Today's news from One Laptop Per Child was about layoffs due to difficulty in raising money. But the mission remains, and the core driver remains technology, as one of the commentors points out:

"You have done a great job so far, revolutionizing Moore's Law for X86 computing, initiating the industry-wide rush to sell netbooks in the developed countries, thus accelerating the shift to cheaper and lower-power computing.

"The next step I think should be shifting the PC and laptop to the ARM architechture. This would lower cost and lower the power consumption further. And it would accelerate also the industry-wide shift from the wasted CPU cycles and empty processing of X86 to the optimized embedded process and the complete removal of all bloatware from computers. How soon could XO-1.5 or XO-2 be ready with an ARM Cortex A8 core, running some Linux OS with a Sugar interface in collaboration with Google Android as software platform?"

OLPC is not the only outfit with this mission. In India, Novatium has the same mission, and it has a for-profit model. It has been pointed out regularly for a long time that selling to the "bottom of the pyramid" is a good business strategy. It is now more apparent that these strategies will impact developed markets as well. The current downturn will accelerate this as individuals and companies seek to reduce costs.

The Google Price

In manufacturing, we have the China price. In outsourcing, we have the India price. In software-as-a-service, we now have the Google price. Reading the Forrester report on the cost of managing email, what jumps out is how radically lower the Google price is: $8.47 vs. $20.32 for the lowest-priced alternative. Despite all the chants of "You get what you pay for," most businesses will take that differential pretty seriously. Google has set the new benchmark. Every vendor that sells for more will have to spend a lot of marketing dollars explaining why.

Skype on an Unlocked Mobile Device

The rumor (based on a broken embargo, it appears) that Skype Lite will be available on Android and Java-enabled phones gets us closer to the deal we all want: Skype on an unlocked mobile device. Like many people, I don't use a landline at work anymore. I use Skype and a mobile phone. So I am okay when in my office, my home, or a friend's office or home where I can open my laptop and use Skype.

But my mobile bills are way too high. I was intrigued by Validas' offer to reduce mobile bills by untangling their complexity. But I really want a more radical option, and Skype on an unlocked phone gives me that. I get free Skype-to-Skype and cheap Skype-Out calls wherever I have Wi-Fi. Wherever I don't, I use a pre-paid mobile calling card. No fixed costs. Big mobile bills... gone! Hint: don't buy shares in telephone companies.

Don't Worry Apple, There Will Always Be a Luxury Market

Aston Martins may not be selling so well today, but iPhones and Macs are flying off the shelves, and they are surely not cheap. Affordable luxury -- something that makes you feel good but does not really break the bank -- does well in a downturn.

But this is a small counterpoint to the massive main trend of cheaper products driven by both technology and the need to sell to the billions who are joining the global economy. Now, if we can only figure out how to enable billions to join the global consumer economy without doing worse damage to the environment, we will be in great shape. Come on Mr. Tata, what about an electric version of the Tata Nano?

Validas is ideal for the SMB (Small Medium Business) market. That includes all the bootstrapping Gritty Entrepreneurs as well as the VC funded start-ups that just got the "cut costs" memo from their pals at the VC fund. But it is also the 27 million Small Medium Businesses that employ 50% of Americans.

Validas can be used by a consumer. But an individual can probably spend a few minutes and figure it out themselves.

Nor is Validas ideal for Fortune 500. They can get the data from the carriers in a form that they can analyze any way they want, they can employ people to haggle with the carriers and have the clout to get results.

What if you are the CEO with 20 employees? You have other priorities. You can tell your Admin/Finance person to do it, but maybe his priority should be chasing receivables? You can tell all 20 of your people to figure out how to reduce all their cell phone bills? Well, if you are the kind of CEO that sprays employees with constant priorities that all get ignored, you could employ consultants to do it, but their fees might outweigh the savings.

Automating A Small Boring Job

Validas does what you would do if you took the trouble or if you employed somebody to do it. They just automate it, so they can do it fast and efficiently and thus make money in the process.

This is boring and it is small. So it should be really easy. It should fit into that quadrant that is Minor Impact/Easy To Do.

That is easy to say, but hard to pull off. Validas has the experience to deliver this. The founders, Tom Pepe and Todd Dunphy, left their safe jobs at Verizon Wireless to start Validas. They know all the tricks that carriers use to get those extra fees.

How It Works

To use Validas, you will need to be set up for online billing. Online billing is free from your carrier and you do not need to cancel your paper bill to use Validas. You can use Validas for bills from: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular.

Then you upload to Validas and view your potential savings. You can download this information into Excel or print out the reports.

Validas claims that the Current Average Yearly Savings Per Customer = $505. Presumably that is not per user and is for a small business of some type.

Validas pricing is simple, with various plans. The one they promote as best value costs $24 for 24 reports, audited every month. So that would work for a 24 person company. You can test it out with a $5 One Time Audit.

Validas fits the trend we are seeing of a return to simple "every day low prices" rather than fancy Freemium models supported by advertising. If it has value, charge for it.

The End Of Information Asymmetry

Validas looks like it is part of a big trend towards transparency, the end of "information asymmetry" that we noted in our Ten Trends To Bet On For Your Most Audacious Start-Up. We have seen start-ups doing this well in the car market. We suspect we will see more in financial services. In all cases, the start-up takes the side of the small buyer to get better deals from a large seller. Validas is a welcome entrant in the cell phone market.