Mobile Web 2.0

There are several unique aspects to mobile that make a Mobile Web 2.0 proposition very attractive: location, voice interaction and, obviously, mobility. For this post, I want to focus on today's limiting factors. A future post will address the enablers mentioned above.

There are several limiting factors as well: screen size, bandwidth, lack of APIs and current business models that require strict partnerships and customer lock-in. The two most salient of these are the API issue and the business model issue. Screen size, bandwidth and other UI issues are being addressed by a lot of very smart people and improvements are seen every day. Just recently, for example, we have heard about various carriers HSPDA plans (Cingular, Orange) to address the bandwidth needs.

The API and Business model questions are a bit more complex given that users are still "locked" to a carrier's network and the richness of the browsers and devices is not at the same level as those on the programmable web. A PC is still more powerful and there are significant APIs available for core services on the web. On the other hand, openly available APIs for mobile services, such as location, are not easy to come by, thus limiting innovation and the growth of Web 2.5 to 3.0. If one is to look at Yahoo! Go and Google Local Mobile, they are very good, user friendly applications that have significant limitations to be mass market. First, Google Local Mobile requires the user to enter his location; not so easy to do if one is driving. In addition, the output is text and map on a screen; again not so useful if one is driving. If a carrier were to provide location APIs, this application could be vastly improved. Currently the Verizon Wireless mapping and directions application is the best use of location on a mobile device.

Once this business model can be sorted out, we will see a siginifcant jump in the integration of the mobile device and mobile experience into the social web. Of course, there are examples of this type of service available now, particularly with mobloging and photoblogging from the cell phone, however, the data revenue goes straight to the carrier and the third party pay model that Google and Yahoo! have mastered on the web is not yet in place in the mobile world.

If carriers are to benefit 100% from the communications shift from point-to-point to many-to-many, they will need to get beyond their intrinsic concern of Google's and Yahoo's threat. In turn, those two Internet players will need to understand that the carriers have a legitimate, robust business model that is serving customers well and they will need to be open partners with them. If all parties look at this from the vantage point of consumers, a service like Verizon's voice enabled driving directions mashed-up with a Google Map could be conceived and delivered to customers within a viable business model for both. This business model would likely revolve around data revenue and advertising revenue as well as potentially referral revenue.

tags:

web2.0, Web+2.0