Calling all mobile services

T-Mobile, a little fish in the large pond of wireless phone providers, is planning to release a new phone next year by teaming with a bigger fish... Google. The T-Mobile phone will use a software platform that Google has been developing over the last few years.

This summer, there was a lot of talk and speculation about Google moving into the mobile business with a so-called "gPhone" or "Google Phone." But the company wasn't really creating a phone, it was developing the technology that would improve the capabilities of other companies' wireless phones. However, many mobile phone companies initially shied away from teaming with the Web search giant.

Why? You would think teaming with, what is today, a household name would be a no-brainer. Still larger wireless companies didn't bite. Was this because of Microsoft's presence in the mobile phone industry with its Windows Mobile platform? Perhaps, but perhaps the wireless companies were just waiting for someone else to be Google's guinea pig.

The platform is named Android, after the company Google acquired in 2005 to gain insight into wireless technology and start development. Google also is part of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of technology companies committed to open-source strategies. As part of this alliance, Google's mobile technology will be freely available and customizable. What does Google have to gain in this wireless venture - ad sales, for one. A recent New York Times article about the Google venture says , "the initiative is an ambitious push to take its overwhelming dominance of advertising on PC screens onto wireless devices. The company has been frustrated at the limited availability of its services on mobile phones, whose features and software are largely controlled by carriers and handset makers."

Smart move in my opinion. I took a peak at a demo of Google's new wireless interface posted in a NY Times blog. The capabilities are quite amazing.

As key industry players, like Google, enter the scene to develop wireless technology, the mobile world seems certain to be the next major venue for Web users... and the days of the wired Internet are surely numbered.

SPAM... a lot

No, I'm not referring to the stuff that comes in a can or the Monty Python bit. This week it's all about the issue of e-mail SPAM.

I have two words... ubiquitous and intrusive. Unfortunately, it seems that there isn't much we can do to rid our e-mail in-boxes of the unwanted, and often grotesque, spam messages. Sure we can filter, filter, filter, but the messages just get sent to another designated folder. And no one really has time to jump through the hoops to have your email removed from the list. Not to mention, with most of the "true" spam messages, you can't even track down a real-life spammer.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was implemented to alleviate the bombardment of spam. The law provides guidelines for e-marketers and allows a means for the FTC and FCC to enforce these rules. However, enforcement is nearly impossible with international spam, and especially when that message does not come from a legitimate business. Since the act was passed by Congress, spam has nearly doubled.

One of my classmates introduced an interesting article about spam from the New Yorker this week, which discusses the history of spam and the status of spam today. My question is when will technology catch up with the spammers?