Why did these catch my attention? Well, earlier this year, Opera created quite a stir when it released its Opera Mini browser for the iPhone and then goaded Apple into approving it. Tech punidits were certain that Apple would reject it, but they didn’t. In hindsight, I’m not surprised.

I’ve used the Opera Mini browser on Android and seen it on the iPhone, and while it’s capable, it is not a replacement for the built-in browser. Over the last year, the stock Android browser has come a long way, and Safari for the iPhone has always been a good browser. Opera Mini can’t compete with either of these, and neither will Fennec or Skyfire.

The opportunity for third party browsers has passed. Today’s problem is not compressing web content for the mobile environment. The issue is providing the user with a relevant user experience over the mobile web. What do I mean by a relevant user experience? I mean a mobile website that takes advantage of the features of a mobile phone, such as the touchscreen and location-based capabilities, to present information and content that a user cares about when they’re mobile. For a real estate mobilesite it is searching for properties, for retail it is nearest locations and coupons, for restaurants it is reservations, directions and special offers. The point I’m making is pretty obvious: it’s not about trying to cram a website designed for a 24″ screen onto a 3″ screen, it’s about presenting content relevant to the mobile consumer in a usable manner.

Put simply, it’s not about the browser, it’s about the presentation of the content.

So while I am sure that the mobile browser technology from Mozilla, Skyfire, and Opera is top notch, my advice would be to stick with the stock browsers on your smartphone with one caveat. If your using a BlackBerry other than the Torch, any one of these three browsers is a huge step up from the old BlackBerry browser. The old BlackBerry browser can be summed up in one word – AWEFUL!

OK, enough of the rant. On a lighter note, a new smartphone app caught my eye this week called Bartab. It allows you to send an actual drink to a friend for a $1. You spend $1 to send your friend a mobile coupon for a drink that they redeem at the participating bar you specify. Your friend then has to pay an additional $1 to redeem the coupon. It’s been launched in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but I’d love to hear from anyone who has. In particular, does it work as advertised?

The prevailing opinion is that Verizon will help Apple sell a lot more iPhones. While I am sure that there would be an opening weekend feeding frenzy for the devices, I don’t see Apple as the big winner – Android will be.

Why?

1. The iPhone is a shiny object
Apple is exactly what Verizon wants to lure more people into its stores. Once there, they will see lots of great phones, Android phones: the Droid Incredible, the Droid X, the Fascinate, and the Droid 2. All of these devices can hold their own with the iPhone. Plus most of these phones will be cheaper than the iPhone. I’m willing to bet a lot of casual buyers will get drawn into a Verizon store because of the iPhone but leave with an Android device.

2. Verizon’s bait-and-switch strategy
Verizon will heavily market the iPhone to draw people into their stores, but once there, people will see signs pushing Android, and lots of them. Verizon has clearly aligned itself with Google. Verizon and Google’s joint net neutrality proposal and rumors of a Google Chrome tablet exclusive for Verizon should indicate who Verizon’s real partner is.

3. Just another face in the crowd
At an AT&T store, the best device was an iPhone, hands down. Not the case in the Verizon store. Instead of being the top dog, the iPhone will be just another smartphone. In fact, people will notice greater diversity with Android handsets with regards to form factor and screen size as well as features like a slide out keyboard. Android offers a lot more versatility over the one-size-fits-all iPhone approach.

4. There’s no reason to wait
If someone really wanted the iPhone, they should already have it from AT&T. Sure AT&T service on the iPhone is poor, but people who want the iPhone  have already moved past that and just sucked it up – they’ve had four years to switch carriers. The only place there could be some pent-up demand is on corporate Verizon accounts where it was cost prohibitive for people to switch.

5. New customers, but only for Verizon
The majority of people who want the iPhone on Verizon want to switch from AT&T. A recent study showed that 1 in 3 AT&T iPhone users want to switch. I believe this is the same group who are feeding the rumors as well. They must think that if they wish it hard enough, Verizon will pick up the iPhone and give them freedom from AT&T. In fact, if the Verizon iPhone winner is Android, the loser is AT&T.

The bottom line – it’s inevitable that the iPhone, or an Apple equivalent, will make it to Verizon. It would be silly for Apple not to let it happen. If I was Google, I wouldn’t be concerned. In fact, I’d relish it. It will only fuel Android’s rapid growth.

To start off, Microsoft announced the line up of Xbox Live games that would be available on their mobile Windows Phone 7 platform. I don’t play Xbox (Playstation is my platform of choice), so I couldn’t tell you if the game list is interesting or not. However, what I do find interesting is Microsoft’s mobile strategy. It appears that Microsoft is going to tie its mobile success to the Xbox platform. I wouldn’t call this a genius strategy as much as I would consider it a high risk bet. In my opinion, Microsoft has already lost this round of the mobile OS game to RIM for the enterprise, Apple for the high end, and Android for the general consumer. Since no one has gone after the hardcore gamer, Microsoft is filling an underserved niche to build a loyal following. On the other hand, it will take time and lots of resources, i.e. money, to grow the niche. Given Microsoft’s deep pockets, they are one of the few companies that can pull it off, and I like the fact that they are going after a niche in the market rather than trying to immediately compete head to head with Apple, Google and RIM, although I am sure they will end up there soon enough.

Behind the Microsoft announcement, rumors were leaked that Sony is working on an Android-based Playstation mobile phone. Adding phone capability is the next logical move for the PSP, and not because people want to use it as a phone. It is for the over the air download capability and the social gaming aspects that can occur using the mobile network as its backbone. Given Microsoft’s moves with its Xbox/Windows Phone 7 platform, Sony must do this, and quickly, to keep from losing customers and market share in the highly lucrative gaming console market. Of course, all of this could become a moot point if Google and Verizon get their way and regulate traffic on the mobile internet (OK – I’ll admit that last comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I couldn’t resisit).

Finally, to wrap-up this week on a gaming note, Mashable pointed out 10 classic PC games that have been reborn on the iPhone. I was a bit surprised by how many of them I recognized, and played! It brought back memories of my college days and made me wonder how me and my college roommates ever graduated! Take a look and let me know which games you recognize and which was your favorite. Just for the record, mine would be Prince of Persia, although Doom runs a close second.

Following up on last week’s statistics, two more interesting reports were released last week. The first I’d like to highlight is from Chetan Sharma, a consultant in the mobile industry. He reports on mobile statistics quarterly, and his latest report indicated that mobile phone penetration is the US is nearing 100%. The number needs to be taken with a grain of salt as a lot of people these days are carrying two phones (me included), so the real number is likely lower – probably around 75-80%. Still yet, even at 80%, it’s clear that the mobile market in the US is nearing saturation and that brands and companies who do not have a mobile marketing strategy are missing out on a great opportunity to connect with consumers.

The other interesting report was released by the Gartner Group. The first statistic to highlight from the report is that mobile device sales grew 13.8% last quarter, so the market is definitely healthy and growing. A more telling statistic was that Android surpassed the iPhone in units sold worldwide last quarter, and outsold RIM in the US. As I pointed out in last week’s wrap-up, Android just keeps on rolling. Units sold is a clear trend of future overall marketshare, so I would expect to see Android make more gains in overall handset marketshare in the coming quarters.

Speaking of Android, two new Android handsets of note were released last week – the Motorola Droid 2 on Verizon and the Dell Streak on AT&T. The Droid 2 is a refresh of the original Droid while the Streak is an interesting “hybrid” device. I say “hybrid” because it sports a 5″ screen which makes it much larger than what people consider a phone but smaller than the new tablet form factor established by the iPad. It seems like an awkward tweener size, so I’m expecting it to be a device people will use a companion to a simple flip phone rather than their primary device. Either way, the diversity of Android devices in terms of screen sizes, features and form factors is exactly why Android is dominating the market. As opposed to the one size fits all Apple approach and the flavor of the month QWERTY keyboard BlackBerry approach, Android devices are available in all sorts of shapes and sizes at all types of price ranges. It’s easy to find an Android device that has the features you want to fit your budget.

Finally for this week is a fun survey that was released by dating site OK Cupid. The survey talks about how to make yourself look more attractive in digital photos (seems like it would be important for online dating). So what does this have to do with mobile? Well, about halfway down the page is a claim that iPhone users have more sex than Android and BlackBerry owners. So here’s the question, are the results of the survey accurate, or do iPhone users just tend to stretch the truth more than their smartphone counterparts?

One company that is seeing declines in market share is RIM with their BlackBerry platform. BlackBerry has been the dominant smartphone in the US for what seems like forever. However, unless you are addicted to email or are a business user, BlackBerry’s hardware and overall user experience lags behind the iPhone and Android. As BlackBerry users are coming off contract, it’s obvious they are switching platforms. BlackBerry attempted to stem their losses with last week’s launch of the BlackBerry Torch 9800. While it closed the gap on features, it still does not put it on the same level as the iPhone or Android. At this point, RIM needs to stay focused on its bread and butter, the enterprise. As I pointed out in an article last week, RIM cannot serve both enterprise users and consumers with the same platform. They have a dominant position in the enterprise that they need to protect. So while the consumer market is where all the media attention is, RIM needs to stay focused on who’s paying their bills.

In the end, I see Android winning the market share game by dominating the middle and low end of the smartphone market, Apple winning the high end of the market, which is the most profitable, and RIM winning the enterprise. Left on the outside looking in are Nokia, Microsoft and HP. I’m not so sure that any of these three can carve out a piece of the market as I don’t think the smartphone is big enough, at least today, to support more than three strong companies.

So do I plan to switch back to a BlackBerry?

No. Neither the device nor the OS offer compelling enough reasons.

Is this a bad thing? No it isn’t. RIM isn’t, and shouldn’t, be catering to my needs. I am not the big enterprise customer that needs the security and control functionality that RIM offers with its BlackBerry platform.

BlackBerry has foregone some of the features that make the iPhone and Android devices so popular among consumers, and they should. Many of these features create security issues and are not compatible with the goals of enterprise IT groups. Furthermore, RIM is not going to beat Android or Apple at the mass consumer market. They are wise to recognize this and focus on their strength - serving the enterprise.

The enterprise market is a large and profitable market. Sure, Apple and Android are trying to get a piece of it, but so long as RIM continues to provide the best security and control features, corporate IT groups will continue to embrace the platform, meaning that corporations will continue to buy BlackBerry devices for their employees. 

The media at large may claim that RIM is not adding features fast enough to win the consumer market, but they may be missing the big picture. It’s possible that RIM doesn’t want to win the consumer market and is not interested in going after consumers like me. RIM is adding new features, but in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the overall security and functionality of the BlackBerry platform.

On the other hand, if RIM does want to win the consumer market, they had better rethink their strategy. Creating a platform that serves both consumer and enterprise markets well is difficult, if not impossible. RIM needs to pick their path, and they should pick the path that they know best – the enterprise.

With the hot summer handset releases behind us, who is the worldwide leader in the market? According to Strategy Analytics, Nokia (remember them?) sold the greatest share of the 308M handsets sold in Q2. Nokia’s share was 36.1%, follwed by Samsung at 20.7%, and LG at 10%. RIM, the only dedicated smartphone maker in the top 5, came in fourth at 3.6%. So while smartphones grab all of the media attention, the low-end of the market accounts for all the volume. If the market is largest at the low end, then why are all the manufacturers chasing the smartphone market? Because that’s where all the profits are. For example, Apple is nowhere to be seen on the market share list, yet they are far and away the most profitable mobile phone company.

Speaking of market share, a report on mobile search was released by StatCounter last week. At the top of the heap was Google, with a whopping 98.29% share of the market. I’m not sure how accurate the numbers are, but even if they are off by 20%, that’s still a dominant share of the market. If that doesn’t convince you that you should have a mobile presence that Google can index, then you’re losing lots of business to your competitors who do have one - without even knowing about it! Both Yahoo! and Bing, the two other big mobile search providers, account for just 1.25% of the market. On the bright side, I guess Yahoo! and Bing’s share can only get bigger, because it certainly can’t get any smaller!

Finally, just to kick start everyone’s favorite rumor mill, I am going to jump on the bandwagon and say that AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity may be coming to an end this year. Why? Well, AT&T made a statement that they are going to be the premier vendor for Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7. I don’t understand why AT&T would back a competitor to the iPhone unless their exclusivity is coming to an end. It’s time to place your bets. I say that the iPhone is available on another carrier for the holidays, and I’ll predict T-mobile over Verizon since T-mobile’s GSM technology is the most compatible with AT&T and Apple, out of spite, wants to stick it to Verizon for their Android promoting, iPhone-bashing ads. What do you think? Feel free to sound off in the comments!

The releases of these new smartphones have not been without troubles. Even the iPhone 4.0 has had its share of issues, primarily with reception. The issue got so bad that it forced Apple to hold a press conference with Steve Jobs responding to the criticism. In Apple style, they did a great job of spinning the problem and declaring the iPhone reception as good (or as bad, depending on your viewpoint) as every other smartphone. I thought the point of paying the “Apple tax” was to be a cut above everyone else, not as good as the competition. Either way, the iPhone 4.0 is still the class of the field these days, and it certainly helped Apple post great earnings for last quarter. Whether you love Apple or hate them, one thing is certain – they are posting impressive results!

In addition to the iPhone 4.0, the Droid X from Motorola that launched on Verizon has also run into its share of issues. Screen problems are plaguing the device, although both Motorola and Verizon have been quick to step in and remedy the issue. The increasing problems with smartphone introductions leads me to believe that manufacturers are rushing devices out the door prematurely to save/gain marketshare at the expense of quality. Manufacturers need to start doing a better job of quality control in order to preserve consumers’ trust in purchasing new devices.

Finally, one large player that has been absent from all of the mobile discussion has been Microsoft. Once a leader in the smartphone market, they have become a laggard. They are trying to stem their losses with a new OS called Windows Phone 7 (WP7). Microsoft is working to push out the OS by the end of the year, and it appears on schedule as they released hardware last week to Microsoft employees and select press members for review. Initial reviews have been mixed, and I get the feeling that the first release of WP7 will be half-baked with rapid improvements planned, similar to Apple’s original iPhone release strategy in 2007. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the market has shifted dramatically since 2007. iOS and Android are mature enough that I’d be surprised if users are willing to adopt an immature smartphone platform. While Microsoft has lots of resources to place behind WP7, I predict that they will compete with HP/Palm for third place in the smartphone market behind leaders Apple (iOS) and Google (Android).

If you’ve picked up one these, or a different, handset this summer, leave a comment – I’d like to hear how your experience has been. I’d be particularly interested in hearing from anyone who picked up a Samsung Vibrant on T-mobile. It’s the most underrated phone on the market in my opinion, and variants of the device will be available on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon by this fall.

miniListings is a real estate listings search application that agents can personalize with their own branding and contact data. It is the easiest way for agents to go mobile and reach their clients anytime, anywhere, on any phone. Our goals are to provide agents with a mobile webapp that simplifies the home search process for their clients, differentiates them from other agents,  helps them grow their business, and allows them to take advantage of today’s fastest growing and most exciting marketing medium – mobile!

As you can tell from the lack of activity on our blog over the past month, we’ve been extremely busy with development and preparation for launch of the product. We’ve also been working hard to incorporate the feedback from the testers and users who participated in our beta program. I’d like to thank all those who participated in the beta test – their feedback has been invaluable in helping us fine tune the product and tighten up our messaging.

We hope that miniListings will be the first of many products that will use our automated mobile internet platform. Our vision is to develop webapps for other markets that will allow businesses to extend their online brand and presence to the mobile environment in a simple, relevant and effective manner. We believe we’ve successfully accomplished our objective for the real estate market with miniListings, although the release of the initial product is not a destination, but the first stop in a journey. miniListings will continue to advance and grow through the addition of new features made possible by mobile technology advancements. I am excited not only about today’s product but also about its future potential.

If you are interested in learning more and obtaining your personalized copy of miniListings, head over to the miniListings website at http://www.minilistings.com. You can also follow the latest miniListings developments on our Facebook fan page (facebook.minilistings.com) and on Twitter (@minilistings).

Aumnia enables brokerages to use mobile as a powerful marketing tool by providing a relevant mobile experience for potential buyers with the information and services they want – anytime, anywhere. With Aumnia’s automated mobile internet platform, brokers can provide clients with “one-click” access to property search, property details/photos and contact information over their mobile devices. Aumnia supports all web-enabled mobile devices including the latest smartphones such as the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm, and Google’s Android-based phones.

“Mobile is the fastest growing marketing medium today, so it is becoming increasingly important to ensure a website site renders well on a broad range of smartphones,” said LeadingRE Vice President Phil Edwards. “Aumnia’s solution makes that incredibly easy to do, giving our brokers another tool to gain a competitive edge.”

“We are very pleased to formalize our relationship with the network,” said Devesh Khare, Aumnia’s vice president of Marketing, “By providing the fastest way to go mobile and extend a corporation’s brand across all web-enabled devices, we offer an essential tool to the brokerages of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®.”

For more information on Aumnia, visit www.Aumnia.com or contact Devesh Khare at
888.883.2762. For more information on LeadingRE, visit www.LeadingRE.com.

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About Aumnia

Aumnia is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of mobile internet applications and solutions. Our software platform enables businesses of all sizes to “go mobile” by extending their existing web presence onto web-enabled mobile phones and mobile internet devices in an efficient and cost-effective manner. By going mobile, businesses can engage and service their clients using mobile, the fastest growing marketing medium today. Aumnia is a privately held company based in Orange County, CA that was founded by individuals that have over 40 years of technical, management, and business related experience in demanding high-growth environments.

About Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® (www.LeadingRE.com) is a global real estate network comprised of over 600 of the best-known local and regional real estate firms. With nearly 5,000 offices and 150,000 sales associates in the United States and more than 30 countries abroad, LeadingRE affiliates sell $250 billion in home sales, representing nearly one million transactions annually. The network has the #1 market leader in 41 of the top 90 markets in sales volume, transaction sides or both – nearly double that of the closest competitor.