Free Cell Phone Service w/ Google gPhone? $100 for this revolutionary device??

I know that I’m probably repeating several people by talking about this, but I think it’s significant enough to mention again. Being that Google loves to develop innovative and popular products and services and then give them all away for free, they will most likely offer free cellular phone and super fast data services over their newly purchased open cellular network. (Like you don’t think they’ll win that auction…) These rumors along with claims that the handset will only cost a mere $100 new, means that almost anyone, and most likely everyone will have a gPhone at some point. If you think about it, this is a great move for Google. Their main concern is generating content to place relevant contextual advertising alongside, and they’ve proved to be very good at it. Remember Google is paying billions of dollars for company’s innovative technologies and then offering it to the public free of charge, BUT with ad support that creates an unbelievable income stream. What could be better than having millions of users using their(Google’s) own device for access, AND their own software and search engines to find their mobile content. This opens up yet another market for Google in the projected $11 Billion mobile advertising industry to emerge in the next few years. What an excellent way to corner the market. If this whole plan actual comes together for Google, it will represent one of the largest steps forward in Mobile Technology since the mobile phone itself.

Imagine using free Google Cellular service, without the hassles of credit checks, monthly bills, overages, etc. while using a cellular network that is so much stronger than normal cellular networks like AT&T, that being inside buildings or underground, for example, will no longer block your cellular signal. This being achieved because the purposed network that Google would use was originally a television frequency, therefore much stronger. Did I mention, all this is free…

Then, if GoogleTalk VoiP is truly available on the gPhone, you could use it to make free local and long distance phone calls while connected to the WiFi network at your home or office. This means that you would no longer have to pay a cell phone bill, a home phone bill, or an office phone bill (in theory) because there are many “virtual phone number” software titles out there that will route all your free calls to your shiny new gPhone. This could save virtually every consumer hundreds of dollars a month in phone bills, not to mention make all this great new technology available to everyone without the credit limitations of most traditional services today. All this while Google gets a bevy of fresh new content, and users to find and use that content, using their stuff! Genius.

In terms of competing with Apple’s iPhone, the gPhone will most likely have all the functions and features of the iPhone but with much more enhancement and openness. And don’t forget, it could only cost a hundred bucks brand new if the rumors are true….It’s no competition at all, unless your a die-hard Apple fan. (or die hard Google-hater.)

What we’d like to see on the gPhone (Google’s Upcoming Handset)

The iPhone is an obvious breakthrough in technology for mobile devices, especially when considering the applications that come bundled within. I do think they could have added some more new core technologies and made it more open to development and customization. Google Maps, and the internet surfing capabilities are really the only new apps that are truly unique to the iPhone, other than it’s iPod functionality of course. Really the best thing the iPhone did, was enhance the features that are on most mobile phones today. While most phone-cameras are not-so-hot VGA quality, the iPhone raised the bar to 2.0 mega pixels. While most smart phones have keyboards for text input, the iPhone has an enhanced touch screen keyboard. While features such as the 2 mega pixel camera are ready for future feature ideas, the iPhone has no apps or software, or even the environment to develop an app. Mobile barcode recognition is a perfect example of this. With 2 mega pixels of image quality, the camera could read any barcode under any lighting situation and make the process seamless.With the rumors circling the internet about the pretty-much-imminent Google Handset or gPhone, I’m coming up with ideas of what I’d like to see available on the new handset that the iPhone missed. Obviously with Google also interested in a wireless cellular network, the company is focusing primarily on mobile search-generated ad revenue. With the innovative and useful applications, products, and services Google is known for in other markets, it will be exciting to see what they come up with for their own Cellular network, and cellular handset. Obviously it will have all the amazing Google apps such as Gmail, Calender, Picassa, etc. and hopefully an enhanced version of Google maps, similar to the look and feel of the iPhone version, but with integrated GPS to make the device a full navigation system from where ever you may be. Also we’d like to see the device be capable of WiFi as well as 3G, like the iPhone should have in the first place. By utilizing a WiFi or 3G connection, the mobile user will basically have full-time mobile broadband speeds. Devices like this do exist, but their not gPhones! This constant speed, no matter where your at, combined with the innovative Google apps and services will make this a truly revolutionary device. Think about using GoogleTalk over a WiFi network to make free of charge VoiP calls. It terms of design and functionality, they need to stick with what Apple has come up with. The iPhone’s proximity sensors make the entire user experience much more user-friendly and intuitive. The touchscreen technology, along with the pinch and grab features are much haves now. Google might be able to come up with a better idea for a touchscreen keyboard, since the iPhone’s can be a little hard to get used to. Finally, the device, and OS platform should open to developers to work their magic, and knowing Google, this probably won’t be a problem.

With Several Product Recalls Recently, Mobile Barcoding could Help……

With constant news of food products being contaminated, or children’s toy’s being recalled for dangerous reasons, it raises some concerns about what can be done to better alert the consumers of such recalls, so they can better protect themselves. What if the UPC barcode that already exists on every consumer product sold, could be scanned by your cell phone to instantly see if the particular item you have in hand is one that may be affected by the recall. On the other hand, as with the price comparison example of uses of mobile barcode recognition, when the product your thinking of purchasing is scanned by your cell phone, you could see that the product may be affected by a recall or other important news before you purchase it. If this every went widespread, it could greatly reduce the amount of people affected by malfunctioning products. Product manufactures, when notified about a problem, could instantly update their database of UPC codes with the information to alert anybody that scans the item barcodes about the problem. This completely automates the process, and makes consumer awareness much more widespread, much more quickly. Just a thought… Another interesting food safety service is called HarvestMark. It uses the barcodes on many types of food products to embed information about the exact origin of that particular food item. We’re talking the exact farm the corn was picked from, on what date that picking occurred, and at what time of day. No joke. Users can access this information via the internet at home, or using their mobile device while standing in the grocery store. Stores can benefit from this technology as well, by not only increasing consumer loyalty and trust, but also being able to catch possible tainted items, and items involved in recalls, etc. before they’re put on the shelves because of the alert embedded in the barcode that is scanned when it’s taken out of the box. With the nation worried about food safety, and bio-terrorism, services like this to ease the the mind of the consumer will become increasingly popular in the very near future.

The Airports of Tommorrow..No More Ticket Counters?

Michael Dumiak of FastCompany.com wrote an interesting article in the September Issue of Fast Company Magazine about the uses of mobile technology in the future, especially at airports to make the process less stressful. Obviously barcode recognition technology could serve a very important purpose at airports with regards to security and safety and the ease of use and time-saving attributes. As we’ve talked about before, the use of mobile based ticketing or “M-Ticketing” at airports and many other venues will greatly improve efficiency and confusion. As you arrive at the airport, you can go straight to the gate and use the ticket that was sent via SMS or MMS as your boarding pass because of it’s internal barcode associated with all of your information. The barcode could also link your fingerprints, retinal scans, and photo-id’s for more security sensitive applications like air travel. Some hurdles to overcome with this technology, especially at airports, is the fact that to use this technology, airports would have to upgrade their barcode scanners to accommodate scanning barcodes from customer’s cellphone screens. Also some countries, such as Germany, have laws requiring a paper boarding pass for all air travel customers. This can be easily overcome by using a barcode scanner connected to a small printer, that would instantly print a boarding pass when a customer’s cell phone screen is scanned.

Siemens is already filling the void overseas by testing several new technologies that will become available for airports. Other than the barcoding and M-Ticketing technologies, Siemens is also working on some other awesome ideas. An automated parking garage system is in the works for the parking garages at the Munich airport. The more than 15,000 spaces are tied into a central database, and ultrasound sensors detect free and used spaces. As you enter, LED screens direct you along the shortest route to an open spot. Genius. An automated luggage system has already garnered Siemens over $500 Million in secured contracts to install the technology. It involves a set of decentralized software brains and hundreds of routers and switches along more than 1.2 miles of moving track to guide RFID-enabled trays that hold bags. Luggage whizzes by at up to 30 feet per second, and it’s all automatically screened for explosives on its way.

AdMob’s iPhone ad serving applet.

AdMob, with intense yearning from customers, finally introduced a intuitive way to utilize the Google maps widget on the iPhone to deliver relevant ads. Finally, someone has taken a step towards new ways to incorporate useful mobile advertising, as well as a good example of the technology in handsets, and mobile networks, finally catching up with the advertising models. The example given on the AdMob website, involves Starbucks. If you find yourself in Palo Alto, California, and search for coffee shops nearby, AdMob would serve an ad for Starbucks near the search results with a simple input bar for your zip code. If the user inputs their zip code, the Google maps applet is automatically started, and the nearest Starbucks are pin-pointed. The user can then plot their course, etc. Pretty cool, and simple when you think of what else can be done with some of these new technologies and handsets……

Another interesting statistic, is that Google’s mobile applications and services have seen an increase in usage of about 40-50% since the release of the iPhone. This again proving that the usability and technology found on most mobile phones today simply can’t handle advanced products from Google and other companies. With Google not only bringing out their own gPhone at some point in the near future, their also developing their own mobile OS, trying to purchase their own cellular network, and rolling out a new mobile version of AdSense. This will obviously revolutionize mobile advertising, and be a great caliber for other companies to develop and start to try to compete against. With Google’s arsenal of widgets, apps and free software, their new gPhone will definitely be packed full, and most likely more open to third-party development as well.

A Smart GPS Based Mobile Ad-Server…

With today’s mass usage of mobile phones today, the amount of information that can be gathered with these phones is in large part under utilized, especially with regard to mobile advertising. It’s no secret that mobile advertising is the next frontier of internet marketing. The buzz around Google possibly producing their own handset as well as pledging to spend upwards of $4.6 billion for a mobile network says nothing else than Google is very serious about their future with mobile advertising. As users migrate to mobile phones for their internet surfing and information finding, and as mobile devices become smarter, the potential is mind boggling.

With new phones having smarter technology on them, and with wireless carriers adding new services, new and profitable forms of advertising will become available. A somewhat mainstream technology that can found on most phones being used today is active GPS location devices. This will prove to be a very important part of the mobile advertising formula. Imagine as an adsense publisher, if you can place GPS location based, as well as content related contextual ads on mobile sites to be scoured and clicked on by mobile users. An example of this high click through rate environment could be; If a user uses your site to look up information on a restaurant at a certain location, the ads served by adsense could be ads for other restaurants nearby, it’s very likely that the user might click on the ad therefore paying you for the click. Utilizing GPS based ad serving on mobile phones will be beneficial for both the advertiser’s, and publishers.

Phones such as the iPhone, and future phones such as the much-anticipated “GPhone” (Google’s Phone) with applications such as Google maps, etc. will enhance the feature list even more.

The MoVa Media Co. Mobile Ad-Serving Platform will utilize this new technology as well as all previous methods, and will be commercially available soon. Check out MoVaMedia.com for more specific product information and release dates.

Sending Money Via SMS…No More Being Caught Without a Wallet

Sending money via an encoded text message with a barcode could be revolutionary. If your caught somewhere at a cash register and you find you forgot your wallet, you could easily pull out your cell phone, have the cashier scan it, or enter a certain number, and it could act just as a debit card, maybe even making the whole purchase process quicker and easier, with only a quick scan of your barcode.

Gift certificates could be sent via text message instead of a card that could be lost easily. Western Union style money transfers could be sent directly to the stranded person 3,000 miles away within 2 minutes.

Imagine having a college student in the family, and instead of giving them a credit card that they can purchase whatever nonsense that they want, you could send them a barcode that can only be used at a certain place such as the college bookstore, or walmart for essential supplies.

iPhone perfect for Mobile Bar Code Recognition Apps

I was surfing the net for more information about possible applications for mobile bar coding, when I came across an interesting article that talks about the possible uses of bar code technology with the Apple iPhone. Since the iPhone incorporates such new and innovative technology, it would very much enhance the usage of barcode recognition technology.

Imagine standing in line at a movie theater or concert, and scanning a barcode of a movie poster and instantly seeing the trailer for the movie through your video ipod. Or sampling an artist’s new album via instant podcasts or music tracks.

What about Christmas time. Knowing what all your friends and family want, you can slowly take photos of barcodes on products you see, and compile a list of stores for you Christmas shopping run. With the iPhone, you could automatically have a plotted map with directions from home in Google Maps, and have it all available with a new icon right on the home screen.

All this and more can be read in an article by Gregory Ng, on www.iPhoneMatters.com 

Auto Dealership Barcode Recognition Service

One product category we’re working on utilizing mobile barcode recognition technology is intended for use with Automotive Dealerships, and similar retail situations. With the use of a small barcode placed on the stickers of each of the vehicles and a maintained network of sites located in a subdirectory of the dealerships website that link to each individual barcode, dealerships will have a whole new opportunity to harness and sell leads, and the consumer will gain a wealth of knowledge about a certain vehicle instantly while standing at the dealership alone, on a Sunday. Here’s how it works…

*With the barcode located on the sticker of a vehicle, a customer interested in a certain vehicle can take a photo with his or her phone and instantly be sent a text message with a customized page about that certain vehicle. This would include more detailed photos of the vehicle for future use, pricing information, mileage information, possible recalls or problems, reviews on the vehicle, options to request a test drive, options to reserve the vehicle, etc. Several options would be available to enhance the experience.

*The service would also include a simple to use web application that would auto-populate forms about a certain vehicle depending on the vehicles VIN number, and other vehicle specific information. This would make it easy for dealerships to keep their database of vehicle sites updated easily and efficiently. Once a new vehicle site is established and published, and barcode will become available to include on the vehicles sticker or somewhere else.

*The dealership would benefit greatly with this service simply because of the lead generation and sales potential. When a visitor visits the dealership and scans a barcode for more information, especially after hours and on the weekends, that information is timestamped along with other vital information about that customer and their interests. This info includes time they stopped by, their mobile phone number for follow up, the exact vehicle their interested in, etc. This info can easily be auto inserted into the dealerships CRM software for easy lead follow-up and customer files.

The overall service would both increase dealership revenue, organization, and reputation, as well as the customer’s satisfaction, and piece of mind.

Scan item barcode in-store, get reviews…

Almost every item available in stores has a barcode for tracking, and sales purposes. A new idea involving mobile barcode technology could give the consumer instant reviews about any product they’re thinking of purchasing in real-time while holding the item in the store aisle.

The idea is that the consumer can simply take a picture of the barcode on the product, and the phone would automatically identify the product via an integrated java program, and search the internet for related blog posts, news reviews, comparisons, etc. and report them back to the consumer in real-time to read up on the product and make sure it’s really the right one. Consumers can see what other people who have bought the same product really though about it, and what problems may have occurred. Think about doing an instant price check on the product to see if it might be cheaper somewhere else, or maybe cheaper to purchase online. This could prove to be a valuable asset to price, and safety conscious people.

With the software and platforms that are already in development by MoVa Media Co. and the equipment that almost every single consumer in the world carries with them at all times, this will be a reality in the not so distant future. After the initial product launch, new applications and environments could emerge enhance the experience. A central server with barcode information linked directly to well organized product pages would make the process much quicker and more informative. Within one scan and read of a barcode, the phone could instantly display a one-page info sheet showing comments on the product, some general pictures, price comparisons, user reviews, etc. instead of having to wait for the java software on the mobile phone to scour the internet for all of the information in real-time. Having this information sitting a waiting would make the service much more usable in a real world environment. Creating such a database shouldn’t be as daunting task as it sounds. All items with barcodes have information already associated with it, a simple script could scour product databases to find product information and link it to product pages to automatically and continually update the central database of product pages. This central database could also prove to be a very useful resource.

Check back to see what progress we’ve made on this exciting new service.