Mapping the mobile Web

Web use on mobile phones is growing according to the Mobile Data Association that has said we accessed the internet 15.9 million times in December 2006 using our mobiles.

Analysts quoted on BBC Online said Web use on mobiles is far from mainstream but continued advancement requires user education. They also said location-based services will be the next big thing:

"All the major players are starting to build services around navigation and maps, but they're still new," said Thomas Husson, mobile analyst, Jupiter Research.

With MySpace map mashups already available to show where your contacts are around the world and the company moving into mobile, the possibilities are becoming interesting. Alerts to your mobile when you are in a bar near one of your contacts is one application being touted around.

Will this mean Geographic Information Systems (GIS) providers like ESRI (UK) become the next hot technology companies?

The dice man

It's the taking part that counts according to the world's largest survey of online gamblers involving 11,000 players from 96 countries. The research commissioned by industry self-regulatory body, eCOGRA, and undertaken by the Betting and International Gaming Research Units at Nottingham Trent University, found online gamblers like to play 'to relax' or 'for the excitment' more than to win money.

Other findings include that on average, more refined women (aged 46-55 and 55% of the sample) prefer the glamour of the online casino to the typical 'young buck' male poker player (aged 26-35 and 74% of sample).

Ever made a business decision on the roll of a dice?

A moment in the mountains

BBC Online has been running a series of 'My Davos Moment' articles from people attending the World Ecominic Forum event. BBC Online's business editor, Tim Weber, posted Mark Crosier's of DeepStream Technologies on Friday. Here Mark gives a taste of how just how surreal is the gathering in the mountains.

What's the most surreal business experience you've had? Mine was a client and a journalist dancing together stood on a bar at 2am in the morning in Stockholm. My colleague and I were looking at one another thinking, "right, what do we do now!".

Deep in Davos

For Mark Crosier, chief executive of Bangor-based start-up, DeepStream Technologies, this week has been a bit hectic. He's at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, rubbing shoulders with the World's great and good.

DeepStream was named a WEF Technology Pioneer 2007 at the end of last year and the acolade resulted in a profile in Time magazine and for Mark, an invitation to Davos.

The company has developed a way to fit digital sensors into any 3D space within most electrical products, making them intelligent by adding up to 20 additional features and enabling remote monitoring and control. So your electricity bills could be managed automatically to give the best possible, energy-efficient rate or a leak at home could being controlled from a mobile phone.



Here Mark explains DeepStream's revolutionary technology and how he wants global organisations to come together and develop an ecosystem to create change in the control and distribution of electrical energy worldwide.

DeepStream claims its technology could be used to save up to half a billion tonnes of carbon emissions in the UK each year, which can't be a bad thing. What do you think?

A public challenge

Last week I managed to collar Eric Woods, government practice director from IT analyst, Ovum, at Civica's annual customer meeting. Eric gave me his thoughts on the challenges facing technology companies in the public sector over the coming year.



Eric said tech companies will need to help local authorities respond to tighter budget controls and the restrictions of the Government's Spending Review while continuing to improve efficiency and demands on customer service.

I broke my New Year's resolution not to drink, while attending the event. Why do we make them? They only make us feel guilty in the end. The conference was held at the Midland Hotel in Manchester so I broke it in style though.

This blog

Hello. The aim of this blog is to publish high quality technology-related comment gained from the people I meet in my work life. I will publish Chameleon PR clients' stories but only if they pass the "mum test"! I will post regularly and will edit comments if I deem them offensive or personally insulting. Please let me know your thoughts on anything published here? Cheers. Daniel.