Opinionated comments on mobile phone industry news

The $15 Mobile Phone and the Manufacturer's Virtual Network Operations hints that as prices come down on phone components, increasingly phones (or whatever they should be called then) will be used for things (devices, equipment, gizmos, what have you). To this I guess could also be added animals, or at least the pet variety.

The telematics guys have talked about this for a long while, but development has been sluggish so far for all kinds of reasons:

• Telematics is mostly corporate, and we all know what that means in terms of time to adopt, or at all accept.
• Telematics device vs mobilized device might not add up to a compelling ratio.
• Stuffing SIM cards in a gazillion phones/modules is expensive. This has to be simplified by OTA-programmable SIM identities on 'glued in' SIM functionality.
• Not until recently has GPS technology been inexpensive enough to integrate. GPS precision is needed for tracking vehicles and cargos.
• etc.

Again, Wi-Fi is mentioned as an alternative to telecom networks. It's interesting to have a situation where operators are so unwilling to go forth into uncharted territory that Wi-Fi is at all considered, with such a spotty coverage that it's practically useless for telematics. MVNOs might be more likely to take on this opportunity.