Archive for the ‘mobile-marketing’ Category
Friday, September 2nd, 2011
It’s iWay or the highway.
That’s the message the Financial Times has learned after their iPhone and iPad apps have both been pulled from the App Store. This after refusing to comply with Apple’s new terms and commitments regarding in-app subscription payments. Financial Times claims that their beef with Apple isn’t the 30% cut that Apple takes on in-app purchases, but Apple’s control over subscriber data.
So, the Financial Times has called Apple’s bluff, and are now directing their readers to a proprietary Web app. This will be an incredibly interesting case study to look at moving forward – determining whether or not periodicals can live and thrive outside of iOS.
Tags: Apple, financial-times, iOS, ipad, iphone, mobile-marketing, website-marketing
Posted in Apple, mobile-marketing, Smartphones | Comments Off
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The day when we are now able to make Skype calls from our home phone free of…oh, it’s not free?
No, and that’s why it’s not the big deal we want it to be. Because Skype calls are still only free when you call other Skype users. We’re still not at the point of singularity. It’s being pitched as a way not use Skype without a computer. C’mon. We have to be getting close to the point where more houses have computers than landlines.
This phone adapter simply allows Skype users to convert their handset to a Skype device. I’m not saying its not cool. You can talk to your Skype friends without being held hostage in front of your computer. This mobility is awesome. But, we’re still a step away from totally free calling using Internet bandwidth. And I feel like the technology should already be there.
Tags: internet-consulting, mobile-marketing, skype-calls
Posted in mobile-marketing | Comments Off
Monday, August 29th, 2011
If you watch the sidelines during an NFL game this season, you might see a whole lot of iPads. Especially if you’re watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have traded in their massive playbook binders for the convenient and compact alternative from Apple.
The tablet specifically opens up the possibilities for this digital move. In the past, carrying around a laptop would have been silly. Today, it’s easier and faster to use an iPad.
If the Buccaneers win more than 10 games this year, expect an ad campaign to come out of this.
It used to be cool to have an iPad. Now, for a lot of professions, it doesn’t make sense not to.
Tags: ipad, iPads, mobile-marketing, nfl, tablets, tampa-bay-buccaneers
Posted in Apple, ipad, mobile-marketing | Comments Off
Thursday, August 25th, 2011
Many of you were personally affected by the news that Steve Jobs was resigning as CEO of Apple for medical reasons.
Many of you didn’t understand why the rest of us cared so much.
Here’s the only analogy I can think of that best explains it. Imagine you love candy more than anything else, and Willy Wonka just died. There’s no one else in the entire world who invents the beautiful future like him – and we’re terrified there’s no one else who can.
Jobs seems to be putting his full support behind Tim Cook, who has been acting CEO since Jobs’ leave of absence back in January. But we don’t know anything about Cook. This isn’t a business-as-usual company, where any brilliant business executive can do a great job.
Jobs had remarkable vision. He could see into the future and come back with its creations. And I’m personally scared that the tech toys market is going to come to a screeching halt.
Tags: Apple, ceo, internet-consulting, mobile-marketing, steve-jobs, tim-cook, willy-wonka
Posted in Apple, mobile-marketing | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
Google TV was the media’s darling last year in terms of the future of interactive television.
The problem was that Google couldn’t make a deal with the networks, and they couldn’t get access to any major bulk of content. So, Roku and Hulu started leading the pack.
But today, Google announced a Google TV add-on for the Android which will allow users to develop Google TV apps using the Android development tools they’re now familiar with. While this will immediately increase the number and quality of apps available for TV, this does little to increase the content available….unless Google actually does go ahead, as rumored, and acquires Hulu.
That would change everything.
Tags: android-development, google-tv, Hulu, mobile-marketing
Posted in android, Google, mobile-marketing | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
For so long, e-books have been a waste of their technology. Sure, it’s a far less cheaper distribution model than traditional publishing. But, within an electronic format, we weren’t taking advantage of any of the possibilities of this format. Until now.
Now, a new line of college e-books is incorporating links to videos by Khan Academy, the free educational institution offering more than 2,400 free online videos.
Right now, these videos can be accessed through links. In the future, it will be exciting to see embedded video and animation within an e-book itself. Imagine Alice in Wonderland, the audio/visual/literary adventure for children via iPad. Oh man, the possibilities!
Tags: e-books, internet-marketing-company, ipad, khan-academy
Posted in Apple, ipad, mobile-marketing | Comments Off
Monday, August 22nd, 2011
At Windy City Strategies, we lamented the fact that competitive tablet manufacturers weren’t trying to low-ball the iPad. Rather, they were producing similarly-priced or even higher-priced models. Their touted differentiation? Being business ready. Compatible with business applications and software used by companies worldwide.
They didn’t sell. At least not well. No iPad competitor has. Until today, when HP decided to discontinue their HP TouchPad tablet and sell off their remaining inventory for $99 each.
At this price, the tablet became the best-selling tablet in the world today. And that’s what it takes. People will buy a very cheap version of an iPad. They won’t buy a similarly priced version that’s not nearly as cool.
Posted in ipad, mobile-marketing | Comments Off
Friday, August 19th, 2011
Twitter usage is becoming more and more popular with a younger population. In fact, the youngest population surveyed (18-29) make up the most prevalent user group on Twitter. Now, that doesn’t mean their Facebook usage is ending. But, let’s think through why Twitter is becoming more popular with the next generation.
1) Celebrities are there that they can follow. On Facebook, you need to be approved friends of celebrities to cyber-stalk them. On Twitter, they can’t refuse you. Which leads us to…
2) It’s public. There are no cliques. The cool kids at school aren’t refusing your follow requests
3) Their friends are there. And their parents aren’t. The more popular a service becomes, the more viral it becomes. As their friends join, so do they.
4) It’s mobile-friendly. 140-character status maximums are perfect for mobile phone brevity. Of course, Facebook can be equally mobile. But, Twitter is the closest equivalent to public texting.
Tags: facebook, mobile-marketing, social-media-marketing, Twitter
Posted in facebook, mobile-marketing, Social Media, Twitter | Comments Off
Friday, August 12th, 2011
Jonathan Stark’s social media experiment has taken an interesting turn.
What happened was that he put a picture of his Starbucks card online. So, anyone in the world could use that photo with Starbuck’s barcode scan technology to help themselves to a free cup of coffee – on Jonathan (and whoever else wanted to help.)
So, the card would get depleted. And he would tweet on Twitter that the card was empty. And people would step in to help refill it. Again and again. Reportedly, over $10,000 of transactions took place within the last week – causing the world to collectively smile at the goodness of humanity.
And then, a twist. A man named Sam Odio has bragged about hacking into the card, saying that he was able to transfer more than $600 onto his own Starbucks card. Then, to put yet another crazy twist to the story. He claims that he is giving the money to help feed African children, since that’s a better use of “generosity” than helping “yuppies get Starbucks.” Since this came out, Starbucks has shut down the card.
It’s an incredibly story that’s turning incredibly weird by the moment.
Tags: facebook, jonathan-stark, mobile-marketing, sam-odio, social-media-experiment, social-media-marketing, starbucks, Twitter
Posted in facebook, mobile-marketing, Social Media, Twitter | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
Google Mapmaker is looking to crowdsource their maps – utilizing individuals to add walking and biking routes to their neighborhoods, since Google employees doing this by hand simply isn’t going to happen.
Bing is taking a different approach. It looks like Bing is manually entering walking routes in key customer locations. In fact, they seem to be focusing on malls. Today, Microsoft’s search engine currently contains more than 400 national shopping malls available in map form on Bing for Mobile.
These venue maps allow you to plan your trips better. “What’s the fastest way to go to Macy’s, Charming Charlie’s, Mrs. Fields Cookies and back to my car?” With Bing maps, you can program your walking route to those specific locations on your mobile phone.
I like the long-term possibilities of Google MapMaker. But, I love the short-term benefits of Bing employees doing the work for us.
Tags: bing, bing-for-mobile, charming-charlie's, google-mapmaker, macy's, mobile-marketing, mrs.-fields-cookies, search-engine-marketing-agency
Posted in bing, Google, Microsoft, mobile-marketing, Search-Engine-Optimization, Smartphones | Comments Off
