Mobile Europe 2.0: Recreational Mobile Search, Intention Broadcasting & Much More; The Future Is Here, But Will MVNOs (Like Blyk) Drive It? » mobilegroove

Back from Mobile Europe 2.0 in Barcelona and settling in to do a string of posts that summarize and analyze the key news and views that emerged from the one-day event. The sold-out event was more than a huge success; it was a clear indication that the mobile industry is ready for new concepts, new companies and new discussions. While many established conference companies will no doubt continue to charge companies outrageous fees to speak – a practice that stifles the very conversation we need to cultivate – the future belongs to events (such as this one) that showcase good ideas, open discussions and unbridled innovation. Looking all the more forward to the next Mobile 2.0 in November!

Kudos to Rudy de Waele, Gregory Gorman, Daniel Applequist and the rest of the committee for bringing together a top-notch group of mobile professionals, investors and start-ups. (Mike Butcher at TechCrunch posted a complete list of start-ups here, and I’ll also circle back with a deep-dive into my pick of cool companies, including Kooaba, aki-aki and Zipipop.) Congrats are also in order for Tommy Ahlers, CEO ZYB; Charlie Schick, Editor-in-Chief for Nokia Conversations; Doug Richards, CEO Trutap; Antonio Vince Staybl, CEO Itsmy.com (GoFresh); and Alex Romero, Director Partnerships, Yahoo! Connected Life Europe. Positive feedback after the session, as well as the flood of emails I got after the event, tells me our panel rocked! More when I have the transcript and Rudy has the video, so please check back.

Another presentation that stood out was Taptu, a provider of “socially-assisted” mobile search that MSG has tracked from the start. (This white paper provides a valuable primer if you need to get up to speed.) Stefan Butlin, Taptu CTO, used his slot to highlight an exciting new trend to recreational mobile search and his company’s innovative response. Put simply, recreational search is a new user behavior driven by two factors: the avalanche of content available, and a growing frustration with the mobile browsing experience offered by the majority of mobile devices.

Rather than navigate the Web using small screens and tiny keypads, users are increasingly turning to mobile search to bubble up content they know is out there somewhere. As Stefan put it, search is a navigational tool that opens the door to new content, new sites and new ways to pass some time. “It’s not just about utility and relevant results; it’s about serendipity and surprising people with what they are likely to appreciate.”

To this end, Taptu is gearing up to introduce an “I’m Bored” button that users can click when they want the search engine to go out, look for, and return some cool stuff. Look for this feature to go live later this week. “It’s about suggested related searches and results people can explore in their spare time or during a commute.” Bob Last, who heads up Taptu’s business development, has promised MSG a briefing on this and other features in the pipeline.

The one to watch: The next step in Taptu’s ongoing strategy to open up its search API and make Taptu mobile search available to mobile social networking sites and mobile portals.

Taptu moved a huge step in this direction back in April when it went live with Moblr, a social networking community. Since then, Taptu has been fine-tuning the offer to cater to smaller mobile social networks as well as individual publishers. (The focus has been to index social networking sites, making it possible for community members as well as other search engines to find the cool content available there. Bob tells me several other social networking destinations will get on board in July.)

Taptu will also introduce advertising to monetize this content via sponsored links. Details are sketchy prior to launch, but Bob assures me the pieces are in place to introduce text and banner ads to Taptu.com and to third-parties who use Taptu’s search box.

Another company that left an impression on me (and on the audience that voted it the best of the Early Stage Start-Up session) was Zipipop. At first glance the main attraction is Zipiko, a mobile service for managing your social life on the go. While it is helpful to be able to reach out to friends, tell them your plans and coordinate meet-ups. I’m much more excited about how Zipiko effectively enables a new kind of communication called intention broadcasting. I can’t wait to explore this concept with Zipipop’s Richard von Kaufmann and Helene Auramo.

In the meantime, from what I can gather from the blog, intention broadcasting is all about “spreading awareness of your plans and intentions via mobile and IT systems.” It’s like status messaging but “with the emphasis on the future.” Connect the dots and this is about much more than just another kind of message board; it lays the groundwork for an intention broadcasting system that connects people, articulates our intentions and invites a direct response.

My mind-meld with Jonathan Macdonald has cured me forever of assuming mobile advertising is the best/only way to monetize such services, but I suspect that there is an opportunity for brands to join in this conversation. After all, knowing user intent (because the user has broadcast their plans to a group in the first place) is a hugely important first step if companies want to deliver meaningful and useful marketing messages instead of spam. BTW: I used downtime on the plane to think over Jonathan’s excellent post on the personal nature of advertising, which has me seeing the world very differently now, and will have some observations later this week.

And finally, a model that could jumpstart the mobile Web.

Following a lively panel on the operator perspective – which featured Martin Duval, Director, Orange Start-Up Program; Gian Paolo Balboni, Head of Innovation Trends, Telecom Italia; Unai Iturburu, Head of Vodafone Spain R&D; Carlos Domingo, General Director, Telefonica R&D Labs; and Anastassia Lauterbach, Executive Vice President, Strategy, T-Mobile International – I caught up with a few attendees, including Inma Martinez, Investment and Innovation Executive with Stradbroke Advisors, to discuss the kind of ecosystem likely to cultivate real innovation and – more importantly – the kind of company best-suited to lead it. Inma is frank and knowledgeable, a combination that makes her a brave and welcome voice in the mobile market. I thoroughly enjoyed our exchange and look forward to continuing the conversation on MSG soon.

Mobile operators, we agreed, have critical assets that make them the born connectors in the emerging mobile ecosystem. They control customer data, location information and end-to-end billing systems. What’s more, many operators know that they must open their APIs and encourage the mobile apps and services – or make room for competitors that are more open first.

While many mobile operators champion innovation, many more are held back by their own burgeoning bureaucracies and even bigger fears of cannibalizing their own services or (shudder) becoming a dumb pipe.

So, can the industry afford to wait while operators undergo a re-think? Not a chance!

What the industry needs is someone who can take the lead and really push mobile data services. That would inspire usage, excite investors and strengthen the open lobby active inside most major mobile operators today.

Against this backdrop, Inma sees a huge opportunity for a data-services centric MVNO to lead the pack (!). She is surprised that a company hasn’t yet borrowed a page from the Blyk business model to target mobile data enthusiasts with cool services and reasonable rates.

In her view, a sharply focused MVNO could ride the wave of excitement around the mobile Web (a buzz that started with the iPhone) and provide independent software developers with the support and infrastructure they require to move the market forward.

The jury is out on this one, but I’ll be sure to raise it in my upcoming podcast with Leif Fagelstedt, Blyk COO, in our upcoming podcast. In the meantime, let me know what you think.

BTW: Inma has also agreed to a podcast later in the month. If you have questions – or just want her take on what’s hot and what’s not in mobile from the VC perspective – then I encourage you to send them on.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 6:15 pm and is filed under Content Discovery, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Search, Mobile Social Media, Personalization, Usability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.