. more concerns about health with the rise of femtocells
. vertical concentration in the media
. more big names (Yahoo!, RIM...?) change hands, more manufacturers go bankrupt
. DoCoMo goes shopping to pave the way for an international launch of LTE - Japan Inc follows suit thanks to a strong Yen
. a 3.0 FCC chairman with a web pedigree
You can install voice and video chat to Gmail right here and now.
Nothing disruptive in this software, but that's an interesting tool for the Google platform (BtoB, CtoC, BtoC, BtoBtoC, AtoZ...).
And heck, that's not so phony telephony and videophony.
Beyond the software, Big G is providing a big push for hardware equipment : until Nov. 30, 2008, there will be special discounts at Buy.com for Logitech webcams.
The idea is to build a strong user base from day one, and to instantly catch a significant share just like they did with Chrome (see "Google Chrome : more open source, less open space ?").
Mind if this announcer chimes in during your free mobile videochat ?
France, Belgium, Italy, Spain... Carrefour Mobile (1 mobile in its baby steps) started in the retailer's neighborhood.
Poland was the first major move eastwards.
Now Taiwan looks like a giant leap.
Of course, Carrefour is a major player on the island with about 60 hypermarkets and 4 M membership cardholders, and times are ripe for a low-end player. But that's a tough and saturated market with 3 existing MVNOs.
Of course, this is a 2G service. But customers can chose between prepaid and postpaid, and can enjoy a loyalty program (rewards : airtime now, store promotions later).
Of course, the phones don't look very smart. But the company created a SPV dedicated to the operation (name of the Special Purpose Vehicule : the usual "Carrefour Telecom").
The host network is the leader, Chunghwa Telecom. Chung Hwa happens to mean "China". Yes, like that neighboring country where Carrefour hypermarkets are not exactly under birth control restrictions.
So this is not yet the giant leap, but one can easily guess where it points to.
