Here are the business-related highlights of my Twitter feed over the last week.  To see all of the tweets, visit me on Twitter.

• Last call: Send me questions for #MWC10 panels I’m moderating 1st panel= VC investment in apps, 2nd= billing & payments http://ow.ly/15uPO #
• I like Lufthansa’s mobile boarding pass capability… Easy to use and saves paper. #
• @ronanhigg Good question/point. I wonder if VCs value native apps that don’t access device APIs > than browser-based apps… in reply to ronanhigg # (more…)

Here are a handful of my tweets from last week.  To read all of my updates, follow me: @lisawhelan on Twitter. (more…)

Last night, I attended Mobile Monday Silicon Valley networking and panel at the W Hotel in San Francisco, California, sponsored by Hi-Media.  The topic was “Virtual Goods and Micropayments on Mobile and Beyond.” The panel was moderated by Justin Smith – Founder of Inside Network, and the panelists were: Lex Bayer – General Manager Payments Business at Playspan, Doug Bewsher – CMO at Mig33, Mark Curtis – CEO of Flirtomatic, Steven Lurie – General Manager Mobile at Zynga, Pooj Preena – CEO of Hi-Media USA, and Roger Wood – CEO of Orca. (more…)

Yesterday, I attended the AT&T Developer Summit at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas.  It was one of the best mobile developer events I’ve attended in recent memory, not the least because AT&T shared some of it’s best announcements with mobile developers first… (more…)

I’ll be attending the AT&T Developer Summit on January 6th and the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 7-8 in Las Vegas Nevada.  I’ll also be attending the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 14-18, 2010.  If you’d like to meet me or need consulting help at or in advance of either show, please get in touch.

I recently swapped my Nokia E71 out for an unlocked Motorola CLIQ (running on AT&T).  I won the CLIQ at the recent MOTODEV Summit, and despite being excited to start using what looked like a great device, I was a little sad to give up my Nokia E71. Why? I like the E71 hardware a lot. It is billed as “the world’s thinnest smartphone,” and it is one of the best, most elegantly designed pieces of mobile hardware I’ve ever used.  Why did I switch? It’s not the hardware.  It’s the Symbian OS.  It may be the world’s most popular OS, but it’s also an old OS. When I compare the Symbian Series 60 use experience to to iPhone and Android it feels clunky, and using a Symbian powered phone in San Francisco made me feel old and achingly un-hip.  When using the E71, it took me too many clicks to get to where I want to go on the device, and the web browsing experience was mediocre at best.  Don’t get me wrong, I was excited to start using the CLIQ, but I wish it were as thin and elegantly designed as the Nokia E71.

All of this got me to thinking… Why doesn’t Nokia bite the bullet and give Android a whirl – even if only for one, very basic, smartphone?  Nokia knows hardware, and Google knows software.  It’d be a match made in heaven. (more…)

I’ve added a page for Socialize Mobilize on Facebook.  If you click on the Facebook icon to the right, under my name, you’ll now be taken to the SocializeMobilize fan page on Facebook as opposed to my personal page.  If you like this blog, please become a fan.

If you’d like to discuss a project or learn more about my consulting work, I’m available on Skype.  My Skype address is LisaMWhelan.

If you’d like to add me as a Skype contact, please send a brief note with your contact request explaining what you’d like to discuss.

I attended Under the Radar conference yesterday, and it was a great event. I got some good feedback on my tweets, so I thought I’d recap them here (for those of you who don’t use Twitter), as I did for the Verizon Developer Conference back in July:

The events kicked off with a reception on Wednesday night in which I tweeted: “Fun night @ Under the Radar. Good meeting @august & @greggrunberg from @yowza, @JasonFreedman from Flight Caster, & many others!”

And, here are my tweets from the event on Thursday:

• #UTR is packed. Standing room only. 9:28 AM Nov 19th from Gravity
• Listening to Peter Hirshberg’s keynote at #UTR. Talking about real-time instrumenting & mobile. 9:30 AM Nov 19th from Gravity
• Hearing about @twelpforce & @ribbit at #UTR. 9:47 AM Nov 19th from Gravity
• There are some good recaps of @Hirshberg‘s great keynote at #UTR if you search the UTR hashtag. 9:52 AM Nov 19th from Gravity (more…)

Today, Peek Inc. launched the Twitter Peek – a mobile gadget that gives you access to Twitter on the go.

What else does it do besides Twitter? Err… not much. According to the website, you can view Twitpics from the device, and according to its website, one day, Peek Inc. plans “to add support for previewing links in the near future” (no promises when).  The device looks like a mobile phone, and it comes in a pretty, ‘Twitter blue’ color, but it doesn’t allow you to make call, browse the web, or check emails.

The Twitter Peek costs $99, which includes 6 months of ‘service’.  Alternatively, you can pay $199 for a lifetime of service.   Why would anyone want to pay for a Twitter Peek?  If you’re willing to spend $199 on a mobile device plus service, why buy a Twitter only device when you could buy a cheap, used, internet-enabled smartphone from eBay, load it with a free (or cheap Twitter mobile app – or check a Twitter mobile site like Dabr.co.uk) and sign up for a cheap pay-as-you go voice and data plan?  Doing this would likely be cheaper than buying a Twitter Peek and allow you to make phone calls, browse the web, and use other apps. (more…)