Jajah for O2

Telefonica O2's acquisition of mobile Internet telephony company Jajah reported by the Times reflects a dramtic change in the approach of operators to the potential of the mobile voice over Internet Protocol (mobile VoIP) market.

For many years traditional operators have viewed the development of mobile VoIP simply as a threat to their call revenues. Some service providers even adopted a strategy of blocking VoIP access from their networks or branded handsets.

But with the unstoppable rise of new generation smartphones led by the iPhone and other recently released devices such as Google's Nexus One and Palm Pre, mobile operators have been forced to re-think their strategies.

Mobile operator 3 was the first UK provider to exploit the mobile VoIP opportunity. It's partnership with Skype enabled it to secure its place in the market. Despite the arrival of new competitors including Google Talk, Skype continues to lead the way with its 480 million worldwide user base.

But with consumer VoIP inevitable destined to become a commodity mobile operators must create new differentiated services that offer more than just cheap calls.

By its £130 million Jajah aquisition Telefonica O2 shows that it means business.

Palm’s Pre Power Play?

Evidently the world is moving over to the smartphone. The increasing power of the wireless internet enables smartphone users to do more things, be it social networking, TV, music, navigation, remote working, commerce or gaming. But two years after the arrival of Apple’s iconic iPhone is the powerful new Palm Pre the next definitive step forward in smartphone performance?

Smartphone sales accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2008 growing 26% higher than the previous year, and 36% above for the whole of 2008. The fierce fight for customers sees RIM BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Bold, T-Mobile G1 and the HTC Touch HD, Arena, Nokia E71 and N97, Samsung Omnia HD, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 all challenging the 3G iPhone as brands such as Google, Apple, Nokia, Microsoft and Palm battle across the smartphone range.

Palm Pre comes with WiFi, and 3G (HSDPA) internet connectivity and features a 3.1 inch touch-screen, a slide-out Querty keyboard, accelerometer, and gesture bar. Its multitasking capability allows different applications like text, chat or IM to be used at the same time. Pre's Webkit browser is the same as the Android and iPhone. Palm’s Linux-based Web OS is designed for use without a stylus and uses a Card system to display applications on the phone desktop. You can drag an application onto your phone desktop and close it by a simple upward flick.

With its links to Amazon store Palm Pre continues the central role the internet plays in smartphone applications. But whether it proves a match for the 3G iPhone and its Apple store remains to be seen. Feature for feature it arguably excels. Game on!