VERSION 3.
Keep in mind that Americans usually use the name "carrier" for the
term known in Europe as "mobile network
operator". The interview took place at the end of June 2004 in Amsterdam, Netherlands,
in the press centre of TechEd 2004 Europe
conference. For some official information about Mark Ewen please click here to read the related
news item. The interview follows.
* * * * *
msmobiles.com: you are from PowerByHand, could you introduce yourself, what
are you doing there? what’s your role in the company?
Mark Ewen: OK, I’ll give quick background. My name is Mark Ewen and I
spent from 1996, until early 2003 with a company that’s known today as Openwave
systems, prior to being called that, it was called Phone.com and prior to that
it was called "Unwired Planet". So Pinpoint
Networks, which is based in Raleigh,
North Carolina, Research
Triangle, recruited me to join them to help expand their carrier presence
globally. I am based in San Francisco, CA.
msmobiles.com: What is Pinpoint? I know
PowerByHand, I know PocketGear, I know Smarpthone.net, I
don’t know Pinpoint.
Mark Ewen: Pinpoint just merged with PowerByHand just in March this year, we announced it at CTIA in Atlanta. Pinpoint Networks and PowerByHand
came together in a 50/50 merger, Pinpoint being the company that focused on
mass market cell phones, and distribution of content and applications through
the wireless operator distribution channel.
msmobiles.com: there is impression that Handango, as far as Windows
Mobile is concerned, is handling 4 out of 5 cellular operators - carriers - in
USA, and they have 2 in Europe, so how can you... what are you offering
specific to Windows Mobile, to software shops, that is better than Handango?
Mark Ewen: we see Handango as one of the companies in this market that
we would compete with, and we also seem them as a company that is very
different in some ways. We look at the market as three pillars of success:
there is technology, there is content and there is distribution.
msmobiles.com: OK.
Mark Ewen: the genesis of Pinpoint and PowerByHand coming together was
working together to OTA (over the air) enable…
msmobiles.com: excuse me, Pinpoint is specialized in what?
Mark Ewen: Pinpoint specializes in carrier grade platform and workflow
processes for the distribution of mass market mobile phone content.
msmobiles.com: so what do you mean by "content"? Software, ringtones?
Mark Ewen: Java downloads, games, ringtones, wallpapers, graphics and, by
the way, premium WAP.
msmobiles.com: portals?
Mark Ewen: yes, so for example if you look in Europe, a big customer of
Pinpoint is mm02 out of UK
and they have store front ecosystem for premium content called
"Revolution".
msmobiles.com: speaking of O2 ... maybe you are too broad for me because
I am interested mainly in Microsoft phones, Microsoft stuff..
Mark Ewen: sure.
msmobiles.com: ... but I was talking to a lady from Handango who is here
- Helen Cooke - and she said that they are covering O2.
Mark Ewen: from where? from Handango?
msmobiles.com: yes,
Mark Ewen: yeah, so if you are looking at the carrier world...
msmobiles.com: you are covering O2, Handango is covering O2 - how it is
possible?
Mark Ewen: OK, let me explain! If you are looking at the carrier - the
wireless operator world - they are dividing their world between consumer market
and enterprise market. Pinpoint specialized very specifically in the mass
market phones, which is more geared towards a more consumer world.
msmobiles.com: not smartphones?
Mark Ewen: not smartphones, but phones that would have Java capability
and WAP capability primarily. And SMS and MMS. So,
PowerByHand focused more on what you might think of as enterprise focused
phones, which lot of carriers are now calling "converged
devices". Phone like we see here at this conference [Tech Ed 2004 Europe]
- the Pocket PC integrated phone device, where you have ability to download
larger applications, more sophisticated, more capable of doing, eh, business
applications, that kind of thing.
msmobiles.com: OK, so it means that Handango is covering one kind of
applications and you are covering another type of applications for O2?
Mark Ewen: so for O2 they have a store front that is geared more towards
converged device audience, so if you have for example a Pocket PC device, the
Handango storefront is targeted at those devices whereas the
"Revolution" storefront, which is powered by Pinpoint - which is now
powered by PowerByHand as a result of the merger - this is not only powered by
technology, the carrier grade technology platform - that Pinpoint started
developing in 1999 - but is also enabled by Pinpoint’s very experienced people
and workflow processes. So, we actually
have a process by which the 3rd party ISVs - you know: content application
developers - submit their content into an extranet - the queue is then managed
by Pinpoint and O2 people working in concert together - they do all the
qualification of applications and content against O2´s device portfolio. They
test and introspect the applications, to make sure that they comply with all of
O2´s technical guidelines, business guidelines and content appropriateness
guidelines... so the whole partner and content management functions are
combination of not only technology but people who have a very specific
workflow, and what we’ve been able to do through these experiences is get
content and applications to market very quickly, much more quickly, than the
typical process that you see in the market today for mobile content.
msmobiles.com: OK, so you are talking mainly, as I understand, about
Java applications stuff?
Mark Ewen: I’m talking about premium WAP applications, Java
applications, ringtones, graphics - mass market
content.
msmobiles.com: OK, how can you convert these rich experiences with
operators, with provisioning and so on, to Microsoft technologies?
Mark Ewen: PowerByHand has properties such as PocketGear.com,
Smartphone.net, PalmGear.com, eReader.com, etc, and through these owned and operated
consumer facing storefronts PowerByHand has gained great experience in managing
third party developers and content that is more geared towards a larger,
converged, device.
msmobiles.com: these are like separate websites, they look like not
coupled with any.. is there something common which
these websites have, for example if a consumer is logged in one website, he can
buy software in another website, is there something common, they look to me
like totally independent websites, solutions you know.
Mark Ewen: yeah, we believe that from the purely consumer facing
stand-point if you have a Pocket PC device you want to go a site that is
dedicated to Pocket PC. If you have a Palm device, you want to go to a site
that is dedicated to Palm. You don’t want to run into situation, where you are
confused about what you are buying, and worried perhaps, that you are buying an
application that doesn’t in effect work on device that you have.
msmobiles.com: OK, so these are separate websites, how do you, so to say,
benefit from the experiences that you have with operators
Mark Ewen: well, keep in mind that what we do for operators is very
different, that what we do for our own websites. When an operator wants to have
their own ecosystem/storefront – their own brand if you will, through our
experiences on the Pinpoint side with carriers, and the technology/platform we’ve
developed, we can bring this to bear when carriers start asking for a more
robust enablement of the converged device world. So today you have carriers,
who have very much focused on ringtones, and the low hanging fruit... as
Microsoft, PalmSource, Symbian, etc are moving into this very fast growing
mobile content/application space, the carriers recognize that they are going to
need not only a very robust technology platform but also a very tried and true workflow
process with experienced people who know how to get content qualified and to
market quickly. The idea is to make it
easy for the end user to buy more content – and behind the scenes, our platform
is integrated into the carriers billing, customer care, etc, and in some cases
even handling the settlement back to the developers who get the largest share
of the revenue generated.
msmobiles.com: OK, look, I was in Belgium, visiting such a developer
called "AIM" - as an example, and they are developing software for
several platforms, Pocket PC, Smartphone, Symbian and for Java ... so the
questions pops up if you can offer them single common developer’s account to
handle the software selling through your shops ? Or do they have to use
separate account for each of these platforms?
Mark Ewen: So, Pinpoint and PowerByHand are in the process of
integrating - we just merged in March [2004] - we will have better and better
capabilities for developers to have...
msmobiles.com: so it’s not ready yet?
Mark Ewen: Not today! Coming. Now, when you think about it, using your example of
a developer in Belgium, they’re developing... they look at the market and
recognizing that they have certain capabilities and want to create software that’s
going to sell and be distributed in the best possible way, so they might think
"we want to find a partner who will help us do that, because our core
competency is developing software” and they may realize that PowerByHand’s competency
is distributing software and enabling multiple distribution channels with the
best technology, best processes and the most efficient billing and settlement
mechanisms.
msmobiles.com: OK, so it is nice marketing chitchat, ...
Mark Ewen: [laughs]
msmobiles.com: but it all boils down to one point, and this one point
from the point of view of the developer is how much money is developer - the
company - receiving from Handango and from you. And I am not sure that you can
provide so many channels as Handango can, for example can you mention your
existing carriers - what shops have you organized for operators? Do you have
something to show? I am interesting mainly in Windows Mobile from Microsoft but
maybe also generally? What are your customers?
Mark Ewen: I will give you great examples, so: mmO2 in UK. If a developer wants to distribute
their applications through PowerByHand we can get them help to not only
distribute through our own channels (PocketGear.com etc), but through over a
hundred affiliate partners where we provide white-label storefront solutions to
enable the sale of applications, and...
msmobiles.com: what partners? they are
operators? what else?
Mark Ewen: for example we have multiple handset manufacturers, portals
and other websites that want to distribute either their own applications or a
combination of their own applications and perhaps a combination of other
applications that we can source for them from our broad catalog of 60,000
applications from over 20,000 developers across the various mobile platforms.
msmobiles.com: these are affiliates?
Mark Ewen: Yes… Think of it as:
if you develop a widget, you want it to be sold in multiple stores. You want
your prospective customers to be able to find it in as many places as possible.
msmobiles.com: sorry, so the only reference that you have is O2?
Mark Ewen: on the carrier side we have announced relationships with mmO2
in Europe, with Verizon in the US,
with Rogers in Canada, and we have multiple other relationships
that are going to be announced in the coming months. So from the developer standpoint,
if you are creating applications and content that you want distributed to mobile
channels you can come directly to us, and we can help you distribute through
our PocketGear, PalmGear, etc, and in concert we can help distribute your
content through our carrier partners that will have much broader distribution.
msmobiles.com: so now your partners are Verizon, Rogers, O2. That’s all?
Mark Ewen: today, in the carrier space, we have announced relationships
with Verizon, Rogers in Canada
and O2 in Europe.
msmobiles.com: speaking of Verizon in US, what kind of software are you
handling. Are you handling also this Samsung i600 software or not? This Microsoft Smartphone?
Mark Ewen: The announced relationship that we have with Verizon today is
more around the WAP. We’ve been
supporting WAP for Verizon now for couple of years and that’s all I can comment
at this point regarding Verizon.
msmobiles.com: OK, so your upcoming announcement of ... I don’t know.. your future plans: to what
extend are they about Microsoft cell phones, and to what extend you treat
Microsoft only as a small margin?
Mark Ewen: Well, what we found that when carriers work with us, they
recognize that we have a very strong competencies around enabling and
distributing mobile content that is applicable to the customer segments that
they are focusing on. So if we are currently in the process of supporting a
particular content type for a carrier partner, whether it will be Java or Palm,
and that carrier is also looking to start to expand their distribution into Microsoft
mobile content, then they typically will look to us to provide that, because we
already successfully support their other contents types, they see what we’ve
done with PocketGear. By having our own storefront we already have great
merchandising experience that we can bring to our carrier partners. We do it
every day, we live it, we breathe it. Since we’ve enabled this for our own
storefront (PocketGear), we are a great partner for carriers to help enable
their capability across the Microsoft ecosystem.
msmobiles.com: but how do you convince them to use PowerByHand and not Handango?
... because I understand, I have heard from Handango yesterday, that they are
handling 4 of 5 carriers in USA, so you are not handling them simply, you didn’t
get them!
Mark Ewen: Whenever a carrier does an agreement, and I’ve been doing
deals with carriers since 1996, typically they sign (particularly in a growing
market that is still uncertain) short term agreements, because they want to
keep their options open. What we have
found is that there are significant opportunities not only in North America but
throughout the globe where a competitor may or may not already have a
relationship and where we are VERY engaged with the carrier to discuss how we
can either augment what they already have, replace what they already have, or
come in and create whole new ecosystem for them.
msmobiles.com: OK, so I understand that this way of business, these
channels, relates to bilateral agreements between PowerByHand and carriers,
each of individual carriers, but what about some global approach? ...so that
customers globally, you know Europe, Asia, so they want to access some Java
content, some Microsoft content - I have an impression that you are not so much
interested in this, because there are no mobile shops - to buy in mobile way -
software for Pocket PC and Smartphone and there is no other language version of
your own shops. Can you comment on this?
Mark Ewen: so we just did a press release 2 days ago, or 3 days ago, where
we announced that PocketGear has grown dramatically over the last year in terms
of number of downloads number of visitors et cetera.
msmobiles.com: so you don’t have to worry about new technologies, new
features?
Mark Ewen: no, no, no! let me continue... that
was the first part of the press release. The second part of press release talk
about building on that success that we have had in North
America across our consumer facing properties. We’ve just hired a gentleman named "Tony
Philipp", who was Chief Operating Office for Lycos in Europe
where he led a very similar initiative, building out presence across European
countries. We’ll be doing the same…in
fact we’ve already launched PalmGear in China,
and we will be launching PocketGear in China very soon. We are going to be
doing the same across all of our properties, and not only in China but also across major
European markets, and from there we’ll continue to expand globally.
msmobiles.com: OK, so from the point of view of these Microsoft devices,
they are very powerful and Pocket PC particularly is very powerful - Microsoft
Smartphone less - and they have for example Wi-Fi and people are using it to browse
Internet and they want to buy software in mobile way. Can you estimate when
exactly it will be possible to buy software from PocketGear.com and
Smartphone.net in mobile way? Wirelessly?
Mark Ewen: Wirelessly… not only through Wi-Fi but through the broader
wireless networks. From our stand point, part of what Pinpoint brings to bear
in our experience in wireless and carrier grade technology platform is that we
specialize in over the air downloading capabilities.
msmobiles.com: OK, for Java it’s natural that it’s over the air (OTA) -
for Java, but could you estimate, approximately, exactly, month and year, when
it will be possible to purchase software for Windows Mobile devices - Pocket PC
and Smartphone - wirelessly.
Mark Ewen: I would say - don’t take this to the heart - but I would say
that within the matter of couple of quarters we are certain to see OTA
downloading capabilities for Microsoft based products. You already see this on
the Palm side. In fact the way, that PowerByHand and Pinpoint came to merge was
in recognizing our strong synergies when we did a joint project for PalmSource. If you go to the PalmSource store as a Palm
Treo 600 user for example, you get to a PowerByHand storefront to get your
applications, and you can purchase and download them OTA.
msmobiles.com: so one can buy wirelessly also for Palm, not only for
Java? in your shops?
Mark Ewen: yes.
msmobiles.com: so I understand that you are not interested in Microsoft.
Mark Ewen: no, we see Microsoft coming… as a big heavy train coming down
the tracks at a very fast speed, it’s an area where we are going to spend a significant
amount of our resources and focus...
msmobiles.com: ... but wirelessly it’s already possible to buy software
at Handango for example, and Handango offers its InHand mobile off-line catalog
- you can browse it offline and then you can buy it wirelessly.
Mark Ewen: we also have this... you know, nobody goes to sleep in this
market, we have a product called "StreamLync" that originated as part
of the PalmGear offering. It’s being ported as we speak to other platforms and
will be available...
msmobiles.com: I am not interested in other platforms. I am interested
particularly in Microsoft’s 2 platforms - Pocket PC and smartphone.
Mark Ewen: right.
msmobiles.com: so you are in process of porting it?
Mark Ewen: yes, the StreamLync client is being ported to the Microsoft
platform
msmobiles.com: but when you are speaking - in a matter of quarters the
mobile OTA for Windows Mobile - it’s too long!
Mark Ewen: you want it tomorrow?
msmobiles.com: yeah, I want it tomorrow.
Mark Ewen: [laughs] I want it too, I mean, that’s the nature of the business
world. We all see what’s possible, and don’t understand why it is doesn’t
happen tomorrow.
msmobiles.com: But there is global market for this! You don’t have to
wait for operators to make deals. There is global market for this right now and
people really, the new Pocket PCs are very powerful and even in smartphone
people like to buy things wirelessly.
Mark Ewen: yeah
msmobiles.com: and I don’t understand why it’s not available yet.
Mark Ewen: it’s coming. The head of our marketing and product management
areas is gentleman named Dov Cohn... he and his team have been working
furiously...
msmobiles.com: I have impression that you have Java, Palm, ringtones and
in this whole mess the Windows Mobile from Microsoft is a little bit like
neglected, and not taken seriously.
Mark Ewen: We are very conscious of the fact that the Windows Mobile
platform is going to be significant presence in this market. It may not have
been in the past, but it’s coming very quickly...
msmobiles.com: I can tell you from my side, that when I was talking with
many people from Microsoft, they say they are not in big hurry, they have
long-term plans.
Mark Ewen: sure
msmobiles.com: ... so, the point is that according to my information,
this year [2004], in Autumn, they are reaching critical mass and you should be
ready before
Mark Ewen: yeah
msmobiles.com: already in summer - you should be ready with mobile
catalog and very strong offering in Windows Mobile
Mark Ewen: We are doing everything we can to work more and more closely
everyday with Microsoft. Part of the reason that we are here at this conference
is to get more closely engaged, and aligned with their goals.
msmobiles.com: OK, hm, I mentioned that AIM company
from Belgium
previously, and they are one of few companies making adult content, adult
software and they have problems, because PocketGear has to remove it and
Handango has to remove it. So can you be a distribution channel also for
developers who are offering adult content?
Mark Ewen: we’ve made a company decision to not include adult content as
part of our…
msmobiles.com: offering
Mark Ewen: offering. It’s simply
a company decision to not to include adult content.
msmobiles.com: hm, so what can they do?
Mark Ewen: well, I think people who want that kind of content are going
to be able to find it.
msmobiles.com: I don’t know, maybe USA is a bit different than Europe.
Europe is a bit more open to adult content.
Mark Ewen: I am sure there will be plenty of companies that are going to
capitalize on this opportunity, we’re just not going
to be one of them.
msmobiles.com: do you have any experiences with Mobile2Market? Can you
say something about it. Do you know what is it?
Mark Ewen: I am just coming up to speed during this conference on the
Microsoft relationship. As I’ve mentioned to you, my focus is to work with the
carriers... and my reason for being here in the last couple of days is not only
to get to know some of the Microsoft folks ... but also work with them jointly to
approach carriers with a message. The actual Microsoft relationship with
PowerByHand is managed by another person at PowerByHand. I primarily will
interface with the people at Microsoft who are focused on the carrier
relationships.
We are in full support of Mobile2Market, we want to do
everything we can as PowerByHand to align with Microsoft’s mobile content
objectives. My initiative here is to align
with the folks at Microsoft who are carrier-focused so that we can get our
message together in going jointly to carriers. If you look at it from the
carrier standpoint, they are coming out with these great new phones - they want
to make sure that these phones will be attractive for their customers from the
content and application standpoint, so we partner with Microsoft to deliver a
joint message saying "hey mister carrier! We are PowerByHand, we’re
Microsoft, we going to come to you, arm in arm, to offer you the best possible
solution for your devices, as they come out, so that we know that the content
is already qualified, it works with that device, and for the next device that
is coming out... we are going to be ahead of the game"
msmobiles.com: will you offer some testing, certification, of Windows
Mobile software independent from Mobile2Market? Some developers don’t like Mobile2Market, that would like to sell directly to
operators.
Mark Ewen: What you have to understand is, that the carriers really in a
large sense rule ... they can decide if they want to adopt a particular
certification program or not, so if a particular carrier going to launch
particular device or set of devices, they are going to make a decision about what
rules they want their content creators to follow. As a vendor to the carriers supplying
technology, services, and processes to make them more efficient, we simply say
to them, here are our experiences… we are very prescriptive, this what we
recommend based on our vast experience, but if you want to us to it different
way, then you tell us!, and we make modifications as appropriate ... ultimately
it’s a carrier’s decision. We as a supplier and service provider to the carrier
will follow those guidelines ....
msmobiles.com: so you said that your strength in contacts with carriers
is that you offer also whole workflow, so you have logistics, etc but about
technology? do you have some innovation in technology,
or some software delivering mechanisms, I don’t know...? can
you offer something in technology or you are more business processes oriented?
Mark Ewen: it’s a combination of both - Pinpoint Networks´ genesis was
search navigation across WAP content sites, and through that, working with
carries such as Verizon, which is the largest carrier in America, we had to
build a bullet-proof carrier-class 99.999+% reliability platform... we have a full
download provisioning mechanism within the technology. The technology also does
automatic introspection of applications as they come in, and that coupled with
human introspection through different process makes for a very efficient
workflow and we can get applications qualified and to market within less than
10 business days typically. The other aspect of our technology is, we have all
the hooks to carrier’s gateways, customer service, and billing systems - and we
have technology and process for settlement back to the developers of the content
and applications.
msmobiles.com: OK. Children. I don’t know in USA but in Europe
almost everybody has a cell phone. In Europe
it is used to pay for content - usual way - through SMS. What are perspectives
to pay for Windows Mobile software without credit card - it means SMS or it
means PayPal?
Mark Ewen: Sure, yeah, we are enabling all the various billing
mechanisms across carriers. In our implementation today within mmO2 if you
purchase an application, whether it is browsable premium WAP application, or a downloadable
Java application - whatever the case may be - the billing currently is done
through premium SMS so it shows up on the bill that you get from mmO2. Likewise
we are enabling what we call "BOBO relationships" with all the global
carriers, "BOBO" means "billing on behalf of". What you’ll
see is if you go to PocketGear.com, today if you purchase application...
msmobiles.com: it’s only possible with credit card
Mark Ewen: today it’s only credit, but in a future, not too distant
future, you will be able to select what carrier you have and automatically the
charges will...
msmobiles.com: and this is future is what? 1 year ,
2 months, 5 years?
Mark Ewen: it depends on the carrier. We have a couple of carriers where
it will be enabled, within, I would say, a quarter. If you are subscriber of a
particular carrier and you go to PocketGear.com you will, as an alternative to
entering your credit information in, be able to simply authenticate as a user
of that carrier, and then the charge will show up on the bill you get from the
carrier.
msmobiles.com: rather distant future?
Mark Ewen: what’s that?
msmobiles.com: distant future.
Mark Ewen: I would say within a quarter you will have at least one US
carrier on PocketGear.com and as other carriers see this opportunity, there will
be more and more carriers… in particular as we expand our presence across the
European nations, we will have similar BOBO relationships...
msmobiles.com: I mean globally... OK so this is premium SMS, or some downloads through WAP, premium downloads, but
what about PayPal
Mark Ewen: that’s another billing mechanism that we are in a process...
msmobiles.com: have you ever considered it or you, eh, just don’t know?
Mark Ewen: no, no! We absolutely have not only considered it, but we are
having discussions about it...
msmobiles.com: you know on the PayPal you can put on money on the
micropayment account there not only through the credit card but you can put
also through the bank transfer..
Mark Ewen: sure
msmobiles.com: ... and then without credit card, without any danger, you
can buy it [mobile software]
Mark Ewen: credit cards are a challenge for loads of reasons. As we roll out PalmGear, PocketGear, etc directly
to the mobile devices (in addition to accessing these storefronts from the PC),
you won’t want to type a credit number and the expiration date etc using your
mobile device, you want to click "yes" and boom, it’s done, it
downloads the content to your phone and automatically adds charges to the
carrier bill. Now from the developer standpoint...
msmobiles.com: this is on the wish list, it’s not highly prioritized?
Mark Ewen: these are the things that PowerByHand is presently working
on… we have 40+ engineers in Research Triangle park in North Carolina... and
they are working on it as we speak.
msmobiles.com: but not for Windows Mobile?
Mark Ewen: for all of the primary mobile content platforms including
Windows Mobile
msmobiles.com: what does it mean "BOBO" once again? I have
forgotten...
Mark Ewen: "billing on behalf of"
msmobiles.com: are you able to get such relationship to a maximum number
of operators, eh, carriers?
Mark Ewen: if you are a global tier-one operator, the chances are we are
having a conversation about BOBO.
msmobiles.com: you know T-Mobile Germany and T-Mobile USA is different! if you make agreement
with T-Mobile USA it doesn’t mean that you have agreement with T-Mobile
Germany.
Mark Ewen: when I say "global tier-one operator"... I fully
understand that T-Mobile USA is a global tier-one operator, and that T-Mobile
in Europe is another global tier-one operator, they are obviously owned ...
msmobiles.com: the same
Mark Ewen: ... the same but they are making their own decisions. The carrier
world is very interesting like that. There is a lot of ownership among the various
carriers. You know Vodafone has a stake in Verizon, but we don’t come over to
Voda…
msmobiles.com: you know I am very positive about future - about
Microsoft technologies, like .NET - so that it will be very easy to make very
sophisticated applications, like location based applications, with camera, etc.
So could you add something specifically about Microsoft stuff which would be
interesting?
Mark Ewen: I think the main point that I can say about Microsoft is that
we absolutely recognize what you just said - it’s coming, it’s going to be a very
significant piece of the market. We have a content agnostic approach as a
company, but we also have a very smart people in our company, and we are going
to focus where investments are being made ... and Microsoft is clearly investing
in the mobile space and they have made this very clear to...
msmobiles.com: .. so I understand that you can
have a kind of synergy from the fact that you already have competence in Java,
in Palm, but I don’t see it yet!!! I don’t see that mobile OTA downloads in
PocketGear and Smartpone.net ! I don’t see this SMS
buying at PocketGear and Smartphone.net . Are you even
committed to bringing it to Microsoft mobiles or are you very fragmented: we do
this for Java, this for Palm, and this for this..
Mark Ewen: well one of the things that makes our company unique, is that
we have teams that are very specifically focused on a particular platform.
msmobiles.com: but it is also bad because you are losing your synergy
possibility!
Mark Ewen: well, as a company you have to be flexible and open to make
changes. We’ve got teams that focus on
Microsoft, Palm, Phones (Java, Ringtone, etc), Symbian, etc… If the majority of the world starts focusing
on Microsoft, then that team will become larger and larger, and perhaps we
would have made a bad bet on Java and would have to move away from it.
msmobiles.com: I am sure this will not be a case - there will be a small
phones with Java and there is a lots of fans of Palm and Symbian and so on...
but if you already have this synergy, so why don’t you use it yet for Microsoft
software?
Mark Ewen: oh, we are doing it! The fact that we acquired PocketGear.com
is a testament to the fact that we are ...
msmobiles.com: but very recently!
Mark Ewen: very recently, yeah.
msmobiles.com: when will we be able to see effects of this synergy on
the smartphone, eh, Microsoft software shops?
Mark Ewen: I think you’ll start seeing it...
msmobiles.com: I don’t see them yet
Mark Ewen: yeah, the stuff doesn’t happen overnight , but I think the
first example you might see is when you go to PocketGear.com, you can buy
something, and the charge shows up on your carrier bill
msmobiles.com: through premium SMS?
Mark Ewen: no, through BOBO. Premium SMS is more prevalent in Europe today, in the US BOBO is more prevalent.
msmobiles.com: what do you mean "BOBO"? That you got to go to
some specialized website?
Mark Ewen: no, no! when you go to the shopping
cart to check out, and you are ready to pay for the applications you’ve
selected, instead of entering your credit card number, you will be able to add
the charges to your carrier bill
msmobiles.com: so there is mechanism that is recognizing that buyer is
from given carrier?
Mark Ewen: the buyer identifies themself as a
subscriber to carrier "X", OK? and because the
billing system of carrier "X" is integrated into the PocketGear.com billing
platform, we will be able to automatically charge the buyer’s carrier account
for the applications
msmobiles.com: is it wirelessly or not wirelessly?
Mark Ewen: in the next generation that is coming soon, they still have
to synchronize [with PC], but over time they will be able to also deliver
applications wirelessly (OTA) if they chose, depending on the size of the
application.. there will be multiple variables, various levels of control…
msmobiles.com: hm, I don’t see, there is no mobile version, no credit
card -less possibility, no PayPal, nothing...
Mark Ewen: I am with you! we are going to..
msmobiles.com: so from my point of view there is also apart from you
Handango - they would like to suck carriers out of money and they don’t care
about "carrier-less" users so much, but I think that there is big
market also for this "carrier-less" users... to give these features
to buy without carriers...
Mark Ewen: sure.
msmobiles.com: you Americans don’t understand something! For example:
here in Europe GPRS is very expensive!
Mark Ewen: sure.
msmobiles.com: ... and operators, carriers, are earning a lot of money
from it. In USA
there are flat rate plans and you don’t care then how much software you download
[in flat rate you don’t pay for amount of data transferred]. Here [in Europe] operators care very much. So you have mobile
downloads for Java, Java OTA, but you don’t have for Windows Mobile.. so it’s coming you say?
Mark Ewen: absolutely! I’m with you… I’ve been working in mobile data
space with carriers since 1996 and, you know, every year since 1996, it’s been
"this thing is going to happen next year", right? But we are finally
really seeing truly sophisticated devices, with color, high resolution screens,
with a lot more power, memory, etc. In
addition, the networks are faster, and the distribution mechanisms such as that
we bring to bear are more sophisticated. I really think this is going to happen
a lot more quickly than you might imagine. Of course the various players
building out the capabilities can only work so fast... you know you can’t make
a baby by putting more people on it, in less than 9 months! We have similar challenges as does everybody
in this market. People like us who know that these capabilities exist, wonder why
they are not ready for prime time! It
can be frustrating... it’s largely going to be driven by the carriers.
msmobiles.com: you’re waiting for carriers?
Mark Ewen: well, we are not waiting, we are pressing on carriers, and
the most aggressive carriers are or will be working with us, and we are going
to make it happen as quickly as it is feasible… Carriers need what we have… if
there is a carrier in Europe or US for example, that decides that they are in
love with a particular Motorola device, and this device is heavily marketed and
showcased by the carrier, then they are going to want to make sure that best
applications for this device are quickly and efficiently qualified…
msmobiles.com: from my point of view you are waiting! I am pushing you a
bit, sorry, but sorry simply it’s your problem.. I don’t
understand it...
Mark Ewen: I think what you are talking about is the exact reason why it
is important for Microsoft and PowerByHand to partner closely, because together
we can go into carriers and help push the envelope. There are carriers who are
starting to ask us more and more about the Microsoft products, and as these devices
launch, they will need help...
msmobiles.com: but I have impression that you are waiting for carriers,
but I understand that you should do another way around, you should make this
wireless download possibility, go to the carrier, and say "look here is
the wireless download possibility, we are offering to the whole world from our
website, but we can do it for you, specifically for Microsoft software, with
custom made features". You have O2 and Verizon reference customers, you
have also Rogers in Canada, but none of them is Windows
Mobile! Correct?
Mark Ewen: well, no, O2 also has Windows Mobile devices...
msmobiles.com: but are YOU selling something for them for Windows
Mobile?
Mark Ewen: we have nothing announced today with regard to Windows Mobile
w/ O2
msmobiles.com: so you don’t have yet Windows Mobile references with
carriers?
Mark Ewen: not that we can publicly announce.
msmobiles.com: but they are coming?
Mark Ewen: I would say: absolutely.
msmobiles.com: OK, thank you!
Mark Ewen: thank you.
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