Mobile Business Conference

Jeff Pierce manages the mobile computing research group at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA. Prior to joining IBM Research in 2006, he served time as an Assistant Professor in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. There he led the Personal Information Environments research group and co-directed the Adaptive Personalized Information Environments lab with Charles Isbell. Jeff received his PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 2001. While his initial research explored 3D interaction and virtual environments, his recent research concentrates on understanding and supporting interaction that spans multiple personal computing devices (including smartphones, but also desktops, laptops, and other devices). His research has appear in numerous conference proceedings, journals, and books. He also shared the honor of being Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2006.

The first gadget Keith Shaw ever wanted was the Merlin, a red plastic toy that beeped and played Tic-Tac-Toe and other various games. Since then, his obsession with technology, both small and large, has grown into the multimedia empire that is Cool Tools. A child of the '70s and teen-ager of the '80s, Shaw has been a fan of computers, technology and video games right from the start. He won an award in 8th grade for programming a game on the school's only computer, and saved his allowance to buy an Atari 2600. He took a side trip in the '90s to the world of newspaper journalism, and has worked at a variety of newspapers in New York, Florida and Massachusetts. In 1997, he combined his love of technology with his journalism skills, working at Computerworld for a few years before joining Network World in 1999 as the company's product reviews editor. In 2000, Shaw took over the Cool Tools column, which continues to appear in the print version of Network World weekly. Shaw started the Cool Tools video show in 2005, and in 2006 teamed up with Multimedia Editor Jason Meserve to create the company's weekly Twisted Pair podcast, which occasionally covers gadgets and other technology news. As Network World's Programming Director, he oversees the production and content creation of the site's videos and podcasts, and has created or spearheaded several popular programs, including Network World Panorama, the DEMOcast, and JavaWorld's Technology Insider. Shaw has a bachelor's degree in newspaper journalism from Syracuse University and he's extremely disappointed with the football team as of late. As product reviews editor, Shaw won an award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for a 2003 article on anti-spam testing. Shaw is also the co-creator of http://www.taquitos.net, the crunchiest site on the InterWeb, which has taste tested and reviewed more than 4,100 varieties of snack foods.

Raj Singh is a mobile industry veteran having worked in all aspects of mobile over the past 10 years. Currently, Raj is Vice President of Business Development for Skyfire, a mobile browser that supports the full web including Flash 8,9, Javascript and Quicktime. Most recently, Raj was the consulting Director of Mobile for Dell assisting them with their global SMS and WAP strategy. Prior to Dell, Raj co-founded Veeker, NBC's mobile video citizen journalism service and ToneThis, CNET's top ringtone creation product. Raj has also worked in product management and strategy roles for Kodak Mobile, Cellmania, MobiTV, PlayPhone, Tellme, Hungama Mobile and Antenna Software. Raj's personal projects include Moblexa, a mobile toolbar, PocketTella, a mobile file-sharing service and Pubwalk, an LBS bar-hopping service. Raj is also a mobile advisor to a number of companies including Guba, ChuckD Mobile, Scalado, Movoxx, DeviantArt, Oomble, Klicksports, Muse, BuzzD and several VCs within the valley. Raj is a regular mobile writer and speaker including blogging for GotoMobile and previously blogging for O'reilly Emerging Telephony. Raj has also made contributions to a number of mobile user and expert groups including the JCP, MMA and the Bluetooth SIG. For more information, please see www.rajansingh.com.

Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president, leads Yankee Group's Mobilizing and Capitalizing on the Anywhere Network research group. Kerravala's team analyzes the impact of connectivity transformation on the Anywhere Consumer and the Anywhere Enterprise, and probes the changes to behaviors, motivations and technologies that result. Kerravala manages the research and consulting agenda that enables clients to meet the demands of the global connectivity revolution. Kerravala's expertise involves working with customers to solve their business issues through the deployment of infrastructure technology. Before Yankee Group, Kerravala was a senior engineer and technical project manager for Greenwich Technology Partners, a leading infrastructure consulting firm. Earlier, he was the vice president of IT for Ferris, Baker Watts, a mid-Atlantic brokerage firm, deploying corporate-wide technical solutions to support the firm's business units. Kerravala was also an engineer and technical project manager for Alex. Brown & Sons, where he was responsible for the technology related to the equity trading desks. Kerravala holds a B.S. degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.