Editor's Corner


We are in day two here at BREW 2005 and the show is winding down. Today the conference shifted from the high-level strategy to real-world deployments. Peggy Johnson opened this morning, stressing the importance of the BREW ecosystem. She singled out key content partners as examples of what talented developers can do with BREW. Johnson ended her remarks by rallying content providers to come up with more new applications.

Today's presentations included a discussion from 3G MVNO Amp'd Mobile and more details about MediaFlo, Qualcomm's mobile TV initiative. Qualcomm is betting big on MediaFlo and expects mobile TV to play a major role in BREW's future. Qualcomm may be able to launch the service in the US by as early as autumn 2006. The company seems confident it will be able to convince its US carrier partners to offer the service. Getting MediaFlo off the ground in other markets, however, may prove more of a challenge.

The biggest theme at BREW 2005 has been the importance of market segmentation. Speakers have been hammering home this point, stressing the need for both carriers and content providers to create more targeted services and products.

The other big topic has been customization -- i.e., letting consumers select the content experience they want. Several speakers stressed that customization is the key to effective segmentation. While the traditional carriers still seem apprehensive of this approach, MVNOs like Amp'd Mobile plan to give subscribers more control over their mobile experience. This kind of content control is key if this industry hopes to spur more adoption of services.

I wish everyone here at BREW safe travels as you return home. I want to thank everyone at Qualcomm for an informative show. Next week, I head off to Chicago for Supercomm. I expect to see many of you there. Have a great weekend. - Stephen