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November 18, 2008
Interview: Mobui CEO Compares Free Mobile App Market to Great Depression's Radio Shows
By Michael Dinan, TMCnet Editor
Despite a formal use of the term “recession” and disheartening short-term outlooks from cell phone makers such as Nokia (News - Alert), several researchers are making positive predictions for the mobile device market.
African nations and emerging markets such as those in Brazil, Russia, India and China are expected to fuel revenues from mobile phone sales at nearly 7 percent annually through 2013, and they’ll exceed $200 billion by that time. Also, the number of Internet browsers on smartphones is expected to grow from 130 million this year to 530 million by 2013, and the number of Web browsers embedded in devices such as game consoles, set-top boxes and digital TVs will grow from 60 million shipped this year to 214 million by 2013.
In a year that’s seen the iPhone (News - Alert) dominate telecommunications and IT headlines, as Apple creates a powerful new business model for mobile device application development, industry veterans like Mobui Corporation founder and Chief Executive Officer John Burry feel they’re in the right place at the right time.
As TMCnet reported, the Redmond, Washington-based mobile application development company creates iPhone, mobile Web and downloadable applications for major consumer brands. This week, Mobui launched an application for VH1 that lets fans of reality shows such as “Rock of Love” and “Charm School” watch and discuss the series in real time, creating a social network through a shared interest.
Such social networking services are a peek into the future of mobile Web applications, according to Burry.
During an interview with TMCnet, Burry also said that this slower economy will shine a light on the industry’s free Web applications as a form of entertainment, in a way similar to how U.S. citizens huddled around radios for free programming during the Great Depression. We also talked about how the iPhone changed the game for telecommunications, and the challenges facing President-elect Barack Obama.
Our exchange follows.
TMCnet: The last time we spoke, you said Mobui’s value proposition was to offer major consumer brands a way to offer their customers compelling mobile applications quickly. Talk to us about the development of this VH1 application. How did this project come about and how quickly did it come to fruition?
John Burry (pictured left): This project has been a little bit different than some of the other applications we are working on. It started as a project within Action Engine (News - Alert) and Mobui was selected to develop only the iPhone portion of the project. After we purchased Action Engine we took ownership of the entire project. Looking at the work both companies did, it took us about two quarters to complete this application. This is longer than our typical development timeline but that is a direct result of the fact that it is being launched on over 100 phones and though multiple carriers. It creates an entirely new instant messaging experience for consumers which is definitely not a trivial application to build.
TMCnet: You also mentioned, the last time we spoke, that Mobui uses the Action Engine mobile application platform as one tool in its toolkit for building applications for Java, Blackberry, BREW, and Windows Mobile powered phones. We’re reading some distressing news these days from Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile devices, that the market will take a hit next year as a result of this slower economy. Yet markets for applications for the iPhone, BlackBerry (News - Alert) Storm and Google Android phone appear to be holding their own. What’s the talk in the developer community of how the economy will affect the outlook for mobile applications?
JB: I can only speak for what we are seeing at Mobui, but the launch of the iPhone and the Apple (News - Alert) App Store galvanized the mobile applications market in a way that we didn’t think was possible just a year ago. You have iPhone developers becoming millionaires in a matter of months because of the ease of discovery and download that the App Store provides.
People need to be entertained even during hard times. In the 1930s, when the economy was terrible and people were out of work, consumers still turned to inexpensive forms of entertainment, like radio programs, to help them forget their troubles. I believe mobile applications are serving that same purpose today. Despite the economic downturn, Mobui has raised funding and had over a dozen major consumer brands contact us in the past month to create mobile applications for them so companies seem to recognize that mobile is still an important area for investment.
TMCnet: Many IT and telecommunications analysts and executives view mobile platforms as the future of all communications. The VH1 application leverages at least one critical piece of the technology, instant messaging. One telecom insider, Nick Triantos of TokBox, recently lamented during a TMCnet interview that products such as the iPhone don’t have front-facing cameras, which is needed for two-way video calls. What are some of the cool features that mobile device users can expect in the future?
JB: I think it is going to be less about the device and more about the services developers are creating for the device. The beauty of the iPhone and G1 is not the hardware as much as the ease with which developers can create new services for them. The two most interesting areas for future mobile development are, in my opinion, first, location-based services.
Look for companies to continue to come up with all sorts of interesting ways to implement LBS functionality to make our lives easier. From friend finder applications to restaurant locators, LBS is becoming more and more popular. We are even leveraging it for one client to make characters on phones “play together.” These services were being hindered in the past by difficult implementation hurdles but many of those barriers have now been removed and we expect a real groundswell in this area.
Second, social networking services. The mobile device has and always will be ultimately about communication. These days, communication goes way beyond voice into texting, video exchange, and instant messaging. Expect most of the innovation that happens in mobile to be around finding ways to make it easier for people to connect with one another, especially through social networks.
TMCnet: Many of us are closely following President-elect Barack Obama’s naming of the United States’ first chief technical officer and new Federal Communications Commission chairman. The agencies are poised to tackle issues such as network neutrality, bandwidth-capping and broadband deployment. From economic and technological perspectives, what issues will the new appointees face over the next few years that are of interest to Mobui?
JB: Overall, one of the most important areas for this new CTO will be the continued growth, expansion and accessibility of the Internet – regardless of what medium you use to access it. The standards that are put into place there will have a real impact on how Mobui designs our mobile applications for the future.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
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