The Mobi Blog.Net

[New survey results from Compete show smartphone owners favorite types of apps include entertainment,games, music, social networking and weather.]

TNS Media company, today released the results from its quarterly Smartphone Intelligence survey, which provides behavioral and survey-based insights into how consumers are using their iPhones and other "smart" devices. The report shows that smartphone owners agree on their favorite types of applications; entertainment, games, music, social networking and weather are the most popular across platforms. In addition, while iPhone owners are most likely to spend money on desired applications, 83 percent of all smartphone users prefer applications that are priced under $5. Compete's Smartphone Intelligence Survey also digs deeper into the differences between iPhone, Blackberry and Palm users.

Key findings include:

* 73 percent of Blackberry owners have downloaded 5 or fewer applications; in contrast, 72 percent of iPhone owners have downloaded 10 or more applications.

* Facebook is hot among iPhone owners: 71 percent of iPhone users report accessing Facebook from their mobile device, 37 percent listed Facebook as one of their top three most utilized apps and 18 percent claim it's their favorite app.

* 30 percent of all smartphone owners are either comfortable or very comfortable receiving targeted marketing on their device.

"With the massive number of applications downloaded to date, the iPhone has taken an early lead in getting owners to adopt app functionality and make popular applications a part of their daily lives," said Danielle Nohe, director of telecommunications and media for Compete. "Smartphones are changing the way we live and communicate, and once users are hooked, they're very unlikely to give up their device - that makes mobile the next 'can't miss' opportunity for marketers."

Smartphone owners using Facebook

Smartphone users differ in their use of social networking sites. Facebook is the most heavily trafficked social networking site among smartphone owners, and iPhone users are twice as likely to use the mobile Facebook app as their Palm counterparts. In fact, iPhone owners are the most active mobile social networkers, with the highest percentage of respondents reporting mobile use of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and from their mobile devices.

However, despite Twitter's ever-increasing mobile popularity, 85 percent of smartphone owners still prefer to access the site the old fashioned way, from the computer. While 26 percent of iPhone users tweet from their device, only 15 percent of Palm owners and 10 percent of Blackberry devotees report accessing Twitter on the go. Of the smartphone owners who do access Twitter via their phones, 41 percent use the application to keep track of what their friends are doing, 32 percent use the service to keep up with current events and 19 percent tweet from their handset to build a fan base or promote their company.

Open to Targeted Ads

In addition to networking activities, smartphone owners are open to receiving targeted marketing via their device. What types of offers make the best candidates for marketers trying to reach networked consumers? Impulse and leisure purchases tend to be easier to digest than big, highly considered ones. Therefore, nearly half of smartphone owners are receptive to location-based offers at restaurants and offers to save and pursue at their leisure, and 45 percent would use mobile grocery coupons.

SAN FRANCISCO - When Peter Shipman, a franchise owner of the Qdoba casual Mexican restaurant chain, was launching his third outlet in the college town of Ann Arbor, Mich., he needed a way to draw students to the new location -- and he wanted to speak their technological parlance. So he bought ads in the campus newspaper and posted promotional posters, each with a code kids could scan with their phones to get a mobile coupon for a buy-one-get-one-free burrito.

Analysts and Jagtag competitors agree that for 2-D barcodes to gain any meaningful traction, the code reader must come preloaded on cellphones -- and only the wireless carriers can make happen, as they dictate the specs to handset makers.
The campaign netted a 52% redemption rate with about 4,000 scans, roughly 1% of the total target student population.

"You use different media for different applications, and for a grand opening, this was appropriate," Mr. Shipman said, adding he would consider using the technology for future promotions.

For Qdoba, it was a digital version of clipping coupons. But these codes -- known as 2-D barcodes, since they're scanned both horizontally and vertically -- can also deliver product reviews, video demos or any other tool a marketer has in its digital arsenal. They can also help marketers track static ads and product performance in retail channels: Did the print ad get more scans in the men's lifestyle glossy or the outdoor-enthusiast magazine?

Small but growing group
Qdoba joins small but growing group of marketers warming to the long-promised technology. In fact, among three vendors working to make this a reality -- Scanbuy, Jagtag and Clic2C -- there are at least 15 initiatives involving national brands in the retail, fashion, food and beverage categories that should hit next quarter.

Nike 6.0, the action-sports division of the footwear maker, recently deployed 2-D barcodes at several sporting events it sponsored late last year, delivering content about Nike athletes to fans who sent in images of Jagtag codes. While Nike won't disclose campaign metrics, Butch Bannon, a business-development exec at its promotional-marketing agency, TAOW Productions, said Nike will look at other ways of integrating 2-D barcodes in future venues.

Microsoft will be slapping 2-D barcodes on the next round of packaging for its Xbox games, said Larry Harris, CEO of Ansible, which worked with Microsoft on a 2-D-barcode campaign to promote an enterprise server.

This kind of one-to-one exchange between brand and consumer is already well-entrenched in Japan, where they're known as QR codes and where readers come preinstalled on about 70% of all mobile phones. But stateside only a few brands have flirted with the technology, mostly because consumers don't want to bother downloading the applications required to read the codes. Plus, there are no standards for 2-D barcodes in the U.S., meaning the codes employed in one-off campaigns are proprietary, and each require their own reader and decoder.

"Everyone agrees on the category," said Dudley Fitzpatrick, CEO of Jagtag, the technology behind the Nike campaign. "But brands don't bet against consumer behavior."

Making it easier
Jagtag is trying to solve that problem by making it easier for consumers. Rather than downloading an application, they take a picture of Jagtag's 2-D barcode and send it to a short code, and Jagtag sends back a URL, coupon or other media via multimedia messaging service.

But analysts and Jagtag competitors agree that for 2-D barcodes to gain any meaningful traction, the code reader must come preloaded on cellphones -- and only the wireless carriers can make happen, as they dictate the specs to handset makers.

Jonathan Bulkeley, CEO of Scanbuy, the technology vendor behind the Qdoba campaign, said he expects his code reader to be preinstalled on 10 to 12 handsets sold by Sprint and Alltel, which Verizon has acquired, by this spring. But consider there are 250 different handsets in the U.S., and they run on several different operating systems. That's a long way to go.

The wireless carriers are slowly coming onboard as they look to transactions and commerce to help drive revenue. Scanbuy has been chasing AT&T and Verizon for at least 18 months; late last year, it got Sprint to approve its application, so users can download it on 40 handsets sold by the carrier. The No. 3 U.S. carrier began promoting Scanbuy's application on its website late last year. Jagtag's service works with AT&T and Verizon. "Carriers need to figure out how to make money on navigation, transaction and advertising," Mr. Bulkeley said. "On mobile, consumers are going to go directly to what they're interested in, not go search for it."

In Japan, They're Called QR Codes

HONG KONG -- Quick-response codes are well-entrenched in Japan, where consumers routinely use their cellphones to check e-mail, download movie trailers, navigate Tokyo's labyrinthine streets, pay water bills, buy Cokes from high-tech vending machines, download e-coupons and even have their fortunes told.

They also use their phones to scan QR codes on magazine and outdoor ads. The digital codes are read by the phones' cameras and redirect them to designated mobile sites.

Northwest Airlines, for instance, has used QR codes on large outdoor posters in high-traffic areas in downtown Tokyo to send e-certificates for travel deals and award frequent-flyer bonus miles through its WorldPerks program. The campaign was created by Mindshare's Tokyo office.

Nestle used the technology to launch a canned drink called Nescafe Shake. A QR code on promotional materials led cellphone users to a mobile site where they could download two 15-minute films created by WPP's JWT, Tokyo. Users could also download the films' original music as songs or ringtones.

QR codes have moved beyond Japan into other Asian markets, including China. The latest generation of QR technology lets marketers and retailers fine-tune their messages, making the experience more personal.

The codes have improved, too. A Hong Kong-based company called MyClick Media has pioneered image-recognition mobile marketing in North Asia. Instead of photographing bar codes, users click on logos, objects and images selected by marketers. The photos grant users one-click access to mobile-based internet content, services, rewards and gifts via e-mail, text and multimedia messaging service.

Since the technology is limited to high-end phones and requires a software download, MyClick hasn't been a success for mass-market campaigns. But marketers such as Coca-Cola and Adidas have scored points with consumers in smaller promotions such as sporting events. China Mobile used MyClick to encourage subscribers to share good wishes for athletes during the Olympic Games last year in Beijing.

Source:
The Mobi Blog for Emerging Mobile News 2009

Microsoft has offered up more details on its mobile developer strategy, matched Apple’s App Store revenue split and offered a more transparent process for app approval. With the details of Microsoft’s plans revealed developers are hit with a conundrum:

What mobile platform do you bet on? After all, Apple, Microsoft, Research in Motion, Palm, Nokia and Google’s Android all have application markets launched or planned.

But here’s the problem: There are only so many developers and there is only so much time. At some point developers will have to choose sides–or at least eliminate a few platforms as options. In the end, this selection process is likely to come down to a few obvious items:

> Money;
> Reach of the platform;
> Developer relations.

In the grand scheme of things all three of those items are probably equal. Meanwhile, all of these application markets offer similar revenue splits–developers get at least 70 percent of the revenue.

From there the winnowing down process becomes a game of market share and relations with developers.

In that context, Microsoft’s moves Wednesday make a lot of sense (statement, Techmeme). As Mary Jo Foley reports Microsoft may have homely Windows Mobile software relative to sexier operating systems, but it is compensating in other areas.

Foley writes:

"Microsoft will allow devs to see detailed feedback about their app-certification application throughout the approval process via the developer portal, officials emphasized.

(The transparent-feedback perk is no doubt in response to Apple, whose iPhone app store approval policies have been criticized by a number of developers for being murky.)

Microsoft is allowing Win Mobile developers to set different prices for their applications in each market. Developers also will have the option of distributing apps for no cost via the Windows Mobile Marketplace. Microsoft is allowing up to five application submissions as part of the introductory annual $99 registration fee. Student developers won’t be charged the registration fee if they enroll in the Microsoft DreamSpark program."

Microsoft’s message: We’re going to be better to developers. That’s not entirely surprising since I think developer relations are Microsoft’s real secret sauce anyway.

Given Microsoft’s Windows Mobile penetration–it powers millions of devices in the U.S.–I’ll assume that the software giant won’t be cut out of the developer picture even if the pace of Windows Mobile releases needs to pick up.

I’d love to hear from developers on this matter since their platform selections will unfold in the months and years to come. It’s a topic I’ll revisit too. Simply put, what follows is a first crack at how developers may pare their platform selections (it’s premature to make any rash decisions since many of these app markets are just about to launch).

Here’s a look at the various platforms:

Apple: Based on sex appeal Apple’s App Store is a must have platform for developers. Simply put, Apple can pull developers along based on its brand. The revenue split–70 percent to developers–is good, but other processes such as the app approval process are a bit murky. However, the sheer number of applications on App Store means that these processes will be smoothed out. Apple is creating the market for applications that everyone else is trying to copy. One downside: The App Store has a lot of me-too applications so the competition is fierce. It remains to be seen if Apple’s App Store becomes cluttered with too much junk.

Bottom line: Mobile app developers have to do the iPhone thing. And for mobile game developers Apple is almost the only game in town. The enterprise app market is developing on the App Store too.


RIM: For the corporate app developers, you have to play ball with an applications market associated with the BlackBerry. For all its fascination with the consumer market, RIM is all business. And RIM’s recently revealed pricing tiers lean enterprise too. If you’re a game or consumer app developer, however, RIM isn’t the slam dunk that Apple is. Another wild card is RIM’s developer relations and how easy it is to develop on the BlackBerry platform.


Android: Android’s market is up and running and the revenue split is the usual 70 percent. Despite all the Google love that Android gets there are a few big questions for developers to ponder:

> Where are the devices? Right now, you’re developing for the G1 on one carrier—T-Mobile. Neither scream huge dollars.

> What’s the potential? The potential is that Android could be huge with its open source roots and Google’s clout. However, there’s a need for more devices and they aren’t expected to arrive until next year.

> Is it worth allocating resources to Android today? Answering that question will solely rest with the resources available. My hunch: You can dabble with Android applications, but it’s hard to justify putting all the developer eggs in the Android basket.


Palm: Palm has its mobile app store planned too. The problem here is that Palm’s entire business largely rides on the success of the Pre launch and the marketplace is just a hyperlink. Pre could be the next big thing. Or it may only be a moderate success. Hell, maybe the Pre and Palm flop. In any case, the decision to develop Pre apps will depend on how easy it is relative to others. Simply put, there really is no Palm platform today and the company’s WebOS is a complete wild-card.

Nokia: Nokia also has a store planned, but the appeal will be limited in the U.S. Why? Nokia is a no-show among U.S. carriers. For international developers, however, Nokia’s app marketplace may be a big deal.

These aforementioned issues are at a high-level. Let me know other issues that I neglected to mention for future posts on the subject.

Source:

The Mobi Blog for Emerging Mobile News 2009