It’s year 2010.

Ten years ago many of us who were already part of the mobile business, had a vision. It was about future mobile services that would revolutionize the world. There were so many things that gave people ideas what all could be done. And yet the reality was in a way far away from the current state of affairs.

In reality the phones were clumsy, networks were slow the and apps were not there.

Then the future happened.

Many of those things envisioned by mobile software houses and giants-of-the-age such as Nokia, were suddenly here. That was the iPhone phenomenon that was about to start.

But you know what, there will be new future.

And as much as I Like Apple, the future may be also something else than Apple 11 (remember Apple II…) as well. You know, Steve won’t be here forever.

So what would the future be like?

I like number seven, so let’s go seven years further and imagine what could we have by 2017.

There are great research projects going on by companies like Intel, concerning for example what they call Socially Enabled Services. And there is great amount of buzz around Context-aware services. Those are good basic assumptions that could be realized in the coming seven years.

Mobile phone (or whatever we call it at that time, probably still is the same) will do a variety of things. And all of those tasks done will feel just natural for us, the way how it always should have been.

So let’s say the mobile is going to be an organizer, an entertainment device, a payment device as well as a security center. Or more shortly, whatever you want it to be.

As you know, there’s a saying now “There’s an App for that”.

So do I need somehow always find out which App could I right now use? And then download and install it? I don’t think so.

That’s where the concepts of “context-aware” and “socially enabled” will step into the picture. As the phone already knows who you are, where you are (and where you probably should be) as well who you know, it can use that information for your benefit.

It certainly makes sense that the phone itself would make sure that at any given moment you have those Apps in your phone that you need right now, right here. When you’re done with the movie you were watching with your girlfriend, there’s an App for you to find a romantic restaurant nearby, or tell where your friends are so you can meet them (or avoid them) or quite simply show the transport options to your… or her home.

An App appearing automatically would tell you how to find your friends, or how to avoid them!

But it would be quite different when you’re on a business trip in a foreign city, there would be Apps to help you find services you normally use in your home town. All downloaded naturally while you’re covered by a Wireless LAN. Some things may not change this fast, so I’m assuming the high data roaming charges will still apply even in seven years.

It could also be that it is not only your “phone” that has Apps. What if your television, refrigerator and even your home door would have “Apps”? Well, just imagine your home door telling when entering home “Please wait before opening the door while an update is being downloaded”. Well, that would happen with the Microsoft Doors (they already got Windows, right?).

Having Apps everywhere there will be an obvious need to keep everything in sync. That would easily be solved by having (almost) anything in the cloud, all the Apps being automatically in sync. It could also be that the Apps would talk to each other, one way or another. Maybe your Phone App will tell the Door App that this guy owns this house, and the Door App tells the air conditioning App that there is somebody home now.

Apps talking to each other in order to get things done… A second coming of magic agents?

The transition may not be smooth however. As it looks now, Apple is winning the App War and has locked in people like me with all the Apps which I use to manage my life. Neither the Apps nor the data are transferable. We need a real Appgyver to get rid of this problem.

But what does this mean to the mobile operator’s role? As everything will be in the cloud, and everything will be used with the mobile phone, it’s a unique position to control everything. So being a Big Brother is very easy. We’ll see what happens here.

I can say that this is only the start of an evolution that will turn the mobile phone into our trusted and indispensable companion in life, a remote control of your life.

One more thing.

By 2017, Nokia, our once so innovative business machine has gone through a massive re-construction. Seppo Elo, the CEO, had stepped down as expected already on September 22nd, 2011 and was replaced yet again by a Finn. Most of the old crew was gone by that time, finally releasing the dead lock caused by those not interested in keeping up with the world. Year 2014 Nokia bought the first Finnish company in its history, for an astonishing 3.7 Billion Euros. It was a company which invented App DNA, a revolutionary Next Generation cloud-based ecosystem. That helped to turn Nokia (by 2017) into the leader of cloud-based cross-platform/cross-app ecosystem.

And Finland was saved, once again.

PS. You can also see my previous blog posts on the same subject: Let the Wizard Guide Your (Busy) Life, Part 1 and Part 2.

So you knew crowdfunding is not actually a new idea. It was, after all, used already for years in the music and movie industry.

But did you know that it dates way beyond that. Even The Statue of Libertyin New York was in a way “crowdfunded”. The statue was a gift to the United States from the people of France. They agreed that the French finance the statue and the Americans provide the pedestal and the site.

But the Americans ran out of money.

Here’s the story…

The price tag for building the pedestal and erecting the Statue topped $300,000. The American Committee raised half this sum between 1877 and 1884. Then a crisis occurred: the Statue was due to arrive, funds had run out, and work on the pedestal stopped. In March 1885, publisher Joseph Pulitzer and his newspaper, The World, came to the rescue with a highly successful six-month fund raising campaign.

As it turned out, a lot of people were willing to donate money for this project. Many of them having an emotional binding to the things the statue was to represent.

The response to Joseph Pulitzer’s campaign was overwhelming – $100,000 (the equivalent of $2.3 million today) was donated in just five months. Much of it came in gifts of one dollar or less. In addition to raising money, Pulitzer’s campaign helped to make the point that Statue was not just for New York, but for all America.

What can we learn from this?

1. A project featuring an emotional element, easily attachable by the masses, has all chances raising money with the crowdfunding.
2. Thanks to the Internet, even a project with an appeal to a narrower audience can raise the amount needed due to more global reach.
3. Even though we like to think about crowdfunding as a model for share issues, also other compensation models can work.
4. We should never underestimate the importance of willingness of people to express themselves – let it be the letters published by each funder of The Liberty, or the interest of even small shareholders to help a company they have a stake in.

Like The Statue of Liberty, also Venture Bonsai will be enlightening the world.

Just think about all the possibilities it will open up – do you want to be part of that?

Part 1 of this blog entry is here.

So you’ve got this busy life as well? Probably have quite a few gadgets and electronic devices around you. Sometimes you feel it takes too much time to learn to use the full potential of those devices. Sometimes they just make life more complicated than it should be, let alone updating those devices to the latest software. Of course if you have a Mac (as I do) and a Nokia phone, you know that there is no need to update the software (as it’s only possible with Windows). If you are having difficulties with these issues, think about your mother, and how she’s doing all that (she’s not).

You are in your car, driving as it is raining like never before. And you know your carpool passenger is waiting for you, in the rain… Even though the Wizard tells you that there are umbrellas for sale three hundred meters ahead, you know that by the time (according to the navigator, 3 minutes) you get to your passenger, she does not need it anymore.

As you’re approaching the carpool passenger, the phones confirm that you are meeting the right person. You can see how she looks like, and she can see (in her mobile phone) how you and your car look like. Her phone also show your “reliability status” – which is fine. You pick-up the passenger, your phone tells you how to navigate to the drop-off location, sheconfirms her Wizard a safe arrival and you continue to your own office.

While approaching the office, the security gates are opened automatically as it detects your safe arrival. While walking the stairs upstairs, the Wizard has a message from Jobita. You were asking for babysitters, remember? You have three offers, you pick one that your friends have used and you confirm a deal. One worry less, great!

During the day, in the meetings, the phone does not disturb you with messages you don’t want. Family messages have priority, however (thanks to Fambit service) – so you know when to answer your daughter’s call. And if you happen to forget about the next meeting marked in your calendar,the Wizard tells you when to leave to be on time, and even gives you the public transportation route plan if you wouldn’t have a car with you as you have this time.

It’s almost six o’clock. As you have agreed to meet your wife soon in a restaurant 10 blocks away, you call her to check with her everything is ok. You drive to the restaurant, the Wizard in your phone tells you the best parking options (based on real-time information from other users) and you easily find a parking place. You pay for that, naturally with the mobile phone again.

You have a nice dinner … and whenever you wonder what’s going on at home, you just check the life video feed from home. Cool. As it turns out to be a really memorable moment for both of you, you ask the waitress to take a picture with your phone. The Wizard knows what to do with the photos. It’s sent to your Life Album, as well as to your daughter’s phone. Soon the phones gives her feedback to the picture… obviously she would like to be with you. Oh no, maybe next time.

That’s it, an imaginary story what all a mobile phone could do to make your life a bit easier. As you can see, there’s no rocket science involved. All this is perfectly doable. Bits and bytes are available in some applications, maybe, but they are not really part of anybody normal life yet.

What do you think? Do you have better ideas how this should go? Let us know, feel free to comment!

So you’ve got this busy life as well? Probably have quite a few gadgets and electronic devices around you. Sometimes you feel it takes too much time to learn to use the full potential of those devices. Sometimes they just make life more complicated than it should be, let alone updating those devices to the latest software. Of course if you have a Mac (as I do) and a Nokia phone, you know that there is no need to update the software (as it’s only possible with Windows). If you are having difficulties with these issues, think about your mother, and how she’s doing all that (she’s not).

The question of the day is the following: Why is managing life so complicated even though you have all these gadgets (or maybe because of that) that should be helping you? How should they help you?

Play a game?

Let’s envision a day how things could go if you would have what I call “Life Wizard”.

Let’s start with your mobile phone. It already knows

• who you are
• who you know
• where you are (and where you should and should NOT be)
• where you are going to be
• who you communicate with

You wake up in the morning. It’s 6:45. You walk to the kitchen and take a quick look of your phone to see if you have any messages (yes, some people really do that). Now the Life Wizard knows that you are awake. It can also detect the movements and audio around it.

You grab your iPad, along with the breakfast and read the personalized news. There are certain benefits reading news on a device like this. It’s more local, more up-to-date and more relevant just for you. If your wife reads the news on the same device, the news may look different. And oh yes, even ads are customized for you.

While reading the news, an alert window pops up and wants to confirm something.

Are you are ready to leave in half an hour to a meeting marked in your calendar?

There are no worries with the weather, the traffic on the freeway is normal (traffic jam, as normal) so you may want to activate the carpooling in order to use the carpool lanes and avoid the bridge toll. You say “yes” and keep reading. Now the Life Wizard knows where you are going, what time, how and which route.

Rest of your family is now joining you for the breakfast so you put away the gadget. Time to talk person to person.

Just before you leave the house, you remember that you don’t have a babysitter for the evening. No problem. You tap the screen of your iPad (you could really do it with your mobile or computer as well) and post an ad to Jobita. Outsourcing tasks to reliable people couldn’t be easier. The Wizard knows what you need, what time, where and what are the requirements for the candidates. Off you go!

You hit the road. Your navigator knows where you are going, and how to get the ride-sharing passenger onboard. Well, that’s because the Wizard told that, there is no need to enter the same information again.

The phone rings. It’s your Wizard calling. Well, using a mobile phone while driving is forbidden but hands-free audio is still ok. It’s about  weather this time, there is heavy rain ahead. So your passenger is going to be wet.

To be continued.