One of the bigger stories from last week’s CES was the Ultrabook. Whether or not you agree with the oft-repeated dialog that Ultrabooks are merely Macbook Air copies — and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – you probably feel it’s a good thing that the PC makers are trying hard to make better products.  Although I’m all for sharp design, lower weight, instant on etc, my own personal belief is that the PC world is somewhat missing the point with the current emphasis of the Ultrabook. The big picture isn’t about competing with Macs, it’s about the mass transition to mobile and how that affects the PC industry as a whole.

So, what’s my issue?  I think that the least important difference between notebooks and today’s mobile devices is weight, design, and instant on. Those are all things that the PC industry should have been working on anyway.  Even touch, which isn’t in evidence in the current crop of Ultrabooks but shows up in the roadmap, isn’t such as big of a factor given the rich interface of the PC.  No, to me the biggest issue is around connectivity and the constant availability of the network.

Think about it. Your smartphone is constantly available to add value, whether it’s in your hand or nestled in your pocket or bag.  Obviously it can announce a caller, but just as important it can perform background tasks such as syncing email, and it can alert you with reminders and notifications from the network.  Your notebook, on the other hand, undergoes a digital frontal lobotomy and sinks into a network isolation chamber as soon as you close the lid or move away from a WiFi connection.  Bridging the gap between the PC of today and the mobile world is much more about remaining useful, and relevant while we’re, well, mobile.

I want my next notebook to rest, but not sleep, and to be able to get me on the network automatically. It’s clear that most people don’t want to buy a cellular plan for their PC, but how about utilizing the enormous public WiFi network that’s already ubiquitous? That way I won’t be connected 100% of the time, but often enough as I walk down the street, grab a coffee, sit in the lobby of my hotel or hang out in the airport.  With a network connection my notebook can meet a smartphone halfway.  That’s an exciting step function into the mobile world and a compelling vision for all manner of devices which otherwise wouldn’t enjoy full time cellular connectivity.  That’s the Ultrabook I want to see!

Black Friday has come and gone.  As usual, the yearly craziness ensues such as all night shopping sprees, near-riots at retailers, and sadly, the occasional assault for merchandise or in this year’s case, pepper spray attacks.  Now, the craziness will only continue as Chanukah and Christmas are upon us.

Here at Devicescape we took it upon ourselves to analyze Wi-Fi usage and trends that emerged across our network during this year’s Black Friday frenzy. Since our virtual Wi-Fi network is made up of publically accessible Wi-Fi hotspots found around the world in places such as cafes, department stores, restaurants, hotels and airports to random shops that offer Wi-Fi as an amenity to their customers, we are able to track activity and connections within these available Wi-Fi network environments.

What did we find?

The obvious insight was that because of our millions of users, connections to in-store Wi-Fi spiked dramatically versus the week before.

While the rise in connectivity is interesting, what gets my attention are the stores that offer some type of Wi-Fi service.  Stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom’s and Barnes and Nobles bubbled up to the top of our network location list.

So is it a surprise that these stores offer this kind of value add to their customers?

For the average consumer, it probably is a surprise. But when you think about it some more, it shouldn’t be.  Most stores already have the infrastructure to handle Wi-Fi which is most likely for their internal business needs.  Think about it.  When you see sales or stock associates with wireless handheld scanners, headsets, etc., that should be a clear sign that the technical infrastructure is in place.  All it takes is a decision by someone within corporate to “flip a switch” and turn on the guest Wi-Fi.

What is the benefit to the retailer and the consumer if in-store Wi-Fi is switched on?

For the retailer, it’s a few things.  Aside from business efficiencies, it keeps customers in the stores.  How many times have you walked in a large department store only to find that it’s a black hole where you get no cell service, email or data?  Connecting to the Wi-Fi alleviates this and keeps consumers shopping in their walls without having to leave to check their phone for messages and such.  The future value will eventually be in mobile advertising and incentives.  I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime in the near-term, it will be common place for a retailer to text a shopper walking through their doors with a coupon or promotional offering due to triggering the in-store Wi-Fi with their phone.

The benefit to consumers will be basic connectivity.  The ability to communicate through whatever means as well as the ability to web browse on their phone would be an added value.  Consumers can engage in product comparisons, price checking and potentially sharing deals via social media.

Below are a few retailers that popped up in our network location list whose in-store connectivity spiked on Black Friday:

• Macy’s in store Wi-Fi usage increased over 500% on Black Friday
• Nordstrom saw a 175% jump in connectivity
• Staples in-store connectivity grew 58%
• Barnes & Noble in-store Wi-Fi connections grew by 50%

A couple other interesting facts were that Home Depot displayed no significant change in connectivity even though they were promoting Black Friday deals.  Separately, Best Buy showed up for the first time in our network which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.  Shoppers trying to satiate their electronics fix would make Best Buy an obvious retailer to visit.

What does all this mean?  Aside from the simple fact that our millions of users aren’t always shopping online, these increases show the impact of overall foot traffic at these various large retailers.  More importantly, it shows that Wi-Fi isn’t just some coffee shop value add, it’s available almost everywhere we go as consumers.  Don’t be surprised if you head to your local mall and you automatically connect to a store’s Wi-Fi network.  For you it means continuous call and data connectivity.  For the retailer, it means customer retention and more sales.  For the wireless operator, it means they better get their affairs in order when it comes to offload strategy because the potential in costs savings is theirs for the taking if they leverage all of the available Wi-Fi at their disposal.  The major retailers that showed up on our network locations list is a clear indicator that it’s pervasive and more common than we tend to believe.    This list, as well as the connections that support it, will only continue to grow.

The case for data offload onto Wi-Fi becomes clearer to me every day.  comScore just released its October statistics from its Video Metrix report and the current findings are astounding.  For the month of October, they cite 42.6 billion videos have been viewed which translates to approximately 21 hours on average per viewer.  It’s unclear how much data that really is but I think it’s safe to say that it constitutes A LOT.

Admittedly, these stats don’t break out what type of device is streaming the content.  Therefore, it’s most likely a mix of desktop and mobile devices but in what quantities is uncertain.  Even if streaming to mobile i.e. smartphones and tablets is the lesser of the two, we’re still talking large amounts of data being streamed across wireless networks.  I can’t say with great certainty that the wireless operators are capable of handling the data presently across their networks without issue or even efficiently.  We’ve all experienced problems when streaming content at one point or another, and I’m not just talking about movies or music.  When it comes to simple web browsing, who hasn’t experienced lag?  But what happens in five years or even ten as data usage grows, specifically video and other media.  As the proliferation of mobile devices increases, so will the content that is streamed and viewed on them.

It’s safe to say that improved mobile devices and faster networks are the wave of the future.  But I think it’s also safe to say that data overload and network congestion are the tsunami of the future as well.  I would love to see how many videos are viewed in October 2016 and how the wireless operators are dealing with this data crunch.

Read the Techcrunch blog post on these findings here:  http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/28/u-s-online-video-watching-reaches-record-high-in-october-with-42-6-billion-videos-viewed/

That sounds like a loaded question doesn’t it.  By hearing that question out of context, one would most likely answer yes.  Now let me bring it into context.  A recent CNN article reported two malls in the US are axing programs that would track and survey shoppers in their venues through their mobile phones.  The creators of the technology iterate that personal data like name or phone number aren’t captured.  What are tracked though are movements which could be used to analyze shopping patterns and any other qualitative information such as survey answers which can also be collected.

Now assuming your data is anonymized, would you still be ok with a retailer tracking and communicating with you?  What if through these mobile means, you would be able to receive in-store coupons or incentives?  What if the opt-in/opt-out process were more obvious?  If the privacy concerns are eased, wouldn’t these incentives add value to the customer shopping experience?

The proprietors of this mobile technology, Path Intelligence, compare it to online retail tracking.  Online retailers are able to track customer habits, purchases and the overall user experience while still protecting the privacy of their consumers.  By this rationale, it seems to make sense.  Although I do believe people still need the perception of choice.  By allowing an opt-out mechanism, this at least gives a shopper the ability to not participate in this engagement.

The mobile touchpoint and content streaming through it is not just a headache for wireless operators but for the downstream players such as retailers who choose to leverage the power of wireless connectivity and growing mobile device usage.  Free wireless for all I say but it’s situations like this that make one cautious and think about the rules and structure around the idea.

Read the CNN article here:  http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/28/news/economy/malls_track_shoppers_cell_phones/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3&hpt=hp_c1

The holidays are almost here and Black Friday, a retail phenomenon during the holiday season, signifies the kickoff of retail madness.  That day is slowly being overshadowed by Cyber Monday, the following Monday where retailers are encouraging customers to shop online.  As stores are trying to find other selling channels and methods to attract customers, mobile commerce is soon becoming relevant to the retail industry.

Now where does Wi-Fi fit in all of this?  Wi-Fi has already been a common staple in coffee shops and various eating establishments.  In fact, whenever one walks into a Starbucks or McDonalds, it’s almost expected to see someone browsing the internet on their laptop, tablet or smartphone.  Scanning the 5 million global hotspots in the Devicescape Virtual Network, I can see that’s it’s more than just coffee shops or fast food restaurants.    I’m surprised to learn that retailers like Home Depot, Macy’s and Safeway are constantly showing up in the network.

So what does this mean?  It means that Wi-Fi is more pervasive that we think.  It means that it’s not just in your home or at some select store.  It means that retailers are giving access to their Wi-Fi network to add customer value and provide another means of shopping within the store, whether it entail price checking, product availability or advertising opportunities.

In a recent Retail Gazette article, a UK phone retailer announced in-store Wi-Fi to allow customers to demo live web surfing when browsing smartphones.   Its actions like these that can make or break a sale.  If product demonstration isn’t the goal, how else can Wi-Fi be leveraged to provide a positive customer experience?  The obvious reasons are price checking and product comparisons but the hidden gem in in-store Wi-Fi is mobile marketing.  Imagine walking into a clothing store and all of a sudden receiving a discount offer on shoes or walking into a supermarket and receiving text coupons on your smartphone.  The ability to advertise, upsell and encourage consumers who walk through the doors and immediately connect to a retailer’s network is huge.

Getting consumers to understand that Wi-Fi is everywhere is undoubtedly a challenge.  But I think for that to happen, retailers will first need to be convinced that it will only add value, if not revenue to their businesses.  Without this penetration, we’ll go on to think that Wi-Fi is only a luxury meant for coffee houses and select restaurants.  Well, judging by the amount of people that buy coffee and sit in a Starbucks for hours on end, I’m sure management at this multi-billion dollar company isn’t complaining that they’re one of the few companies on the block getting people to walk through their doors to buy coffee and use their free Wi-Fi connection.  Time for retailers to take note!

We’re happy to announce that we’ve added support for Blackberry devices.  Easy WiFi is now available on App World.  Hurrah!

This version of Easy WiFi is focused more tightly on the cellular offload problem.  It allows users to automatically connect to the Easy WiFi Network or any other WiFi providers they might use, but it drops the map and certain other niceties.  It’s just amazing how rapidly the mobile world is evolving and how the platform lineup has shifted so dramatically over the last few years.

When we started it was all about Windows Mobile, Windows PC, and Symbian.

Then Symbian started to mean “Nokia”.

Then iPhone appeared and we saw the ascension of the smartphone but WinMo apparently was in the bathroom while everyone was getting ready to go out to the party.  It quickly became iOS, Blackberry and Windows PC and we have to invite Symbian along.

Windows PC goes to the gym and tries to lose some pounds with Atom.

Suddenly Android hits and the lineup is iOS, Blackberry, Android.  Symbian fell off a cliff, and although the PC is still huge the playing field has changed and the Netbook doesn’t allow you entry into the new mobile club.

Today, it’s all about Android and iOS.  Blackberry still is huge as is the PC, but they’re just not at the head of the pack.  WinMo and Symbian are essentially dead.  Windows Phone looks interesting but a niche for now and no momentum.

What’s next?  I don’t know, but I know we’re sick of porting!

We recently decided to deemphasize iOS and withdraw our Easy WiFi apps from the App Store.  Sadly, the iOS platform has become less and less capable of supporting our product and we felt that the functionality had become so marginalized that it frustrated users.  It was doing more harm than good to keep them available.

This is somewhat ironic given that iOS was the first mobile platform we supported.  For a while, Easy WiFi was a top app in the App Store, making it to number 4 in popularity.  We felt like rock stars for a while!  This was during the days when AT&T needed you to jump through hoops to get connected at Starbucks and users quickly discovered we were a one-click solution to that problem.  Soon after, iOS 3.x rolled out and not only made the platform hostile to Easy WiFi (and similar apps from our peers) but AT&T locations gained built-in authentication (via WISPr, for those of you who care).

This wasn’t an easy decision for us.  Apple is very relevant and we certainly feel we have huge value to add.  Their current solution for hotspots – other than the single carrier network – is truly horrible and so, well, un-Apple!  Perhaps they hired some people who designed Windows Vista’s UAC?  My guess is that most iOS users are just so sick of clearing the “auto login” popup that they simply switch WiFi off and stick to cellular, adding further to the carrier data congestion woes.

So, our apologies to those of you out there with iOS, especially the loyal enthusiasts that have helped us with Easy WiFi over the past few years.  We hope to see you again, perhaps on iOS or maybe Android…which is powerful enough to support us fully

We just completed the Q1 survey for our quarterly WiFi Report, where we probe into the opinions of our membership about WiFi.  I thought I would share a few of the interesting findings.

Check these charts out (sorry for the squeezed font size):

Bit of an obvious response, perhaps, given that the survey was done to the Easy WiFi membership, but it’s still a big datapoint for device manufacturers.  With so much attention on 3G connectivity it’s great to know that there’s such demand for WiFi.

So, if users want WiFi enablement, what types of devices do they use today?

Today it’s a PC and smartphone market.  What’s in the shopping wish-list though?

The iPad is a runaway hit with almost 59% of respondents wanting one!  This could have something to do with the survey being conducted right at the peak of the iPad launch, of course.  Number 2 is for digital cameras.  Interesting.  Having lost an SD card full of vacation photos last year I love the idea of photos being stored up on the web!

Check back later for more insights.  If you’re interested in getting a copy of the WiFi Report you can request it here and download older reports immediately.

First the good news: Easy WiFi is back in the Apple App Store.  Yay!  Now the bad news: Easy WiFi is out of Nokia Ovi  Huh?!

Yes, it’s been quite interesting recently with these App Stores.  In the case of Apple, we’ve been out of the store for a while, reworking the app and resubmitting to conform to their every changing policies.  Still, we’re very happy to be back and looking forward to getting some real development done that adds value in a future release.

For Ovi, distribution was halted because of a policy change for products containing encryption.  Quite draconian.  We’re not alone in being impacted, and it’s probably going to take a month or two to sort out.  Meanwhile, Nokia users can download the app directly from us at www.easywifi.com/download.

Although we’ve been quiet for a while, there lot’s of new development activity at Devicescape.  There will be a bunch of new releases coming soon, and you’ll see them first on Android.  See if you can guess why!

Having a user base in excess of one million enthusiastic members gives us a great opportunity to query the habits, desires, and problems facing Wi-Fi users today.  With that in mind, we’ve decided to conduct regular surveys of our membership, where we can ask insightful questions of this leading-edge community.  We plan to conduct the survey quarterly, and publish the results in a piece of original research that we call “The Devicescape Wi-Fi Report”.  Catchy huh?

We conducted our first survey in January and have now published the first Devicescape Wi-Fi report for Q1, 2009.  Some of the things we learned were quite surprising, while others simply confirmed what we already knew.  Here’s a sample of what we learned:

• Most users want Muni Wi-Fi and (surprise!) they’d be willing to pay for it like a utility
• Most users prefer Wi-Fi to 3G and want it built into all phones and bundled with cellular plans
• People like iPhone Wi-Fi best while on the road (no surprise!)

Now that the first one is done, we’re working hard on the Q2 report.  We plan on probing more deeply and hope to invite our friends in the industry to participate through crafting good questions and help promote Wi-Fi issues exposed in the report.  Anyone can make use of the Report, provided that they refer back to Devicescape and don’t sell the data.

If you’re interested in reading more, check out the Devicescape Wi-Fi report at devicescape.com/wifi_report …and do get in touch if you’re interested in participating in future reports.