>
> The R380 was supposed to be a closed platform too because Ericsson cut
> costs by using a processor without an MMU (hence no memory
> protection). However, the application installation code was never
> removed from the synchronisation system. So you can put applications
> on there - though building them is another matter, as there is
> obviously no SDK. I wonder if the same is true for this Fujitsu
> phone.
Maybe you hack it but anyway they have tried to stop any software
customization for the average user .
> <snip>
>> Nokia has done a bold decision by not supporting DRM on
>> N-Gage and by supporting MP3 and AAC. It it clear that
>> they see a quiet different market in EU than Japan.
>
> Symbian OS doesn't currently have the architecture for DRM, and I
> don't think they're going to get a lot of fast action games written in
> Java, so they didn't have a lot of choice there.
Actually the official answer from Nokia was that by their market
research a music player in the phone must be MP3 or AAC based.
So I do not know if this is just a technical issue. This could be also
because there is Microsoft behind DRM and DRM services
are quiet a failure in terms of volume. So there is not really yet a
market for payed music and no sense at all in helping MS in
the content business.
I know that a new version of MPEG4 will integrate rights
management so maybe the mobile industry is waiting
for an open standard to avoid too much control in MS
hands.
>
>> By the end it is interesting analyzing the user behavior of the
>> Europeans and Japanese but this could be not enough.
>>
>> As Interactive TV based on a controlled network and well
>> defined business model has totally failed with huge
>> investments and today DVX is the standard de-facto
>> for movie distribution over the internet. (Think also
>> MP3).
> <snip>
>
> I think you mean DivX, which is just an implementation of MPEG 4.
> This is the very same encoding used on many mobile phones.
Yes sorry DivX this is the SMS effect. :-)
Yes it is an implementation of MPEG4 and ironically what was
supposed to be the definitive format for content distribution
i now turning to be the worst nightmare of the movie industry
And this was an example to say that something similar could
happen in EU mobile services and content market with
phones with an open os (Symbian) and with quiet an open
network.
A much more open os and network could be a boomerang
or a fantastic opportunity as you could see emerging
positive and innovative applications driving the ARPU up,
or negative and and disruptive applications killing
part or all of the content business model.
Again by comparing Nokia N-Gage to Fujitsu FOMA handset
you can see that EU and JP business models and design
strategy is deeply different.
In the N-Gage Nokia has integrated a copy protection for
games by delivering them on 8mb ROM MMC. For any
other content there is not the same level of protection
and the OS is quiet open as file system and as possibility
of accessing it at low levels for developers... With N-Gage
it will be problably very easy to use illegally copied
content in the same way as it is possible on a PC.
So this is much more integrated with Nokia's business
model than operators and content providers. Nokia
interest is first of all in establishing Series 60 as
the "Windows for mobile devices" and so revenue from
licensing and handsets. Secondly the focus is in having
revenue from games in the very same model as
the console business.
On the other side Fujitsu FOMA handset has a protection
on all the contents and the OS is closed so you can not
develop anything that goes low-level but just Java.
This FOMA phone is fully designed to integrate with
Ntt DoCoMo content business model to protect its
revenue streams. There is no difference in business
model between the handset producer and the operator.
So in EU and JP actors have different roles and relations
that still make difficult to define a definitive model for
the future of the EU mobile services market.
Giovanni Bertani
Received on Sat May 10 05:03:12 2003