2008-10-06 00:00:00
Simplicity is the priority for handset owners, a conference discussing the future of the mobile phone has concluded.
Industry leaders in digital technology met earlier this week to discuss the commercial opportunities surrounding the services and devices which support new mobile internet technology platforms such as Apple's iPhone, Android from Google and Nokia's Symbian.
The event was organised by mashup*, a membership-based organisation of executives, entrepreneurs and investors affected by and working within the commercial application of digital technology, products and services.
Tom Hume, managing director of Future Platforms, a software company that specialises in mobile product development for the likes of Nokia, Orange, Channel 4 and the BBC, was one of the guest speakers to address the gathering.
He said: "For all the talk of Google, Apple or others stepping in to fix the fragmentation which afflicts the mobile industry, the problem is getting worse, not better.
"Mobile isn't a single medium: it's a bewildering range of opportunities: SMS, MMS, mobile web, J2ME, Symbian, Flash, Silverlight, Android, iPhone. How can we cope with this increasing complexity?"
Tony Fish, co-founder of mashup* and an author of the book Mobile Web 2.0, thinks...