The big mobile data shift has occurred: people now use their cell phones more for data than for calls. According to The New York Times, there’s been a 50% increase in certain areas. This is a major changeover for the utilization of mobile devices, making it an important point for wireless service providers to consider. Every aspect of the mobile industry will, in fact, have to consider this change, as it determines the economic factors surrounding its future.

We’ve seen an explosion in the number of smart phones that are being released and sold on a regular basis. It’s beginning to get difficult to keep up with the improving features of each new mobile phone that emerges on the market. With the advanced technology of these smart phones, it’s also easier to incorporate things like applications and media, thanks to larger storage and faster precessing. The success of application markets like the iTunes App Store are proof that this economy opportunity is booming.

But can the wireless providers keep up? Companies such as AT&T and Verizon are pressuring each other to stay on top of trends, pushing 3G and 4G networks and flat-rate data plans. The speed with which consumers are now using data transfers through their phone has increased in the past few years has alerted the wireless providers to the future of consumer behavior. They believe that continuing at the current rate will be unsupportable in the long run. Both AT&T and Verizon are looking to restructure their data plan offerings in order to charge according to usage, rather than a flat rate.

This takes the mobile industry in a possible new direction, with service providers creating a new price wars around data plans instead of the number of minutes you receive. More and more, the cell phone companies are getting into the business of data transfer, and that will require a new shift all its own. This could affect the prices consumers end up paying, which will be another factor to consider before purchasing a new smart phone.

Tie that in with the increase in patent law suits regarding mobile device technology and manufacturing, and another price war could erupt in another area of the mobile industry. The downside is that this could intermittently increase prices consumers have to pay. The upside is that this is the natural course of business, and will likely affect consumer prices to a significant extent. If anything, these growing pains will continue to make prices cheaper.

So now that we have shifted our remote communication preference from the phone call to the tweet, we must also think of how that affects our relationships, business practices and marketing. Finding a happy balance between face-to-face interaction and the digital world will lend to a great utilization of mobile devices.

Yes, companies are still working on finding the best way to push location-based mobile advertising. AT&T is getting ready to launch buzz.com, which will be a location-aware mobile search tool. Complete with recommendations from friends and the service, along with polling options and access to reviews, Buzz.com is something of a Yelp competitor. As location-aware apps and options on mobile phones increase in popularity and feature sets, AT&T is hoping to get in on the good fortune.

Location-aware mobile advertising has been on the horizon for years now, with companies aiming to integrate several phone options into the mobile ad structure. Getting businesses to participate by offering mobile coupons or other rlevant discounts has been a huge part of the struggle, leaving companies such as AT&T with few incentives to offer mobile users.

The rapid growth of mobile app markets and the increased adoption rate of smart phones has made all of the above far easier, especially as consumers are now turning directly to their phones in order to find information and directions to nearby venues.

The idea of tapping into one’s social graph to receive the best information is also a tactic that has already been employed by other services, but for AT&T, Buzz.com is aiming to be a step above the rest. While Buzz.com won’t be creating its own social network, it will turn to existing connections through email and social networks, most likely Facebook and Twitter.

The ability to do so has also helped companies like AT&T fulfill their desire to create a useful application based on a mobile user’s location. As AT&T already has YellowPages.com, it’s also likely that the phone service provider will also tie in some of its data to the new Buzz.com project. Building on existing databases in this way also makes i easier for AT&T to implement Buzz.com.

As I mentioned yesterday, several companies are building businesses and mobile apps around a user’s location. Mapping tools, search layers and filters, and other location-aware features have made GPS into a power-feature, bearing several methods for helping consumers navigate their surroundings. It seems as though most mobile apps can be wrapped in a location-aware setting, giving rise to a more tangible connection between mobile users and their device.

For advertising purposes, the encouragement around location-aware mobile apps means big money. Having the ability to better target consumers means getting even more information on things like their location and purchasing activity. What some of these mobile apps are doing is creating a rather exact profile of individual users, making it far easier to dig into demographic data and create marketing opportunities that are highly personal.

AppleInsider is reporting the rumor that Verizon may be getting the iPhone by Q3 of next year.

Qualcomm’s new hybrid CDMA/WCDMA chip offers the potential for a single, global iPhone that users can take to any major carrier, solving the network fractionalization problem. It also solves other issues that had served as roadblocks, including the issue of user confusion that would result from Apple selling separate CDMA and GSM/UMTS versions of the iPhone.

With one phone that works on both types of networks, any differences between the two (such as in features like conference calling and simultaneous voice and data, unique to UMTS) will be more apparently tied to the provider’s network rather than to an iPhone model itself.

They’re also reporting that the Verizon iPhone will be smaller (more like the Eris in size, I imagine), with a screen size of 2.8″.

The end of AT&T exclusivity means a couple of things:

• If you were waiting for the iPhone to switch to Verizon so you can hightail it away from AT&T, your dreams may be coming to fruition.
• If you were going to get a Droid or Eris because you wanted an iPhone-like phone, but didn’t want to leave the Verizon network, you might want to wait.

Why wait? Well, if what you really want is an iPhone on Verizon, you might not want to pay the early termination fee. Boy Genius reported last week that Verizon is upping their ETF for enhanced devices to $350. That’s a hefty price to pay, even pro-rated, to switch phones. The new ETF apparently goes into effect on Saturday, 11/15. I’m bothered enough that I’m sending my husband into Verizon on Friday, before I get home, to pick up my Droid. After all, there’s a huge chance I’ll switch phones within the next year or two.

I’m curious to see how many people leave AT&T once the iPhone is available on multiple carriers.

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From my various mobile-oriented posts, you know that I’ve been playing with a lot of Verizon phones. In the beginning, I was pretty convinced that I was going to end up with a Pre no matter what. But Verizon has very smartly kept me testing out phones until the one they knew I’d want was released. I’m amazingly excited about the the new Motorola Android phone coming out at the end of the month. It’s been called the Sholes and the Tao, and they finally settled on Droid.

Verizon has really taken square aim at AT&T and the iPhone with their most recent ad campaigns. “There’s a map for that” makes me laugh routinely, considering how lousy my own AT&T service is. It’s worth noting that I have perfectly fine AT&T service – unless I’m in California, Ohio, and Kentucky. It was fine in Florida over the weekend.

But the ad campaign I’m really enamored by is the iDon’t/Droid Does campaign. They take on the iPhone and manage to cover everything I don’t like about my own iPhone (which are things that are perfect for other folks).

An Ad Age article wonders at whom the ads are aimed.

If the product and its message are crafted for a geeky and tech-savvy audience, though, the media buy is so far suggesting otherwise. Given how deep the commercial drills into the ways the iPhone falls short, experts said the messaging would mainly resonate with those in the deep know about the handset’s capabilities, which excludes the vast majority of people, iPhone owners included. These folks aren’t reading blogs about the latest and greatest smartphones, they said. Yet Verizon’s broadcasting of the message to viewers of a baseball playoff suggests the No. 1 wireless carrier wants to stir anticipation among a mainstream audience.

My gut feeling is that the ads are aimed at me: early adopters/geeks who are dissatisfied with their iPhones. There are enough of us. In fact, I think Verizon is banking on the fact that they have such a good network and that geeks everywhere will be interested in combining that network with an Open Source mobile phone. We’ll see how that pans out for Verizon.

What do you think about the new Droid ads? Interested in the new Motorola device? I have my fingers crossed I’ll be using one of these at the Social Media World Forum in November.

All sorts of announcements came out today, the gist of which is that Google Voice is coming to a phone near you.

We’ll start with perhaps the biggest news. Mashable is reporting that AT&T is confirming it has “taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network. Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity.” What that means is, if Apple approves it, the network is ready to run Google Voice on the iPhone (as well as Skype and other VOIP-enabled apps).  Rumors abound that AT&T might make an official announcement at CITA, which starts tomorrow in San Diego.

Verizon isn’t far behind, and I suspect this is a little of what pushed AT&T into their confirmation today. Google and Verizon recently announced a partnership for Verizon to carry Android-based (Google) phones. The first one, the supposedly named Tao, is rumored to be released at the end of this month. (I can tell you right now that I’m buying that phone.)

Today, Lowell McAdams, Verizon Wireless’s CEO, stated that the first two Google phones will be available this year and that they will include Google Voice. According to the Wall Street Journal, Eric Schmidt of Google had a great quote:

Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, hailed Verizon’s data network and scale and said that the carrier’s openness “was, frankly, enormously surprising, given the history and the old-line nature of telcos.”

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This just in…AT&T has set the launch date for MMS support for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers on September 25.

According to the official AT&T fan page on Facebook, “We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.”

The company also attempted to explain its tardiness in offering a common service already pervasive on other mobile platforms, “The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.”

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Today you get a post expressing my absolute anger and frustration at AT&T Wireless.

It’s no secret I’m no fan of their service, considering I can’t use my phone in my house or really on my street. Suburban Cincinnati is obviously a No-Service-Area for them. But my upcoming trip to Alaska has me really frustrated. According to the coverage map, I’ll have no service in the cities we’ll be visiting, although my husband’s Sprint phone will be fine. (Verizon also covers our locations.)

I will be gone for two of the next 6 weeks in a place with no AT&T service. My contract ends in only 6 weeks. My early termination fee? $175. I’ll tell you what – it’s almost worth it.

But here’s the real kicker. I contracted with AT&T 4 years ago when I got my Blackberry. The service was Cingular and was excellent, actually. I never had a problem. When I got the Gen 1 iPhone in 2007, I stayed as Cingular morphed into AT&T. And my service degraded exponentially.

If I’d purchased a phone from AT&T last May, I would then be offered a pro-rated Early Termination Fee, which at this point would be around $20 or so. But since I’ve been a long-time customer, I’m punished. No pro-rating for me, which makes absolutely no sense in my head. According to the Customer Service rep, I didn’t ask for that contract. What? Can I have it now? No.

I’ve talked to 3 different Customer Service reps today, all of whom were very used to angry customers and none of whom really cared nor offered to try to change anything. Shouldn’t an angry customer be worth helping? Even if I’m considering leaving, don’t they want the good customer service karma from making things easy? If it was easy, I’d tell the world about the great service I received from AT&T and maybe come back earlier when I had iPhone envy. Instead, I’m telling the world how horrible they are.

Of course, I have always felt that providers should offer to pay at least half of the ETF when you’re switching. For instance, I really want to take a Palm Pre with me to Alaska, but I can’t afford all the new fees from Sprint, plus the phone, plus $175 to AT&T. Sprint should run a special that covers half of the ETF when you switch. That would actually help drive business, I would think, especially since Sprint needs the business. I’ve never understood why carriers don’t offer some sort of ETF package to encourage switching.

Of course, I don’t understand why AT&T is punishing me for being a long-time customer either. Any way you look at it, I end up a bit screwed.

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by Michelle Lentz

There’s a fair amount of buzz about the Palm Pre launch and when it might actually occur. You see, the closer we get to June, the closer we get to the iPhone 3.0 announcement, which will turn all the blogs into all-iPhone-all-the-time. Based on previous years, it will again be all-iPhone-all-the-time in July when the new iPhone launches. (I’m sort of glad I’ll be on vacation in July.)

By continually avoiding release date talk, other than “first half of 2009,” Palm seriously risks losing a lot of marketing time to the latest iPhone launch. Apparently, a lot of folks expected the Pre to launch last week. The next guesstimated date is May 17. Mid-may would at least give Palm a couple weeks of attention before all eyes shift to Apple.

Both Palm and Sprint need the Pre to help revive their flagging businesses. According to AdAge, Sprint & Palm have enough problems without creating new ones:

Survey results released by ChangeWave last week suggest that the Pre will have to deal with Sprint’s image problem as a second-tier carrier with poor customer service. In a survey of 4,292 cellphone owners, 17% said Sprint is the top reason they will not consider the Pre. Incidentally, the same percentage said they won’t buy an iPhone because of AT&T. But Sprint is no AT&T. It’s struggling to keep its 49 million customers, while its bigger rival is growing its 77 million subscriber base.

I fall into that latter category by the way, I’m itching to get my hands on a Palm Pre and leave my horrid AT&T service (and equally bad customer service) behind. AT&T is apparently a little worried too – and they’re just good sales people. An internal AT&T document has leaked that provides talking points on how the iPhone is better than the Palm Pre. I would beg to differ with a couple of the points, but at least AT&T has talking points. I have my fingers crossed that, upon release, Sprint sales folks can tell me how the Pre is better than my iPhone and how to effectively sync the Pre with my Mac.

A recent post by 24/7 Wall Street lists Palm as one of the 12 brands most likely to disappear in the next year, partially because of its partnership with Sprint.

Recent research shows that almost no one who owns an Apple (AAPL) iPhone or RIM (RIMM) Blackberry will switch to the new smartphone, so Palm will have to essentially expand the market to get share for its new device during a recession.  The “Pre” will also be sold exclusively though Sprint (S), the No.3 cellular carrier in the US which has been losing subscribers consistently for more than two years. The launch of the “Pre” is a disaster in the making.  … The bottom line is that Palm has no chance of getting an even modest part of the smartphone market in a severe economic downturn since it competes with two of the premier technology companies in the world—Apple and RIM. Palm won’t be in business in a year.

Palm is expected to drive the advertising and has hired Modernista for the campaign. (Modernista did the “Skittles thing” before Skittles did.) But I wouldn’t put Sprint out for advertising either. One of my favorite commercials at the moment, one that I’ll stop the DVR and watch, is the new Sprint commercial with the 3-D Twitter birds, some humor, and the shot of the Pre at the end.

What do you think Palm and Sprint’s chances are?

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