Tag: mobile

Google Improves Click-To-Call Ads With Phone Extensions

A little more than a month ago, Google introduced click-to-call phone numbers in local ads on smartphones. Now, the popular program’s undergoing an expansion as Google’s made it easier for large companies to take advantage of the offering.

A post on the Inside AdWords blog explained today, "[W]e’re bringing the same click-to-call benefits to national advertisers through phone extensions. Phone extensions allow you to add a phone number that will be displayed whenever your ad is triggered, regardless of the user’s location."

Here’s the upshot, then: "This enables customers to connect with your business by phone directly from the ad and can be especially useful if you have a call center to handle customer inquiries."

Advertisers should profit as a result of this development, considering that phone calls are more likely than clicks to lead to purchases. Google looks set to make a lot of money, too, since this move will encourage corporations with big advertising budgets to give click-to-call ads a shot.

Perhaps the only losers will be the companies that don’t adapt quickly. They’ll risk losing sales to competitors with more eye-catching and actionable ads.

March 2, 2010
EU Caps Mobile Roaming Fees

European mobile phone operators are now required by the European Union to offer their customers limits on roaming fees.

Under the new regulation, mobile operators must offer their customers a monthly cut-off limit of 50 euros ($65) while they are surfing the Internet in other European nations. They can also offer their customers any other limit. Mobile users will now receive a warning when they hit 80 percent of the chosen limit.

"Protection against data roaming bill shocks is a useful step towards building customers’ confidence to use mobile networks to surf the Internet when traveling around Europe," said Neelie Kroes, Digital Agenda Commissioner.

"Such confidence is essential if people and businesses are to use the Internet to its full potential".

Mobile customers have until July 1, 2010 to make a choice of what they want their cut-off limit to be. Mobile users who do make a choice will have a cut-off limit at 50 euros by default.

The EU says the move will guarantee more transparency and protections for consumers, and it will protect them from large bills for using data roaming services.

March 1, 2010
Stats Put Android Ahead Of iPhone In Eight States

There’s encouraging news for Google in the Android vs. iPhone war. A company that’s delivered more than one billion applications, games, ringtones, videos, and wallpapers to mobile users claims Android has topped the iPhone in terms of user concentration in eight states.

As the map below shows, these eight states are Arizona, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Then another five states are considered swing states, leaving the last 37 under Apple’s control.

Obviously, these findings don’t represent a true victory for Google even if they’re absolute facts. The states associated with Android aren’t all chockfull of people, and eight to 37 isn’t a good ratio. Apple fans are sure to point out that Myxer is relatively new to the stats game, as well.

Still, the data indicates that Android’s gained a lot of ground within a certain sample group, and that it’s done so at a more than reasonable pace. What’s more, Myxer’s promised to update the map every quarter, meaning we’ll get a better idea of how things are trending as time goes by.

According to Myxer, "A total of one million unique users from both the Android and iPhone operating systems were used to make this comparison."

February 28, 2010
Is Apple Displaying a “Puritan” Double Standard?

Update: According to reports, Apple has "quietly reinstated a shopping app from a beachwear retailer that sells bikinis."

Original Article: Apple has dominated tech headlines this week, as the company has created quite an uproar by unexpectedly removing over 5,000 apps from its App Store. The apps removed have been deemed "too sexy", but much of said uproar has been more about Apple’s definition of sexy, and its double standard. Apps containing women in bikinis and even workout clothes have been eliminated while apps from Playboy, FHM Magazine, and the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue have remained available, and even promoted on Apple’s App Store home page.

Do you agree with Apple’s decision to pull some "sexy" apps, while leaving others? Tell us what you think.

After much of the ruckus had been raised, Apple SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller talked to the New York Times, saying, "It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see." He also indicated that the difference with the Playboy, Sports Illustrated apps, etc. were that they were from well-known companies that were already available in "well-accepted" formats.

Obviously, the developers of such apps that have been pulled are not happy. It’s not hard to understand their beef, as many of them have likely put a significant amount of time and money into creating and maintaining their apps, only to have them yanked without warning (other than the emails they got from Apple as they were being pulled). Apple’s reasoning for allowing the well-knowns only adds fuel to their fire.

Apple reviews apps on a case-by-case basis. "Whenever we receive customer complaints about objectionable content we review them," Apple has said. "If we find these apps contain inappropriate material we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple."

Some have raised the question: why is Apple suddenly going "puritanical" (one of the apps was removed because of a cartoon character in a bikini)? They have blocked apps in the past, but just to yank so many that have already been accepted into the store seems like a sudden change in attitude. Is it coincidence that the company is readying the release of its much-publicized iPad device, which will run apps from the app store?

Many think these two things are strongly connected, and some even consider Apple’s choice to pull "sexy" apps to be a "smart business decision." For example, PC World’s Jeff Bertolucci writes:

As for the iPad, it’s clear that Apple will position its new tablet not only as a consumer device for the home, but also as an educational tool. Software developers are already designing interactive textbooks for the iPad, according to reports. Again, Apple must squash the impression that the App Store is a haven for smut to increase the odds of classroom sales. A few negative news stories about wobbly-boob apps could very well spur many school districts to think twice about adding the iPad as a study tool.

Bottom line: The porn purge is a smart business move on Apple’s part, even if it appears prudish to outsiders.

Beyond the classroom, Apple may be worried families will be less likely to purchase the iPad as well. The company’s comments regarding complaints from parents seems to suggest this very notion.

Not all complaints have come from concerned parents though. Even some developers have complained about apps such as those which have been removed. "Developers have been making similar complaints to Apple, but their concerns are also related to the volume of sexually-themed apps, which can represent as many as a third of the apps in certain iTunes App Store categories," says InformationWeek’s Thomas Claburn. "The spam-scale proliferation of these apps ends up making other apps less discoverable."

Others have pointed out, however, that there is plenty of R-rated content available through iTunes in the form of both movies and music, and Apple is keeping that stuff around, although that likely goes back to the same point Apple made about "well-known" and "accepted" sources. Many have also pointed out that users can always go to the web browser on their device and access all kinds of "nasty" stuff, but Apple doesn’t own the web, so unless Apple wants to start censoring the Internet, it is going to have a hard time keeping "sexiness" off its devices, even from lesser known sources. Apple can’t control that though, but it can control its own App store, and it is doing so.

Meanwhile, Google’s Android Market is growing significantly, and is currently in second place behind Apple’s App store in mobile application stores. Google has a significantly greater percentage of free apps as well, which could continue to fuel its growth. Perhaps another question is: can Apple afford to yank so many apps at a time when its competition is becoming greater than ever in the mobile space? Apple’s controlling "Puritanism" could come back to haunt it, despite its apparent motives. Evidently, that’s a chance the company is willing to take.

Do you think Apple is making the right decision by pulling all of these apps? Will Google benefit? Share your thoughts here.

February 27, 2010
Google Trounces Yahoo, Bing In Mobile Search Report

Although Google’s undoubtedly best known for dominating the traditional search market, the company’s no slouch when it comes to mobile. New stats from Opera indicate that Google has a huge lead over its closest rival, and that its other well-funded competitor barely enters the equation.

According to the latest Opera State of the Mobile Report, Google’s search portal accounts "for more than 9% of all page views on the mobile Web." Obviously, that’s impressive.

Moving on, things take a turn for the ho-hum. Yahoo can only claim 4.3 percent of page views, which isn’t bad, just kind of embarrassing next to Google’s twice-as-large share.

Finally, we arrive at something shameful. To quantify Bing’s share, Opera had to consider an extra place to the right of the decimal point. The final number: 0.03 percent, which is one three-hundredth of Google’s share.

Google hasn’t quite taken over the world, however. Jon von Tetzchner, Opera’s cofounder, said in a statement, "While Google performs well globally, we also see several local search engines, such as Yandex in Russia and Ukraine, and Baidu in China, have impressive results in their key markets."

February 25, 2010
Consumer Demographics and Their Wireless Devices

As smartphone usage becomes more and more mainstream, businesses have to consider how their audiences are interacting with them online. For that reason, it can help to gain insight into how users of different devices interact with those devices.

AdMob released its monthly Mobile Metrics report today, which finds that Android and iPhone users download a similar number of apps every month and spend a similar amount of time using the apps. However, while Only 21% of Android users purchase at least 1 paid app per month, 50% of iPhone users do, 35% of iPod touch users, and 24% of webOS users. In other words, if you want to reach Android users through an app, you may have better luck if that app is free.

According to the report, iPod touch users download an average of 12 apps a month, 37% more apps than iPhone and Android users. iPod touch users also spent 100 minutes a day using apps, 25% more time than iPhone and Android users.

73% of Android users are male, compared to 58% of webOS users, 57% of iPhone users and 54% iPod touch users. The iPhone, iPod touch and webOS have similar gender distributions, with just over half of the users on all devices being male.

In addition, iPod touch users skew considerably younger relative to other platforms and devices, according to AdMob. Based on the company’s survey, 78% of iPod touch users are below the age of 25, compared to 25% of iPhone users and 24% of Android and webOS users.

The iPad will be out before long, and that means users will have access to apps that iPhone users and iPod Touch users do. 16% of iPhone users said they intend to purchase an iPad, compared to 11% of webOS users and only 6% of Android users. Of course, Google is working on its own new devices that would more directly compete with the iPad.

AdMob finds that 91% of iPhone users and 88% of iPod touch users would recommend their device, compared to 84% of Android users and 69% of webOS users. webOS users are 3.4x more likely to not recommend their device relative to iPhone OS users.

Which platform do you use? Would you recommend it? Tell us.

February 25, 2010
Google Earth Comes to Android

Google has launched Google Earth for Android, which is currently only available for the Nexus One (which runs Android 2.1). Google calls it the fastest mobile version of Google Earth yet.

Along with the release, comes the Roads layer, which has been popular on the desktop version of Google Earth. The layer is meant to give users a better sense of where they are, with road labels drawn on top of satellite imagery.

"As with other versions of Google Earth, you can also browse photos, places, and local businesses, whether it is in your local community or on the far side of the globe," says Product Manager Peter Birch. "Click on an icon to see photos, videos, and read about prominent places in the world. You can easily customize your version of Google Earth to display the layers that most interest you."

Google Earth for Android also takes advantage of voice recognition that "responds to your every command," according to Google. "With Google Earth for Android, we have brought together the convenience of Google Search by voice with the power of Google Local Search to make it easier than ever to navigate the globe and find whatever you are looking for," says Birch.

Google Earth will be available in the Android Market for devices that have Android 2.1 or higher. As older Android devices get upgraded to 2.1, they will be able to get it.

February 23, 2010
Is it Becoming Less Critical For Businesses to Have Websites?

I don’t think there’s any question that you need a web presence to survive in today’s business climate. But do you still need a traditional website, or has the web moved on in that regard?

Do you still need a website to be successful online? Share your thoughts.

First off, let me be perfectly clear in that I’m not advising anybody not to have a website. That said, there are a lot of ways to have a web presence without actually having a site, and let’s face it – maintaining a site (let alone a successful one) takes time, money, and resources.

According to data from Compete, Facebook has become a bigger traffic source than Google for some sites, and for many others, it is right up there with Google as a major traffic source. If it can drive the traffic, then that means the people are already at Facebook. You can be on Facebook without having your own website. Businesses can build a Facebook Page, complete with analytics provided by Facebook itself, and they can spend time making that page a good one. Here are some tips on how to do that. Facebook pages are perfectly capable of being found in search engines. In fact, they are often right on the first results page.

You know what else is often right on the first page? A set of local search results from Google Maps, courtesy of Google’s Universal Search integration. Within those results (which are very often right at the top of the SERP) are links to individual businesses’ "Place Pages". From here, users can find coupons, reviews, store hours, etc. There is a very good chance users will find this before they find your site anyway.

Google is actually going to great lengths to get people using these Place Pages. They are even sending out stickers with barcodes for stores to hang on their windows. When a user scans this barcode with their mobile phone, they will be taken to the business’ Place Page. Social media profiles can also appear on these pages (although so can website links of course).

I probably don’t have to tell you that the web is rapidly becoming more mobile. Smartphone usage and mobile broadband subscriptions continue to accelerate, and people are using a variety of devices, operating systems, browsers, and apps. Making sure you have a site that looks right across all of these is no easy task. This is not so much of a worry when it comes to Facebook pages, Google Place Pages, and other third-party entities.

In many cases, it seems that small business sites are becoming harder to find through organic search. If you look you can find them, but users want convenience, and they are probably not going to look too hard if they can find what they are looking for on the first search results page (or right within Facebook where they’re already spending their time).

Social profiles show in up in search, and often early. The very nature of social media is viral. If one Facebook user becomes a fan of your Facebook page, that user’s friends are going to see it. Then, maybe a couple of them also become fans. Then maybe a couple of their friends become fans, and that trend can continue on and on. The more people who become fans, and the more exposure that page gets, the more chance that page has of acquiring links, which of course can lead to better search engine rankings, not to mention a larger presence on Facebook itself, where a large percentage of Internet users are already spending a great deal of their time. Your reputation and following within the social networks themselves may do your profile well in the eyes of Google too.

If you sell things online, there are obviously many different options out there without having to sell from your own site. In fact, even Facebook and e-commerce are on the road to becoming more and more closely attached. People can buy/sell physical goods through Facebook.

A great deal of focus has been placed on Facebook in this article for the simple fact that it is the world’s most popular social network. That could all change in time. But that doesn’t mean the points would not sill apply to other services. Google is going to be placing a lot of emphasis on Google Buzz this year, and it’s going to become integrated with more and more Google products. Currently, Google profiles are kind of the central place for a Buzz presence. Users can include any links they wish right into that profile (Facebook page, Twitter account, blog, eBay/Amazon listings, etc.)There’s no telling how big Buzz can be, and there’s always the possibility that something else will come along and take the world by storm. And that is one of the reasons…

Why it Still Pays to Have a Site

Can you be successful without a site? I think so. However, having a site gives you a more stable foundation, and still creates more opportunities than if you didn’t have one. When you have a site, you have control. You don’t have to adhere to the policy guidelines of any third-party platform. If Facebook decides to shut its Pages down (as Yahoo did with GeoCities, for example), you still have your own site that they can’t touch. For that matter, having your own site certainly lends credibility to your brand.

Still, social networks continue to work on making data more freely able to flow among one another via a number of open standards like Activity Streams, AtomPub, OAuth, PubSubHubbub, Salmon and WebFinger. "The idea is that someday, any host on the web should be able to implement these open protocols and send messages back and forth in real time with users from any network, without any one company in the middle," says Google software engineer DeWitt Clinton. "The web contains the social graph, the protocols are standard web protocols, the messages can contain whatever crazy stuff people think to put in them. Google Buzz will be just another node (a very good node, I hope) among many peers. Users of any two systems should be able to send updates back and forth, federate comments, share photos, send @replies, etc., without needing Google in the middle and without using a Google-specific protocol or format."

Google itself, even has its own site dedicated to making user data for its various products exportable. That’s just Google, but the web in general appears to be moving more in this direction.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a site, or even that you don’t need one, but I think it’s an interesting discussion. For now, I’m going to say having your own site is still in your best interest, but has a more social Internet with more portable data made a standalone site less critical? Is having a website going to be less important in the future? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject. Comment here.

February 22, 2010
Twitter Arranges for Free SMS Tweets in Haiti

Twitter is offering free SMS tweets for Digicel Haiti customers. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone credits Director of Mobile Business Development Kevin Thau and the Twitter mobile team for arranging this service.

"If you have been following the events in Haiti since the devastating quake last month, then you know of the initial bursts of compassion," says Stone. "International dialogue now shifts from lifesaving relief to long term restoration. Officials are saying this may take ten years at a cost of billions."

"Post-disaster needs assessment is underway and there will be an international donor conference late next month in New York City," he adds. "In the meantime, there are ways to stay involved in sustained efforts such as the WFP’s monthly donation program."

Mobile Phone users in Haiti can activate the service by texting "follow @oxfam" to 40404. Twitter says accounts are created on the fly and any account can be followed in this manner.

Twitter has been cited as a tremendous help in post-earthquake Haiti relief efforts. Not only did non-profits use it to help get the message out, and raise donations, but Twitter users have found ways to connect victims and their families in other countries.

February 22, 2010
PleaseRobMe Hits Foursquare Users with a Dose of Reality

Update: Fousquare has issued a respons to the attention PleaseRobMe has brought to potential privacy issues associated with location sharing. What it boils down to is that Foursquare "takes privacy seriously" and it’s "really a bigger question about the pros and cons of location sharing in general". Read the company’s entire response here.

Original Article: Yesterday at about 2pm PleaseRobMe went live. PleaseRobMe is a site set up by a few developers who want to spread awareness about how easy it would be for people to rob your home if you share too much information about yourself online, specifically your location…even more specifically through Foursquare. The site displays a list of messages asking people if they know the whole world has access to their location. All of these are drawn directly from the PleaseRobMe Twitter account.

We asked Boy Van Amstel, one of those developers if they were concerned that followers of PleaseRobMe’s Twitter account could actually be interested in robbing people. Van Amstel responded, "With just the information [from] pleaserobme.com it would be almost impossible to do so. However as people share more information about themselves, such as their home address, it might become a possibility. We think it’s important to think about that and what it means if you share location information on services like Twitter…it’s very easy to get it, even directly from Twitter’s search page."

So far, Van Amstel says Foursquare is the only service it watches to determine who is sharing their location with the world. "It’s not about the service, it’s about the information that’s being shared. We think it’s important to realize that something you post on Twitter isn’t necessarily private. Everybody is able to read it, unless you protect your messages."

One can only assume that FourSquare isn’t entirely pleased with the launch of PleaseRobMe. That’s the second time the service has had a not-so-positive light cast upon it this week. Earlier in the week, there were reports of Foursquare cheating. This could have an effect on the decisions of businesses to give Foursquare users special offers, a practice that is becoming more commonplace.

Regardless, PleaseRobMe bluntly delivers an important reminder to socially active people that just because they’re using the “virtual” world, that doesn’t mean it can’t potentially have real-world consequences.

February 21, 2010
Will Windows Phone 7 Help Bing Market Share?

Microsoft has unveiled its Windows Phone 7 Series, a new mobile platform. The phones will bring Microsoft’s XBox Live service and its Zune music and video experience together on phones. Perhaps more interesting, at least to enthusiasts of the search industry, is that Windows Phone 7 devices will come with "a dedicated hardware button for Bing."

Microsoft says this will provide one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone. A special implementation of Bing search also provides intent-specific results, depending on the type of query, the company says.

"Today, I’m proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at Mobile World Congress today. "In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences."

Of course Windows Phone 7 devices won’t be the first to incorporate one-click search hardware buttons. There are already Android devices that have buttons, which will take you to Google search. Android’s popularity is growing though, and that can only help Google’ search market share. With Microsoft’s Bing button, the company could get a significant boost to an already growing market share itself. That of course depends on how popular Windows Phone 7 devices become. Regardless, it’s a smart move by Microsoft, and shows that they are going to continue the aggressive push of their search engine they’ve spent so much money promoting. Google’s relationship with Apple as the search provider for the iPhone has recently come into question, although Google maintains that the relationship is stable.

Microsoft partners have already begun building the phones that will feature Windows Phone 7 Series. The devices will be ready for the 2010 holiday season. So far, partners include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc.

The real question is whether or not these new Windows phones be able to compete with other established smartphone OS brands like iPhone and Android devices.

February 20, 2010
Google Takes Popular Email App from iPhone For Itself

The competition between Google and Apple appears to be getting fiercer by the day. Google has now acquired popular iPhone app reMail, and has discontinued it in Apple’s App Store, and most likely offer it in the Android Market (although this has not been confirmed).

reMail was created by a former Google employee, who used to work as a software engineer on Gmail. "Gmail is where my obsession with email started as an engineering intern back in 2004, and I’m thrilled to be coming back to a place with so many familiar faces," Remail creator Gabor Cselle says on his blog. "reMail’s goal was reimagine mobile email, and I’m proud we have built a product that so many users find useful."

Although reMail has been removed from Apple’s App store, those who have already downloaded will continue to be able to use it. Support will be continued through March.

"We’ve enabled all paid reMail features for you: You can activate these by clicking ‘Restore Purchases’ inside the app," explains Cselle. "reMail downloads email directly from your email provider to your phone, and your personal information, passwords, and email are never sent to or stored on our servers."

This week at Mobile World Congress, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stressed the importance of mobile to Google’s strategy. This acquisition, which some have considered to be a slap to Apple’s face, is only the latest piece in that puzzle. It will be interesting to see if Google goes after any more apps from Apple’s store. The company has certainly been in the mood for acquisitions. Just last week, the company acquired social Q&A site Aardvark.

February 18, 2010
Firefox Mobile For Android Due Out This Year

A new way for Android users to get around the Web should debut this year. Jay Sullivan, Vice President of Mobile at Mozilla, has indicated that Firefox Mobile for Android will land sometime in 2010.

The nonexistence of this product might have troubled some fans of Mozilla and Google. It’s no secret that the two companies have been growing apart as Chrome came out and Mozilla’s director of community development endorsed Bing over Google. Also, the search deal between them is set to expire in 2011.

Sullivan, who’s worked at Mozilla for about two and a half years, told Gareth Beavers that the main obstacle to developing Firefox Mobile for Android was the rift between C and C++ code and Java, however.

Indeed, he sounded quite upbeat about Android and about what Mozilla has in the works. "It’s a modern OS, and it’s a great fit with us," Sullivan said. "It’s the type of platform that has a high affinity with the early adopter, and it’s seen a lot of uptake."

So we can expect to see Firefox Mobile for Android "late this year."

February 17, 2010
Consumers Getting More Comfortable with Mobile Shopping

As you know, smartphone usage is on the rise, and that means more opportunities for businesses to sell to customers via their mobile devices. We often hear about how important mobile is to the marketing strategy and especially future strategies, but how much are consumers really into shopping from their phones?

Retrevo shared some findings with us, and concludes that consumers are increasingly warming up to the concept of shopping from their phones. Andrew Eisner, Retrevo’s Director of Content says, "With the Mobile Internet becoming more available on everything from smartphones to tablet computers, we see an encouraging number of consumers researching and actually purchasing products with their mobile devices."

Not surprisingly, the mobile shopping is most popular with the young in pretty much every capacity, and the older the demographic, the less inclined they are to use mobile devices to shop.

The young also appear to be most likely to engage with mobile advertising, and even notice mobile ads at all. Furthermore, when asked about their experience when they used a mobile phone to shop, most said they searched for deals, found them, and got the best price, while nearly half also found that it made shopping easier and more fun. A much smaller percentage didn’t think it was worth it and wouldn’t try again.

Highlights from Retrevo’s Findings:

– 59% of people said they found the shopping information they were looking for, when using a mobile phone.
– Only 8% of people said they did not intend to shop from their mobile phone
– Only 9% of people, over 35 years old, have responded to an ad on their mobile phone, compared to 20% of people under 35.
– 55% of people, ages 18 – 24, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
– 52% of people, ages 25 – 34, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
– 36% of people, ages 35, 44, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
– 17% of people, ages 45 and up, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
– 17% of people, ages 18 – 24, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.
– 15% of people, ages 25 – 34, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.
– 10% of people, ages 35 – 44, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.
– 3% of people, ages 45 and above, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.

The research indicates that the future of online shopping via mobile devices is bright. Eventually, these younger users are going to become the older ones, and the future youngsters will probably find it hard to imagine a world where shopping from mobile devices wasn’t the norm.

A fitting quote from Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "Today’s generation doesn’t call it a mobile phone; they call it a phone."

Do you shop from your mobile device? Do you purchase items from it? Comment here.

February 17, 2010
ChaCha Introduces New Facebook App

Mobile answers service ChaCha has introduced a new Facebook application that allows users to access answers from both ChaCha and their Facebook friends.

The ChaCha Facebook app allows users to ask a question to any of their friends on Facebook and the question is also automatically submitted to ChaCha. ChaCha says it will return an answer from its database of hundreds of millions of answers. Users can also select "add to profile" to get a permanent "Ask ChaCha" prompt on their profile pages.

Facebook users can also select "share" when they submit a question, and it will post to their friends walls. Users receive points for questions they answer and they will receive different titles which are displayed on a leader board.

"We are publishing this initial version of our Facebook application, which gives access to our fun and informative content within the Facebook community, but also encourages Facebook friends to provide answers too," says Scott A. Jones, Chairman and CEO of ChaCha.

"This socially-connected version of ChaCha can be particularly helpful for subjective questions, such as, ‘Where’s the best Thai restaurant, and what should I order on the menu?’"

February 16, 2010
Vodafone CEO Warns Of Google Dominance

The world’s second largest mobile operator is not pleased with Google’s dominance in the search and advertising market. In fact, Vodafone’s CEO implied in a recent speech that regulators might want to act sooner rather than later to prevent an irreversible monopoly from forming.

According to Michelle Donegan, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao showed during his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress that many companies compete within different parts of the mobile sphere. Then he presented a slide related to search and advertising with just Google’s and Yahoo’s names on it.

Colao stated at that point, "In search and advertising management, there is 70 percent to 80 percent, maybe more, concentration [of players]. From a policy perspective, this should be looked into. We need to ensure choice and avoid concentration before it’s too late."

This could be bad news for Google. Colao’s corporation isn’t some small firm with a skewed view of the market (it has a market cap of $115 billion and owns 45 percent of Verizon), and his decision to criticize the search giant at such a public moment indicates that he’s quite serious about taking it down a couple of notches.

As for Google’s side of things, Eric Schmidt is supposed to speak later today at the Mobile World Congress, so we may get to hear an executive-level rebuttal.

February 16, 2010
Use QR Code to Increase Traffic and Sales

QR (or Quick Response) code is not a new technology. Actually it’s been around for sixteen years or so, but the ever-increasing popularity of smartphones and their support of QR-code-reading apps is making use of the codes more popular than ever. It’s a very easy way to attract the attention of a potential customer with a scannable (often curiosity-inducing) link to your website or latest promotion. There’s something about a QR code that makes smartphone users want to scan them.

There are various ways to use the codes to increase your sales. Here are a few:

– Use them to simply drive traffic to your site. You can place a code in a print ad, on your signage, on your business card, etc. Anywhere potential customers might see it, you can include it, and if you catch them in the right frame of mind, they may just scan it.

– Use one as a call to action. Simply tell people to scan it and link it to a special offer. Maybe it links to a printable coupon. Maybe it links to a promotion code for a discount on their next purchase. They don’t have to be in print, by the way. You can use them on your site.

– Use them in creative ways. Dana Oshiro at Mashable looked at 5 unique uses for QR codes a while back. One of them was self-branding through swag you pass out (hats, shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)

There are a bunch of QR-Code reading apps. Mobile-Barcodes.com has a good list of them. Perusing the list, you will find that many mobile devices will support the technology. Likewise, there are a number of sites you can go to and easily create a unique QR Code on the fly. If you search for "QR Code Generators" you will find a number of them.

Have you ever used a QR Code for promotion? How well did it work? Comment here.

February 15, 2010
Mobile Subscriptions To Hit 5 Billion Globally In 2010

The number of mobile phone subscribers is on track to increase from 4.6 billion to five billion globally by the end of 2010, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The ITU says the increase is driven by advanced services and handsets in developed countries and growing adoption of mobile health services and mobile banking in the developing world.

"Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services," says ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Tour, taking part in the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, "and I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in particular in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the internet."

ITU expects to see the number of mobile broadband subscriptions climb to more than one billion during 2010, having surpassed 600 million by the end of 2009. With current growth rates, mobile Internet access is set to exceed access form desktop computers within the next five years.

"Even the simplest, low-end mobile phone can do so much to improve healthcare in the developing world," adds Dr Tour.

"Good examples include sending reminder messages to patient’s phones when they have a medical appointment, or need a pre-natal check-up. Or using SMS messages to deliver instructions on when and how to take complex medication such as anti-retrovirals or vaccines. It’s such a simple thing to do, and yet it saves millions of dollars – and can help improve and even save the lives of millions of people."

February 15, 2010
Mobile Phone Buyers Prefer Touchscreen Interface

While text messaging continues to be the top motivating feature for mobile phone buyers, American consumers are increasingly purchasing handsets with touch screens or QWERTY keyboards, according to the latest report from The NPD Group.

The report found all 10 of the top-selling mobile phones purchased in the fourth quarter of 2009 came with a touch screen, a QWERTY keyboard, or both.

"Regargless of whether they opt for a data plan, consumers want richer user interface options," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at NPD.

"The humble keypad is losing the race to optimize a handset’s surface."

Based on U.S. consumer purchases of mobile phones in Q4, the top 10 handsets were:

1.    RIM BlackBerry Curve (all 83XX models)
2.    LG enV3
3.    Apple iPhone 3GS (both models)
4.    Apple iPhone 3G
5.    Motorola Droid
6.    LG enV Touch
7.    RIM Blackberry Tour
8.    Samsung Intensity
9.    Samsung Solstice
10.    Samsung Impression

In Q4 2009 Apple, LG and RIM all declined in unit share, and Motorola’s Droid, even with its mid-quarter launch, was the fifth most purchased mobile phone in the U.S.

NPD also found that 46 percent of phones sold in Q4 had QWERTY keyboards (compared to 31 % in 2008) and 34 percent had touch screens (compared to 20% the prior year.)

February 10, 2010
Facebook Mobile Count Hits, Passes 100 Million

Facebook recently updated its official "Statistics" page to reflect the fact that it attracts about 400 million users on a monthly basis. Today, Facebook announced another interesting piece of data: over 100 million folks can be counted upon to access the site from their mobile phones in the same timeframe.

Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook’s vice president of user growth, disclosed this detail by posting it on the Facebook Blog, and also wrote, "This usage happens on almost every carrier in the world and comes less than six months after we announced 65 million people on Facebook Mobile."

Impressive, right? To put those figures in perspective, the population of the Philippines is in the neighborhood of 100 million, and so is the population of Mexico.

Also, the number of people who just started using Facebook mobile in the last five months (35 million) is about equal to the number of people who make their home in Algeria, and greater than the number of people who inhabit Canada.

More growth seems likely to occur, too. Palihapitiya concluded his post by stating, "No matter which mobile device you own, you can always stay connected through Facebook using our mobile applications, sites or SMS."

Related Articles:

> AOL Adds Facebook To AIM

> How Over 400 Million People Use Facebook

> Facebook Version Of "Madden" Game In The Works

February 10, 2010
Good News for Google Buzz – Social and Email Top Mobile Priorities

An interesting study has been released by PR firm Ruder Finn, which finds that 91% of mobile phone users go online to socialize, compared to only 79% of traditional desktop users. Meanwhile, Americans are spending an average of 2.7 hours on the mobile Internet.

"Mobile phones have become the way people organize their lives—managing finances, connecting with friends, purchasing products—and this trend will only accelerate," said Kathy Bloomgarden, Ruder Finn co-CEO. "The mobile phone is becoming the most powerful online device, and the faster businesses can adapt their services to harness consumer mobile intent, the more rapidly they can capitalize on understanding their customers to drive growth."

The Mobile Intent Index asked respondents how frequently they use their mobile phones to go online for 295 reasons, and the results show that immediacy is the primary factor driving behavior.

"Mobile phone use goes beyond instant gratification," said Marty McGough, director, Ruder Finn Insights. "Our survey data shows that people use their mobile phones out of necessity for instant access to the Web whether it’s to conduct business with the most recent information or advocate on the spot on issues of pressing concern and breaking news."

According to Ruder Finn’s research, about three in five users download mobile apps at least once a month, while 36% of users download apps from social networking sites at least once a month.

"Mobile technology means that people no longer have to wait until they’re in front of their computers to do their work," says the firm’s Chief Innovation Officer Michael Schubert. "And people are taking advantage of that; using mobile devices to do their core work while using desktops to navigate longer format and higher bandwidth content and tools. This is resulting in huge changes – and opportunities – across industries, making mobile an essential channel in keeping businesses competitive."

The top social intents named by participants of Ruder Finn’s survey were instant messaging (62%), forwarding e-mails (58%), content (40%), and photos (38%), posting comments on social networking sites (45%), and connecting to people on social networking sites (43%).

There is of course a new social player in the game with Google Buzz, which was announced yesterday. One of the primary focuses of the product appears to be on mobile, with three separate mobile Google Buzz-related announcements made by the company: the ability to use Buzz from Google.com on iPhone/Android, a brand new app, and a Maps update.

"The RF Mobile Intent Index shows that 91% of mobile users are more likely than traditional online users (70%) to go online to be part of a community and supports the theory that location based social connections are only growing," Scott Schneider, EVP and director of Ruder Finn Interactive tells WebProNews. "With the launch of Google Buzz and it’s mobile focus, we will see an increase in the already high socialization activities of smart phone users. Combined with the fact that the penetration of smart phone users is only growing, this points to a communication future dominated by mobile focused social networks."

The jury is still out on just how successful Google Buzz will end up being, but Ruder Finn’s findings appear to suggest that the product will meet several of the top objectives of mobile users. Buzz being present on the mobile version of Google.com, which Google says is the worlds’ most popular mobile home page, could be a huge factor.

Related Articles:

> Will Google Buzz Change the Social Media Game?

> Whose Got The Buzz: Yahoo or Google?

> Is Gmail Google’s Real Social Network?

February 10, 2010