To be honest, I do not like to post “I am too tired/uninspired/busy/ill to blog” entries when real world events keeps me from updating this blog. Especially if you have to post them too often – then you probably should not be blogging. Nevertheless, from time to time I have to resort to such posts, simply to get something out.

Now is such a time.

At work the activity level quickly reached the same intensity as before Christmas and on the home front, both my girlfriend and youngest daughter have been down all week with a bad case of the flu.

I figured I would take this opportunity to blog a bit about current mobile-related projects at work.

Recipe SMS service for GØL

With Danish sausage makers, ‘GØL’ (part of Tulip Food Company) we have just launched an SMS-based recipe service. During the coming weeks, each week a new recipe will be promoted in supermarkets. The recipe will be promoted in-store, right next to the type of sausages are used for the recipe. The promotional material inform shoppers how to get hold of the recipe right then and there by sending a text message.

If you have a SIM for a Danish operator, you can try out the service by sending a text message to shortcode ‘1204’ with the text GØL (keyword), followed by a space and a number between 1 and 6, e.g. ‘GØL 2’. The SMS service is linked to GØL’s web site where the recipes are also shown – see image to the right.

The service is quite basic and low-tech, but IMHO this sort of service has a lot of potential. Partly because the service is offered at the right time and place (I think most people have experienced roaming a supermarket late in the afternoon, trying to decide on what to have for dinner), partly because the mobile phone is very immediate and ready-at-hand for a service at that time and place.

MMS video upload competition for Läkerol

For Läkerol we are in the process of launching a campaign consisting of a competition, based on video clips submitted by MMS. Consumers participate by recording a “fun” video clip, which they then send to shortcode ‘1204’ using keyword ‘SJOV’. The submitted video clips are collected and displayed on a campaign site – erdusjov.dk – where visitors are able to rate the funniness of individual clips. At the end of the campaign, the highest rated clips wins a prize.

We have done similar services in the past – e.g. for Läkerol and Jensen’s Bøfhus – but a few things make this latest campaign a bit more sophisticated and thus interesting. First, we have not used video before – the other campaign were based on images – and second, we have used an online video sharing service – Vimeo – to collect the submitted video clips.

I really like the technical setup for this campaign: MMS with attached video clip is sent to our mobile messaging gateway and transferred to our campaign-specific service, which then extracts the video clip, and uploads it to an Vimeo Plus account. The campaign site – erdusjov.dk – pulls the videos from Vimeo, puts them out on a page, and enables visitors to rate clips. Pretty nifty, if you ask me.

Two things I am not too happy about. As most readers will probably be aware, the quality of MMS video is very poor. It is too bad the MMS specification has not been brought up to speed with mobile phone camera and network capabilities. The campaign site is all flash, which I personally dislike. I think a site with HTML done proper would be both nicer and more functional. I guess there must be something about flash that just attracts advertizing agencies like moths to a flame.

After installing the Samsung Software Updater (SSU - part of Samsung’s PC Studio 7) I checked to see, if Samsung had released a new firmware revision for the INNOV8, but the I8510XXHJ3 firmware my INNOV8 was born was listed as the most recent.

It seems the first job for SSU has been to roll out the I8510XXHJ3 firmware for all regional variants of the INNOV8. To ensure all are in line and ready for a firmware revision that will hopefully bring about major changes.

Maybe this new revision is being rolled out as I write this.

Just yesterday in the samsungi8510.com forum, I noticed a user reporting having updated his INNOV8 to firmware revision I8510XXHJ4 – dated 19/11/2008. See this post and the thread onwards.

The I8510XXHJ3 firmware is dated 07/10/2008 so if the I8510XXHJ4 report is true, new firmware has been released.

I will update this post as more information becomes available.

***** UPDATE DEC. 28TH *****

“papa_jo” – the forum user who reported having the I8510XXHJ4 firmware mentioned above – has now posted a follow-up in the samsungi8510.com forum.

According to “papa_jo” the HJ4 firmware not only fixes the problem with audio being out of sync in video recordings, but some of the camera settings that previously had to be re-set every time the camera was used, can now be stored. One example is GPS geotagging.

For some time I have been keeping an eye on MMS. In part because I suspect something is up with MMS, but also because some experiences with MMS made me start a post about the future of MMS six months ago.

When introduced, MMS – Multimedia Message Service – was somehow envisioned to replace SMS. “Same as SMS…but with pictures”. Only it never has. Actually, MMS traffic volume has been ridiculously low in comparison to the volume of SMS traffic. From time to time the discussion of whether MMS is a technological dead end pops up – for instance when the original iPhone (and the subsequent iPhone 3G) was introduced without MMS support.

I believe in MMS, but I do not believe in it as an replacement of SMS (that is the subject of the aforementioned, other post). Recently, a couple of data points have come to my attention, which suggest there is in fact a case for MMS.

MMS STATISTICS

The first data point is the most recent Telecom statistics report for the first half of 2008, published by the Danish National IT and Telecom Agency. AS can be seen from the graph below, MMS traffic is clearly picking up. Comparing the traffic volume of the first half of 2008 to the volume of the second half of 2007, traffic increased by 40 %. Comparing year on year, traffic grew by 89 % between the first half of 2007 and the first half of 2008.

Danish MMS traffic, 2003-2008

In comparison, SMS traffic grew moderately – 7 % HoH and 11 % YoY (using SMS statistics from the same report). Of course, the number of sent MMS messages continues to be just a tiny fraction of the number of sent SMS messages – less than 0.5 % – but the rate of growth is high.

The other data point is a little closer to home since it is based on the message traffic handled by my employer, OnlineCity. As can be seen from the figure included below, data confirms the Telecom statistics report. MMS traffic increased more than 2.5 times between the first and second half of 2008. Comparing the second half of 2008 with the second half of 2007 shows even bigger growth – traffic increased by more than 350 %.

SMS and MMS growth rates - second half of 2008

During the same period, SMS traffic doubled, which suggests the traffic handled by OnlineCity has increased in general. Still, the much higher growth rate for MMS indicates something is happening here in particular.

I think there are three main seasons why MMS traffic is growing:

BETTER HANDSET SUPPORT

One of the fundamental MMS show stoppers for end users has been that MMS did not work out of the box. Unlike SMS, MMS had to be set up manually –configuring data packet access points etc.. That has slowly been changing and most handsets are now capable of simply working out the proper network settings by themselves, when first turned on with a SIM card inserted.

A case in point: I recently got my mom a new phone. and much to my surprise, I received a picture on a MMS from her a few days later. When handing over the new phone to my mom, I only explained basic stuff like sending SMS, using the camera – I had not explained or set up MMS. If my mom can work out how to send MMS, so can a lot of other people.

CHEAPER TRAFFIC TARIFS

In general, the cost of sending a MMS message has decreased over the past 12 to 18 months. Also, a critical mass of subscribers now have flat rate, all-you-can-eat SMS and MMS included with their plans.

In Denmark, MMS is slowly loosing its reputation as something terribly expensive.

MOBILE MARKETING AND INFORMATION SERVICES

As end users have been discovering MMS, marketers and service providers have become aware of MMS as a viable communication channel and technology.

Not very long ago clients would look at you dumbfounded (possibly with suspicion), if you suggested to base activities on MMS. It used to be a hard sell, but the snowball has started rolling – everyone can now point to their own, or other’s, campaigns and explain how company X has successfully employed MMS.

Online communities, information services and mobile marketing now use MMS as a standard way for users/consumers to contribute content.

Within mobile marketing, MMS is used increasingly to send advertisements to consumers – MVNO Blyk is a case in point.

Within mobile marketing and mobile payment, MMS is being used to issue coupons and tickets. For instance Strongbow cider on flirtomatic.com, and Swedish beverage brand “Festis”.

I have another post coming up with some thoughts on MMS and I am convinced MMS will be an even bigger hit in 2009.

Great news indeed, although the information I have is rather sketchy. So this is basically a “heads up”:

1. Samsung now has a system in place for updating firmware on the INNOV8
2. Samsung has released an official firmware update for the INNOV8

It appears the version number of the released firmware is I8510XXHJ3. This version is apparently from October (see how Samsung firmware versioning works) and it is the firmware my INNOV8 arrived with (I8510XXHJ3/I8510L03XEEHJ1 - so no update for me).

Unlike Nokia’s Software Updater, which is a stand alone application, the Samsung Software Updater (SSU) comes as part of Samsung’s PC Studio. It seems the SSU application has only just been added to the latest PC studio version – v. 7.7.1.47.8 (ver. 7.0). The installation file is multi lingual/region, but here are two links for downloading:

1. Download Samsung PC Studio from Danish Samsung support site.
2. Download Samsung PC Studio from UK Samsung support site.

Since my INNOV8 ran latest firmware I have no idea how the actual update process works, but checking to see if new firmware is available, is very similar to NSU:

1. Install PC Studio.
2. Start PC Studio – it will prompt you to connect INNOV8 to PC.
3. I connected using the USB cable – Windows detects the INNOV8 and installs drivers.
4. SSU is one of the options in the main menu of PC Studio.
5. Launching it starts a step-wise process very similar to NSU (see image above).

I am hoping the current firmware release is a sort of test and that a major revision is in the works. Since my INNOV8 runs on the I8510XXHJ3 version currently being distributed, I know it has quite a few bugs – including the annoying audio sync problem with video recordings.

Source: All About Symbian forum via  samsungi8510.com user forum.

Very soon after getting the INNOV8 I decided I was going to need some sort of pouch for it. It is a bit too large to carry in a pocket…my pockets anyway.

Because I am very happy with the pouch from PDair I got for my Nokia N95-1, I checked to see, if PDair maybe had the same type of pouch for the INNOV8.

They did, and I immediately ordered one. It also turned out PDair carries screen protectors for the INNOV8 and I got one of those as well. Interesting to see, if it is as good as the ones from Martin Fields I usually swear by.

The pouch is made of very good quality black leather, and has white stitching, as can be seen on the images in this post. It has a belt clip and the top flap opens and closes with magnetic studs. The name “PDair” is embossed on the front of the pouch.

One of the things I really like about the PDair pouch for the N95-1 is that when the N95 is kept in the pouch, it is possible to access both the charger connector and the 3.5 mm AV connector. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the INNOV8 pouch, because both these connectors are located directly underneath the pouch flap.

Some “pouchography”:

The PDair pouch comes in a neat cardboard box

Security flap locks using magnetic studs

The pouch is lined with white stitching

The pouch came in an envelope with nice, colorful stamps

One of things I was wondering about when I decided to get the INNOV8, was how compatible it would be with all things S60: applications, themes and such.

So last weekend – after having the INNOV8 for about two weeks – I installed a theme I have previously been using on both my Nokia N95, a N82 and my 6220 Classic (this theme). Very much to my liking, the theme installed without any problems, and it also worked as it should.

But then, after a few days, I noticed I had to charge the INNOV8 every single day. I mean, if I charged the battery in the evening (say from 9 PM to midnight), the battery would be completely dead/drained by the late afternoon, or early evening of the following day.

BTW, how come charging the INNOV8 takes so long? …3 hours or more…why? It only takes about one hour to charge my Nokias with similar size batteries.

I observed this quick draining of the battery although I did not use the phone much. Lately, I have been very busy at work, leaving little time to get my freak on and geek out with the INNOV8. I would say a typical day's usage last week comprised sending and receiving 2 or 3 text messages, 20-30 minutes of listening to music (using builtin music player), 5 to 10 minutes web browsing, and maybe a short 1 or 2 minute call.

I am serious, the phone would be dead with within 24 hours. The most shocking thing is that I turn my INNOV8 offline at night (between 23:59 and 07:30 to be precise). That is right, even with the phone being offline for about 7,5 hours, and very moderate use, the phone would go dead in less than 24 hours.

I kept this up for several days, because I wanted to make absolutely sure my observation was correct. At about the same time I installed the theme, I also made some other changes to the phone settings.

Finally on Thursday night – when the INNOV8 died on my yet again - I decided to switch back to one of the preinstalled themes, and see if would make any difference.

Boy did it! I am writing this late in the night (2 AM) on Sunday, and the battery indicator has only dropped two bars since being charged Thursday night – despite a busy evening with company Christmas party on Friday, during which I used the camera a lot (!).

I can only speculate why using a 3rd party theme drains the INNOV8’s battery so fast. Maybe there are differences between how the preinstalled themes, and other themes, interplay with OS UI processes? In the sense that when using one of the preinstalled themes, these processes can shut down (or idle), but when using a 3rd party theme, they run at full blast? I do know, but it would explain the very noticeable difference in power consumption. 

Searching for a way to fix this problem, I noted how there seems to be many different ways to make Firefox freeze, but I did manage to find help fixing the problem.

Fix: I found this mozillaZine knowledgebase article and used its instructions for manually resetting the download folder:

- Opened the list of application settings by typing in 'about:config' in the address bar.

- Typed in ‘browser.download’ in the Filter Box.

- Reset the browser.download.dir; browser.download.downloaddir; and browser.download.lastdir values to some default directory, that I was 100% sure existed.

- Restarted Firefox – everything works fine now.

about:config list of Firefox application settings

I suspect the problem was caused by the value of browser.download.lastdir pointing to a no-longer connected network drive.

But I get to do neither of those – instead I get to work like there is no tomorrow. For the past few months we have been extremely busy at work, which is both a good and a bad thing. It is mostly good because most activities are related to mobile. It is bad because it leaves me with little time to geek out with phones.

Really, I cannot believe how the demand for mobile services – mobile marketing in particular – has gone through the roof. Despite global financial crisis, economic recession and all. In fact, I think the financial crisis is in part causing this increased demand for mobile marketing services.

IN the face of hard economic times, businesses everywhere need to focus all parts of their activities and is appears the “mobile is good” message has really gotten through. Also mobile marketing in many respects gives the most bang for the buck.

I personally believe the first half of 2009 will be incredible in this respect.

Back to work – I will be back in force if/when the Xmas crunch ends at some point.

Just a short news flash really…

Even though the Samsung INNOV8 is not officially supported, the Kaywa Reader never the less both installs and works just fine – you just need to download the reader for another phone make and model.

If you like 2D barcodes (a.k.a response codes, mobile codes, matrix code) like I do, you probably know the Kaywa Reader. If not, it is great – the Kaywa Reader supports several types of content like URL’s, email addresses, phone numbers, SMS links and more.

Unfortunately, there is no version of the Kaywa Reader for the Samsung i8510 INNOV8, so officially, it is not supported. I found out by opening reader.kaywa.com in my INNOV8's browser. Just for the heck of it, I decided to try my luck with a version for a different phone and I chose the one for the Nokia 6220 Classic.

The INNOV8 and the 6220 Classic both run Symbian OS S60 3rd edition, Feature Pack 2 so I figured this would be the best bet for something that worked with the INNOV8.

It did and if you want the Kaywa Reader on your INNOV8 handset, just open reader.kaywa.com in the browser and choose to download the Nokia 6220 version.

Link: reader.kaywa.com