When Web 2.0 meets Mobile 2.0
Yesterday we have announced a partnership with Laszlo. They are the leader in open source Rich Internet Applications (RIA), that is the fancy little apps that run inside a browser and make it look like a desktop. In a word, the Web 2.0 engine. Their target is consumers, via service providers (sounds familiar ;-)
One of the apps they launched as a vertical is email, with contacts and calendar. This sounds familiar too... If you haven't tried the application, I would definitely recommend you do. They have a free service called goWebtop, which allows you to use their web email client to read your personal email on the web (via IMAP), and they just added a preview of their new calendar interface - which is the most beautiful calendar interface I ever seen (and I am picky, when it comes to user interfaces...).
They do not do collaboration and they do not offer a mail server, so they do not compete with companies like Zimbra, OpenXchange, Scalix or PostPath. They have "just" a web client. The match with us is easy to see. They bring the Web 2.0 experience to the consumers, we bring the Mobile 2.0 experience to the consumers - powered by advertising. Very very cool.
You'll hear more from this partnership soon...
Funambol plus Asterisk, Blackberry and eGroupware
I found this nice post talking by Tony Maro about a deployment of Funambol for a Blackberry, integrated with Asterisk and eGroupware. Let me repost it here because it is short, but full of very interesting notes.
This is a near perfect solution. I run an Asterisk Vo/IP system for my office, and eGroupware with Cyrus for our mail system. We migrated from Microsoft Exchange some time ago and I've never looked back.
With eGroupware, we were able to replace 99% of the functionality of our Microsoft Exchange server with open source software. With sieve filters users can set up an unlimited number of server-side mail filters, something you can't do with Exchange anymore, and the web interface works much better with Firefox than Microsoft's web access. Our Asterisk phone system integrates into the mix and will deliver voicemail to the user's e-mail box.
Now, with my Blackberry I can download and play those voicemails without ever having to dial into the phone system, because they are wav files attached to e-mail that is picked up by my Blackberry. I'm feeling so "connected" right now it's not even funny :-)
Switching to an all open-source messaging suite like this was easier than I thought, but when we did the primary migration I only had about 10 users to worry about. This made it much easier. I took Outlook (or the appropriate mail client) and downloaded everything to a local storage. After setting up IMAP to the Cyrus server I pushed it all back up - not recommended if you're going to migrate a few hundred users, but effective in my case. I then set up the Funambol open source sync client for each user to sync their contacts and calendar between the server and their local store. This gives them remote access to their data, and I have a copy of that on both the desktop and the server in addition to the server backups in the event of a catastrophic failure.
On my Blackberry I again use the Funambol client to sync contacts and calendar to the server. Within 30 minutes of getting the Blackberry I'd already downloaded the Funambol client over the air and sync'd with my eGroupware server, without ever attaching the Blackberry to a computer.
Configuring Asterisk to deliver voicemails as a wav file to your e-mail box is simple. I now I have a completely integrated messaging system that doesn't tie me to a desktop computer, and every aspect of it is open source software!
I have to say I am impressed... I wish I could set all this up for us internally at Funambol ;-)
Sun and Funambol partner on Glassfish
Today Sun has announced a new partnership program around Glassfish, which is their open source Java application server (the only one that Marc Fleury once said "has managed to mount serious competition to JBoss"). Funambol is one of the partners in the program.
I am very pleased about the announcement because Sun came and asked us to join them, which I found flattering (I know, I have a thing for people asking me, when they are a million times bigger than us ;-)
I believe Funambol on Glassfish (and maybe OpenSolaris) could be a killer offering for enterprises. Any enterprise I know needs mobile email for all their employees. It can't be limited to BlackBerries for the CEO and sales people. Mobility is key to increase productivity (and make your employees workaholic ;-)
With Glassfish and Funambol Community Edition (powered underneath by the Sun open source MySQL database), you have a free and open solution that you can plug into your Exchange, Domino or open source email server (much better...). You do not have to pay anything and you have an enormous community to support you.
And if you need support from Funambol, we'll send you to one of our partners. As you know, we are not making money on enterprise deployments. We do not upsell our community. It is free as in free beer, unless you host it for consumers.
Sun is making all the right moves in open source. They have a very smart CEO and Simon Phipps, Chief of Open Source, a phenomenal individual. Add to it Marten Mickos, one of the brightest minds in open source and you might have a multi-billion open source company. I am definitely cheering for them.
Italy beats the rest of the world 2-1 (on iPhone)
I received this news today about "Dual Carriers for the iPhone in Italy". In a nutshell, Italy will have two carriers offering the iPhone, both TIM and Vodafone.
In a break from the company’s usual exclusive partner model, both Vodafone and Telecom Italia will be offering Apple’s iPhone in Italy.
Apple gave no details as to why it broke from its single carrier per market model; Telecom Italia announced it “has signed a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Italy later this year,” and Vodafone announced it would offer the popular handset in 10 countries, including Italy. In a statement, Vodafone said: “Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.”
That's pretty odd, but it will mean more iPhones in Italy. I am ready to bet it is going to be a great success (despite not being a big hit on other countries in Europe).
It is all about fashion. And the iPhone is fashionable. Works in Italy.
JavaOne tomorrow: talk not to be missed
Tomorrow, our JavaME Tech Lead Edo Schepis will give a talk at JavaOne, which I believe it is going to be very interesting.
The title is "Funambol Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME Platform) Technology-Based Open-Source Messaging Client: Lessons Learned". It is part of the Technical Session and it is scheduled for Tuesday May 06 10:50 - 11:50 at Moscone Center - Esplanade 303 (Session ID TS-4992 for those picky).
The abstract is:
Three billion people own a mobile phone, yet only a small fraction use it for mobile email--why?
Until recently mobile email required high-end devices, costly service, and complex setup. But that is changing. Global mobile email usage is expected to grow 24 percent annually over the next four years, with explosive growth projected post-2008 due to rapid consumer email adoption. An open-source, standards-based, consumer push email solution is not just a benefit to developers. It also provides mobile operators, service providers, and online portals with broad device compatibility, low cost, ease of use, and the flexibility required to tap into the mass market.
This session guides attendees through the main lessons learned in developing the open-source Java™ Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME platform) technology-based messaging client based on Funambol synchronization software.
The session presents the following:
• Design and code samples of the Funambol Java ME technology-based SDK for synchronization
• Push technologies used for messaging and PIM notifications through SMS and TCP/IP channels
• Main issues discovered in Java ME technology-based implementations and workarounds to fix them
• Design and code samples of the Funambol Java ME technology-based messaging client
• How open source is contributing during the development and testing phases, solving the device fragmentation nightmare common in development on the Java ME platform
• How to handle carriers’/manufacturers’ security restrictions, using trusted applications such as the Java Verified Program and the certification process
The presentation places particular emphasis on the design choices used to blend object-oriented principles and developer community needs with the best user experience and performance.
At the end of the session, through code samples and lesson learned, the attendees will have a good understanding of
• How to build synchronization clients for Java ME technology-based devices, starting from the Funambol Java ME technology-based SDK
• What developers should know about building Java ME technology-based open-source messaging applications for the mass market
See you there!
Vodafone gives you free data with voice
A friend forwarded me an article about Vodafone UK bundling mobile data with their monthly data plan. In a nutshell, if you have a monthly plan (£7.50) you also get 500MB of free data.
That limit is "fair use" too, rather than capped - exceed it a few times and you'll get a warning, take the piss and they'll ask you to move onto a more expensive tariff.
This is huge news. 500 MB is a monthly limit that includes everything you do on a mobile phone, probably excluding videos. My average usage of the iPhone is about 200MB/month. But I do not do any YouTube videos over EDGE (it is so slow to be useless). I do lots of email, attachments, browsing, weather and maps. 500 MB is more than enough for me.
Free mobile data is the tipping point for Mobile 2.0. Once we get that, the ball will start rolling and it will be unstoppable. It is big news for any startup out there thinking about a mobile application around the carrier. Kudos to Vodafone to admit being a pipe is not that bad.
Mobile fund raising in the Valley
I can't consider myself an expert on fund raising, but I spent enough time driving up and down Sand Hill in all these years to have picked up a few signs. Last week, at the Sofcon conference, someone asked me to give suggestions to entrepreneurs, trying to raise money in the Valley with a mobile idea. I gave the following answers, thinking out loud as usual. Many people contacted me after the speech and asked me to put the ideas together in a post. Here it is.
- NO CARRIERS. Forget the mobile operators. VCs have put enough money in companies that tried to sell to carriers and failed. They won't do it again. Your business model must go around the carrier. Be off-deck. Base it on the assumption that the carriers will become a dumb pipe. It is happening for real. This is the best time in the history of mobile to start a company doing mobile applications because the gateway is about to disappear. Build with the assumption that users will have a data plan and an IP on the phone. Sell to consumers, ISPs or Portals (and even Enterprises). Not carriers. VCs will listen.
- GO IPHONE. I know Nokia has 40% of the mobile market, but there is no Nokia phone around here. Zip. If you have a mobile idea, show it on an iPhone. I know Nokia produces all the iPhones in the world today in four days. Still, we have none here. The iPhone is the cool device. VCs are starting to carry it around with their BlackBerry. If they don't, their wives and kids have an iPhone. Don't blame the VC. Investing early in a company is an emotional affair. It has very little to do with reality. You can't get emotional on something, if you can't try it or can't have anyone around you trying it. If you have to go super-consumer, go with a Motorola RAZR V3xx. But do not expect wows.
- GO NOW. This is the right time. Do not wait a few months because money is getting tight. Mobile is super-hot. Cash is still out there. The financial crisis is going to dry out VC interest in early deals pretty fast. You have a good window before summer, with the launch of the iPhone competitors (pre-June) and the new iPhone (June). Buzz will be there. Your business plan might be slightly better in September but it might be too late. Do not wait...
