Advertisements Galore!

I was at work today listening to a young child argue with his parents about getting a cell phone. They were absolutely sure he was too young to have one. Working at Best Buy, I have heard this story a thousand times, but recently I have been thinking about why exactly parents think this way. So today I walked up to these nice people and asked them why they wouldn’t let their son get a phone. Their answer will be the basis of this week’s discussion.

Sue, Keith, and their son, Jeff, didn’t mind answering a few questions for me. The parents’ answer was simple: “He’s not old enough.” Now while this could mean a hundred different things, I asked them to clarify it a bit. The father was the first to speak up. He told me he didn’t want his kid on the phone all hours of the night or talking to people he didn’t approve of.

I immediately thought of LG Electronic’s Migo cellphone that we recently started carrying (read about it here: http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=791). It’s a pretty interesting concept phone. You can sign up for the service through Verizon. It is a simplified cell phone that has 5 parent-programmable buttons on the face. Four numbers can be assigned on the keypad, like “Mom,” “Dad,” “Home,” and “Grandmother.” The final button is an emergency contact button. They thought that was a great idea for a phone until I informed them it still cost as much as a regular cell phone to use. That was the mother’s biggest problem. I had no answer for this until I thought about it for a while.

Why is today’s best and most popular communication tool is so expensive to use? My phone bill every month comes to over $70. Why not introduce an advertisement-based cell phone plan to the market? In a society where advertisements are being placed everywhere from in video games to a boxer’s back, why not create a phone that scrolls an advertisement on the LCD or alternates a logo on the screen? While it would stick out on screen and grab your attention, it wouldn’t take away the functionality of your phone. This would generate revenue for both advertisers and your wireless provider which could help offset the cost of a monthly wireless plan.

It’s not like this hasn’t been successful before. Back when NetZero first launched as the world’s first “free” internet provider, they scrolled banner ads on the browser you were using in order to defer the costs of providing a free internet connection. The company operated using that model for quite some time before switching to a pay-based system. I can also remember the websites that promised to give you money simply for surfing the web (as they rotated an advertisement banner on your computer’s desktop).

Now while I am not advocating a complete overhaul of the mobile phone system, I do think this would allow people who could not afford to sign up for a cell phone in the past to finally get one. Even if the advertisements couldn’t pay for a month of cellular use, it could still help out a bit. Even a few bucks off your bill a month for a few advertisements might be worth it for some people. I’m sure I wouldn’t mind and I'm sure Jeff and his parents wouldn't either.

We might even be able to apply this to broadband or wireless internet access too. Who knows what the future will bring?

Until next week, so long.

Let's play.

Last week I brought up some new internet and wireless technology that will become widely used in the near future. This week I am planning on talking about video games and their integration into the wireless world. I will focus on the rise of upcoming genres and gaming technologies that are constantly being overlooked. There is a lot of money to be made in this area and I believe we will start to see companies take advantage of genre in the next few years.

This is going to be a post that talks about how profitable the online arena will become as well as the way it will allow us all to connect to each other in ways we could have only dreamed about before the introduction of Wi-Fi internet.

Online gaming has been around for a while now. From Role-Playing Games like Ultima Online to Everquest to Party Poker, people have been enjoying competitive videogames all across the globe. China, as well as other Asian countries have instituted laws forbidding more than a few hours of online gaming a day. Online gaming is extremely addictive as well as profitable for the companies behind them. We can see from the success of XBOX’s Live service that online gaming is an extremely lucrative and appealing environment.

Now let’s look at the up-and-coming mobile market. There are three major players right now in the portable gaming world: Cell phones, the Nintendo DS and the Sony Playstation Portable. Both have their own respective features which make them appealing to the gaming crowd and both have the ability to play online over a wireless connection.

Your mobile phone is always connected. It can be updated constantly and receive messages while your play your games. While this is extremely convenient, as a good majority of people over 18 own a cell phone, it is not the best item to play a game on.

The competitors are dedicated gaming machines. They have controls set up specifically for gaming in mind. They also have the wonderful abilities to connect wireless to your home networks so you can play online.

Playstation Portable was the first mobile console to go online. You were able to connect to any Wi-Fi hotspot and play against your friends or strangers. Now while this is a feat of its own, you were also able to chat with people in a “lobby” using an on-screen keypad which resembled a phone keypad layout. This made it possible to communicate with people while you were setting up matches and during gameplay. Soon after the launch of the first games, Sony users were given a web browser which allowed owners to surf the internet and view webpages they would normally only be able to access at home or on a computer.

The Nintendo DS was the next console to venture online. This console has taken online gaming a step farther. Not only are you able to connect wireless to a network and play against friends, you are now able to communicate verbally with each other.

Last May, I attended E3 Expo in Los Angeles. It is an extremely large gaming event which showcases new games and consoles and attracts crowds from all over the world. There I was able to see and test out a voice-over-ip, or VOIP, program which ran on the Nintendo DS console. It was like a cellular phone that used a gaming system to communicate with a built-in microphone instead of an actual phone. It was an extremely ambitious program which showcased the DS’ ability to manipulate wireless networks.

Fast-forward to today. Not only will Nintendo be releasing a version of the Opera internet browser for the DS, but they are now including the VOIP technology in certain games. Metroid Prime: Hunters is the first game to take advantage of this innovation. While you are setting up a match and determining the options for an upcoming online game, you are able to talk to your opponents and friends. You can either trash talk your enemies or encourage teammates. When you finish a match, you can boast about how well you did or make excuses about why you lost. I find it incredible that this tiny machine allows us to talk to up to eight people at a time while playing games.

It appears I am not the only one who is excited about mobile online gaming. According to IGN.com, over one million unique people have logged into Nintendo’s online service. Read about it here: http://ds.ign.com/articles/694/694343p1.html.

Not only does this prove mobile internet access is possible, but that it is extremely popular and many people look forward to using it. This leaves many opportunities open for companies to make money on a technology people are willing to spend on. I shall expand on this a bit more next week.

You can read about Nintendo’s online infrastructure here: http://www.nintendowifi.com

You can read about Sony’s online plan here: http://www.us.playstation.com/psp.aspx