July 25, 2007 Roundup

Courtesy of Gizmodo comes this post that Helio is providing ActiveSync and Exchange Support for Helio Ocean users for "only" an extra $10 a month. This is on top of the all-you-can-eat data plan that all users receive. Before I lay the smackdown on Helio for trying to gouge customers for every last $ of ARPU, I must note that Verizon (the king of trying to milk as much revenue from each and every customer possible) also charges extra for syncing Exchange email on top of the unlimited data plan. As a consumer, what's the point of an "all-you-can-eat" plan if you need to pay extra to access Exchange? It's not like the carrier has to do anything on the enterprise side to make it happen. Just an another example of how the carriers have us customers "best interests" in mind. Oh yeah....

On the subject of the huge potential of the China mobile market, Thomas Husson at JupiterResearch posts that according to China's Ministry of Information, the country ended June with 501.64 million mobile users. Wowza! Husson makes an interesting point that with so many users, China "has now reached critical mass to impose its own" mobile standards if it wanted to. "I put it to you, Greg," but why shouldn't China throw its weight around to make sure it has a say in the future of mobility?

Other analysts in the news for July 25:

• Thomas Husson at JupiterResesarch about iPhone in Europe
• Mark Mulligan at JupiterResearch and Nitesh Patel at Strategy Analytics via BusinessWeek about Battle of the Mobile Brands
• Paul Brown and David Kerr at Strategy Analytics about Nokia N95 and Apple iPhone Raise the Bar for Mobile Multimedia
• Dean Bubley at Disruptive Analysis, Informa analyst Paul Merry, Gartner's Bob Hafner and Dr Alastair Brydon and Margaret Hopkins at Analysys via ZDNet UK about Understanding obstacles to convergence
• Michael Gartenberg at JupiterResearch via Top Tech News about Nokia Buys Media-Sharing Service Twango
• Gartner Group analyst Carolina Milanesi and Jean Philippe Bouchard at IDC via RED HERRING about Nokia Does the Twango
• Shaw Wu at American Technology Research and Piper Jaffray, analyst Gene Munster via MarketWatch
about Despite iPhone hype, Mac, iPod sales to dominate Apple report
• Julie Ask at JupiterResearch and Charles Golvin at Forrester Research via the Houston Chronicle about Houston company ends its video venture
• Ben Wood at CCS Insight via Reuters about Nokia looks to Web for new revenue streams