Look Mom, I'm on TV

Last week was a fun week in medialand. If you're just joining us, I periodically post little roundups like this to keep track of where I've been quoted. If you'd rather read a dad-centred entry, click here. If you want to play the weekly caption contest, click here. If you want to see where I've been stirring up trouble in recent days, here's a quick rundown of some of the more notable places I was quoted and interviewed:

Business News Network. I spoke to Andy Bell on After Hours about Dell's new Blu-ray laptop. Click here to load the show, then once it loads, drag the slider to about the 29:30 mark and my interview should start about there.

InformationWeek. Shared my thoughts with Richard Martin on Motorola's plans to split itself into two. Motorola's Breakup Provides Opportunities For Competitors. Article was also posted here. Here's what I said:

"Motorola today is in the same situation it was in yesterday," said Carmi Levy, senior VP for strategic consulting at AR Communications. "It lacks a viable product map and continues to lose market share to competing vendors that are consistently bringing better products to market."

[Snip]

For Motorola's competitors, the news of the split probably looks like chum in the water. Nokia, which now has a dominant 40% market share in global mobile phones, "is in an ideal position to dictate the direction of the market as it continues its transition away from commodity voice-focused handsets toward more feature-rich converged devices," said Levy.

InternetNews.com. I also spoke with Judy Mottl. Will Motorola Split Reverse Decline? Here's what I said:

"I'm surprised this took so long actually," Carmi Levy, senior vice president at researcher AR Communications, told InternetNews.com. "It's an effort for Motorola to hold on to whatever traction it still has. They're a fading No. 3 player, and the future is cloudy."

[Snip]

The company has been searching openly for a new head for its mobile unit since Brown stepped in at the end of January to personally direct everyday operations.

"They're going to have to find someone willing to swing for the fences, who's looking for a big career risk opportunity," Levy said. "If the person succeeds, they'll be a savior -- or they could flame out."

Retaining engineering and product development personnel is also a key concern, Levy added.

"This is a challenge and a big strategic issue," he said. "Google has proven that recruiting the best and brightest can pay off."

Light Reading. Did an interview with Unstrung site editor Dan Jones where I shared some views on the future state of the mobile world. Here's the piece: CTIA & the Invisible Handsets. Here's what I said (gee, reading back, I seemed so negative! What gives?)

"I think a lot of what in past years would have been released at a major industry tradeshow like CTIA is increasingly breaking beforehand," Carmi Levy, senior VP of strategic consulting at AR Communications Inc. "The era of major announcements being reserved exclusively for major tradeshows is drawing to a close. Blame the Internet for making vendors reluctant to embargo news of the next big thing until a show."

[Snip]

That doesn't mean that no big names will be making a splash in Glitter Gultch. Windows Mobile 6.1, the latest makeover of the Microsoft Corp. device operating system, is hotly anticipated.

"Everyone is counting the days until Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 release," Levy says.

"I'll be looking for specific product announcements from hardware vendors to accompany the Microsoft announcement. Those that bring WM6.1-based products to market sooner will gain competitive advantage... Expect the changeover to Windows Mobile 6.1 to be largely complete by early 2009."

"I expect Microsoft to make announcements," confirms Ken Dulaney at Gartner Inc. [Carmi here...kinda amazed that someone from Gartner AGREES with me! Mark this day in history, will ya?]

[Snip]

"RIM continues to deny rumors that its 9000-series devices will ship by midyear -- which likely means that we'll be able to touch, play with, and buy the first such devices by early summer," says AR's Levy. "This release is pivotal for RIM as it braces for an intensified battle against Apple for both enterprise and consumer smartphone supremacy."

Google's Android handsets and initial WiMax devices for Sprint Nextel Corp. network will be the wild cards at the show.

"We'll probably see some Android prototypes," suggests Levy.

"This will continue the trend we've seen over the past few months as members of the consortium try to maintain and grow interest in the still-evolving platform... It's vital for all involved vendors to keep their wares -- however half-baked they may be at this point -- visible to a buying public that's still trying to figure out where this offering will fit in the evolving smartphone space."

"We may see some WiMax device announcements, but they will hardly be from mainstream players," Levy adds. "The lack of a comprehensive national WiMax network makes such device announcements little more than inconsequential sideshows."

Your turn: What wireless device is in your pocket? Why does it matter, anyway?

One more thing: Happy new month. No, I don't do the April Fool's prank thing. The world is silly enough as it is.