Web 2.0 and the Mobile Internet

The Web 2.0 summit just wrapped up in SFCA this past week. There are some noteworthy observations and content on their web site and in particular Mary Meeker's annual overview of Internet trends . Take an moment to review her indepth presentaiton below. A huge surge in mobile access is about to, yet again, revolutionize businesses and the adoption of new technologies using cloud infrastructure and location centric applications will become another key influencer of shareholder value and produce and service niche differentiation. Among the conferences many revleaing presenters Mary put forth a revealing observations that platforms which combine social networking with mobility will drive "unprecedented change in communications + commerce." As Richard MacManus points out, that statement seems a little hyperbolic, but we have undeniably seen an uptick in usage this year of companies like Foursquare, Loopt and Brightkite. Later in the presentation, Meeker predicted that Facebook will be a major player in this market in the near future.
Hold onto your hats.

Mary Meeker at Web 2.0 Summit

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The Coming Explosion in Mobile Internet

4 Billion Mobile devices with over 700 Million of those accessing the Internet is a testament to where we are now in the trend toward increasing mobility. The implications are fascinating. The non-profit mobile think tank, MOCOM2020, has shared some compelling research as to where this is all heading and its coming sooner than you might think.

Several new network technologies for mobile and non mobile Internet access are in place or being launched very soon. 4G continues to be rolled out while Verizon is planning to test its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Boston and Seattle later this year as a dry run for its big commercial launch in 2010 - see Five reasons it's time for a Verizon iPhone. MOCOM2020's interesting presentation below highlights the implications for these high speed networks.

Verizon COO Denny Strigl recently mentioned the company planned to commercially launch LTE services in "up to 30 markets" next year to service 100 million people. The Boston Globe reported that Verizon isn't willing to elaborate on its LTE plans further and it hasn't yet released pricing the service.

Verizon first announced it was trialing LTE in two U.S. cities last February. At the time Verizon did not know what download and upload speeds its networks would offer. In Verizon's own trials with its partners at Vodafone, its LTE network reached peak speeds of 60Mbps. See the video demo of LTE below. High speed mobile access to the Internet is about to revolutionize the way we do many things. Expect it to reach mainstream use in less than 3 years.