If you’re looking to save a little time this holiday season by shopping on the mobile web, you’d do well to spend some time on Amazon’s (s amzn) mobile site, according to figures released this week from Compuware’s Gomez division. The online retailer’s destination fared the best in a study of 14 mobile sites studied by the developer of web optimization software, placing first in both response time (averaging 2.85 seconds) and availability (99.86 percent). Mobile sites from QVC and Newegg also performed well, Gomez said, while sites from  Sears, Buy.com and Target each had an average response time of more than six seconds.

Those sites and plenty of others are likely to see a surge in traffic this holiday season. Deloitte found that 19 percent of U.S. consumers plan to use their phone as a shopping tool to find store locations, research prices and access discounts. One-fourth of those polled said they actually planned to make a purchase on their handsets. Of all the mobile sites and apps designed to help users spend their money starting on Black Friday, here are a few of the more notable ones:

• eBay (s ebay) this week released a free app that allows iPhone users to search millions of the site’s listings to find the best deal. Users search by keyword and are alerted when the products they’re looking for come up for auction.
• Toysrus.com has launched a new mobile site enabling users to browse merchandise and make purchases over the phone; the site is also available through the company’s applications for BlackBerry (s rimm) and iPhone (S aapl) users.
• Google (s goog) has joined the mobile coupon space, allowing retailers to add discount offerings in Google’s Local Business Center. The coupons are presented as users search Google’s local listings from web-enabled phones.
• ShopSavvy, which comes courtesy of the developer Big in Japan, allows iPhone and Android users to scan barcodes to find the best prices for both online and local items. Amazon’s iPhone app also includes a multimedia feature, allowing users to snap a photo of a product and submit it to find the item in Amazon’s catalog.
• Even users with lower-tech phones can subscribe to Black Friday’s Twitter feeds, where discounts and lists to shopping guides are posted regularly.
• Frucall offers a multipronged solution, enabling users to comparison shop via text message, the mobile web or with a simple voice call. The Mountain View, Calif.-based startup also offers a social networking component, encouraging users to interact with each other via voice or text message.

There are, of course, countless other sites and services that will happily help separate you from your money this holiday season. And the next few weeks should serve as kind of barometer for mobile shopping offerings, providing yet another glimpse of just how much consumers are using their phones to do more than just talk and text. If retailers and developers truly see a substantial surge in usage — and if their offerings are up to the task — it may bode well for the mobile data market as the economy recovers.

MOFUSE

Mofuse adalah layanan kontent web berbasis mobile view, jika anda mempunyai web sites atau blok yang ingin ditampilkan dengan format mobile dengan domain dot mobi maka layanan ini patut untuk dicoba. dengan hanya melakukan register secara gratis pada weblog anda baik dari wordpress maupun dari web blog akan sangat mudah ditampilkan di handphone anda dengan mengunkan nama domain sendiri…

Pertama lakukan register di web www.mufuse.com

Setelah melakukan registrasi secara gratis maka adan mendapatkan dashboard seperti ini, yang digunakan untuk melakukan custom pada web anda nantinya…

setelah melakukan settinagan yang diperlukan barulah tampilan akan dapat dilihat di preview seperti tampilan pada handphone…

As I investigate the cross-pollination potential between the Mobile Market and Social Networking market, I have come across the following recent data I wanted to share, for those of you that have not already seen it. At the same time, I would be greatful for any similar data you all might have that is worth sharing. Thanks.

First, the AdMob Mobile Metrics Report for October tracking Smartphone Operating System trends, showing Apple up 6.9% to 32.1% of total mobile web pages requested, followed by Nokia at 19.6%, down 2.6%. Skip to Page 7 to see the Worldwide breakdown. (Download the report) But for me one of the highlights in the market is the massive traffic growth from Android phones, jumping almost 300% in 6 months from 7% to 20%! The writing is on the wall for the iPhone. Good that Nokia’s newest N900 is at least Linux-based…a step in the right direction.

Second, (thanks to TechCrunch) check out Morgan Stanley’s “Economy and Internet Trends” Presentation at Web 2.0 last month. Skip to slide 29 for the section on Mobile Internet.
Of the “key themes” raised in the presentation, I would distill the driving forces for mobile down to 1) Location Based Services, and 2) Social Networks+Mobile.
Clearly the carriers still control the floodgates, but IMHO the first one to relinquish its restrictive price politics for data will have a huge opportunity.

What is the one device that people have with them at all times, whether they are at work, on vacation or at home watching television? More than 70% of the world’s population are mobile users and around the world more people use their mobile phones than PCs to access the Web. Mobile phones have evolved into much more than just communication devices. The mobile Internet is a reality. 

Tourism is an ever-evolving industry and this article provides an overview on one of the newest top trends – mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is the only media that allows direct, personalized, interactive and targeted dialogue between brands and consumers. This article takes a common-sense approach to explaining more about the key components of mobile marketing, how they can be used and what they mean to the tourism industry.

How Big is the Mobile Marketplace?

Worldwide mobile communications usage has increased dramatically since 2001. A significant number of cell phone subscribers now have access to the mobile Internet and use some kind of data service such as texting, email, Web browsing, etc. Mobile users expect instant access to information as well as an Internet experience that rivals the one via traditional PC’s and laptops.

Mobile is changing the way your customers search for, buy and enjoy your travel product!

• Mobile phones technology advancements, economic cost and small size have made them a constant companion for people worldwide
• Of the 6.7 billion inhabitants of Earth, 4 billion were cell phone subscribers worldwide at the end of 2008 – compare this to than 1 billion in 2002
• Around the world more people are now using their mobile phones instead of their PCs to access the Web.
• 26.3% of mobile phone subscribers will log on to the mobile Web at least once per month in 2009, for a total of 73.7 million mobile Internet users.
• 67% percent of travelers and 77% of frequent business travelers with Web-enabled mobile devices have already used their devices to find local services (e.g. lodging) and attractions.
• Over a third of travel companies will be investing in mobile this year

               Source: EyeforTravel, PhocusWright
Ways in which Mobile Marketing can be Used

Mobile Advertising

Mobile Websites, App’s and Text Messaging allow businesses to promote and market products and services. All businesses have a message to send. By utilizing mobile technology and text messaging you can market your message, product and/or service to the world’s 4 billion cell phone users. Mobile puts your message in the hands of your audience and by utilizing mobile strategies such as building a list of text message opt-in subscribers you will be able to stay in front of your audience consistently. GoChoice.mobi utilizes an informational on-the-go format in combination with SMS text messaging and money saving mobile coupons to provide travelers with a valuable tool which even facilitates mobile booking.

 Customer Relations Services

Finding ways to strengthen your customer relationship is crucial to a business’s success. NTA is using Meetings2Go.mobi to provide mobile info-on-the-go to all attendees during their annual convention via GONTA.mobi. By developing a list of opt-in mobile user numbers, NTA can regularly communicate with all attendees utilizing text messaging. NTA’s SMS alerts notify meeting attendees of upcoming meeting sessions and events; and they can even distribute mobile surveys for instant response.

Viral Marketing

Mobile and text messaging is an ideal viral medium. Creating and deploying a viral mobile strategy can generate a big buzz. America’s Premier Shopping Places utilized a viral component for a national sweepstakes. Sweepstake subscribers were given the opportunity to register via SMS for a chance to win the grand prize. Subscribers could also forward a text to win text message to their friends so that they too could enter for a chance to win the sweepstakes. You can imagine how quickly this campaign spread.

Marketing Support Tool

One of the biggest challenges of advertising is enabling an immediate response to a call-to-action. People are constantly enticed with outdoor and print advertising on-the-go; however, despite their interest they usually forget to act on it later. By including a mobile or text call-to-action response method, organizations can ensure that the interest sparked by print media is translated into action. Recent SMS integration by The Official Interstate Guide into their printed coupon guide is a good example. By including text message information in their publications hotel print ads, travelers are able to text the mobile id for any hotel they are interested in and be sent to a custom hotel page on TheOIG.mobi with descriptive information and photo’s telling the traveler more about the property. Travelers can then click to call their hotel of choice and book in real time on-the-go.

Mobile as Part of your Marketing Strategy

Can you see ways that mobile marketing could be used as part of your marketing strategy? Here are some of the areas you should be aware of.

Simple  

Mobile marketing strategies must be very simple. If the consumer does not get it the first time, they may not use it again. Mobile websites, App’s and text message campaigns need to be intuitive and easy to navigate. This is well demonstrated by the GONTA.mobi example

Targeted

Campaigns must be targeted and tailored to the audience. One of the most valuable components of  mobile websites, App’s and text messaging campaigns is the ability to provide users ‘urgent now’ information that is relevant to them on-the-go. For tourism mobile sites, the emphasis should not be marketing. Instead it should be on rapidly allowing users to navigate to information they are interested in to facilitate an immediate buy decision.

Permission Based 

People consider their mobile phone an important personal accessory and value their privacy. Ensuring that you are targeting users in ways which comply with the Data Protection Act is a must. Unwelcome intrusion into a user’s personal space runs a high risk of eroding your brand. A recent poll shows that when users gave permission to receive mobile marketing messages, 61% identified SMS as their most preferred way to be reached ahead of TV and radio. By using permission-based marketing best practices you can help ensure the success of your mobile marketing strategies.

Interactive

Mobile marketing should engage consumers in a true two-way dialogue. To best take advantage of the mobile medium, give users the opportunity to interact. Mobile website, App’s and text messaging campaigns should create interactive experiences for the user including location based searches, click to call phone numbers, text to win contests, surveys etc. The success of major brands such as GOChoice.mobi was in a large part due to this.

Measurable

Mobile marketing campaigns are very measurable; It is one of the huge benefits of mobile marketing. However mobile is not a medium of isolation and all mobile marketing should be integrated into your overall marketing mix to produce the desired return on investment. In the case of The Official Interstate Guide, one of goals was to drive more hotel bookings utilizing the publications coupons, which it did through close integration with participating hotels’ marketing efforts. In the case of America’s Premier Shopping Places the goal was to increase brand awareness, which it did overwhelmingly. Both examples demonstrate very different return on investment success.

Cost Effective

Mobile marketing is much more cost effective than other marketing channels such as Internet marketing, advertising and direct mail. Cost effective mobile website setup costs can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousands of dollars depending on the size and complexity. Text messaging credits available for a few pennies each are an economical communication tool to support your mobile marketing efforts. 

Summary

Mobile marketing for the tourism industry is here! It is no longer cutting edge, untested technology. Throughout the last 10 years mobile marketing has benefited from increased technical development and market testing and is now considered a proven and valuable medium. Most importantly, mobile demonstrates an attractive return on investment and is affordable and can be used by small and large business alike.

As you consider your future in mobile marketing, remember, there are many services that need to be brought together and the easiest route is often to contract with a experienced company who specializes in mobile marketing and who can navigate between and manage your various Mobile, App and SMS technologies as well as implement effective mobile strategies.

About ITI Marketing

ITI Marketing, Inc. is a leading provider of mobile marketing solutions within the tourism and hospitality industry. As one of the first agencies to apply Mobile Marketing inside a tourism environment, ITI Marketing’s unique experience of being marketers first, technologists second allows us to provide specialized proven mobile marketing solutions. The business model is simple – ITI Marketing helps organizations increase the effectiveness of their advertising, marketing, PR and CRM campaigns utilizing Mobile websites, text messaging and other cell phone features such as Apps and location‐based services, resulting in more successful marketing strategies. Having worked with hundreds of clients of all sizes, including: Choice International, The Official Interstate Guide, America’s Premier Shopping Places, NTA, The State of Georgia and Jacksonville, FL., ITI’s integrated marketing capabilities allow us to stand out among larger agencies, while our intimate size allows for a true marketing partnership. Contact ITI Marketing at (912)267-1558 or Info@ITI-Marketing.com

This article was published in the November E’Newsletter of the Destination Marketing Association International.

Houdt u vast jongens en meisjes, het is een hele boterham. Weet goed dat wij het ondertussen al onder de knie hebben dus als je door de bomen het bos niet meer ziet, 03-789.19.42 of 052-45.17.01 bellen. Of even mailen naar info@posi-tief.com Dan helpen we u zo verder.

met herlaadkaart

Pay&Go Flex

Promo: € 0,145/min. tot de zomer i.p.v. € 0,29/min.

• € 0,12/sms
• € 0,25/mms

Na een herlaadbeurt van € 10:

• 150 gratis belminuten 24/24 naar vaste lijnen
  OF
• 150 gratis belminuten tijdens het weekend naar Proximus en vaste lijnen
  OF
• 10% extra belkrediet

Na een herlaadbeurt van € 15 of meer:

• 600 gratis belminuten 24/24 naar vaste lijnen
  OF
• 600 gratis belminuten tijdens het weekend naar Proximus en vaste lijnen
  OF
• 20% extra belkrediet

De herlaadbonussen verander je zoveel je wil.
Typ #133*1# (bonus 1) of #133*2# (bonus 2) of #133*3# (bonus 3) en druk Verzenden.

Pay&Go Generation

• Piekuren:
  Promo : € 0,50/min tot de zomer i.p.v. € 0,25/min

   

  • € 0,12/sms
  • € 0,25/mms
  • € 0,50/surfsessie
• Daluren:
  Promo : € 0,25/min tot de zomer i.p.v. € 0,125/min

   

  • € 0,06/sms
  • € 0,25/mms
  • € 0,50/surfsessie

• Na een herlaadbeurt van € 10: 600 gratis sms’en te gebruiken na 16 u en tijdens het weekend
• + 15 surfsessies om te chatten met vrienden, om te spelen, om logo’s en ringtones te vinden, of gewoon om te surfen op Facebook, Netlog, Twitter, Windows Live, enz. Surfsessies zijn 30 minuten lang en zijn gratis vanaf het Vodafone live!-portaal.
• Na een herlaadbeurt van € 15 of meer: 5 000 gratis sms’en te gebruiken 24/24

met factuur

Mobile 5

• 20 belminuten inbegrepen, geen extra voordelen
  € 0,25/min, €0.15/sms & €0.25/MMS

Evening&Weekend

Mobile 10 Evening&Weekend

• 10 belminuten inbegrepen
• € 0,24/min, €0.11/sms & €0.25/MMS

Mobile 20 Evening&Weekend

• 40 belminuten + 20 sms’en inbegrepen
• € 0,22/min, €0.11/sms & €0.25/MMS

Mobile 30 Evening&Weekend

• 80 belminuten + 40 sms’en inbegrepen
  € 0,20/min, €0.11/sms & €0.25/MMS

600 gratis belminuten ’s avonds en tijdens het weekend naar alle netwerken
Geldig op werkdagen van 19 u ’s avonds tot 7 u ’s morgens
Geldig van vrijdag 19 u tot maandag 7 u ’s morgens. Ook geldig op feestdagen
Wanneer uw minuten of sms’en opgebruikt zijn, worden uw oproepen en berichten aangerekend volgens het geldende tariefplan.
Ongebruikte minuten of sms’en van uw bundel zijn niet verloren maar worden overgedragen naar de volgende maand. Ze worden eerst verbruikt alvorens deze van de lopende maand te gebruiken.
Ongebruikte gratis minuten worden niet overgedragen naar de volgende maand.

Anytime

Mobile 10 Anytime

• 35 belminuten inbegrepen
• € 0,24/min, €0.11/sms & €0.25/MMS

Mobile 20 Anytime

• 40 belminuten + 20 sms’en inbegrepen
• € 0,22/min, €0.11/sms & €0.25/MMS

Mobile 30 Anytime

• 80 belminuten + 40 sms’en inbegrepen
• € 0,20/min, €0.11/sms & €0.25/MMS

300 gratis belminuten naar vaste lijnen in België voor Mobile 10
600 gratis belminuten naar vaste lijnen in België voor Mobile 20 en Mobile 30
Ongebruikte minuten of sms’en van uw bundel zijn niet verloren maar worden overgedragen naar de volgende maand. Ze worden eerst verbruikt alvorens deze van de lopende maand te gebruiken.
Ongebruikte gratis minuten worden niet overgedragen naar de volgende maand.
Wanneer uw minuten of sms’en opgebruikt zijn, worden uw oproepen en berichten aangerekend volgens het geldende tariefplan.

Smile Exclusive

Smile Exclusive 50

• 400 belminuten / 400 sms’en inbegrepen
• € 0,18/min, €0.10/sms
• + 50 MB om te e-mailen op uw gsm overal in België

Smile Exclusive 80

• 700 belminuten / 700 sms’en inbegrepen
• € 0,15/min, €0.10/sms
• + 50 MB om te e-mailen op uw gsm overal in België

Smile Exclusive 110

• 1100 belminuten / 1100 sms’en inbegrepen
• € 0,10/min, €0.10/sms
• + 200 MB om te e-mailen en te surfen  op uw gsm overal in België
• + 30 minuten om te bellen of gebeld te worden binnen de Europese Unie

Generation MTV

Generation MTV 10

• € 0,25/min., € 0,06/sms , € 0,25/mms en € 0,15/surfsessie
• + 600 gratis sms’en + 15 gratis surfsessies

Generation MTV 20

• € 0,25/min., € 0,06/sms , € 0,25/mms en € 0,15/surfsessie
• + 10000 gratis sms’en + 15 gratis surfsessies

Generation MTV 30

• € 0,25/min., € 0,06/sms , € 0,25/mms en € 0,15/surfsessie
• + 10000 gratis sms’en + 15 gratis surfsessies

Gratis sms’en geldig naar alle netwerken in België met uitzondering van speciale nummers (voting, 0900, enz.).
Kies Generation MTV vóór 31/01/2010 voor 18 maanden en krijg uw bundel aan halve prijs gedurende 7 maanden

Optie Family Calls

• Per gezinslid (per maand) € 5 voor 10 uren
• Na de 10 inbegrepen uren € 0,115/min (wanneer u ook belt)
• Opgelet! De hoofdgebruiker betaalt de optie van alle gezinsleden. Dit wil zeggen dat alle gsm-nummers die de family call optie willen delen op 1 klantrekening moeten staan. Je hebt dus minstens 1 tariefplan met faktuur nodig.

Mobile Internet

met factuur

Mobile Internet 15 h

• € 14,99 maandelijkse kost
• 15 u(geldig 24u/7d) surftijd inbegrepen
• € 2,49/u indien u meer verbruikt dan 15u

Mobile Internet Evening&Weekend

• € 24,99 maandelijkse kost
• 2 GB inbegrepen (geldig tijdens daluren)
• € 0,03/MBindien u meer verbruikt dan 2GB

Mobile Internet Anytime

• € 34,99 maandelijkse kost
• 2 GB inbegrepen (geldig 24u/7d)
• € 0,03/MBindien u meer verbruikt dan 2GB

U ontvangt regelmatig een sms met uw verbruik als u Mobile Internet Evening&Weekend of Mobile Internet Anytime gebruikt (niet van toepassing bij Apple-besturingssystemen).

zonder factuur (Mobile Internet Pay&Surf)

U kunt eender wanneer online uw krediet controleren. Wanneer uw downloadvolume half opgebruikt is, zult u een sms ontvangen op uw datasimkaart. U kunt online herladen (voor minstens € 5) of herladen via een bankautomaat (voor minstens € 15). Na elke herlaadbeurt blijven uw surfdagen nog 12 maanden geldig. Na elke herlaadbeurt van minstens € 10 binnen 31 dagen krijgt u extra surfdagen gratis. Surfdagen zijn berekend als kalenderdagen, ze beginnen om 00u00 en eindigen om 23u59. Als u dus begint te surfen om 23u55, bent u 5 minuten later een dag verder.

• Bij een herlaadbeurt van € 5, krijgt u 2 dagen (100 MB datalimiet)
• Bij een herlaadbeurt van € 10, krijgt u 4 dagen + 2 gratis dagen dus 6 dagen (300 MB datalimiet)
• Bij een herlaadbeurt van € 15, krijgt u 6 dagen + 3 gratis dagen dus 9 dagen (450 MB datalimiet)
• Bij een herlaadbeurt van € 25, krijgt u 10 dagen + 5 gratis dagen dus 15 dagen (750 MB datalimiet)
• Bij een herlaadbeurt van € 50, krijgt u 20 dagen + 10 gratis dagen dus 30 dagen (1.500 MB datalimiet)

Internet op gsm

Hier zijn 2 mogelijkheden, via sessie’s van 30 minuten of met een datalimiet van 50MB.

Surf on Mobile Session

• 30 minuten per sessie
• € 0,50/sessie

Surf on Mobile 50MB

• 50 MB*
• € 15 /maand

Internet op Smartphones

Indien u weinig surft, kan u een van onderstaande opties activeren op uw bestaand abonnement.
Deze opties zijn duurder per gefactureerde eenheid, maar hebben geen maandelijkse kost.
Ideaal voor een echt kleine gebruiker dus.

Internet On GSM Access Time

• € 4,99 /uur
• U surft weinig, tarief gebaseerd op de tijd dat u online bent, gefactureerd aan € 0,42 /5 min.

Internet On GSM Access Volume

• € 0,50 /100 KB
• U surft weinig, tarief gebaseerd op het volume dat u verbruikt.

Indien u regelmatig wenst te surfen, raden wij u aan te kiezen voor een van onderstaande Internet On GSM- tariefplannen. U surft supersnel én voordelig.

Internet On GSM 100 MB

• € 9,99 maandelijkse kost
• 100 MB inbegrepen
• € 0,15/MB eens de 100MB verbruikt zijn

Internet On GSM 500 MB

• € 24,99 maandelijkse kost
• 500 MB inbegrepen
• € 0,03/MB eens de 100MB verbruikt zijn

Internet On GSM 2 GB

• € 34,99 maandelijkse kost
• 2 GB inbegrepen
• € 0,03/MB eens de 100MB verbruikt zijn

I’m back in the Estados Unidos after a productive and enjoyable trip to Argentina.

What did I learn while I was there?

One, the sun is very powerful in South America.  I spent my last afternoon there to take a quick tour on one of those turistico buses (highly recommend, especially if you’re short on time).

You know, the kind with no tops on them, where the sun can shine right down on your head and forehead?

Yeah.  Estupido turista.

Two, I learned that while the social media is alive and well in Latin America, I would suggest based on my observations and discussions with our teams there that its use is a little more tepid and cautious in Latin America, particularly within business.

Personally, particularly with sites like Orkut and Twitter, there’s substantial and widespread use, but the business uptake is slower than other parts of the world.

Three, the Internet communications and marketing opportunity is much more substantial in the mobile space than in the land-line Internet (that is, if you’re interested in raw numbers).

By way of example, EMarketer’s “Digital Atlas,” which I consulted before I headed south, reveals that Internet users in Brazil last numbered around 67M, while mobile phone users were in the range of 150M.

Similar disparities between mobile and landline access exist in other countries in Latin America as well, including Mexico and Argentina.

Four, I reaffirmed how much it sucks to get sick while traveling abroad.  But, as mentioned in this blog, I was fortunate to be able to head over to Dr. IBM right there on the site to get some medicine to stave off the nastiness.

Here I am, a week later, still illin’, but I was very thankful to stave off the illness while on the ground there.

Five, I learned that it is possible to get a full night’s sleep in economy class, particularly with the help of some other medicine (in my case, doctor-prescribed sleeping pills).

In fact, such sleep can make all the difference in the world (although admittedly, it’s easier when you’re not jumping so many time zones).

Personally, I don’t mind so much the long flights, but in coach they can be quite painful if you have legs longer than 2 feet, so the ability to totally sack out can help put about 70% of the time on the plane into unconsciousness, which is the perfect way to shorten the plane ride.

(As for you people who stay awake for the duration of 10-13 hour flights, you may want to check to see if you’re related to some of the characters on “True Blood” [vampires].  I don’t know how you do it.)

Six, I can’t or don’t keep up with what’s going on in the world very well when I’m on the road.

Despite having a BlackBerry that lives up to its promise as a “world phone” (Since I got it in January, it HAS worked in every city I’ve been to around the globe), one simply doesn’t have much free time to check in and keep up when you’re bouncing from one meeting or dinner to another.

The whole point of making these trips is to meet one’s colleagues on the ground and spend quality time, so that’s the priority.

So, I’m still playing catch up on the news flow (email and otherwise).

Seven, I still love my Nikon CoolPix camera and my FlipVideo camera…both allowed me to easily (and very portably) capture sights and sounds from the journey without having to lug around a lot of equipment.

Eight, I can’t wait for the World Cup next summer.  I really enjoyed being around a bunch of honest-to-God futbol fans, and my excursion to see the Boca Juniors play Arsenal was a highlight of my trip.

If anybody needs a blogger to cover next summer’s World Cup, I’m so on that plane to Johannesburg…business, coach, or even luggage class.

And nine, regarding my iPod Touch: I don’t leave the country without it.

Since I got the “touch,” it has become my best friend while traveling.  I now download books, games, music, podcasts, and even movies to carry with me on the road and to help pass the time, to Tweet, to read, to chill…it’s one of the first things I pack just to make sure I don’t forget it.

All that said, it’s nice to be back in Austin in time for the Thanksgiving holiday and a whole meal of American football.

Consumers expect their mobile Internet experience to be every bit as easy and accessible as it is on their PCs, but this isn’t necessarily the case according to new research from Xiam Technologies.

 by Helen Leggatt

 The survey of over 2,500 U.S. and U.K. mobile Internet users found that 8 out of 10 are frustrated by mobile search capabilities despite 68% of mobile users being dependent on mobile search engines to access content.

Not only do they have difficulty finding online content but they also claim to have to wade through too much “irrelevant information”, found Xiam Technologies’ survey (.pdf), with too much scrolling and clicking required to find what they want.

Content most desired and used is weather-related, followed by maps, social networking, games, music and local/world news. Significantly, respondents said that 27% of the time they were unable to access mobile content. Often this is a result of poor mobile webpage design (too large/small).

Research commissioned by Gomez earlier this year found that a bad mobile experience could turn users off a brand for good, driving them to competitors.

According to the 8-page report (.pdf) “It is clear there are serious consequences for organizations who fail to deliver quality mobile web experiences. The mobile website that fails to perform a transaction at speeds that mimic mobile behavior (e.g., waiting in line, stopped on a sidewalk, or sitting in a bus) or that doesn’t function as intended is unlikely to attract and retain users.”

URL Link to Biz Report:

http://www.bizreport.com/2009/11/8_out_of_10_mobile_internet_users_frustrated_by_search.html

At Ballyhoo Mobile Marketing, Inc. we have been talking with our clients for many months now about the rising importance of having a mobile website. And not the garbage work of some who filters your current website so that it looks okay on a mobile phone. Rather, a website built from the ground up specifically for mobile browsing.

People accessing your website on the go are looking for different information, in a different order, and don’t need all of your flash. In fact, they are even typing different terms into search engines to find your business and your competitors. If you don’t yet have a mobile-specific firm working on a mobile website and mobile search initiatives for you, it’s time to begin.

eMarketer predicts that by 2013, nearly 50% of mobile phone users will access the mobile Internet at least monthly (see graph at bottom). Along with rising smartphone shipments and increases in spending on mobile data plans, this will create a growing mobile content market. “The expected increases in mobile Internet users, mobile data revenues and smartphone sales will produce an environment in which users will be hungry for content,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Mobile Content: Paid Models Take Shape.” “It is likely that mobile content will follow a trajectory similar to Web content

Let us help you by starting with a free, no-strings-attached marketing consultation. Visit us at www.LetsTextTogether.com to learn more about affordable and custom mobile marketing campaigns from one of the leading mobile marketing boutique firms. Also feel free to email us directly at sales@letstexttogether.com with any questions.

At Ballyhoo Mobile Marketing, Inc. we have been talking with our clients for many months now about the rising importance of having a mobile website. And not the garbage work of some who filters your current website so that it looks okay on a mobile phone. Rather, a website built from the ground up specifically for mobile browsing.

People accessing your website on the go are looking for different information, in a different order, and don’t need all of your flash. In fact, they are even typing different terms into search engines to find your business and your competitors. If you don’t yet have a mobile-specific firm working on a mobile website and mobile search initiatives for you, it’s time to begin.

eMarketer predicts that by 2013, nearly 50% of mobile phone users will access the mobile Internet at least monthly (see graph at bottom). Along with rising smartphone shipments and increases in spending on mobile data plans, this will create a growing mobile content market. “The expected increases in mobile Internet users, mobile data revenues and smartphone sales will produce an environment in which users will be hungry for content,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Mobile Content: Paid Models Take Shape.” “It is likely that mobile content will follow a trajectory similar to Web content

Let us help you by starting with a free, no-strings-attached marketing consultation. Visit us at www.BallyhooMobile.com to learn more about affordable and custom mobile marketing campaigns from one of the leading mobile marketing boutique firms. Also feel free to email us directly at sales@ballyhoomobile.com with any questions.

AT&T (S T) today introduced a prepaid mobile broadband product that exactly matches the pricing of similar plans launched earlier this month by Verizon Wireless (s vz). I was skeptical of Verizon’s offering because it’s pretty pricey, and I’m not sold on AT&T’s either, but my colleague Kevin Tofel points out that for folks who use Wi-Fi most of the time, this plan may still make sense. So here’s what AT&T is offering:

• Daily – $15 for 75MB (20 cents a MB)
• Weekly – $30 for 250MB (12 cents a MB)
• Monthly – $50 for 500MB (10 cents a MB)

Customers get a SIM card specifically for the plan and can activate it and replenish it with megabytes online. AT&T will send customers a text and email message after either 30 minutes or 20 percent of allotted data usage remains in their session. At that point, consumers have the option to purchase more time or allow the session to expire. I just wish AT&T and Verizon would stop hemming the megabytes in with a time limit, or folks could buy an unlimited chunk of bytes without having to worry about when their minutes expire. That would speed mobile broadband adoption and make it far more flexible.

Pamela Clark-DicksonPamela Clark-Dickson is a principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Google’s wake-up call: We don’t have SMS advertising capability November 23, 2009 Written by Pamela Clark-Dickson.

The mobile industry is buzzing about Internet giant Google’s proposed $750m, all-stock acquisition of mobile advertising network AdMob, which was announced November 9. It is a huge deal, and seemingly an acknowledgement by Google that it has not been able to sufficiently develop its own mobile advertising capabilities internally, even though it has been offering mobile display search advertisements for some time.

Given that rivals Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo all snapped up mobile advertising networks two years ago – Screen Tonic, Third Screen Media and Actionality respectively – it would seem that Google has come a little late to the party. And perhaps its lateness to the market has cost it dearly. The privately-owned, venture-capital-backed AdMob has gone from being a start-up in 2006, to become a leading provider of mobile web display and application display advertising, with an ad serving network that spans 160 countries. According to its latest Mobile Metrics report, AdMob served 10.2 billion advertisements in September 2009 across its footprint. In 64 countries, the company served more than 10 million ads, and in 14 countries, it served more than 100 million ads. That is pretty impressive.

There is no doubt that AdMob has a lot to offer Google: in addition to its extensive network of advertisers and publishers, the company is able to provide its customers with comprehensive data about their mobile advertising campaigns, which it then also anonymizes and aggregates in order to publish a monthly report on its web site. This is the kind of data that the industry desperately needs if mobile advertising is ever to go mainstream.

Still, I am staggered by the sum that Google was prepared to pay to acquire AdMob, especially since as recently as January 2009, AdMob was seeking venture capital investment. The January 2009 round totaled US$12.5 million and in all, AdMob had received $47.2m since inception – or at least, the company had publicly disclosed that it had received that amount of funding. Also, Google itself says, in its FAQ with respect to the deal and regulatory approval: “Currently we do not believe this purchase requires regulatory review outside the United States. AdMob’s business simply is too small.” It’s a somewhat arrogant statement by Google, which also seems to contradict the price that the Internet giant was willing to pay to secure AdMob.

Under the circumstances, it almost goes without saying that AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui is an astute businessman; clearly he is also a skilled negotiator who knows what his company is worth and is not prepared to accept anything less than top dollar, as it were. Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has reportedly said that the company will buy back $750m in stock once the AdMob acquisition is completed, in order to avoid share dilution. This reportedly first-time share buy-back for Google comes less than a month after Schmidt’s statement in the company’s 3Q09 quarterly earnings call that the company would not ever consider a share buy-back.

AdMob’s investors Sequoia Capital, Accel, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Northgate Capital must be kicking themselves at this point; they will have made back their meager-looking investments, but nothing else, unless they also agreed some kind of exit deal with AdMob that gave them a share of the profits (or stock in this case) from the sale of the company to Google.

“Yoo-hoo! Over here,” says Google

What is also interesting about Google’s acquisition of AdMob is that Google has highlighted the fact that it currently doesn’t have an offering with regards to SMS advertisements, on a web page detailing its competitors in the mobile advertising market. Just to push the point home about how important it regards SMS advertising from a revenue perspective, Google also publishes a pie chart illustrating that an estimated 55 per cent of mobile advertising budgets in 2009 will be spent on SMS advertising, compared to 25 per cent on applications and web site advertising, and 20 per cent on mobile search. In addition, Google has helpfully provided a list of five players it believes are major players in the SMS advertising market: 4INFO, Cellfire, HipCricket, iLoop Mobile and VeriSign Messaging. Google is already active in the mobile search display market, and has acquired AdMob to provide application and mobile web site advertising, which means that the above players could conceivably be regarded as acquisition targets for Google.

But given the nature of the companies that Google has listed under SMS advertising, it seems that the company’s definition of SMS advertising is broad, and includes all forms of marketing in which SMS is used, not just the relatively nascent market for the insertion of advertisements into the unused characters of a text message. Only one of the five companies that Google has highlighted as players in the SMS advertising market, 4INFO, is operating under this business model. Meanwhile HipCricket, iLoop Mobile and VeriSign Messaging could be regarded as full-service mobile marketing companies, while Cellfire specializes in mobile coupons. All of these companies would, however, use SMS as a delivery channel for mobile marketing campaigns that, for example, include a text-to-win component or an SMS coupon.

While I don’t doubt that Google has considered or is considering one or more of these five companies as an acquisition target, I believe that either 4INFO, iLoop Mobile or HipCricket are probably the best fits for the company, depending on whether Google is going to continue to focus purely on SMS advertising, or whether it enters the mobile marketing industry sector.

If Google continues to focus purely on mobile advertising, then 4INFO is probably the best suited, since it has a lengthy history in inserting advertisements in the unused characters of SMS messages. 4INFO has also secured venture capital from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, one of the companies that funded AdMob.

But if Google is also interested in the wider mobile marketing sector, then either iLoop Mobile or HipCricket is going to suit its needs better. iLoop Mobile has already essentially said “Pick me!” by publishing, almost immediately after the Google/AdMob deal was announced, a landing page on its own web site that highlighted that it sits squarely in the SMS advertising space that Google left vacant on its web page detailing the mobile advertising market. This landing page has since been removed.

I don’t think that either VeriSign Messaging’s Mobile Delivery Gateway mobile content business (the former M-Qube) or Cellfire are in with a chance. VeriSign’s MDG has been up for sale for some time, but had Google been interested I feel that it would have snapped this asset up already, since VeriSign is keen to sell and Google has the cash (or stock) to buy. Meanwhile Cellfire specializes in mobile coupons, and that’s a capability that HipCricket also provides as part of a wider portfolio of services. If Google is interested in mobile marketing, it’s probably going to want to be a full-service provider rather than a niche market player.

But will Google be prepared to pay as much as it did for AdMob for a company (or companies) that will enable it to access a market which, by its own calculations, is much more lucrative than the mobile search, web, and in-application display advertising markets put together? Only time will tell.

 URL Link to Telecoms:

http://www.telecoms.com/16549/googles-wake-up-call-we-don%e2%80%99t-have-sms-advertising-capability

Thanks to our partner Arendsoog, we can offer the following videos of Web Goes Mobile 4:

Participants to WGM4 were able to win a new smartphone through competitions of our sponsoring partners.

Microsoft gave away a Samsung Omnia II to:
- Rik L. (Corelio)

Belgacom offered a brand new Blackberry to:
- Gert M. (Bridgestone)
- David M. (Luminus)
- Cedric C. (Rossel)
- Isabelle D. (Emakina)

Congratulations!

My opinion on the below article:

It is important to remember that what most people think are applications are actually widgets.  It is these widgets that have a shelve life of 3-4 days before being discarded.  How many widgets do you have on your computer?  Not many I expect.  However, the more dynamic true applications or web applications actually have a much longer shelve life.  The utility based apps that have an everyday purpose are the ones that will continue to be of value on a continued basis in the coming years.  Here are some examples:

Travel: Tickets, boarding passes, informational services and promotional services

Maps: TomTom, Google,

Banking:  Balance, Transfers, Payments, Find Nearest Bank/ATM

Automotive: Car service updates & monitoring + promotional sales & informational

Mobile Internet Launchers: for general mobile web as openess becomes a reality

Instant Messaging/Social Media

Augmented Reality: Promotional Services

Couponing/Loyalty Redemption

Location Based Services – Social, Information and Promotional Advertising

Music/Events – Information, Ticketing, Promotional Sales

Mobile Search

Health Services

Please see the article below from the Independent website:

Relax News Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Market researcher Gartner has pinpointed the top ten consumer mobile applications consumers will be using and downloading in the year 2012. The most popularly used applications will include those designed to facilitate mobile money transfers, location-based services and mobile search said Gartner in its November 18 report. In the past, consumers purchased mobile phones based on the built-in features that came standard with the handset. With the arrival of smartphone operating systems capable of running third-party applications, consumers were freed from the phone maker’s confines and were able to customize their devices with powerful applications tailored to their own needs. Future mobile trends point to a widening of this segment, with third-party applications breaking into the mainstream mobile market and even breaking through to many lower-priced handsets. “Consumer mobile applications and services are no longer the prerogative of mobile carriers,” said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. “The increasing consumer interest in smartphones, the participation of internet players in the mobile space, and the emergence of application stores and cross-industry services are reducing the dominance of mobile carriers. Each player will influence how the application is delivered and experienced by consumers, who ultimately vote with their attention and spending power.” Mobile phone makers, inspired by the success (and profitability) of Apple’s App Store, have all eagerly jumped into the market, opening their own propriety application stores. Application developers too have embraced the market, resulting in the creation of hundreds of thousands of new application for mobile devices. The wide availability of applications has given consumers free range on mobile customization, but research shows that many apps are being downloaded, used once or twice and then deleted from phones. “We predict that most users will use no more than five mobile applications at a time and most future opportunities will come from niche market ‘killer applications’,” reveals Shen. Gartner predicts applications in the categories of mobile payments, location-based services, those that provide fast search results for users on the go and applications that facilitate mobile internet browsing will be among the top ten mobile applications for 2012. Gartner’s list of top ten consumer mobile applications for 2012:

 

1: Money Transfer

2: Location-Based Services

3: Mobile Search

4: Mobile Browsing

5: Mobile Health Monitoring

6: Mobile Payment

7: Near Field Communication Services

8: Mobile Advertising

9: Mobile Instant Messaging

10: Mobile Music

For more specific information about each mobile application category and to read the full report head to http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1230413.

URL Link to the Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/mobile-application-trends-for-2012-the-top-ten-applications-1822948.html

You’ve gotta hand it to Google (s goog): The company is never shy about throwing the proverbial spaghetti against the wall to see if it will stick. Over the years, it’s introduced countless projects that have gone through long beta cycles only to fail miserably — or achieve a degree of success far below what was expected. Google Docs, for example, was supposed to topple Microsoft (s msft) Office, and is still predicted to do so, but if that ever happened, I missed it.

Next year, Google will introduce one of its most ambitious projects yet: Chrome OS (GigaOM Pro, subscription req’d). There are quite a few misconceptions going around about the new operating system, among them that it’s aimed squarely at Microsoft’s operating system hegemony. It’s not. Chrome OS is targeting netbooks, not desktop and server systems. Still, the operating system includes some bold gambles from Google. Here are four of them.

Return of the thin client. Take a look at this CNet news story, which reports that  “Oracle’s Larry Ellison today resurrected the company that designs a scaled-down desktop system — known generically as the network computer — and announced plans to ship new models in the first quarter of next year.” But note the date: 1999, not 2009. Indeed, Ellison was championing thin clients — computers with few local hardware resources that would get applications and data out on a network — back in the late 1990s.

It was an idea that was subsequently tried many times, and failed. Yet fast-forward to today, and Google’s Chrome OS is placing the very same bet. As company officials noted yesterday: “In Chrome OS, every application is a web application. Users don’t have to install applications. All data in Chrome OS is in the cloud.” Chrome OS netbooks will be thin clients.

All data in the cloud? Many of the smartest people predicting the future of cloud computing are noting that companies want to deploy hybrid public and private cloud applications, namely because they don’t want to have all of their data on a remote network, with little control over it and the potential for lock-in and losses. However, Google’s Chrome OS is a bet that consumer and business netbook buyers will be perfectly happy to trust everything to the cloud. There won’t even be hard disks on Chrome OS netbooks — only solid-state drives. Will users accept such an absolutist model?

Poof goes the OS. Chrome OS is architecturally very different from other operating systems, bypassing many types of boot processes and others in order to optimize performance. Additionally, however, the OS will actually reimage itself if malware is detected. If Google pulls this off, Chrome OS systems may be free of the guaranteed performance decay that Windows systems tend to have over time. Still, users may be wary about an operating system that’s ready to exit stage left at any given moment.

Drivers? Support? Fuhgeddaboudit. Have you ever called Google for Google Docs support? I haven’t either, even though I use the applications. When you release an operating system, though, if it reaches a large audience, that audience is going to want support. Just ask Microsoft, which spent years trying to effectively support and patch Windows Vista.

In addition to excellent support, which I don’t think of as Google’s specialty, users of Chrome OS are going to want their netbooks to work seamlessly and instantly with their printers, digital cameras, smartphones and more. Chrome OS isn’t being built from scratch. It’s Linux-based (the Ubuntu team at Canonical has been helping it take shape), so Google can get a headstart by incorporating existing driver libraries and the like.  But Microsoft spent years trying to catch up to Apple in terms of automatic hardware detection and installation with its Plug-and-Play initiative, and Apple users will tell you that it never quite succeeded. Is Google about to find out what a huge headache it can be to support an operating system? History argues that will be the case.

Don’t get me wrong. I think Chrome OS will be one of the most interesting tech stories to watch next year. In many ways, though, it’s a Hail Mary.

Gartner has predicted that Money transfer applications, Location based services and mobile search will be amongst the top 5 mobile application categories by 2012. The predictions are basis the revenue projections, loyalty and business model, consumer value and estimated market size and penetration of each of these application categories. Consumer mobile applications and services will no longer the prerogative of mobile carriers. The increasing consumer interest in smart-phones, the participation of Internet players in the mobile space, and the emergence of application stores and cross-industry services are reducing the dominance of mobile carriers. Each player will influence how the application is delivered and experienced by consumers, who ultimately vote with their attention and spending power.

A few inferences that can be drawn about the mobile applications perspective: The Importance of the eco-system approach to develop and deploy applications and the emergence of MVNAs (Content aggregators) and MVNEs (Content Enablers)!

Gartner also predicts customers will use no more than 5 mobile applications, which would be chosen according to their needs and demands. There will be opportunities from niche market apps as well.

1.Money transfer ranks No. 1 on Gartner’s 2012 biggest applications list, contending the service’s lower costs, speed and overall convenience boast strong appeal to users in developing markets.
2.Gartner believes the LBS user base will grow from 96 million worldwide in 2009 to 526 million in 2012, crediting its ability to meet a range of needs spanning from productivity and goal fulfillment to social networking and entertainment
3.Mobile search, is listed third due to its dramatic impact on technology innovation and industry revenue.
4.Mobile browsing–according to Gartner, browsers will be available on about 80 percent of handsets shipping in 2012, compared to 60 percent of devices in 2009.
5.Mobile health monitoring is fifth, followed in descending order by mobile payment, NFC, mobile advertising, instant messaging and mobile music.

Reference:
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/gartner-forecasts-money-transfer-lbs-dominate-2012/2009-11-19?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss&cmp-id=OTC-RSS-FMC0#ixzz0XNk6RLTP

You can view/download the presentations of Web Goes Mobile 4 on Slideshare:

Comscore – Alistair Hill

Microsoft – Didier Ongena

London Calling – Andrew Grill

Pecha Kucha session:

Touring Mobilis – Steven Logghe

Netlog – Louis Jonckheere

Mobillion – Marc Schoutens

Corelio – Joris De Lannoy

MobileWeb – Danny Lein

Today was the 4th edition of the Web Goes Mobile seminar.
A massive turnout of about 250 business people participated in the discussion on “Web or App?”!

Check out some feedback on Twitter.

Posted by Tricia Duryee Principal Correspondent from Moconews (http://twitter.com/triciad)

A week after Google (NSDQ: GOOG) bought AdMob for an astonishing $750 million in stock, Millennial Media reported that it has raised nearly $16 million in growth capital.

The two back-to-back events in the mobile advertising space is not a coincidence, said Paul Palmieri, Millennial Media’s President and CEO. “There’s two things that happened in the last week, and that’s a big indicator that something is about to pop here…You don’t put together a funding in a week. We had high interest in the company, and we had a competitive process…The way I look at it is that they are two very independent, but significant things that happened in the span of a week.”

The third round was led by a new investor, NEA, and the company’s existing investors, Columbia Capital, Charles River Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners also participated. In all, the Baltimore-based company has raised $37.3 million.

Since being founded in 2006, Millennial has grown its reach to 51.7 million unique mobile users, according to the company’s October report being released today. As part of the report, Millennial claims it reached nearly 80 percent of the mobile web—based on the 64.8 million overall users estimated by Nielsen. Of course, that does not mean that other ad networks didn’t reach those users too. In fact, in a Nielsen report issued for the month earlier, Millennial had the largest audience, trumping Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), which had 37.5 million unique visitors; Google, which had 35.4 million; Microsoft’s MSN, which had 34.6 million; and AdMob had 34.2 million. (These industry numbers are compiled by Nielsen, but can not be considered completely accurate because the numbers are self-reported. Nielsen does not distribute the numbers because of the accuracy concerns, but the results are regularly leaked to reporters.)

Asked whether Millennial was considering a sale, rather than raising funding, Palmieri said no. “Great companies are bought and not sold. Based on the valuation that AdMob received, it was bought. I’m focused on my company growing and being the market leader and being as successful as we can be. Whatever happens from there happens.” Millennial will use the capital to expand globally, including in Europe, and hiring engineers and more sales staff. Palmieri said the company was at the point where it was going to turn a profit, but instead decided to delay it for awhile so they can grow faster. They have plans to hire 15 engineers immediately and a handful of people in London, where they already have two employees. Over the next year, they’ll probably double their size of their sales force, although will adjust it based on performance. In general, he said there needs to be more sales people across the entire industry because publishers and advertisers need to be educated about the space. “That number has to quadruple in the next year as an industry, as we educate the number of brands out there.”

Link URL to Moconews:

http://moconews.net/article/419-millennial-medias-ceo-says-mobile-ad-market-is-about-to-pop/