Nokia’s recent acquisition of Motally highlights the importance of analytics for mobile advertising to achieve its full potential and take its rightful place at the center of brands’ multichannel strategy.

Motally provides a mobile analytics service for developers and content partners to understand, track and report in-application user behavior. The services to be acquired by Nokia focus on in-application tracking and reporting.

“In-application analytics are a competitive requirement in the market and this acquisition is designed to enable Nokia to offer our developer and publisher partners a great solution,” said Mona Kokkonen, spokeswoman for Nokia, Espoo, Finland. “We believe that the acquisition adds tangible benefits to Nokia’s developer offering, through improved analytics that will enable the Ovi platform to better track and report user behavior for developers and content partners.

“Improved analytics will enable developers and content partners to optimize product offerings,” she said. “Improved analytics will enable developers and content partners to optimize apps and the user experience.

“We cannot comment on what we will do now with Motally on board, nor the financials.”

Handset manufacturer Nokia also runs a mobile ad network. Its subsidiary Navteq specializes in mapping and location-based mobile advertising.

Nokia has been trying to court developers to its Ovi platform to compete with rivals such as Apple’s App Store, Google’s Android Market and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry App World.

[Continue Reading]

How can you show your app to a large group? What if you want to show an app to a client, an investor, or at a trade show? Extensive Googling reveals lots of people asking the question, but no good answer.

iPhone app displaying its output on a TV

I’m the organizer of the Raleigh iPhone Developer’s Meetup and it’s basically impossible for our group’s members to demo their apps. The “crowd people around a phone” method breaks at around four people. And our last meetup had 20 people!

Why can’t we be like Steve, using our apps on our phone, with the display projected for all to see?

I have a solution, if you’re willing to make a special build of your app that’s not meant for the app store. No jailbreaking required! Although a willingness to use private methods is.

Update: There’s a new version for iOS 4.0 here: http://www.touchcentric.com/blog/archives/123

How It Works

Inside the iPhone SDK exists a private API for video output. A class called MPTVOutWindow will display whatever it contains via the video output dock connector. (Thanks to Erica Sadun who discovered this class and figured out how to use it!)

I created a UIApplication category (that is to say, an extension to the existing UIApplication class) that uses MPTVOutWindow to mirror the device display onto the TV display. The goal was to make it seamless — drop the file into a project, recompile, and go. And it’s really just that easy, with a couple of caveats.

Caveat #1: apps that use this won’t be allowed into the App Store. That’s because it uses a couple of private APIs (the MPTVOutWindow class and UIGetScreenImage()). But since you’re already an iPhone application developer, creating a private build for your own use is normal.

Caveat #2: it doesn’t copy parts of the screen that belong to OpenGL. The class could be extended to do that, if you needed to.

Update: actually, it works fine with OpenGL. I demoed an OpenGL game using this at about 20 fps.

Getting Started

First, get a video out cable. It’s the same cable you’d use to watch videos from your iPhone on a TV using the dock connector (note: headphone-jack video cables from older iPods do not work). Apple’s official cable, Apple Component AV Cable, is $50 for composite video. A similar cable is only $14.18 at MonoPrice.com. Component cables are also available. `

How To Use

Add the file UIApplication+TVOut.m to your project. Also, you’ll need the “MediaPlayer.framework” framework, which contains references to the private API we’re using.

Somewhere in your code you need to call start. Anytime after your app’s primary window has been created, call startTVOut:

[[UIApplication] sharedApplication] startTVOut];

That’s about all you need to do. The application category handles everything necessary to mirror the device’s display. The startTVOut method creates the MPTVoutWindow, adds the necessary subviews, rotates them to match your app’s orientation, and centers them to appear properly on the TV. A background thread copies the bits from your main display into a view in the MPTVOutWindow. (You can configure the frames per second in the #define at the top of the file. 12 fps works well for me.)

In my test app, I call it from applicationDidFinishLaunching:. One thing to remember about applicationDidFinishLaunching: is that it gets called before the runloop starts, so your primary window isn’t on screen yet. I call it with a brief delay to give the runloop a chance to get going.

- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(UIApplication*)application {
// give the runloop a chance to start
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] performSelector: @selector(startTVOut)
withObject: nil afterDelay: .1];
}

And actually, you don’t even need to call startTVOut. The category can start itself. The code includes an override for a private method called reportAppLaunchFinished:. This undocumented method seems to get called after the app has finished loading. (Being undocumented, I’m not really sure what it does, or what the negative consequences of overriding it has. As far as I can tell, it’s only used to clean up the Default.png display.) I’ve commented out that method, since it’s a bit mysterious. But if you uncomment the method, it will automatically start the TV out display for you. No changes to your code needed!

Mirroring Other Apps?

Since this code runs as part of your app, it stops running when your app stops running. So it’s not a general purpose full-time video mirroring solution.

However, using other private methods, it’s possible to launch other apps while your app remains running, thus mirroring whatever app is in front. I’ve managed to mirror Safari (launched using the private openURL:asPanel: method). I’m sure you can figure ways to mirror other apps using some of the private app launching methods.

Not for Public Consumption!

Since this uses private methods, it would almost certainly not survive Apple’s app review process. To avoid getting your app rejected, you should remove this code from your release builds. This is pretty easy — set the current target to Release and uncheck the checkbox next to the file’s name. Also, if you call startTVOut manually, you’ll need to put some #ifdefs around that call, so it won’t get compiled into release builds.

Great, Where’s the Code?

Grab the latest code from here:

http://groups.google.com/group/iphone-developers-nc/web/UIApplication_TVOut.m

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to email me.

– Rob

The Web Is Dead? A Debate How the Web Wins How Do Native Apps and Web Apps Compare?

Two decades after its birth, the World Wide Web is in decline, as simpler, sleeker services — think apps — are less about the searching and more about the getting. Chris Anderson explains how this new paradigm reflects the inevitable course of capitalism. And Michael Wolff explains why the new breed of media titan is forsaking the Web for more promising (and profitable) pastures.

Read the article here!

]]> http://fivemobile.com/uncategorized/web-dead-long-live-internet/feed/ 0 http://fivemobile.com/uncategorized/web-dead-long-live-internet/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FiveMobile/~3/LeAkKxo7Rx8/ http://fivemobile.com/uncategorized/5-arguments-mobile-indispensable-marketing-plans-2/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:31:40 +0000 Nafis http://fivemobile.com/?p=815 By Vanessa Horwell [source]

As the readers of this column will certainly agree, mobile marketing is no fad.

Rather, I believe that mobile marketing will – and must – become a central part of every successful marketing and visibility strategy, and I think it is well on its way to becoming just that.

However, the integration of mobile marketing into existing marketing strategies on a large scale will not happen spontaneously.

Instead, it will come about through a concerted effort to educate companies and other organizations about the benefits and unique qualities of mobile outreach.

This is not to say that the mobile marketing industry will somehow foist preferred tactics on unsuspecting businesses. The integration of mobile marketing will occur – and is occurring – naturally, organically.

Teach reach
Enterprises across the nation and the world are already realizing the tremendous reach and penetrating power of leveraging the mobile device for marketing purposes, and they are coming to this realization by discerning the trends and facts on the ground.

Hundreds of millions of Americans – nearly 90 percent of the country – use their mobile devices every day, and a solid majority of them express a desire to receive marketing messages of some sort through their mobile.

Redemption rates for mobile initiatives dwarf those of traditional marketing programs. Indeed, the cost per impression of a mobile campaign is often far lower than that of a mainstream media advertising campaign.

But you know this already.

The role we must play as marketers and mobile industry professionals is that of educators for the rest of the business community that has not yet fully embraced mobile marketing, or that portion which subscribes to the notion that mobile is somehow just a flash in the pan.

It is our job, in other words, to convince organizations that sitting on the sidelines of mobile is not an option, and that doing so carries an opportunity cost too high to sustain.

More constructively, it is also our job to continue touting the best practice and most effective strategies to get the most out of mobile communications.

Since standing on the street corner wearing a sandwich board is out, this proselytizing starts at the level of existing and potential clients.

In that vein, here are five effective arguments to present to clients on why mobile marketing ought to be an indispensible aspect of their marketing plans.

It is where your customers are
As I mentioned, mobile phone saturation is nearly complete in the developed world, and the use of mobile devices is on the rise just about everywhere.

This makes the mobile landscape the place of residence for most – not many, most – of the world’s consumers. Engaging in a mobile strategy opens up this vast market to any business that wants to participate in it.

By nature, it is targeted, relevant and actionable
Much as email and Internet marketing redefined direct marketing, the mobile space is further expanding businesses ability to engage customers in ways that they find appropriate and attractive.

Importantly, the mobile medium reaches purchase-ready consumers directly at the point of sale.

When we said this in the past, it used to mean that customers could have a marketing message on their device when they physically approached a retail outlet.

Now, with the maturity of mobile commerce and the flourishing of the mobile Internet, it means that customers can conduct the entire transaction cycle on their mobile device, from marketing to purchasing to consumption.

It is cost-effective
Mobile marketing features some of the lowest cost per touch and cost per impression of any marketing medium.

Without naming names, one retailer executed a mobile campaign with triple-digit ROI for less than 2 cents per impression.

Marketers that provide tactics with these kinds of returns for clients are also reaping financial rewards.

Agency holding company giant WPP, which owns JWT, Ogilvy and Y&R, posted 2 percent revenue gains in one of the softest marketing spend environments in years arguably on the strength of its mobile marketing performance.

It is brand-friendly
Since mobile marketing is still relatively new in the eyes of most consumers, it transmits a sense of innovation and forward-thinking for the brand that uses it.

Combine that with the ability of mobile marketing messages to be well-branded – a goal for every mobile marketing initiative – along with the high levels of brand interaction associated with mobile applications, and mobile marketing becomes a panacea for companies trying to define or strengthen their brand.

It is versatile
Speaking of applications, it is easy to forget that these ingenious, useful and ubiquitous marketing tools are barely four years old.

The Apple App Store, which has almost 250,000 applications for the iPhone and iPad, was not even open for business until 2008, a good year after the first iPhone was introduced.

Now, applications are the darlings of the marketing and advertising world, and an indispensible aspect of the smartphone experience.

This demonstrates that marketing opportunities on the mobile medium grow and change almost daily, and mobile continues to provide new and better ways to get a message out.

It is, in other words, one of the most versatile marketing mediums currently available.

MOBILE MARKETING IS not the next big thing, waiting for the next next big thing to come along and unseat it. It is the big thing, the game-changer.

In technological terms, mobile is the next evolution in communications, one that is redefining how, where and why people connect with one another.

It stands to reason, then, that it should have a similar effect on marketing and advertising.

Trends everywhere are pointing to this evolution, and businesses are on the path to widespread adoption. There will never be a year of mobile, or even a half-decade of mobile.

Mobile marketing will be a consistent reality for all businesses, everywhere. So it is time to let them know.

Vanessa Horwell is chief visibility officer of ThinkInk, Miami Beach, FL. Reach her at vanessa@thinkinkpr.com.

The following is an interesting blog post from the Harvard Business Review that challenges the notion that customers prefer live one on on service as opposed to automated services. As it relates to mobile, this may further explain the popularity of self service apps that banks, insurance companies, and medical organizations are gravitating towards.

[Source]

8:36 AM Wednesday July 28, 2010
by Matt Dixon and Lara Ponomareff

Have you ever walked into an airport, seen that there is nobody in line at the check-in counter, but still made a bee-line for the self-service kiosk? Better yet, have you ever waited in line for an ATM machine even though there is nobody in line for the teller inside the bank?

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you’re not alone. Most customers these days demonstrate a huge — and increasing — appetite for self-service, yet most companies run their operations as if customers prefer to interact with them live.

In our research on this topic (which we discuss in our recent HBR article “Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers“), we’ve found that corporate leaders dramatically overestimate the extent to which their customers actually want to talk to them. In fact, on average, companies tend to think their customers value live service more than twice as much as they value self service. But our data show that customers today are statistically indifferent about this — they value self-service just as much as using the phone. And guess what? By and large, this indifference holds regardless of their age, demographic, issue type, or urgency.

This attitude toward self-service has been a long time coming. Two-thirds of the customers we surveyed told us that three to five years ago, they primarily used the phone for service interactions. Today, less than a third do, and the number is shrinking fast.

What is it that makes self service so appealing? Maybe it’s the efficiency of the interaction — the airport kiosk is probably faster than interacting with a check-in agent — but that wouldn’t explain why we go out of our way to take care of our service needs ourselves. On a psychological level, it might have more to do with the unique element of control that self service affords. Or, maybe this self-service love affair is a product of our infatuation with gadgetry and electronic communication. All fairly benign explanations, to be sure.

But here’s a hypothesis that would be concerning if it’s right: maybe customers are shifting toward self service because they don’t want a relationship with companies. While this secular trend could be explained away as just a change in consumers’ channel preferences, skeptics might argue that customers never wanted the kind of relationship that companies have always hoped for, and that self service now allows customers the “out” they’ve been looking for all along.

For managers hell-bent on deepening relationships with their customers, that’s a sobering thought.

Consider this: Running your company as if customers want to talk to you isn’t just expensive, it’s potentially undermining your efforts to build longer-term loyalty. Our research shows that customers who attempt to self serve, fail, and are forced to pick up the phone are 10% more likely to be disloyal than those customers who were able to fully resolve their issues in their channel of choice. As one CFO remarked to us recently, “When you think about the relative cost of live service and the disloyalty effect of channel switching…it’s like paying your customers to be disloyal to you.”

How often does channel switching happen? All the time.

We found that a staggering 57% of inbound calls come from customers who first attempted to resolve their issue on the company’s website. And over 30% of callers are on the company’s website at the same time that they are talking to a rep on the phone. That’s a lot of frustrated customers.

What do you think? Are we simply seeing a change in customer preferences — or a relationship on the rocks?

Matthew Dixon is the managing director of the Corporate Executive Board’s Sales and Service Practice. Lara Ponomareff is a research consultant with the Customer Contact Council, a division of the Corporate Executive Board’s Sales and Service Practice.

[Source]

From Ciara Byrne, The Canadian Press, July 23, 2010 – 5:24 p.m.

TORONTO – Toronto-area entrepreneurs eager to feed a growing appetite for smartphone applications are turning the city into a Silicon Valley North of sorts.

Young entrepreneurs, many under 30, have opted to create their own start-up companies, rather than working for giants such as Google or Microsoft.

It’s estimated there are about 200-mobile apps companies in the Toronto area, and about 750 companies across the GTA that have mobile-content departments.

“There’s a draw because it’s very easy to build an app, and get the content out there and start generating revenue,” said Michele Perras, director of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, a non-profit research organization.

Perras said a huge amount of capital isn’t usually required to create these companies.

“You need a couple hundred thousand dollars as opposed to a couple million dollars,” said Perras, as she compared apps companies to other tech industries.

Smartphone apps include everything from tip calculators and maps to an application that turns a smartphone into a faux Star Wars lightsaber.

Perras said it’s not surprising Toronto has become home of the app considering it is the third largest art and design centre in North America.

“You don’t have to be necessarily in Silicon Valley to have a mobile apps company, as long as you have the resources to be able to do it,” said Perras.

Ameet Shah is a an example of homegrown success in the apps world. He traded his Silicon Valley tech-related job to start a company with several other people in Toronto.

Five Mobile was launched in July 2008. The company offers smartphone applications and web development.

“The mobile phone is clearly the most pervasive computing device that exists. You leave the house, you take your wallet, your keys, your phone,” said Shah, as he explained why apps have become so popular.

And these apps are not a techie trend. Shah said he believes there is such a hunger for app technology that within five years every company will need to have a mobile application.

Government programs are also helping some apps companies.

Angelo Del Duca, director for the Ontario region for the Industrial Research Assistance Program, a federal program that offers financial assistance to small and medium-sized companies, said there has been an increase of requests related to mobile application.

Del Duca said the demand exists within the marketplace.

“The companies don’t embark on technology development just for the sake of it. They’re embarking on it because there’s a direct feedback from the market,” said Del Duca.

Amar Varma, managing partner and co-founder of Extreme Venture Partners, has helped pioneer the apps environment in the city, investing in 14 apps companies in and around the Toronto area.

“This app ecosystem has uncovered a couple of really smart ways to make money,” said Varma.

Facebook opened the door for creating applications, followed by smartphones, he said. The revenue is generated not only from people buying the apps, but also from advertising.

“I think there’s a massive opportunity and this is the next wave,” said Varma, who stressed many of the Toronto companies are “world leaders” in the apps field.

“We’ve got that kind of talent,” said Varma, adding a community of like-minded, mobile tech experts is flourishing in the area.

Shah agrees. He said many Ontario universities have well-known, “top notch” technology and design programs churning out talent.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 29 /PRNewswire/ — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF) puts health care in the palm of Floridians’ hands with the launch of its new mobile website. The company’s latest innovation is designed to help consumers save time and money, and can be accessed from any Smartphone including the latest Blackberry, iPhone, Droid and even the iPad. By simply typing www.bcbsfl.com into their mobile browser, members and non-members can easily get important health information and tools, as well as details about their plan and coverage benefits.

“BCBSF leads the industry in the creation of tools and services to help Floridians become more engaged in their health care,” said Craig Thomas, chief marketing and strategy officer for BCBSF. “The mobile website is just one of many ways we’re connecting with consumers. We want them to be able to reach us anytime of the day at their convenience – in person at our Florida Blue centers, by phone – calling a Care Consultant, online, and now, from their mobile phone. We want to have an active partnership role with our consumers in their health care decisions–helping them to access services, manage health conditions and stay healthy.”

Now with just one click members can view their ID card and get instant snapshots of their plan benefits, Health Savings Account (HSA) balance and more.  Members can also utilize the mobile website to find a doctor based on their current GPS location, review details for that provider such as office hours, language spoken and map directions to their office. If a member leaves the doctor’s office with a prescription in hand, they can save money by comparing drug costs at local pharmacies.

Non members can use the mobile website to shop for insurance, get a quote and select a plan.

Both members and non members can utilize the mobile website to get weather forecasts combined with weather-related health alerts such as pollen, air quality and UV levels along with tips for managing their asthma and allergy symptoms. The site also offers all users real-time information on Florida Blue center health events based on GPS location, “did you know” health facts that users can share with family and friends via their personal Facebook and Twitter™ accounts, free ringtone downloads and monthly sweepstakes.

With a goal of giving Floridians fingertip access to health care information and tools wherever they go, BCBSF focused on simplicity and value when designing the mobile website. The company leveraged unique mobile features such as GPS location and timely delivery, and created an advanced and classic view to ensure the ultimate user experience across most devices and platforms.

“We’re the only health insurer to make health information via a mobile website available to everyone –members and non members,” said Adriana Murillo, director of strategic development for BCBSF. “This is the first of many mobile solutions to be brought to Floridians by BCBSF. Later this year we’ll launch our first iPhone application, as well as a text messaging program designed to help members improve their health.”

To find out more information, view the online demo from a desktop computer at www.bcbsfl.com/mobile.

Celebrating 65 years as Florida’s leader in the health industry, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is mission-driven to improve affordable access to health care. BCBSF is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., BCBSF is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information concerning BCBSF, please see its Web site at www.bcbsfl.com or to listen to Floridians speak out on health care issues visit www.thepowerofthehumanvoice.com

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida

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http://www.bcbsfl.com

Put safety first! Don’t forget to download ZoomSafer, the app that eliminates the temptation to text while driving and keeps you connected via hands-free services!

SAN FRANCISCO–Facebook’s Open Graph is the reason there are Facebook “Like” buttons strewn across the Web on sites that Facebook doesn’t operate. Eric Tseng, Facebook’s head of mobile products and a former product manager of the Google Nexus One phone, told the room at MobileBeat 2010 that Open Graph is going mobile.

What does this mean? Simply that as Facebook rolls out its Open Graph plug-ins to partners in the mobile space, many more of Facebook’s social tools (such as that “Like” button, for instance) will show up in unrelated mobile apps that don’t have their own social-networking tools.

The more interesting use case that Tseng outlined during his talk focuses on mobile marketing, a familiar theme at any mobile tech summit. Tseng painted a scenario in which friend recommendations aggregated from your existing network of Facebook friends are knit together with location-aware advertising. The idea is that geo-fenced apps that might push out coupons or other promotions to lure customers into a store could also incorporate friends’ thoughts, and even location–thus adding context and personalization to what may otherwise come across as a spammy, intrusive hard sell.

Facebook’s Tseng wasn’t specific about the time frame, but did mention that the rollout will be ongoing, predominantly as updates to Facebook’s kits for iPhone and Android developers. “Please, please start building that functionality into your apps today,” he told the crowd.

If Tseng’s appeal to developers is any indication, Facebook is banking on Open Graph to bring it greater domination than its current 150 million mobile users.

Jessica Dolcourt reviews the latest and greatest smartphone apps, in addition to a healthy dose of Windows software. Email Jessica or follow her on Twitter.