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Apple's recent change to its developer rules requiring their approval to collect and send device data to third parties for aggregation, analytics or processing, has created a firestorm in the mobile blogosphere. If Facebook had a mobile operating system, they would not qualify as "independent" according to the new rules and hence could be blocked. Recent legislation, such as the draft privacy bill from Rep. Rick Boucher, seeks to define and require opt-in approval for "sensitive information." That could be your exact geographic location or something similar. Of course users comfortable with geo-location applications shouldn't have a problem providing their approval, not many people read those fine print in pop-ups anyway - but they should.  We are seeing inconsistent privacy notices and policies in use across desktop and mobile applications. Apple justifies their approach under the "privacy" banner, but could attract the scrutiny of the FTC. The recent leak of AT&T ICC-ID data to obtain user email addresses brings Apple's privacy concerns up front and personal. While not necessarily Apple's fault, they still require an email address for iTunes. Mobile advertising has evolved from the desktop space with some innovation, although there have not been many break-through ideas. Apple's iAd experience is very clever in that users clicking ads are presented an HTML5 container without leaving the app. Delivery and bundling of iAds via iTunes supports their cash engine. By forcing developers to use HTML5, this further drives the standard away from Adobe. Perhaps Apple could use iTunes as a repository for user opt-in status thereby eliminating interruptions in the application itself. 

Kevin Kelleher of GigaOM posits in his article that Apple will eventually give up control of the iPhone & iPad environment, the application process, and limiting content to what is "appropriate" for its customers.  While I agree with his analogy of comparing Apple to WalMart in terms of being a retailer, I do not believe their walled garden limits innovation. The reason is during the early phases of technology adoption, it is better to have this type of control to preserve the brand experience. Apple could not afford to have sloppy applications or serve up what their customers might deem inappropriate. Very soon, customers will be able to experience unrestricted HMTL5 applications accessible over the web that will approach the current UI experience from fat client apps on iTunes. The same goes for iPad.  Apple is not only a "platform," it is a Brand and above all, that is what the company will preserve. Gadgets will change but the brand remains the same.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is the #1 spectator sport in the United States holding 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events. Studies have shown an extraordinary awareness of corporate sponsors in the sport in terms of consumer accuracy and recall. According to a Madison University study, 51% of the fans agreed that, when they buy a NASCAR sponsors' product, they are contributing to the sport. And more importantly, 47% of fans agreed that they like a sponsor's brand more because it sponsors NASCAR. I think the same thing can happen with the iPhone. Mobile advertisers are writing inexpensive iPhone applications that attract more user interaction than static display ads do. According to Greystripe, users interact with an iPhone ad nearly 14% of the time versus an online banner ad that garners less than 1% interaction. That's an order of magnitude difference. With over 20 million iPhone users; the audience reach has achieved critical mass. AdMob claims over 78 billion global impressions served and the iPhone OS holds over 50% of that total. There is a cool NASCAR Live iPhone application available but I think there is a bigger opportunity. New event marketing sponsorships that bring in consumer experience with big dollar brands via their iPhone device could help fund development and mobile industry growth for the entire category.

The Google Phone gets real as various scribes hint at prototype features: The Boston Globe on its Qwerty keyboard and three-dimensional animated buttons; Om Malik on its specialized browser, mobile-Linux OS and Java apps; TechCrunch on how Google's Gpay mobile-payment system could be the Google Phone's killer application; and Rational Security on the ads Google will run on the phone to make it free.

Is this the beginning of free phone service?