A Matter of Time
It was just a matter of time until basic mobile phones became internet enabled. And now, they are, thanks to HP Labs India, Hewlett-Packard's research division focused on creating new technologies for addressing the IT needs of the next billion customers, and their most recent innovation, SiteOnMobile.
We all know the stats - according to the UN, India has over 565 million mobile phones, with 10 million to 12 million subscribers being added every month. And, according to a recent report by Gartner, an information technology research firm, mobile connections will cross 660 million by the end of 2010, growing at 27.3%. The reality - these 660 million mobile phones are not smart phones. They are not Blackberries, Androids, or iPhones. Nope, they are Nokia 1200s - the most basic mobile phone on the market in developing countries. Complete with a torchlight, the Nokia 1200 retails for about US$20 and is built to last. In fact, about 54% of the phones sold in India are ultra-low-end, meaning they fall in the US$50 price range, and less than 3% are internet enabled.
SiteOnMobile, a cloud-based technology, allows people to access the Internet on these basic mobile phones using only SMS and voice commands. Rather than requiring the user to navigate the Web in a number of steps to achieve a task, the series of steps required to complete the task are encapsulated in a cloud application that HP calls TaskLet. Instead of delivering the whole web page, only the brief content relevant to a user𠏋 requirement is delivered to his mobile phone. And SiteOnMobile allows website owners to quickly and easily build applications around these TaskLets. Seems pretty awesome.
The challenge in emerging markets, and especially in India, is that, because of the high cost of mobile bandwidth and relatively low tech-literacy, users want intuitive and quick access to the information they need. They have neither the time nor the savvy to negotiate the internet for this information. Using SiteOnMobile, users can now book a doctor's appointment or train tickets, check the status of a medical report or the price of gold, or receive their daily horoscopes or news snippets of their favorite Bollywood stars on their low-end mobiles.
And the most exciting news, now, by default, the internet isn't just available to India's 60 million internet users, but can extend to the 600 million mobile phone users. The web is no longer the domain of the rich and educated, no longer out of reach for the masses. Mobile phones will deliver to these masses their first internet experience.
- Adrienne Villani
"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington CarverWhat is Social Entrepreneurship?Statement of Faith
Crowdsourcing is the latest buzzword in the social enterprise space. If two heads are better than one, than thousands or millions of minds must be even better. Crowdsourcing uses the power of the masses to fund opportunities and brainstorm solutions. And with social media and technology platforms constantly developing, it𠏋 never been easier to reach a wide range of collaborators. This week, for our 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home