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3FER: 14 March 2014

tizen

#1: Will Tizen dominate wearables?

With Samsung’s release of the Gear 2 family last month, a new, leaner mobile OS entered the market: Tizen. After months iWatch rumors, Apple released CarPlay at SXSW–a hint of its waning interest in the wearables market. Also at SXSW, Google said they’ll release Android SDK for Wearables in 2 weeks.

While Google’s announcement and DotCoMo’s exit from the consortium, there are still plenty of carriers and Samsung to support the growth of Tizen. This is especially especially true considering the drive to create the $20 smartphone for emerging markets. Check out these resources for more information:

Business Insider: “Why Apple Should Fear Samsung’s New ‘Tizen’ Strategy” http://bit.ly/1gjyQsf
Gizmodo: “Meet Samsung’s new smartwatch family: the Gear 2, Neo and Fit.” http://bit.ly/1gjzUMF
SlashGear: “Tizen hits bump as more carriers plan to back out.” http://bit.ly/1gjMo75
CNET: “Tizen chairman, ever the optimist, says smartphone will hit market in 2014.” http://bit.ly/1gjMXh8
Time: “Samsung’s New Galaxy Gear Watches: Goodbye Android, Hello Tizen” http://bit.ly/1gjN7Fp

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#2: #SXSW’s App Frenzy

More than 40,000 of the country’s digital elite invaded Austin earlier this week for SXSW–the annual conference for the movie, music and interactive industry. Developers, and brands, were there hawking their mobile apps to become the next Twitter or Starbucks app. As these attendees come home, the SXSW echo chamber will no doubt drive more app development.

Here’s why you shouldn’t join them: http://bit.ly/1gjwtFX

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#3: That ring don’t hunt

Wearables are a hot–watches, eyewear and now rings. Unfortunately, the later is largely vapor. Despite huge Kickstarter wins, ample prototypes and fantastic use cases, no smart ring has arrived on the market except one. (It’s NFC-based–as useless to iOS users as their iPhones.) This contrarian article offers a great breakdown on why:

Gizmodo: “Sorry, But Smart Rings Aren’t the Future” http://bit.ly/1cwgHfZ

3FER: 12 December 2013

crystal

#1: Fashionable & wearable gifts

A few years ago, wearable technology was limited to MIT students who looked rejected Star Trek extras. That’s changed. From NFC-enabled jewelry to Bluetooth winter hats, here’s a quick list of last minute gifts for the mobile (and fashion) forward:

Bluetooth Beanies: http://bit.ly/1f8gEnv
Bluetooth Handset Gloves: http://bit.ly/18CcShR
Halloband: http://bit.ly/1gpyE0g
Orly Ruami NFC Jewelry: http://bit.ly/1gpx2Ua
SkyBuddy NFC Ring: http://bit.ly/1gpzaeS
Smarty Ring: http://bit.ly/18Ccgcf
Swarovski Bluetooth Headset: http://bit.ly/1gpzXwl
Winter Headband: http://bit.ly/18CcVdD

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#2: Mobile is so 2013

And 2013 is nearly over. Many of us are still locked in analysis paralysis when it comes to mobile marketing. If you’re one of them, now’s the perfect time to put your analysis into action. Easier said than done? Fortunately, Google updated their Mobile Playbook with action in mind.

Review it here: http://bit.ly/18mEPiU

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#3: Smartphones are so 2012

Connected devices like Nike’s Fitbit are driving the next evolution of mobile. Find out what’s happening and how you can prepare for it. Join my presentation at Mobile Twin Cities next Tuesday, December 12, at 7PM. It’s free, there’s pizza, and it’s open to the public.

RSVP here: http://bit.ly/1fkjJBn

The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming!

paul-revere-by-wyeth
Paul Revere’s Ride by N.C. Wyeth (1922)

On Monday, the Chinese mobile phone manufacturer ZTE announced it will release its ZTE Open, a smartphone based off Mozilla’s FireFox OS (FxOS). Starting Friday, eBay will sell them exclusively in the US for $80, unlocked.

Few paid attention to this critical notice–a search on Google yielded only 39,600 results that day. By comparison, Apple also announced on Monday that it will be announcing its iPhone 5s on September 10–the web went wild with over 3,900,000 results.

If I had a horse in Silicon Valley, I would have recreated Paul Revere’s Ride down Sand Hill Road though I doubt that anyone would’ve noticed.

It’s a pity considering this: the ZTE Open is to the iPhone as the Chromebook is to the MacBook.

Here are a some more reasons why you need to pay attention:

  1. Laptop sales are crashing while smartphone sales are skyrocketing. Kudos to the Chinese for nailing the timing just right. Only 56% of Americans own a smartphone. The other 44% of Americans will within the next five years. An $80 contract-free smartphone will look far more appealing than an $800 iPhone for many late adopters and lower-income users.
  2. It’s the first smartphone developed for the developing world. Do the math. Only 1.5 billion of the 6.9 billion mobile phones in the world are smartphones. At $80 each, the ZTE Open is within reach of millions today and 100s of millions more as that price drops.
    zte_open
  3. The ZTE Open is ‘open.’ For you non-techies, the phone runs on Mozilla’s FireFox OS (FxOS), which is a lean, Linux-based platform. It’s truly an open standard. FxOS remains free of the Draconian developer restrictions of Apple, and similar, if more relaxed, requirements of Google. While this might expose phones to issues like malware, app developers have long complained about the high commissions paid and software review delays often tied to app stores.
  4. FxOS apps are limited, but lean: Unlike their Android and iOS relatives, these apps are strictly HTML5-based and have limited capabilities–no heavy data crunching or extreme graphics. That said, they also don’t require high-end processors. Since most people aren’t hardcore gamers and don’t manage servers from their phones, this isn’t an issue. FXOS app development is far easier and less complex as these are basically web applications. Many popular apps are already FxOS-ready: Angry Birds, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
  5. And it’s a mobile web world after all: The ZTE Open offers what few feature phones provide–access to the Internet as well as access Google Maps, news content and even email from an $80 (unlocked) smartphone.

Considering these points, how else will the ZTE Open impact our mobile world?

Target, Walmart & 20 Other Companies to Watch in Mobile

3FER-archived-edition

The dog days of summer are a time when most of us check out, escape to the cabin/beach/abroad and recharge. Many of us also take time to reflect for the coming fall.

This is a good time to look at mobile. More than 40% of American companies have yet to incorporate mobile into their customer acquisition and retention efforts.

If you’re one of them, consider this your opportunity to explore mobile further.

Here are five mobile stories that you might of missed in June:

#1: Smartphones & Americans
#2: Think Behavior, Not Equipment
#3: Target’s App Accelerator
#4: Mobile the Walmart Way
#5: 20 Mobile Startups to Watch
Bonus: Mobile Email Presentation

 

 

#1: Smartphones & Americans

Pew Research is one of the few organizations who’ve tracked the impact of mobile across many areas of American society. So when they publish data on smartphone ownership trends, it’s always a must read for marketers and app developers: http://bit.ly/13dw2bC

 

#2: Think Behavior, Not Equipment

Those distracted by “new shiny thingies” often are left little from their investment in mobile. (Think of the hordes of dead apps created after executives got their first smartphone.)  Companies that start by mapping mobile to customer behaviors reap higher rewards. Here’s a great AdAge piece on how this thinking applies to mobile advertising: http://bit.ly/11ATPB8

 

#3: Target’s App Accelerator

Internal innovation is tough for most enterprise-level companies, and Target is no exception. That’s why the retailing giant struck a partnership with FastCompany’s Co.Labs to uncover app innovators. Judging from the mix of winning finalists, the effort just might prove successful: http://bit.ly/122x8ZB

 

#4: Mobile the Walmart Way

Forrester provides a great summary from the CTIA presentation of Gibu Thomas, Walmart’s Global Head of Mobile. Here’s a tasty tidbit: Walmart’s mobile-engaged shoppers spend 77% more each month and make four more trips per month: http://bit.ly/13dpB8j

 

#5: 20 Mobile Startups to Watch

Lack of resources and big barriers to entry often drives revolutions. And while the mobile innovations that we see stateside are often “cute” (think SnapChat), the real mobile revolution is happening where we least expect it. Mashable highlights 20 mobile startups worth tracking…from Africa: http://bit.ly/11AUouz

 

Bonus: Mobile Email Presentation

I spoke late last month to about two dozen nonprofit techies and communicators on mobile’s impact on email. Over 40% of all email is now viewed on mobile devices. If you’re not optimized for them, you’re losing eyeballs, conversions and subscribers. You can grab a PDF of the presentation here.