Voice: The Killer Mobile App (Plus Others I Like)

If you know me and read enough of my posts, you already know that I am a Mobile VoIP fan boy, so it should come as no surprise that an ElectronicsWeekly.com post about Wireless 2.0 made me smile.

Why?

Well, because that article touched on the fact the voice IS the killer mobile application, in fact, it spent most of the article talking about other “potential” killer applications (most which are already available today) such as email, GPS, find me-follow type functionality and mobile blogging. Although the article was a bit shallow in it’s pursuit of finding a true killer mobile application outside of voice, it could be that voice is the killer application mobile application.

With dollars pouring into Mobile VoIP service providers and many of these providers claiming millions of subscribers, it is evident that for right now voice, as an application, on a mobile phone is the killer application.

Now, I do not want to be too near sighted or biased, so here are a couple of other killer mobile applications that I think will eventually drive mobile subscriber growth:

1. Streaming Music – I am addicted to Pandora’s iPhone application. Forget XM and Sirius. Stream music via Pandora directly to your iPhone…for free.
2. Video Calling – Desktop video calling is starting to hit the masses lead by the likes of Skype and SightSpeed. Video calling is already popular in some Asian countries and it is only a matter of time before it comes to the states.
3. Live Streaming Video – Folks like Kyte and Qik are allowing you to create your own TV stations with “instant publishing” of live video streams. Can’t go to a concert with your friends? Have the stream the entire show from their handset to you.

As you can see, there are a few themes to the new killer applications for mobile applications; they leverage the data and WiFi capabilities of the handset, they are IP based and they help users communication and share, bringing you closer to the world around you.