Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs highlighted three main areas of focus for Qualcomm during the BREW 2007 keynote—Innovation, Execution, and Partnership, with examples for each.
Innovation—Showcasing Verizon Wireless’ V-Cast service, Paul suggested the carrier has diversified TV content—if only the same were true for LBS on Verizon which epitomizes the garden mentality. uiOne-powered, personalized devices on Sprint have evolved from dynamic NFL wallpaper to include idle-screen On-Demand services customizable by users. According to Jacobs, Sprint wireless data services usage jumped 200% recently, which he attributes to UI themes.
Execution—Near-field communications and RFID will transform devices into credit cards, hotel keys, airline boarding passes, etc binding personal identity to digital transactions. Lifecomm, Qualcomm’s Health and Fitness Initiative (discussed previously), “will be like your Doctor in your pocket”. The service launches in 2008 and will include retail distribution channels such as pharmacies. Paul also sees Qualcomm executing in emerging economies, where consumers will access the Web through their mobile devices versus PCs. Paul announced the Snapdragon chipset, which will offer an inexpensive, low-power, green alternative for desktop computing to serve these markets. “Qualcomm is working with industry leaders to bring rich services to consumers in these emerging economies”.
Partnership—The BREW developer community has now generated $1B in aggregate revenue, with 218 commercial BREW carriers, and an anticipated 450 million subs by 2010. Paul highlighted a few select partners which represent this growth by way of video testimonials from O2, 9 Squared, Medio, frog design, Motorola, and Adobe. To wrap up the partner theme, Paul recognized the Amber Alert Highway Network and AmberWatch Foundation, highlighting a location-based application enabling users to instantly alert family members in the event of abduction or emergency. Paul said he and Qualcomm worked with Wavemarket to bring the service online, and Qualcomm plans to make a $100M charitable donation to the Foundation. How bout dem apples?