In the keynote address at MoMo Delhi, Naresh Gupta, Senior VP, Adobe India spoke about factors inhibiting development of mobile technology, and the road ahead. He said that the rate of innovation is linear on a log scale (hence exponential on a linear scale) because successive technologies are being constantly build on. However, we have come up with only two key killer applications that have changed the way we live, in recent years: Voice (telephony) and text (sms/email). He said that killer apps are borne out of discontinuities and there are two areas where the next killer app can come from: nanotechnology or location based services.
He also affirmed my belief that the future for the mobile lies in advertising: “You could be talking with someone for free, and a screen will flash - this call is sponsored by XYZ Co.” he said. I think next move will be in branding in mobile applications, particularly in games.
He still feels that mobile phones still face some key challenges: battery life is still very low, because of which screens will have to remain small.
He also spoke of the ease of communication leading to a decline in the quality of communication. In a similar manner, quality of research has dropped because people don’t do due diligence because they’re in a rush to publish their work. Someone argued that though speed of communication has taken over quality, the penetration and hence the growth of the digital medium is because of the speed, not quality.
Talking about Adobe, Gupta spoke of Macromedia Flashlite, and how 3G networks will enable increased usage of Flash content. He added, however, that almost 80% of all data transferred on the 3G networks in Japan is x-rated. Someone in the audience said that it’s the most profitable content. Flashlite, Gupta later added, was on the series 40 phone, but had problems because of low battery life.
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