Guillaume Foutry: How long has your startup (Optimor) been in operation?

Dr. Stelios Koundouros: The company was founded in 2005. We spent two years analyzing large mobile data sets and building our core predictive technology and analytical infrastructure. We then teamed up with The Accelerator Group (TAG) in 2007, producing our website and software in 2008. We launched the website in late 2008 and have seen the traffic increasing since, Bill Monitor having reached 25,000 users in May 2009, all driven by positive press coverage and word of mouth.

GF: How would you describe your tool, Bill Monitor?

Dr. Stelios Koundouros: Bill Monitor is a personal adviser on deals on the mobile phone market that analyzes customers’ individual usage patterns found in their itemised bills to provide them with the most personalised recommendations regarding their needs.

GF: Can you explain how it works?

Dr. Stelios Koundouros: The person willing to use Bill Monitor gives us access to his/her online billing account with their mobile operator. Bill Monitor then reads their historic usage and generates forecasts of their potential future behaviour based on the historic consumption of the user. It then runs each forecast through thousands of tariffs looking at the cost of every single call to identify the most suitable deal on the mobile phone market for this user. Alternatively, the user makes a self-assessment of his/her consumption.

GF: What is the main difference between Bill Monitor and a classic price comparison website?

Dr. Stelios Koundouros: Well, there are several differences:

• We analyze the actual bill of the user – offering personalised advice based on the user’s actual usage patterns
• We have spent several years developing an algorithm that provides very accurate prediction based on the user’s pattern of consumption
• We examine every level of consumption (national calls, international calls, text, roaming, picture message, contract type) and we recommend users mobile contracts with all add-ons which are relevant to their consumption and will effectively reduce their bills.

Thus, we provide a personal recommendation based on a global assessment of the consumption of the user.

GF: What does the Ofcom accreditation mean for Bill Monitor?

Dr. Stelios Koundouros: Ofcom, the national regulator for telecommunications, examines price comparison calculators in the mobile and telecommunications industry (They define themselves as “an independent organisation which regulates the UK’s broadcasting, telecommunications and wireless communications sectors.” They “also set and enforce rules on fair competition between companies in these industries”). Bill Monitor is the only mobile comparison calculator which has earned accreditation by Ofcom, this accredits the following four elements:

1. The impartiality of the Bill Monitor service
2. The accuracy of Bill Monitor
3. The transparency of Bill Monitor (how Bill Monitor provides the results)
4. The comprehensiveness of the tariffs compared by Bill Monitor

The certificate has been a recognition of our work and shows users they can trust Bill Monitor and its results.

GF: How have the mobile carriers greeted you? Have you felt any form of hostility or resistance?

Dr. Stelios Koundouros: We communicate with them and they perceive the value of the tool for their business and we will probably find a way to collaborate together. They can use Bill Monitor to improve their CRM system, or make their billing services more efficient, so we offer something that is complementary to what they do.

GF: Where are you going next? What do you plan to do, both for the tool and your company?

Dr. Stelios Koundouros: Our priority at the moment is to enhance the service as we plan to add multiple merchants such as the Carphone Warehouse and to include pay as you go deals. Above all as we have been in operations for a couple of months now we have accumulated enough feedback from our users to improve the website and to make it even more useful to them.

In the midterm we think of branching into other services where we could bring our expertise, like electricity deals.

Regarding our company, we are considering a series A funding round and we are in talks with some of the major players in this area.

And Here Google Comes..Again

Google has released Android, a mobile phone open source development platform allowing third party developers to create applications for mobile devices. Speculation about Google entering the mobile phone market has been around for a while, with many a rumour in the past few years about a Google smart phone called the G Phone. This definitely seemed like the obvious market move for the internet giant to directly compete with the iPhone, Blackberries and all the other smart phones out there. But instead they chose the soft over the hard and are now, rather then competing, are looking to re-invent the mobile phone market.

Open Source is the Future

The idea of open source is nothing new for Google who have developed many open source apps for the online community. Using this open ethos for the mobile phone market could change the industry all together. An open source platform means that instead of having software developed for each phone or brand, software can be developed for all phones; new applications can be downloaded and enjoyed by any user. Instead of upgrading software through purchasing a new phone the user can continually upgrade through downloading the latest software and apps that suit them.

Why Should We Do It When You Can

The genius of the open source Android project is Google’s incentive scheme to promote application and software innovation. They have set a side a modest $10m to incentivise third party developers to create ‘cool’ new applications for the Android platform awarding the best developers with large sums of cash. So instead of having to internally invest in application creation Google employ the public so they can get on with more important tasks… like ensuring their advertising revenue and developing more strategies to dominate the future off and online media spaces.

Uh Oh!

The reaction to this development from Microsoft’s charismatic CEO Steve Ballmer was the expected one. He has remarked that Google’s efforts were just ‘words on paper’, but these words come from the same man who claimed Apple’s iPhone would not be a success, and literally laughed at the now revolutionary design. Microsoft and Apple definitely have something to fear with Google’s Android project. Through developing open source development for mobile devises instead of focusing on cashing in on hardware development Google have made a lot of mobile phone producer and mobile service provider friends.

The Google Alliance

Google’s development of Android is in partnership with the open hand-set alliance, 34 mobile handset makers, application developers, chip makers and mobile service providers who believe in the future of open source platforms. This alliance includes some huge names in the mobile devices world and is looking to directly compete with the independents (Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Symbian) who have all developed their own operation platforms.

Behind the Openness

Of course the real winner here is Google. Sure, Mobile phone manufacturers can sell more phones, service providers may be able to charge higher tariffs, but for Google this will bring another mammoth flow of advertising revenue their way and help them secure their place as a major player in the mobile device market. The Android is another step in the Google generation direction and will add to the fears of those already weary of their size and future capabilities of the media giant, but as long as they continue to develop ground breaking ideas and keep their competition on their toes we can’t complain too much.

Oh, the wonders of technology. Its been a while since I lived in the US, but when I did, I remember my life fully revolved around Amazon.com. I recall every time I had a craving for something, (certainly not food in this case-for that I had a wonderful convenience store right downstairs my dorm) I’d go on the site and begin my quest. From my college books, to just about all the CDs I own today, to my favorite black and yellow Puma Sparcos, to even an outdoor teak shower we bought for our beach house in Venezuela…I mean, everything! My stereo, my first digital camera, Adidas gym bag, embroidered bath towels, Ralph Lauren down comforter, desk lamp, a metal Slinky?!…ok, I think you get the idea.

I’m beginning to think maybe it was not such a good plan coming to Italy(yeah right) since Amazon has recently started up the new modality of shopping through text message. So now mobiles have become an even more precious gadget in our lives- girls we can shop, shop, shop ’til our phone runs out of…battery, i guess. This is what I call ‘comfort shopping’; no need to leave home nor wait in queue for hours.

The service is called TextBuyIt and all you have to do is text message ‘Amazon’ (262966) and insert either a ‘keyword’ or product name, a description of the same or its UPC/ISBN code. Within seconds, Amazon replies to your text message displaying the products matching your keyword. Once you get this message, all you have to do is text them back with the number pertaining to the product of your choice and finally the last step will be someone calling you from Amazon to verify the purchase and order details.

If you’re a first timer, Amazon will ask you your email and Zip Code in order to use your default settings, which include your credit card and shipping information. This is very convenient I’d say, since you’ll never have to pop out your credit card in public, its all online, hence there’s no risk for theft, forgery, cloning, etc.

If you wish to get even more picky in terms of using Amazon’s website features like 1-Click and the WishList, you can also access www.amazon.com through the web browser provided by your mobile and you will be immediately redirected to a site specifically optimized for mobiles.

Learn more about shopping via text messages.