Vodafone in Japan have launched the wittily, thoughtfully named V603SH (maybe it means something witty in Japanese anyway). It’s a handset that responds to movements made by the user.

What this means is that, for instance, you can hold your phone like a putter in golf, play a stroke and then look at the screen to see how your shot went.

It could also be used as a gun simulator in a shoot-em-up. Although in certain countries, this could just get you shot by a policemen thinking it was real. But it would be a deliciously ironic way to go, I guess.

I wonder how long it’ll before someone launches an adult product around this idea?

Source: Yahoo News

My Predictions for 2005 continue:

6. DRM Rises up the agenda

DRM continues to dominate the conversation and will continue to do so.

However, it’s pretty obvious these days that all DRM is doomed and content owners need to live with that and adjust their business models accordingly.

Every time a foolproof DRM system is launched someone cracks it within 24 hours and tells those that want to know all about it. Some of these fools can be darn clever
Read Cory on DRM for more.

On a music related note, I thought this snippet from Umair Haque (via Om Malik and Emergic) was interesting:

But my money is on clubs becoming music distributors/retailers - when you go to a club, you can get the DJ set or selected tracks beamed into your player. This is a natural evolution for clubs, the most iconic of which (Tresor, Ministry) have evolved naturally into labels with dedicated shops. There are huge synergies here - we go to clubs to hear the tracks DJ’s have selected - that’s the value they add. But we don’t get to consume them later without incurring significant additional cost (ie, tracking down the right tracks on the right CDs at the right record stores). Eliminating this additional cost creates huge gains for consumers.

The image, in case you’re wondering is the logo of Soul Seek, the free file sharing platform, without any insidious, evil spyware. As recommended by DJ Dangermouse. I’m not suggesting that Soul Seek condone anything like DRM busting or anything illegal, by the way.

“The Text Generation” is New Zealand’s most comprehensive survey on teen cellphone use, released today by NetSafe, the Internet Safety Group. Once again we’re reminded quite how central mobiles are in young people’s lives - and there’s no reason to suggest that Kiwi Teens are any different from anywhere else. Well, apart from the sheep thing, obviously.

Some quite surprising snippets, even for jaded mobile watchers:

41% had “no idea” how big their monthly spending was on mobile charges. The highest was $1,900 (US $1,350) a month. One kid admitted spending $1,800 a month, mainly on sex lines and stole money to support his habit.

Actually 13% said they stole to pay their bills.

Text bullying seems to be a big concern/issue.

Nearly half had started a relationship by mobile and 25% had finished one that way.

29% used them in class time, including taking unflattering pics of teachers and recording their teachers outbursts and rants for later sharing.

2% claimed their parents didn’t know they had a mobile.

So, if you want to control a teen in your life - just threaten to take away their phone for a while. You’ll kill their social life, their sex life and their blackmail-the-teacher material.

Source: New Zealand Herald

Many villagers living in the Romanian village of Ciosa own mobile phones, even though the nearest electricity is 5 miles away and only accessible on foot.

That’s commitment for you.

Source:New Kerala

Threadwatch (via SmartMobs) points to an interesting (if lengthy) piece of research by the Social Issues Research Centre about the role of gossip in the context of mobiles.

It seems that gossiping is a real need among humans - a sort of psychological equivalent to grooming. Since the mobile facilitates gossip, they’re a GOOD thing and important to society’s mental health as a whole.

[In] pre-industrial society, when we lived in small, stable communities, and enjoyed frequent ‘grooming talk’ with a tightly integrated social network. In the fast-paced modern world, we had become severely restricted in both the quantity and quality of communication with our social network. Mobile gossip restores our sense of connection and community, and provides an antidote to the pressures and alienation of modern life. Mobiles are a ’social lifeline’ in a fragmented and isolating world.

So next time you feel like a good gossip, you can also do so in the knowledge that you’re fulfilling a deep-seated social need and helping the mental health of your fellow gossipee.

Business.com has an interesting spin on search. You can search for people to put together an historical resume for them.

Unfortunately, it’s not that good. While it correctly identified some of the stuff a do/did, I have never been in the US airforce or a teacher.

I still reckon that Googlism is the best thing like this - it tells you what Google thinks you are.

For me it has:

“russell buckley is a leading authority on the theory and practice of wireless market”

Nuff said
This linking convention is a little over the top sometimes; spotted on Om Malik, who saw it on Business 2.0.

Deloitte Research have been joining the trend-spotting/prediction game, with their top 12 for 2005. Since 8 deal directly with mobile phones, the main conclusion seems to be that this will be the year of the mobile.

Here’s what they say about mobile stuff:

# Electronic viruses will run rampant in PCs, cellphones, PDAs and gaming consoles. Nuisances such as unsolicited e-mail (spam), unsolicited instant messages (spim) and attacks on Bluetooth-enabled devices (bluejacking) will become common. These will cost businesses billions of dollars in lost data and downtime. However, it will also offer opportunities for companies that sell IT security solutions.

While I certainly think that mobile viruses are a huge opportunity to sell security solutions, I also think that the actual threat is negligible for most phone owners, unless exceptionally stupid and unfeasibly unlucky in the first place.

If you look under the bonnet of all the mobile virus stories to date, there’s no real substance. This may change obviously, but I think we’re pretty safe this year.

The Bluejacking thing is showing no sign of slowing down at all. Just because it’s not in the press all the time, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

I also predict we’ll see more idiots trying Bluespamming this year (commercial messaging via Bluetooth) before they realise that spamming people who are near enough to hit you, don’t make sense.

# Music downloads will become respectable with the growing quality of online stores, rise in digital music players, the inclusion of CD burners as standard features in PCs, and the exceptional quality of legal downloads.

While legitimate, paid for downloading has surely always been “respectable”, it doesn’t mean that the free stuff will go away. It’s just too tempting for most cash strapped teens to download and the risk of copping a legal suit is so remote.

While the music industry is furiously congratulating each other on their sagacity of finally accepting digital downloading, the rest of us can’t help but smirk as they’re 4 years too late to really benefit from the party.

This is an industry that alternates between the anger and denial stages of loss.

# Ads will be embedded with text hyperlinks, software toolbar buttons, video games, software (particularly freeware), web browsers and even on mobile phone screens. These ads will be precisely targeted, updated via Internet connections based on time of day and user activity, and will be far more subtle and sophisticated and less intrusive.

There’s a big difference between “should” and “will”. Most advertisers are still wedded to the in-yer-face disruptive model and that’s not going to change soon. Another industry in denial.

# Simplicity will be the key to selling content on cellphones. Faster networks, better processors and brighter screens will make content over cellphones more appealing. ‘But many experiments will fail, due to a lack of understanding of the way mobile phones are used, the social context of mobile usage, and the limitations of the mobile device,’ the study notes. What will sell is simplicity - small, relevant packages of content that customise the device such as ringtones, screensavers and wallpapers. All this will contribute to a multi-billion dollar industry.

Yes, finally one I can agree with wholeheartedly. I’d go further though and say micro-segmentation of content is also key. Why oh why does all wallpaper get merchandised together? People don’t buy wallpaper, they buy (for instance) Busted Wallpaper and a Busted Ringtone. So why not put this together?

And if I buy an Eminem ringtone, it’s pretty unlikely that I’m going to buy a Britney ringtone, but I might buy an Eminem call back tune. So why not put the product in danger of being sold by better thought through merchandising?

# Small talk by billions will add up to big revenue as there will be nearly two billion mobile subscriptions worldwide by end-2005. Subscriber growth will be strongest in developing countries (including Asia and Latin America) where mobile phones are both a transformational technology and a status symbol.

Pretty much what I said in my predictions.

# Voice will be the primary source of revenue and profits in cellphones and will account for more than 80 per cent of total revenue. Cellphone penetration will surpass 100 per cent as more customers take a second subscription for data or for personal use. The most compelling and lucrative mobile content will revolve around personalisation, such as ringtones, real tones, wallpapers and basic games.

# The vast majority of voice calls will continue to originate and terminate the traditional way, on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), due to superior call quality and overall reliability. PSTN operators will cut prices in response to competition from low cost providers (mobile and VoIP), causing margin pressure.

# VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) will see both call volume and the user base increase significantly among consumers and businesses. Its adoption and growth will be limited by shortfalls in VoIP’s quality, consistency and reliability and the resulting slightly negative image in the marketplace. And for enterprises, cost savings will often be less than anticipated.

So, all in all, not a bad effort for a bunch of professionals
Source: Asia One via Moco News

Continuing my Predictions for 2005, I covered video calling in my fifth in the series:

5. Video Calling

As 3G handset penetration slowly increases, there will be more people to call. Conventional thinking should suggest that this means more people will start using video calling.

But why would they want to? I’m still not convinced people are ready for this, apart from niche applications, like deaf users being able to see sign language.

Dating is being hailed as the big white hope, but if you ever try a video call, you’ll notice that it makes you look downright ugly, with a huge double chin. If you hold the camera at a more flattering angle, you’re holding it at arm’s length, above your head and feeling pretty silly.

We will see more and more headlines about mobile flashing. And the adult uses of mobile video calling will be another growing niche.

But mainstream? Not yet.

Update: Tom Hume’s response to this was that perhaps the key is not person to person that’s relevant here, more place to place. In other words, I might call Tom in England to show him the wonderful snow and brilliant sunshine (perfect for tomorrow’s ski trip!) and he might show me errr….Brighton’s glowering, dull skies and grey, uninviting sea.

This is a very good point and I can see there’s loads of practical applications as well as social/gloating ones. For instance, I may want to show a courier company a parcel that has been smashed up or prove photographically that their driver was late. An real/estate agent might want a colleague’s second opinion on a property or to film a bank robbery and beam it to the police.

So video calling becomes a way of evidencing or recording stuff on a daily basis.

If you read my post yesterday about listing advertising space on this blog on eBay, you may be interested to learn that after a shaky start, the bidding has reached $41. And we’ve still got 8 days to go.

Follow the bidding progress here.

It looks like there may be something in the idea!

And if you’re a reader who wins the bidding I’ll throw in a little sweetener for you.

Anyone who has seen The Incredibles knows how dangerous raving fans can be. If you thwart them, they can turn just as rabidly against you - just as Buddy turns into Syndrome, the uber-baddy in the film.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the raving fan who had produced an iPod commercial in homage to Apple. But what happens when the fan goes too far and starts damaging your brand with their enthusiasm?

Apple have been on the receiving end of this too, with the Think Secret’s blog “leaks” about forthcoming Apple launches. Their response? Sue the fans who were writing about them.

Probably not so clever, as strategies go. Buckley’s first law of business is “Don’t sue your customers”, followed by “Don’t sue anyone, if you can possible avoid it.”

Anyhow, now we have a case of the rogue advertisement for VW, featuring a car bomber detonating himself, without damaging the exterior of the car or intended victims. Pretty tasteless - what next a Tsunami surfing ad?

The original theory doing the rounds was that VW had done a “viral” ad and they were roundly cursed and vilified for such tacky subject matter. But it turns out that it was produced by a couple of freelance admen to put on their showreel to present to London agencies.

Again lawyers are sent into action, though I do have a little more sympathy in this case. A smarter course might have been to ask the admen to withdraw it and bung them a few thousand dollars to remake something you do like - the PR would have gained them much more than the money spent combined with their legal costs.

As the cost of production plummets, I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of these misguided fan experiments, posing new challenge for marketers. Whoever thought that having raving fans of your product would be a major hassle?

UPDATE: I notice that Mike at Techdirt has similar thoughts. We seem to be on some kind of cerebral linking vibe, as we often both seem to draw the same conclusions from apparently unrelated events.

He missed The Incredibles link though