INSIDE MOBILE: Fall CTIA: Motorola Back, Microsoft Treading Water

Novatel and other notable vendors

One of my most enjoyable meetings at CTIA was with Rod Hadley, CMO at Novatel Wireless, in which we discussed the future of MiFi (there are tons of possibilities). There were seven other meetings I had at CTIA which I found interesting. Here's the list of the vendors and their offerings:

1. SMobile and f2Mobile: Parental controls for messaging

2. AdMarvel: Integrated solution to help brands and publishers manage mobile marketing campaigns (they manage across multiple mobile ad networks)

3. Appitize: Mobile app generator for the iPhone

4. FunMail: Integrates visual messages into SMS

5. Zavers and Cellfire: Mobile coupon management

6. Obopay: Person-to-person transfer of funds

7. Novarra: Distribution of mobile content

Going to these trade shows is very demanding, with meetings from morning until late evening. But I get to see so many things that it's also very rewarding. And it takes me a week or two to digest everything that I saw and complete the necessary follow-up after the show. But, in the end, it's worth it.

J. Gerry Purdy, Ph.D., is the VP and Chief Analyst with the Frost & Sullivan North American Information & Communication Technologies Practice. As a nationally recognized industry authority, he focuses on monitoring and analyzing emerging trends, technologies and market behavior in the mobile computing and wireless data communications industry in North America. Since joining Frost & Sullivan in 2006, Dr. Purdy has been specializing in mobile and wireless devices, wireless data communications and connection to the infrastructure that powers the data in the wireless handheld.

He is author of Inside Mobile & Wireless, which provides industry insights and reaches over 100,000 readers per month. For more than 16 years, Dr. Purdy has been consulting, speaking, researching, networking, writing and developing state-of-the-art concepts that challenge people's mind-sets, and developing new ways of thinking and forecasting in the mobile computing and wireless data arenas. Often quoted, his ideas and opinions are followed closely by thought leaders in the mobile & wireless industry. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University. He can be reached at gerry.purdy@frost.com.

Disclosure Statement: From time to time, I may have a direct or indirect equity position in a company that is mentioned in this column. If that situation happens, then I'll disclose it at that time.