CTIA: Dustin Moskovitz Liveblog
Rating: Many faces in the audience
By Tony Alton
09:24 - I have made it to the second big keynote of the event on time for once - Dustin Moskovitz the co-founder of Facebook is going to tell us how the social networking site de jour is embracing the mobile world. The audience of about 500 people has also embraced the social media nature of the day and has largely turned up in jeans or has combined their suit with white trainers. More to follow.
09:30 – Steve Largent – the President of CTIA starts by pleading with people to help the millions displaced by the fires in S. California – tells people to text GIVE to 23457.
09:34 – Moving on he says that people are going social in their messaging – cites MMS growth as a sign of this. Says carriers are now raking it in, bully for them. Bring on Facebook please.
09:37 – Muskovitz slopes onto stage, he looks like a young boy. Says he wants to talk about how we can make new opportunities, apparently mobile is the next frontier (Star Trek reference, few geeks nudge each other) and he says he’s going to make some mobile announcements.
09:41 – He’s outlining the evolution of Facebook, apparently it’s the most trafficked photosite on the web – more than 4Bn photos. Now he’s talking about the 2 things which he says helped Facebook really grow popular 1) removing the students only rule and 2) The news feed and third party app development. He mentions the longtail. Many nod in agreement of use of a good buzzword.
09:47 – Showing some stats on where Facebook users live – US, UK and Australia are the most active. Facebook apparently have 49m active users and 200,000 new users every day.
09:50 – Onto mobile Current stuff: SMS service, UGC content creation with MMS and the obvious mobile web site
09:53 – New extentions – New apps on the websites are automatically going to work on mobile – if you add an app on the website then its going to be available on our phone. People can now join causes from their mobile by sending a text to announce they have joined these causes (text Darfur for example) and this shows on your feed.
09:58 – RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is brought on stage to announce a deal between the two companies which will allows Blackberry users an improved experience. Facebook for Blackberry is the imaginative name, this means:
- Facebook application on all Blackberries with integrated news feed and push updates from the website
- Immediate options to photo upload pictures to Facebook with people tags and captions
- Integrated with Blackberry address book friend invites (sounds like more opportunities to skive off work than ever )
- Integrated Facebook email updates
T Mobile is apparently the first US carrier who will be offering these facilities embedded in handsets to Blackberry users - you can also download the app from the website.
10:00 – Dustin is now talking about the evolution in devices. Faster and smaller mobile computing is apparently giving people the chance to disrupt the world big sign saying THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY flashes up. Makes me want to go to the toilet.
10:10 – says Google is going to make a big move in the mobile industry, doesn’t tell what it is. Little tease.
10:13 – Talking about how to be platform – apps have to be able to work without bringing down your phone, apparently we have to stay an intelligent pipe, be nice to developers and move small and fast, like a greased weasel.
10:15 - all over, everyone bowls out into the third world production floor of the mobile world that is CTIA.
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