Mobile Point View by Paul Ruppert

Carnival of the Mobilists #135: Olympics of the Mobilists !

Greetings fellow Mobilistas and welcome to Mobile Point View for this week's Carnival of the Mobilists, the 135th of the weekly series. 

I'm pleased to have the Carnival of the Mobilists stop by for it's fourth visit since I started blogging a year ago, Welcome to new and old visitors. It is starting to feel like family is visiting, short enough to make it interesting, not too long to make it a drag, especially on short notice! 

Being on the cusp of the Beijing Olympics  "things" are a little summer slow so lets try to jazz it up with some scintilating mobile subjects. You be the judge of this week's gathering. 

Stepping first into the sand pit and volleying into what's closest to my fan base---SMS messaging. C. Enrique Ortiz at About Mobility in "SMS 5 year Outlook"reviews a recent research study by ABI Research, which projects that SMS specifically will capture 83% of all mobile messaging revenues through 2013. He power spikes recent web commentary on the not surprising once and future Emperor of messaging--SMS.              

Coming off a week of fundraising for his new venture, Justin Oberman at MoPocket, in "Get Pulled Over without a headset?" provides proof positive of local state constabulary pulling over handsfree violators, and has found a vendor providing gratis hands-free headsets to those caught in the police dragnet.

Barbarba Ballard at Little Spring Design asks: "So what does 'full web browser' mean anyways?" Asserting that if every last bit of the standard is 100% supported, what can one expect with "trigger scripts"  and whether touch functionality, e.g. iPhone, is forging new assumptions for mobile web developers.

Dame Judy Breck of Goldenswamp, in "On line R U really Reading?" triple jumps into the debate on whether adoloescents--and presumably others--are really "reading" while on line or whether the network of ideas and knowledge on mobile web is actually something much more.

Chetan Sharma, at Always on Real-Time Access in "Revisiting 2008 Predictions" hurdles a mid-year review of his survey of 2008 predictions by mobile insiders. Head on over to AoRTA and see which has the highest probability based on the wisdom of this select mob. BTW--also check out Chetan's book, "Mobile Advertising: Supercharge your Brand in the Exploding Wireless Market" which is the best in class covering the mobile advertising and marketing segment

Over at Mobile Messaging 2.0 (where I've recently been tapped to be to be the Managing Editor), new contributor Tarek Abu-Esber in "Moblogging 2.0?" covers the convergence of blogging & mobile and how two companies, Spinvox and Moblog are leading the charge.

Vision Mobile via Venessa Measom, sprints across the tape with the relaease of Vision Mobile's  Industry Atlas wall chart which is a who’s who in the mobile handset industry. Quite informative overview of handset design, hardware, software, SIMS, content and services.

Making the turn to more technical events, Malcolm Lithgow at SmartDreaming in "Usability Comparo: Nokia 6220 Classic vs Sony Ericsson G700/G900" compares and contrasts S60 (as found on the Nokia 6220 Classic) vs. UIQ 3 (as on the G700/G900 twins) from a usability perspective.  Supposedly the Nokia's ('fantastic') feature set contains serious flaws that undermine its superiority, and S60 and UIQ 3 have numerous differences.

Ajit Jaokar at Open Gardens in "E-28 off the shelf hardware running Android" covers the impact of open source and Android platforms on handset vendors, which is a follow up to an earlier post challenging the comparison of mobile ecosystems and operating systems.

And finishing strong at the turn, Ofir Leitner, at NextGenMoco, in "Battle of the Mobile Platform" provides a cautionary developer's tale on the recent shift in emphasis in developing to new platforms such as Android--see above--and the peril in abandoning developing for more established platforms such as J2ME. Couldn't agree more with his simple premise on a complex topic...and by looks of the many comments he's touched a hot nerve in the mobile developers' sphere.

That crosses the tape and it looks like everyone is heading home after this week's CoM. Don't forget to visit the show when CoM # 136 convenes next week at Allabout iPhone.  And about women's volley ball--I lived in Beijing across from Chaoyang Park in 2005. Chaoyang Park is the Olympics Volley ball venue. Wish I could be there for the next two weeks--as does my 12 yr old son whose hormones have kicked in this summer--that's his choice pic for this week. OVer the next two weeks, put down that phone and pick up a flat screen and watch out for China's Chen Xue of the women's BVB team. 19 yrs old, 6'3" of lithesome power with an over the net killer spike. A sleeper who will emerge at the Olympics especially if she medals. Thanks for the visit!!

 

Paul Ruppert chosen as Managing Editor for Mobile Messaging 2.0

I've been a contributor to Mobile Messaging 2.0, a corporate sponsored blog covering the mobile industry since September 2007. Last month Beeline Communications and the blog's sponsor, Airwide Solutions, chose me to be the new Managing Editor of the blog which has 12 paid contributing analysts of the mobile industry.  Click here for my most recent post at MM2, "China's Black Market iPhones surpass 1 million.

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One Year in my Blog Life: Keeping Score at Mobile Point View

Readers from 128 Countries

Journalistic cycles  are often driven by calender milestones so today I celebrate my first anniversary as a blogger--albeit it slightly tardy. 

I started Mobile Point View in April of 2007 primarily to frame and define my "personal brand", project and shape awareness of my industry perspective, e.g. my "thought leadership", and keep my eye  focused on the mobile industry and global business trends with a discipline to discuss my views.

Along the journey I found it also fed internal motivations such as a love/hate relationship with writting, and my wonderlust for "Adventure Roads" and "Adventure Capitalism." Plus, it feeds my spirit to learn more about other cultures and keep my skills sharp in making connections--both technical and human.  I've been told I've got a combinatorial world view which my blogging reflects, being part travelogue, wireless industry plus global commerce analysis, and my passionate interest in high growth markets such as China, Africa, and the Middle East.

Recognitions & Connections

An unexpected turn along the path has been the recognition of my views by technoscenti like Om Malik of DigOm, Gerry Purdee of Forrester Research and mobilista Rudy De Waele. A surprising approach by Mobile Messaging 2.0 to contribute to that corporate sponsored blog has led to additional "thought leadership" and recently my being tapped to be the Managing Editor of Mobile Messaging 2.0. So now I'm a "professional" journalist, meaning my meanderings drive revenue.

Another unexpected consequence of having a cyberspace billboard has been the people I've become acquainted with--gratifyingly in other countries, who have graciously shared their time, interests and expertise with me by reaching out and establishing a connection, especially Lars in Tokyo, Ben in Beijing, Mikki in Hong Kong, Tarek in Egypt, Feng in Beijing, James in London, and Mohammed in Iraq. Reflecting a modicum of success, the connectedness of the mobile industry and power of the internet, the number of others who I have met at conferences who entered a conversation with "I know you, I've read your blog!" has been surprising and energizing.

What I'm most proud of is being relevant and interesting to readers from 128 countries.   

After a year of blogging, I've got a slurry of mixed metrics on total visits (over 100,000 ), page views, time on blog, google juice, etc., but the one which I'm most proud of is the reflection of my reach and global view point.   Sidebar: Visit: Global Point View Ltd. my umbrella company which I consult under while looking for my next industry job. Having readers from so many countries reflects my purpose, passion and pursuits to illuminate the power of the mobile industry and its fundamentally global characteristics. 

Interesting Quirks of Where My Readers Are 

Some interesting aspects of my readership include:  9,600 visits from readers in India, 900 visits from readers in Pakistan, 30 visits from readers in Myanmar, over 740 visits from readers in Iran, and 400 vistis from readers in Nepal. I've got one regular reader in Foggaret el Arab, in the dead middle of Algeria and a population of 4,300. The snowiest reader must be in Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut, Canada--probably someone visiting the Lodge.

I guess that reflects the power of the web, the strength of interest in mobile communications, and once in a while my ability to strike a chord which resonates with a variety of people in diverse international locations. 

Here's a tally of reader countries as of June 2008

A Year in the Blog Life
	Visitors from 128 Countires
Americas (25)	Europe (40)	Asia (26)	Middle East (11)	Africa (26)
US	UK	Australia	Afghanistan	Algeria
Barbados	Andorra	Bangladesh	Bahrain	Botswana
Bolivia	Aserbaijian	Brunei	Egypt	Cameroon
Brazil	Austria	Cambodia	Iran	Canary Islands
Canada	Azores	China	Iraq	Cote D'Ivoire
Cayman Islands	Belgium	Fiji	Israel	Djibouti
Chile	Bosnia	Guam	Jordan	Ethopia
Columbia	Bulgaria	Hong Kong	Kuwait	Gambia
Costa Rica	Czech Republic	India	Oman	Ghana
Dominican Republic	Denmark	Indonesia	Qatar	Libya
Ecuador	Estonia	Japan	UAE	Madagasacar
Grenada	Faeroe  Islands	Kazakhsatan	Yemen	Mali
Guatemala	Finland	Korea		Mauritius
Haiti	France	Laos		Moambique
Honduras	Georgia	Malaysia		Moldova
icaragua	Germany	Marutius		Morocco
Jamiaca	Gibraltar	Myanmar		Mutitania
Martinique	Greece	Nepal		Nigeria
Mexico	Iceland	New Zealand		S. Africa
Paraguay	Ireand	Pakistan		Senegal
Peru	Italy	Philippines		Sudan
Puerto Rico	Latvia	Singapore		Swaziland
St. Vincent	Lichtenstein	Taiwan		Tanzania
Trinidad	Lithuania	Tajikistan		Togo
Urguay	Luxemburg	Thailand		Tunisia
Venezuela	Macedonia	Uzbekistan		Uganda
	Mallorca	Vietnam		Zaire
	Malta
	Monaco
	Netherlands
	Norway
	Poland
	Portugal
	Romania
	Russia
	Serbia
	Spain
	Sweden
	Switzerland
	Turkey
	Ukraine

Africa: More Mobile IPOs than the US?

In mid June, two IPOs occurred on African stock exchanges for shares in major cellular/mobile network operators. Celtel Zambia offered 20% of its equity on the Lusaka Stock Exchange and Safaricom, partially owned by Vodafone Kenya, released 25% of its shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

Zain Group, the prominent Middle Eastern operator's value stake in Celtel Zambia grew to 78.9% with Vodafone now owning 35% of Safaricom.

Both operators are major market leaders in their respective countries. In Q4 2007, Safaricom had 9.25 million subscribers, controlling 81% of the Kenyan market. Celtel Kenya had 2.1 million subscribers or 18% of market share in Kenya. Celtel that dominates Zambia with 1.97 million subscribers, commanding a 74% market share. Its nearest competitor is MTN Zambia with 262,000 subscribers for the same period, a weak 10% of the market.

Clearly, these market positions make both companies attractive propositions for IPO. With Kenya’s mobile penetration rate at just 30% of the population and Zambia’s at 22% there is still upside expansion opportunities. In Lusaka, Celtel is only the 19th company to be listed on its stock exchange, a further indication of the extent to which the wireless industry is a driving force in African economies.

Mobile Carriers of the Dragon & Elephant: Global CapEx & Rev Leaders

Infonetics Research reports that worldwide service provider capex (capital expenditures) totaled $248.8 billion in 2007, a 7% increase from 2006. Infonetics' report projects a spike in worldwide carrier capex in 2008, followed by a plateau in 2010 and a decline in 2011, and emphasizes that the weak US dollar is inflating current growth rates in Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, India, and Japan.

Their analysis indicates that the mobile industry is in the fourth year of an investment phase, and we may be reaching the plateau this year in both North America and Europe, where large service providers' capital intensity (the ratio of capex to revenue) will likely be as low as 12%.

But the hyper growth economies of China and India will drive a significant jump in carrier capex in 2008 as a result of network construction projects combined with currency appreciation against the US dollar, meaning the Chinese RMB and Indian Rupee are buying much more these days. "Both countries are still posting double-digit revenue growth in their native currencies, which, converted in US dollars creates a big spike in worldwide carrier revenue as well," said Stéphane Téral, principal analyst at Infonetics Research.

Interesting Aspects of the report include:

Telecom service providers earned a combined $1.5 trillion in annual worldwide revenue in 2007, up 10% from 2006, with currency appreciation making up the bulk of the growth, while the rest came from wireless services.
Carriers are increasingly investing in application software (vs. hardware) for media rich applications such as content, storage, and security for broadband based wireline and wireless services
Current investment drivers for carrier spending: convergence between IT, media, Internet, and telecom, which is adding new competitive pressures to carriers, and the shift from legacy TDM to next generation IP networks
The world's 10 largest service providers (ranked by 2007 revenue) are AT&T, Verizon, NTT, Deutsche Telekom, France Télécom, Vodafone, Telefónica, China Mobile, BT, and Sprint.
The next largest service providers include Telecom Italia, Comcast, and KDDI, which, according to their most recent growth rates, are poised to join the top 10.

The Asia Pacific telecom industry is squeezed between 2 opposite market forces: a saturated market made of Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan characterized by flat to decreasing capex, and a fast growing market driven by China and India, characterized by double digit growth for both capex and revenue

Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) service provider revenue jumped 29% between 2006 and 2007
Mobile infrastructure makes up the bulk of total equipment capex in 2007, accounting for about 20%, followed by voice infrastructure, optical equipment, and broadband aggregation equipment

WiMAX equipment spending by service providers as a portion of total carrier capex has roughly doubled each year since 2004, and will continue to increase its share in the near term, driven by major WiMAX projects in the US, India, and Latin America.

Notwithstanding the constant barrage of negative coverage of the price of oil, rising inflation, and the bursting of the housing bubble in the US, UK, Spain and elsewhere, the mobile industry still reflects people's needs to communicate.

Tough personal quarter

Loss of Matriarchs 

You may have noticed my postings have fallen off the last few months. Its been a difficult 90 days for me and my attention has been elsewhere than the machinations of the mobile industry.

In mid-April my mother, Pierette Bougnotteau Ruppert passed away at the full age of 86. She had lived in her native France for the last 33 years, and the last decade of her life was lost to Alzhiemers. Upon heraing the news, I quickly decamped to Paris, then Caen, where she spent the last years of her life. I brought my 12 year old son for his first visit to France, and dragged him to all the places in Paris where I spent so many summers as a child with my mother while she spent time at Elizabeth Arden. She was a cosmetics sales rep at a series of department stores in Cleveland, Ohio where I grew up, being in the workplace was more her liking than staying at home. April in Paris is rainy and grey, but we relived the times I spent in the Trulleries gardens sailing toy boats and visiting the Egyptian section of the Louvre--he seems to have inherited my interest in mummies, pharos and pyramids.

Then in mid June, my mother in law passed away suddenly as the result of a car accident injuries. She was quite close with my wife, the oldest of four daughters. I knew her for 34 years, I first met my wife when I was 16, and she was both a teacher and an entrepreneur. The sudden loss put much of "normal life" on hold as we decamped to Cleveland. She touched many--here's the obituary in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Working through the greif within the extended family as well as the adminstrative aspects of closing off two lives. Just starting to get back into my past rhythms and hope to be back at speed soon.

Paul

Oprah Thinks Pink

Oprah Winfrey gave the commencement address on Sunday at Stanford University. She distributed Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind" along with Eckhart Tolles' "A New Earth."

Back in November I read Pink's book and wrote a book review on Amazon that you can read here.      Quick Review: The future belongs to those who can craft symphonies from unrelated categories (as opposed to those who just analyze alone), who have narrative aptitude for story (instead of who just read power point slides), and who have empathy to solidify relationships (as opposed to transactional engagements)--they will be the masters of the this Conceptual Age.

Well worth the time, great afternoon read on the beach or in the hammock.

MTN Deals OFF!: Bharti & Switch in SA

According to Reuter's Bharti has withdrawn from the discussions with MT over the weekend. Shares in Bharti rose 4.2 percent to 872 rupees, their highest since May 6, when they slumped more than 5 percent on news that Bharti was in talks with MTN. So, Bharti is off the table. Cue #2 in India, Reliance enters the picture.

South Africa's MTN is now reporting that it has initiated talks with the #2 Indian mobile operator Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) that could create a $66 billion emerging markets telecoms group if the two companies merge.

A combination of MTN, valued at $38 billion at Friday's close, and Reliance, valued at $28 billion, would create a top ten global industry player to rival Japan's NTT DoCoMo in market value. In terms of subscribers, a merged group would fall just below Deutsche Telekom -- as the world's seventh largest mobile opertor conglomerate. Sources indicate that Reliance would put in play a different structure than the aforementioned Bharti deal. Finacial wags and analysts had speculated that Bharti was eyeing a 51 percent stake in MTN and Bharti said it had pulled out of talks after the South African firm suggested it become an MTN subsidiary, essentially the prey transforming the predator in this play.

Shares in Reliance immediately fell as the markets displayed worry over the costs of a deal while MTN stock fell 7.6%. It was expected that the Bharti deal drove  speculation over the potential premium from a Bharti buyout. MTN is seeking new markets outside Africa and the Middle East and will likely push to retain its brand and culture.

"Whatever the shape of the company moving forward, there is little doubt that the retention of the MTN brand and culture would be two of the most important aspects executive management and shareholders should ensure," Frost & Sullivan analyst Lindsey Mc Donald said.

Reliance Communications and MTN said earlier that the two groups had entered into exclusive talks about potentially combining their businesses. A 45-day exclusivity period will be in force, during which neither can talk to any other entity, so the speculation over Vodafone or China Mobile is now mute. Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani, one of India's richest men, said a deal with MTN could "provide investors, customers and the people of both companies a global platform for exponential growth".

Cobra brings down the Rhino?

MTN had 68.2 million subscribers as of March, compared with Reliance Communications' 48 million. "Reliance Communications is smaller than MTN, and lacks the financial muscle for a takeover, but it is not going to want to be a subsidiary, either," said Ravi Dodhia, a telecoms analyst at KR Choksey Securities in the Reuters piece. Speculation centers on whether the two firms were likely to create a new company with MTN taking a 51 percent stake.

"If MTN is looking to remain listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and remain a South African company and be the aggressor in this deals, having this sort of exclusivity says to everyone else: 'You guys don't approach us, don't bother, we are not looking to be acquired'," Ambekar said. Harit Shah at India's Angel Broking, said Reliance and MTN might swap shares, as the foreign holding in Reliance Communications was considerably lower than in Bharti Airtel, a factor that was seen as a possible roadblock for Bharti's attempted deal.

Foreign ownership of Indian telecom firms is capped at 74 percent, and Bharti is 30.5 percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications.Shares in Reliance Communications, fell 5.7 percent to their lowest since May 12 while in Johannesburg, shares in MTN fell as 7.6 percent to 145.11 rand, their lowest since April 30.

Looks like the financial markets are disappointed that MTN has called off its talks with Bharti. Analysts had speculated that Bharti Airtel was engineering a merger that would value MTN at up to $50 billion.

Recall that last year, Bharti it lost the $11 billion race for majority control of India's third-largest mobile provider to Vodafone , but has made several smaller overseas acquisitions, including a UK-based WiMax operator of 4G services. India's wireless market grew 25-fold between 2002-07, ringing up record profits for telecom firms, but that growth is expected to slow as the percentage of the population with a mobile phone tops 40 percent by 2010 from 22 percent now.

In contrast, MTN is present in some of the world's most lucrative markets, such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia and Uganda, and has said it is keen to pursue more expansion opportunities in emerging markets.

Stay tuned.

China Relief: Here's Hao (How) You Can Help

After yesterday's Chinese quake-poem post I want to help guide informed readers to take action and help those in need in China.

With thanks to Ryan McLaughlin a friend who runs the extremely helpful "Lost Loawai" website covering China and Ex-pats plus the "Hao Hao Report" which compiles great web content on China, here's a more Asian centric group of relief organizations. Note you can text your contribution directly through China Mobile's Text contribution service. A great idea. 

Use the following information so that in your small way you can give and help. 

Red Cross Society of China

The Red Cross has set up a bank account for donations that will go directly to help the victims. Please use the following account information to give whatever amount you can to help. 

In China

RMB Account: 0200001009014413252
Address: The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Beijing Dongsinan Branch
Foreign Currency: 7112111482600000209
Address: CITIC Bank , Jiuxianqiao Branch

If Overseas:

If you are outside of China, but would still like to offer some support, you can deposit US dollars into the following account:

US Dollar Account: 7112111482600000209
China CITIC Bank Beijing, Jiuxianqiao Branch
C&W Tower. No.14,
Jiuxianqiao Street, Chaoyang District
Beijing, China
Zip Code: 100016
Swift Code：CIBKCNBJ100
TEL: 86-10-64319780

Heart to Heart

Heart to Heart International is a global humanitarian organization that inspires, empowers and mobilizes individuals to serve the needs of the poor in their communities and around the world. They accomplish this mission through partnerships that promote health; deliver resources, education and hope; and provide opportunities for meaningful service.

The Heart to Heart team in China mobilized for action shortly after the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck northwest of Chengdu, where their office and clinic are located. Their medical director and staff were onsite providing medical and direct patient care in support of local relief efforts.

The organization has a number of ways you can donate - either through bank deposit, or directly online. Please see their donation page for details. The Web site also includes an excellent donor guide to appropriate disaster giving, and information on assembling care kits. 

Jet Li's One Foundation

Another way to donate is through Kung Fu master actor, Jet Li's One Foundation. The site has options to pay by various online methods (including PayPal) with all proceeds going to the Red Cross Society of China.

China Mobile - donate through SMS

China Mobile has set up an earthquake relief fund. To donate via your mobile phone, simply send a text message to the telephone number ‘10699988’, writing the number amount you would like to donate (from 1RMB to 30RMB) in the body of the text. The money will be deducted from your phone bill or prepaid card.

Other Means for different Means

If none of these donation methods suit your particular situation, definitely check out CNReviews' China Earthquake Donation guide. The blog master Elliot Ng is continually seeking additional ways you can donate. Check it out.

Add a badge to your blog/site  [Look Up and to the Right]

If you want to help spread the word about how people can help with donations for disaster relief you can use the following code badge for your website. Note, I've placed it on Mobile Point View. You can do the same for yours. 

     THE CODE:       href="http://www.lostlaowai.com/china-earthquake-how-you-can-help" title="China Quake Relief"><img src="http://www.lostlaowai.com/images/china-quake-donate.png" alt="China Quake Donation" width="200px" height="100px" border="0" /></a>

If you know of any additional ways in which help can be offered to the people of Sichuan,  China please please send me a note and I'll include it here.

The Road to Heaven is too Dark

I write early in the morning--right now it is 05:18 am, the beginning of a glorious spring day in Washington DC. The sky is turquoise, with lingering licks of darkness as the sun begins to rise. The Canadian geese are aflight towards the lake down the street. The blackbirds are cackling. Clearly the start of a great day to taste the wonder of life.

In reading my overnight China traffic, I came across this touching poem of a mother and child's final journey. Sorrow. Grief. Joy and memory all bundled together. As a parent it gives pause as to how wrenching such loss is for the many Chinese mothers and fathers who have lost their "little princes and princesses." Bitter sweet, drink it in and savor it.

It may be trite but such scale tragedy places perspective on that which matters most through this tenuous earthly journey: family, friends, heart and love. If you are action oriented, Click >here< for a list of relief organizations that are providing on the ground assistance to the Chinese rescue, recovery, relief and rebuilding efforts.

孩子     Child

快        Hurry up
抓紧妈妈的手           Tightly hold your Mom’s hand
去天堂的路        The road to heaven

太黑了                is too dark

妈妈怕你            Mom is afraid that

碰了头               you hit your head
快                     Hurry up
抓紧妈妈的手               Tightly hold your Mom’s hand
让妈妈陪你走      Let Mom keep you company
妈妈               Mom

怕           I am afraid
天堂的路             The road to heaven

太黑        is too dark
我看不见你的手        I cannot see your hand

自从        since

倒塌的墙         the wall collapsed
把阳光夺走     it took the sun light away
我再也看不见      I cannot see

你柔情的眸          your lovely eyes again
孩子            Child

你走吧        You can go
前面的路    the road in front of you

再也没有忧愁        has no sorrow any more
没有读不完的课本             there are no books that you cannot finish reading
和爸爸的拳头         and your father’s touch of his hand 

你要记住         you have to remember

我和爸爸的摸样         my face and your father’s face
来生还要一起走     let’s finish walking this road together in our next life
妈妈                 Mom

别担忧           do not worry
天堂的路有些挤             the road to heaven is a bit crowded
有很多同学朋友          I have a lot classmates and friends here 

我们说            we all say
不哭                                         don’t cry
哪一个人的妈妈都是我们的妈妈       anyone’s Mom is our Mom
哪一个孩子都是妈妈的孩子          any child is Mom’s child
没有我的日子                         the days without me
你把爱给活的孩子吧         give your love to the children alive
妈妈                        Mom
你别哭               don’t cry

泪光照亮不了     tears cannot light up the road

我们的路            our road
让我们自己         let us

慢慢的走             walk slowly
妈妈                  Mom
我会记住你和爸爸的模样      I will remember your face and father’s face

记住我们的约定          remember our appointment

来生一起走                 of walking together in our next life

Internet Tales: China vs The West & Rest

10 Ways the Chinese Internet is Different

In the course of searching for interesting & different content for Mobile Point View I sometimes find a jewel amongst the rocks. Such is the case with Mobiz (strapline: Trends and Opportunities in Mobile and Internet Space in China and Rest of the World), a blog written by Nokia Executive and wireless veteran Alvin Foo. Based in China, he has a nice balance of personal stories mixed in with solid analysis of mobile trends and technology initiatives in China. He's a pathfinder having blogged since 2004. I wanted to share Alvin's newest post "10 Ways the Chinese Internet is Different" for my global readers, as well as my own comments on each. Drop by Alvin's Mobiz & edify on the ways of China.

1. Its slower
Thanks to the Great Firewall, accessing the internet especially websites residing outside China can be a real pain.   Tell me about it. My friends in China keep advising me that MobilePointView sometimes is accessible and sometimes not. Notwithstanding the fact that I've never written a cross word about China!! There are many times I'd rather be there with 10% economic growth rate than here in the US where mobile is hardly cutting edge!  But what about Mobile access to the web, how's that compared to the west--same same. With most Chinese now accessing the web via mobile, does it really matter how fast a tethered connection is?

2. Its monitored. The Chinese authorities monitor all traffic going in and out of China.
Well, so it seems is the Australian web soon. Monitoring may not be all that bad given below. Yet again, read above and it makes you take pause. Readers, what's your view ?

3. Access to foreign Web sites is limited: The Chinese government uses four mechanisms -- DNS blocking, reset commands, URL keyword blocking and content scanning to prevent Internet users in the country from reaching blacklisted Web sites or content.  I've heard there are also readers pouring over the internet, much like massive public works projects used to be built by hand and hordes of workers. Any truth to that, or is it "geopolitical myth making?"

4. Blackouts are common
If the Chinese government finds that a user has downloaded forbidden content, it breaks the connection and prohibits the user from establishing communications with the site. These blackouts can last anywhere from two minutes to an