29 Nov 2013

Mobile Miscellany 29th November 2013 - Santa's Sack is Stuffed with Competitions

In this miscellany: win a stand at CeBIT 2014, plus enter the Smart UK competition for the UK's most innovative mobile company, and win pitching support, media events and a free pass to MWC 2014 ...

It's downhill to the end of the year now, with parties galore and all the usual seasonal fun.
Big thanks to everyone contributed to this year's events, our wonderful sponsors and speakers and a specially big shout out to the fabulous, gorgeous volunteers who have so kindly helped make the events run smoothly.  Thanks to everyone for their continued interest and attendance.

MoMoLo has now entered its eighth year and we're working on a programme of events for the first half of next year. We'll most likely give everyone a chance to settle down after the New Year by kicking off in late-ish Jan. We're looking at building on our established event formulas (formulae if you prefer), we're looking at new locations and in general thinking about how we should be developing everything to track the wonderfully volatile and ever-changing mobile landscape.

If you have thoughts about this, want to volunteer, sponsor or in any other way contribute to the now venerable Mobile Monday London community, why don't you drop us a line? We'd love to hear from you


Win a stand at CeBIT
ICT KTN, the Santa of free stand space, has another great opportunity for you - this time for a stand at CeBIT 2014.  Small & Medium Enterprises need to apply by 23rd Decermber 2014. The shortlisted applicants will then go through to one of two finals events held mid to end January.

The competition entry form is here, and a flyer with more information is here.

Get media ready for Mobile World Congress
On 6th December you are invited to a FREE seminar to help you get the most media coverage at Mobile World Congress. As well as providing lots of practical advice, it is also a chance to talk with Stuart Miles, the founder of the UK’s most popular gadget website, Pocket Lint, and Tim Green from Mobile Entertainment Magazine, about what they look for in a media story. 

Details are here.

Smart UK Competition 
Are you a UK-based company working in the mobile industry that can demonstrate a new product or service that has the potential to change the way people use mobiles across the world?  

Smart UK Project, in association with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), searches for the UK’s most innovative mobile companies - the next generation of UK mobile innovators and disruptors. 

Nominations for The UK’s Most Innovative Mobile Company are open now until Friday, 13th December 2013. The competition is free to enter. The UK’s Most Innovative Mobile Company will be announced on 25th February at Mobile World Congress 2014. 

Short-listed companies will win pitching support, a place at a media networking event before Mobile World Congress and global exposure through various media channels. The finalists will feature at Mobile World Congress where they will present their innovation to an expert panel of judges, including Venture Capitalists, mobile network operators and industry experts. Each will receive a free pass to Mobile World Congress 2014 as well as other prizes. 

Nominate at www.smartukproject.co.ukFor information about Smart UK Project or the competition, please contact Chris Bignell, XL Communications, at Chris@xl-comms.com or +44 (0) 7834 020 460. Twitter: @xlcomms

Who did Santa send to represent us on the UK stand at MWC?
Did you miss our last event? Find out what happened and who won a free stand at MWC here.

That's probably it for this year, folks, so have a great holiday if you're taking one, and more from us in the New Year.

Jo

8 Nov 2013

Coverage of the ICTKTN Live Final to win a stand at Mobile World Congress 2014

Thanks to ICT KTN for offering such a great opportunity, the judges, finalists and volunteers. Thanks in particular to Meriel Armitage @merielarmitage of The Connected Set for writing this guest post:

On Monday 4th November I was privileged to be invited to be the guest blogger for Mobile Monday's Mobile World Congress competition, so I turned up with a camera, a notepad and lots of interest.

After a few quick chats with entrants, it was straight down to business at 6.30pm sharp. First up was an introduction from ICT KTN. Stuart Revell gave an overview of the competition: we would see 10 companies pitch for up to 4 coveted places at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona. Each company would have 3 minutes to pitch, with 4 minutes for questions. So, with no further ado, we were away!

Team 1: My Earth App @RedGlassesApps
Confronted with a huge image of the globe in 3D, giving a real yet astonishing image of the height of mountains and the depths of the oceans, it was hard not to be immediately impressed by Adam Martin's My Earth App.

Essentially, the app itself can turn any image into a 3D object, and can therefore create a new type of image based search, beyond the words and lists that we are used to. It also creates a 3D map of videos around the globe.

It was clear that the opportunities for the software that they have developed are endless. It is, however, currently difficult to narrow that down to something that would enable it to gain mass reach and use.

Here at The Connected Set, we are always interested in prototypes like this as it looks so great, feels fun and is incredibly different from any web based search or video platform currently available. We'd love to look at opportunities for our media or content partners with My Earth App and, crucially,  work out how to get it in the hands of users.

Priya shows "the twins" around Changify
Team 2: Design for Social Change @Changify

This is a multi platform approach to solving problems within neighbourhoods and communities. Essentially, it uses crowdsourcing technology to enable local people to register improvements that they would like to see in their areas. The council and local companies are able to then see, in real time, what local issues are, and gives them the opportunity to solve them and ask people for feedback quickly.

Changify has a lot of potential to do a lot of good in a lot of communities. They're running a test in Elephant and Castle at the moment, so it will be great to see the results of that- get down there if you want to have a go!

Team 3: Coveritas @Coveritas

In the CEO Sean Redmond's words, they are 'delivering a step-change in the way that software wireless systems are testing and functionally verified by harnessing the power of randomisation.'

They have developed a way to test wireless systems via systems rather than people, so generating tests that developers won't think of. According to Coveritas, nothing is testing well enough to prevent a big shutdown and they can solve this. Which seemed, to me, like a pretty compelling argument for their place in the market and this competition!

Team 4: Spatial Buzz @SpatialBuzz

Another crowd sourcing solution to a problem, but this time it's for the increasingly frustrating issues of customer service. It aims to help both the consumer and the organisation by providing a 'lower friction' channel to what's currently available.  Presumably they're talking about the 'you are 23rd in a queue, you're call is important to us' scenario.

CTO, Leon Hardwick, pitched Spatial Buss as a service that could significantly ease pain for utilities & telecommunications providers. As one judge, however, suggested, it's difficult to see how a mobile app would be able to help when a phone network is down! Apparently, though, there is a phone and SMS service available.

Team 5: Peachinc @Peachinc 

Peachinc's idea sounds almost too simple- a tiny QR code (Morris Code, invented by founder Dr Daniel Morris) that acts as a ticket on your mobile. The reason for its size is so that it can exist in a SMS as well as on a smartphone and still contains just the right amount of information (16 digits) that ticket vendors need. Anything with a camera is able to read this code, and no data connection is needed to get or verify your ticket.

The question was asked, what makes this any different to the existing online or app based ticketing systems that are currently available? Daniel Morris promptly replied 'this one works'. And he has the stats to prove it, they ran an event with Nokia, 5000 attendees with Pechinc tickets and 100% success rate. They've also been being used by the Saudi Football League with very few ticket based issues occurring.

Peachinc readers are currently being built into a big firmware company's newest barcode readers, which means their use will go beyond camera enabled devices.

This is a really smart and simple idea that will have mass appeal to both users and event organisers, and it's difficult to see how it's not the next huge steps towards paperless ticketing, annoying box office queues, and lost ticket nightmares.

Team 6: 5 Tiles @fivetiles

It's difficult to explain this one in a blog post. I'm aware that it might sound ridiculous, but it's a touchscreen keyboard that has been reduced into 5 keys. Each key representing a portion of the alphabet. It's a totally new and different approach to QWERTY and takes up 70% less screen room.

I was mesmerised watching Michal Kubacki's live demonstration of 5 Tiles, whilst Piotr Pieczynski talked. As the inventor, Michal has obviously had a lot of practice, but he made it look so easy! Apparently it can be mastered in about 45 minutes, which is something I'd love to test out!

They currently have 500 Google Play users, and apparently no one has reverted back to QWERTY after using 5 Tiles. They are also currently in talks with the RNIB, and I could see that it could be completely life changing for blind touch screen users.

Something clearly needs to change for touchscreen keyboards, and this could be that change. It looks great, seems easy to use, and frees up an awful lot of screen which we currently squint at whilst our thumbs hit the wrong letters on our tiny keys. I can't wait to give it a go and say goodbye to QWERTY!

Team 7: 23 Snaps @23Snaps

This is a private social network for families; a way for people to share family photos without the issues that are associated with Facebook or Instagram. Parents don't need to be 'friends' with their children (sigh of relief from kids around the world!), clog up their friends' news feeds with daily photo updates of their own children (sigh of relief from friends around the world!), or risk lax security settings making photos available to anyone on Facebook (sigh of relief from everyone!).

Meaghan Fitzgerald and Ivailo Jordanov walked us through this appealing, simple to use, and beautifully designed way to keep an online family album, with a photo printing and album service available to users. Users own their content and they've already had a huge take up of the service.

With privacy and content ownership concerns bigger than ever, I think 23 Snaps has a bright future with a safe, simple and functional product.

Team 8: Capito Systems @CapitoSystems

When I hear 'speech assistant technology' I immediately hear Siri's annoying voice saying 'Sorry, I could not understand that.'! So it was with trepidation that I listened to CEO Tony Ballardie introduce his company's capabilities. How wrong I was.

They've cottoned on to the idea that e-commerce is not working on mobile, people don't want to do their shopping on their phones if the effort to type what they want in the search box takes an inordinate amount of time. So, Capito have focussed on solving this problem, enabling people to just say their shopping list instead of typing or searching for it.

Doubt was painted on the brows of almost everyone in the room, but Tony's live example drew a communal gasp of exclamation: it worked! They've also done a lot of testing on accents, vocal variations and background noise to create a seamless user experience.

This software is sure to be snapped up by the grocery big boys to enhance their online shopping experience, which should benefit the end user hugely. Again, this is something that's extremely exciting for us at The Connected Set as speech technology is something that has a lot of opportunities to enhance not only shopping experiences, but also audiences' experience of entertainment. Imagine if your TV could hear you telling Simon Cowell to shut up, and then he actually did!

Team 9: Viewranger @viewranger

This is an app for adventurers, ramblers, off-roaders, scavengers, campers, anyone who loves outdoor life really!

Craig Wareham - looking forward to going to Barcelona
The app has everything you'd ever need if you're one of the above: GPS tracking, Ordanance Survey Maps, guidebooks, social networking capabilities, photos and more. It's already had 2 million downloads, has been the number one health & fitness app in Google Play, is used by search and rescue teams in every continent including Antarctica, so it's difficult to see what a place at MWC 2014 would do for Viewfinder.

It was clear, however, that Ben Howard and Craig Wareham have big plans for Viewranger. They are looking into what they can do with wearable devices, partnering with media organisations to syndicate their content, deliver premium services for paying users and brands.

As an outdoor enthusiast myself I can immediately see the appeal of this type of app, and think there's going to be a lot of big opportunities available for them in the future.

Team 10: UBI Apps @nallott

This is, again, a very specific solution for developers. A one stop shop for managing apps through one platform, thus reducing the costs associated with deployment and integration.

There's no doubt that this product would ease a lot of pain for developers, development companies and and their clients alike. It would turn app management into something that not just highly trained specialists can do, making the world of apps much more accessible than it currently is, which can't be a bad thing at all!

So, after a whirlwind tour through the bright minds and amazing developments within the mobile world, us lesser beings were treated to some delicious food and a glass of wine (providing a much needed cerebral massage) whilst the judges made up their minds!
Winners & Judges

After a nail biting wait the competitors were informed who would be going to Barcelona. It was a shame to see anyone miss out, as everyone had put so much work into their brilliant ideas, but, as is the nature of competitions, there had to be some winners. The judges were so impressed that they couldn't limit the winners to 4, so they increased it to 5. The lucky 5 were: Peachinc, 5 Tiles, 23 Snaps, Capito Systems & Viewranger.

A massive well done to the winners, follow them for more news on their progress towards Barcelona and a huge thanks to all the competitors and everyone at Mobile Monday for making it a thoroughly enjoyable and extremely interesting evening!

31 Oct 2013

Mobile Miscellany, 31 October 2013, Next Event Monday 4th Nov, plus win an iPhone 5c, Galaxy S4 or Lumia 925 ...

In this Miscellany ... the hurricane of mobile conferences that was the week of Apps World, Droidcon and others has abated and we are now in the relative calm of the lead up to our 4th November Final of competition for free spaces on the UKTI stand at MWC 2014, organised with our event partners ICT KTN. Plus, don't miss the opportunity to participate in Developer Economics 2014, details below - with the opportunity to win an iPhone 5c, Samsung S4 or Lumia 925 ...

Apps World

We waved the Mobile Monday London flag at Apps World with excellent sessions from Bruce Lawson on HTML5 and Tim Green with an encyclopaedic tour of what's up in Mobile Money. Bruce managed to avoid saying the word that 'App' rhymes with, while still being fervently enthusiastic about the future of the Web and what is coming in HTML5. We've published a round up of that event here together with interviews with Tim and Bruce by Mark Bridge from The Fonecast. Many thanks to Apps World for hosting us.

Droidcon

The same week found The Mobile Academy at Droidcon. A fabulous event, by everyone's account. Looks like The Age of the Wearable has truly arrived, we're going to have to do a focus event on that, let us know if you have something to show ... many thanks to our friends over at Droidcon for hosting The Mobile Academy.

Next Event: MWC Stand Competition Finals

We've had a great response to our call to participate in the UKTI / ICT KTN competition for free stand space at Mobile World Congress 2014. The short-listing process has been very tough, congratulations to those who made it to the finals:

Nquiring Minds - Nick Allot
Viewranger - Ben Howard
Capito Systems - Tony Ballardie
23snaps - Meaghan Fitzgerald
5Tiles - Margaret Gold
Peachinc - Mark Mantock
Spatial Buzz - Leon Hardwick
Coveritas - Sean Redmond
Design for Social Change - Priya Prakash
Red Glasses - Adam Martin

Naming names, here are the judges for the event:

Mel Dyche – UKTI
Eddie Murphy – ICT KTN
Mike Short – Telefonica
Chris Bignell – XL Comms
Jo Rabin – Mobile Monday London

We still have a few spaces for Monday, so come and cheer for your favourite! Register here.

Developer Economics ... win your dream phone!

Once again (for the 6th time) the wonderful people over at Vision Mobile are carrying out their annual survey of sentiment on all things mobile. MoMoLo has been a fervent supporter of this over the years, the results provide some really great research and insights. I'm sorry to say that we don't typically get a typhoon of entries from London, which is a great shame. So let's show our community spirit and make a difference this year!

10 minutes of your time could result in your winning an iPhone 5c, a Galaxy S4 or a Nokia Lumia 925 - plus a load of other cool stuff that I don't have space to mention here ... now come on, get answering the survey!

That's it for now, very much looking forward to Monday.

Jo


30 Oct 2013

MoMoLo goes on tour to Apps World with Tim Green & Bruce Lawson

On 22nd October, we picked ourselves up and set up camp at Apps World 2014 in Earls Court 2. 

Not only was this a Tuesday but we broke with tradition further by starting with a drinks reception - with thanks to conference organisers Six Degrees for treating us! 

Then we got in to our #needtoknowmobile series with attendees of The Mobile Academy airlifted in for the evening as well as a packed house of our usual lovely MoMoLo members.

The first of our two sessions had Bruce Lawson taking us through his guide to HTML5. You can access the presentation here, plus you can listen to a post session interview with Mark Bridge of The Fonecast below.



Next up, Tim Green gave us his 35 Insights to Mobile Payment - see the full presentation here and you can listen to another great interview by Mark below



With thanks again for the invite to be at Apps World and thanks also to all the volunteers and to those of you that came along - we got great feedback and will certainly be doing a road show again!

23 Oct 2013

4th November - Live Finals for MWC 2014 Free Stand Competition

For the 6th year in a row - in asso­ci­ation with ICT KTN, UK Trade and Invest­ment (UKTI) and Cam­bridge Wire­less - we are pleased to invite you to the Mobile World Con­gress 2014 stand com­pet­i­tion finals event.

The finals will be on Monday 4th November. This is going to be run somewhat like our fabulously popular demo night, and even better there will be "light refreshments" alongside the usual networking drinks. Register here: http://momolo-2013-11-04.eventbrite.co.uk/

At the final, each com­pany gives a quick­fire present­a­tion and is then ques­tioned briefly by the panel of emin­ent judges.

After the present­a­tions the judges will choose up to 5 com­pan­ies from those present­ing — the prize being not only space on the UKTI Stand at MWC but also stand brand­ing, list­ing in the UK event dir­ect­ory, com­ple­ment­ary exhib­i­tion passes and assist­ance with press and media activ­ity to max­im­ise the impact of being in Barcelona.

If this sounds like it could be valuable to you there's still time to apply for the competition - you have till the 25th October (that's this Friday 5.30 pm). Find out more here, or download the application form directly here. To whet your appetite, you can read about last year's event here.

This has always been an excit­ing event, and dis­cus­sions can rage as to whether the judges got it right — or not! Either way the prize is certainly worth winning, so come along and see who the lucky win­ners are …

Judges and Finalists will be announced next week.

Agenda
6.00 Arrival
6.30 Live Final
8.00 Net­work­ing (with light buffet)
9.30 Close

As usual attend­ance is free, but regis­tra­tion is required and is now open on Event­Brite

Loc­a­tion
The CBI Con­fer­ence Centre at Centre Point, the very tall build­ing imme­di­ately above Tot­ten­ham Court Road tube sta­tion, on the Cent­ral and North­ern Lines. Please use the entrance at street level under the bridge formed by the build­ing itself.

We will share your regis­tra­tion details with our event part­ner ICT KTN.

16 Oct 2013

Mobile Miscellany, 16 October 2013, Apps World, Free and Discounted Tickets to Droidcon, Free Stand Space at MWC 2014

The season of mellow mobile fruitfulness is upon us, and this year's crop of mobile conferences is just about ripe. In this mini-Miscellany we have some windfalls for you!

MoMoLo at Apps World, Tuesday 22nd October

As previously trailed, together with our friends over at Apps World, we have an evening session with Tim Green of Mobile Money Revolution and Bruce Lawson on HTML5, preceded by drinks. The sessions are part of the The Mobile Academy current programme - we are relocating for the night and welcoming all!

Entry to the Apps World Exhibition, MoMoLo drinks and The Mobile Academy open session are all free. Find out more and register here. Please note change of location (it's Earls Court 2), time (it's 5pm) and day (it's Tuesday) from the usual!

If you want to go to the Apps World conference programme, tickets are 25% off with discount code MOMO25, here.

Droidcon, Thursday 24th October (continuing to the 27th)

The Mobile Academy continues its #needtoknowmobile tour at Droidcon where you are welcome to join an open session on Thursday evening with Kieran Gutteridge and Viji Pathy who will talk respectively about Android and iOS development - 6.30 pm - 9.00 pm.

The European Enterprise Network via UCL has a limited number of free tickets for Droidcon where they are giving you the opportunity to participate in B2B meetings organized by the EEN team where you can meet with potential partners including OEM’s and network partners. To apply:

1.      Register for the meeting
2.      Then email een@ucl.ac.uk

If that's not your thing then take advantage of the MoMoLo discount DROIDCON-2013 that will give you 25% off the conference price. Details here.

Competition for Free Stand Space at MWC 2014

Once again we're working with our friends over at UKTI and ICT KTN to host the finals of this competition for free stand space (on the UK's own stand) at Mobile World Congress 2014.

If this sounds like it could be valuable to you there's still time to apply - you have till the 25th October (that's Friday next week, 5.30 pm) to apply. Find out more here, or download the application form directly here.

The final itself will be on Monday 4th November. This is going to be run somewhat like our fabulously popular demo night, and even better there will be "light refreshments" alongside the usual networking drinks. We'll be telling you more about this event soon, but registration is open right now, here.

So, that's it for now, short - but hopefully in tune with the season - decidedly sweet and juicy.

Jo

9 Oct 2013

Next Event: Tuesday 22nd October – Join us at Apps World for HTML5, Mobile Payments and Drinks

Autumn is well and truly upon us, the leaves are on the turn and we're feeling particularly rebellious.

Here comes the list of differences to our usual events:

1. It's on a Tuesday

2. It's at Earl's Court 2, at Apps World, not at Centre Point

3. The drinks reception comes first and is at 5pm

4. No panel discussion, but lectures plus Q & A with two of our community's leading experts - both are tutors at The Mobile Academy which we have re-located to Apps World for the night.

First up is the inimitable Bruce Lawson. Bruce is the author of Introducing HTML5, an expert on radical hair colouring, and very funny indeed. Rebels aren’t we, bringing HTML5 to an Apps Conference?

Next up is Tim Green of Mobile Money Revolution. Tim will race through 35 insights into the mobile payments space, including thoughts on biometrics, NFC, pay by social media, QR codes and more.

Access to the the Apps World Exhibition, Mobile Monday London drinks reception and The Mobile Academy Open Session are all free.

Thanks to Apps World, if you do want to attend the Conference portion, which includes a keynote from Steve Wozniak, we have 25% off: discount code MOMO25 which you need to enter when you register here: http://www.apps-world.net/europe.

Remember, this event is on Tuesday, not Monday - and that it's at Earl's Court 2 thanks to our friends Apps World!

Agenda:
5.00pm – 6.30pm: Drinks
6.30pm – 7.30pm: Bruce’s Session on HTML5
7.30pm – 7.45pm: Short Break
7.45pm – 8.45pm: Tim’s Session on Mobile Payments

Location:
Earls Court 2, Drinks at the Parse Bar followed by tutorials at the Developer World Stage, one row away.

Register here: http://momolo-2013-10-22.eventbrite.com

25 Sept 2013

Mobile Miscellany, 25 Sep 2013, Free Stand Opportunities at Apps World and MWC 2014, Free/Discounted tickets to Droidcon and Apps World ...

A bulging goody bag in this miscellany, we have some really nice offers ... free stand space at MWC 2014 and Apps World, free and discounted tickets to Droidcon and Apps World, a marvellous free infographic on the App ecosystem from Vision Mobile ... and more ...

What happened at Demo Night

Talking of bulging, Demo Night was packed out again, and we had an absolutely wonderful line-up from across the mobile spectrum. Many thanks to those brave demoers, our volunteers and everyone who attended - check out the blog.

VisionMobile Enterprise App Developer Atlas 

I guess we're used to the excellent quality of information and presentation from the folks over at Vision Mobile, but they have surpassed themselves this time, I think, with this marvellous 'State of the Apps Nation' infographic.

Apps World, 22nd October - Discount Code, Free Stand Offer, Mobile Monday Drinks and Open Session from The Mobile Academy

Rebels that we are, we've decided to do a Tuesday event! There will be a Mobile Monday London drinks reception from 5.00 pm - 6.30 pm on Tuesday 22nd Oct, followed by a free Open Session from The Mobile Academy featuring Tim Green tutoring on Mobile Payments and Bruce Lawson on HTML5 - rebels to the last we bring you HTML5 at an app conference.

Apps World is at Earls Court, 22nd-23rd October - 2 days of engagement and debate around the app ecosystem with Steve Wozniak as the keynote. Conference tickets are 25% off with discount code MOMO25, here.

Apps World is also giving away free stands to a select number of start-ups at this year’s show. Find out more and apply here.

Access to the exhibition, Mobile Monday London drinks reception and The Mobile Academy Open Session are all free.

MWC 2014, Barcelona, Free Stand Offer from ICT KTN and UKTI

We're working with our friends over at ICT KTN and UKTI again this year to host the finals of the competition for free stand space (on the UK's own stand) at Mobile World Congress 2014. It probably goes without saying that previous winners from our community have found this fantastically valuable. The finals will be held on 4th Nov. You have until 5pm on 25th Oct to apply. You'll find the information nestling half way down the page here. [Be warned, it does take a little while to load ... so be patient]

#needtoknowmobile with The Mobile Academy

Do you need to know or do you have something to share? We have started a new hashtag with our little sister, @Moblacad. Given the com­munit­arians that we are, we want to invite you all to use the hashtag #needtoknowmobile when you tweet with useful advice and information for the community (I guess we should be clear, on the subject of mobile, that is).

To celebrate the run up to our 3rd The Mobile Academy, we have been blogging and tweeting with a series of wisdom from tutors that you can catch here.

Remember our next pro­gramme starts on 1st October - LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY!— so if you want to get up to speed with the business, design and how to work with technology from the industry pros and a CPD certificate from UCL and Mobile Monday London.  Sign up here.

All participants will also get a free tickets to Droidcon and an insider tour of Lastminute.com offices with their Head of Mobile to see agile in practice. Enter "momolo" for a final week offer of 10% off.

Droidcon, 24th - 27th October, Discounts, Free Tickets and Open Session from The Mobile Academy 

Droidcon is back again. This year it is all about wearable, be prepared to see the most dazzling array of devices ... more information here.  Our friends at Droidcon have once again kindly given us a discount code: "DROIDCON-2013" that will give you 25% off.

We have also been offered 2 free tickets - all you need to do is complete this tweet: "I want to come to @droidconuk thanks to @MoMoLondon so that .... "

We will also be holding an Open Session of our academy, 6.30pm - 9.00 pm if you want to drop in and get some Android and iOs education with Kieran Gutteridge and Viji Pathy - What? iOS at Droidcon? Rebels through and through.

See you at Over the Air, Friday and Saturday this week

I'm looking forward to this year's OTA up at Bletchley Park we'll all be there in force and the wonderful Julia Shalet will be doing a taster session for this Autumn's The Mobile Academy there, so make sure you don't miss that!

See you Friday ...
Jo

16 Sept 2013

What happened at Demo Night, Sept 2013

We celebrated the end of the Summer with Demo Night - where we invited the community to apply for one of ten opportunities to show their wares. It was a tough decision, but we got there in the end, with a diverse mix that kept the audience rooted to their seats! 

So much thanks to give:
  • Event partners, ICT KTN and The Mobile Academy
  • Volunteers, in particular @elaine_finn for writing the blog and @AlexiaPRGal for keeping us on time 
  • Fiona Jarvis from Blue Badge Style and Damaris Homo from Connecthings for telling us about some fruitful connections resulting from their presentations at our last Demo Night
  • The large number of tutors and alumni of The Mobile Academy who were there to answer questions about our next 10 week evening programme (which starts 1st October)


There was a packed room for Demo Night to kick start the Autumn season.

In a break with the usual running order, announcements came first this time:
  • Over The Air, 27th - 28th September needs a sponsor to release more tickets - contact @MobileMaggie if you can help! 
  • Win a stand at Mobile World Congress 2014 - courtesy of ICT KTN and UKTI! Details are here. Deadline: 5pm 25th October 2013. Finalist event is at Mobile Monday London on 4th November.
  • Discounts for businesses who want to send participants to The Mobile Academy: discount code "momolo" book here.

And so to the 10 demo-ers who succeeded in informing, entertaining and dazzling everyone with their Mobile App offerings.  The rules were 3 mins each, with a couple of mins Q&A - no exceptions...

First to start was Tom Wood, MD of Kudan, @KudanAR - an Augmented Reality Agency 'that doesn't do gimmicks' who then went on to show a rather gimmicky presentation (by his own admission) including a sample of the incredible work they've been doing for Audi..

Ian Masters
Next up was Ian Masters, @ianmasters with FingerHoola, who presented his game whereby you spin rings around your fingers, "whilst escaping to the world of ambient sound and abstract shapes."  It was and is totally addictive...

Terence Eden, @edent from Telefonica then showed us Blipdrop - 'an experiment in ephemeral media' - it is an App powered by O2's The Lab. The idea is that instead video's lasting 'forever' on the web, you can post a video that lasts for a snapshot in time and is only accessible to someone (in fact 'anyone' from Facebook/LinkedIn communities) within close proximity of where the video was taken - who needs a big TV budget now?

Edward O’Brien from InfoApp Manager @AppQuik explained his mobile app platform called AppQuick, that is a drag and drop platform sitting inside SharePoint.  Due to its technological efficiencies, it aims to reduce enterprise customers costs by 30%.

Robyn Exton
The effervescent Robyn Exton, @robynexton, founder of Dattch and an alumni of The Mobile Academy, currently participating in the WAYRA accelerator program, wowed the audience with her Lesbian-dedicated dating site, claiming that whilst there are as many gay woman as gay men in the UK, no Lesbian dedicated dating sites exist...  The crowd genuinely gasped with praise for having found a niche in this incredibly competitive space.

Next up was Owen Day, with JustRide from Masabi, @Masabi_com. Owen presented his JustRide App that enables travel service providers to purchase and display tickets on their smartphones.  They're currently rolled out in Boston, San Diego and New York and Owen unashamedly did a shout out for resource whilst doing a live ticket-purchase demo.  And a quick nod to the power of MoMoLo, as the CEO met both employees (including Owen) and investors whilst presenting at a Demo Night 5 years previous.

The energetic Holly Clarke demo'd Yaarly, @YarrlyApp, (made in her bedroom) quirky remixable photo app.  When asked what her revenue model was, she responded that she'd just started a role at Airbnb ... the great insight from Holly was that rather than block users for uploading inappropriate content, they just break the App for that individual user so that they just think it is broken and cease use. Great idea!

Then we welcomed Richard Russell, founder of Wlcome, @wlcomeapp, from High Street Labs. It is a virtual loyalty and reward card, using the latest geo-fencing technology that you don't have to install - so security issues hopefully addressed!

Jon Mundy@jonmundy, Head of Commercial Development for Zapp360, a solution to the poor results arising from advertisers and publishers shoe-horning web-based advertising onto mobile devices.  His App creates a 130 character banner that subtly moves across the mobile page, creating a more mobile -friendly user experience, and is generating some impressive click rates.

And finally, Priya Prakash, the founder of @Changify, presented her innovative crowd-funding platform that seeks to use community resources to fix community challenges, to change the face of neighbourhoods as neighbours come together to fix local issues.

The evening rounded off with networking drinks and a chance for the attendees to chat further with presenters and play around with their Apps.

An engaging, informative, entertaining and thought-provoking night all round.



Thanks Elaine!

Remember to get your application in for the MWC Stand Competition and make sure to register for The Mobile Academy ...


3 Sept 2013

Mobile Miscellany, 3 Sep 2013, Next Event Demo Night 9 Sep, Demoers Announced! Compos, promos and more ...

In this Miscellany, Demoers for the 9th Sept, next Monday, announced! Registration to attend is open and there are are still some spaces, but hurry! The Mobile Academy has bursaries available for 8 places, get in there quick! Fancy the opportunity for up to $500,000? Check out the Mobile Monday Momentum Accelerator.

Well, for those of us that this affects, school holidays are nearly over - but never mind, the summer seems still to be with us. Hoping that everyone who had the time to take one had a good break, here at MoMoLo Towers we're kicking off the Autumn Season with the ever popular Demo Night.

Demo Night, Monday 9th Sept

Ta-da! In partnership with the lovely people at ICT KTN, we are pleased to announce the line up of Demos:

Yarrly Yarrly
Kudan KUDAN
Telefonica BlipDrop
Dattch Dattch
Design for Social Change Changify
Plant Pot Finger Hoola
Masabi JustRide
Wlcome,  Wlcome
Zapp360 Zapp360

Plus, we've invited Fiona from Blue Badge Style and Damaris from Connecthings to come back and tell their stories since they appeared at Demo Night in January 2013.

As usual we are expecting a very lively evening in which we see once again the eclectic variety of what's going on in the Mobile Monday London community. Registration is open, still some spaces left ...

The Mobile Academy

Also at this demo night find out about The Mobile Academy from alumni and tutors who will be available beforehand and during the reception to answer any questions. Our third programme runs on Tuesday & Thursday evenings, 1st Oct - 3rd Dec.

This is the 10 week evening CPD programme we host with UCL, where we have expert industry tutors delivering sessions across business, design and how to work with technology.

Apply for free places!

We have 8 bursary places up for grabs thanks to the ICT KTN: Apply by 9th Sept: http://themobileacademy.org.uk/8-bursaries-available-thanks-to-ict-ktn/

22nd October - Mobile Monday Drinks, The Mobile Academy Open House & 25% off tickets to Apps World

Apps World at Earls Court is 22nd-23rd October - 2 days of engagement and debate around the app ecosystem with 8000+attendees , 250+ exhibitors and Steve Wozniak as the keynote.

Conference tickets are 25% off with discount code MOMO25 http://www.apps-world.net/europe 

It may be a Tuesday, but there will be a Mobile Monday London drinks reception from 5.00 pm - 6.30 pm on the 22nd,  followed by an Open Session at The Mobile Academy featuring Tim Green tutoring on Mobile Payments and Bruce Lawson on HTML5 (what else?!)

Free access to the exhibition, Mobile Monday London drinks reception and The Mobile Academy Open House. 

The 10th Annual Meffys

Our friends of at MEF have asked us to point out that they're running the Meffys again this year on November 14th. This time - in a break with past tradition - in San Francisco.

Perhaps they missed the point that we're Mobile Monday London :-) but anyway, please be advised that the details for this event are now posted, and application to win a prestigious Meffy award has been extended to September 23rd (apparently, not Sept 6th as it says on the Web site). Anyway, if it's of interest to win a glittering prize why not apply? It's not cheap, but there is a discounted rate for small businesses, we're told.

Mobile Monday Momentum

And while speaking of San Francisco, our colleagues over in Mobile Monday Silicon Valley asked us to make you aware of the Momentum Accelerator Programme. Application deadline has been extended to September 16th, they say. Check out the programme, and see if a 12 week stint in San Francisco with the chance, they say, of up to USD 0.5M in funding is of interest to you.

That's it for now, looking forward to seeing you on Monday and make sure you register!

Jo

28 Aug 2013

Next Event: 9th Sept - Demo Night Returns, plus meet The Mobile Academy

All too soon the summer holidays are drawing to a close, but never mind, the MoMoLo Autumn season kicks off on Monday 9th September with the ever-popular Demo Night! Registration is open and you still have time, just, to apply to demo.

Demo Night returns on 9th September in partnership with ICT KTN and The Mobile Academy. Seen as one of the most entertaining events on our calendar, we look forward to hosting a variety of 3 minute demos and fielding audience questions for the brave presenters. If you want to demo, you need to move quickly - apply to demo here: http://j.mp/momolo-demo-2013-09, applications to demo will close on 2nd Sept (next Monday).

Also alumni and tutors from The Mobile Academy will be around all evening to answer any questions you have about our third programme which runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 1st Oct - 3rd Dec.

The Mobile Academy is the 10 week evening CPD programme we host with UCL, where we have expert industry tutors delivering sessions covering business, design and how to work with technology. Full details of the course at The Mobile Academy site.

Even better, thanks to the lovely people at ICT KTN, we have 8 bursaries available to cover the cost of the course. Apply by 9th Sept: http://themobileacademy.org.uk/8-bursaries-available-thanks-to-ict-ktn/

Agenda

6.00 pm - Doors Open
6.30 pm - Demos!
8.00 pm - Networking Drinks
9.30 pm - Close

As usual this event is free to attend and will take place at the CBI Conference Centre at Centre Point, the very tall building immediately above Tottenham Court Road tube station.

Register to attend here: https://momolo-2013-09-09.eventbrite.co.uk, apply to demo here: http://j.mp/momolo-demo-2013-09

25 Jul 2013

Mobile Miscellany, 24 July 2013, Apply now to demo on 9th Sept, 25% off The Mobile Academy

In this Miscellany - apply now to demo at Demo Night, 9th Sept, The Mobile Academy announces its 3rd season - 25% off, if you hurry ...

It's been a great summer, hasn't it? What with the much discussed sporting successes and now the royal baby - but it would not have been complete without our series of three Mobile Monday London events on Mobile Marketing, Geolocation and Maps and our event last week on Mobile Operating Systems - many thanks to our wonderful supporters for these events, respectively InfobipOrdnance Survey and Canonical.

Last Event, 15th July, Mobile Operating Systems

Our coverage of this event is now on the blog, many thanks to Adam Cohen-Rose, avid attender of Mobile Monday London and an assiduous blogger. Our friends over at Canonical brought loads of hardware and showed us Ubuntu on mobile devices, which I thought was really promising. We were also treated to a lightning tour of the report "Developer Economics 2013", a fascinating insight into the shifting world of developer mindshare.

Finally, but not by any means least we were treated to an amazing discussion of developments in the mobile platform arena and what that might mean to the mobile value chain. With many thanks for that to our top class panel lead by Geoff Blaber of CCS Insight, with Alex Sinclair of GSMA, David Wood of Delta Wisdom, Andreas Constaninou of Vision Mobile, Victor Palau of Canonical and Christian Heilmann of Mozilla.

For links, details of the discussion and more, check the blog.

Want to demo on 9th Sept?

Demo Night is always very popular with the community, and once again we're working with our event partners ICT KTN to bring you a Demo Night on 9th September.  If you're not familiar with the demo night format, well, it looks like this. Each of roughly 10 participants gets to speak about their idea, product or service for exactly three minutes and field questions from the audience for a couple more minutes. 

There are no special qualifications, you may have a ready to roll product, you may have an interesting idea, you may be a large company or small company... check out January's demo night write up for an idea of what it is all about. Past demoers have had all kinds of interesting journeys, so we'll ask a couple of them to talk about their experiences too.

Lots of past demoers have found the experience of having to put their message across in 3 mins very helpful, but even more helpful has been the feedback, encouragement and suggestions they get from members of the community. Apply now! We will be closing applications to demo no later than 2nd September. Registration to attend the event and not demo will open "later".

The Mobile Academy where mobile minds meet, think and grow 1st Oct – 3rd Dec

Are you are a company that needs to get deeper into mobile? Perhaps you are a hipster, hacker or hustler with ideas to pro­gress? Maybe you simply want to learn more about devel­oping new ideas in a world where more people have access to a mobile phone than a toothbrush…

Well you will be pleased to hear that we have opened registration for the third season of The Mobile Academy, a certified CPD evening programme from UCL & Mobile Monday London. With talks, workshops, demonstrations and surgeries delivered by industry experts - many from the Mobile Monday community - it is a collaborative learning environment to get a grounding in business, design and how to work with technology.

OK, so here's the rush, there's a 25% Early Bird discount which runs to 5th August, for start-ups that means that the cost is just £375 and from £750 for businesses. Book here: http://moblacad-2013-10-01-Momolo.eventbrite.com.

Please do get in touch with julia@themobileacademy.org.uk if you have any questions.
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That's it for now, remember to apply to demo on Sept 9th! You'll get a great reception and wonderful feedback from the audience. That link again: http://j.mp/momolo-demo-2013-09

Jo


22 Jul 2013

What happened at Operating Systems 15th July 2013

A packed event and a very interesting discussion - many thanks to event sponsors Canonical, who also bought along some devices so we all had a good play with Ubuntu phone and tablet editions!

Huge thanks to our chair and panel and of course volunteers, photographers and also Adam Cohen Rose, @adamcohenrose: this is an edited version of his blog post about what went on!

_____________________________________

Some really useful insights this week — with the panel providing a different perspective on the mobile industry than the usual. Although one question started on the HTML vs Native war, this was quickly knocked on the head and left for a future Mobile Monday.

There were three items on the agenda: An introduction by Victor Palau; Principal conclusions from Developer Economics 2013 (the full report at http://www.developereconomics.com/reports/q3-2013/), by Andreas Constantinou; and a panel discussion featuring:
  • Geoff Blaber @geoffblaber - Chair - Director of Devices and Software Platforms at CCS Insight
  • Alex Sinclair - CTO at GSMA
  • David Wood @dw2 - Principal at Delta Wisdom and formerly the prime mover behind Symbian
  • Andreas Constantinou @andreascon - Managing Director at Vision Mobile
  • Victor Palau @victorpalau - VP of Phone and Hyperscale Delivery at Canonical
  • Christian Heilmann @codepo8 - Principal Developer Evangelist (HTML5/Open Web) at Mozilla Corporation


Thanks to Geoff for being an excellent chair and keeping the discussion moving fluidly, and to all the panel members and organisers for a great evening.

Intro by Victor Palau

  • hardware & os market has become monopolized in last few years
  • standardization on Linux kernel (mainly from Android) makes it much quicker to set up a new operating system
  • don’t have to worry about chipsets etc as much as in Symbian days
  • but platforms have to have something

Developer Economics Q3 2013, Overview by Andreas Constantinou

  • launching latest research today
  • html5 is number 3 development platform in use
  • Android leads, then iOS, everything else way behind
  • 61% of html is direct to browser
  • then phonegap at 27%
  • Windows Phone going down in intent share (i.e. less developers interested…)
  • iOS still leading monthly revenue at $5,200
  • Android catching up at $4,700 (using in-app advertising as main booster)
  • revenue models differ by platform
  • seeing an increase in platforms used by individual developers
  • main platform almost even between Android (34.4%) and iOS (32.7%)
  • html5 behind at 17.5%
  • report trying to quantify platform loyalty amongst devs
  • also trying to show which platforms are best for different challenges
  • and the different motivations for different developers
  • more experienced developers are using more tools
  • e.g. crash reporting, ad networks, push notifications

Geoff, Alex and David
Panel Session 

What do new platforms offer manufacturers?
GB: essentially just 2 OEMs (Apple, Samsung) making any profit
CH: not a problem of distribution but where it is going
-producing lots of phones in saturated market
-Mozilla’s job is to keep the web open
-the web is worldwide
-FirefoxOS is targeting markets that mostly have featurephones, aiming to be people’s first smartphone
-you can get old Androids but they’re 4 generations behind with old browsers that don’t show stuff right
-manufacturers actually quite interested in this proposition
-Foxconn hiring 3,000 people to make a FirefoxOS tablet
-Samsung & Apple neutering open web — you need expensive hardware and a credit card to be a part of it
-in Spain selling €79 phone with €30 pre-paid credit
GB: open initiatives have failed in the past: WAC, etc
VP: open initiatives can have trouble with leadership
-Canonical remain open but have strong leadership
-offering operators ability to showcase their content
DW: two good cases for disruption
-companies that have shown their staying power
-just an improvement in battery life would be welcomed…
-smartphones naturally get stretched as new environments come along — and leave space for niches

David, Andreas, Victor & Christian
What about the ecosystem?
AC: for any platform to be successful need buy in from:
-developers, operators, manufacturers, users, …
-devs have to learn new platform
-users don’t care what’s underneath
-operators have pre-allocated slots, often by OS
CH: Windows Phone is a great example
-not seen the depth of commitment required from the operators
-not willing to take the risk
AS: not all operators subsidise handsets
-when a new version of the iPhone comes out, AT&T’s share price drops as they have to subsidise it
-need an alternative
-different operators placing different bets
AS: operators want to get their content onto devices
-but are struggling to do so with iOS & Android. (Ed.: this is probably one reason why those two are doing so well!)
CH: app discovery as easy as searching
-search for a movie: get IMDB deep link
-go back to search and long-press to install app
-then get offline goodness etc
-drives me crazy that I have to wait 5 months for a game my friend is playing on his different device

What about the corporate sector or 3rd sector (training & education)?
VP: one of our main focuses at Ubuntu
-have a very secure platform, bringing to phone
-converged device — plug in your phone and get full desktop
-good for enterprise: single device, secure
CH: enterprise difficult to get into as wedded to Blackberry or other platform that’s integrated with email system
-difficult sell for open source
-3rd sector is an easier sell
-e.g. simplified phone for elderly: just photos of family — click to call
AC: changing the UI of the phone reminded me of SavaJe (way back in 2006, bought and swallowed by Sun)
-html5 is top platform for enterprise
-top driver is efficiency
CH: developer scarcity — don’t have to go out to an agency
-just use existing web team
DW: enterprise can drive home usage too
-LinkedIn most popular enterprise app?
-switched back to native on mobile as tools were not good enough
AC: html5 apps are like a car without a break
-once it starts leaking, you can’t stop it

Are you seeing apps migrating from mobile to desktop?
DW: more about device usage — consumer behaviour is leading
VP: end of Windows XP support is great: making people think about it
-at the moment can’t replace them with an html5 app
-but solutions available in Ubuntu
AC: crawled the Google store to find APIs used
-only 1 in 4 Android apps could be done on straight web
CH: that’s why Firefox provides access to device
-some memory leaks come from platforms they are using to generate code
-Chrome and Firefox dev tools making great strides

How many years are going to pass before clients say “don’t do native”?
VP: has to be lots more about what’s good for consumer
-depends on the situation and who you’re aiming it at
AC: it’s not an either or…

Privacy: number one for Mozilla / chinese walls between work & home
AS: virtualisation of phones available: multiple phones in one
-lots of companies don’t use Dropbox for security reasons
-don’t think about all the data that certain closed OSes are capturing about us
DW: trustworthy and transparency may be change reasons
CH: already seeing that for Firefox browser
-sometimes have to make the UX harder to make people think about what they are doing
VP: full Linux implementation
GB: isn’t there an argument that deep integration with Google is part of Android’s success?
AC: people don’t ask if Facebook & Google are spying on them: they give you something back which you perceive to be of value
CH: it’s actually more addiction than value…

What positive reasons for getting new platforms?
AS: it comes down to competition
-Is it a good idea for just a few companies to make the profits?
-I represent people who used to make the profits from the industry…
-was previously director of WAC, but by the time it was ready there was no need for it as only two platforms to develop for
-operators want to implement RCS/joyn (operator-based IP messaging, voice, video, etc) and new platforms give them the chance to get involved
DW: so many variations
-e.g. Nokia mega pixel camera: “average user only cares 16/23 about camera pixels” — but actually there’s a reasonable niche here

What about the important services that users expect?
-e.g. Skype, Google Maps
-AS: was in Korea last week: their search provider is being investigated for monopolistic practices
-also a messaging provider was worried about operators implementing RCS/joyn and taking away their revenue stream
-CH: service in China to add “written on an iPad” to the bottom of your email
-$5 a month, and they stole your email data!

What about individual permissions?
CH: permissions can be asked on a more granular basis
- no great list of permissions as for Android
AC: how much would you be willing to pay for a service that monitored and reported how your private data was being used?
- people want it but are not willing to pay for it

Who is likely to nudge sub-saharan Africa into smartphones
-full of featurephones
-OLPC not doing that well
CH: OLPC didn’t do so well as missing network connectivity
-Ushahidi is building a wireless BRCK to be a modem for Africa
-if someone asks “what if Google or Apple go after these markets after you”, answer is “then we’ve won!”

Visiting from Momolo Nigeria: what difference will a billion users in Africa have on design considerations?
-120million mobile phones, mainly featurephones
CH: sent UX designers to South America to come up with use cases
-build apps with Telefonica targeted at those markets
-need to meet somebody local who knows the area
-can’t assume that everybody wants the same thing
VP: community is very important
a lot of people in Africa want to contribute and make things better for their community
-have a whole set of local community councils
-e.g. large Catalonian community
AC: if you need to access the internet you need a data plan
-developing countries have very expensive access plans
-need to have smarter ways of micro-access to the internet
DW: designing meaningful UI for people who can’t read or write
AS: some operators already doing micro data plans
-e.g. facebook access not coming out of data plan (facebook zero)

Closing remarks
GB: often on West Coast of US, it’s Android, iOS or the highway
- been impressed that there’s a great strength in the alternatives
- barriers to entry getting lower
- html5 provides common access
- market driven by growing diversity
- fragmentation in OS space is likely to proliferate
AC: there is no black or white
- there’s always multiple alternatives
AS: there’s a definite need & opportunity
- don’t know who is going to win
DW: which David will survive?
- execution: can the company keep pushing out high quality?
- proposition: will people bit?
- community: can they start a virtuous cycle?
VP: can you get a consumer to buy something different?
CH: there’ll be a lot of opportunity for a lot of players
- we were the only cool thing in MWC twice in one day
- device should not spy on you: built the internet in a different idea and this should exist on mobile phones too

Announcements
The Mobile Academy starts again Oct 1st - Dec 3rd - early bird discount of 25% if book before August 5th
Tech meets Creative Unconference 26th July in Camden
Campus Party 2013, 2-7 Sept, at the O2

________________________________________________

Thanks again Adam. Simon Judge has also covered the event here: http://mobilephonedevelopment.com/archives/1644

8 Jul 2013

Mobile Miscellany, 8 July 2013, Next Event 15th July, World’s Fattest Web Site and other Competitions and Prizes!

In this Miscellany: Vodafone offers EUR 200k in prizes for Good Apps, 51degrees.mobi competition for finding the world’s heaviest Web site, our next event and more … a bit of a bumper edition this time, lots going on and plenty to win!

Next Event, 15th July, Mobile Operating Systems, a new set of Davids take on the incumbent Goliaths

We draw our summer season to an end with this gala event: a chance to try for yourself the new Ubuntu Mobile and Tablet editions - courtesy of our lovely sponsors Canonical, together with the unveiling of the conclusions of Developer Economics 2013, the latest survey of sentiment about current platforms - plus a star-studded panel session on how the arrival of new mobile platforms affects the choices that face creators of apps and services.

Registration is open, places are going fast, register now! http://momolo-2013-07-15.eventbrite.co.uk/

So Much More than Where Am I?


Where were you on the 24th June? If you were not present in the packed house that evening, or if you were (and especially if you can’t remember) check out the blog for a write up of our last event on 24th June, Mobile, Maps and Geolocation - So much more than “where am I?” - plus links to the Podcasts created by Mark Bridge at The Fonecast. 

Read about it at http://www.mobilemonday.org.uk/2013/07/what-happened-at-mobile-maps.html

World’s Fattest Web Site

MoMoLo supporters 51degrees.mobi (winners of one of the spaces on UKTI stand at MWC this year) have announced a competition for the world’s most obese Web site. Well, they actually say the Web’s heaviest site - not necessarily the same thing, I know. Pedantry aside, you could win USD 1,000 merely by finding a heavy site and entering their competition, background here: http://j.mp/1b7VcxZ

Accelerating Multi Screen Business Innovation. This afternoon!

Should you happen to be free this afternoon, or this evening, and talking of 51degrees.mobi, not content with winning a space at MWC they are one of the 10 finallists at the competition for spaces at IBC Amsterdam (you remember I mentioned that in the last Miscellany? You don’t?) anyway, the final for that is the evening of Monday 8th July at the IET and is preceded by an afternoon event on Accellerating Multi-Screen Business Innovation. Details for both events at http://j.mp/16OVh6z

Tech meets Creative Unconference Friday 26th July - Win free office space!

An afternoon conference that promises ice cream. Oh and a great line-up of speakers and panels … plus … I should not forget to mention that there is the opportunity to win some free office space … we also have a limited number of free places - see us on Monday 15th for the promo code for free attendance http://startupsummerce.eventbrite.co.uk/

Campus Party 2013, 2-7 September, London

Our friends over at Telefonica, not content with opening WAYRA and WAYRA for Social Enterprise as mentioned in previous Miscellanies, are also in the business of running technology festivals. This is a week long festival of technology-n-stuff to be held at the O2. http://www.campus-party.eu/ - you will find a 20% discount code by following this link: http://www.campus-party.eu/2013/discount.html?cod=MMO

Vodafone’s Mobile for Good Europe Awards

This year’s version of the excellent Vodafone Smart Accessibility Awards is their Mobile for Good Europe Awards. Being pedantic, I’ll point out that you should read that as “Mobile for Good - Europe”. Orthography aside, we’ve been really delighted to help Vodafone with this for the past few years. This year’s competition has four categories for entries: Accessibility, Health, Education and Public Services. Three prizes in each category, totalling EUR 200k.

Details at http://www.mobileforgoodeuropeawards.com/. You have till 12:00 GMT on 15 October 2013 to enter, but do it sooner rather than later, or you may forget.

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That is it for now, I do hope that I have not forgotten anything, though it’s likely given the tenuous theme of this Miscellany.

Do hope to catch you at the event on Monday 15th, and don’t forget to register - do it right away! http://momolo-2013-07-15.eventbrite.co.uk/

3 Jul 2013

15 July - Operating Systems: A new set of Davids emerge to challenge the incumbent Goliaths

A panel session on how the arrival of new mobile platforms affects the choices that face creators of apps and services - plus a chance to get your hands on the new Ubuntu Mobile and Tablet editions, together with the unveiling of the conclusions of Developer Economics 2013, the latest survey of sentiment about current platforms.

Just when we thought the question "which platform shall I develop for" had narrowed to a two horse Android/iOS race, with Android's rise and rise over the course of the last year seeming to set the tone for the future, the ever-inventful mobile industry has changed things around on us again.

Following the turn of the year BlackBerry 10 has finally arrived, and it looks as though people like it.  Mozilla's Firefox OS looks interesting and Tizen brings together various earlier threads - both appear to be a kind of antidote to the Web vs Native debate. Very interestingly, to my mind, a further new player in the space is Canonical with their Ubuntu Mobile and Ubuntu Tablet editions.

Just when people thought it was down to a two horse race, why, all of a sudden, are we seeing a sudden blossoming of new offerings?  What are the motivations of those who are bringing them to market? The old mix looks like it is well and truly being shaken up. But how will the new players win over a public that may by now just about have got to grips with "It's Apple or Android". Crucial to the success of all of these players will be partnering with operators, who must constitute their major channel to market.

Most of us would agree that innovation is good, yet most of us would also agree that fragmentation is bad. New entrants to the market necessarily means more fragmentation, or does it? Is this just a spring flowering or are we witnessing a enduring change to the market? Will one or more of the Davids successfully take on the Goliaths, or is there in fact room  for them all to live together? If so, what are the consequences for product platform choices?

Supported by our lovely friends over at Canonical, which is of course the company behind Ubuntu (they actually know a thing or two about being disruptors in the cloud and computing industries) we'll be examining these issues and more in our event on July 15th. They'll be demonstrating Ubuntu on Tablets and Phones … so this is your chance to get your hands on this exciting innovative user experience … but if you can't wait for that check out the videos: phone and tablet.

Our panel for the evening will be chaired by Geoff Blaber, @geoffblaber, of CCS Insight, and he will be joined by:

Alex Sinclair - CTO at GSMA
David Wood @dw2 - Principal at Delta Wisdom and formerly the prime mover behind Symbian
Andreas Constantinou @andreascon - Managing Director at Vision Mobile
Victor Palau @victorpalau - VP of Phone and Hyperscale Delivery at Canonical
Christian Heilmann @codepo8 - Principal Developer Evangelist (HTML5/Open Web) at Mozilla Corporation

Agenda
6.00pm Doors Open
6.30pm Introductory remarks by Victor Palau
6.35pm Presentation of Developer Economics 2013 by Andreas Constantinou
6.45pm Panel Discussion led by Geoff Blaber
8.00pm Networking and Demonstrations of Ubuntu Phone and Tablet Editions
9.30pm Close

As usual the event is free to attend but registration is required - and as usual the event will take place at the CBI Conference Centre at Centre Point, right above Tottenham Court Road tube station. Entry via the doors under the bridge formed by the building itself.

Registration is now open at momolo-2013-07-15.eventbrite.co.uk