CES Mobile Apps Showdown – turn your 2 minutes of mobile fame to your new fortune. 

Gary Dell’Abate and Jon Hein are hosting a great CES event on Thursday where competitors will showcase their mobile applications in the hopes of winning the “best mobile application” based on different criteria such as online voting and even audience applause.  A showcase event will follow where you can ask questions and test drive some of the applications you liked in the contest.

It’s encouraging to see a lot more internet centric events at CES in recent years.    In Technology Report’s 2008 coverage we noted that “Web 2.0″ and social media emphasis seemed a bit lacking but CES has made good progress in those areas – especially mobile internet which many see as the most fertile ground for expansion of the online landscape.

Remains, however, a great idea

Kudos to the folks at Quest Visual:  Questvisual.com.   Their free  iPhone application “Wordlens” allows real time translation by simply pointing your iPhone at a sign or other text.

As any traveler knows it’s very helpful to be able to interpret signs, menus, and  other text.   This is naturally very difficult in countries where you don’t speak the language.    Wordlens is only available in spanish now but other languages are on the way, and this is clearly a great step in the direction of our phones and handheld devices becoming “universal translators”

Via Singularity Hub

more at Quest Visual:  Questvisual.com

My take is that Google is very concerned about protecting it’s dominant and hugely profitable online advertising empire, and is working hard to find ways to make sure they can capitalize on the boom in mobile device usage.     However I think all parties are exaggerating the profits to be had in mobile.   Tiny screens mean far less real estate on which to advertise.  Also, difficulties with targeting, advertising fatigue, and many other factors suggest to me that even as mobile online use explodes the profits from this may not, although larger screens and more netbooks could help preserve the existing advertising streams indefinitely.

As always we’ll have to stay tuned to see how this new online landscape shakes out.

Although it’s now clear that Smartphones are a key global browsing tool and that this use will grow explosively, it is not clear if Apple can retain their dominance in this market – perhaps with price drops on the iPhone or other innovations that may bring Apple devices into the price points demanded by many late adopters.

PC World seems to feel the Galaxy is the first real competitor to Apple’s iPad even though that’s not really true at all – e.g. the Dell Streak.

At fist glance the Galaxy Tab really seems superior with phone capabilities, lighter weight, and two cameras vs the iPad’s zero.

However it’s never clear the the legions of Apple’s enthusiastic customers would stray from the mother brand, and many products have flamed out assuming that unlikely scenario.   Still, it seems that Apple’s brilliancies in the iPhone and iPad are starting to be duplicated here, with the EVO phone, and with arguably superior form and function, so the future, as usual, remains uncertain.

However for local and US long distance you should review your current setup and consider alternatives.     Some of the points to consider are:

Do you need a landline?     If no, consider just using your cell phone.
Do you make a lot of calls?   If yes, you may want unlimited use plans.
Can you port (move) your landline number to your cell phone?    If yes, it makes moving to a “cell phone only” more plausible as you won’t lose your old phone number.
How expensive are your cell calls?      If “expensive”, review your contract – you should not be paying all that much anymore for great service and many calls.     Texting has become the new way to gauge customers so review those plans as well, and DO NOT let your children make phone decisions without your understanding – they rarely do a cost benefit analysis, making teen texting and ringtone purchases some of the most cost inefficient phone usage in all of history.

Magic Jack is not for everybody but they keep lowering the bar on “nearly free” calling and are now preparing to offer expanded free calling services, number porting, and more:  AP Reports

In my opinion a good general rule is that you generally can do much better than having a “separate landline”.      For me this takes the form of “bundling” my landline phone with high speed internet and cable TV.     But markets differ and deals change almost daily in terms of who is offering what.     If your landline is separate from your internet, you may benefit greatly by “porting” your local number and using VOIP  (Voice over IP) services such as Magic Jack, Vonage, or other internet based phone services from your local ISP.

The Mercury News seems to be suggesting that useful applications are about 5 years out but I’d guess we’ll have robust no touch devices within 3 years and high quality direct brain control within a decade.    Braingate is already using brain control and  Emotiv has developed a commercial version brain control device that uses theta waves that are read froma sensory “cap” with about 16 sensors.      The Emotiv headset will be available to consumers this year.

Mercury News article

Palm needed a knockout phone and this could be the ticket – anxious to handle one later in the conference and I’ll have more to say then.

Here’s Engaget’s first look at this amazing new mobile device.

Although some might say the Instinct and HTC Dream rival the iPhone in terms of form and function, they clearly do not appear to pose much threat to the iPhone and Blackberry Smartphone dominance.  However in 2009 Nokia will broadly launch the N97, a virtual mini computer that some think could be a serious rival to the iPhone. As seen in this Nokia promotion video, the N97 is a stylish full featured smartphone with a full mini keyboard and some other amenities lacking in Apple’s iPhone. However, at the current street pricing of about $800 for unlocked units the N97 will have to be sold at a significantly lower price to dent the iPhone and Blackberry’s reputation as the best phones in their class.

Editor’s note: More Equipment for the road Warrior. Let’s see if they can beat Apple’s price point.  –J Ghysels.  

Barcelona, Spain:  Nokia unveils the N97 with a tilting touchscreen display, keyboard, and widescreen video formatting.   Touts the N97 as offering a full mobile computing experience.