The MoPR Blog

It’s a short, weird week here at MoPR what with the July 4 long weekend and Canada Day on July 1, so we’re bringing you the usual Friday blog post on Thursday.

So not J/K: Mobile phone users want text messaging. A new report by ACCESS Systems Americas, Inc. and conducted by independent research firm Amplitude Research says a whopping 73 percent of new cell phones buyers are demanding text messaging as a main feature. Texting capability demands were followed by Internet (61%) and email capabilities (63%). Also scoring big was music (34%) and video capability (33%). Users are increasingly using phones to check email: 41% of the survey respondents who use a cell phone with emailing capabilities said they send or check for emails one to five times a day.

Mobile advertising slowly climbing. According to a new study by BIGresearch , advertising account planners aren’t exactly piling on mobile advertising to their ad plans although phone users [90%] are increasing in numbers- meaning there’s a growing audience ready and waiting. The proverbial silver lining? The important and elusive 18-24 year old segment is increasingly being influenced by non-traditional forms of advertising.

According to the analysis, cell phones are much more likely to trigger an online search for young consumers than all adults (21.8% v. 8.3%), as is text messaging (15.3% v. 4.8%).

The 18-24 year old set is also more likely to download to a cell phone than the general market (31.6% v. 15.9%).

Interestingly, more than half (50.5%) of 18-24 year olds communicate with others about a service, product or brand via cell phone (compared to 29.6% of all adults), second only to face-to-face communication (66.9%). They are also almost three times as likely to communicate through text messaging than all adults (30.7% v. 10.8%).

The Twouble with Twitter. Our love/hate relationship with Twitter is not news. It seems the service is down more than up, while posts seem to magically disappear in front of our eyes. But now comes a potential competitor from Canada: Identi.ca.

Identi.ca, launched by Control Yourself, Inc.,  lets users post short messages which are then broadcast to friends in their social network using instant messages (IM), RSS feeds, and the Web.

According to the press release, “Identi.ca is similar to existing microblogging sites such as Twitter, Jaiku, or Pownce. Unlike those services, Identi.ca’s underlying software is available under an Open Source license.”

But like Twitter, it seems to be very slow - and down - frequently. Might not be the great Twitter killer everyone has been chatting about, but at this point it does have potential to be more open than Twitter.

Client news: Cascada announces Cascada Mobile Breeze. Our Toronto-based client, Cascada Mobile, officially announced its Breeze development platform on Monday. Breeze lets users create and distribute mobile applications using basic HTML and JavaScript. It’s really that simple. CEO Alan Lysnee shows some example apps here.

Client news: Talkster adds Skype and Google Talk compatibility. Long time MoPR client, Talkster announced its integration with Skype last week and kicked off this week with the announcement that its’ Free World Dialing Service can now be used from Google Talk for free calling in countries not yet supported by Talkster’s ad-supported calling service.  With the Skype integration, Talkster callers with Skype subscription plans can use their Skype account (and free local calling minutes) to make free international and group calls to cell phones and landlines in 34 countries.

Google Talk for the iPhone. Google has announced a new US version of Google Talk designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch. From Google’s press page:  “In addition to sending your friends Gmail messages from your iPhone, you can now chat with them while you’re on the move, too! Google Talk runs entirely in the browser so there’s no need to download or install anything.”

Mashable’s take? “It’s kinda useless.”

Take the Smartphone Challenge. The PhoneStore is hosting something they call The SmartPhone Challenge. Companies that take the challenge [though we’re unclear what the actual challenge is] can test five BlackBerry devices programmed with their phone number, email and contacts with full managed Microsoft Exchange hosting and BlackBerry Enterprise Server Hosting from Rackspace, for 10 days at no charge. According to the website users can select a date, provide the information then launch the 10-day challenge. Hats off to the PhoneStore for a great promo campaign [and a hat tip to Blackberry Cool].

Network TV may be coming to an end.  Well, so says Tivo CEO Tom Rogers.  In a letter addressed to shareholders on July 30, Rogers mapped out the issues, and potential failure, of network television.  The main concern being advertising, and how products like Tivo have nearly dissolved the delicate balance between advertisers and networks.

“We are very worried for the industry… Because we do not believe as a whole that it is responding urgently enough to the massive dislocations these new dynamics will create . . .  Easy commercial avoidance in the next two to three years will create such an overwhelming challenge to the economics of television that it will rock the very foundation of the industry…” said Rogers.

So what’s the solution?  Rogers says it’s creating ad solutions.  And I agree.

As television audiences are whizzing past commercials, thanks to Tivo and other DVRs, advertisers are beginning to wonder what they are spending their money on.  It feels very similar to what is going on right now in the newspaper industry.  Why would advertisers spend precious budgets on a print edition, when the online source is viewed more widely?

But with television, there is still a way to draw in advertisers.  Creative ideas like product placement and digital ad overlays are becoming the industry’s new alternative to commercial advertising.

Product placement is nothing new to the television industry and is an advertising method that has been used for years.  However, with the “fast forward” button glued to the fingers of audiences, product placement is now being recognized as a necessity to the advertising world.

Next time you’re watching an episode of “Flavor of Love”, check and see what flavor has been paid for.  Are they sipping on Pepsi or Coke?  And on “Desperate Housewives”, what cool car can they be seen driving around Wisteria Lane?  My suspicion is that these products will increase almost exponentially as the television revolution continues to leave advertisers in the dust.

But the other alternative that is making waves within the industry is digital ad overlays.  RGB Networks’ Jeff Tyre recently published an article highlighting the importance of digital ad overlays stating that the “value of overlaying text, graphics and images and full-motion video has been proven by broadcasters, who for years have used overlays for various applications, such as branding content with their logos, providing real-time supplemental information such as stock market tickers and local weather updates, as well as schedule-based supplemental advertising information.”

So as ad sales continue to decrease, pay close attention to the changes that will be taking place on your big screen.  Are more actors typing on Macs?  Are you seeing more of an increase in car ads popping up in the right hand corner of your TV?  Viewers be prepared; there is a definite change in the advertising industry taking place…and it’s up to YOU to determine if it will prove successful!

Telecom provider Orange announced this week the continuation of their partnership with alternative energy company GotWind that will create a new cell phone charger powered by the kinetic energy of the human body.

The renewable energy junkies and Orange will be providing the new technology for this year’s Glastonbury music festival in Somerset, England.

Last year, the company provided a rechargepod the world’s first mobile charging station powered solely by wind and solar energy, according to the folks at GotWind.

The pod, a seven meter high tent placed at music fest and mounted with a wind charger, gave the nearly 175,000 attendees at the three-day celebration the chance to recharge their phones outdoors and away from traditional sources of power.

“With a peak power of 1Kw, the pod can recharge 100 mobile phones per hour, and stores any unused energy in its battery bank,” GotWind explains on their site. “A fully functional weather station and power generated and consumed readout is also viewable for all to see on an information panel within the pod.”

This year, GotWind and Orange are adding a new extra to the festival in addition to the rechargepod, a phone charger that users can wear on their arm, the Orange Dance Charge, powering their batteries through dance energy. Check out the press release.

MSNBC explained that the prototype chargers weigh the same as a phone and are about the size of a pack of cards, packed with weights and magnets storing the current in a battery that can later be used to charge your mobile.

So dance the night away and get something out of it other than an endorphin rush. You’re going to do it anyway, so you might as well harness your own energy to power your mobile, right?

You might not see the need for recharging your cell phone at a music festival meant to put people outdoors rocking out. Not the most opportune time to talk to your buddies. Shouldn’t you be taking a break from your hectic schedule and email?  But if you think about the thousands of people, young and old, in attendance, moseying across nearly 900 acres of farm land, the need for communication between groups within the festival atmosphere is essential.

I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve lost my friends in the crowd a concert. How will we know where we’re going to meet up afterwards if my battery dies? And what if I want to take a picture of Radiohead with my phone to send to my boyfriend who missed the concert?

As soon as I started thinking about it, it totally made sense, besides being environmentally friendly and a model for alternative energy in the grander scheme of things.

“The rechargepod will act as a trial in using renewable energy sources on a larger scale, with a view to ultimately powering elements of the Chill n’ Charge tent at future Glastonbury Festivals,” Orange and GotWind explained in their press release. “It is more important than ever that we continue to innovate and demonstrate how mobile technology can help bring people together and make festival life a little bit easier, whilst in-keeping with the traditions of the Glastonbury Festival,” an Orange rep explained.

The pod will be located within one of the campgrounds at Glastonbury and is totally free for all to use. A few prototypes of the armband will be tested at the festival as well.

ITWire reports that Orange will promote the armband charger with an interactive “Dance Charging Man” (I can see it now) who will help recharge phones by dancing with the people who need their phones re-charged.

As a backpacker, the idea of harnessing kinetic energy is super-compelling.

I could charge my GPS if I get lost in the snow. Emergency personnel or forest firefighters could have a backup plan if radios or equipment died (don’t scoff at this—those fire people do a lot of digging and chopping in teams that would create a ton of power). Of course the ability to charge my iPod might be nice, but it’s not that big of a concern when I’m hiking 25 miles into the woods. I don’t really want electricity to enter into that equation; however, it could provide some useful developments, like an electric stove to cut down on propane costs.

Keep the great ideas coming GotWind. We’re listening.