Weekend reading - July 11
Friday, July 11th, 2008If you are wondering where our iPhone post is, we didn’t write one – there are plenty of posts to read on the subject already.
We DID take a snap of the line of the Apple store at a shopping mall here in Portland on Friday though:
Now, on to the weekly reading list…
On the endangered list: Postcards. A new survey from M:Metrics says that photo messaging from mobile phones has grown 60 percent in the U.S. and 16 percent in Europe over the past year. As the mercury climbs in the summer months, so does the usage of photo messaging in the United States, where for the past three years, photo messaging rates have been far higher than average in July and August.
Surprisingly, the usage comes from all age demographics, not just the vaunted 18-24 group. The fastest growth is coming from teens [no surprise here] and those older than 35. In the more developed European market, the strongest growth is coming from those ages 55 years and older.
Mobile Internet Usage Explodes. Forty million US mobile subscribers (15.6 percent) actively use the mobile Internet, making the US a leader in mobile Internet adoption, according to a report released by The Nielsen Company. In 16 countries tracked, the US leads, followed by the UK (12.9 percent) and Italy (11.9 percent).
Among other key takeaways from the report is the finding that advertising is becoming a key part of the mobile Internet experience with 26 percent of mobile Internet users viewing ads while using the mobile Internet. Those surfing the mobile Internet were found to be more receptive to mobile advertising than the average data user.
The report also believes that the U.S. mobile Internet market, with 40 million active users, has reached “a critical mass for mobile Internet marketing.”
Banner ads get new life. Are you a fan of banner ads? Yeah, neither are we. But they must work – for someone – because they are a part of the Web’s landscape as much as anything else. If they haven’t been blocked by pop-up blockers, static ads for reconnecting to old classmates or getting mortgage loans are omnipresent.
However, banner ads might be getting more interesting and interactive soon. Spongecell [LINK] has been developing new interactive banner ads that let advertisers “produce engaging and relevant information” on banner ads.
The Spongecell technology lets advertisers push out their messaging to calendars, social profiles, mobile devices and home pages. For instance if it’s a banner ad announcing an event, an end-users can send the times and dates to their Facebook page, add it to their calendar and even invite friends – right from the ad itself.
Go here and play with a sample ad.
Symbian adds allies to Foundation. According to Network World , The Symbian Foundation has gained more companies joining the organization, including mobile operators 3, América Móvil and TIM as well as semiconductor manufacturer Marvell services and software providers Aplix, EB, EMCC Software, Sasken and TietoEnator. About 150 organizations have registered their interest in joining, says Network World.
The foundation is developing a new operating system for mobile devices with the first release available next year.
The Symbian Foundation was announced last month, when Nokia acquired the Symbian operating system. Nokia has plans to turn over the mobile operating system to the foundation for development.
