Going mobile, naked and unconnected

So I’m moving house. Not something I have ever done as an adult in the UK. Are my stress levels peaking? Hang on while I pop another Lisinopril and I’ll let you know. But the worst part of it all is being nakedly unconnected during the transition process as my better half and I move towards Dorset’s grand shores.

Gas and Electric can take quite a while to change over, but worst of all is my broadband ISP who tell me that it could be three weeks before the warm lifeblood of the net oozes down my pipe. I won’t name them, but they have the same name as a 1980s pop band who had a hit with It’s My Life – OK?

All this being so, I am considering my options for mobile computing more seriously than ever now. Do I get myself a dongle, do I opt for a MiFi product, should I get second mortgage and bite the bullet to join the iPhone crowd?

Well, all this being so, I reviewed the last couple of mobile developer stories I latched on to and was reminded of the Vodafone App Star competition for developers to have a bash at winning 1 million Euros. The first stage of this programme is closing up at the end of this month and I happen to be tracking the app evolution process. Primarily out of scepticism as I think ‘Best App in Europe’ is way too broad and grand a title or target – and secondly out of genuine interest.

Will something truly wonderful emerge from this kind of event that makes me realise I could go native in the mobile wilderness while I wait for my ISP to get its act in gear? I’m not expecting the next Twitter, but I do want something essentially useable at the core – my worry is that people (yes, developers even) will want to try and get fancy to impress the judges and functionality may go out the window.

NB: Vodafone, no need to email me and tell me that core functionality and usability are key among your judging criteria OK? We’ll take that as read.

Moving onto a positive note, I was impressed to see that a group of companies in this space including Vodafone are trying to do something about core usability by addressing the problem of diverging technologies. With so many apps from almost every device manufacturer, even the operators themselves are getting involved as they feel they too can bring a lot to the apps party through their understanding of their customers’ buying habits and preferences.

This may be true it does lead to even more fragmentation in the market, making developers continuously need to redesign and adapt their apps for each platform.

Vodafone says that, “Recognising that fragmentation is generally bad for the industry a number of operators across the globe – namely Vodafone, Verizon, China Mobile and Softbank – formed the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) two years ago to provide developers with a simple route to market, open standards, cross platform capability and a global reach of over 1 billion people.”

Well if this momentum continues and we see a few more standards put in place, I think I would be ready to invest in some rather more cutting edge mobile technologies. The last two times I tried to use my Linux netbook in hotels I could not connect, while my PC packin’ pals were surfing away happily. We do need more standards.

So with all of that said, if you happen to find me blogging away from the local Weatherspoon’s pub next week using their free Wi-Fi and ordering cheap cheeseburgers – you’ll know that I got to Dorset by am still roaming naked and unconnected.