The MoPR Blog

It is no secret that Generation Y, or Millennials, are a driving force in the consumer market. Especially the youngest half of the generation; teenagers today don’t have any experience of the world before cell phones, computers, the Internet and iPods. They simply can’t help it; they’re tech savvy by default.  They are what we call digital natives.  If you’re not a digital native, you are a digital immigrant. A digital immigrant is an individual who grew up without digital technology but adopted it later in life.

In addition to teaching the digital immigrants a thing or two about how technology can enhance their lives, digital natives are dictating in a major way the technology products and services coming to market – especially in the world of mobility.

A recent study by the CTIA, in conjunction with Harris Interactive, shows today’s teenagers are not only shaping what mobility is but also what it will be in the future.

According to the study, second to clothing, teens say a cell phone tells the most about a person’s popularity, beating out jewelry, watches and shoes (Does anyone remember the last time your “kicks” determined your coolness?).

It isn’t shocking that along with being completely emerged in technology 24/7 that a majority (57%) see their cell phone as a key to their social life  - which, let’s be honest, is pretty much EVERYTHING to you when you’re a teenager.

Teens also adapt to learning these new technologies much faster. In fact teens have learned their way around mobile phone technology so well that 42% of them are able to text message while blindfolded.

A quick experiment proved this to be true.

Me, age 25, texting to my younger cousin (with T9 predictive text on): hew can you fm of a favorite an try to text me w. eyes close.

Him, age 19, replies: Can you email me that so I can understand what you want?

Me, emailing him right away: Hey can you do me a favor and try to text me w/ your eyes closed? Let’s try ‘I have many leather bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.’” (From the movie Anchorman for those who don’t know.)

Him, within three minutes, texts me:  I have many leather bound books and my apartment smells me rich mahogany. signed with love, ron burgundy

Figures… only one error and some improv.

Texting has become its own language amongst teens, and according to the study, teens spend an equal amount of time texting as they do talking. I can see why, and it’s my preferred method of communication as well. I find it’s quick, easy and allows for me to respond when I feel like it. I apparently just can’t do it blindfolded.

Since we are an iPhone office (all employees receive an iPhone, standard issue), I’ve heard some from our team say that they have become “text lazy” due to the ease of not only typing and sending text messages from the iPhone, but also managing the multiple text conversations they have with people throughout the day.

Since the iPhone archives all of your texts and presents them in an easy to read format by individual conversation, it’s simple to keep track of multiple text conversations at once. As a side note, there is NO WAY we could text blindfolded on the iPhone, but we have heard that there are haptics. features coming someday soon to the iPhone, which would aid us in our efforts to push the blindfolded text messaging envelope. You can read more about haptics and what it can bring to the iPhone.

Oh, and for all of you digital immigrants wondering what I was talking about when I said I was texting with T9 enabled, here is a quick primer for you on a text tool that could help you get a whole lot better at texting really quickly.

T9 stands for Text on 9 keys. It is software that comes preloaded on many mobile devices to make it faster and easier to type text on numeric keypads. T9 text input has been licensed by nearly all of the world’s leading mobile phone manufactures. Here are some tips for effectively using T9.

The same Harris Interactive study we sited above also provided some insights on mobile gaming usage stating that, one in three teens play games on their phones.  The study revealed that if cost weren’t a factor, more teens would likely play games on their phone assuming they were offered a good selection of games to choose from.  Luckily for mobile gaming companies like Hovr, which offers hundreds of ad-supported mobile games for free, 48% of teens also don’t mind seeing advertising on their phones.

We’d like to leave you with one final thought, and that is: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. This adage applies for many things in life.

For this post, let’s consider it sound advice for those who can text blindfolded. Just because you don’t need your eyes on your phone to text DOES NOT mean you should text while driving, while walking across the street or while multitasking in some other dangerous way. Be safe! And save those killer blindfolded text skills for a party trick.
This post was co-authored by MoPR’s Melissa Burns and Holly Woolard.

E-liar: Emails don’t always tell the truthTwo new studies claim that email in the workplace is more deceptive than writing – and people feel justified about it when they do lie online. According to a piece on LiveScience.com, two different studies came to the same conclusion that email makes it easier to lie, mostly by hiding behind email and disguising verbal clues that might give them away. One study had students email information about a money amount to other students and “those students using email lied about the amount of money to be divided more than 92 percent of the time, while less then 64 percent lied when writing by hand,” according to LiveScience.com

Most employed Americans employ email or the Internet at work [that’s actually not a lie]. A new survey by Pew Research Center shows that 62 percent of adults who are currently employed use the Internet or email at work with mixed views about the impact of technology on their work lives. The good news is that those surveyed say they enjoy the benefits of “increased connectivity and flexibility that the Internet and all of their various gadgets afford them at work.” On the other hand, many workers say these tools have added stress and new demands to their lives.

One of the major impacts of the Internet and cell phones is that they have enabled more people to work occasionally from home. Some 45 percent of employed Americans report doing at least some work from home and 18 percent of working Americans say they do job-related tasks at home almost daily. The downside is that 50 percent of employed email users say they check their work-related email on the weekends.

A Twitter for the enterprise? Where Twitter asks “What are you doing?,” Yammer, a new tool for “making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers,” asks: “What are you working on?”  How does this make employees more productive? Yammer works like this: As employees answer that question, a feed is created in one central location enabling co-workers to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions, and share links and other information. Yammer also serves as a company directory in which every employee has a profile and provides a knowledge base where past conversations can be easily accessed and referenced. The basic Yammer service is free, though companies can pay to claim and administer their networks. Our only question is how secure are these sensitive conversations?

Texting more popular than calling? According to Nielsen Mobile it is. New research released shows that the typical U.S. mobile subscriber now sends and receives more SMS text messages than they do mobile telephone calls. As of Q2 2008, a typical U.S. mobile subscriber sends or receives 357 text messages per month, compared to placing or receiving 204 phone calls.  Though the number of calls has remained relatively steady, the number of text messages is up 450 percent from the previous two years. The research also found that the typical U.S. teen mobile subscriber (ages 13–17) now sends or receives 1,742 text messages per month (compared to making or receiving 231 mobile phone calls).

Me! My favorite subject! New research from the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin claims that users of social network sites [and in the study, specifically Facebook] may hint at a rabid case of narcissism. As reported on Scientificblogging.com the research says that the “tremendous growth of social networking sites has led psychologists to explore how personality traits are expressed online.”

The results indicate that not everyone on Facebook is narcissistic, just the ones with lots of Facebook friends and wallposts. Narcissists are also more likely to choose glamorous, self-promoting pictures for their main profile photos, while others are more likely to use snapshots.

Best quote from the article:

It just turns out that narcissists are using Facebook the same way they use their other relationships – for self promotion with an emphasis on quantity over quality.

Isn’t that pretty much everyone on Facebook?

As the year slowly starts to wind down, the tradeshows and events in the mobile and wireless space just keep on coming. One show right on the horizon is Mobile Internet World 2008, being held October 21-23 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Billed as “the leading conference and expo for connecting the people, technologies and trends that will shape the future of the mobile Internet,” the show promises to deliver some outstanding themes and tracks. And, proving how important mobile technologies have become in the past few years, the three-day conference is expanding its agenda to cover mobile Internet trends; open platform development standards; mobile transactions, and ultra-mobile devices.

Event themes will range from “monetizing mobile Internet applications” to “application development,” while the show will offer an 8-track program that features mobile Internet business models and mobile content & entertainment, among other important and relevant sessions.

The conference will include keynotes and networking sessions from a wide variety of industry thought leaders from companies such as Intel, Verizon Wireless, Google, Sprint Nextel, and Yahoo. Keynote speakers will include some industry heavyweights, for example:

• Steve Elfman –President of Network Operations, Sprint Nextel
• Anthony Lewis –VP of Open Development, Verizon Wireless
• Rich Miner -EVP of Mobile, Google
• Anand Chandrasekher, SVP, GM,Ultra Mobility Group, Intel
• Len Lauer –COO, Qualcomm
• Emily Nagle Green –CEO, Yankee Group
• Bruce Stewart –VP & GM, Connected Life Americas, Yahoo!
• Ian McKerlich, Director of Mobile Web and Content Services, T-Mobile USA

Networking sessions promise to showcase some of the mobile industry’s brightest talents and technologies including the following tracks and events:

The Mobile Web Developer Challenge - Featuring some of the most exciting new applications available on over 5,000 device types, including games, portals, social networking and more. Developers will compete for prizes worth over $40,000.

The Mobile Internet Innovation Awards - These awards will recognize leaders in the development and deployment of mobile internet technology.

The RFID Special Interest Group - Presented by the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge to offer best-practice examples of where RFID technology fits in enterprise and public-sector applications.

The Google Android Developers Workshop – Highlighting Google’s wireless platform strategy and how companies can effectively build Android applications.

Based on conversations with the show organizers it sounds like this year’s show has added opportunities for attendees and media to experience hands-on the latest application and service innovations available in the mobile Internet market.

Go here for more information on the show. As we get news and other details on this event we will be sure to share them here as well.