Posts Tagged ‘Applications’

Pizza Hut exec claims mobile accounts for 50 percent of orders | Mobile Commerce Daily

Posted: August 18, 2010 in Customer Relationship Marketing, E-Commerce, Industry News, Information communications technology, M-Commerce, Mobile Applications, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Multichannel Marketing
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UPDATE: Pizza Hut expects mobile to account for 50 percent of future mobile orders, not current orders

Posted By ] Rimma Kats

pizza

Buoyed by the fact that one out of two orders are via mobile, Pizza Hut is about to get more ambitious with apps.

Brian Niccol, chief marketing officer at Pizza Hut, Dallas, said yesterday at a media lunch in New York, that his company will soon launch an iPad and Android application. The executive also showcased new menu items that consumers can buy via their mobile device.

“We want our pizza to become a favorite memory,” Mr. Niccol said. “When I came onboard five years ago, Pizza Hut didn’t even have a Web site where people could order pizza.

“Now, mobile accounts for almost 50 percent of our orders,” he said.

Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that operates more than 10,000 restaurants in more than 90 countries. It offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes such as pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks and garlic bread.

The “Your Favorites. Your Pizza Hut” lunch unveiled the company’s new brand campaign.

According to Mr. Niccol, mobile and social media plays a big part in the company’s multichannel strategy.

Although Mr. Niccol would not divulge what functionalities the iPad and Android application will feature, he did share that more consumers are purchasing pizza via their mobile device than online.

Text for pizza
Pizza Hut is no stranger to mobile.

In 2009, the company was one of the first pizza chains to offer both SMS and mobile Web ordering options.

The “Total Mobile Access” service let users text an order to the short code 749488.

Then, users receive a confirming text from Pizza Hut.

Additionally, users with any Web-enabled device can order directly from the company’s mobile site (see story).

Pizza app
A few days after the debut of its SMS and Web initiatives, Pizza Hut rolled out an iPhone application that lets users order menu items via their handset.

Consumers can also play a fun game via the application that lets them build their own pizza by pinching to select the size and drag-and-drop toppings onto the pizza (see story).

The Pizza Hut application surpassed $1 million in sales after being live in the App Store for three months (see story).

Social toppings
Pizza Hut has also dabbed into the social world with a new promotion that offers users a chance to win a free single order of breadsticks by using location-based service Foursquare.

Hungry consumers who check into participating locations and become mayor of that Pizza Hut can receive their free reward with the purchase of a large pizza (see story).

Final Take
Rimma Kats, editorial assistant at Mobile Commerce Daily, New York

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VIA: http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/pizza-hut-exec-claims-mobile-accounts-for-50-percent-of-orders/

Nokia Looks to Increase Applications

Posted: June 28, 2010 in Industry News, Information communications technology, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Applications, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Phones, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Technology, Telecommunications
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By BLOOMBERG NEWS, Published: June 27, 2010

HELSINKI — A Nokia advertisement in the Paris Métro shows a mobile phone packed with applications including the French yellow pages — “Pagesjaunes” — “Le Monde.fr” and “Scalado Photo Twister.”

The marketing effort by Nokia, of Finland, to take on Apple in France, the biggest iPhone market outside the United States, is among the Finnish company’s steps to reclaim lost momentum by putting applications at the center of its smartphone campaign.

The world’s biggest maker of mobile phones also placed ads with applications in free newspapers on the London Underground and is embedding software trainers in its local sales units to attract more developers to its Ovi Store.

“Apps are going to be more central to Nokia’s conversation,” said Purnima Kochikar, who heads the Forum Nokia developer-support unit for the company, which is based in Espoo, Finland. “It’s no longer about selling devices.”

Twelve years after it began working with outside developers, Nokia is struggling to claw back ground lost to Apple, whose application-rich devices are flying off store shelves. Nokia’s catch-up effort is an acknowledgment that it has failed to capitalize on its 41 percent share of the smartphone market to become the platform of choice for software writers.

Apple appears to be extending its gains. After selling 600,000 handsets in pre-orders for the iPhone 4, it was expected to sell a record 1.5 million units on the day of the phone’s debut.

IPhone’s first-quarter share of the smartphone market rose to 15.4 percent from 10.5 percent a year ago, while devices that run Google’s Android software soared to 9.6 percent from 1.6 percent, according to the research firm Gartner. Symbian, Nokia’s main operating platform, slid 4.5 percentage points to 44.3 percent.

“Forum Nokia is improving some areas of what they’re doing, but the biggest issues Nokia faces have been elsewhere, in the devices or the software or the discovery mechanism for the apps,” said Martin Garner, a London-based analyst at CCS Insight. “There is much more profile-raising being done. It’s a good idea,” he said. “Unfortunately, Apple has paved the way.”

Mr. Kochikar, a former manager at Verizon Communications and an entrepreneur who joined Nokia in 2003, says the company’s performance in applications should not be measured by the number of items in its Ovi Store, which Nokia has declined to disclose.

Apple has said that 225,000 applications have been developed for the iPhone, while Google’s Android Market, which is also winning favor from developers, has about 80,000, according to AndroLib.com.

“I think the market has been brainwashed to think it’s about counting apps,” Mr. Kochikar said. “If you look at all these apps, they’re not in a store.”

Nokia’s current high-end smartphones have fallen short of the expectations raised by the iPhone, leading the company to cut its outlook for sales and profit margin. Nokia shares have fallen to their lowest level since October 1998, about €6.8, or $8.40. They have tumbled 24 percent this year, giving the company a market value of €25 billion, about a tenth of Apple’s $246 billion and slightly less than that of Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of BlackBerry phones.

Much is hinging on the Nokia release in the third quarter of its N8 smartphone, the first device running the company’s Symbian 3 operating system, which has been improved for touchscreen phones.

“If Nokia continues down its existing path, betting on Symbian, it will always be one or more steps behind Apple and Google as well as a low priority for applications developers,” Adnaan Ahmad, a London-based analyst for Berenberg Bank, wrote in a report dated June 24.

He says Nokia should switch to the Android operating system.

Nokia has said that future models of its N series of high-performance devices will be based on MeeGo, an operating system it is developing with Intel. The company said last year that it would use the new software on its most powerful mobile devices while continuing to develop Symbian.

Mr. Kochikar’s team is charged with introducing developers, who have long complained about the difficulty of Nokia’s smartphone platforms, to the better tools, including Qt, a cross-platform development environment that could be a “secret weapon” for Nokia, according to Mr. Garner. “To develop apps of the same functionality on the iPhone and Nokia, you’d be looking at three, four times as much effort on Nokia,” says Andy Nugent, a director of Manchester-based Ravensoft, a software development company. “We really like the push toward Qt. It’s easier. You get better-looking results.”

URL Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/technology/28nokia.html

Mobile Agencies Look Beyond Apps as Market Evolves

Posted: May 13, 2010 in Digital Marketing, Display advertising, Industry News, Information communications technology, Internet, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Applications, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Search, Mobile Technology, Smartphones, Technology, Telecommunications, Trade Associations, Uncategorized
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Posted By ] Jack Marshall, ClickZ, May 13, 2010

Agencies say branded apps aren’t the be-all, end-all for mobile marketing. Despite the hype surrounding the application space thanks to app-centric devices such as Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices, mobile agencies suggest new technologies like HTML5 and Apple’s iAd product could help turn marketers’ attention away from the crowded branded app space.

At OMMA’s mobile event in New York City yesterday, agency execs discussed the evolution of the space, and offered up views on how the fledgling channel may evolve following the introduction of technologies such as HTML5 and Apple’s iAd mobile advertising product.

During a session titled “Mobile Planning in the Age of Apps, the Mobile Web and the iAd,” panelists warned advertisers not to dive into the app space, and instead placed emphasis on formulating clear mobile strategies before deciding which channels best suit that activity.

“Our initial conversations with clients always start with them getting excited about applications,” said Jared Hopfer, marketing manager at mobile agency Mobext. “As an agency we have to calm them down and talk about the types of functionality that an app would offer that other experiences wouldn’t, and weigh the relative benefits,” he added.

Courtney Renaud, who looks after Paramount Pictures’ account for mec:interaction said the agency was finding particular value in integrating brands with existing apps, rather than building from scratch. “An app isn’t going to be suitable for every movie, so we explore other possibilities such as app sponsorships and takeovers. That way you know the audience is already there, and it risks less for the client,” she said.

Many of the panelists spoke fondly of Apple’s new iAd mobile ad offering, for which agencies say Apple is asking upwards of $1 million dollars for initial buys. Patrick Collins, CEO of agency 5th Finger expressed little doubt the iAd network would provide a superior solution to ad formats currently available in mobile marketing arsenals. “I think we all know that when the iAd is launched we’ll see a lot of very interesting stuff coming through that will really excite brand marketers,” he said.

Though agreeing that Apple’s iAd product showed promise, Renaud said the effectiveness of the channel in comparison to branded applications and other in-app ad solutions was yet to be seen. “It looks like a really robust ad experience, but if we’re talking about an app versus an iAd it will come down to what is most cost efficient,” she said.

Meanwhile, with Apple attempting to corner the market for both applications and the ad offerings within them, other agency executives suggested mobile marketing efforts might well revert to a browser-based medium, with developers adopting HTML5 for mobile-focused sites that function across a range of handsets.

Apple devices do not support Flash, which has prompted developers to accelerate their uptake of the HTML5 programming standard. “HTML5 is very much on our radar. I predict the mobile browser will make a big comeback over the next year or so,” said Dan Rosen, managing director of AKQA Mobile, during a keynote address.

That sentiment was echoed by Publicis Groupe’s head of mobile, Alexandre Mars, during a session on the fragmentation of mobile platforms and the headaches the trend is causing for mobile agencies. “Mobile growth is coming from the mobile Web, and that’s what our clients need to think most about,” he said.

Likewise Paul Palmieri, CEO of mobile ad network Millennial Media, said he too believed growth in mobile use was coming from within the browser. “We see a lot of ad impressions [across the Millennial network], and I think the winning platform is HTML5. It’s going to take three years or so, and there’s no doubt applications are all the rage today, but I think the browser platform will win in the end,” he said.

URL Link:

http://www.clickz.com/3640325

@GeeknRolla: Why app developers should look beyond the iPhone

Posted: April 21, 2010 in Digital Marketing, Industry News, Information communications technology, Location Based Services, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Applications, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Phones, Mobile Technology, Smartphones, Technology, Trade Associations
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My comment on the below: Absolutely brilliant!

by Patrick Smith on April 20, 2010

Ewan’s Presentation for TechCrunch’s GeeknRolla

Mention the phrase “mobile web” to almost anyone and the chances are their mind will turn to Apple’s iPhone and the new-fangled iPad. But Ewan McLeod, editor of Mobile Industry Review, is not one of those people.

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Here’s the video, fast forward to 2.10:

http://bambuser.com/channel/TechCrunch

In his fast-paced post-lunch speech, McLeod warned that despite the iPhone’s merits its importance for developers is greatly exaggerated and they should consider putting their efforts into other platforms first, or at least as well as Apple.

McLeod argues that while Apple grabs the lion’s share of technology and media headlines with all its high-end gadgets and flashy firmware updates, the other manufacturers play a bigger role in the fast-growing global mobile economy. The iPhone may sell well, but “Nokia shipped 1.4 million phones today“, he says.

In terms of mobile operating systems, the iPhone currently has a 14 percent share of the global mobile market, compared to Nokia’s Symbian with a leading 47 percent, with BlackBerry maker Research in Motion the next biggest on 20 percent.

Adapting the old adage “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM,” McLeod says that nowadays, “nobody ever got fired for developing on the iPhone” – highlighting the rush by so many in the media/technology industries to grab a slice of the App Store’s success.

But the key isn’t to make a mobile app, says McLeod, but to sign a deal with a mobile manufacturer that isn’t Apple. “Handset makers are really, really looking for ways to make money – and they can give you five million users tomorrow.

“Developing on the iPhone is a lottery unless you have a big brand. Look beyond the iPhone – a lot of other companies will be happy to give you money directly or put you in a position to talk to their audience.”

URL Links:

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/04/20/geeknrolla-why-app-developers-should-look-beyond-the-iphone/

http://www.slideshare.net/mobileindustryreview/ewans-presentation-for-techcrunchs-geeknrolla

Apple and mobile ads

Posted: March 12, 2010 in Digital Marketing, Display advertising, Industry News, Information communications technology, Location Based Services, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Applications, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Publishing, Publishing Industry, Telecommunications, Trade Associations
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11 March 2010 | Posted By, Gareth Willmer

Apple has the tools to succeed in the mobile ad arena, but will face established rivals and may need to adapt culturally to make the most of the opportunity

Mobile ad revenue totalled £28.6m in the UK in 2008, nearly double the previous year. Having enjoyed enormous success with apps, Apple is poised to move into the fast-growing ad market with its purchase in January of Quattro Wireless for a reported $275m.

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Apple won’t comment on its plans but signalled its intentions in the EMEA region by recruiting two executives early last month: Theo Theodorou and Todd Tran, who have significant experience in mobile ads.

Andy Wasef, emerging platforms director at media agency MEC Interaction, says Apple is looking to bolster Quattro Wireless’s standing in the UK and Europe and could then look at how to integrate its services. He expects Apple’s strategy to become clearer in the next few weeks, which could include monetising some of the free content on iTunes and establishing a revenue-share model with newspapers and magazines on the iPad. Industry players also expect Apple to make strong moves into the location-based ad market.

quick facts

  • Mobile ad revenue totalled £28.6m in the UK in 2008, up 99.2% on 2007, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau
  • Last month ComScore and the GSMA launched Mobile Media Metrics to help mobile media reporting for publishers, agencies and advertisers
  • ComScore and the GSMA said 16m UK mobile users viewed nearly 7bn pages of online content via mobile browsers in December 2009
  • The Apple App Store has seen more than 3bn applications downloaded globally in less than 18 months

David Fieldhouse, mobile manager at media agency MediaCom, believes Apple will develop the world’s largest in-app mobile ad service, a strategy that appears to make sense if the company wants to secure ad revenues on the back of sales from its App Store. It recently announced the App Store had seen more than 3bn apps downloaded in less than 18 months, with more than 100,000 on offer.

Fieldhouse says creative opportunities for in-app ads are growing as the industry moves from static banners to other formats, such as clickable video.

Apple’s move into advertising may also help it maintain a competitive edge as the rest of the mobile industry attempts to regain the initiative in the app market. At February’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, industry body the GSMA unveiled a joint move by 24 global operators and three vendors to build an open platform to deliver apps to mobile users.

Meanwhile, industry players say Apple has the raw materials to succeed in the mobile ad market. Fieldhouse says the Apple brand carries an “enormous amount of equity”, while the company has the reach and devices to make a success of the mobile ad market.

Christian Louca, MD of mobile ad company YOC, says, “By buying Quattro, Apple has an opportunity to integrate hardware, software, content and advertising. In that sense, it’s playing to the strengths of the iPhone.”

Media agencies and publishers point out Apple already has billing mechanisms in place and a large amount of user data that could prove valuable, such as information on location and lifestyle. “Could it use this data to generate more personalised ad impressions?” asks Ilicco Elia, head of mobile at Reuters Consumer Publishing, warning it’ll have to be careful about how it uses any data for personalised advertising.

It’s difficult to assess the potential impact of Apple’s entry into the mobile ad market because the company is keeping its cards close to its chest. “It’s traditionally a very secretive company,” says Fieldhouse. “To engage with media and ad agencies, it’ll have to be more collaborative and share information earlier so we can communicate opportunities to our clients.” MediaCom is already in discussions with Apple and Fieldhouse says early signs are the company does want to collaborate.

Meanwhile, some commentators from the ad industry warn any attempts by Apple to exert too much control over the market could backfire. Many have referred to a recent blog post on its developer forum in which the company warned it will reject apps primarily aimed at serving users with location-based ads. Apple said the move is to protect the user experience, but others see it as an effort to take control of the location-based ad market and that Apple could use its dominance to squeeze out other ad providers. It may also be a concern that Google is already trialling location-based ads with US advertisers.

“If Apple wants the iPhone to continue to be a key device for advertisers, it can’t build barriers between itself and the ad networks,” says Louca. “It needs to work with the industry to keep pushing the medium as well as the message. The iPhone is just one device in a global market; brands expect reach as well as quality in campaigns.”

In addition, Apple will need to think about how much control it wants in partnerships with publishers. Andrew Nicholls, partnerships and mobile manager at Dennis Publishing, says publishers like to have control over the advertisers they use and the ad costs they charge. “Will publishers still be able to sell sponsored apps or does Quattro want a slice?” he asks.

A further challenge for Apple is that it will be up against established players such as 4th Screen, Yahoo and YOC in the UK, where companies have already built relationships with planners and buyers and where Quattro Wireless is a largely unknown company. In addition, Apple will have to contend with Google, which purchased mobile ad network AdMob for $750m in November.

With recent acquisitions reflecting growing momentum for mobile ads, 4th Screen MD Mark Slade is hopeful 2010 will bring significant growth. But he tempers this, saying, “There are many people in the market with bullish expectations,” adding that it’s inadvisable to get too excited about short-term upturns.

URL Link:

http://www.nma.co.uk/features/apple-and-mobile-ads/3010992.article

Mobile commerce: should you have a site or an app?

Posted: February 28, 2010 in Customer Relationship Marketing, Digital Marketing, Display advertising, E-Commerce, Industry News, Information communications technology, Location Based Services, M-Commerce, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Applications, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Search, Mobile Technology, Retail, Sms, SMS Advertising, SMS Marketing, Telecommunications, Trade Associations
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My Comments on the below article:

M-commerce is a natural progression for retailers to extend their existing e-commerce operations.  I also have the viewpoint that m-commerce will leapfrog e-commerce in less established markets. After all mobile internet has done this in countries like India, China, Korea (to name a few) so why not m-commerce? Retailers have been traditionally slow in taking up mobile as a marketing/sales channel.  It was no different in the early fixed internet days. However, with players like Google and Apple moving into the market, I do believe Retailers are being forced to wake up and realise the true potential of this device.  Whilst they are behind other sectors in mobile adoption, it is not too late for them to get involved.

Unfortunately, we have already seen retailers start to embrace mobile with the wrong strategy and are making the mistakes that others are savvy too. We are seeing retailers jump on the app bandwagon without considering the mobile internet first, this is a classic mistake to make.

Mobile Internet is at the heart of Mobile Marketing campaigns. The key to this is to remember mobile works best when integrated into traditional media whatever the format.  Mobile applications are just one element to utilise as a marketing channel. At present only iphone applications are offering the rich levels brands would expect and the experience consumers would hope for. The others are some way behind.  There is limited reach, as in the UK iphone has only **17% handset penetration (much less Globally) with Blackberry slightly higher on **20% and Nokia still dominating with a huge **39%  (**Smart phone penetration).

In order to maximise the success of any campaign you need to reach the targeted masses; which means you need to consider all platforms and formats whether it is an application, mobile internet site or simple SMS communications or mobile vouchers (to name but a few). This always comes back to the key metrics in determining the success of any campaign:

Reach, Targeting, Engagement, Viral-ability and Transactional…..

Does it have reach?  Is it targeted? Is it engaging?  Is it viral? Can you make a sale?

The higher it scores in these areas then the closer you are to running a successful mobile marketing campaign that has delivered recognised measured tangible results.

The iPhone apps and other apps can be an added benefit to a customer base and must be considered.  Starting with the mobile internet will enable reach of a much wider audience and they can run trageted ad campaigns on mobile internet sites which will produce much better ROI than simply trying to drive traffic to download their iPhone app (which is not measurable and excluding to the masses if  integrated into traditional media). Only recently I published a press release on my blog from the IAB who conducted research with Nationwide showing  that using mobile and online advertising in combination can significantly increase brand awareness and purchase consideration:

http://wp.me/pxxzu-6R

I have been working in mobile with some of the worlds leading brands since early 2003 across many sectors.  Mobile is a powerful communications channel whether it is engendering loyalty, acquiring customers or retaining customers. It delivers in all these areas across all mobile formats.

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Posted By, 26 February 2010 10:30am, Graham Charlton @ Econsultancy

One trend I’ve noticed lately is that the few UK retailers that have launched mobile commerce services have opted to do this via mobile apps rather than a mobile website. Both Next and Net-A-Porter have the app, but not the mobile site.

Is there an argument for producing an app rather than a mobile site? Or should retailers be looking to reach as many customers as possible with a mobile site? Or should they have both?

I’ve listed some of the arguments for and against…

Why have a mobile commerce app?

Since smartphones, and the iPhone in particular, currently dominate the mobile internet, there is an argument that an app is more likely to appeal to them.

Smartphone users are more affluent. Therefore, apps will appeal to an audience with more disposable income.

Better functionality. Smartphone features like GPS and the compass on the 3GS means that retailers can offer a richer experience, with location based services, augmented reality, or the photo function on the Amazon iPhone app.

Greater visibility. The popularity of App Store as a model for distributing apps means that retailers can get some good exposure for their apps. For example, the recently releasedNext iPhone app currently sits at number two in the Top 25 free apps list, which should guarantee plenty of downloads.

Your customers have smartphones. If you have a significant proportion of mobile visitors using Android phones and iPhones, then an app may be the best way to appeal to them.

Why have an m-commerce website?

Greater reach. An app restricts the number of customers you can appeal to.

Appeal to mobile searchers. Apps need to be downloaded in advance. If customers don’t have your app, they can’t buy from you, but if you have a mobile-optimised site, they can search and find it on their browsers.

No third party approval required. If you want an app, you’ll need to wait for approval before release and before you make adjustments. Having a mobile site means you are unrestrained in your site design and can push out updates and changes whenever you want.

No need to design multiple apps. Eventually other phones will eat into iPhone market share more and more, meaning that you may have to develop apps for several handsets. You can avoid this with a mobile site.

The browser-based mobile market is the future. According to recent Taptu research, the browser-based mobile web market will grow much faster than the app market, so a mobile site will be necessary long term.

—-

For a retailer looking for the largest possible audience for its products and services, the best starting point may be a website optimised for all mobiles, as this allows you to reach the widest possible audience. You allow people to stumble upon your site via a mobile search engine.

If a healthy percentage of visitors to your mobile site are using iPhones, Android Handsets or others, then there is a case for developing a dedicated mobile app to improve the experience for these customers.

Or, to cover all bases, why not have a mobile site AND app? This is what eBay, Amazon, Best Buy and others all do, and it seems to be working for them.

URL Link:

http://econsultancy.com/blog/5481-mobile-commerce-should-you-have-a-site-or-an-app#blog_comment_22997

The top 10 apps to save you money

Posted: February 28, 2010 in Customer Relationship Marketing, Digital Marketing, Industry News, Information communications technology, Location Based Services, M-Commerce, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Applications, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Phones, Mobile Technology, Smartphones, Technology, Telecommunications, Trade Associations
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From The Sunday Times, February 28, 2010

The Apple iPhone

A flurry of money-saving mobile phone applications (apps) allowed users to save nearly £2 billion last year, and the savings are set to grow. Competition is heating up among app providers and the resulting price war is pushing down prices — often to zero.

About 3m shoppers used discount vouchers sent directly to mobile handsets last year and the amount saved globally is set to increase from £1.7 billion last year to £3.7 billion by 2014, according to Juniper Research, the analyst.

Graham Charlton at Econsultancy, another analyst, said: “Greater competition is bringing down prices. There are also a growing number of applications offering free trials.”

The vast majority of money-saving apps are available only on the Apple iPhone, through the Apple App store, although rivals such as BlackBerry and Android (used on smartphones like the HTC Hero), have also started to offer them.

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BlackBerry has about 5,000 applications, while Apple says it has more than 140,000. Google’s Android handsets can access about 19,000 apps.

We tried out some of the most popular and highlight some of the best.

VOUCHERCLOUD (free)

The Apple iPhone app provides a list of discounts and special offers locally. It uses its in-built GPS to determine where you are then lists nearby discounts. You simply show the discount to the retailer to benefit. The app has been available since the start of the month and 250,000 have been downloaded so far.

From our offices at Wapping, east London, the app highlighted a 10% discount at Jessops, the camera shop, and the outdoor activities shop Cotswold. You could also get 25% off your bill at the Fish Restaurant, Café Rouge, Strada, or a two-for-one deal at Zizzi — plus lots more.

If you have a smartphone using Google’s Android, you can download My Coupons, which offers a similar service.

iBARCODE (59p)

Similar to the market-leading Red Laser app (£1.19), this allows you to compare prices for a product by scanning in the barcode using your handset’s camera. It will then highlight the price of the product from different retailers. You can also search using keywords if the item does not have a barcode.

For example, say you are looking for a Smeg SUK92MBL5, dual-fuel cooker, it will cost you £1,149 in John Lewis, but a search on iBARCODE shows that it is £1,075 at Appliance City. The service also works in France, America and Germany.

There are free barcode readers such as pic2shop, though it compares fewer retailers and there is no product search feature if you do not have a barcode to scan.

Android users can download ShopSavvy free. It also allows you to scan the barcode using your phone’s camera before comparing prices.

ATM HUNTER (free)

If you do not want to pay fees charged by some cash dispensers, this allows you to find your nearest non-fee ATM. You can also set it to find a particular bank’s machine.

ATM Hunter is also available free on BlackBerry handsets. Cashfinder, a similar application, claims to cover 99% of UK cash machines, but costs £1.79.

WIFI FINDER (free)

Wifi allows smartphone users to access the internet at faster speeds than the 3G network.

There are many Wifi “hot spots”, usually in bars, airports and stations, but some may charge for access. This application searches for all the free Wifi hotspots near you. It claims to cover 200,000 free hotspots over 135 countries.

FREE PARKING (£1.79)

This allows you to find the closest free parking zones. It will also tell you what the restrictions are and what time parking becomes free. However, the app is currently restricted to 11 central London boroughs but promises to add other areas shortly.

Nosey Parker is a more comprehensive service and costs 59p until the end of today; from tomorrow it will cost £1.79.

0870 (free)

This app converts premium-rate telephone numbers starting with 0870, 0845 (and 0800 which are free for landlines but not mobiles) to low-cost numbers starting with 01 and 02. Mobile users cannot use premium numbers as part of their free calls package and are charged as much as 35p a minute. Calls on the converted number, however, will count towards your monthly usage allowance.

PETROLPRICES (£2.99)

The difference between the most expensive and cheapest fuel was 16p a litre last week, according to petrolprices.com. It also has an iPhone application that allows you to find the cheapest petrol in your area.

It claims to cover 9,000 petrol stations in Britain and is automatically updated every weekday, excluding bank holidays. You can search for stations within a two-mile radius.

An alternative is My Gas, which is free to download.

TESCO CLUBCARD (free)

Tesco launched its app last month. It allows you to turn your mobile into a Clubcard. The screen turns into a barcode with your Clubcard details, which means you no longer have to worry about leaving your card at home. The app can be used only where a till operator is present but Tesco says it is planning to make it useable on self-service checkouts soon.

UK TAX CALCULATOR (59p) This app will allow you to work out how much tax you will be paying in any given tax year. Enter your annual salary and other details such as pension contributions and whether you are paying off a student loan and the application does the rest for you.

A more basic free version called Calculate My Salary gives you details of how much you pay in income tax and National Insurance contributions as well as your net income on a weekly, monthly or annual basis.

MINI MORTGAGE MANAGER (59p)

This app helps you to keep an eye on your home loan by calculating monthly costs as well as how much you have repaid and how much of this has gone on interest payments. BlackBerry users can download Mortgage Calculator Pro, which offers a similar service, but it costs £5.65.

VOUCHING FOR THE TASTIEST DEALS

MARK ANDRES, 25, from Bristol, who works in marketing, has been using the Vouchercloud application on his mobile phone for the past fortnight and has already saved £30.

“I recently went out for a meal with six friends and we got £61 off the total bill using a discount I found on Vouchercloud,” he said. “It’s just so easy and convenient to use.”

He also uses Skype, which allows cheap or free calls over the internet, and other shopping applications to save money using his Apple iPhone.

Andres lives with his girlfriend, Anni de Wolf, 28, a senior account manager, who also uses mobile applications to save money.

ROAMING COST CAP

Phone bill shocks for customers who use their mobiles to surf the internet abroad should become a thing of the past when European rules on roaming charges come into effect tomorrow. A cut-off mechanism will kick in once €50 (£44) is spent on data roaming. If you want to spend more, you’ll have to contact your network.

Mike Wilson at moneysupermarket.com said: “A cap should wipe out the cases where people are stung with unreasonable bills for using their mobile internet abroad.”

URL Link:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_affairs/article7043589.ece

The 50 most innovative mobile apps in the world

Posted: January 27, 2010 in Information communications technology, Mobile Applications, Technology
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Posted by Stuart Dredge @ Mobile Entertainment

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1. Google Voice

The app so potentially disruptive to mobile industry economics, Apple wouldn’t let it onto the App Store. Google Voice gives people their own ‘Google number’, complete with voicemail, that they can route to any device they like at any time. It also transcribes voicemails. Great for anyone with lots of phones who wants to tie them to a single number, but pretty worrying for the mobile operators. Google Voice is still something of a niche, being most popular among the more hardcore Android users in the US. This will change in 2010.

2. Spotify

Much of the hype around Spotify has been based on fact: its excellent user experience on both desktop and mobile. When it launched for iPhone and Android, Spotify’s app wasn’t the first streaming music application. However, it was the first to use ‘caching’ technology to let users save their playlists for offline listening. At a stroke, it addressed the biggest criticism of these apps: ‘what happens when you’re on the tube or plane?’ Its rivals are now scrambling to offer similar features in their own apps.

3. Foursquare

Is Foursquare a social networking app? A location-based service? A game? It’s all three. It revolves around users ‘checking in’ to bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other public spaces, letting their friends know what they’re up to but also earning points and achievement badges. It’s recently expanded beyond its initial list of cities to let people add venues and check in anywhere, and is now seeing a check-in every second. All it has to do now is find an effective way to make money out of all this…

4. Pocket God

The games industry has been banging on about episodic content for years, without ever really nailing the idea. Pocket God managed it in a matter of months on iPhone. On the surface, it’s a simple-yet-fun god game set on an island, yet by delivering (more or less) weekly updates with new features and content, it built a ferociously loyal audience and remained at the top of the App Store charts. More recently, it was one of the first iPhone games to succeed with in-app payments too.

5. Layar Reality Browser

Expect to hear a lot of excited talk about augmented reality at Mobile World Congress, even if opinions vary greatly about a.) what it’s for, and b.) what the business model is. Layar is the most intriguing mobile AR app, thanks to its structure. Developers are encouraged to create ‘layers’ – from gig listings to house prices to Beatles magical mystery tours – making it a platform for rapid, creative innovation. Its most recent iPhone update suffered from bugs, but in 2010 Layar could do great things.

6. Eliminate Pro

When Apple removed its restriction on allowing free apps to use in-app payments, the games industry wondered who’d be first to make the ‘freemium’ plunge. It turned out to be ngmoco with Eliminate Pro. It’s a visually impressive online first-person shooter – a genre previously restricted to console and PC – but the innovation is in its business model. The game is free, but funded by payments for energy packs, which are required to level up your character. Did it work? We don’t know yet, but it was important to try.

7. Google Maps Navigation

How big a deal was Google Maps for Navigation’s announcement late last year? Ask the GPS navigation companies whose share prices plunged in the aftermath. In a nutshell, Google Maps Navigation marries mapping with navigation and voice search. Crucially, it does it for free, undercutting the premium pricing structure of its established rivals. Restricted to Android 2.0 handsets and above, for the moment it’s niche. But like Google Voice, this app will have a huge impact in the year ahead.

8. Firefox Mobile

Just to make your head spin, number eight is a mobile browser whose innovation is that it might help the industry to focus less on apps in the coming years. Mozilla’s Firefox Mobile is currently only available for the Nokia N900, but it’s shown that it could have a significant impact as it spreads to other devices. It can sync bookmarks and other data with the desktop version, allows developers to create add-ons for extra functionality, and handles multimedia content without a fuss.

9. Tweetdeck

There are many mobile Twitter apps, with new features being launched every week, so ordering them by innovation is a hiding to nothing. Even so, Tweetdeck looks well set. It has all the power features, including the ability to manage multiple accounts, create groups, browse Twitter lists and geo-tag tweets. But so do its rivals. What made us place this higher was its synchronisation with the desktop version of Tweetdeck: an example of proper cross-platform design.

10. The Guardian

It’d be easy enough to take a newspaper website’s RSS feed and whack a nice app UI around it, then boast about your iPhone-straddling zeitgeistiness. However, the Guardian took its time, and came up with an app that shows a more interactive and relevant way to go mobile. Users can customise the homescreen, mark their favourite sections and/or journalists, and specify which bits they want to read offline. Podcasts ensure it’s not just text and pics too. An example to its rivals.

11. Gowalla

One of Foursquare’s main rivals, Gowalla offers a similar mix of checking in and game-like aspects, complete with virtual items.

12. Facebook

By far the most polished social app on iPhone, while its BlackBerry incarnation makes excellent use of the device’s push capabilities.

13. Tap Tap Revenge 3

iPhone’s premier music game, which has switched to a freemium business model and sold more than a million in-app track downloads.

14. Shazam Encore

It’s been around for years, but Shazam caught fire on iPhone and other platforms in the last 18 months, with regular new features.

15. ShopSavvy

Barcode scanner apps are all the rage, but ShopSavvy was one of the first to popularise the idea, on Android.

16. Buzzd

Riding the twin hype-waves of social location and real-time, Buzzd is one of the most appealing location-based apps around.

17. eBay for BlackBerry

Why the BlackBerry version? It ties tightly into the handset’s calendar and inbox: mobile crack for hardcore eBayers.

18. I Am T-Pain

The iPhone music app that made Auto-Tune the toast of the App Store in 2009 – with social elements boosting its word-of-mouth buzz.

19. Chomp

Offers social iPhone app discovery with a streamlined review system, strong social features and a great recommendations engine.

20. Rummble

The UK’s answer to Foursquare and Gowalla, Rummble offers a slick and innovative take on the hot social location genre.

21. 7Digital Music Store

One of a cluster of apps hoping to be the iTunes of BlackBerry, 7Digital’s store won plaudits for also including a decent player.

22. Ovi Maps Racing

N-Gage is dead, but Ovi Store could be a haven for innovative games. Ovi Maps Racer mixes real-world maps with virtual racing.

23. Flook

This UK-developed social location app lets people upload postcards of ‘local secrets’. Strange, but in a beautiful way.

24. Chorus

Like Chomp, Chorus aims to serve up accurate iPhone app recommendations, based on the habits of the user and their friends.

25. Kindle for iPhone

Amazon’s e-reader spin-off ties in both with its Kindle store, and the Kindle device itself – start reading on one then transfer to the other.

26. Loopt

Social location apps are prominent in this list, with Loopt offering a sophisticated blend of recommendations and real-time social alerts.

27. Ustream Live Broadcaster

Livestreaming is hot in 2010, with Ustream’s app helping people to broadcast live video to the web, direct from their handsets.

28. Wikitude

One of the pioneers of mobile augmented reality, Wikitude is evolving into a platform for developers, like its rival Layar.

29. Sekai Camera

More mobile AR? You got it! Japanese app Sekai Camera has quirky charm based around location-based virtual post-it notes.

30. Sky Mobile TV News and Sports

Mobile TV used to be an operator thing. Now it’s increasingly an app thing too, with Sky’s sporty iPhone app a prime example.

31. Starbucks Card Mobile

M-commerce got an (espresso) shot in the arm with this app, that lets people pay for their coffees using their iPhones. Well, in Silicon Valley, anyway.

32. Phreadz

Currently in private beta, Phreadz is a ‘social multimedia network’ offering threaded conversations. YouTube meets Twitter meets Web 2.0 joy, you could say.

33. Skies of Glory

Like Eliminate Pro, SGN’s Skies of Glory iPhone game is free to download, but funded entirely by in-app payments for extra planes and missions.

34. Bump

It seemed like a novelty app to swap contacts by bumping iPhones, but Bump could spawn more interesting uses in the year ahead.

35. Leaf Trombone

Playing a virtual trombone by blowing into the mic? With other players judging you in real-time? It sounds bonkers. It is bonkers. But hugely innovative too.

36. Anytime Pool

You still don’t get many games that span iPhone and Facebook properly. Anytime Pool is a sign of cross-platform social gaming things to come.

37. U2 Mobile Album

This BlackBerry app turned out to not be a full album after all – but it was groundbreaking in its use of push and social features to delight U2′s fanbase.

38. Little World Gifts

Virtual item gifts are big business on Facebook, but still rare on mobile. This iPhone app makes an intriguing first stab at taking the phenomenon to phones.

39. Real Racing

This iPhone racer was hailed for its 3D graphics, but online tournaments and the ability to upload replays of your best laps to YouTube were equally impressive.

40. Little Boots Reactive Remixer

This branded version of the RjDj iPhone app lets fans remix three of Little Boots’ songs using touch and ambient sounds. Playful and imaginative in equal measures.

41. Comixology

Can comics really make the jump from printed page to mobile screen? iPhone app Comixology showed they could, and with a business model to match.

42. TuneWiki

Of all the third-party music player apps, TuneWiki is hotly tipped. Get lyrics in real-time, while using its social and location features to discover new tunes.

43. Sketch Online

Like Pictionary for the Android generation, this multiplayer online game gets one person to draw, and others to guess the word. Google loves it, and so do we.

44. iEverton

One of the rash of club-branded iPhone apps, Everton FC’s is included here for its use of push notifications and in-app purchases to keep fans informed.

45. Turf Wars

There are many mafia games on iPhone, but only one so far uses GPS to let players annex real-world places, terrorising their actual manor while building an empire.

46. Broadersheet

Why read one newspaper when you can get a smart app to pick and choose stories from all of them to suit your tastes. That’s iPhone app Broadersheet’s USP.

47. Flight Control

The iPhone game that defined a genre – ‘line drawing’ – and also popularised the idea of location-based high score tables for local bragging rights.

48. Sonifi

For music artists, letting fans remix your songs on iPhone is all the rage. But Sonifi – created for trance DJ BT – lets two people do it at once via Bluetooth.

49. Opera Mini

The not-so-unsung hero of the mobile web world, Opera Mini is driving usage from handsets beyond the smartphones that tend to hog the headlines.

50. Vlingo

Voice control technology has been around forever, without ever truly catching on. Vlingo is part of a new breed of mobile apps that could change that.

URL Link:

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/features/241/The-50-most-innovative-mobile-apps-in-the-world

IAB – Apps: The future of mobile?

Posted: January 6, 2010 in Digital Marketing, Information communications technology, Internet, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Applications, Mobile Gaming, Mobile Internet, Technology, Trade Associations
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My Comments on the below article:

I am late putting this up on my blog but finally had to do it, as the app versus mobile internet debate continues…

Mobile apps have seen huge growth throughout 2009, but are they the future for the mobile industry? Are they more important than mobile sites? These were the questions that an IAB debate earlier this week sought to answer.

Friday, 4 December 2009

The motion for the debate was “Mobile apps are more important than mobile sites”. Prior to the debate, a poll of the audience was taken with 58% opposing.

IAB mobile debate

Jon Mew, head of mobile at the IAB, introduced the proceedings by outlining some key statistics to highlight the popularity of iPhone apps in particular. Mew pointed out that there are now 115,000 iPhone apps for sale in the Apple app store and 2.4bn have been downloaded, meaning that more people have downloaded an app than own a TV.

Arguing for the motion were Amer Hasan, senior manager, apps and developer marketing, Vodafone; Chetan Damani, managing director of acrossair and Oliver Newton, head of emerging platforms at iLevel.

The team argued that the phenomenal growth of the iPhone showed that apps were the future for mobile. Citing figures from acrossair, they demonstrated that the iPhone is the fastest growing technology product ever.

Another key issue they sought to highlight was the enhanced experience offered by the iPhone. Fucntionality such as augmented reality made the iPhone experience far superior to traditional mobile sites it was argued.

Putting the case against the motion were Christian Louca, managing director of YOC; Clive Baker, managing director of Movement and Tim Hussain, head of mobile and video advertising at BSkyB.

This team sought to argue that reach is more important that experience. While they acknowledged that the growth of the iPhone is a hugely important development for the mobile market, they pointed out that only two per cent of the population currently have an iPhone.

The solution they offered therefore was not to cut off a huge percentage of your potential audience by only creating a mobile app, but instead to offer both an app and a traditional mobile website.

This argument seemed to sway the audience as, by the end of the debate when the final poll was taken, the percentage of attendees who opposed the motion had risen from 58 to 87.

Commenting on the debate, Jon Mew, head of mobile at the IAB, said: “The turn out and content from the debate showed what an interesting area apps are for brands. The debate centred around user experience versus reach, and the end result showed that the most important thing for brands is still being accessible to as many people as possible and providing the best experience they can.”

URL Link to IAB:

http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/thefutureofmobile041209.mxs

Luxury goes mobile: YOC develops mobile strategy for A. Lange & Söhne

Posted: December 17, 2009 in Customer Relationship Marketing, Mobile Applications, Trade Associations, YOC news
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Berlin, 16th December 2009
 
From now on, the mobile phone is an integral part of the communication strategy adopted by traditional watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne. YOC AG developed an innovative mobile concept including a mobile portal and an iPhone application. With A. Lange & Söhne YOC gained another high-end customer. The aim of mobile communication is to establish a direct and personal dialogue with the relevant target group and to emotionalise the traditional brand A. Lange & Söhne. “The mobile phone helps us to reach our target group at a moment of maximum involvement. This way we can promote brand awareness and create an emotional bond between the customers and the brand”, says Evelyne Wrobbel, Head of Brand Marketing at A. Lange & Söhne.
The mobile portal of A. Lange & Söhne is now available to users in five languages. The portal is divided into five categories offering an ideal combination of information-based and interaction-based elements. At the heart of the portal is the category LANGE Zeitwerk, which provides users with interesting news about A. Lange & Söhne’s recently launched model and its innovative jumping numerals mechanism. From the beginning of January 2010, iPhone users benefit from additional features offered by the free iPhone application “A. Lange & Söhne timepieces” available at the App Store. There is also a special registration function that helps to focus on personalised communication between the user and the brand.
“New customers such as A. Lange & Söhne are a very impressive example of the increasing significance that all industries attach to mobile marketing. The broad portfolio of high-end customers that we have gained enables us to efficiently display even complex and premium brand worlds on the mobile phone”, says Dirk Kraus, founder and CEO of YOC AG, in his comment about the new campaign.