From the ad:tech conference at the Javits Convention Center, Sidebar, a new, free mobile application that allows users to receive personalized recommendations for content, video games, apps, music and more, announced today that it has partnered with Quattro Wireless, mobile’s largest exclusive and premier advertising network, to drive innovation in the mobile space. The relationship will offer advertisers a high-level of targeting and offer consumers a personalized experience on their Android device.
Sidebar, which recently launched in beta for Android, learns users’ interests so that it becomes highly personalized to each individual over time. The application offers instant gratification so users spend time enjoying content rather than searching for it, and it is cached for one click access. Sidebar content categories include entertainment, green planet, humor, steals & deals, health, mind & body, style & culture, guy stuff and news and info.
The worldwide converged mobile device (commonly referred to as a smartphone) market continued to weather the economic recession and reached a new record for shipments during a single quarter. According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 43.3 million units during the third quarter of 2009 (3Q09), up 4.2% from the 41.5 million units shipped in 3Q08, and up 3.2% from shipments of 41.9 million units in 2Q09.
"Demand for converged mobile devices has remained strong all year," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "These devices provide more utility and entertainment than traditional mobile phones. Moreover, users have plenty of devices from which to choose, whether it be a multimedia powerhouse, a messaging machine, or a social networking tool. As users expect greater functionality from their devices beyond telephony, we believe the converged mobile device market will continue to grow faster than the overall mobile phone market."
Spurred on by the recent launch of 3G mobile services in China, Neusoft and Nokia Siemens Networks are enhancing their partnership to effectively address the country’s growing mobile applications market. The two companies will look to transform their existing joint venture - Nokia Siemens Networks Neusoft Commtech Company Ltd. – into a powerhouse for the development, sale and delivery of software and services in the mobile data and applications field.
“Together with Nokia Siemens Networks, we have delivered a variety of data service systems to the country’s leading mobile players,” said Liu Jiren, Chairman at Neusoft. “Now, with the launch of 3G, we are committed to continue to provide our customers with high quality products and services. The enhanced scope of our joint venture will enable us to do just that; assuring China’s subscribers a truly superior experience.”
AT&T today announced the availability of the Samsung Mythic, a full touch screen device with AT&T Mobile TVsm capability, and the Samsung Flight, a touch screen phone that slides open vertically to reveal a full keyboard.
Samsung Mythic The Mythic’s 3.3” full touch screen features Samsung’s innovative TouchWiz user interface, which allows users to simply drag and drop widgets for their favorite and most commonly used features and functions on the phone’s home screen. With one-touch access to features including AT&T Mobile TV and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, the Mythic is a portable entertainment powerhouse.
The Samsung Mythic is the newest AT&T Mobile TV-capable device to hit stores. AT&T Mobile TV subscribers enjoy around-the-clock access to full-length simulcast and time-shifted programming from FLO TV, including content from leading entertainment brands such as CBS Mobile, CNBC, CNN Mobile, COMEDY CENTRAL, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, FOX News, MSNBC, MTV, NBC 2Go, Nickelodeon and the movie channel Crackle.
DROID ERIS by HTC will be available at Verizon Wireless Stores and online starting Friday, Nov. 6, for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an e-mail feature or e-mail plan. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
DROID ERIS by HTC combines the popular Android platform with HTC Sense, a user experience from HTC that makes it easy for customers to stay close to one another and create an individualized mobile experience tailored specifically to their needs.
DROID ERIS by HTC offers customers the opportunity to customize a seven-panel wide home screen with a wide variety of widgets designed to bring the most important information to the surface. DROID ERIS by HTC also includes the innovative “Scenes” feature, which allows customers to create multiple home screens, each with different widgets and shortcuts, to transform DROID ERIS by HTC from a “work” phone to a “play” phone with just a touch of a finger.
Jitterbug today announced that the company has acquired MobiWatch, a company focused on developing Mobile Personal Emergency Response Services (M-PERS). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The acquisition will provide Jitterbug customers with personal safety services that are intuitive, reliable and delivered through the easy-to-use Jitterbug cell phone. These new services will further differentiate Jitterbug as the complete service experience and will continue to enhance the lives of American consumers by providing safety, security and the ability to stay connected with family and friends while on the go.
Strategy Analytics has found that almost one-in-five users in the US and Western Europe now accesses the internet from their cellphone at least once a week. In, “Smartphone Owners Lead Rise in Mobile Internet Usage,” Strategy Analytics predicts that in 2013, Smartphones will account for 60% of all mobile internet users in the US. This report examines the behavior of existing mobile internet users in the US and Western Europe, including:
Orange today launches Recycle & Reward, a scheme for people to recycle their old mobiles, laptops and personal music players in UK Orange stores in exchange for cash. Two thirds of Brits have old mobiles gathering dust in their homes which equates to approximately 90 million unused handsets worth approximately 450 million pounds*. Millions of people are eligible to receive cash rewards as the scheme is available to any member of the public at any time in all UK Orange stores. Underlining Orange’s commitment to becoming a more sustainable, greener business, Recycle & Reward will help reduce the amount of electronic goods sent to landfill and, instead, help consumers obtain a competitive price for them.
Recycle & Reward enables customers to find out the monetary value of their old electronic goods straight away in UK stores, and the money is sent to the customer in the form of a cheque received within approximately 7 days. Orange offers a range of cash rewards depending on the particular device and whether or not it currently works. For example, consumers can receive up to £85 when recycling a Nokia N95, £75 for a Sony Ericsson C905 and £95 for a Samsung SCH 900. Orange will also recycle electronic devices and accessories with no monetary value, helping the public to minimise their impact on the environment in disposing of old goods.
Orange today announced that its first UK exclusive app, Orange Wednesdays, is now available on the App Store. For those who love films, the free Orange Wednesdays App brings the hugely popular Orange Wednesdays cinema experience to the iPhone. The app combines the latest film reviews and trailers with up to date info on what's on, where films are showing, information on how to get there and the ability to redeem the 2 for 1 Orange Wednesdays cinema voucher on your Orange iPhone.
A new report from Juniper Research, forecasts that consumer usage of mobile coupons will generate close to $6 billion globally in retail redemption value by 2014.
Juniper Research’s new report - ‘Mobile Coupons & NFC Smart Posters: Strategies, Applications & Forecasts 2009-2014’ cautions that user apathy amongst the wider public, as well as lack of willingness to change and learn a new method of making financial transactions are potential stumbling blocks. This is despite NFC trial results which show very high levels of user acceptance.
Google recently introduced expanded mobile reporting features in Google Analytics to help developers monitor how people are using specific parts of their iPhone and Android applications. The same Google Analytics reports that provide insights into website traffic and engagement are now available for mobile apps.
Redfin, an online brokerage for buying and selling homes, recently tested Google Analytics on their mobile application. (See video to the right).
According to Google, "As with websites, there are two basic categories of user interaction you can track: page views and events. Since mobile apps don't contain HTML pages, developers simply determine when their apps should trigger page view requests. Google Analytics then aggregates this data in the Content reports to display the number of visits, session length and bounce rates. The data gives insight into how your users interacted with the app.
LiMo Foundation, a global consortium of mobile industry leaders today announced the Vodafone 360 Samsung M1, the second LiMo compliant device built upon LiMo Platform Release 2 (R2). This latest handset developed by Samsung offers mobile consumers a unique mobile experience presented through Vodafone’s stunning feature-rich, highly customizable Vodafone 360 user interface (UI) – providing a new set of Internet services for the mobile and PC that gathers all of a customer’s friends, communities, entertainment and personal favorites in one place. Following in the footsteps of the Vodafone 360 Samsung H1, the Vodafone 360 Samsung M1 is designed in price and function for a larger segment of mobile consumers.
Powered by the LiMo R2 Platform the Vodafone 360 Samsung M1 brings a cost- and technology-conscious option to mass-market consumers previously locked out of the traditional smartphone market and demonstrates the ability of the LiMo Platform to scale across device profiles. With one of the mobile industry’s most advanced feature sets integrated with sophisticated handset design and an innovative, easy-to-use 3D user interface, the Vodafone 360 Samsung M1 offers an exceptional yet affordable smartphone experience to all consumers.
Nokia Life Tools, the service which gives consumers in small towns and rural areas the ability to get a range of livelihood and life-improvement services on their mobile phones, will launch in Indonesia in early December 2009. Nokia also announced five new affordable and easy-to-use phones which will support Nokia Life Tools, and these phones will also be available globally.
With affordability and ease of use as the cornerstones of solutions for emerging markets, the five new Nokia phones - Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616, Nokia 1800, Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690.
