What is Mobile Web 2.0?

In a recent posting Ajit Jaokar discussed the characteristics of the Mobile Web 2.0. Just as we are seeing transition in most typical web-sites from a 1.0 to 2.0 model, one with much richer functionality and user experience, so too we can expect to see a similar transition in the mobile device world. Only this time, the implications are much bigger.


As The Economist likes to point out, there are far more mobiles than there are PCs in the world and mobile penetration is far ahead of PCs in developing countries, where mobiles are, for all intents and purposes, PCs. The first generation of mobile web applications was truly painful, so gains made by second generation could, conceivably, have an even larger impact on the developing world than the Internet did in the industrialized world.


So, how will Mobile Web 2.0 be different from Mobile Web 1.0 for businesses and enterprises? I would suggest we can expect the following:

• True platform independence. In the PC world, Web applications have been driven by the homogeneous nature of PC operating systems and their bundled web browsers. Mobiles are a far move diverse environment, not just OS, but screen size, input capability. Writing new clients for each version will be impossible, so developers will have to pursue completely standard applications.

• Employee owned devices. In the past, enterprises have been reluctant to admit employee owned devices onto their networks for security reasons. On the other hand, buying and maintaining handheld devices for all employees is very unattractive. Instead, enterprises will opt to impose standard security policies on employee devices, leaving users free to bring their devices onto the network or not. Having web-access from your mobile to the corporate intranet will be a matter of convenience and work-life balance for employees and many will choose to buy the device for that reason alone.

• Increased corporate media usage. Corporations are already struggling to cut through the clutter or e-mail and reach out to employees who shun the corporate intranet home page and go directly to their bookmarks. Corporations will use podcasts and mobile media to reach mobile employees, disseminating news, training materials and other information securely and wirelessly.

• Convergence of voice and instant messaging. Mobile devices are, first and foremost, still phones for most people. As a result, with the ability to detect presence, many enterprise users will initiate a conversation using IM, but prefer to continue it or complete it, should it become more than a simple query, by voice.

• Seamless mobility across networks. This is a longstanding vision at Motorola, and one we can expect to see come true in the next 1-2 years. Though the mobile carriers may not be enthusiastic about it, employers are likely to demand it. VOIP phones are expensive and equipping employees with handsets that do double duty may be appealing for those companies that still want to buy and control the mobile end user device. Eliminating a VOIP handset will significantly improve the ROI for a mobility investment.

It's hard to politely describe how bad the first generation of mobile applications was. Beyond e-mail and PIM, the enterprise has hardly touched mobility, yet as surely as everyone today carries a mobile phone, we can be sure that soon enough, we will all be demanding access the corporate network on the go.

Dump Your Limo Service

You know us fashionable consulants. We lead the jetset life, visiting hot destinations like Wichita, Kansas and Mobile, Alabama. Occasionally, we are allowed to visit big cities, like New York.

My employer has a recommended car service for us to use when visiting places like Gotham. It is, unfortunately, expensive and will send you some hideously ugly Lincoln Town Car that has not been cleaned in 1-2 years.

A bit of web surfing and I found something a lot better: Ozo Car. Ozo Car sends you a new hybrid car to pick you at the airport. In addition to offering the usual benefits of hybrid cars - quietness and that "ooh-I'm-so-cool" feeling, they have some great other stuff:

• Power outlets in the back seats of each car
• Laptops for people who don't lug their own around their own**
• Satellite radio control in the back seat, so you decide what to hear

All in all, a vast improvement on the usual Lincoln Town Car and for a price that is equal or lower.

** Ok, seriously, who actually travels without a laptop? The unemployed and the super-powerful. I aspire to that either way.

Still Writing User Manuals?

I work with a lot of consumer electronics companies. I also buy their products. On principle alone, I refuse to read manuals - at least until I've fiddled around with the product for a while. After I've got the product up and working, I promptly discard of any manuals, documentation, or other important papers that came with my new gizmo. (Warranty cards, receipts, etc.)

When I do need the manuals, I download them from the product web site. However, I have started to wonder why more enterprises don't make their manuals into Wikis. Manuals are nice and so are discussion forums, but each have their own purpose.

The value of creating Wikis instead of regular online manuals is that they can updated by the product users. The reduces the need to hunt down tips and tricks in discussion forums. Invariably, in large forum environments, the discussion threads can be quite long and involved. Wikis are often well edited, short and concise, which is exactly how I like my directions.

How to Make Your Powerpoints Rock

I'm known for slick powerpoints around the office. After all, if you don't have substance, you'd better have some style. Nothing conceals ignorance like a nice picture in your powerpoint.

The other day, a colleague asked me to explain how to stick pictures in their powerpoints, and I put together this quick summary:

1. Best source for clip art is:

Microsoft Clip Art

You download from the site and they get saved in your Microsoft Clip Art folder, usually. No royalty, no hassle, no legal issues. I recommend selecting the "photos" drop down to limit your search that way. Also, I find photos to be pleasantly abstract and much less offensively cheesy that animated clip art.



2. Best way to insert clip art

To insert a whole picture in Powerpoint, just select "insert a picture from file..." (see below) and that drops the whole picture into the deck.



However, the problem there is that may want to fit the picture to a specific area or size. You can do that one of two ways:

A: Crop the picture using the crop function on the picture tool bar:



B: Create a shape (like a circle) and fill it with a picture:
- create the shape
- right click on it and select "Format Auto shape"

- Select "Fill Effects" from the color box

- Select the "Picture Tab", and then select your picture


Be sure to select the "Lock picture aspect ratio" box or your picture will look funny
et Viola...




3. Clean Up Action


In order to avoid having your files become huge with excess pictures, you can crop/remove/trim the whole thing using the using the "Compress Picture" function on the picture toolbar



Click on it...



Do that when you're done with the presentation and it will trim down the file size quite a bit.

Personal VPN & Remote File Transfer

I like to take my music and files with me. For some time now, I've been trying to figure out how to make that possible. I've tried various services (I limit myself to the free ones) and other solutions. Online storage, however, seems ruiniously expensive. While I wait for Google's free offering (and wonder if my company will allow me to actually use it), I have pieced together something of my own.

Recipe for Remote File Transfer:

1 Hamachi Personal VPN
1 Tight VNC
1 Quick 'n Easy FTP Server

I think, altogether, I now have it working. I did have to open my firewall to certain ports for the VNC version, but it seems to work more reliably the Remote Desktop. I think my corporate-mandated perosnal firewall on my laptop blocks Remote Desktop.