Mobilod Mobile Marketing News

Empire State Building taps QR codes to activate multimedia exhibit

2010-07-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

Visitors can access information such as what the building does to react to temperature and weather via the QR codes, which are displayed throughout the exhibit. Each pillar in the exhibit has a unique URL, such as http://esbtour.com that visitors can access via their smartphone.
New York's Empire State Building has unveiled a multimedia display that incorporates QR codes to let visitors engage with the exhibit after leaving the physical space.

Mobile initiatives
There are mobile calls-to-action – a mobile URL and QR code – that starts with signage in the pre-ticketing area of the queue and carries through to labeling on each of the pillars with specific links to relevant parts of the mobile experience corresponding to the theme of that pillar/exhibit.
“Browser equipped mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous even across traditional age/socioeconomic/psychographic segments,” Mr. Monberg said. “A business person might have a RIM device and a young person might have an old Sidekick. Here is an image of a transformational cube in the Empire State Building, where users can get a URL to find out more information:

“A major takeaway of the Empire State Building sustainability story is what individuals can do to effect change on a personal level,” Mr. Monberg said. “There is nothing more personal to us than our mobile devices.

“While there is much talk of cosmic augmented reality apps today, this is a way of implementing a real life experience augmented by a specific mobile-driven guide,” he said. “It builds anticipation for people waiting for tickets and it allows people waiting in the pre-elevator queue on busy days to more deeply engage with the exhibit – mobile content can have an intimacy that a large glass pillar has a tough time delivering comprehensively.

IKEA 2010 Catalog launched on the iPhone

2010-07-30T03:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted a video of a fake iPad with an IKEA application on it. Here is the real thing. IKEA UK has launched the 2010 catalogue on iPhone and iPad, which you can download from here. The mobile catalogue lets consumers browse through living rooms, check out different offers, search the catalogue and create bookmarks for products they would like to buy. I have not tried it myself but I really hopes that it comes with a shopping list feature. As I think I have mentioned before, I am really looking forward to when they port their kitchen creator app currently running on PC to the iPad. Thats going to be a killer application. Together with the launch of the 2010 catalogue IKEA launched a Guerilla campaign using 3d art in London. The idea was that a living room would pop up from a 3d art quilt, which then consumers could sit on, while their friends took a picture. Its moments like this I really appreciate finding videos that can illustrate it better than I can describe it. Have a look at below.

Toy Story 3 mobile app yields over 1,7 million downloads

2010-07-30T02:23:00.000-07:00

Most of us saw the creative iAd Steve Jobs presented at his Keynote for Toy Story 3. Personally, I have not seen it pop up yet, so please let me know if you have seen it running on iAd.

Disney recently acquired Paolo Alto based app developer, Tapulous, to create the company's mobile apps. The success of the Toy Story 3 is a testament to a job well done. The game has had over 1,7 million downloads since its launch on June 15.

The game lets consumers find new toys, new activities and new adventures. Disney is also selling ad-on games in the app giving the opportunity to earn money from it. Finally there is a link to a mobile web site where you can see movie information, watch trailers and find out where the movie is playing. The app can be downloaded from iTunes.

NikeID continues on iPad

2010-07-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Niké is one of those brands how have taken iPhone and iPad to heart. NikéID as a concept is one that I am really fond of. It has a clear and measurable return on investment.

Playing around with this app I was able to design my own shoe and then purchase it through Niké. Whats crucial here is app quality. The application crashed on me and I had to start over my design. Then touch sensitivity led me to assume that you cannot customize the soles of the shoe, leaving it red. Not really my style. Quite surprising since you can on their website. Regardless this is one of my favorite appvertising concepts. It looks great, has a sharing feature through Facebook and a clear ROI, which I think are 3 core factors for a successful app. You can download it on iTunes.

Layar is rolling stones with Exile on Your St.

2010-07-16T05:31:00.000-07:00

One of the first bands to launch an Augmented Reality campaign is Rolling Stones for their release of Exile on Your St. With a creative use of the Layar application Rolling Stones is able to reach both Android and iPhone users. The application lets fans create virtual posters promoting the album on different locations.
When posting the locations fans are able to write a personal message and include a clip from the album, which Layar users can see from a radius of 2km.

The Rolling Stones specific layar was created by Howard Ogden who also created the Beatles Tour for the Layar application. You can see more of his work on augmentedreality.co.uk. One great example of his work is for the Les Miss in London, where he illustrates how you can get a call to action from a poster at the theaters location. The video below illustrates how.

I am a huge fan when it comes to Augmented Reality and I am really keen on seeing this industry take of when it comes to mobile marketing.

Lekar from IKEA is just brilliant!

2010-07-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

IKEA has quickly stepped up their game when it comes to mobile marketing. We have seen some campaigns before playing with mobile coupons and Augmented Reality, but now they have launched a couple of really good looking applications. First of is the game Lekar.

I think this campaign is brilliant. It clearly shows that IKEA has given it an extra thought. The concept is quite simple. The game Lekar (=games, in Swedish) is a mobile game that have a couple of interactive games for children such as the classical chair game, charades and find the hidden treasure. The idea is that kids are playing around in your home and getting to know your furniture.

What I like about this application is that it can save you when you are planning games for your kids birthday party or sleep over. It lets the kids play around and be active instead of sitting in front of a computer. Targeted to kids but gives a great value to parents.

According to IKEA this application works both on your iPad and your iPhone and you can download it from here. To complete this campaign IKEA have created a nicely looking commercial with kids from several parts of the world describing the game.

Sekai Camera in 2010 and beyond: API, iPad and Android versions, iPhone update, Sekai Apps

2010-07-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

According to Tonchidot, Sekai Camera now boasts well over one million users worldwide, and the number is poised to grow soon. In May, Sekai Camera for the iPad came out (yes, augmented reality on the camera-less iPad/screenshot below). The iPad-optimized app (obviously) can’t deliver the full experience but allows you to “visit” cities around the world and view and create air tags that other iPad and iPhone users can interact with.

And just a few days ago, Tonchidot released Sekai Camera on the Android Market (screenshot below) That version offers a couple of Android-exclusive features and is available in 47 different countries. ISO 1, an Android smartbook made by Sharp for the Japanese market , just went on sale and comes with Sekai Camera pre-installed.

But Sekai Camera version 2.4.1 for iPhone is probably the most relevant for most existing users. The update, which hit the App Store just today, comes with iOS4 support and push notification.
But perhaps most importantly, it features the first game that works within the Sekai Camera ecosystem. Tonchidot says that the title, a casual game called “KA-BOOM” (screenshots below), is just the first in a series of “Sekai Apps” that will be launched in the near future. The basic idea is to roll out games that combine mobile, location, augmented reality and social elements within Sekai Camera. Augmented reality-based gaming is something that has the potential to become huge and that no other company has ventured into on this scale. Tonchidot calls this concept “SoLAR” gaming and has already signed on a number of Japanese gaming firms that will deliver more content in the coming weeks.

And Tonchidot is cooking up even more stuff. Sekai Camera will go to the web soon (users will be able to see air tags and connect Sekai Camera to other social networks through a web service)

How iPhone 4 Could Change Augmented Reality

2010-06-11T04:56:00.000-07:00

When Apple announced iOS 4.0 earlier this year, some additions to the SDK (software development kit) caught the attention of augmented reality (AR) developers - specifically, open access to the phone's camera APIs. But with the introduction of the new hardware in the iPhone 4 made this past Monday, the possibilities for AR on the popular smartphone have skyrocketed. Today I had the opportunity to chat about the device's impact on AR with Stefan Misslinger, lead iPhone developer for metaio, one of the leading AR companies and makers of the mobile AR browser junaio.

Enhanced Image Tracking

For some AR experiences, image recognition and tracking are essential to a quality customer experience. The application needs to be able to analyze the data being taken in from the camera in order to properly overlay 3D objects into space, but previously this functionality wasn't available for iPhone developers. When Apple announced iOS 4.0, the inclusion of access to live camera data in the iPhone SDK provided AR developers with the ability to bring image tracking to the iPhone.

Other mobile operating systems, like Android, have had the capability to use image tracking for a while now, but the iPhone had been closed off from raw camera data. Last week, metaio introduced an image tracking application for Android, known as junaio Glue, and now with iOS 4.0, it will be able to bring this same functionality to the iPhone. The company also provides its own mobile AR SDK that allows developers to build apps leveraging metaio's technology, and Misslinger says metaio will include image tracking in the iPhone version of its SDK in the next few weeks.

New and Improved Cameras

But it's not just the software that will make image tracking on the iPhone easier and more available; the forthcoming iPhone 4 also includes a 5 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p video. The higher resolution of images captured by the phone makes the tracking of AR markers and image-based triggers much easier, but, as Misslinger points out, it comes with a catch.

Image tracking for AR requires that visual data be analyzed 30 times per second, and using a high-resolution image could slow down this process and make the tracking less accurate, or lag-ridden. To avoid this, Misslinger says the use of the full resolution will likely be on a case-to-case basis. For closer experiences, a lower resolution image should suffice, but for tracking markers that are larger or father away, the full power of the camera may be required.

The iPhone 4 also includes a second forward-facing camera, and everyone seems excited to see how Apple's vision for the future of video communication will play out. For augmented reality, however, the front facing camera opens up an entire new realm of possibilities on the mobile device. AR experiences traditionally developed for desktop webcams, like virtual mirrors that let users try on sunglasses and clothes, can now be experienced from a handheld device.

Gyroscopic Motion Sensing

One of the biggest surprises at the iPhone 4 announcement was the addition of a gyroscope to the device's arsenal of sensors. As Steve Jobs demonstrated, the gyroscope will allow the device to interpret its specific location as it relates to gravity - as the person turns in 3D space, the phone will recognize this motion based on sensed velocity. Most people immediately thought of augmented reality when this feature was introduced, and Misslinger says this is an obvious tool that AR developers will quickly adopt.

Certainly the gyroscope will help apps stabilize their results and track a user's movement, but there are additional uses for the gyro for AR. At the moment, if a user is using image tracking technology, quick movements of the device can cause the image to blur - interrupting the tracking of a marker or image. Misslinger says he is excited to use the gyroscope to help bridge the gap between when image tracking software loses and regains its capture on an image or marker. With the gyroscope working in tandem with image tracking technology, brief interruptions in tracking due to blurred images could be eliminated.

Faster Processor & High-Resolution Display

Call it what you will, but Apple's "Retina Display" on the iPhone 4 packs a serious high-res punch, and that bodes well for augmented reality. AR's success, in someways, relies on its ability to create a seamless merging of real and virtual worlds, and with a better display comes better graphics. Misslinger points out that the enhanced display will allow for the inclusion of better 3D models in mobile AR experiences - greatly enhancing the overall user experience.

Additionally, faster processor speeds on the device will allow these larger models to run much smoother than before. Apple's home-brewed A4 processor will allow AR apps to not only render 3D models faster and at a higher level of quality, but it will also help analyze the camera data at more close-to-real-time speeds.

iPhone 4 vs. The World

Apple is famous for admitting that it may not be first to include seemingly basic and simple functionality (like copy/paste and multitasking), but the company aims to do it as seamlessly and efficiently as possible. In the case of image tracking, Apple wasn't first to the game, but it is likely that with the ease at which developers can implement APIs from the SDK that the iPhone could soon establish itself as the leading platform for mobile AR. Add that to the phone's hardware additions and the large number of devices the company is likely to sell and you've got fertile soil from which AR can blossom.

Unilever's Bertolli builds email marketing list via mobile ads

2010-06-03T05:35:00.000-07:00

Unilever-owned consumer packaged goods brand Bertolli is targeting food lovers via a mobile advertising campaign that aims to build an email list for future marketing. Bertolli is offering users of the Today Recipes application the chance to win a trip “into the heart of Italy.” The banner ad is part of a long term sponsorship that Bertolli has with the Today Recipes application, which was created by Zumobi. “The content is really critical here,” said Ken Wilner, CEO of Zumobi, Seattle. “Unlike traditional mobile ad networks we stress content and can marry highly relevant content with the appropriate brand very directly. “So a brand like Bertolli can be married up with particular content like video, recipes and shopping lists,” he said. Currently, the Bertolli ad links directly to a microsite where consumers are asked to fill out their name and email address. Those who opt to are added to an email marketing list to receive special offers regarding Bertolli. Additionally, consumers that fill out the form are entered for a chance to win a culinary vacation to Italy and other prizes. Here is a screen grab of the banner ad within the Today Recipes application.

Nestle Purina bulks up mobile strategy with Petcentric app

2010-05-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

Recognizing that pet lovers are increasingly relying on mobile technology for their information needs, Nestle Purina PetCare Co. has expanded the reach of its Petcentric offering.

The Petcentric application is now available for BlackBerry users, and a new version with upgraded features is offered to iPhone users. With the enhancements, the application is available to more than 66 percent of the smartphone market. “We wanted to provide Purina users with a high-functioning destination to access all of the Petcentric content,” said Alexandre Mars, Paris, France-based CEO of Phonevalley and head of mobile at Publicis Groupe. “With an app as robust as Petcentric – location-based functionality, user generated content, gallery, videos, news and tips – it made the most sense to start with apps. With the recent upgrades, the application now provides pet owners an even more engaging mobile experience through location-based utility, entertaining content featuring videos and photos, and relevant pet information.

“That being said, apps are only one part of Purina’s 360-degree mobile strategy,” he said. Purina's Petcentric is now available to 500,000 iPad owners. The new features offer a gallery of top pet news stories and videos every day, and new ways to search for professional pet sitters and pet-friendly places using GPS technology.

find pet-friendly places

“This localized and timely utility is the inherent great thing about mobile applications and the mobile Web,” Mr. Mars said. “Also, consumers love to look at great pet videos and pics and we’ve got all that in one location.”

Browse some pet photos

Pet lovers can rate and comment on pet-friendly locations and add their own favorite places. Petcentric has proven to be very popular with pet lovers who use smartphone technology.

The application was developed byPhonevalley, a mobile marketing agency.

Agency Sites and Mobile Marketing

2010-05-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Some days I think to myself, “The kids don’t get it.”

Yesterday I tried to read a blog post from a mobile marketing agency on my iPhone. I read a lot of agency blogs. It’s a good way to get inside the minds of people who are shaping the future of online marketing, and provides me a lot of rant material. However, I was in a hurry and trying to read the post on my iPhone, but I had two wait a whole three minutes for the full website to load. You’d think, given the agency was talking about mobile advertising, they would have a mobile optimized version of their site.

No. You’d be wrong, you’d be very wrong.

I come across these sites three or four times A DAY. Agencies write about Foursquare and Gowalla, location based advertising, iPhone apps, yet they don’t have a blog optimized for mobile viewing. I’ve even come across a site that was entirely in flash. That one looked GREAT on my iPhone. It’s two-faced. It’s weak. You can do better.

Marketers, if you’re going to be bringing advertisements to my phone, prove to me you can do it right. Walk the walk. Make sure your site is optimized for mobile viewing. If I can do it, you can too! No excuses.

Expert Review: “AR: A New Human Interface and the Next Killer App?”

2010-05-20T02:18:00.000-07:00

Before AR can become a new killer app, it must be understood for what it is, a new human interface. AR is nothing less than a new way of seeing, a new mode of interacting, of enabling us to explore scenarios that don’t exist in the “real” world. By inserting ourselves in the scene, being the hero of our own game, seeing ourselves in 3-D, a kind of “reality TV’ effect takes hold.

As an emerging platform, augmented reality doesn’t depend on mobile, kiosks, window displays, or breakthrough baseball cards, however magical and engaging these deployments may be. It depends on the technology being all those things referenced a few lines up. AR apps of course have to be unbreakable; but what they really have to be is unforgettable. And technology is fundamental to attaining that precious intangible. AR needs to be viewed in that context, a technology platform that is more than versatile enough to flourish beyond digital marketing.

Certainly, enabling web-based AR quickly opened up an enormous array of digital marketing applications. Digital marketing is still the very visible tip of the iceberg, but below the water line, there’s a vast array of applications, many of them transformative, that are poised for development, even as marketing applications mature.With augmented reality proliferating on multiple screens and in various guises within such a brief period, the challenge now is to decipher what truly is AR from what’s being billed as AR, and to understand how these very different versions, and visions, compare. Bruno Uzzan is co-founder and CEO of Total Immersion.

Total mobile LBS revenues to reach $12.7B by 2014

2010-05-20T01:52:00.000-07:00

While technical advances in handset screens, user interfaces, processors, memory and graphics-handling technologies previously contributed to the launch of high-cost mobile devices, their features – including GPS – are now migrating to mass-market devices. GPS unit prices and form factors have improved considerably, making integrated GPS much more cost-effective and design-friendly.Due to the growth of mobile Internet usage and the surge in GPS-enabled devices, Juniper Research predicts that location-based local search and information services will be used by nearly 1.5 billion mobile users by 2014.

“I suppose the key observation is simply that, after a number of false dawns, mobile location-based services are coming into their own,” said Dr. Windsor Holden, principal analyst at Juniper, Hampshire, England. “The confluence of the Apple iPhone 3G and App Store fundamentally changed the way that developers and users viewed applications for the mobile phone. “Indeed, location enablement is rapidly becoming a de facto feature of many mobile applications,” he said. “However, whilst it is easy to point to these events as being ‘defining’ in the development of commercial mobile LBS, in reality a far larger number of things came together at the same time: advances in network infrastructure and on-device positioning technology, improvements in digital mapping content and improvements in user experience. “The combination of these factors has been crucial to the recent upsurge both in the number of mobile LBS products on services that are available, and in their adoption by end users.”

The Juniper study found that growth in mobile Internet adoption is expected to provide further impetus to the adoption of browser-based local search services. The sharing culture of Web 2.0 is increasingly shaping the way many location-based services and location-enabled applications develop.

Starbucks taps mobile social media for Frappuccino promotion

2010-05-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

Starbucks knows that mobile makes social media an effective marketing channel

Coffee giant Starbucks Coffee Co. is running the Frappuccino Happy Hour promotion, a location-based multichannel campaign offering discounts to consumers who express brand loyalty on social networks.

The Frappuccino Happy Hour promotion is being highlighted across all of Starbucks’ channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Brightkite, foursquare, YouTube, MyStarbucksIdea.com and Starbucks.com, along with an in-store promotion. Brightkite users have the opportunity to earn a Starbucks badge if they check into Starbucks during the national Frappuccino Happy Hour promotion from 3-5 p.m. “They can add this badge to their profile to show their friends how much they love Starbucks,” said Lisa Passé, spokeswoman for Starbucks, Seattle. “We're really excited to be trying out new and innovative programs with location-based services like Brightkite.

“Finding new ways to connect with our customers in our stores and online, guides the progression of our social media strategy,” she said.

“What’s great about Brightkite is that it links the real time in store experience to the online community.”Starbucks recently unveiled the largest combined mobile payments and loyalty program in the United States.

Volkswagen producing iPhone game again with the Touareg Challenge

2010-05-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Following the success created of the previous iPhone games developed by FishLabs, Volkswagen has continued the success with the Touareg challenge. On this version of the game you can customize your Touareg to look and feel the way you want it. If you are up for the challange you can download the game on iTunes.

Key tips on mobile site design and search engine optimization

2010-05-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

Going mobile right now has never been more uncertain. With the development of the iPhone and Android platforms, browsing the Web on a phone has never been easier. Therefore you may be asking yourself “If most users can view your full Web site with an iPhone, what is the point of creating a mobile webpage?”

While the mobile industry is constantly changing, one thing is for sure: you need to have a mobile Web site.

There are currently around 68 million mobile Internet users. This number is growing exponentially and will only speed up.

With the release of 4G sometime next year boasting speeds of twenty times faster than your home broadband Internet, 4G Internet will change the very existence of the mobile Internet. Therefore, yes, you had better get a mobile Web site and now.

Here are a few ideas surrounding the mobile industry and how you can set up your first mobile Web site.

Mobile site requirements• Your mobile site should be XHTML compliant
• Do not use frames. It is OK – most likely your site will look like one giant column. That is normal
• Create a mobile sitemap that tells Google which site is your mobile Web site and which is not
• Follow the specific mobile design guidelines and outlines
• Typically you do not want content deeper than three links. If you thought the attention span of a desktop viewer was short, try mobile surfing
• Use external CSS style sheets to speed up your mobile Web pages

Matt Smith is search engine optimization specialist at SEO.com

MicroSD A Solid Answer To Mobile Payments Using Near Field Communication (NFC)

2010-05-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Near Field Communication (NFC), and especially its use with mobile payments, is a concept that’s been promised for a while now but never really came to fruition as many had hoped.

Commercially available NFC-embedded devices haven’t hit the market as quickly as many anticipated, and combined with the rise of mobile handsets with microSD slots, a new approach to NFC is emerging that promises to bypass both handset vendors’ and mobile network operators’ core involvement.

New microSD offerings with NFC functionality are coming to market quickly, joining stickers as a way to bring contactless connectivity to existing mobile handsets and laying the groundwork for true mass-market mobile payments in the near term. The main problem still lies with MNOs, who remain the gatekeepers for mass NFC handset rollouts. Over the next few years, however, the proliferation of MicroSD combined with other offerings such as active and passive contactless stickers should finally provide mobile users with true access to mobile payments using NFC.

Study: 82% Of Brands Plan To Boost Mobile Budgets Over Next 12 Months

2010-05-12T03:51:00.000-07:00

According to a new study by MediaPost’s Center For Media Research and digital research firm InsightExpress, 82% of brands, agencies and other companies plan to boost mobile ad budgets over the next 12 months.

For starters, here’s the quick facts; four in 10 plan to increase spending by up to 30% and three in 10 by 31% or more in the next year. Fifteen percent expect no change and, surprisingly, another 3% plan to actually cut mobile ad spend. Half of mobile ad dollars currently come from Online budgets, 35% from cross-platform buys, 27% from funds specifically earmarked for mobile and 8% from TV budgets.

What’s interesting is that ad-spend for mobile is still derived from other ad-based budgets, even though it’s projected that 43% of mobile spending in the future will come from designated mobile budgets as the industry evolves and matures.What’s interesting is that ad-spend for mobile is still derived from other ad-based budgets, even though it’s projected that 43% of mobile spending in the future will come from designated mobile budgets as the industry evolves and matures.

With so much press and enthusiasm surrounding mobile apps, the study found that utilizing branded mobile applications are the most intriguing aspect of mobile advertising, with agencies, brands, publishers, technology vendors and retailers alike all indicating enthusiasm toward the concept.

Another data point that struck me as surprising was the fact that nearly 50% of respondents indicated a strong desire for mobile video as a primary advantage of mobile advertising, followed closely by mobile coupons at 39%- which was also cited as being the most effective in terms of ROI.

Starbucks rolls out largest mobile payments, loyalty play in US

2010-05-12T02:59:00.000-07:00

Starbucks Coffee Co. has unveiled the largest combined mobile payments and loyalty program in the United States.

With the Starbucks Card Mobile application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, users can check their balance, reload their card and view transactions. In 16 select Starbucks stores in Silicon Valley and Seattle and at any U.S. Target Starbucks store—they can actually pay with their Starbucks Card using their iPhone or iPod touch. “The Starbucks Card platform is a cornerstone of our payment and customer loyalty strategy, accounting for over 15 percent of tender at our U.S. retail stores,” said Alisa Martinez, spokeswoman at Starbucks, Seattle. “As a result, we are focused on building the next-generation Starbucks Card to delight our customers. “The iPhone app marries the benefits of the Starbucks Card with the convenience of the mobile phone,” she said. “Our customers love the ease of checking their balance, using bar code payments and reloading their card – all at their fingertips.”

Starbucks Card MobileStarbucks claims that many of its customers told the company that they wanted to be able to track their loyalty Stars on Starbucks Card Mobile, so the coffee giant added this feature to make tracking Stars more convenient. “In our most recent release, which launched this week, we integrated the My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program into the app,” Ms. Martinez said. “This feature allows our customers to track their progress in the Rewards program and earn their way to free drinks with each Starbucks Card transaction.

“Our aim is to link payment and loyalty into a unified user experience,” she said.

Android overtakes iPhone for No. 2 smartphone OS

2010-05-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

We saw Android continue to grow and move into second place for smartphone market share,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis and consumer technology at the NPD Group, New York.Google’s Android is second to Research In Motion’s BlackBerry operating system, beating Apple’s iPhone in the No. 2 slot, per NPD Group research.

According to the company’s report, in order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to include all of its smartphones. Based on unit sales to consumers last quarter, Android moved into second position at 28 percent, with RIM at 36 percent and Apple at 21 percent. “Our findings show that the carriers are very instrumental in determining which handsets and operating systems gain exposure,” he said. “There’s far more handset models available for the Android operating system. “Verizon wireless has promoted the Droid heavily and at a lower price.”

Android on the rise
“The thing you see with the iPhone is that it is just one device, while Android has different devices on multiple carriers and more devices are coming to the market,” said Noah Elkin, senior analyst at eMarketer, New York.

So what does this mean for advertisers?

“It means that there’s a viable alternative to the iPhone and to the apple platform,” Mr. Elkin said. “Apple is getting ready to launch iAd, and the stakes are pretty high.“They may be too high for many advertisers or simply more than many advertisers are willing to commit to a mobile campaign,” he said. “There are a growing number of Android devices and users who are as active as iPhone users. “That makes Android a good competitor and a good alternative to Apple’s iPhone.”

Video is killer app for mobile advertising

2010-05-11T02:17:00.000-07:00

Video advertising has proved it can move products and heighten brand awareness in measurable ways, so it will be an integral part of the mobile medium going forward, according to industry experts.

Although mobile video advertising has been in the wings for some time, it now finally feels like it is becoming more of a reality. The rise of smartphones and new platforms like the iPad are moving mobile video forward.

“It is evident from our customer demand that the iPad will indeed be an important driver of mobile video advertising,” said Xavier Facon, chief technology officer at Crisp Wireless, New York.

“The HTML5 video support is mature on all mobile devices sold by Apple, but it is particularly well implemented on the iPad, because it is easy to embed the video window in other content and there are API’s to control and track the events related to the video play,” he said. IPad and similar devices are expected to drive a significant growth for ads that embed video. Already brands are using mobile video.On smartphone devices, the click-to-video ad unit will be increasingly used because it is a great rich-media ad unit for mobile.

PepsiCo drove awareness and participation in its "Pepsi: The Game" program via a mobile video campaign (see story). During Super Bowl XLIV, NFL Players ran a multichannel campaign featuring mobile video to create awareness and interest in the NFL Players Association and its players out of uniform (see story). In January, in-application mobile video ads from Coca-Cola Co.’s Coke Zero, Miller Brewing Co.’s Miller Lite and Warner Bros. Entertainment’s New Line Cinema outperformed their online counterparts (see story). BMW was able to generate test drives through a mobile video advertising campaign (see story). With more advertisers interested in mobile video and seeing great results, it is logical that there will be more brands moving into the space. “

iPhones Are Less Than 10%, But They Matter...

2010-05-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

A major point of discussion with TigerSpike clients these days - especially those with smaller budgets - is the best strategy for mobile apps.

In this article Luke shares the advice he has been giving his clients about why apps are important, and which platforms are key. Imagine a community with 50 bicycles and 1,000 cars in it (i.e. 5% bicycles). It is logical to put up a billboard next to the community highway rather than next to the community cycle path right? Maybe not. And here is why.

Usage

What if each cyclist uses the cycle path 20 times per day, and each car only uses the road once a week. Over the year the cycle path billboard gets 365,000 views, and the road billboard only gets 52,000 views.

Usability

Now imagine that the billboard on the road is so high that only cars that are convertible can read it, and only 50% of cars are convertible. Now you only have 26,000 views.

The mistake that so many people make – usually agencies I have to say – is that they say “well only 7% of people have iPhones: we don’t want to only reach 7% we want to reach the other 93% as well”.

The problem is you can’t reach those people. The other 97% are only using their phones for calls and SMS; not for browsing the web. So there is no point trying to reach them. You can’t. They are like people who have cars but never drive them, so they will never see your billboard.

What to do

50% of all traffic is from smart phones, and more than half of that is from iPhone and iPod*, so if you have scarce marketing dollars and no mobile strategy yet, just do the following (in this order):

Build an iPhone app.
Promote the iPhone app (via other iPhone apps).
Build a mobile site optimised for high end devices. Forget about the low end ones.
Promote the mobile site (via mobile media).
Build an Android app (save money by using the same functional specifications and designs as you did for the iPhone app).
Promote the Android app.
Tie it all together with messaging!

And if you were really thinking ahead you would gather all the interactions and learn about the behavior of the people interacting, and then work out how to do things better and better. Luke Janssen is the Founder and CEO of TigerSpike

*Bear in mind that this is the case for the USA and UK markets. In India and Indonesia, which are the number 2 and 4 in terms of total mobile browsing, the handset markets are dominated by Nokia. And when I say dominated, I mean the top 10 handsets in each of those markets are Nokia.

comScore Study: Mobile Browsing More Popular Than Mobile Apps In US

2010-05-10T04:45:00.000-07:00

Two reports issued by comScore examine the functions which are most frequently used by consumers on their mobile device. The reports cover both the US and European markets, and reveal that in the US, almost 1/3 of mobile subscribers have used their phone to browse mobile websites.

In the US, 29.4% of mobile consumers use their mobiles to browse mobile websites. This represented an increase of 2.4 points compared to the previous three-month period and made browsing the mobile web the second most popular function after sending SMS messages (64%). A little surprisingly, more people in the US browsed the mobile web than used downloaded mobile applications (27.5%).

In comparison, a similar report published on the European market showed that 22.2% of mobile consumers use their mobiles to browse mobile websites. This was the fourth most popular function after sending SMS messages (83.5%), using downloaded applications (33.4%) and listening to music (22.7%).

Also, these figures vary quite significantly from country to country, with mobile browsing being more popular in the UK (30.8%). Mobile browsing is much less in popular in Germany (17.4%) where using downloaded mobile applications is a lot more popular (33.3%).

A similar trend is noticeable in Spain, which leads in the use of mobile applications (36.1%) and listening to music (28.7%) but has a much lower uptake of the mobile web (19.9%). Another clear trend is that the uptake of non-voice functions is consistently lower among French consumers than other European consumer.

The reports also looked at the market share of the different smartphone operating systems.

It found that US consumers where increasing their acceptance ofAndroid (+5.2 points giving it a market share of 9%). The main losers were Microsoft (-4 points giving it a market share of 15.1%) and Palm(-1.8 points giving it a market share of 5.4%). RIM (42.1%) and Apple(25.4%) remained the dominant players.

Social Networking Represents 60% of US Mobile Usage

2010-05-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

According to a recent report from Ground Truth, 60% of traffic on the mobile internet in the US is to Social Networking sites. In addition, mobile specific social networks engage users more than online social networks.

Ground Truth data is from a census of 3.05 million U.S. mobile phone users, and is reported weekly. Ground Truth works in partnership with operators to collect and analyze data while protecting the privacy of mobile subscribers. The service allows operators to optimize their networks, understand their audiences.

Evan Neufeld, vice president of marketing at Ground Truth said, “The disparity of time spent between social networking and the next category, portals, which account for 59.83 and13.65 percent of time spent respectively, is a vivid illustration of the impact social networking has on Mobile Internet traffic in a given week.”

The consummate consumer: Your audience is permanently switched on

2010-05-10T04:29:00.000-07:00

Consummate Consumer: Impulsive and ready to interact at the drop of a hat. Who wouldn't want to tap into mobile marketing?

As the 20th century drew to a close, futurologists predicted that we would by now be using our phones to order our shopping, watch football games and download recipes. While that has proved to be one of the few predictions that has taken longer to materialise than many expected, it is finally becoming a reality - and the opportunities for advertisers could prove significant.

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), mobile advertising in the UK has continued to grow quarter on quarter throughout the recession and was worth £28.6m last year, a 99.2% year-on-year increase. That is a tiny fraction of the £1.75bn spent on online advertising in the first half of 2009 alone, when, for the first time, more advertising pounds were spent on the internet than on television.

But Russell Buckley, chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association points out that mobile advertising is expanding rapidly. "Considering there wasn't a market five years ago, you could say it has grown more quickly than the internet in some ways - and certainly along the same trajectory," he says. That growth is likely to accelerate as handsets equipped with new technology, including mobile broadband, become ubiquitous and consumer behaviour changes.

Gartner, the IT research company, predicts that within three years more than half of internet users will be accessing the web via mobiles and other handheld devices. Buckley, who is also vice-president of Global Alliances at AdMob, which places ads on mobile websites for clients, points out that in developing nations like India, where PC penetration is low, the majority of internet activity already takes place on mobiles. "Some countries are effectively already living in a post-PC era," he says. Laptops and desktops are firmly entrenched in the west, but in the future, phones and personal organisers are likely to be the new gateway to the online world.

Ten years ago, using phones to download video clips, listen to music, play games or search the internet seemed a distant prospect. Now, those activities are commonplace. Research carried out by Orange earlier this year revealed the popularity of those practices among all age groups. Over half use their phones to access the internet, 64% send picture messages, 55% play games, 49% listen to music and 26% receive email. Some 87% use mobile media at home, and 73% when they are "out and about". Just under half said they used their phones to access the same sites they use on their PCs and 62% said they wanted their phones to do the same things their PCs can. The worlds of computing and telephony have already merged in the minds of many consumers.

Britain’s Got Talent iPhone App Downloaded 200K Times In 4 Days

2010-05-10T03:55:00.000-07:00

The Britain’s Got Talent iPhone app that was developed by talkbackTHAMES digital andMobile Interactive Group (MIG) has reached the number 1 spot in the UK app store thanks to 200,000 downloads in four days. Britain’s Got Talent is one of the UK’s most popular TV shows. The app has all the usual features associated with a TV show app, enabling fans to:

watch the latest videos,
access exclusive back stage footage,
keep up to date with breaking news, gossip and hot stories,
browse photo galleries of the acts and judges, and
rate and share information with friends and family.

The app also allows users to participate directly with spin off show,Britain’s Got More Talent during live episodes.

Although it is primarily a means to increase engagement of fans with the show, the app itself is monetized through integrated sponsorship packages.Domino’s Pizza has taken the lead sponsorship, and the app allows consumers to order a pizza for delivery straight from the application. All mobile ads in the app are served by ad network 4th Screen Advertising.

“This year the launch of the App allows us to broaden our digital reach and to entertain and engage viewers on the move, as well as maximizing value for our sponsors and advertisers.” said Robert Marsh, Head of talkbackTHAMES digital.

Translate the real world with Google Goggles

2010-05-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

Traveling to another country can be an amazing experience. The opportunity to immerse yourself in a different culture can give you a new perspective. However, it can be hard to fully enjoy the experience if you do not understand the local language. For example, ordering food from a menu you can not read can be an adventure. Google Goggles will prove useful to travelers and monoglots everywhere: Goggles translation.

Here’s how it works:

Point your phone at a word or phrase. Use the region of interest button to draw a box around specific words
Press the shutter button
If Goggles recognizes the text, it will give you the option to translate
Press the translate button to select the source and destination languages.

Google Goggles in action (click images to see large version)

Every new release of Google Goggles contains at least one new feature and a large number of improvements to our existing functionality. In addition to translation, Goggles v1.1 features improved barcode recognition, a larger corpus of artwork, recognition of many more products and logos, an improved user interface, and the ability to initiate visual searches using images in your phone’s photo gallery.

Google Goggles v1.1 is available on devices running Android 1.6 and higher. To download, scan the QR code below or go to the Android Market app on your phone and search for “Google Goggles”.

Tagwhat Debuts Social Augmented Reality Experience, Allows Users To “Tag” The Physical World

2010-05-07T02:41:00.001-07:00

I’m a huge fan of the augmented reality (AR) concept and the potential it provides. With devices becoming more powerful and the technology in place to make it a reality, AR is at the forefront of mobile possibilities.

A shining example of which is a new startup called “Tagwhat,” which made its public debut today to offer what’s its calling “a new augmented reality (AR) experience that fuses the very best of mobile, augmented reality, and location-based social networking services for everyday use and appeal.”

At it’s core, Tagwhat is a fully functional social network, layered on top of the physical world and accessed by “tags” through an innovative augmented reality experience. By simply holding up the camera view of a mobile device (iPhone or Android), geo-contextual tags from pre-selected friends and community members become visible.

Report: Mobile App Downloads To Peak In 2013, After That It’s All About The Mobile Web

2010-05-07T02:39:00.000-07:00

A new report published by ABI Research suggests mobile app downloads from app stores will continue to rise until a peak in 2013, where the Mobile Web will take over as the primary source of mobile interaction.

According to ABI Research data, consumers downloaded some 2.4 billion applications from app stores last year, and the download rate will accelerate over the next few years until 2013 when smartphone downloads are expected to peak at just below seven billion. At that point, the Mobile Web is predicted to take over.

According to senior analyst Mark Beccue, “App stores aren’t going away: following the 2013 peak in demand, the number of downloads in 2015 will have decreased only seven or eight percent. But as our use of the mobile Internet evolves, demand will increasingly shift elsewhere.”

Placecast’s ShopAlerts Becomes Official Honoree Of 2010 Webby Awards For Best Use Of GPS Or Location

2010-05-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

Placecast, who’s been piling up the awards for its innovative use of digital marketing to drive consumers to physical environments, has been named a Webby Award Official Honoree for 2010 in the “Best Use of GPS or Location Technology” category.

In creating the concept of “geo-fence marketing,” with its unique ShopAlerts location-based advertising solution, Placecast has won numerous awards already this year, including the top prize for innovation given by the National Retail Federation, the 2010 RACie award and “The BIG Minute of Innovation” award, led by the San Francisco Bay Area Interactive Group (SFBIG).

ShopAlerts is built on a proprietary location-based platform that allows advertisers to target consumers based on where they’re at and where they’re going, while maintaining the ability to reach those consumers across any connected device- the Web, email, mobile and WiFi.

Brand Loyalty Is Sinking, Can Mobile And The Likes Of Foursquare Be A Savior?

2010-05-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

A new report published recently by comScore indicates a steep decline in consumer brand-loyalty over the past two years, leading the way for emerging concepts such as mobile marketing and mobile social concepts like that of Foursquare to pick up the slack.

The comScore study evaluated the change in brand loyalty within a number of consumer goods categories, including health & beauty aids, OTC medications, apparel, food, household products and housewares. As the economic downturn has continued, the percentage of shoppers who typically buy the brands they want most has steadily declined across the categories examined. In March 2010, for example, less than 50 percent of shoppers reported purchasing the brand they want most.Social media, and especially location-based social media marketing is another tool that’s highly under-utilized by brands still. The ecosystem slowly growing around services like Foursquare, Gowalla and others is creating a truly unique opportunity for brands to engage their audience on completely new levels and through concepts that consumers enjoy the most.

Though the use of direct branding through traditional channels was once sufficient in maintaining brand and customer loyalty, the landscape is perpetually shifting. As comScore’s survey results suggest, consumers are shifting the way they see their favorite brands, and loyalty is decreasing by a sizable rate. Utilizing in-direct branding through mobile and social media marketing can be a savior for brands if used properly, it’ll just involve thinking outside the box.

Pepsi rolls out multifaceted LBS mobile loyalty initiatives

2010-05-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Loot's a hoot

PepsiCo Inc. has debuted application-centered mobile initiatives to help its restaurant partners inspire customer loyalty and drive consumers to nearby locations. PepsiCo is working on two separate initiatives. There is an exclusive partnership with location-based mobile social networking application Foursquare and the launch of its own Pepsi Loot location-based application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. “Pepsi Loot is what we hope is going to be the first geo-based iPhone application that has a loyalty program associated with it,” said Margery Schelling, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Foodservice, Purchase, NY. “Consumers on-the-go always have mobile devices with them, and when they are hungry, they can open Pepsi Loot on their iPhone and it shows them every Pepsi location in a certain area.

“The app tells them what type of food each restaurant serves, and they can share details on Twitter and Facebook,” she said. “App users can earn loyalty points by walking in and hitting ‘check in,’ and it’s geotargeted, so the app recognizes that they’re in the specific location and you earn loyalty points. “The Loot mobile loyalty program is available to every restaurant customer in the U.S. that pours Pepsi products—more than 200,000 locations across the country.” Earlier this year, Pepsi launched the Pepsi Refresh Project in an effort to refresh consumers’ perception of the brand, and this application is an extension of that initiative.

How the iPad changes the future of magazines and single-copy sales

2010-05-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

Scott Dunlap, CEO of NearbyNow

If you want to understand the effect that Apple’s iPad will have on the magazine industry, you need look no further than the face of a publisher or editor in chief when you put one in their hands. It is beautiful, it is easy to use, and it can represent advertisers and editorial in breathtaking multimedia clarity.
Add to this the quantitative reality of the iPad – Apple expects 5 million will ship by December and application and ebook downloads in the high billions over the next two years, per ABI Research – and faces turn a familiar ghastly white remnant of the Internet circa 1997.
In short, it is here, it is real, and it is scary as all hell. The first question they ask of me, usually after a long pause to catch their breath, is “Soooo … what do we do now?” I have had a few weeks to use the iPad – I am writing this article on one now – and have spent time with iPad owners ranging from ages 12 to 60 to better understand how they discover and consume media from this new device.

As is often the case, you get a very different view of technology talking to people who already have invited it into their lives, rather than those who critique it from a distance. Early conclusions indicate a raised expectation of media consumption and access, and a willingness to pay a premium for it. Herein lies the challenge and opportunity for the magazine industry, in particular.

Green Party places app at center of election campaign strategy

2010-05-04T05:05:00.000-07:00

Leading up to the elections in Britain, the Green Party launched an application that assesses whether voters agree with its policies, forming an integral part of the party’s broader election campaign.

The Green Party tapped Grapple to help it along the verification and submission process. The application, which took two weeks to build, is now accessible internationally on all major mobile handsets, including the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and Samsung, from major application stores or via text message.

Smirnoff and TimeOut join forces in their appvertising

2010-04-27T02:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a great application created by TigerSpike for a branded experience from TimeOut and Smirnoff. A great collaboration to illustrate that consumers can get something cool for free. Its interesting to see that most of the best free applications in the app store comes from global brands. You can download and find out more about the app from timeout.com/smirnoff. Below is a short preview.

Nike is quick to give footballers a great iPad app

2010-04-27T02:26:00.000-07:00

Not long after the launch of their iPhone app Nike is quick to port their app to iPad. Playing around with it, I realize that this makes more sense for a coach. With the help of Nike, Apple is now able to sell iPad as a great tool for the football coaches around the world. This is an app that really illustrates a valuable app for the consumer. I think Nike has illustrated a great way of including mobile marketing in their marketing mix. This application looks great and has a clear value. If you have managed to get your hands on an iPad and want to download it through the US app store, then you can download it from here.

Someone asked me what the average use is of an branded app. If you have a clue or stats, then please let me know and we can post the results or links here.

Barnes & Noble exec outlines mobile commerce strategy

2010-04-27T02:23:00.000-07:00

A Barnes & Noble Inc. executive discussed the bookselling giant’s mobile commerce strategy in an exclusive interview with Mobile Commerce Daily. Banks should address mcommerce now and contactless payments later: Banks that are pushing to promote contactless payment technology are focusing on the wrong target and should switch their short-term focus to mcommerce, according to Ovum. Web sites may be losing affiliate revenue as mobile access increases Affiliates of networks like LinkShare and Commission Junction are not being properly compensated for traffic they refer when end-users are on mobile devices, according to MobForm. Mobile Entertainment Forum North America has launched a new mobile commerce initiative designed to help brands, content producers and retailers better understand how to leverage mobile to drive customer acquisition, retention and conversion. MobileCommerceDaily

Sony Pictures uses mobile to build buzz for Karate Kid film

2010-04-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of the upcoming remake of "The Karate Kid" starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, Sony Pictures released a branded application for iPhone and a mobile campaign to support it.

The free game directly appeals to the studio’s movie-going demographic and its built-in social networking features are designed to virally raise awareness of the movie's upcoming release. Sony Pictures tapped Trigger Interactive to build the application, while Sony's agency of record Universal McCann (UM) placed the media buy, with Jirbo Inc.’s AdColony one of the many companies in the mix for the mobile ad campaign.

“We work with multiple film studios, as well as entertainment and media companies,” said Nikao Yang, executive vice president at AdColony, Los Angeles. “Film-studio clients want to drive brand awareness, product awareness and app downloads for whatever it is they are promoting.

Warner Bros. delivers movies via mobile

2010-04-27T00:54:00.000-07:00

Consumers can now watch The Hangover on their mobile phones

Warner Bros. movies will now be available on HTC’s new Desire Android handset for T-Mobile USA customers. Saffron Digital, a video delivery platform, will be creating a promotional movie service for HTC and T-Mobile. The movie service will feature a host of Warner Bros. movies. “T-Mobile's Video On Demand service has really struck a chord with consumers,” said Shashi Fernando, CEO of Saffron Digital, London. “When they’re out and about they can watch on the mobile device or they can resume on a PC for a larger screen for longer viewing times. “They are able to access their film and TV anywhere, anytime, and this plays into T-Mobile's strategy of connecting the consumer wherever they are – through mobile and at home,” he said. “In this promotion with HTC and T-Mobile, HTC is able to differentiate its device and can offer T-Mobile an innovative tool to use in their partnership. “For T-Mobile, the HTC promotion highlights the value of the VOD+ service on a new device with great video capability.”

Mobile movies
T-Mobile customers buying the HTC Desire in the first month will be granted access to two complimentary Warner Bros. movies from a list of eight titles, which include "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince" and "The Hangover." Space will be available on a 48-hour rental basis, playable on the HTC Desire or on a PC. More Warner Bros. films will be added to the VOD service over the next few months. Working in partnership with both HTC and T-Mobile, Saffron Digital has created and will host a mobile Internet site for T-Mobile customers who have bought the HTC Desire. “In-store and poster promotions have displayed the mechanism by which customers can activate the service: T-Mobile users, having bought their HTC Desire, can simply text DESIRE to 3030,” Mr. Fernando said. “This generates a message back with a link to the complimentary Warner Bros movie service.

“Customers who do not use the SMS to activate the promotion will automatically be targeted by SMS from T-Mobile – again inviting them to link to the mobile Internet destination where the promotion is hosted,” he said.

Google exec to keynote Mobile Marketing Day March 4 in New York

2010-02-13T09:57:00.000-08:00

A senior executive from Google will outline the online giant’s mobile plans and strategy this year at the 2^nd Mobile Marketing Day in New York, hosted by Mobile Marketer and the Direct Marketing Association.

“Google’s appearance at Mobile Marketing Day is proof that Fortune 500 companies understand the critical role mobile plays in multichannel marketing and retail,” said Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily. “This year’s event follows on last year’s success, attracting top executives from the leading mobile firms to share strategy, tactics, case studies and best practice with marketers and agencies,” he said. “This daylong event is ideal for marketers to understand how to incorporate mobile in their marketing

Hallmark unveils mobile strategy

2010-02-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

Mobile love

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, Hallmark has beefed up its mobile offerings as an executive reveals in this exclusive interview with Mobile Marketer. The hoops&yoyo application, Fun @ Work, features games and videos, joins Hallmark’s other mobile initiatives, mobile greeting cards fromhttp://www.mobile.hallmark.com. Mobile Marketer’s Chris Harnick spoke with Mike Adams, Kansas City, MO-based manager of mobile at Hallmark, and Jodi Schade, vice president of licensing at Hallmark, about the greeting card giant’s mobile strategies.

What is Hallmark’s mobile strategy?
Mr. Adams: Hallmark is a company that helps people connect whenever and wherever they are, whether it's through the mail, through the computer or through a cell phone.

A Hallmark mobile card

What challenges does mobile address for Hallmark?
Mr. Adams: Hallmark Mobile Greetings were developed because we recognize that oftentimes people want to connect with one another right in the moment, wherever they are.

There was a gap of "in the moment" communications that this product can address.

The hoops&yoyo app

Hallmark launched Mobile Greetings in June 2009. There is also a steady rise in attention given to this property online through Facebook – over 76,000 hoops&yoyo fans on the official Fan Page – and a steady flow of traffic on the characters official blog. An iPhone app was the next logical step in expanding the awareness of the characters and their brand of humor.

Today’s generation and especially a growing mobile-friendly population expects the ability to access their favorite characters on all platforms and we wanted to make sure that happened quickly in the first quarter of 2010.

How are the offerings monetized, does the app feature ads?
Mr. Adams: Hallmark Mobile Greetings are $0.99.

The sender is only charged if the recipient opens the mobile greeting. The fees are billed as part of your monthly service-provider charges. The Hallmark Mobile Greetings application itself is available free of charge, though standard data rates may apply to download.

Ms. Schade: The hoops&yoyo iPhone app is free and was launched to build awareness of the hoops&yoyo brand.

Becks finds local Gigs on your mobile

2010-02-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

I like the fact that we are starting to see more and more app trailers. This one comes from Becks, who have created a Gig Finder for iPod Touch and iPhones. This application lets you search after gigs near you. Its nicely integrated with YouTube, Google Maps and the email functionality.

The guys at Becks have taken apvertising to heart and published a similar application for the folks down under. This app gives consumer the chance to get discount coupons at a local pub. Check it out on the Australian app store.

If you are done with Becks by now then I recomend that you take a look at this case study published by Insidemob.

Frisk Built QR Code

2010-02-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I am a fan of QR or barc codes so I think this is a great creative idea from the marketing team at SETs. Check it out

Sprite will turn your iPhone to a beat box with ZooZBeat

2010-02-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

ZoozBeat from Sprite is a fun application for your iPhone and iPod touch, which you can download on the fruit company’s appstore. With this application you can experience your dreams to become a rapper. Sprite has teamed up with some of the hottest rappers in the US to give consumers the latest sounds. The application comes with limited tracks and to get more consumers are urged to text in. If you find this app on Android, let me know, it would be good to see if its up to par. I think the amusement factor of this application is so high that consumers would be willing to pay for it. Looking at the video below, demoing the application, you can clearly see that the guy is enjoying himself. Would be interesting to see if Sprite releases figures on the up-sell through texting.

Coke Olympics invites mobile users to cheers for Team USA

2010-02-05T08:17:00.000-08:00

As a part of Cokes sponsorship of the Winter Olypics the Coca Cola company decided to include mobile into the marketing mix. With the success of their mobile marketing campaign in the summer Olympics 08, they are confident that this is going to be a big hit.

Coke teamed up with NBC and created a mobile wap site featuring a six-pack of athletes, cokeopengames.com. For iphone and ipod touch users coke extended the mobile campaign with a fun and interactive application, the NBC Cheer App. With this application consumers can enjoy fun Olympic themes sounds, watch videos of Team USA and record their own cheers.
I like the fact that we are starting to see advertisers creating content both on mobile web and apps. With the money spent to drive traffic to the mobile content, app or mobile web, its well worth while creating both so you reach a wider audience. Key thing to remember is to allocate budget for driving traffic to your content as well. Just putting a cool app on app store does not get you downloads. Remember there are over 100k apps in the app store.

I am sure that when Coke partnered up with NBC, they allocated a portion of the mobile budget into buying traffic on the NBC mobile sites.

Official Apple iPad

2010-01-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday unveiled the iPad, the widely and wildly anticipated tablet-style computer that he called "a truly magical and revolutionary product." "What this device does is extraordinary," Jobs said. "It is the best browsing experience you've ever had. ... It's unbelievably great ... way better than a laptop. Way better than a smartphone." The computer will act as a sort of missing link between the two. The model Jobs demonstrated at an invitation-only event in San Francisco operated without a hardware keyboard, with Jobs typing on what he described as a nearly full-size touchscreen keyboard. "It's a dream to type on," he said.

It has a nearly 10-inch screen, runs existing apps from the Apple apps store and is available in 16-gigabyte, 32-gigabyte and 64-gigabyte versions, according to Jobs. It will be about a half-inch thick and weigh about 1½ pounds. Jobs said the iPad will be lightning fast: "It screams," he told a crowd that included former Vice President Al Gore. The device will have a 1 GHz processor, an announcement that coaxed "oohs" and "ahs" from the audience.
Pricing will start at $499 for the 16-gigabyte version, $599 for the 32-gig version and $699 for the 64, Jobs said. Having 3G mobile access will cost an extra $130 on each, he said. Two mobile plans will be available through AT&T, and there will be no contracts, allowing customers to opt out at any time, according to Jobs. They are scheduled to begin shipping in 60 days.
Even though the Apple iPad won’t be available for another 60 or 90 days (depending on the model), Apple already has its official iPad website up and running.

In addition to showing off some of the applications, features and design and technical specifications, the website also features an eight-minute video with Apple’s design and development team discussing the device and showing it off. If you love Johnny Ive and well-produced promo videos, you’ll want to check it out!

83% Of Brands Clueless About Mobile Campaign Performance, 27% Don’t Use Analytics

2010-01-25T04:53:00.000-08:00

Though a rush is on for brands to engage with mobile campaigns these days, it’s becoming clear that many are neglecting to acknowledge some of the most important aspects of running successful campaigns- namely campaign analytics and overall campaign performance monitoring.

Bango today published a new report in which it reveals that 83% of brands don’t use mobile specific analytical tools, leading to inaccurate data on campaign performance. Of the few that said they do implement some form of campaign analytics, only 17% said they’d sourced a specialised mobile solution designed to measure mobile user behaviour accurately and consistently, while a surprising 27% admit to not implementing any analytics in their mobile campaigns whatsoever.

Any true marketer, whether engaged in mobile or not, should understand the vital role analytics play in overall campaign performance. Bringing users into your campaign is only the first part, knowing what those users do after they click is the only way to better understand your audience and to gain valuable insight to better your overall campaign.

“The positive from this data is that mobile marketing is in growth mode, at a time when other forms of advertising are being squeezed hard,” said Ray Anderson, CEO of Bango. “Yet 8 out of 10 of those surveyed do not take the essential step of implementing mobile analytics to capture accurate user data. Accurate and comprehensive reporting is what will drive brands to focus more on their mobile marketing campaigns.”

Bango surveyed over 100 participants in a webinar run in late 2009, including brands, agencies and specialist mobile providers to better understand their use of analytical tools in mobile campaigns. While over 90% of these brands said they will increase their mobile advertising investment in 2010, it’s clear they need to take a closer look at their mobile strategy to make sure all basis are covered, especially in terms of analytics.

Development And Overall Use Of Mobile Apps To Skyrocket In 2010

2010-01-25T04:39:00.000-08:00

Mobile apps are big business these days. Even though 2009 ushered in a wave of excitement and a rush of development for mobile applications, 2010 is set to be a breakout year in terms of marketers realizing the potential and overall usage by consumers.

A new report from DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless indicate mobile app investment should grow significantly this year, while spending on social apps, however, will grow stagnate even though more marketers have already developed the applications.

The study indicated that many marketers took a “wait and see” approach in 2009 in terms of a mobile app strategy, stating fewer than one-half of marketers created either a mobile or social app in 2009. Most of those surveyed plan to invest in a mobile app this year, however, with the iPhone being the platform of choice, followed by Android.

In terms of social compared to mobile in regards to a favorable platform for branded apps, Facebook took a demanding lead — with 79.8% of respondents utilizing the platform over others — with the iPhone a close second at 62.1%. Surprisingly, Android and Palm tied with 9.5% of respondents favoring the new OSs.

End-user engagement was the dominating cause for a brand’s interest in using social or mobile platforms for its apps, but social sites were perceived as better for many top goals- including engagement, audience targeting, branding potential and overall reach. Mobile scored higher on both creative control and persistence however.

Niké True City

2010-01-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

One thing that I am starting to realize, when looking at appvertising, is that its not only about creating a cool mobile app, you need to consider marketing that app as well to achieve the appropriate download rates. With this in mind we are starting to see cool app trailers pop up on You Tube and other video sites to boost app downloads.

Here is a great example were AKQA has gone the extra mile to create a cool video boosting their new Niké iPhone app. This is a user generated city guide with integrated QR codes. You can download the Niké True City from for iTunes and I have not been able to find it for Android yet. Any tips are appreciated. Integrating a friends functionality gives a great user experience and a personal touch to the application. What I like about this application, in particular, is that this is not just an app you play around with and then forget. This is a great usefull app that consumers will keep. Good job by AKQA.

The iPhone Finally Gets Live Video Streaming With Ustream

2009-12-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

The Ustream Live Broadcaster has just gone live in the App Store tonight and yes, it allows you to stream live video from the iPhone to the web. And yes, it even works over a 3G connection. And yes, it’s awesome. While one of the key features of the iPhone 3GS was video recording capabilities, that was limited to recordings that were captured on your device and could be uploaded to the web after they were done recording. With the Ustream Live Broadcaster, you can easily record videos right to the web, and allow others to watch them as they’re being recorded. These videos can also be archived so that people can watch them later, if they choose.

Settings within the app also make it easy to automatically tweet out when you go live, as well as to do things like share the videos on Facebook and YouTube. The live broadcast can also send out your location, if you’re into that sort of thing. The app also allows for chatting with viewers, and yes/no polling. Ustream has long promised that it would be the first to allow for live video streaming on the iPhone, and it looks like they’ve finally come through — though almost a year after we first wrote about it. They’ve had an iPhone app out for a while, but it hasn’t had live capabilities until now.Qik has had a live-streaming app, but it was only an ad-hoc app, meaning it wasn’t available in the App Store. Find the Ustream Live Broadcaster in the App Store here for free

LG Launches Mobile Marketing Campaign for Avatar

2009-12-09T03:54:00.000-08:00

LG is partnering with Twentieth Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment to create an elaborate marketing campaign teeming with mobile components to help promote the much-hyped upcoming release of Avatar. Naturally, a high-gloss, CGI-intense adventure flick like Avatar warrants a similarly high-tech promotional campaign, and that’s exactly what LG is promising to deliver in time for the film’s premiere. In addition to a number of visually striking television ads, LG is also introducing an interactive micro site, www.lgexpo.com, which includes exclusive movie content and a wide variety of digital offerings from the movie, which opens December 18th.

Avatar, with its unique story brought to life by Titanic director James Cameron, involves human “drivers” who have their consciousness projected onto an avatar, which is a remotely-controlled biological body capable of surviving in an alien world.

Google Starts Pushing Local QR-Codes For Business Listings

2009-12-09T02:04:00.000-08:00

Google has begun a massive mobile marketing campaign surrounding Place Pages, the small pages that display info for local businesses on Google Maps. What’s interesting is that the centerpiece for the campaign is the use of QR-Codes.

Google is starting things off by sending QR-code decals to some 190,000 local businesses across the US. Google determined the most searched for and most clicked local Place Pages for the initial run, though a full release is imminent. The idea is that local businesses can display the QR-code prominently in their store windows for customers to be able to scan and retrieve info back on that business. When scanned, the QR codes retrieve things like a map, phone number, directions, address, reviews, and a link to the store’s website, which begs the questions- why would someone need that information if they’re already standing in front of the business?

Ogilvy gives iPhone a white christmas

2009-12-09T01:11:00.002-08:00

So who better to kick start the christmas holiday mobile marketing than Ogilvy. With a simple application that gives consumers a chance to experience a white christmas.This is fun and simple application that illustrates that you don't have to complicate an application in order for it to be fun for the consumers. If you want to play arround with the application you can download it fromhere. Christmas is the time to be creative and giving. With this application consumers can give a snowlike feeling to their pictures and also easily share it with friends. If you are an Android user, thanks to one of our readers, you can download the application from here.

Adidas Mobile campaign by Marvellous

2009-12-09T01:08:00.000-08:00

Hats of to BeMarvellous and Neue Digitale/Razorfish for creating a cool video to a mobile application for mobile marketing campaign for Adidas using mobile internet, mobile application and image recognition. Not much points in me babbling of and spoiling the video. Have a look.

Steve Jobs Approves Knocking Live Video App Personally

2009-12-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Normally whingeing gets you nowhere, but in a heartening turn of events, a developer's late-night email shot off to Steve Jobs yielded some surprising results.
Apple didn't approve of the use of a private API in Pointy Heads Software's Knocking Live Video app, which allows iPhone users to stream live video to each other over 3G and Wi-Fi. After pleading to Steve Jobs to reconsider their verdict, Apple got back to developer Brian Meehan the next morning, promising that his request was being taken seriously.
Three hours later, with the order reportedly coming "directly from the top," the Knocking Live Video was available on the App Store, where you can download it for free now. Until Apple sticks a forward-facing camera on the iPhone, it's not ideal for video chat, but as Jesus pointed out in his rant yesterday, Apple's likely biding its time until it can smell the video chat competition. Meehan's gone public with his story, telling Ars Technica that "Apple told me they are listening, and truly care about their developers and getting it right," giving hope to developers railing against them on the Apple Rejected Me hate-site, and hope for anyone wishing to use a private API in an app. With Apple loosening its grip in this instance, we could be seeing a lot more interesting apps launching soon.

Layering data on top of smartphones and computer screens is both a fad and the future.

2009-12-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

Why layering data on top of smartphones and computer screens is both a fad and the future. You wouldn't immediately suspect that Yelp's iPhone app might be a gift bestowed upon us by a benevolent superhero from the future. Load it up and the program's in its Clark Kent garb -- a useful-enough guide to local restaurants, bars, and merchants. Then you notice a button labeled monocle in the right-hand corner. Hit it and the screen displays a live feed from the phone's camera, showing exactly what's in front of you -- with one big difference. Aim the camera at a local storefront and Yelp superimposes a star rating on the image. Use Monocle in a hot neighborhood, for instance, and point it at every restaurant for a quick appraisal of the best food in the area. Yelp's app is one of the first "augmented reality," or AR, programs to debut on the iPhone, and though it can be handy, it's most useful as a sign of what's to come. Throughout the summer, YouTube was the place to see a vision of that future, as programmers from San Francisco to Malmö, Sweden, uploaded demonstration videos depicting such feats as recognizing a face at your high-school reunion while his social-networking pages pop up, or traveling back in time to view the Colosseum as it once existed. And then there are the really forward-thinking ideas. Babak Parviz, a bio-nanotechnologist at the University of Washington, has been working on augmented-reality contact lenses that would layer computer graphics on everything around us -- in other words, we'd have Terminator eyes. "We have a vast amount of data on the Web, but today we see it on a flat screen," says Michael Zöllner, an augmented-reality researcher at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research. "It's only a small step to see all of it superimposed on our lives." Much of this sounds like a comic-book version of technology, and indeed, all of this buzz led the research firm Gartner to put AR on its "hype cycle" for emerging technologies -- well on its way to the "peak of inflated expectations."

Marketers are as much to blame as geeks for the overheated environment. To date, the most prominent AR practitioners have been ad agencies, and Best Buy, GE, and Procter & Gamble have run campaigns. Most of them, unsurprisingly, were more gimmicky than useful. The central questions: Will people take to this mode of navigating information in the same way they've embraced social networking? Or will augmented reality suffer the fate of online virtual worlds such as Second Life, which attracted a torrent of attention but proved too cumbersome? Whether augmented reality emerges through this hype cycle depends on both technologists and marketers to peel away the great expectations and find something real. Augmented reality isn't new. The technology has been used for years in military projects as well as public spectacles such as museum exhibits and trade-show booth demos. The yellow first-down line superimposed on televised football games is an example of augmented reality. So why all the chatter now? "There have been a couple of game-changing events," says Greg Davis, North American general manager of Total Immersion, a decade-old French company that built these first-generation AR installations. "Consumers have access to AR on their home PCs, and now on their mobile phones as well."

Although Apple still limits how far developers can go with AR -- in particular, the phone's programming system prohibits apps from performing sophisticated image analysis on input from the camera -- the new OS is expected to usher in a rush of augmented-reality apps.

Only 3 millon dollars for an Iphone! I want one!

2009-11-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

If I had $3.2 million dollars to throw away on something like a phone, I’d much rather just build an army of robot carrier pigeons to deliver all my messages by hand. Some, I suppose, prefer a bit more rationale in their complete irrational purchases; thus the existence of this $3.2 million dollar iPhone.

Malibu rum branded app sees 2M downloads in six months

2009-11-28T16:40:00.001-08:00

The game

Pernod Ricard's Malibu branded mobile application that was created to support the launch of its new Malibu Island Melon flavor has seen 2 million downloads. GetJar acted as a distribution channel for Malibu Rum’s Island Bowling, which was developed by digital agency Greatworks to help shift brand perceptions of Malibu. “If you look at the brand values of Malibu and what they are promoting, having a game aspect to it on a personal device is another way of extending brand attributes,” said Patrick Mork, vice president of marketing at GetJar, San Francisco. “You may play some games TV and you may see online and television ads, but the idea is Malibu is even with you on your phone.”

Bus fares bought on mobile phones

2009-11-27T06:59:00.000-08:00

BUS company Arriva has become the first operator in the North West to introduce mobile phone ticketing. Customers will be able to buy daily, weekly and four-weekly tickets via their mobile phones following the launch of Arriva’s m-ticketing service. It will enable passengers on Arriva’s routes in Bolton to use their mobile phones to purchase tickets and then display them to the driver. Phil Stone, managing director of Arriva North West, said: “The mobile phone is an essential part of modern life and m-tickets will give additional flexibility and convenience to our customers. “The launch of m-ticketing across all our regions will mean that millions of bus journeys will be taken using the technology. We believe this represents the largest introduction of its type in the world. “Customers can buy tickets using their phone at anytime from wherever they happen to be. It saves them searching out the cash to buy a ticket and speeds up getting on the bus as they simply show the ticket on the phone display to the driver.” He added: “This approach has great advantages over some other mobile ticketing systems as we can roll it out across our networks without any downtime for vehicles or costly on-board technology. We believe the convenience of having the ticket on the mobile will encourage more customers to take up our multi-journey tickets.” The m-ticketing service is a free application that is downloaded directly on to customers’ phones. Once downloaded, it allows people to purchase a range of tickets. Tickets can be bought either directly through the application via a registered card or by purchasing credit from any PayPoint outlet either by cash or card.
People using the m-ticketing service can save 10 per cent off Arriva four-weekly saver tickets.
The m-ticketing technology can be operated on any GPRS-enabled phone and mobile network. The service also works on Blackberry smartphones and from early 2010 will be iPhone compatible as well.

Be a Marvellous Royal Navy Engineer Officer

2009-11-26T02:03:00.000-08:00

The UK Royal Navy has shown great interests in mobile marketing and I have been impressed with their campaigns ever since the did a great viral text campaign a year or two ago. Now, here is a new application from the guys at Marvellous.

The iphone application (download here) gives interested prospects the challenge of 5 interactive mission which can occur in a the daily life of an Navy Engineer Officer. In the video below Patrick Hagenaar from Marvellous walks you through some of the ideas behind the mobile campaign. Great and fun concept, however limited to iPhone users and UK market. I would like to see it at least on Android as well.

Apple And Android Now Make Up 75 Percent Of U.S. Smartphone Web Traffic

2009-11-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

When it comes to the mobile Web, increasingly there are only two mobile platforms which matter: Apple and Android. According to AdMob’s October, 2009 mobile metrics report, the iPhone/iPod Touch and Android phones accounted for 75 percent of mobile Web traffic in the U.S., as measured by all the mobile ad requests it tracks. That number is up from a combined 65 percent in September, 2009.

The iPhone is miles ahead of everyone else, but Android is quickly rising as a strong second. While Android phones managed to increase their share from 17 percent in September, 2009 to 20 percent in October, 2009, the iPhone and iPod Touch gained even more, going from 48 percent to 55 percent share. Meanwhile, during that same month the Blackberry ’s mobile Web traffic share went down from 14 percent to 12 percent, and Palm’s webOS shrank from 10 percent to 5 percent (Ouch).

Bionic Eye Resurfaces as Fire Fighter in new Augmented Reality Game for the iPhone

2009-11-17T06:58:00.000-08:00

Presselite Launched a new AR game:

Our new project has been revealed today, we are very proud to announce a new Augmented Reality game called Firefighter 360 for the iPhone 3GS. We actually used our Augmented Reality engine developed for Bionic Eye application to create this little game. In this life-saving fire-person shooter, you play as a firefighter, rather than gunning down enemies, you will have to douse virtual flames spreading very fast in your real environment. As you physically turn around 360 degrees with your iPhone, you have to methodically extinguish the flames you see, thanks to the camera. The fire itself isn’t just a static “enemy” to be dealt with. Flames will propagate and spread if you don’t put them down completely, the fire itself is capable of doing you harm if you’re not careful.

Chicago’s Field Museum mobile campaign sees 7,000 interactions

2009-11-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

Chicago’s Field Museum used mobile to transform its traditional marketing efforts to promote its Real Pirates exhibit. The Field Museum set up multiple keywords – SKULL, CROSS, PIRATE, GOLD – that consumers could text to a short code. The museum launched a mobile treasure hunt, pushed mobile pirate facts and engaged consumers through a text contest. The museum leveraged its Web site, voice mail and marketing materials to promote the mobile campaign and achieved 7,000-plus text interactions.

“LSN Mobile implemented a three-fold strategy for The Field Museum,” said David Spear, executive vice president of LSN Mobile, Atlanta. "The first part was to extend the exhibit beyond the four walls of the museum. The second was to spark engagement with younger audiences and lastly, deliver knowledge about the exhibit. “Real Pirates is a fascinating National Geographic discovery because it tells the story of the first authentic pirate ship, The Whydah, to be pulled from the ocean floor in U.S. waters,” he said. “The Field Museum marketers saw a unique opportunity to incorporate mobile marketing with the exhibit to drive additional interaction among audiences before, during and after visiting the museum. “To this end, Real Pirates would be able to stay top of mind with audiences beyond just the initial visit.”

Mobile Pirates!

The mobile initiative marked the museum’s first foray into mobile. “With more than 7,000 mobile interactions, this was a huge success that spotlighted a new means of marketing for a venerable property like The Field Museum,” Mr. Spears said. “There is no doubt that you’ll see mobile become an integrated component of future museum marketing campaigns.” Signage encouraged consumers to text-in to become the first to receive the latest exhibition news, updates, special offers and chances to win exclusive pirate prizes through their mobile phones. “Mobile provided the perfect distribution channel for the museum marketers to deliver exhibit knowledge in a highly relevant manner,” Mr. Spear said.

Kodak enters mobile arena with iPhone app

2009-11-04T04:16:00.000-08:00

Kodak's mobile strategy is beginning to bloom

Photography, imaging and printing giant Eastman Kodak Co. has gone mobile with the launch of the free Kodak Pic Flick application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.

Developed in house, the application enables consumers to upload pictures to a Kodak W1020 Wireless Digital Frame or print them wirelessly on the Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One WiFi-enabled printer. The application is designed to drive sales of those products and increase brand affinity. Last year Kodak launched a mobile ski resort guide within the snowstories.kodak.com campaign. This year they start to also introduce true value services for their existing products.

“A lot of our connectivity strategy has to do with releasing images and making them available in more than a digital way, and this app allows images captured via iPhone and iPod touch to be transferred to a printer or a Kodak digital photo frame,” said Ruben Tellez, San Diego-based worldwide senior product manager of inkjet products in the consumer digital group at Eastman Kodak.

Letterbox Deals catalog taps QR codes for mobile campaign

2009-11-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

Australian product coupon catalog Letterbox Deals ran a campaign to build awareness of its brand with Sydney households by giving away Dell notebook computers.

Consumers had the option to enter a competition via a Web site or a QR code printed within the catalog. Of the 1.3 million Sydney households that received the Letterbox Deals catalog, 25 percent submitted their entry through the QR code. “The strategy of the campaign was to determine consumer behavior when confronted with new mobile technology and the effectiveness of a QR code as a call to action,” said Nick Gonios, commercial director of Inscribe, Sydney. Letterbox Deals is a coupon catalogue and Web site that helps consumers find coupons and deals on product and services near them. Insqribe is a real-time proximity mobile marketing platform using augmented reality and QR codes.

Official Specs for Motorola DROID

2009-10-29T02:31:00.000-07:00

If you're interested in knowing the official specs of the Motorola DROID, I have rounded them up. The quick highlights:

3.7-inch WVGA (854x480), 16:9 touchscreen
Arm Cortex A8 550 MHz Processor
5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash
DVD-quality video capture and playback (720x480)
16GB microSD (32GB expandable)
3.5mm headphone jack
QWERTY keyboard
3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS (with Google Maps Navigator)
1400 mAh battery
6 oz (169g)
2.4 x 4.6 x.5 inches (60x115.80x13.70mm)
Android 2.0

If you're not interested in Google Maps Navigation, you should be. It's been one of the most requested features for Google Maps for quite some time and to finally have it in Android 2.0 is an absolute game changer. Just check out the stocks of standalone GPS makers like Garmin and TomTom.

Only the fact that it requires internet connection makes it less interesting than TOMTOM but that's my own opinion. If they can find an offline solution it will be a killer navigation app!

Apple has grabbed up 30% of the smartphone market

2009-10-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

Apple has grabbed up 30% of the smartphone market with the iPhone, nearly twice the market share the device enjoyed this time last year. The info comes from a survey by ChangeWave research. The survey shows that the Blackberry is still the leader in the smartphone market for share at about 40%.

Apple is nearing the approval of over 100,000 apps for the App Store marking a significant milestone. That number makes the App Store by far and large the biggest of the app offerings on the market. By comparison, the much younger Android market has only 10,000 apps and the Blackberry App World has only 3,040.

The North Face Launches Updated Snow Report iPhone App

2009-10-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

More and more retailers are using the iPhone to capture customer eyeballs outside of their shopping experience. Outdoor retailer The North Face is no exception, with the launch of their updated, Twitter-filled Snow Report 2.0 app today, giving skiers and snowboarders access to aggregated resort-specific Twitter updates, weather, and snow condition feeds.

While The North Face already had an iPhone Snow Report app, the new version adds the Twitter feeds, which they claim is the first to aggregate topical information and Twitter news feeds into one application. It also lets users Tweet their own updates directly from the application.

Of course, the app is designed to increase sales. It also includes a The North Face store locator. Meanwhile, specific ski resorts are on the iPhone app bandwagon to improve customer experience on and off the mountain. Jackson Hole recently developed an iPhone application, available early next month, that features their winter trail map with iPhone’s built-in GPS technology, locating the user by pinpointing his or her location on the ski resort’s trail map. Big Air Software, separately, is marketing its iTrailmap 3D, which pulls from a database of over 500 resort trail maps and records a snowboarder or skiers trails throughout the day.

Disney iPhone App Mixes Magic with Advertising

2009-10-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

Disney’s new iPhone app, launched today, rewards users for checking out Disney.com. The company plans to eventually offer exclusive bonuses for shopping at Disney Stores. The necessary mobile push for Disney comes along with the company’s move to catch up with the times, with Apple’s Steve Jobs leading their in-store experience redesign efforts.

The app is free, and features a digital game called “Click2Life” where users must take photos of characters from Disney movies on its website, which make those images come to life on their phones. Capturing the correct images also unlocks exclusive video and downloadable content such as frame images that can be overlaid on photos and wallpaper for cell phone screens.

Smart play, Disney marketers. In the future, the app will likely feature clues inside Disney stores, and could allow bonus ontent to be delivered to phones based on their location.

Only 1% of iPhone Owners are Dissatisfied

2009-10-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Apple's incredible success in moving iPhones could be due to one statistic. According to pollster ChangeWave, a whopping 99% of iPhone users call themselves "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their device. In fact, those reporting "very satisfied" made up 74% of respondents.

This blows away RIM, with only 43% of users reporting they are "very satisfied" with their BlackBerry. Apple has jumped from holding 17% of smartphone market share one year ago to 30% today. The iPhone is hot on RIM's heels, as the BlackBerry has 40% of the smartphone market.

Continental Airlines mobile ads more effective than online

2009-10-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

The airline’s agency partner, MediaVest, tapped MoVoxx and Quattro Wireless for the “Volver por un rato” campaign, which consumers could enter by texting a keyword to a short code or clicking on a WAP link within an SMS alert from Univision and other publishers. The contest let consumers enter to win a trip for two anywhere in the world, up to $2,500 worth of plane tickets, by submitting a video.Continental Airlines mobile ads were five-to-ten times more effective than online at generating responses from Hispanics, a demographic that tends to be heavy users of wireless devices.Nine times as many users visited the WAP site versus the wired Web site with similar media efforts in terms of banner ads driving traffic to each site. Because mobile is a less cluttered environment than the PC, mobile ads get much higher response rates.

Ads within SMS alerts were effective in driving Hispanics to Continental's WAP site

Mobile Web Usage Keeps On Growing, And Growing, And Growing …

2009-10-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Browser maker Opera has released its latest ‘State of the Mobile Web’ report this morning, claiming that there was a huge surge in mobile web usage past September. Last month, more than 35.6 million people used Opera Mini (which is now serving over 500 million pageviews per day on average on a wide range of mobile devices), up 11.5% compared to August 2009 and more than 150% compared to September 2008. The Norway software developer also claims more than 2 petabytes of data is now processed by its servers on a monthly basis. That’d be 2,000 terabytes!!

Google Redefines GPS Navigation Landscape: Google Maps Navigation For Android 2.0

2009-10-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

If you weren’t sure about switching to an Android phone in the near future, this might put you over the edge. Google Maps Navigation is an absolutely killer app. And it is only available for Android 2.0 phones.

Today is Droid day, and for the most part Google is taking a backseat and letting their partners get most of the attention. But Droid is the first Android phone to run Android 2.0, and Google Maps Navigation is clearly the early trophy app for those devices.

The features include easy search (no need for address), voice search, traffic information (from data sources and crowd sourced from app), and street view close up pictures when you get near your destination. And the car dock mode gives bigger, simpler icons and auto-voice mode

Volkswagen uses mobile (again) to announce new vehicle launch

2009-10-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

The all-new 2010 GTI made its debut in the Real Racing game on Thursday, claiming to be the the first time an automotive manufacturer has used the App Store to announce a new vehicle launch. Volkswagen is also giving consumers who play Real Racing GTI the chance to compete for the six limited-edition 2010 GTIs that are fully-customized inside and out.Volkswagen of America Inc. has announced its latest automobile launch through its Real Racing iPhone game application.

“With the personalization of media and the challenges inherent with reaching constantly connected consumers, we challenged ourselves to rethink the way we launch vehicles in order to engage our consumers in a meaningful way,” said Charlie Taylor, general manager of digital marketing at Volkswagen of America, Herndon, VA.Volkswagen is no stranger to the mobile platform. The automaker recently launched a WAP site that acts sort of like a shopping assistant (see story). Volkswagen is also using 2D bar code technology to make its traditional printed media more interactive and engaging for consumers (see story). Mr. Taylor said that mobile devices help Volkswagen reach consumers in a more direct way.

Augmented reality set for major growth: ABI Research

2009-10-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

Increasing smartphone capabilities will cause augmented reality to have a booming impact on the mobile platform, according to a new study from ABI Research. As advertisers leverage the augmented-reality platform more, ABI found that the technology is poised to grow from generating $6 million in revenue in 2008 to $350 million in 2014. ABI credits advanced smartphone capabilities such as video cameras, GPS data and compasses as key to unlocking the power of augmented-reality advertising.

“The key finding is that the augmented reality market will diversify into multiple markets, which will generate nearly $190 million in mobile applications, games and customized augmented-reality revenue, and nearly $170 million in mobile augmented-reality advertising revenue, by 2014,” said Larry Miller, research director of NextGen at ABI Research, Oyster Bay, New York. Augmented reality is the overlay of graphics onto a video stream or other real-time display. ABI Research provides analysis and forecasting of emerging worldwide trends.

ABI cites Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android handsets as examples of smartphones opening up augmented reality to the mass marketplace.The study, “Augmented Reality: Adding Information to Our View of the World,” found that advertisers will learn to insert tags into navigation displays to increase revenue. The study calls for the development of global databases to store a variety of geo-tag information. That will be aggregated from information contributed from governments, businesses and individuals. Mr. Miller said that the most surprising finding of the study was the lack of companies involved with sports-related augmented reality. He said that the study found that only one company is providing augmented reality applications for televised sporting events. Those features include moving the first down line in football and the strike-zone animations in baseball.

“Augmented Reality is rooted in the concept of adding information to visual displays,” Mr. Miller said. “Digital marketing campaigns incorporating Web-based augmented reality graphics can add new dimensions to the kinds of content available for online advertising.“ For marketers to find success with augmented reality, the applications will have to offer better information, an intuitive user interface and other features that are not possible through existing applications. Mr. Miller said that augmented reality can also be used for mobile commerce. “Here’s one possibility: Imagine going into a store, aiming your smartphone’s camera at a product and having the display show not only the product, but competitive pricing at online venues,” Mr. Miller said. “Currently, mobile augmented reality applications require a smartphone or other handheld device with a camera, GPS and compass capabilities, as well as adequate processing power,” he said. “Augmented reality applications eventually will run the gamut of consumer interests.”

Check out IKEAs augmented reality; Finally an AR which is truly usefull!

2009-10-23T03:05:00.000-07:00

Augmented Reality seams to be on everyone’s lips and so in the marketing department of Ikea. With the help of ClanMo, Ogivly and Mindmatic, Ikea created a mobile application that is a portable interior-planning tool. What I like about this approach is that it gives consumers a true value. Now they can try and see for themselves how the furniture’s look in their living rooms before they buy them.

IKEA distributed the application through in-store poster urging consumers to text a number in order to get the application, on the internet through IKEAs website, and with the help of Bluetooth pillars inside the outlets beaming the application to the consumers.

I think this is a great concept. What I don’t understand is the limit some advertisers put on the concept they have created? I have had trouble finding this application and am under the impression that it was limited to the country were the campaign ran. Would be smart to post the content created on the forums for mobile content around the world to get a huge spread. You can read more about the case at theclanmo webpage.

Create and order personalized Nike sneakers straight from your iPhone

2009-10-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

This free app (iTunes link) has been available on the App Store since the beginning of this month, but surprisingly there hasn’t been a lot of coverage about it. Even despite this excellent video about it (embedded below).

This application allows you to select flashy looking sneakers that were custom designed by others and purchase them straight away, but there’s a lot more to it than that. For instance, you can dive into your photo library and select any image, after which the NIKEiD iPhone app will automatically detect which colors are in them and let you choose two for your own custom shoe. Or you can just use the Color Picker to select two colors you like.

Evidently, you can filter the results even more based on your specific needs (e.g. only shoes for men, unisex basketball clothing, etc.). Using the My Locker feature you can also save your favorite designs and access those you’ve customized on the NIKEiD website. Once you’ve selected a custom design you like, you can shake your iPhone to shuffle the colors, but you also get some options to genuinely personalize sneakers with your name, a custom logo or whatever you like.

Did I mention you can buy designs straight from the app? Kudos, Nike, kudos.

Will iPhone 4.0 Include Apple's Latest Patents?

2009-10-21T01:25:00.000-07:00

Apple has been prolific in the patent department lately, especially when it comes to patents that relate to the iPhone and iPod Touch. The latest filing shows a process that would allow someone on a phone call to send files to the other party without ending the call or leaving the phone app. The iPhone would automatically determine where to send the files based on the contact information of the person connected. Even if multiple parties are in a conference call, the person sending documents, emails, contacts or text messages could send this data in one step while still connected to any of the participants.

Peter Henry Mahowald receives credit as the inventor in Apple's patent filing. Although this sounds like a useful feature, there are even more recently discovered patents that could make their way onto the next generation iPhone. We recently reported that future iPhones may record consumer abuse events for later diagnostics by Apple. By recording when devices are dropped hard or placed in temperature settings that are too high or too low for proper operation, the company can prove a device was abused. This patent describes the device automatically shutting down when a dangerous condition exists or if the iPhone can no longer operate to protect against further damage. Another recent patent filing would automatically switch to speakerphone if the sensors detect that the iPhone is laying flat and still on a table, for example.
Future iPhones may also allow users to share music or other media while on a call.
These patents feature interactive playback control even while connected to the other party. As usual, Apple engineers must have their work cut out for them. No telling exactly which patents will make it into the next generation device.

The upcoming Motorola Droid is getting hyped

2009-10-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

The marketing campaign for the upcoming Motorola Droid is in full swing, with the new phone looking to be both the definitive Android handset and a genuine challenger to the iPhone.

Following a fairly vicious attack on the iPhone through the launch of the “DroidDoes” ad campaign, which essentially calls out all of the iPhone’s shortcomings, an associated mail marketing campaign has also been launched for the device. The message? Droid is omnipotent, scary and has night vision, at least according to this messaging: “It hears, It knows / Fast. Scary fast / It sees in the dark.” The promotional mails form part of a campaign that’s actually building some palpable excitement within the geek community: the kind of excitement usually reserved for products built in Cupertino. Is Judgment Day fast approaching for the iPhone? We’ll know at the end of this month.

View my WordPress Adds Themes Optimized for Mobile

2009-10-21T00:48:00.000-07:00

According to WordPress, there are more than 60 million page views that come from mobile phones per month for WordPress.com blogs. With that kind of traffic, how your site renders on mobile devices could be a big boon to increasing engagement.
That’s why we’re excited to learn thatWordPress has just launched two new mobile themes for WordPress.com blogs that will be automatically displayed when a compatible mobile phone attempts to access your site.