BFrank on Tech

Its a great time of the year: hitting the slopes, sipping hot chocolate by the fire, anticipating a beautiful spring, and checking out all the latest in mobile technology.
Last month began a busy season for those of us in the mobile industry …
* 3GSM, Feb 13th, Barcelona – The biggest mobile industry show, attracting something like 70,000 people and taking over the size of a small village
* CeBIT, March 9th, Hannover – European techno-showcase, often lots of mobile stuff shows up here
* CTIA, April 5th, Las Vegas – Largest US-based mobile show, previously held in New Orleans and now in Las Vegas, seems to always end up somewhere *fun*
* Golden Week, April 29th, Japan – The time of the year when the Japanese mobile industry unveils new products
Read on for my take on 3GSM, and what I’m anticipating at the other shows …

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Starting in the latest issue of ACM Interactions, a magazine focused on practical HCI & Usability in high-tech, I will be writing a column called “Open for Business”.
The first article was published this month, and talks about “The Business of Betas”. If you’re an ACM member, you can read the article online here:
The Business of Betas
Coincidentally, there was another article on the subject posted at TechCrunch:
TechCrunch � Don’t Blow Your Beta
I can’t underscore the importance of a planned and organized beta release for software products. Adobe Labs is a good example of how this can be done well, and Flash / Flash Lite are great technologies for prototyping and beta testing interface ideas for applications, the web, and mobile.