Locale Isn't The Only Relevant Context For Mobile Search

A story from Reuters declares that Yahoo has "jumped ahead" of Google in mobile search with the release of its latest mobile search product, called OneSearch. Yahoo's focusing on the ability of OneSearch to perform local-centric searches: users input their city or zip code, and search results are geared toward that locale. So if they search for a movie title, they'll get local showtimes, for instance. It also pulls results in from a number of different sources; some useful (news headlines, business listings) and some not so useful (Flickr photos). Still, OneSearch gives a nod to the idea that mobile search is fundamentally different than web search, and that mobile users want their search results to be information, not just links to web pages that might have some information.

However, it seems to come up just a little bit short by considering locale as the overwhelming context for mobile search. It's much more important to determine the context of a mobile search than it is a web search on a PC, simply because of physical factors like a smaller screen and more difficult navigation. There's also little doubt that local search is an important aspect of mobile search -- but it's not the only one, so products designed largely around local search, while ignoring other contexts, may not find so much favor with users. Given the claim about Yahoo surging ahead of Google here, it's interesting to compare their efforts. While it's clearly thinking of how to predict and determine the context of mobile search, for now, it seems content to let users define it by accessing different Google services through different applications. For instance, its SMS services are geared towards listings and other brief snippets of information, while a richer local search experience can be accessed through its Google Maps for Mobile app. The context is indicated by the application the user chooses, rather than being determined by some algorithm.

Yahoo's OneSearch certainly is ahead of Google's web-based mobile search product, and the all-in-one vs. dedicated application approaches are fairly divergent, but both companies are showing an understanding of the different demands on mobile search than on their standard PC-based products. That said, the perfect mobile search application remains a ways off.

Nokia Fires Latest Salvo In Patent Fight With Qualcomm

Never mind the technology, Qualcomm's real focus these days is on intellectual property. It's involved in a number of disputes with several different companies, reflecting not only its strong patent portfolio, but also widespread unease in the mobile industry with how it licenses that portfolio. Broadcom has been one legal foe of Qualcomm's, as the two companies have had several separate patent-infringement cases and allegations of antitrust violations. Following a win for Broadcom in one case earlier this year, and the settlement of another last week, the two companies have also agreed to drop two other patent suits. Even after all that, they've still got a few more suits, as well as a case at the International Trade Commission to work out, so don't feel sorry for the lawyers just yet.

A bigger potential problem for Qualcomm, though, is its ongoing spat with Nokia. The big issue here is the expiration next month of a Nokia licensing deal for some of Qualcomm's CDMA technology, which it needs to sell 3G and some other types of handsets. For Qualcomm, there's a significant amount of royalty revenue at stake, and it also has some patents it licenses from Nokia that are relevant to some of its chips tied up in the deal. In reality, neither company can let the deal expire -- but they have vastly different ideas of how much it should cost Nokia to license the Qualcomm patents. Against this backdrop has come a litany of antitrust complaints about Qualcomm's licensing practices and patent lawsuits, all of which are little more than bargaining chips.

Now, Nokia has made its latest move by filing two more suits in Europe against Qualcomm, asking courts in Germany and the Netherlands to rule its patents "exhausted" in the EU, with relation to products sold there under a Qualcomm licenses. What it boils down to is that Nokia is using chips from Texas Instruments, which has the relevant licenses from Qualcomm for the intellectual property in question. It's asking the courts to rule that because TI has those licenses, it doesn't need to have them (and pay Qualcomm for them) as well. Such a ruling would significantly undermine Qualcomm's bargaining position, but it seems like little more than a preemptive strike against a Qualcomm suit for patent infringement against Nokia soon after the licensing deal expires.

Despite all this activity, things are really just getting started, particularly in the spat with Nokia. But given the way things have gone in the Broadcom cases, as well as the recent indefinite stay ordered by an ITC judge in a patent case with Nokia (which itself came after Qualcomm withdrew three of its six patents from the case), it would appear things may not be going Qualcomm's way. If that is the case, coupled with an industry that's tired of paying the company royalties, it looks like Qualcomm could be in for a bumpy ride.

We Want Fewer Mobile OS, Operators Say

A significant issue in the mobile industry is the wide range of operating systems powering mobile handsets from different manufacturers. While smartphones have harmonized around a handful of OS such as Symbian and Windows Mobile, lower-end featurephones still run a different OS according to their manufacturer. This is obviously a problem for mobile application developers and content providers, who must waste resources porting applications among incompatible systems, since write-once-run-anywhere efforts like J2ME have failed to deliver on that promise. It's not just a development issue, though -- mobile operators also don't like the situation, since it complicates their support functions and makes it difficult to roll out services and applications across their entire device portfolio. As a solution, some operators have stated their desire to settle on a small number of platforms -- typically smartphone platforms -- which will allow them to roll out consistent user interfaces across different brands of devices, as well as to more easily launch new applications and services. The idea of giving mobile operators even more control over the user experience on a mobile device isn't necessarily appealing, but this concept of platformization has some benefits: it will make it easier for third-parties to develop and sell their applications and content services. It will also make it easier for new vendors to enter the market, by taking operator-approved OS and UIs, then pairing them with a reference design from a chip vendor or platform, and get new devices to market quickly.

Licenses? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Licenses

Apparently China Mobile is getting just as tired of the ongoing delay in the government's release of 3G licenses, as rumors say it's put out requests for bids from vendors to build a 3G network. China Mobile is the world's largest operator, with more than 306 million users on its GSM network. However, the requests it has reportedly put out are for a TD-SCDMA network. TD-SCDMA, you might remember, has been believed in many quarters to be the main reason for the licensing delay, and at the last update, a government official say trials of the technology needed to continue. It's not too clear what -- if anything -- is really going on, whether China Mobile will get a license before the network is lit up, or if Chinese officials will just turn a blind eye to it, as they've done with other wireless and mobile technologies before. If that's the case, though, it would make China Mobile's decision to go with TD-SCDMA a bit more curious, unless it sees that as the only way to avoid the scorn of the government.

Filed Under: 3g

Using Pictures To Determine Your Location?

Microsoft has 750 researchers worldwide engaging in skunk works-type of blue sky research, just looking for good ideas. Despite accusations that the company doesn't invent things anymore, it seems like they are actually very active. The accusation should be: "Do they invent anything useful, and do the inventions make it to market?" I imagine some probably do, but I'll leave that for Redmond to argue. A recent Reuters story covered Tuesday's TechFest Fair, where MSFT researchers showed off their latest ideas. In one idea, a lost person could get a map of their location by snapping a picture of a nearby building with a camera phone, and uploading the picture to a server. The server would do a recognition match for the building, lookup the coordinates, determine their location, and deliver a local map back to the phone. MSFT has trialed the idea by uploading millions of photos of Seattle to the server. Geez, what a waste! Somebody tell these guys that 99% of US phones are shipping with GPS today! A complicated system using photos is redundant, expensive, error-prone, and slower than the existing A-GPS.

Ironically, just before I wrote this post, my wife asked me, "Is there a way I can go into my contacts in Outlook, and click on a "show map" button for one of my contacts?" The answer is actually, "Yes" but it's buried so far in sub-menus that most people don't know about it. (click "Read More" to learn how.) It's frustrating that Microsoft sometimes makes the costly and redundant easy, while making the intuitive and useful difficult.

Judge Orders Stay For Qualcomm-Nokia Patent Suit

One of the ongoing stories in the background of the mobile industry are the patent and licensing disputes between Nokia and Qualcomm. The companies have several different legal battles going on, which are generally regarded as maneuvering around the bigger issue of the April expiration of a Nokia license of certain Qualcomm patents, which Nokia needs to be able to sell 3G and other devices. This is a big deal for both companies -- Nokia obviously needs the license, and Qualcomm needs the revenue such a deal delivers -- but as yet, they've been unable (or unwilling) to come to an agreement, apparently preferring to engage in tit-for-tat lawsuits and complaints to different regulators and government bodies. One such complaint was made by Qualcomm, to the International Trade Commission last June. It alleged Nokia was infringing upon six of its patents, and among other things, Qualcomm wanted the import of certain Nokia products to the US banned. However, today the judge in the case has ordered an indefinite stay in the case, just a week before the trial was due to begin. The judge didn't share any particular reason for ordering the stay, but Nokia says it's probably because of some of the actions it has taken to defend itself. Qualcomm had already withdrawn three of the six patents from the complaint, while Nokia (of course) maintains it's done nothing wrong. This is a slightly curious development, but in the run-up to the April expiration, it seems likely that there will be plenty more legal shuffling before the inevitable agreement is made.