition  Mobile 2.0 
 - social networking in a broad sense
  - integrating web services and mobile 
How to attract users:- share data plans
 - viral marketing- increase awareness among users 
How to filter content
- status messages
- circles of friends
- location based Barriers
- carriers
- handsets 
Success= take the best of the Web 2.0 and respect the features of mobile (presence, location ec) 

3.  Testing & Certification was led by: GetJar – Bill Scott, Mob4Hire – Paul Poutanen and Device Anywhere – David Marsyla
Agreed there were many approaches but in general T&C offers no value added, seems to be for insurance only Variables include:
- manufacturers
- carriers
- testing solutions
- porting platforms
- browsers- certification
- user agent blocking  On Signing Apps- third parties certify, if you want to call it ‘cert’
- how to simplify
- 3^rd parties are not perfect, susceptible to human error and commercial motivation
- self certification – would like to see this taken further as an option, with 3^rd parties doing the final check
- really hard for small companies, how can this process be democratized
- concept of intermediate development layers to help
- will open OS and handsets help???? 

 4.  Channels was led by: Cellmania- Peter Baldwin, AORTA- Chetan Sharma, and Astraware/Handmark – John Philips
Direct to consumerAdvertisingPersonalizationMarketing
– evangelists and viral work best 

6  Open Source was led by:  Aplix – Stanley Kao, Motorola - Asokan Thiyagarajan (Ashok) and Funambol - Greg Gamp
Consensus was not to be on open source in the short term 

Here’s the list of the companies attending as of now. If you’d like to participate, hurry up and register now… there are only a few seats left! Check also our agenda and bio’s of speakers.

See you on Monday… Jam On!

3Screens.tv
Accenture
Airsource Ltd
AOL
AORTA
Aplix Corp.
Arena Mobile
Astraware/Handmark
AT&T
AuthenTec
Avot Media Inc
Bango
Brilliant Expos
Buzzd
CellSpin
ComVu Media, Inc.
Corrigo
Crisp Wireless
deCarta Inc
Device Anywhere
Dilithium Networks
Direct Mobile Partners
dotMobi
dotopen
Drop In Media / Ojingo Labs
Face Cake
Funambol
GamearraY
GenMobi Technologies Inc.
GetJar Networks
GW Hannaway & Associates
Handi Mobility Inc.
HI Corporation America, Inc.
HookMobile
I-Com Mobile
Idean
Innoscape
IntoMobile.com
ipsh!
IUGO Mobile Entertainment
Javaground, Inc.
Jibe Mobile
Keynote
La cuisine des papas
Lab Shanghai International
Limbo
Litefeeds
MangoMOBILE
Mark Space, Inc.
Microsoft
MIT/Stanford Venture Lab
Mob4hire Inc.
MobHappy
Mobile Distillery
Mobileslate
Mobopia
Motorola, Inc.
MPOGD.com
MX TELECOM
MyStrands
Mywaves
NII Holdings, Inc.
Nokia
Novatel Wireless, Inc.
OnDeego Inc
OnPR
Openwave Systems, Inc.
Orange Partner
Powernet Global
Qipit, Inc.
Quattro Wireless
R Systems
Recom Research
Redwood Technologies
Rococo
Sage COnsulting
Scigliano Group
Sipcall.com Inc.
Socialight
Some Bazaar
Sony Ericsson
SoonR
Staffing Elements
Symbian Ltd
TBD
Teradata Corporation
Textopoly, Inc.
Tira Wireless, Inc
UIQ Technology
Vibes Media
Vindigo
vringo
Walk The Talk Media
Wavefront
YYZ Technologies