Link

Location based SMS is coming to the UK with O2 signing a deal to deliver Starbucks offers via SMS to anyone opted in and within a certain location to a Starbucks.

Retailers can now set up a GeoFence around their outlet that acts like an invisible field. Shoppers who have opted in to receive location based offers via SMS will trigger a response when they move in or out of the perimeter that has been set. Successful tests have been carried out in the US with big brands like North Face texting customers special offers and product information.

Today Apple’s site was down for a while, and now we know why – the release of the Magic Trackpad.  For $69, this nifty gadget is the first Multi-Touch trackpad designed to work with Mac desktop computers. So, finally all of us MacBook users can have the same feel with the desktop. Simple. Magic Trackpad acts as a replacement mouse or can be used with one on a Mac pc, connecting to the computer via Bluetooth, this means you can use it up to 33 feet away from your machine. Not only this, but the Magic Trackpad is made in the same lightweight material as the touchpad on the Macbook and sits by its side at the same height and angle. It enables you to use all the multi-touch gestures you would use with the MacBook. As well as this, it’s pretty environmentally friendly, as the trackpad runs on two AA batteries and works for “months” at a time as it senses periods of inactivity and powers down. Apple have been busy haven’t they!

On the Tonight Show Jay Leno quipped that Jobs was staring in the film 'Reception?' an obvious play on the recent hit film 'Inception'

Lets just go back 3 weeks and remember the launch of the iPhone 4. Immediate complaints about signal died ensued. Then there were thousands of tweets that the problem could be solved with sticky tape and nail varnish. Still no word from Apple. Then what happened? Rather than admitting there was a problem, Apple blamed left-handed iPhone 4 users for the signal problems. Apple even claimed that the left-handed “death grip” bar-dropping problem happens on the BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris, and Samsung Omnia II, Steve Jobs declared “We’re not perfect” and commented that reception problems were endemic throughout the smartphone industry (this definitely ruffled a few feathers). In the meantime, Apple couldn’t produce enough rubber bumpers to deal with the antenna problem and its share prices dropped by 4%, cutting $9.9bn (£6.5bn) off its $230bn value as a direct result of this situation.

So what can be learned from this fiasco? Well, firstly, Apple should have been open with its customers. Instead of maintaining that icy ‘Apple façade’ and their policy of ‘we know best’, Apple should have admitted the glitches from the very start and no doubt people would have been less angry. According to PR experts, a total recall would have been appropriate too, but this would have been far too costly. Secondly, blaming the problems on the consumer is generally a big no-no. People don’t want to spend money on a phone only to be told its their fault that it doesn’t work properly. Plus, you can’t blame sticking the wrong buttons on the volume controls on the consumer now can you? Luckily, Steve Jobs made a public apology to customers on 16^th July during a press conference at Apple’s Headquarters and offered a free case to each iPhone 4 user.

So eventually Apple have done the right thing (sort of) and rumour has it that supplying a plastic case to all three million customers could cost Apple about £118m. This, hopefully, should put an end to the signal problems, and Apple’s woes, although users will have to wait up to 4 weeks to receive their case and must apply by 30^th September 2010.

In the words of Paul Miller at Engadget, ‘this will probably satisfy some, infuriate others, and never even blip onto the radar of many of the massive horde of consumers that’s devoured this product in unprecedented numbers.’

With the arrival of the tablet and in particular the iPad, comes the looming question surrounding the fate of the printed press. Will the arrival of the tablet on the market change the publishing world forever?

In the past we used the internet to search for specific news and information whereas now, we can access a constant stream of news that interests us, we are more savvy and know exactly where we want to get that information. So where exactly does this leave printed media? Has the newspaper died a death? Book lovers can rest assured that magazines, books and newspapers will be around for some to come, but no doubt they will eventually look more Harry Potteresque with pictures of moving people than they do at the moment.

Consumption habits are changing but the trend for compiling and carrying your favourite book, newspaper, social networking site and tv programme all around with you on a simple device is certainly here to stay. People are more on the move now than they ever were and with this physical mobility comes the thought ‘why should I buy one magazine to read on the way to work when I can read everything in it and more on my iPhone or download it from a website and still fit it in my pocket?

Well, the publishing world has responded to this in several ways in order to maintain our interest. The Times, for example, has launched its pay wall, charging a subscription fee of £2 a week whilst the Guardian has vowed to keep its website free. Which strategy is best and most importantly, which will survive? From a personal point of view, I couldn’t really justify paying £10 a month to read the Times online when I can get news from a rich variety of sources for absolutely free. It makes more sense for me to download a newspaper app such as the Guardian’s which costs £2.30 than pay £2 a week to use The Times website. It’s early days yet, but if people feel that the Times can offer them something that they cannot find elsewhere then they will most probably pay to read it. So, how are other companies dealing with this issue?

In June, Mobile Monday London hosted its latest event, ‘Mobile Meets Media #2’ in which it discussed exactly these issues. Its panelists came from the BBC, BSkyB, Mojiva and Teletext Mobile. Some very interesting information came from the panelists, such as that from Jason Daponte, Managing Editor of mobile at BBC, who confirmed that the video watching peak on BBC online occurs right after prime time, (late evening) and that the iPhone accounts for 80% of the BBC’s mobile websites readers.

So, now that mobile technology is finally being harnessed to suit mobile users habits and needs, what more can we expect? Obviously there is a lot to be straightened out, such as moving away from the website style of many mobile apps and developing a unique mobile experience, but we can definitely say that news is no longer going to be static. At the moment it’s all about tweeting, and making sure that your brand reaches customers. Be that through videos or Geo gaming we’re excited about the possibilities open to the mobile world. Watch this space.

Hilton Hotels Corporation has seen a massive spike in revenue from its mobile channel in the past year.

The hotel giant has reported a return on investment of $44 for every $1 invested in mobile in 2009, compared with a $22 return for every $1 invested in 2008.

Speaking at the EyeforTravel conference at World Travel Market, director of website strategy and testing Chris La Rose, said the return on investment had been achieved without marketing.

He also said the company had seen a 59% mobile revenue increase for the third quarter of 2009 compared with the first quarter of the year.

La Rose added that mobile investment was 0.1% of Hilton’s online spend. “It’s going to explode. I see a day when mobile will do more business than online. We are having the same conversations about mobile that we had about online 10 years ago.”

He also said the company wanted to be device agnostic and expand internationally with some of the functionality it offers to US customers, such as a facility to request items on arrival including both free and fee-based items.

The company is also about to release an iPhone application in the US for its Doubletree brand. According to research from EyeforTravel, payment and booking security are the two elements holding back the development of mobile usage in the travel sector.

La Rose also predicted that infrastructure would become an issue because of the increasing number of applications being developed. “We’re unleashing all these applications but the infrastructure was not really built to cope with all this. I see performance being a big issue.”

As consumers, we are increasingly struggling to pay off personal loans, credit card debt is mounting and direct debit payments are increasingly popular with merchants and banks.

[Read Article]

Mobile Marketer

Read the full article at Mobile Marketeer