Mobile Groove

Regular readers will know I rave about EContent magazine, where I am a Contributing Editor and regular columnist. I am proud to say some of my best work has been for EContent, inspired by the vision and dedication of Michelle Manafy, EContent editor-in-chief and expert commentator on a range of issues impacting the content industry at all levels.

I encourage you to add the site to your list of must-read destinations. Why? Many of the business models and businesses driving revenues in the Internet are coming soon to mobile. (Search engines and collaborative software companies lead the pack of companies moving out of stealth mode to make some serious waves.) Amidst this change I know of no better source than EContent to stay that extra-important step ahead of the game.

(I will therefore give EContent a top-notch spot in the new-look Knowledge Sharing Zone I wrote about in this earlier post. The goal is to create a comprehensive list of valuable resources and destinations. If you would like your site or blog to be considered, please email it to me (peggy@msearchgroove.com).

As part of the recent Buying and Selling eContent conference, Michelle invited experts and contributors who judged the EContent 100, to give their views on the companies and trends that matter. Michelle reports that the series of video interviews got good reviews, and the content in them was “extremely well received.”

Another day, another apps store. Following on the heels on Apple (App Store), Google (Android Marketplace) and Handango, the blogosphere is buzzing with rumors that Nokia has jumped on the application store bandwagon, and is gearing up to launch an app store for its Symbian platform just in time for next week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. At the other end of the spectrum, The Wall Street Journal tells us Microsoft is putting the final touches on Skymarket, an app for Windows Mobile devices (although Skymarket apps won’t be exclusive to Microsoft’s store).

Notice anyone missing? Service providers and mobile operators.

In fact, their absence in this line-up tells us these players are either content to leave it to the handset makers and Internet giants (a first step on a slippery slope to being a dumb pipe perhaps?), or are simply oblivious to the vast arsenal of capabilities at their disposal, capabilities such as customer relationship data, personalization technologies, and location information that allow them to fight back. In my view, if these players could open up to make all the above available to developers (in a standardized, no-brainer way), then they would cover the bases to be much more than just another application store. With their reach and resources, operators and service providers could be the super shopping malls of the mobile Internet.

Last week I explored this in a post that outlined how Qualcomm and its Plaza Mobile Internet platform potentially change all the rules, levelling the playing field and allowing operators and brands to play a central role in this brave new Open Web. This week I’m back with an exclusive look at Amdocs, a company preparing to take the wraps off an application store platform that ups the ante.

Regular readers will recall that I write columns and commentary for a wide range of sites and publications including MobiAdNews and (beginning in the New Year) Mobile Marketer and RCR Wireless (Analyst Angle). However, it is my collaboration with Michelle Manafy, my editor, esteemed colleague and friend at EContent magazine, that has allowed me to not only analyze trends and companies that matter, but recognize leaders in mobile impacting the industry at all levels.

Congratulations are in order for the four new (mobile) additions to the EContent100: ChangingWorlds, CrispWireless JumpTap, MCN and SurfKitchen. They join other movers and shakers that made the list including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and Twitter.