CTIA Conferance; Apple iPhone

In the Economist's wrap-up coverage of CTIA conference of Florida, the publication came out swinging against the much hyped Apple iPhone:

But though not available until June, the $500 iPhone is as mouth-watering today as yesterday’s cold pizza. The phone that stole the show at CTIA Wireless 2007 was the “Ocean” from Helio, a youth-oriented newcomer to the cellular business.

In addition to giving high praise for the Ocean's interface and design, as well as noting the disparity in price ($295 for the Helio vs. $500 for the iPhone) the article continued,

But it is the Helio Ocean’s EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimised) wireless technology that renders Apple’s iPhone an also-ran. Mobile experts have been mystified by Apple’s decision to use Cingular’s EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) network when far better wireless communications methods abound...Cingular’s version of it provides data speeds of between 75 kilobits per second (kbps) and 135 kbps—not that much better than a dial-up internet connection, and often much worse...

By contrast, the EV-DO networks used by Helio (as well as Verizon and Sprint in America and KDDI in Japan) offer 450 kbps to 800 kbps, rates similar to those of DSL broadband connections. EDGE’s slower data speeds mean that iPhone users must rely on Wi-Fi to do anything more than make phone calls or send the odd e-mail...

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Out-of-Home Digital is Real, Folks!

Brands have to adapt to the the shift in media consumption or "lose millions in brand equity!" Those are not my words but it is the truth! Newspaper is moving online and the bigger players have already witnessed the purchase of a leading ooh digital network (Captivate). Even smaller broadcasters such as Capital Broadcast (who has always focused on new media channels other than broadcast) see the value in interactive, new media channels, digital out-of-home, and mobile. Billions are in broadcast and maybe at some point some more of those dollars will be pulled to new channels that reach the right consumers. The slow and somewhat silent move to test the waters is happening under our noses. In house testing by some of the worlds leading brands has been happening for years and you would be amazed at exactly what data they have complied. With the predicted expansion and growth of the OOH industry I suggest that one of the top 25 advertisers purchase all of the spots on narrowcast networks across the US-that would be a headline itself! I think it could be done; ad spending in the industry is very small at this time compared to TV dollars, print spending and spending on the remaining media outlets.

Out-of-Home Digital Media Is Now Interactive
by
Monte Zweben, Co-founder & Chairman of SeeSaw Networks
Out-of-home digital media is growing explosivelyThe Outdoor Advertising Association of America forecasts that up to 25% of all billboards will be digital in five years and a 2006 Veronis, Suhler, and Stevenson Communications Industry Report forecasts that out-of-home digital media will grow at a rate of over 20% a year. Additionally, Profitable Channels reports that digital out-of-home networks are growing at a rate of about 10 new networks per month. Their report estimates that about 700 digital out-of-home networks have been launched since 2002 and says that the out-of-home digital media industry segment accounted for $1.2 billion in national ad spending in 2006.

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