Mobile Web News, Week of September 10, 2007

September 10, 2007 on 11:15 pm | In Mobile Web News |

Click on the player at left to view the week’s major news about the Mobile Web.

HERE’S A SUMMARY OF NEWS TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS VIDEO:

Bittersweet iPhone Rebates
If you bought an iPhone last month, Apple now gives you a $200 rebate; if you bought earlier, it’s $100. This afterthought on Apple’s part has turned off a lot of people. However:

Who asked you to rush and buy one? Next time wait and watch for 90 days
Some rebate is better than no rebate
Re-evaluate your opinion of Steve Jobs, he might be taking you a little too much for granted.

Source: Businessweek

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Google Mobile Ads Hit Town
… instantly making all other mobile ad networks scavengers. Google now places your Adwords campaigns on mobile websites free until November 18, after which you will have to pay normal CPC prices.

We expect market shares for mobile advertising to soon mimic those of desktop search marketing. Bets, anyone?

Source: Search Engine Land

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Hooray, Cheap Broadband in the Air, at Last!!
Imagine being able to surf the web from your airplane seat, without running up charges of $200 million per second! GigaOm reports that an Israeli company, Starling Advanced Communication Ltd., has developed an antenna that makes it possible. And sure, you can even make VOIP phone calls using Skype.

We are no longer limited to in-flight entertainment packages… now we have near infinite choice… what a blast!

Buy Stuff With Your Mobile Without Premium SMS
The big 5 UK mobile operators (T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, O2 and 3) have launched a payment mechanism called PayForIt, by which users’ payments are collected through their phone bill. If you are selling through WAP, it’s actually mandatory!

As far as I can see, this is just like PayPal or Google Checkout, ‘cept that it’s floated by an industry consortium and not a single company or conglomerate…

Source: BBC News