Tag Archives: iPad

Mobile Devices Make Traveling Easier

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“Mobile is growing over 100 percent per year. Consumers are really moving toward mobile devices for all aspects of their lives, including travel.”  Chicago Tribune

With that in mind, popular travel site Orbitz.com is preparing to beef up its mobile offerings for your iPad, iPhone and Android devices. All of the normal searching, comparing and booking of flights, motels and rental cars you do at home on your desktop will now be done on the run. The mobile address is m.orbitz.com

They will also have mobile-only discounts, called Mobile Steals, for last-minute bookings. Orbitz claims that 65% of their mobile bookings are for same-day travel needs.

So, have you used your mobile device for travel bookings? Is it convenient? Do you trust it? Better or worse than the old way? Let us know!

Mobile Consumption by the Numbers

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Yahoo has recently conducted a big study on the numbers and ways we are using our smartphones for entertainment, specifically how much time we watch mobile video. Check it out!

How many of us are using mobile web?

According to the Yahoo study, 54% are spending more time on mobile web than a year ago.

How are we using mobile web?

  • 38% of mobile consumers used the mobile Web to connect with other users.
  • 16% used mobile Web to search
  • 15% used it for entertainment

And the time spent watching video on mobile has increased nearly 30%

What kinds of entertainment?

  • 42% gaming video content
  • 34% movie clips and trailers
  • 33% full-length TV shows and movies or sports coverage
  • 32% celebrity, beauty or fashion video content on their devices
  • 14% political coverage

When?

The majority of time spent happens before 1 p.m.

Are we satisfied with what we are seeing?

Are you kidding? We’re AMERICANS! 60% of us are still looking for a better user experience and expect more!

So that’s the rundown. You’re welcome to check out the original article but, frankly, it’s a tough read! How about you? Are you using mobile web for entertainment? Has your use increased?

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

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It was just a couple of weeks ago that we were discussing Apple impresario Steve Jobs’ retirement. Now we have learned of his passing.

By no means am I in the die-hard Steve Jobs Admiration Society. Not until recently, when I worked for a company whose entire business was making accessories for Apple products, did I give Mr. Jobs much thought. But I have to say that he was a trailblazer. He didn’t just make awesome products to satisfy our needs – he anticipated our needs and invented an entire industry to meet them. In this way, he has been (rightly, I believe) likened to a modern-day Thomas Edison.

So today, that’s what I would like to focus upon, as opposed to speculating on the effect on Apple’s shares. Just yesterday, we had the first big Apple teleconference without him, and many were under-whelmed. Who knows? Maybe they were anticipating the news.

So what do you think?

Steve Jobs Passes the Torch

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Steve Jobs will be remembered as the Edison of mobile: his numerous Apple products have impacted the work, home and play lives of hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide.  …MobileMarketer.com

People weren’t exactly stunned by this week’s news about Steve Jobs. His health has been a long-running concern for the past several years. The day when he would take a big step back in the day-to-day operations at Apple had to come eventually, and so it has.

Mobile Marketer pulled together a bunch of quotes from industry types about Steve Jobs’ influence on personal computing, entertainment, marketing…it goes on and on! Here are some highlights:

With the iPhone, Steve Jobs reimagined what the smartphone could be and ushered in a new level of sophistication in mobile marketing.

Before Steve Jobs, mobile phones were about making phone calls with a few peripheral features. Now, voice calls are the peripheral feature.

He knew he could get people excited about products they didn’t know they wanted and almost certainly don’t need.

…he has turned Apple Computer around to become just Apple – the leading consumer technology brand in the world.

He did this not because he’s a great developer, engineer or even product designer, but because he’s probably the greatest marketer and showman in technology.

He provided true market leadership that not only transformed Apple but forced all of their competitors to innovate.

I might even say, that aside from Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin, there might not have been a more significant contributor to changing so many aspects of our world.

Those are some highlights. There are plenty more quotes HERE.   So what do you think? Is Steve Jobs a genius? A master showman? Completely overrated? Have his products “changed your life?” Let us know!

No Escape from Ads?

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Watching TV, it seems like there is a commercial every 5 minutes. On your PC, it’s hard to escape the pop-ups. By comparison, your mobile device is sort of an escape from Ad-madness – but maybe not for long.

According on an advertising exec quoted in a recent article in Adweek, advertisers know that:

There are over three times the number of mobile subscribers as there are TV subscribers, he said. Globally, it’s the most adopted technology and media channel in history. The engagement rates are higher. And inventory, thanks to 24-hour access to users, is unmatched.

Engagement rates means that, unlike the TV that blasts ads at you without your consent, online you choose to Click Here, meaning you are interested in the product on some level.

So, far, mobile ad spending is a drop in the bucket compared to TV, but a lot of advertising geniuses expect that to change. The question is, how will you feel when there’s just as much advertising on your mobile as there is on TV and PC? Let us know!

*  BTW, the art department spent literally minutes on the opening picture!

Marketers Targeting Smartphone Moms

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I see a young mom at the grocery pushing a fully loaded cart with a 2-year-old boy in the seat. Standby for the screaming tantrum, right? Except not. All is at peace…because the kid’s watching cartoons on mom’s iPad.

About a week later, I saw this article on WashingtonPost.com that says that moms with smartphones:

…are becoming a new kind of shopping force online. A decade ago, these women were single and childless 18- to 34-year-olds who captured the hearts of Madison Avenue marketing executives with their voracious consumer appetites. Now, they are older and often in charge of the household wallet.

 Apparently, advertisers have been studying the habits of regular “desktop moms” for years, coming up with new ways to grab their attention. But now, mobile moms are busting out, becoming the fastest growing segment of smartphone users. And they are among the Web’s biggest spenders, either buying directly from mobile apps or researching products that they buy later.

So what’s your favorite way that your mobile device interacts with your shopping habits? Research? Couponing? Purchases? Or simply shutting up your 2 year old? Let us know!

Consumed with Apps!

This was the year that smartphones and tablets like the iPad and Galaxy outsold desktop and laptop PCs. So, has this development changed the way we spend our time with mobile apps? Well, if you consider DOUBLING it a change, then yes!

There’s a group called Flurry that monitors the mobile app industry – something like 85,000 apps – and they have conducted a study of how our behavior has changed over the last year. Here’s a chart:

That’s a 91% increase! And how are we dividing up that time?

  • 47% Games
  • 32% Social Networking
  • 09% News
  • 07% Entertainment
  • 05% Other

How about you? Did you get a smartphone or tablet this year? Has your behavior changed? Let us know!

AND EVERYBODY HAVE A FUN, SAFE INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

iPad Pulling Away?

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This is not an endorsement of any particular personal tablet computer. But chances are, if you or someone you know has one, it’s an iPad. Lately, you are seeing lots of ads for competitive tablets. But, a recent article in the New York Times, entitled “IPad Rivals Fail to Gain Traction”… says that, um, iPad rivals are failing to gain traction.

According to an analyst’s report issued by JPMorgan Chase:

…companies building products to compete with the iPad have slowed production by as much as 10 percent since this time last March. At that time, the report said, competing tablet companies created 81 million tablets; this year the number has fallen to 73 million.

You don’t have to ask an iPad user if he’s happy – and you might not want to, because he won’t shut up about it 😉 …But are there any non-iPad tablet users out there, like Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy? What do you think? Are you happy with your device?