Mobile Media Summit

PC’s “Dropping Drawers” To Slow Mobile’s Growth

mike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:22:24 +0000

Rocked by the mobile-device movement, personal-computer makers and their partners are planning a counterattack that leans heavily on two weapons: lower prices and power consumption. According to All Things Digital, the companies, gathering for the big Computex trade show in Taiwan this week, are maneuvering to win back consumer spending that has shifted to smartphones and tablet computers by emulating more of those devices’ features and prices. In one significant thrust, manufacturers plan to begin offering much less expensive laptop computers that have touch screens for tablet-style operation. Prices later this year are expected to drop more than 50% in some instances. Manufacturers are also expected to begin delivering thinner and less costly “two-in-one” convertibles, whose screens swivel or can be detached to operate in tablet or clamshell mode. PC makers are also moving to offer a new wave of their own tablets—particularly small-screen models such as Apple Inc.’s hit iPad Mini, but well below its $329 starting price. Microsoft recently began offering hardware makers discounts of as much as two-thirds off the standard price for its Windows and Office software for small portable PCs and tablets, people familiar with the situation said. “The reality is the ecosystem has got to reinvent itself,” said Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, at an investor conference last week. http://bit.ly/18NJ05W

Olloclip iPhone Lens Is a Winning Dad’s Day Gift

mike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 05:16:03 +0000

One of our favorite little gadgets is the Olloclip 3-in-One Photo Lens for my iPhone 4. The tiny device slips right onto the corner of any iPhone 4 or 4s, and offers a fisheye, macro or wide-angle lens that transforms my iPhone’s workaday optics into a versatile, pro-image-capturing wonder. However, we had two major problems with it: 1) It can’t fit over an iPhone case and 2) the original clip does not fit snugly on a the slimmer iPhone 5 I’d been testing. Olloclip has now solved all these problems in splendid fashion. First of all, there’s the new Olloclip lens for iPhone 5 ($69.99). It works exactly like my original Olloclip 3-in-One. Secondly, Olloclip now makes the Olloclip Quick-Flip Case for iPhone 5 (and 4 and 4s). These cases are unlike any other you’ve ever seen for an iPhone. They feature a flip-open corner that lets you slide the Olloclip lens onto the naked iPhone body while still protecting the rest of the phone. That flip portion, by the way, serves a dual purpose. Not only does it smoothly get out of the way, but it swings into position to rest on the volume-up button and becomes an extended iPhone camera shutter release. http://on.mash.to/17hmiml

Why Geo-Location Is So Darn Hot!!

mike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:09:24 +0000

Mobile location awareness and geo-targeting appeals to retailers in many ways, especially because of the technology’s help in driving consumer engagement and delivering personalized offers and content based on a customer’s proximity to an in-store location. According to Mobile Commerce Daily, location-based technology is becoming a must-have for retailers. The technology is an incremental part in marketers’ strategies and a good investment in bring in-store traffic and delivering contextually relevant content. “If a customer has been in proximity to a retail location and, as such, personalized mobile offers or coupons can be delivered at a time and place most-likely to generate a purchase,” said Wilson Kerr, vice president of business development and sales at Unbound Commerce, Boston. “While the check-in was a fad for a while, the promise of using mobile geolocation to personalize the shopping experience has not delivered as promised,” he said. “GPS does not always work well in urban environments and consumers do not necessarily like being reminded that their phone knows where they are.” http://bit.ly/17hl6PT

The Rise of the Mobile-Only User

mike — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:20:29 +0000

One of the most persistent misconceptions about mobile devices is that it’s okay if they offer only a paltry subset of the content available on the desktop. According to HBR, decision-makers argue that users only need quick, task-focused tools on their mobile devices, because the desktop will always be the preferred choice for more in-depth, information-seeking research. But what about people who don’t have a desktop computer? What about people who have access to a PC, but prefer using their mobile device? Those users want and need access to the same information, just presented in a different form factor. The mobile-only user is your customer too. The rise of smartphones means that more and more people are going online from a mobile device. According to Pew Internet, 55 percent of Americans said they’d used a mobile device to access the internet in 2012. A surprisingly large number — 31 percent — of these mobile internet users say that’s the primary way they access the web. This is a large and growing audience whose needs aren’t being met by traditional desktop experiences. http://bit.ly/17X17Hd

Mondelēlez Signals Mobile CPG investments.

mike — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 21:47:37 +0000

Mondelēz International has inked a significant mobile-only media deal as part of the brand’s mission to become a mobile powerhouse. According to Mobile Marketer, Mondelēz has partnered with Google on a global initiative to focus on mobile sites, search and display advertising for brands such as Oreo, Trident and Cadbury. The deal essentially gives Mondelēz tools for marketers to beef up their own mobile marketing initiatives in select markets. “As to the scope of the deal, it goes beyond a traditional media impressions partnership – this includes creation of branded mobile Web sites, training and mobile capability building, analytics and an opportunity to opt in to Google’s mobile beta programs,” said Richard Buino, spokesman for Mondelēz International, Deerfield, IL. “We feel this provides us with a competitive advantage, particularly in emerging markets, which are a growing part of our company’s revenue,” he said. CPG will be a major topic at the Mobile Media Summit, Chicago on Tuesday, July 30th, http://bit.ly/12oWxiZ

Everything Marketers Need to Know About Glass

mike — Fri, 31 May 2013 14:56:52 +0000

There is no doubt that Google is changing the mobile landscape with its latest wearable innovation, Google Glass. However, will the technology be the next big thing or just a passing fad? According to the company and Mobile Marketer, Google Glass acts as a camera, video recorder, video conferencing tool, direction finder and foreign language translator. The product was limited to consumers and marketers, and a select number have been given the option to pre-order it for $1,500. “Google Glass is the first piece of wearable computing tech that has a real shot at making it,” said Matt Karolian, social media strategist at Arnold Worldwide, Boston. “There are realistically only two companies in the world that could make this happen, Google and Apple – and Google has stepped up,” he said. According to Mr. Karolian, Google Glass is a technology that marketers should watch for this year. http://bit.ly/10LuzYk

Report: Shoppers Don’t Return To Non Mobile sites

mike — Fri, 31 May 2013 14:29:35 +0000

In a reflection of the growing importance of mobile to shopping, 44 percent of online shoppers said they would never return to sites that are not mobile friendly, according to a new report from Kentico Software. The new Mobile Experience Survey focuses on how online shoppers’ interactions with brands on mobile devices are continuing to evolve, with pricing play an important but not the only role in purchasing decisions. Key findings include that 85 percent of smartphone owners use their mobile devices to compare companies, products and pricing before making a purchase. “The big news from a mobile perspective is people want to interact with companies via their mobile devices, but many won’t do so unless those companies provide a mobile-friendly experience,” said Thomas Robbins, chief evangelist at Kentico Software, Nashua, NH. “And the closer a company comes to mimicking the in-store experience, the better. “Given the growth of ecommerce and decline of many bricks-and-mortar outlets, I think a significant finding is how much people still prefer shopping from a store’s physical location – 63 percent,” he said. “That said, convenience is a very compelling reason for people to shop from their mobile devices, but only as long as the mobile phone doesn’t get in the way. http://bit.ly/15gpsDf

NYTimes Site Gets (Much-Needed) Mobile Upgrade

mike — Fri, 31 May 2013 21:24:33 +0000

April was a big news month for The New York Times and other national news outlets that covered the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent suspect chase. To accommodate the growing number of readers who turn to their smartphone devices for breaking news coverage, the Times has completely reengineered the front and back ends of its mobile website for the first time since its launch in 2006. The smartphone landscape was very different in 2006. BlackBerry (along with Microsoft, Palm and Nokia Symbian) dominated the U.S. smartphone market, and the Times’ mobile website was designed to accommodate those devices, Alex Hardiman, executive director of mobile products at the Times, recalls. The Times’ new mobile web site, unveiled Thursday, is designed to load faster — one to two seconds faster, says Times mobile product manager Michael Behr — and to increase session time and page views. Now featuring a responsive design, the mobile site is moving beyond text-heavy formats to feature more images, videos and slideshows in better resolutions, just like the Times’ desktop articles pages, which are presently undergoing a redesign of their own. http://on.mash.to/11EwDpX

Qriously Raises $3.5 mil to Replace Ads With Questions

mike — Fri, 31 May 2013 21:13:19 +0000

Qriously, which bills itself as a real-time opinion company, has closed a round of funding to the tune of $3.5 million, led by Spark Capital and with increased participation from Accel Partners. The investment brings total capital raised by the startup to $5.1 million. Headquartered in London and New York, Qriously uses mobile advertising infrastructure to serve questions – rather than straight-up display ads – within smartphone applications. The startup says it will use the proceeds of the financing round to expand both its U.S. and European footprint and extend the application of its ‘question network’ beyond research with its new product. That would be ‘asQvertising’, a mobile ad approach based on opinion targeting. Basically, it enables consumers to self-select mobile advertisements by answering basic questions served to them through their smartphones. With this solution, Qriously uses consumers’ opinions to learn about their interests, which are then matched with advertisers’ mobile display ads and tailored to end users’ profiles. Qriously says its ‘question network’ currently exceeds 300 million unique individuals worldwide, and claims to have served over 200 million questions to date. http://tnw.co/ZwQebu

Twitter Beats Facebook in “Real-Time Relevance”

mike — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:48:13 +0000

Twitter’s mobile advertising strategy just pulled ahead in the race with Google and Facebook through a mixture of real-time content video tied to TV viewing and ads targeting TV viewers who have seen an ad. Mobile users are increasingly watching TV with a smartphone or tablet nearby so they can engage further with content, including commenting about it on social media sites such as Twitter. According to Mobile Marketer, by providing marketers with new ways to leverage mobile to tie into TV content and ads, Twitter is taking an important step toward attracting major brands with big advertising budgets to its platform.“It gives Twitter an advantage over Facebook because it is a real-time channel where news breaks and spreads, and immediate conversations about ‘live’ events take place,” said Mark Pinset, social and content lead at Metia, Seattle, WA. “While people also use Facebook in real-time, it is balanced with far more retrospective content,” he said. “Twitter gives advertisers more opportunity for targeted messages with real-time relevance, particularly as people are two-screening with mobiles and tablets. http://bit.ly/ZrSYXJ