Two interesting stories about mobile search: firstly, DoCoMo has started talking up the possibilities that search technologies can offer; secondly, Nokia has extended it's search product. Although both have a search component, they are very different in subtance. DoCoMo's comments reflect the general increase in browser performance on mobile phones and that we will be able to search the web on a mobile in a few years in much the same way that we can on a PC today. Nokia on the other hand is integrating directory enquiries services into the handset: in much more limited search application that does however have specific relevance to today's mobile phone users. Of course, "search" is such a big buzzword that many companies are trying to develop products that can utilise the buzzword on the mobile platform, but these extreme examples show just how broad a church "search" has become.

The biggest news at the moment is probably Orange's long expected "quadruple play" product launch. They've decided to offer free broadband if you spend enough on your mobile phone bill, which although it probably makes economic sense to both customers and operators, may be a fatal mistake in terms of their overall brand equity. Broadband is clearly a commodity service that can be bought from many different utility providers, and for Orange to offer broadband bundled with mobile phones, makes their mobile phones look equally comoditised, rather than the lifestyle accessory that Orange have so successfully branded themselves as in the past. Of course, if mobile really is becoming a commodity then people will be making their choices based on brand and price, and Orange would probably be much better served by a premium brand than by a bundled commodity, but when you're owned by a large telecoms company, the pipe has to be the priority.

On the subject of brand, T-Mobile has once again come last in the UK customer satisfaction survey. Usually Virgin come at the top of the table, even though their services run on exactly the same network, demonstrating the power of branding, but this year they have been knocked off by O2. Does this suggest that Virgin's brand is crumbling or that O2 is getting better?

Original Source: Mobile Strategies