Mobile Groove

At m-pulse we wrap up a month dedicated to mobile voice technology and transformation with a look at Nuance, a company aggressively leveraging its long heritage in speech recognition to enable a range of new experiences and – ultimately – a new voice search experience (and ecosystem). Our guest is Kenn Harper, Nuance Mobile Director of Product Management.

In other segments we discuss some new numbers from Xyologic, a company tracking app downloads to provide us a more European perspective on the rise of Android and the increasing importance of local content and context. And this time my co-host Rob Woodbridge raises his goblet of rock to an innovation (and a mad genius) that redefines what we mean by ‘awesome.’ (Words alone don’t do it justice, so you’ll have to tune into m-pulse and check out the video teaser Rob has inserted into this week’s vodcast.)

Should we brace ourselves for a new battle as companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nuance) jockey for position to control the voice interface and our personal search/assistance experience? We continue our look at the opportunities and competition around mobile voice with Roberto Pieraccini, industry veteran and author of The Voice in the Machine.

In other segments we discuss the wider issue of personal privacy, following the news that social app Path has been uploading user data to its servers without our consent. Rob Woodbridge recounts a checklist of things to consider when building privacy into your minimum viable product. And we both find a perfect fit with a brilliant presentation— whose time has come (again) — from Jonathan MacDonald, a thought-leader and entrepreneur in digital media perhaps best known for his passionate views on the 3Ps (Permission: people will decide what brand messages they interact with; Privacy: people will decide where their data is collected and how it is used; and Preference: people will decide what content they find relevant). More about that further down in this post.

Mobile voice services have finally crossed the chasm thanks to the rise (and rise) Apple Siri — the smart, voice-enabled mobile assistant that connects with our personal data and the wider Internet to manage our daily lives. What is the real impact of Apple on the industry? Where are the opportunities for innovation? Who are the niche companies with good ideas and huge potential? And how will our requirement for a voice interface challenge mobile search and set new demands on customer service?

mobile voice, and we examine from a variety of perspectives, beginning with Bill Meisel, the industry go-to guy for all things voice.

By way of background, Bill is the founder of TMA Associates, an independent consultancy providing insights and supporting companies that want to incorporate speech technologies into their offer, or improve their own enterprise efficiency. Bill has also teamed up with the Applied Voice Input Output Society (AVIOS) to organize the Mobile Voice Conference, March 12-14 in San Francisco. With this must-attend just around the corner my co-host Rob Woodbridge and I dedicate this month to mobile voice and celebrate the ‘Year of the Ear’ — to borrow an observation from Mary Meeker’s invaluable trends presentation.

Will 2012 be the year of mobile commerce? If this is indeed a momentous year for mobile retail and transactions of all kinds, then what will happen to the mix of payment options and players currently jockeying for position? Should we expect a showdown between credit card companies, carriers, banks, aggregators and the likes of PayPal? In the midst of all the massive growth and disruption will we see mega-acquisitions, or are all the companies that could achieve $10 billion+ price tags in the first place taken?

This week’s m-pulse catches up with Chetan Sharma, independent consultant and well-known industry authority, to discuss mobile mega-trends and deep-dive into the results of the 2012 Mobile Industry Predictions Survey. Each year Chetan asks us —the mobile industry — to weigh in on the most newsworthy events and companies, as well as vote for the breakthrough categories, developments and technologies sure to define 2012.

Rob and I also discuss our pick of hot mobile news and data points. I rant about the disconnect between the mobile and retail readiness of luxury brands (lacking to say the least!) and our willingness (even requirement) to interact with luxury brands via our mobile phones and tablets.

Will 2012 be the year we remotely connect to our smart homes using our smartphones? Can Intel crash the mobile party and make its mark with tablets that stand up to ARM-powered devices? Should we expect a shift in the operating system landscape in favor of Microsoft (with Symbian as a back-up plan)?

This week’s m-pulse — the new vodcast series produced by Rob Woodbridge, founder and owner of UNTETHER.tv, in collaboration with MobileGroove — catches up with Kevin C. Tofel, Mobile site editor at GigaOM.com, where he covers mobile technology and the global wireless industry. Continuing our theme for January, we deep-dive into his list of 16 mobile industry predictions for 2012 and get his take on the week’s hot mobile news.

Today (!) marks the launch of The Pulse, a new vodcast series produced by Rob Woodbridge, founder and owner of UNTETHER.tv, in collaboration with MobileGroove. We welcome our guest Gary Schwartz, CEO of Impact Mobile, Inc., North America Chair of the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) and author of THE IMPULSE ECONOMY, a book that examines the evolution and future opportunities around mobile commerce and transactions.

Gary’s no-holds-barred analysis of mobile’s impact on bricks-and-mortar retail suggests America’s shopping malls are in for tough times in 2012 as users move from price comparison apps to making real-life purchases using cloud checkout services. We also discuss how Kindle Fire is blazing through the U.S. (and soon Europe), building on the analysis I just posted this week on MobileGroove. What is the likely impact on mobile marketing and how are users in key countries already embracing this new type of connected device? Tune in and find out! (You can follow Gary and all the tweets related to his new book at @impulseeconomy).