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Last week we interviewed Kai Yu on some specific about his mobile IM company BeeJive. This week we asked Kai some more general questions on how he thinks the latest smartphones, and the popularity of instant messaging, will influence the next generation of mobile devices.

Do you think that the Blackberry and the iPhone give hints of what mobile will be like? Do you expect cheaper devices with similar functionality?
Yu: Absolutely. Devices will also converge on feature-set and price points will come down (see the $200 price drop on the iPhone). Pretty soon most new phones will be considered “smart” by today’s standards. Also, both of these devices are known for their good usability, and I think we’ll see a lot more focus on usability the next few years as the smart phone market moves towards the average consumer.

How would you like to change the mobile industry?
Yu: Being a small independent software company, we’d like to see more distribution options for our products. We would also like to see more standardization at OS or software platform level.

Do you want to change the way people use their mobile devices?
Yu: Absolutely. I think we are already changing the way our users view their devices by providing an reliable IM service that’s always on. It opens up a different way of communicating that’s sometimes more effective than voice calls or mobile email. Going forward, we’ll be looking to build other applications that allow people to get even more out of their mobile devices.

Instant messaging used to be just for kids. What’s in it for the grown-ups?
Yu: IM is becoming more and more popular and we see more use for it daily. For example, Verizon offers an IP relay service where voice calls can be relayed to deaf or hard-of-hearing customers via IM on AIM or MSN, so many of these customers use our service on their BlackBerries. EBay offers auction alerts through the major public IM networks, and that can come through our service as well. Obviously, being able to IM on-the-go is very powerful and very addictive, and our users have come to rely on the product as a primary means of communications.

What makes your company stand out from the mobile crowd?
Yu: We have a passion about making high quality user-centric mobile software, and hopefully that shows in our work. This is not to say that we’re the only ones with this passion, but sometimes one wonders…

Michael M.