Sezmi Corp.'s Sezmi TV

Sezmi basically aims to take today's TV and IPTV service offerings and do it all better. Sezmi's is unique because of how it divvies up its content delivery over digital TV spectrum and broadband as well as how much it can personalize the service.  

FLO TV Inc.'s Personal TV Service

FLO TV makes it easier to watch TV just about anywhere particularly with the new dedicated device just added to its service. The Personal TV is just that -- a portable, personal TV without an integrated mobile phone.  

E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH's Gettings Mobile Ad Service

This is a compelling model for mobile advertising because it is a hosted service and focuses on making ads relevant. Subscribers choose how much and what kind of advertising they want in exchange for free texts or voice minutes. Interestingly, the service automatically adapts to subscribers' preferences based on which ads they actually respond to, and can then send ads that are more likely to interest subscribers.

Safaricom Ltd.'s M-PESA International Money Transfer (IMT)

This service is a great example of how communications can make a difference in people's lives -- it creates an easy way for people in the U.K. to send money to family and friends back home in Kenya. The money transferred can then be withdrawn from any of 12,000 locations across the country or used to pay bills, buy airtime, or make local money transfers.

The first thing to note is that the 3G Microcell is sold in the US, where 40% of homes have poor mobile coverage.  So just being able to make and receive mobile phone calls at home counts as "changing the way we communicate" for a significant proportion of the US population.

Secondly, it enables a "free calling at home" service when calls are made from within the femto coverage area.  This makes the mobile phone more attractive as an alternative to the fixed line at home (especially since most people find that femto call quality is as good as the fixed line).

And if you're hanging onto your fixed line just so that you have a single number for people to call the household, femtocell services can even solve that.  AT&T isn't offering this currently, but femtocells enable a 'virtiual home number' service, where mobile phones in the home ring when the virtual home number is called.

So as far as "challenging old conventions" is concerned, I think it can be argued that the femtocell challenges the idea that a fixed line is needed for cheap, high quality calls at home, and to provide a single home number.

Andy

I can tell you that within a week of the launch of our Facebook and Twitter Widgets, millions of Facebook photos and galleries were being viewed on TV by our customers and millions of Tweets were being read. 

From the remote control?  Sounds like a bunch of people got lost while navigating the TV guide.

More from Verizon on the FiOS TV Widget Bazaar:

"Widgets are accessed by simply pressing the Widets button on the FiOS TV remote control. 

The number of customers using Widgets is proprietary, however, because the Widgets are available to all our customers they are catching on rapidly.  I can tell you that within a week of the launch of our Facebook and Twitter Widgets, millions of Facebook photos and galleries were being viewed on TV by our customers and millions of Tweets were being read.  These widgets were so popular that we accellerated planned improvements -- including the ability to also send Tweets -- and launched those within a few weeks of the services' debuts."

Interesting? Or not so much?

I have a request to nominate AT&T's 3G Microcell serivce. Here's the simple pitch...

AT&T 3G Microcell - http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/3gmicrocell/

Couple of reviews...

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/atandt-3g-microcell-unboxing-and-impressions/

http://theappleblog.com/2009/10/02/review-att-3g-microcell/

I'm going to need some convincing on how a this femtocell service could be "challenging old conventions and has the potential to change the way we communicate".

Michelle

Thanks for responding. Sounds like the key to making the service work is the targeted part -- where ads are supposed to be relevant for users and not annoying.

Michelle