Mobile Monday - For APPS - Design Design Design!

I really hate blogging out of frustration.

I recently had my Droid2 die of electrical failure. While it was only 11 months old Verizon is fighting the warranty, which is really a Motorola issue. Previously I had brought it in to Verizon because it was buggy and they had me reboot. That kind of worked. And I was amazed all my APPs reloaded on their own. WTG Verizon.

The real issue with the Droid2 is Apps run without your permission and you can not turn them off. Sucks battery power and memory. Well I learned that for a new phone your APPs do not all auto download. Good news is you can purge the dead unused APPs and start fresh. I love News APPs. I use BBC and Huffington Post all the time. They are solid APPs.

So I found two new ones I wish to use as examples of what not to do. The LA Times APP and the Guardian UK APP.

The LA Times:

Really nice APP. In general it formats to the screen nicely and even has a setting to increase the font size. But it fails in the most important of all the functions for a News APP. The sharing feature. I say this because the APP is Free. I can read all the LA Times for free. Yes they have an AdMob banner ad and right now I see it is for Chase but that is not the same as Print. Not the same for the Web Version (though on the Web Firefox users can block all Ads). The trick with News APPs is sharing. If I share the article and it pops up a link anyone who clicks get's taken to the LA Times Website. This gives them a chance as display revenue and possibly convert new readers to come back.

Here is the failure: 

First it does not include the LA Times Twitter Handle in the Tweet automatically. This is a big fail and they are missing an easy way to earn new followers. Secondly is if I want to type anything added to the tweet when I open my keyboard it does not rotate to match horizontal. Seriously, it stays fixed so you are typing on one plane and the box is vertical. Lastly there is no send button. I have to do it from the keyboard. All that money spent and they have a huge fail in my view.

Next is the Guardian UK:

Their APP geez where do I start. First off it requires downloading. Why? I have no idea. No other news APP requires me to download the issue. The are all cloud based. This is very bizarre and shame on the 3rd Party Designer or Agency. But now it get's even more bizarre. It loads articles for the Web not Mobile. So when fit to the screen the font is so small you can not read it! Yes a News APP that you can't read! So what is their solution? You get to open it in the Browser which then it is formatted perfectly. Which brings me to my next question. Why not have the articles automatically open in the browser then? And why do you not have a settings option for this?

On a positive note the Guardian does have an excellent Share Feature which it uses the Droid Software for. But if I can't read an article how do I know I should share it?

So basically two very good news companies are hamstringing themselves with their mobile APP. If an APP is hard to use or frustrating you will not use it.

What APPs are you frustrated with or have major design flaws?

Mobile Monday - Check Ins are Dead. Next idea please.

Location Based Services:

The Check In is Dead. There I said it. End of story. Nobody check's in on Gowalla, Foursquare, or Places. They just don't. The value proposition is not there yet. No matter what anyone or Mashable says.

Great example. This Cheese Cake Factory on Long Island always has an hour plus wait. You are looking at hundreds of customers per day every day. I estimate 150,000-200,000 customers per year. And they have 46 Check-ins?

Let's visit Foursquare:

The Colonie Center is one of two regional Malls. It has Macy's, LL Bean, Barnes and Noble, Sears, Cheese Cake Factory, a Movie Theater w/ IMAX. On one average day this mall easily has as many people as the total check-ins for Foursquare. The Cheese Cake Factory is always packed just like the one on Long Island. If the 1348 check ins was just for one year nevermind the 2+ I am sure it was listed then they get less than 5 Check-ins per day out of the 400-500+ people they serve every day.

I recently was at an Tri-City Valley Cats game which is the Class A Houston Astro's minor league farm club. They have a gorgeous stadium. Seats 4500 people and has standing room to allow 7000. I have been there twice. Both times seating was sold out. Both times less than 20 people checked in on both Foursquare and Gowalla Combined. 

Initially it was a novelty. Well as we all can say we have observed Check-in's uploaded to Twitter are down dramatically. I have always felt for LBS to work Brands/Businesses need to have a platform that allows me to come to the store (or just outside), Check-in via 3G not satellite and have a discussion on why I should come in. Send the circular to my phone. If I can have a unique identifier that connects me with past sales history for a customized special deal. But just to say I am here? Not happening.

Obviously if we knew about a deal that required a Check-in we would check in. Why are brands not offering deals? Because they don't have too! Business is just fine without them. And what would have to be offered to get us to pick one place over another? A bribe that is probably bigger than what the business wants to offer. If Foursquare or Gowalla or Facebook really wanted this technology to take off they should be the ones offering loyalty programs that connect my visits and what I buy to some reward. This way it isn't a one off give away and makes me earn a good reward that gets me excited. 

It was nice getting free Chips and Salsa at Chili's back when they ran that special for checking in on Foursquare. But really Chips and Salsa? Something I can get free at a Mexican Restaurant?

The point is, read the news. The news says almost 50% of people now have some sort of Smart Phone. So why is no one checking in? Would you tell a client they must be using these technologies? When they aren't working yet? Observe reality, Then decide whether what is being shoveled your way is the truth, a fib, or just some stinky cow poopy.

Mobile Monday - LBS needs the Network and a Mobile Success

Satellite needs the ground Network:

Anyone who uses Android Navigation in their car will know that unless you have the ground network the 'Route' information does not work. Vermont which has very poor Verizon coverage will allow me to have the Map with my Location but unless I am in the 3G coverage area to set the Route Info, it doesn't work. Once the Route is set I can leave the 3G coverage and it will still give directions and the mileage left etc.

Without the Ground Network you also can not check in using any of the LBS services such as Foursquare or Gowalla, or even pull up Yelp! listings. They can find your location but the Apps will not work without the network.

Mobile Success Story:

Normally I am exposing frauds and holes in things in an effort to show clients and readers not to take things on Face Value. I had a discussion this weekend with Simon Salt (aka @incslinger ) about the lack of Social Media success for Marketing for big Brands. Tomorrow's post is going to freak you out when I debunk 'Viral' with some very powerful proof (though I actually have something nice to say about Facebook for once).

Simon showed me the Airwalk Pop Up Store campaign which I found very clever. Airwalk started as a Skateboarder shoe and then stumbled in the mass market a few years back. They have survived but aren't quite the same cache as say Vans, DC or Fallen shoes have today. The problem when you are leader in a niche is to keep the core supporters when you attempt going to the mass market. Many brands in Skate and Surf and extreme sports have died because of this effort. There is a huge disconnect I will share with the video narrator, the campaign, and reality which I will share later.

LINK

Video LINK

While this campaign is unique and was very successful, it obviously is not scalable for the mass market. But the important thing this does showcase, is how we can integrate technologies in such a way that helps leverage small budgets. It also shows why going to an IDEAS Agency can have a big impact on your marketing efforts. It allows an Agency to use various technologies that best fit your Brand's needs vs trying to force fit you into whatever technology 'We Have'. And this is a powerful statement on why this is all TECHNOLOGY vs MEDIA. Y&R pulled in technology from all over to make this happen. 

I am very skeptical about the $5 Million in Earned Media they claim, since they give zero proof or support of this, just a number. But even if it was just $1million or $500,000, if they sold 600 high end shoes and got that earned media with a small budget it is a win. In fact remember this statement: 

Unless a Marketer gives you supporting data to prove a claim, don't believe it. Ever.

Now I get to be a snob. It is my blog right?

I spent 17 years living in Southern California at the beach in Hermosa, Redondo, Huntington, and Venice and have had many Skate Punks as my friends, starting at Arizona State in 1985-87, even separating my shoulder on a Quarter Pipe there, I can state this campaign was not aimed at the Airwalk hardcore Skateboarder but in reality the more affluent people. Trust me 12 to 21 year old Skaters are not reading Blogs. They aren't even on Facebook unless they are Pro and need a Fan Page. They are Skate Punks. They don't care about you and your Facebook or Blog. Though they will upload videos of themselves skating to You Tube. But in reality they are out Skating. I have spent so much time in Southern California watching the Skateboarders (I gave it up after getting hurt), they are not sitting around using IPhones and reading blogs. They are Skating.

This goes to the heart of marketing. Reaching your desired audience. I stand by my assertion that the only people who watched the Old Spice Twitter/YouTube campaign were people in Marketing, Advertising, and Media. Trust me, Old Spice wants to compete with Axe yet that demographic surely wasn't watching that campaign. Clever idea. Bad product. Poorly targeted. Over all a failure in my view.

SKATE OR DIE PUNK!

Mobile Monday - Pros and Cons of LBS Auto Check In

On the last week's Beancast Marketing Podcast which I highly recommend you subscribe to and listen to every Monday there was a great discussion about location based services (LBS) and checking in as a barrier to stores communicating with people who are inside or nearby. My friend Aaron Strout who was a panelist and writing LBS for Dummies discussed why he felt the 'Passive Check In' is the future which is when we don't check in, the system knows we are there and checks us in. He gives a really good example of WiFi and how we set up our devices to access WiFi just by walking into our home or work. BUT this is Opt In up front and the passive after set up.

Friday night I went to the minor league Class A baseball game where 4500 tickets were sold (It was sold out). The game was at 7pm. At 6:49pm I parked and checked in on both Foursquare and Gowalla. The total check ins combined was 11 (including my two). Based on the numbers of Smart Phone penetration at least 500 people had smart phones there taking into account many kids were there. Obviously almost everyone (Divide 10/500 see simple Math. Then Divide 10 by 4500!) found zero value in checking in even for fun like I did.

I have very strong feelings Pro and Con and since Sky Pulse Media's mission is to help Brands break through clutter I see this eventually being like email in one of two ways. If we are allowed to Opt In we will slowly accumulate so many that they all become white noise. If  the system exposes us to all stores it is even worse. Imagine driving down a service road and every business contacting your phone.

I put this in a letter to him and thought it would be great for a Mobile Monday Blogpost:

Pros:

1] Obviously no need to check in. Won't forget to check in. (but satellite is still gameable)

2] Should be consumer based not network based. Meaning I don't want a network seeing where I am and allowing any stores to contact me that I did not opt in for. But if there is a great interface allowing me to opt in and control I am all for it.

3] System should be covert. Meaning an App or something on my phone I can access on my own to view the contact from the stores I want to see specials or anything. I don't want clutter.

4] If this can be connected with a history of my purchases through an identifier for customized deals that would be huge.

5] If this can be connected with a loyalty program this could be huge.

Cons:

1] Satellite Based: my opinion this all fails because of the issues with being indoors. But this really applies just to Malls. THOUGH if I am not inside I could get checked in falsely to a store. I prefer network based vs satellite.

2] Any alerts that buzz or make a noise I do not want. Flashing light is ok. Shopkick I disabled because it buzzed me. I can see a mild manner Dad going bonkers from his phone buzzing and going postal and blowing up his local Hallmark Store.

3] Without connection to unique store purchasing behavior by me it becomes a drone no different from Sunday circulars. Why have this if you aren't custom tailoring this to me.

4] The more stores I sign up for the more this becomes clutter. How do brands stand out. For example Macy's: wouldn't Macy's and every brand they sell want to know I am in the store? If I go to the Mall and only want Macy's deals and 30 stores are on the list and I have to go access that list is this much different than going to Macy's and checking in?        

5] Is this any different than email except for mobile? I have used email as an example since I switched to a new gmail account 18 months ago and signed up for opt in contact from sites and brands and now I mass delete 99% of it every time I log in. I see this having similar potential. Even if I sign up for one at a time. I could be in REI and say hey I love REI I will sign up. etc etc. But once I get to say 20 or 40 stores....

6] As with email if I already get sales fliers and other advertising via email, TV and print if it is the same stuff the value is reduced so brands have to be canny. But if they all are canny does that then dilute everything. Could this become a huge margin reducer for many businesses if done wrong. 

7] Can this network be hijacked in anyway stealing information? Security is important.

8] What if there are many competing networks? I already have some competers as Apps like ShopKick. Obviously it will be similar to FourSquare and Gowalla. There will not be just one network or technology. People will have choice and Brands must then set this up across all options.

9] What if it exposes me to a broader network? It should not be tied in with anything Social ever. If a message pops up asking me if I want to share that is fine. But as we all now don't trust Apple for mapping IPhone users movements, do we want just anyone seeing where we are at all times without our consent?

I think as long as people find value it can work. I stopped using Foursquare much because I never see deals where I check in. Gowalla I use a bit more because no one who is not a friend is in my network.

But it needs to be 100% Opt In for each store, it must be respectful, it must bring me value, and it must be different than other forms of contact I am already getting from the Brands I love. Otherwise I do not want passive check in.

Mobile Monday - We Need to Separate the L, the B, and the S

LBS is no different than Social Media. It covers a wide array of technologies thus confusing everyone except the people who might make money off the confusion. Different Businesses and Platforms have different goals.

L is for Location:

Do we need a Satellite Linkup? Yes and No.

Yes if you want to be found. I use FourSquare, Gowalla, and Yelp! when in an unknown place to see what is around. What restaurants and stores are nearby.

But does a store I am going to visit need a satellite to engage with me? No. I can do that via my mobile device in person via 3G 4G or whatever G network I am using with a simple scan of QR code placed inside the store. This will prove no fake check ins. Even better instead of looking for a deal and blowing you off maybe I come in don't see a deal yet see something and buy it.

The problem with the Satellite is immense. Doesn't work indoors most of the time so if I am at the mall I have to go back outside to check in if I see a store I am curious if they have a deal. Doesn't work in the Upper East Side of NYC because of the tall buildings. It allows false check ins.

B is for Buying:

The goal is to get me to buy something correct? I was up in Vermont last week and checked Foursquare and saw some deals but none that was enough for me to come in and try a restaurant. To get a half price small plate isn't enough. But it's great if I am going anyway and know I can get that. But does that help or hurt your margins?

For a Store whether it is piggy backed on a Service like Gowalla or Shop Kick or a Proprietary App if I had a unique customer identifier that knows it is me with full purchase history would that create the basis for the most robust margin building, revenue growing platform ever? You can pull up the Chief Alien's history and custom craft the hooks possible to maximize a sale, move older inventory, or customize my experience just like if I had my own personal shopping minion.

S is for Social:

Does Location Based Services need a Social Element?

NO

But if people want to share you better sure enable that activity. I myself am sharing my check ins less and less with Twitter. I surely won't be sharing purchases etc. I definitely will never check in to a Place on Facebook. But that is me. If you want to go ahead. It benefits the Store or Business you are patronizing. Maybe there should be an added incentive to share kind of like what Lockerz is trying to do. 

For a Customer to Store connection if I check in and share with Twitter I get 1% off. If I share my purchase activity on Facebook I get another 1% off. If it takes place on a larger platform maybe I can accumulate points for a reward down the road.

Mobile Monday - On Tuesday!

I know everything got kind of wacky with Bin Laden having to die and go mess up my normal order of blog posts.

I am going to start a new format or test it for all 5 of my readers 8). First will be some observations as I use my Droid2 and followed by news and worth blogposts.

Part Uno:

So I was jogging and there was a link posted on Twitter for a You Tube Video. Which I clicked on. My Droid asked me do I wish to play in the Browser (generic), Skyfire, or Firefox. Yet I have a You Tube App which is owned by Google. Why doesn't it just launch in the YouTube App? This might be a Motorola or Twitter App issue. But if I was Google I would fix this flaw right away.

Mobile browsing kind of sucks. I hesitate to use my Droid2 for Mobile Browsing because the experience isn't that great no matter what Browser I use. And why when I use the Generic Browser does it ask permission every time it needs to go to a new page? I already chose it for that action show some balls! Own it!

I learned I was allowing Apps to search for updates non-stop. It was freezing the phone. I recommend manually looking for updates.

When I brought the phone in to be swapped by Verizon whom suggest I wipe the phone out and start clean I asked why do the Apps I kill start up again. I was told I can manually fix that in the application settings. Big Phat Wrong. Can't fix the problem at least so far can't find a setting to only run Apps when I let them run.

Kudos to Verizon Wireless. While I was very miffed they didn't swap my phone and instead wiped it clean and started over the process was amazing. All my Apps reloaded on their own. I was blown away. Same with my contacts etc. The only issue I had was Apps needing a login like FourSquare or Gowalla. I had forgotten them and had to get them when at home.

Lastly still to date Gowalla and Foursquare have rewarded me only once and that was back in October when I got free Chips and Salsa at Chilis. The special offers still suck. Mostly Radio Shacks. I really just check in for fun especially when traveling to show where I am but not very often to Twitter. Just in-network. They are handy like Yelp! to see what is locally around for eats, drinks etc.

Part Dos:

Edward Boches covers Rudeless a new IPhone App

Fred Wilson covers Apps that know where you are and set your phone accordingly.

Mobile Monday - Is it Android or is it Motorola?

I got a Droid2 in August. I love it. I hate it. Sometimes I am so happy to have it. Sometimes I want to run it over with a steam roller. Not sure what are Android Issues and what are Motorola Issues. This discussion is the phone not Apps.

What I like:

Gorilla Glass Screen - unbreakable unscratchable

Slide out keyboard - very easy to use once you get the hang of it

Google Maps/GPS/Navigation - it is awesome. Though the Speak your destination feature can use improvement.

Wi-Fi Connection

There are a ton of great Apps.

Easy to share content socially from Apps.

When I run now I can take pictures, upload to twitter, etc. I can do Twitter for a client from the gym.

What can improve:

Web Surfing still kind of sucks. Nothing beats the laptop. Most sites still not formatted for mobile and type and video is still small for the ones that are.

Google Maps GPS - great when driving. Not so great when walking around.

Not so easy to share websites from the browsers via Social.

What I hate:

Battery Life sucks. I shouldn't need to tote 2 spares with me for a night out. It gets about 2-3 hrs of battery life if you use apps/data/satellite/GPS constantly. I also sometimes bring the charging cord.

It freezes up A LOT! Often several times a day requiring a ReBoot.

Have not found a away to share a contact via text messaging or email yet. Requires memorizing or writing down info then entering it separately into the text or email. Big fail here.

Software to transfer photos to laptop sucks horribly. It seriously is pretty much the worst I have ever used.

Comes loaded with Motorola Software I have no use for and can not remove.

Apps run on their own for no rhyme or reason sucking up RAM. I use an App called Advanced Task Killer which shuts down these Apps. Problem is they start on their own automatically! Why should I have to battle with this stuff?

Things I don't use my smart phone for:

Buying things. Not talking about my Latte at Starbucks. I am talking about E-Commerce stuff. Not really a good platform for it. Screen to small for really browsing. Hell a Laptop Screen is still too small for shopping in a productive fashion. But I do use it when at stores to pull info up via barcodes and in some cases compare prices.

Watching Video - I do but the screen is small. There is a reason we have big HDTV's at home and not a bunch of mobile video handsets.

MS Office Type Work - not a big enough screen for me to find value in Word Processing and Spreadsheets etc.

Mobile Search. Search SUCKS. Browsers suck. The Verizon network is slow as nails and to go to the browser and search and then pull up a website takes days! So I use Apps like Yelp! and Gowalla.

I heard many of the smart phones have similar issues and challenges including the IPhone. What do you have for a phone and what do you like or not like?

Mobile Monday - Assorted Mobs

We often talk about the consumer side of things here at Space Agency Notes. But sometimes we come across developments that enable businesses to evolve and this trend is something we like very much. One thing our Alien's love to death is summer/fall festival season here in the north east. Filled with events celebrating food, crafts, farming, wine etc. And often many small businesses have to take cash or checks still. 

But Square offers an easy way to accept credit cards with your smart phone:

Square Up

They aren't the only service out there. But now it is much simpler to accept payments for small businesses.

I have also been crafting a blog review of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Motorola Droid2 that I have been kicking around. It is definitely a love hate relationship. My sister now has a Galaxy S Android and it seems a higher quality phone.

Lastly I wanted to discuss the news that Color received $41 Million in VC Funding. LINK

This was discussed on last weeks Quick-n-Dirty Podcast with @AaronStrout and @KyleFlaherty as a sure sign of an LBS/VC Bubble. But I want to give you a take from someone who has used LBS and why LBS sucks.

LBS has really only benefited me when looking for something nearby. Meaning I go onto Gowala or Yelp and let it show me restaurants in the area. Or using the Google Maps Navigator/Locator. It has been a massive failure to me where there is check ins involved. Anyone who knows our Chief Alien, knows he is against Auto-Check Ins for Privacy and Respect issues of many sorts. We are also against the Satellite for Check Ins. They are a big failure. They do not work indoors or in some parts of cities with tall buildings. 

Now lets look at Color. Color is an App that will let me go to say a concert, check in there and my pictures will get uploaded to the cloud and mixed with everyone else's pictures. So when I go home or from my phone I can see other view points. It is supposed to be anonymous. Ruh-Roh! I can see an LBS Chat Roulette coming here from participants as my first concern. You don't think some drunk dude in the men's bathroom stall isn't going to take a photo of his junk and upload? Now let's get to the Satellite issue. I have to remember to check in outside. I have to remember to check out too. What if there are two clubs next to each other? And say one is a strip club?

I just see so many opportunities for slick technology to be perverted in ways that people decide to shun it. Not saying it can not be over come. But $41 million is a lot of VC money for an APP.

Now click to Colors Landing Page: www.color.com You don't see Photo Roulette staring you in the face?

Mobile Monday - the Future of Mobile

We have a coming divergence in Mobile. Not today. But in 3-5 years. We will all have two screens. And no the second screen will not be an IPad. It will be a Tablet. I see really dumb articles discussing if anyone can catch the IPad. If you have a college degree the answer is 100% yes. I don't view the IPad like the IPod because we won't need an ITunes for Tablets. They will be full web devices. So I look at the segment more like Laptops today. Many options with high to low end choices.

A year before the IPad was even whispered about I was discussing Tablets as the future. With screens about 6"-10". Cheap. $200 or under. Almost disposable. That we can throw in a backpack or our handbag. Rugged. Lots of memory. Connected to the Internets.

The difference will be the Tablet will be an extension of the web while your phone will not. The uses of the devices will split. You can't put a Tablet in your pocket. So think of the Phone being what you use when you can't have the tablet with you. 

Think of the Tablet being used for what you want a bigger screen for: 

Web surfing. Games. Video. Shopping. Possibly Work. 

The Phone for Talking, Texting and Twitter type communication, Payments, Navigation, Photos, Music, checking Movie listings, finding Restaurants etc. It will still have everything else but it will not be the default choice and only for when we don't have a Tablet with us.

Both devices will be capable of doing everything but look for the experience on each device to be different for each task. I feel both will have video calling.

The reason I thought of tablets was video. In 2009 the Trade Pubs were talking about mobile video and how much people were watching on their phones. What they failed to state was this was the only choice. If we were out and about and had 15 minutes to kill and wanted to watch the Daily Show we could. But is a 2.5" to 3.5" screen what we want or prefer? Alien's are logical. The answer is no. Because at home everyone has and prefers big screens.

The biggest obstacles are price and bandwidth. But those will be over come from various sources. 4G. Moore's Law etc. So we will have tablets thrown in our car glove box (does anyone really put gloves in this box anymore?). Or under our seat. In our beach bag etc.

What does this mean for developers? Does the IPad need Apps if it was a full computer? If that is the case why aren't we buying Apps for our Laptops? Or is the trend the reverse? Will all software for us become Apps? And we migrate to only Apps formatted to different screen sizes?

UPDATE>>>> Staples now has a Tablet Center: LINK

In a future post I will discuss the future death of MP3's due to Moore's Law. Yes it's coming and it is going to be the best thing that has happened to music.

Mobile Monday - Shopping Anyone?

I had to run out for ear plugs Thursday night. The birds are back. Spring is almost here. I get woken up at dawn by as many as hundreds occasionally thousands of birds. Crows. Black Birds. Doves. Wild Turkeys. Grackles. Starlings. Cardinals. Blue Birds. Robins. Kill Deer (the worst). Blue Jays. Woodpeckers. Finches. All come to the bird feeders and the fields outside. Plus now all the Geese are flying over head coming back from Miami Beach. Yes it is crazy. Louder than Manhattan during rush hour.

So I went to Rite Aide because it is much closer than the Super Market. And I am pretty sure at Price Chopper the foam Ear Plugs were $3. Rite Aid was $4.99. But I wasn't sure. I have a Droid2. Sad I could not check using my phone. In fact why can't I load into an App or Web easily everything I normally buy and allow instant price checks and comparisons so that I can buy items at each place that had the best price? We aren't there yet. But we will be eventually.

I can already compare big ticket items. anything I can Google  and compare with the Shopping feature I can do on Mobile. My folks just bought a 42" Panasonic HDTV from Best Buy. After they set it up my mother found it for $150 less on Amazon. They do not have smart phones. I am curious if Best Buy would of cut the price to buy it right there. They should. And shouldn't we all be doing this now?

If anyone knows of such shopping list Apps in the works please share. I have used SpringPad which has a slick barcode reader to pull up product information. You can read the barcode, and add a note with a price and then go to another store and check prices but I don't know of anything that pulls in data from Supermarkets, Drug Stores etc.

BTW if you travel or live anywhere loud, these ear plugs are golden. They will make crying babies on planes almost bearable. You will never hear traffic or birds. Yet...you will hear your morning alarm! They also are great at concerts!

Mobile Monday - Mish Mash

Sorry about the almost 2 week hiatus. The Chief Alien was sick for almost a week and a bit of writer's block. What can I say? It happens. Just because I am a significantly advanced life form does not mean I can not have writer's block!

First the MISH

In January I covered why you need to format for Mobile: LINK

The wonderful Shelly Kramer (@shellykramer) on her own did a reprise on why you need to format for mobile web: LINK

If you will not listen to me...listen to Shelly. Plus she has a higher Klout than me so she must be important.

I have a client who was involved with a festival done at Santa Anita Rack Track in Los Angeles and when at the Albany Devil's Hockey Game yesterday the Director of Sales Chris Quinn sent a Tweet about a promotion there. I truly was floored and impressed at the mobile website. Pull it up in your phone browser www.santaanitapark.com (@santaanitapark) If there was ever reinforcement on why. They prove it. 

If you have a Word Press Blog there is a simple plug in for Mobile Formatting. In fact Shonali Burke (@Shonali) just formatted Waxing Unlyrical which is a PR-Social Media Blog you should be reading.

Lastly the MASH. BTW never ever assume that because the MASH comes last that it is less important than the MISH. 

Shiv Singh (@ShivSingh) of Pepsi shared a presentation that was give by Matt Murphy and Mary Meeker of KCPB one of the big Venture Funds. Mary btw I still have issues with. She was  along with Henry Blodget accused of lying/misleading investors and pumping up Dot.Com stocks while privately in emails saying the companies were crap.  While Henry was banned from working in the stock markets for life Mary somehow escaped. While I have had discussions with many people including Fortune and the Economist on them, who say everyone deserves a second chance (YES!) but lying to me is the worst of all offenses are completely destroys my trust. So when reading this presentation which has some really good stuff remember it is from a VC. They have inherent bias to have the companies they invest in win, even if they don't have the best product, service or solution. In fact the NY Observer questions whether Mary is possibly a sign of a BOOM or a Bubble LINK

Slide Share:   LINK

To be fair I say the same thing about Facebook/Zuckerberg and the Social Media Talking Heads like the Brogan's and Solis' who need Social Media to be bigger than it really is in the scheme of things because it benefits them specifically. I also often attack the Ad Industry for over selling to Brands. Always look at a company or person's angle in business. Whether you are being pitched by a vendor or brand or trying to learn things to improve your business. That is why often this blog brings up bias and hypocrisy or blatant lies and deceit often. Because I hope to give you balanced insight as best as possible. And yes I have bias too. I want more clients!

There were 11 fights yesterday between the Albany Devils (NJ Devils farm team) and Syracuse Crunch (Anaheim Ducks) including helmets flying, two players got bloody faces and were taken into the locker room, and they had one play stoppage to clean up a pool of blood on the ice. I was very impressed!

Mobile Monday - Travel Notes - Mobile - LBS still 1.0

On Saturday I went to Brooklyn, NY for an art show opening that I knew some of the artists and their group of friends. During my visit I used a number of Apps on my Droid2. Here is the high and the low.

 Usual Suspects Opening Night - WIlliamsburg, Brooklyn

Good:

Google Maps - with the GPS function enabled it shows your position on the map. If you entered an address it brings you there. 

Google GPS - the voice search feature is great. It also has at least an 80% success rate.

Droid2 - I don't take my Digital Camera out any longer and use my Droid2. Eliminated 1  device to take out!

Yelp! - allows me with GPS enabled to pull up bars and eateries nearby, often many with pictures. Also allows me to check in similar to FourSquare and Gowalla. I can even write a review while at the place and upload photos.

NYC Mate- On the Subway, which I meant to get a photo of they signs say the MTA as a strategic decision did not create any Apps for Trains, Bus, or Ferry Service. Instead they allowed private developers to create Apps incorporating the MTA info. So I use this simple App that has the subway lines and stops.

Twitter - Twitter for Android and Hootsuite make keeping in touch on Twitter very easily as well as the ability to run a clients Twitter while out of the Office.

The Bad:

Yelp! - I can pull up restaurants but not by cuisine on their App and it loads just 10 places per page. In NYC you easily would have 100 in close range in some areas. Won't allow me to complete my review until I am at home logged into Yelp! on my laptop.

LBS - FourSquare and Gowalla - bad news for your form of LBS. Yes I like telling SOME friends where I am, and sometimes the Twitter. Your services do not work in buildings. I was at the Spike Hill Tavern in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and I wasn't getting up and walking outside to check in. I also aside from one night at Chili's in October I have never seen any deals from the places I check into being offered.

Artwork by Keely

LBS Part 2- Shopkick - I have played with this App before. They do have some national my chain discounts. I never set up the settings and when I was walking from Penn Station to Herald Square because they moved the E train to the F train line. On my walk where seriously with 100 yards could easily have 100-200 Stores. My phone started buzzing like crazy. I was in a rush and wasn't in town to shop. I finally figured out at least one store was buzzing a deal and I decided I did not like that at all. I want to be there to shop and pull up the App and look for deals. I do not want Deal Alerts to my phone that buzz, or beep, or shock, or play a song.

Social -

I uninstalled my Droid Facebook App not that long ago. It works great but when I read Facebook wanted to sell phone numbers and contact info to Brands I decided I don't need contact by any push advertising from Brands that buy my info from Facebook. So went 24 hours without Facebook and I did not miss it.

Twitter - Twitter for Droid and Hootsuite - I like Hootsuite because it is better for managing my own account, and a client's. I like uploading photos when I travel to twitter. Hootsuite works better and faster, BUT the Ow.ly photo host doesn't show how many views, while TwitPic does. I like Twitter's new name completion and auto-shortening of links feature since the upgrade. I do not like that they don't have a 'Send' box for viewing. Hootsuite has this but it doesn't work most of the time. I really wish one App did all.

Hootsuite - it is a small box to see which account a Tweet Stream will launch into. So my joke photo of the Playgirl Van which was meant as an inside joke with @DarrylOhrt and @KDel713 about the next Humongo Nation tour vehicle via @skypulsemedia , it actually was sent into @ChunknChip 's Twitter Stream. DOH!

News Reading - I have several Apps I use to read news. Other times I like to pull off Twitter. Often if the Web Browser was asked to open the resulting content was not formatted for mobile sadly.

The Ugly:

Admob Banner Ads - I know I highlighted last week a success story. But seriously all I normally see are ads to find singles in my area and how to extend my battery life.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Motorola Droid2 Battery Life - I had to bring 3 charged batteries and my damn charger. Luckily Amtrak and the Art Opening they had a plug for me. Yes 3 batteries was not enough to last from 12pm Saturday to 11am Sunday.

Twitter for Android/Verizon - really very slow to up load 1mb photos. In fact sometimes it is excruciatingly painful.

Subways - No connectivity under ground. No 3G. No Wi-Fi. No GPS. No nothing!

 This Advertising Works!

In wrap up, while my phone was very invaluable in many ways, there were plenty of frustrations where things didn't work perfectly, were too slow, or froze up the phone! To me it feels like we are just out of the gate and the race is just starting for mobile technologies of a wide variety.

Mobile Monday - Corning® Gorilla® Glass Gets Mobile

On Saturday I was using one of my Droid2 Apps. I have mentioned I am pretty sure that most Ad Mob Banner ads in Apps are a drag. They are never relevant and are pretty much space hogs that annoy. But on Saturday I see one that was for a real company (vs 'Click to learn how to extend your battery life' banner ads). And I found them interesting. It was for Corning® Gorilla® Glass.

GORILLA® GLASS

Corning has a very interesting history. They were the inventors of Pyrex which is the Laboratory Glass we all used in Science class for beakers and test tubes etc. Then in the 90's they got into fiber optics who along with JD Uniphase had spectacular stock rises then crashes from the dot.com boom. Then silence. They had thought about being just a fiber optics company. I am glad they did not.

Now they make Gorilla® Glass. What is Gorilla® Glass you might ask? It's the glass on my Droid2. I have been wondering why since August it has zero scratches. Why I drop it and nothing happens (jinx). But I had no idea until I clicked the Ad!

I was ready for my browser to pop up with an unformatted for mobile website. Instead up popped a very slick mobile micro-site. It had a few tabs with About and Products and one for Videos. They chose two videos which were cute. And at least showcased how versatile the Gorilla® Glass is.

While one might debate whether this is a consumer product vs a B2B product, it is something I will look for in the future when buying anything that has a glass screen as a way of deciding a products price to value. And all from a successful mobile campaign and proper formatting. And you all know if the formatting had been an issue this blog post would of been teaching you all how not to conduct a mobile campaign!

Mobile Monday - Platforms Suck! Long Live Platforms!

The latest development with Nokia deciding to partner with Microsoft to integrate Windows 7 Mobile in their phones is something everyone needs to watch. This article pre-announcement from the Economist LINK shows market share and profits of the various hardware manufacturers. Here are two other articles on the announcement. One I find interesting is with Nokia in financial straits Microsoft is pretty much buying their way in: LINK LINK

We all know competition is good and healthy. It will ensure the best products and services come to market. But does this really mean we will always have the choice? I don't know if that is true. I have a Droid2 which I love even though it is buggy, poor battery life, freezes up, and requires plenty of reboots. Most of the Apps are universal so if I get an IPhone for my next phone I just re-load an App and it works seamlessly.

But what about the Apps I had to pay for? Do you really think Apple is going to just give them to me for free from the App Store? Definitely not. Nor would the eventual Windows App Store, Blackberry, or Android Stores when people switch.

Nokia sells a lot of phones. If they can pull this off and make yet another platform relevant this creates a quandary for Brands, Developers, Tech Companies, Cellular Networks, and Consumers. It is possible that a first time buyer might not realize that decision could be one that corners them with the chosen platform should they invest in Apps and Content that winds up unique to that Phone or Platform.

This gets even more complicated when Handset Manufacturers make customized Applications themselves. Verizon backs up my contacts on their cloud so when I get a new phone it downloads to the phone. But don't think Apple, Samsung, Motorola will make it as seamless for anything that is unique to the phone itself.

There is one group who are extremely excited about this new development: Mobile Agencies and 3rd Party APP Developers who do integration work for clients. When a Brand decides they have to have their content or APPs work on every platform they have to pay for this.

The groups that will have tough decisions are any Brands without deep pockets and independent APP developers who might have to choose which platform to develop for.

Mobile Monday - To App or Not to App that is the Question

In 2010 there was a mad rush to make branded Apps. And with the release of Android and Blackberry Markets there are a few hundred thousand Apps out there. The question is does making a Branded App make sense?

First let me discuss finding an App. Unless you advertise using Traditional Methods chances of your App being found and downloaded is slim. There are just too many! And such a small screen. And the Market is crowded! I found 20 Flashlight Apps for my Droid2!

Next question is why would I use your App? Most Apps get downloaded and then never used. I need value. I have downloaded since August about 40-50 Apps. I use only a few regularly:

MobiNews - Free Economist, NY Daily News, New Yorker, Guardian UK

New York Times - HootSuite - Twitter for Android

Gowalla/FourSquare - GPS Navigator -ESPN Score Center

BBC News -Double Twist (my music player) - Soundcloud (stream music)

Yelp - Huffington Post - Skyfire Browser - and a few games

Most others I barely use. But they are nice to have if needed. Like a currency converter, or Google Translate. And the Apps I do use as far as I know are not making money from me. Some pitch the annoying AdMob banner ads, but I haven't clicked on one or seen anything of interest since August. What if you spend money to make an App that is never used or benefits your Brand or Business long term? Why waste the money!

As you can see each screen can only hold a few Apps. So if you are a heavy App user screen space is limited. So why an App? What will I get from your App that will 1] want me to use it regularly and 2] benefit your Brand or Business in a way to make you or save you money?

I recently blogged about App integration and how not doing so hurts you. LINK 

This costs money. But it can cost you more money not doing this. But I can see the HuffPost or New York Times willing to give me some free content just so I do not seek elsewhere and maybe find someone I wind up liking better. 

The small screen is an inhibitor for shopping:

You won't get a view of 10's or 20's of products at once. You will get 3-5. (Just like the App Stores). And search can be clumsy. So this is an area that ease of use is critical. And of course you have to format your store front for mobile. If you have the resources to do this it can be a big pay off. Amazon has sold well over $1 billion in product via mobile. I know Pizza Hut and Dominoes have well regarded Apps to order Pizza.

The question is are you capturing sales you would never have gotten? Are sales just migrating like the Pizza Apps seem to be doing? Is this lowering costs? All these things have to be taken into account to make the proper decision.

In summary:

1] Do you have the money to create an App?

 

2] Are you ready to promote it off Mobile (in your store, online, traditional)

3] Are you willing to ensure it is a seamless experience including how it integrates with other Apps or Software? 

3] What is the benefit for the consumer to want to use it?

4] What is the benefit to your Brand or Business?

The worst decision is to create an App just because you want to have an App or feel it's important to be seen as a company that has an App with no Strategic, Financial, or Customer Service benefit for you or your customers! 

And if it is your Agency pushing this ask them why? Besides giving them a reason to make more in Billings!

Mobile Monday - You Must Integrate Your Content Properly

One thing that really sucks about mobile Monday is I can't take screen shots from my Droid2 to show you visually the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. It is also true that things that frustrate me with mobile could possibly be because I have not been taught or discovered a feature. Consider me the Bridge. I am not a techie. But I am not afraid of tech. I am pretty darn good at figuring things out. I do not know HTML. It's why I use Blogger. Wordpress is too complicated for me. 

The reason I say this is because consider me a hybrid between a techie and the average Joe and Jane on the street. I want things easy. I don't want to have to think. If it isn't easy for me, and if I can't figure it out, the average person won't and they would just give up. Remember that when you decide how you wish to use Mobile Technologies for your business.

I will write in greater detail about various subjects that entail ease of use or limitations for various reasons over time. But I want to discuss Social and Mobile here in relation to my post last week about formatting. LINK

I use Huffington Post and BBC APPs. They are free and they work really great. They are formatted tightly and are very easy to use. But now I wish to share a news story. It is very advantageous for the BBC and Huffington Post to want me to share a link. Especially if the people clicking my tweet are on a full sized computer screen using a traditional browser.

They get: 
1] Page Views.
2] Digital Ad Revenue if opened in a full browser from my Tweet (assuming they don't block ads).
3] Potential for ReTweets so the article is shared with others.

All great reasons to make this easy. But it doesn't work so easy when it comes to integration with Twitter for Android and Hootsuite Apps.

First of all, they do make it pretty easy to start sharing with one button popping up a list of choices from SMS Text to Twitter. BBC will shrink the link on Twitter. But not Hootsuite. Neither Twitter APP makes it easy to shrink a link once it is loaded. Huffington Post's links do not get shortened in either APP. This deters me from sharing on Twitter. The real irony is they get ZERO revenue from me using their APP. Even the APP was free! So now they block potential revenue from their content they are giving me for free? Which basically says they developed the APPs but did not then follow the path to what happens after the link moves elsewhere.

Next on Friday I started my morning at the Social Media Club Tech Valley Breakfast, and I knew my guest post on Shonali Burke's Waxing Unlyrical was coming out. I was quite excited. I am ok with the blog not being formatted for Mobile. Shonali is not some big company oozing money. And her web page has buttons at the bottom of each post to share.

So I loaded the webpage. Sized it with zoom. I clicked on the Twitter button and instead of loading into the Hootsuite or Twitter APP which were both running, it asked me to log into Twitter's Web Homepage. Which I did. Several times to no effect. Then finally it worked! I jumped out of my seat in the Auditorium and screamed Touchdown Giants! Clicked send and was stoked I just shared my guest post........until

I got home clicked the link and it went to an empty webpage. This is technically a Skyfire Browser issue. In fact none of the browsers seem simple to share links on Twitter. Talk about a big fail. Maybe it is different on the IPhone or Windows 7 or Blackberry Phones.

So I just explained much good intentions. A lot of fumbling around with a small screen. Lot's of opportunity for sharing content socially, but because Android, the Content APP/Web, and the Social Communication APP's are not seamlessly integrated it winds up a big Social-Mobile Fail.

Granted if you are a Content provider you are challenged with Mobile Technology Platforms, APPs of all sorts, possibly even your own. But it would be wise to pick the most popular platforms and ensure at least most of your readers can share the content with their networks should your content be worthy. Trust me, they aren't going to remember when they get home and you then lose a grand opportunity.