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Category Archives: mobile

The Walpole EBusiness Forum 2011

We attended The Walpole’s prestigious ‘Luxury EBusiness Forum’ yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

TheWalpole

We thoroughly enjoyed insights from David Duplantis, EVP of Global Web and Digital Media for Coach. Within his talk he revealed that Coach’s e-commerce doubled last year and will double again next year – a feat that he in part puts down to the brand’s strong social media activity. Having taken over an unofficial Coach Facebook page and relaunched it with an in-store gift with purchase. Coach also invests heavily in its blogger outreach – a range of influencers that David said “makes a brand more believable”. Later in a panel discussing mobile commerce, David added: “Optimising your web store for mobile might not be the right thing if your customers only search for store location details on their mobile device”.

Imran Ahmed, Founder and editor of the Business of Fashion, began the seminar’s talks by discussing everything from digital marketing to mobile commerce. On the subject of social media he said: “Advertising interrupts, whilst social sharing is an earned media”.

The afternoon session held more enlightening discussions with panels including Jorg Henson of Ventee-Privee, Caroline Rolfe of Links of London, James Quarles of Facebook and Michael Ward of Harrods.

Here are some more quotes from the day’s speakers – including Imran Amed, the founder and editor of the Business of Fashion, and Martin Gill, Principal Analyst for Forrester Research – that we found encouraging…

  • By 2020, there will be 10 billion mobile-connected devices in the world
  • Mobile video makes up 47% of peak hour traffic
  • By 2014-15, mobile internet will be the mainstream technology
  • 39% of people who research a product on the internet will end up purchasing it

Blackberry Botox…Has the world gone mad?!

botox

Apparently we’re going to get premature wrinkles from squinting at our smartphones all day. Yes, smartphones are the anti-beauty phenomenon. Women are now being told by doctors such as Dr. Louis Sebagh that staring at a small screen for multiple hours of the day will cause lines to develop around their eyes and brows. This is obviously not good news. No one wants to have a scrunched up face that resembles a prune. Especially not prematurely!

In retaliation women are now resorting to Botox to ensure they look fresh and young. Extreme? Yes. But necessary..?

Well, probably yes. I will put money on this story being true. The reason is that I seem to spend hours with my head hung, looking down at my phone whilst out and about, and occasionally I’ll catch my reflection and be positively horrified by the contorted image that is staring back at me. Not only does the very usage of smartphones trouble me because of the physical damage it is doing, but it makes everyone using them look like they’ve suddenly aged ten years and developed “triple-chin disease”. It’s ugly and I can’t believe something hasn’t been done until now!

So in a vain attempt to help you all overcome this ailment of sagging skin and frown lines I have compiled a list of tips that should help you avoid all manner of Botox.

I shall call it: Pimp that Wrinkle…

1 ) Wear a hat with a strategically placed elastic contraption that is attached to a your smartphone positioning it at a perfect 45 degree angle above your eye-level so that in order to use it you must look up. This will stretch your neck muscles, and ensure you don’t get jowls.

2) Elegantly pin your face back with skin-coloured masking tape so that you cannot frown, blink or move your mouth. No one will notice. Promise.

3) Only use your smartphone when lying horizontally and smiling. This is an incredibly comfortable option that can be used as an excuse for a kip: “I’m just going to lie-down and use my smartphone I have so many important people I need to contact, it could take me at least a few hours!” Actual meaning: “I’m just going to have a snooze, don’t you dare try and wake me.”

4) Get a smartphone PA, they can receive and respond to all messages and take the wrinkle hit on your behalf.  (Warning: the may charge you for their subsequent Botox bill).

5) Read your screen whilst hanging upside down from the ceiling. This may give you a head rush and occasional people may mistake you for a bat, however, rest assured you will not suffer the ailments previously mentioned.

There that is the list. If you do have any further suggestions please do send them into us! We’re sure there’s loads more we haven’t thought of to combat this dreadful ailment!

Geotargeting: how do geolocation devices engage audiences?

geo locationOnline advertising now accounts for 24.3% of all advertising. The important question is: does online advertising engage you?

Everything, in reality, boils down to one thing: relevance. How much does it mean to you? If you get bored after eight seconds the chances are it not captured your attention or interest.

The reason Geotargeting, known as IP Intelligence, is so effective for any website or online community is because it can pinpoint your position exactly, and using that information deduce how best to market a product or brand to you. It can help companies know the number of people abroad accessing their site, and thereby determine whether or not translating into other languages is needed.

For example if you have a sports related site and notice that a large contingent of users from a particular city or region are not currently covered on your pages, you might consider adding coverage to that area so that you maximise your potential reach.

If you are travelling from London to Paris using Gowalla, you can quickly inform relatives and friends of your exact location so that they can estimate you time of arrival and incorporate other activities into their day allowing for efficient time use. More importantly however, you can share information such as where you have been travelling to, share experiences and recommend places to visit.

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For companies, geotargeting means they can tailor their websites to you and ensure you return. Shop websites such as that of Waitrose or Tesco’s can tell you are logging in from Manchester and therefore ensure the news, adverts and promotions that pop up on your screen are relevant to the supermarkets in your area.  From an advertisers perspective this means their products are more likely to be of interest to the consumer and it creates a instant connection with visitors because they feel they are being taken care of.

The future of geotargeting depends on whether there is a backlash to this sort of targeted marketing from the public. So far, the fact that people can opt in or out gives it a greater flexibility. Not everyone wants their friends to know their every movement, similarly, many do not want shops to bombard them with advertising and promotions.

We all like to save time, apps have already reduced the amount of time we spend surfing the web and now geotargeting is developing this further by making everything more personal and specific to our needs. Like our subconscious, geotargeting has a funny way of knowing who we are, where we are, and what we want.

10 handy iPad tips!

Here at GA we love the iPad. Not only is it a snazzy little tool, perfect for meetings held outside of GA HQ, but it’s also another mobile device for us to check when designing a new website, or optimizing older ones.

Using the iPad isn’t exactly rocket science, but there are a few tricks which may not be so apparent from the out start (especially if, like us, you were so eager to get going that you didn’t take the time to read the manual!).

So here for you, dear readers, are some handy iPad tips and tricks which you may find useful…

1. Open Safari Links in a New Page

Remember that you can load multiple webpages in Safari simultaneously. So, if you don’t want to leave your current page, you can open the link in a new window (like tabbed browsing, but without the tabs).

To do this, instead of just tapping the link, press and hold it until you see the option to “Open in New Page”. Hit this, and Safari will open a new window and load that link.

How to open safari links in a new page

To manage the pages you have open, or to return to another page, look to the top of the browser and you’ll see an icon that looks like two overlapping boxes or pages. Press the icon and you’ll be presented with all the pages you have open. From here you can tap any of the “X” buttons to close an individual page.

2. Activate AutoFill in Safari

The AutoFill option is a great time saver as it automatically remembers your usernames and passwords for services. However, make sure you only have it activated if you know and trust anyone who is likely to use your iPad.

To activate it, ensure your details are saved in “Contacts,” then head to “Settings,” choose “Safari,” and click “AutoFill”. Then set both options to “On” and select your file from “Contacts” in the “My Info” field.

Howto activate autofill

3. Quick Mute Your iPad

The one gripe many people have is that the iPad has no “mute” option. However, you can still quickly silence your device by pressing and holding the down volume button — this drops the volume down to zero in about two seconds.

4. Make Use of the Home Button

The iPad’s “Home” button will take you to your homepage if pressed once, but it has a few other functions worth knowing about as well.

To access these functions, go to “Settings,” press “General,” then choose “Home.” Here you can select which function you’d like a double press of the button to carry out, such as opening up “Spotlight Search” or accessing the iPod.

How to make use of the home button

From this area in “Settings” you can also set “iPod Controls” to “On,” which means that when you have music playing and you’re in another program or app, a double press of the “Home” button will bring up basic music controls.

5. Use your iPad as a digital photo frame

You probably know by now that the iPad doubles as a digital picture frame. You can access this function a few ways, but what’s the easiest way?

When you wake the iPad, look to the right of Slide to Unlock and you should see a flower. Click it. This will randomly start playing the photos contained in the Photos application on your device.

How to turn your iPad into a digital photo frame

GA tip: Toggle the speed in Settings and try turning off “zoom in on faces”—it tends to make your photos a little grainy.

6. Take giant screenshots

It’s on oldie, but a goodie! Push the top (power) and home buttons at the same time for half a second. The photo (at 768×1024 resolution) will be stored in your photo library.

7. Super Fast Webpage Scrolling

You’re all the way to the bottom of a blog but you want to read a story back at the very top. Don’t repeatedly drag your finger across the screen – it looks silly and is inconvenient.

Instead, tap the title bar once and you’re right back on top of the page!

8. Preview More Of Your Mail

Did you know that you can set your mail to preview more than two lines? Although you can also do this on the iPhone, the feature is a lot more useful on the iPad – primarily because it is larger and you can skim several emails without opening them.

Go to “Settings”, “Mail”, “Contacts and Calendars” and select “5 lines” under “Preview”.

How to preview more of your emails

9. Put 6 apps into the dock

By clicking and holding on any icon until it wiggles (just as you do to rearrange apps), you’ll unlock each app’s position. Then just drag any two additional apps into the bottom tray. Easy peasy!

How to put 6 icons in your dock

10. Download the iPad User Guide eBook

Did you know you can download the official Apple iPad User Guide as an e-Book?

Although available in Safari’s pre-loaded bookmarks, for offline access to the guide simply search for “iPad” and download it for free from the iBooks store.

How to download the iPad user guide

Big brands trial O2’s location-based messaging service

Starbucks and L’Oréal are trialing O2’s location-based messaging service to promote their latest products.

O2 will send subscribers who have opted in to its O2 More service an SMS offering discounts on the brands’ products when they’re near participating outlets.

o2 more

Starbucks is using the trial to promote its instant coffee Starbucks Via Ready Brew, and L’Oréal is promoting its Elvive haircare line.

Hal Kimber, head of CRM for L’Oréal, said, “Mobile will undoubtedly become one of the key channels for developing consumer relationships and we’re excited to be working with O2 from the beginning on this.”

O2 Media can now launch the service through a partnership with location-based marketing company Placecast, which has worked with brands such as North Face and American Eagle Outfitters in the US.

Shaun Gregory, MD of O2 Media, said, “This tie-up is the last piece of the jigsaw in terms of delivering our clients real-time information on campaign response rates.”

Brands’ interest in location-based marketing services has increased recently with the launch of Facebook Places in the UK and increased user take-up of services such as Foursquare and Gowalla.

O2 Media recently announced that 1m subscribers had opted in to receive advertising via its O2 More service.

To read more about how brands can use location based services - click here.

Facebook confirms 150m mobile users

News in today from NMA that Facebook has more than 150m mobile users. The sheer number of users has prompted Facebook to issue a software update making it easier for developers to integrate Facebook into their Apple apps.

The update, called Facebook SDK for iOS, makes it easier for users to link content from iPhone apps to their Facebook profile to share with their friends.

The software update comes weeks after Facebook issued a software development kit (SDK) for developers using the Google-owned Android platform.

Facebook recently appointed former Google engineer Erick Tseng as its head of mobile products and has been working towards introducing location-based status updates to its portfolio of products.

47% of 18-24 year olds use real-time search results

Back at the end of 2009, Google announced that it would be integrating real time search results into search results pages. For a good demonstration of this, watch their real time search demonstration below…

Now, six months later, almost half (47%) of 18-24-year-olds use real-time search results. However, just 8% of these users find them useful (according to research by Tamar).

But what about other types of search results?

Interestingly, by looking into the search habits of 2,210 people, Tamar’s report also showed that just 4% of people would choose paid search results over natural search results, down by 1% on 2009 and down 6% on 2007.

The research found that people over 55 were the least likely to trust paid search as a trusted source with just 3% choosing it over natural search results.

Younger people are increasing their use of mobile to search as 14% of both 18-24-year olds and 25-34-year-olds use mobile search every day.

Neil Jackson, search strategy director at Tamar, said, “Consumers have decided that natural search is the route they trust more and this defines the strategic starting point for all brands, which need to focus on being highly visible ‘naturally’ through campaigns that reach effectively across a wide range of media and devices, especially mobile – a huge growth area for the search engines.”

What is FourSquare?

foursquare

If you’ve been keeping on top of all things digital, you may have come across something called Foursquare.

Well, if you’re wondering what Foursquare is, what it does and how to use it, then look no further, because our handy GA guide is here to explain (in plain and simple English!).

A bit of history

Foursquare is a location based social networking game co-founded by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai. It was launched in 2009 at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas.

Prior to the launch, both founders were heavily involved in geolocation based games and apps. In fact, Crowley even sold a Foursquare predecessor called ‘Dodgeball’ to Google for an undisclosed sum in 2006. Dodgeball sent text messages to friends when you checked into specific places and was described as “a networking service that helps co-ordinate location based social interactions between mobile users”. However, in 2007, Crowley quit Google and met Naveen shortly after.

What does it do?

Foursquare allows you to share your location with friends. So, when you walk into a bar, cafe, restaurant or shop, you “check-in” (Foursquare’s term) on your mobile device, and your friends will see where you are on a Foursquare map. It’s also a game too as you earn points and “badges” for checking-in frequently, or at a certain time. If you raise enough points you become “mayor” of a certain area.

How many people use it?

Foursquare has surpassed 500,000 registered users, and had its biggest day ever on March 11th, with more than 275,000 “check-ins.”

What do users get out of Foursquare?

Users can connect with friends, earn badges, and various perks from the places where they check in. Foursquare also gives you access to your check-in history, which gives you a snapshot of where you go, who you meet there, and what you’re spending money on.

How does it relate to other businesses?

Foursquare is being taken very seriously by big name brands. Starbucks is the latest and most prominent company to sign a deal with Foursquare — you can earn a “Barista badge” by checking in five times at the coffee retailer.  Starbucks is testing Foursquare as part of its customer-loyalty program, and other companies are also using it to reward frequent visitors. Foursquare is rolling out a free analytics program that will give participating businesses detailed information on who is checking-in to their locations, and give them the ability to communicate with the visitors.

Foursquare says it now has 1.4 million venues logged in its system, with 1, 200 businesses offering special deals to people who check-in via Foursquare.

Is anyone else doing something similar?

Yes. Geo-location based games are massive right now. Gowalla is foursquare biggest competitor and Yelp, Twitter and Facebook are also vying for a piece of the “checking in” market.

In celebration of all things Android

Android logo

In July 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, California. At the time, little was known about the functions of Android, Inc. other than that they made software for mobile phones. This began rumors that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market…

If you read one of our previous posts (Android vs iPhone) you’ll also know that, today, use of the Android operating system is growing at an even faster rate than the apple platform.

So, in celebration of all that is Android we thought you might like this link to 15 Awesome Android Accessories.

Go on, show your support!  (Plus he’s really cute too!)

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