Oops. It's "disagree with Ajit" week here at tomhume.org. When he posts that "Not a lot of people are actually browsing the mobile internet. Although WAP usage shows phenomenal growth, these figures include the use of WAP as a transport mechanism - typically for downloading content. In other words, every time you download a ringtone, you implicitly create a WAP page impression. I suspect the real figures used by consumers to actually browse the mobile internet are very low."

I'd like to see some evidence that figures for browsing the mobile internet are low. With the MDA noting an average daily total of 58.9m WAP page impressions in the UK then either everyone in the UK is downloading a ringtone every day, or something else is artifically inflating these figures.

(Nothing personal Ajit ;))

Music sales slide despite RIAA's crushing blows against piracy: "One day, a smarter than average pigopolist will realize that DRM-laced downloads, gimpy online services and lawsuits aren't the best means for winning consumers' hearts. That's when music sales will rise again."

Motorola are working on a new UI - several years too late, but better that than never. Like the author of the article, I can't tell from a few screenshots how decent it is tho...

Mobiface is a beautiful-looking site with some interesting thoughts on "next gen mobile interfaces". The name makes me giggle too. "Services as buddies" isn't a new idea but it's a lovely way of summing it up.

Stuff that's been lurking in NetNewsWire for at least a month now. I'd hope to tease these into individual posts but despite having a fab Christmas break didn't get a chance:

• Why do people carry mobile phones?
• Bluetooth conkers - excellent idea!
• Mobile phones and public displays; I suspect that the same sort of dynamics will be in play when using mobile to interact with TV content: a single screen shared between multiple viewers, etc. Is mobile+TV a better iTV than iTV?
• Apparently handset updates are the future... I'm sceptical of this, given that the industry hasn't yet coped with device diversity as it affects the provision of services (leaving space for projects like the WURFL to step in). Updating the firmware of devices from many manufacturers over different networks etc? I know the iTV guys do it on occasion but I'll bet it's not as painless as this article (cough press release) suggests...
• Amp'd are producing and licensing their own content. I like the sound of Amp'd and the idea of MVNOs targeting specific markets but now that I've drunk the I-mode Kool-Aid I'm wondering how workable this is long-term. In how many mature mobile markets are operators taking this approach?
• MobileATM promises access to basic but useful banking services from your phone. Apparently this was due to be available by the end of 2005 but I've not seen any sign of it...