Mobilize

GigaOM’s Next-Generation Mobile Conference

September 18, 2008

Mission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco, CA

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What is Mobilize?

Developed by award-winning technology writer Om Malik and resident technologist Surj Patel, the Mobilize conference will inform the entrepreneurial community about opportunities in the next phase of the mobile web.

Industry-leading speakers will share their unique perspectives with participants, guiding them through the emerging opportunities. The conference will feature the best technologies, the key thought leaders and the most innovative, inspiring startups.

Prepare for the Next Wave of Mobility

The iPhone, love it or hate it, represents a watershed moment in the wireless industry. Apple, with its flair for designing great products, convinced carriers around the globe to ante up some of their power in hopes of winning business based on a better customer experience. And the bet paid off handsomely, for consumers and carriers alike. But the iPhone is not the only future of the mobile web.

The iPhone's success has catalyzed the entire mobile industry's shift toward working to exploit the opportunities avaiable when usability, industrial design and network services converge in one attractive package.

Raising the stakes further is next-gen wireless broadband technology. As adoption has spread, these technologies are reaching a price point at which tapping into pent-up consumer demand is profitable for providers.

But let us not forget that success creates problems: Recent deployments of next-gen networks have highlighted backhaul problems, the new network technologies' have experienced connectivity and availability issues, and spiraling costs for providing service to handsets has had an impact on carrier profitability. The lack of suitable content management and both delivery and supporting infrastructure have slowed location-based services, even in the face of pent-up demand. These are all current problems, but each is also a valuable opportunity for the right entrepreneur.

To take maximum advantage of the opportunities being presented, you need to understand the context and why these challenges matter to your business. New technologies are being hailed as the next best investment. But what do these technologies do? What do they mean in real-world terms for consumers and vendors? What else is needed or is presently missing? Which trends should your organization be following—and which should it ignore?

Signals of Change

Some of the signals of change we have spotted are:

Astronomical rise in data usage for iPhone owners compared to other smartphone-like devices, regardless of carrier.
Growing lack of faith in WiMAX and rising interest in LTE
Mounting questions about 3G's profitability
Rise of the mobile browser as an OS for mobile apps
Developing nations vying to be the first to deploy WiMAX and LTE

Who is Behind Mobilize?

Mobilize 08 is chaired by Om Malik, Editor in Chief of the GigaOM Network, and GigaOM technologist Surj Patel. GigaOM is widely considered the authoritative tech blog site for discovering what's new, relevant and interesting in the dynamic world of technology. The site covers broadband, VoIP, IPTV, wireless and mobile, venture capital and other new technologies with signature intelligence, candor and irreverence. Giga Omni Media provides a portfolio of leading titles in the entrepreneurial and technology markets.