Blocking Cyber Bulling?

Well, looks like this may be another revenue source for wireless providers like ATT and Verizon Wireless. O2 of Ireland is instituting a bully filter. It allows users to block unwanted wireless communications like text and video.

Call it bullying as Mobile Entertainment titled their post to be but it is so much more. More than just bullying, it allows the user to block incoming communications by specific numbers.

I think it can be so much more. Perhaps, they should allow people to the option of allowing certain communications to be deployed. For instance, during the last 2008 election in the US, users can opt to receive political messages via their cell phones or mobile devices. But suppose the Obama or the McCain campaign turned around and resold that information to another political entity or marketing firm, they would be able to bother the users with their own texts. I, for one, would like the option of blocking that before it even arrives on my phone.

Plus, at the risk of losing their lucrative revenue on texting, the wireless providers has an opportunity to provide this service for a nominal fee. Think of this as the 21th century version of caller ID and Do-Not Call feature.

More at Mobile Ent

Mobility - We Need To Make Video Chat A Habit

In my quest to see the feasibility of my MacWind and the amount of productivity I can get from it, I've been trying a lot of true mobility tasks.

Now, the Wind is a netbook.  Not a regular notebook.  It is a fact that I recognize in using it but I want to see how far I can push it despite running Leopard quite handily for day-to-day tasks.

So we've been trying some video conferencing on our netbooks.  As you may well know there are choices for video chats.

• IM services - AOL, Yahoo, and MSN have been around for a long time in offering services.
• Gtalk - just this week, two days ago in fact, you can now chat with your contacts right out of the browser in Gmail.
• Skype - You do know it does more than offer chats, IM, and Skypeout to regular landlines, right?
• Others - definite a lot more but it depends on your cup of tea in this matter.  But you get my idea.  Mobility has never been easier.  
• iChat - on the Mac, it is the default IM program and the video chat is very smooth.
• Oovoo - still in beta but has tons of 

On a Mac, iChat works best for me as more and more people I know start using Macs or install OS X on Intel -based systems.  But we tried something different last night.  I'll get into it in the next post.

But you see.  IM is fun.  Voice over the Internet is more fun.  But video chat is much more funner.  Not to mention productive if applied correctly.

This is the way things will go.  Even future generations of mobile devices like the iPhone, Blackberries, or Google's Android will sport video chat capabilities.  That's a no-brainer declaration.  So, make using video chat, whatever service is employed, simply makes a lot of sense.

Already, students are using it to share information and conduct study groups.  We've said this before at Onxo and we finally have the tools and bandwidth to make it happen.

I'll get into our experience on MeBeam next but I would love to hear stories of how regular mobile warriors use video chats.

Mobile Subscriptions: Economic Hit

Netflix has already guided down for the short-term and 2009 as they indicated continuing economic woes as a major factor.  I've already cancelled mine.  Plus, there's only so much crappy movies that are being made lately?

So I started wondering about mobile subscriptions - fees for texting, mobile Internet, and even wireless lines.

For anyone being hurt by job losses or other financial problems, I can definitely see some folks cutting off subsciptions like Netflix, cable, or other luxuries that we have come to take for granted in this day and age. It's only the economic reality that has made us realized what are or are not necessities.

However, given the need to be connected now and our reliance on mobile phones, mobile contracts are not likely to be cancelled en mass.  Now, texting and mobile Internet services can go one way or another.

If mobile Internet is one's only source to access e-mails or the World Wide Web, it is not likely we'll see folks calling up the customer services of their respective wireless providers and canceling the service.  On the other hand, texting is likely to go.  I have already heard of folks doing just that.

In the end, it depends on the mobile users to make that call.  $20 a month is a bit steep when IM is free.  Ultimately, I do see an impact if more people start to cancel specific mobile services.  This could hit the bottom line of a lot of the providers.

You probably know by now I'm not a fan of those guys.  But now is the time for them to step up and work with users on fees.

Note:  Bundling is a good idea.  It's what T-Mobile did with their G1 3G services.  $25 for 3G access and 400 texts a month and $35 for unlimited texting.

CA Outlaws Texting While Driving

The governator is on a roll.  After signing a long delayed California state budget, he puts icing on the cake with a ban on texting while driving.

It's funny because a couple of months ago, we had just banned talking on the phone while driving.  I figured texting was included in that ban as well.  However, use of hands-free devices is fine.

However, penalty is light.  The first offense is $20 to be followed by $50 for any subsequent violation.

For mobile warriors who are addicted to texting and have to answer ever text back right away, consider that the recent Metrolink crash that killed 25 people may be the result of texting by the engineer.

This measure was back by insurance companies and cyclists.  Surprisingly, cell phone companies have also back this measure.  Guess who's missing?  Wireless providers.  They want you to keep texting.

You know, a service that really should be free or at the very least not cost $20 a month.

Note:  Since hands-free devices are legal, this would be a great opportunity for innovation to use voice-commands to access and create texting.

Source:  LA Times