Just wanted to say that I got my mobile phone bill today from providers Peoples. During my Los Angeles trip I had sent a "few" SMS messages to a friend of mine. Peoples charged me coming and going, and so did the network in Los Angeles.

But on to today's sunny Google report:

Mobile search.

Today I talked to someone who works for Google and he put forth a scenario.

You are walking around IFC mall in Hong Kong. Your girlfriend tugs on your arm and says she wants to go to a movie. You take your mobile phone out of your pocket and type in the word, "movie".

Now, typically, when you type in movie, you are looking for a cinema, and a typical Google algorithm will know that is what a high percentage of people are searching for in their quest for information. But the ordering of information may go beyond that. According to the man working for Google, it is entirely possible the phone will know where you are and your proximity to the cinema. That seems very basic, but the difficulty in bringing this to the market in a cheap way is the reluctance of mobile operators to release themselves from old business models that consumers look down on.

Currently, when you want to download information, even an SMS from a mate, the mobile company charges you a data transfer fee. Because they can.

Well, that pisses people off. Why? You are charging us for only two reasons, really: 1. The Government charges mobile operators exhorbitant licensing fees. 2. Mobile operators have not been able to work with content providers, information providers and ISPs to formulate a cheap model for delivering content to consumers.

Also of note: Hong Kong won't see the new apple iPhone until 2008, or so it seems.

And lastly, though his scenario painted a scene where people would use mobile search to find the nearest movie house and most available movie, I have been confirmed in my suspicions by the man from Google that this kind of search on mobile would likely not do well in Hong Kong.

It's too small. Everyone already knows where everything is.

What people really want to do on phones is play games.

 

rion
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