A Photo Start to the Next-Gen Race

Shortly after the introduction of multimedia messaging in the form of Sprint's PCS Vision service in mid-2002, I wrote in this space that although the ability to take and send photos with a wireless phone was a good entrée into the 3G applications age, it would not catch on a mass consumer scale. I predicted the application would be embraced initially as cool and fun, but the service wouldn't find the widespread acceptance necessary to formally usher in the 3G Age.

Needless to say, that was not one of my better predictions. As Senior Editor Tim McElligott points out in this month's cover story, 66 million photo messages were sent over Sprint's network alone in 2003, and Sprint is now only one of the many wireless carriers worldwide that offer customers the service. Photo messaging has indeed proved to be very consumer-friendly, spurring wireless players to develop a new category of advanced mobility services referred to as “visual communications.”

But I was right about another part of my prediction: The underlying technology platform that supports photo messaging is proving to be a flexible and effective engine for expanding into and enhancing next-generation mobile services. Our cover story, which begins on page 32, profiles LightSurf, the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Philippe Kahn and the inventor of the multimedia messaging platform employed by Sprint and many other mobile carriers. Tim's story charts the progress of a technology developer that, like the next-generation services sector itself, is constantly seeking new ways to augment its position and improve its offerings.

This month's issue also features Chief Correspondent Dan O'Shea's profile of John Giere, the former Ericsson executive who recently was named to the newly created position of chief marketing officer at Lucent Technologies. Elsewhere, Senior Writer Ed Gubbins analyzes how Cincinnati Bell CEO Jack Cassidy is working to improve the carrier's wireless profile in the aftermath of shifts in ownership, management and name. And our closer offers insight from wireless industry veteran Nitin Shah, late of ArrayComm and Lucent, whose new charge is to establish a fixed wireless practice at consultancy RHK. All of those stories chronicle the challenges of seasoned executives in challenging new roles during a time of economic uncertainty.

February also marks the unofficial beginning of pre-show buzz for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association's Wireless 2004 event. In our special report, “Atlanta Will Burn Again” (page 26), Wireless Review's staff offers an advance look at what technologies, applications and trends to look for at a show expected to celebrate the wireless sector's return to prosperity.

WR's editors, of course, will be at Wireless 2004 in force, and we'll greet you there with a March issue packed with cutting edge coverage of the industry's advancement. Until then, I'll be polishing up my powers of prognostication.