• Blog Archive

    21 Feb 2012

    Carnival of the Mobilists #262

    Tego Interactive is once again honored to host the Carnival of the Mobilists (COM), the weekly roundup of the Web’s best blogging on mobile and wireless. We are humbled to be part of this great collective of mobile thinkers and innovators and want to thank all Mobilists for their contributions to this COM installment.

    Readers, we encourage you to check out this week’s line-up of posts as a lead in to the gathering at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona 27 February – 3 March, 2012. Also be sure to follow the COM on Twitter (@TheMobilists) to find out what’s happening within the COMmunity.

    The List

    • John Stevens from 2ergo explains how mobile has become an important part of the shopping experience and provides tips for creating and executing a successful mobile strategy.
    • MobileGroove’s Peggy Anne Salz in collaboration with UNTETHER.tv looks at the rise of mobile voice and popularity of Apple’s Siri. You can also check out an interview with Bill Meisel, President of TMA Associates, to hear his thoughts on mobile voice.
    • WIP interviews Peter Lindgren, CEO of VISIARC, about the creation of Duudle, a multiplayer app, developed at Nokia World’s Hackathon. Peter also gives insight on their hackathon strategy. Take note, Duudle won first prize…hack on!
    • This week Sticky Smartphone brings us a plain language explanation of what “fair” means in the Google/Motorola Mobilty patent claims against Apple. Is 2.25% excessive? Read the article to see what that seemingly reasonable number truly represents.
    • Oren Levine over at Mobile in DC says he has discovered that he is a “digital omnivore”. In other words, he increasingly seeks out and uses online services that are available on – and work seemlessly across – multiple platforms. Oren points out the challenges this imposes on developers and discusses his own work on an analysis tool he hopes will make it easier to develop these multi-platform mobile solutions.
    • Writing for Mobile Ministry Magazine (MMM), Antoine RJ Wright leads us through a self discovery of how he uses mobile Apps for Bible Study. It’s an interesting study and Antoine prods readers to explore ways to “go mobile” with their Bible studies beyond just lookups, collections, and reading plans.

    A good part of Tego Interactive business is consulting on mobile strategy and development of mobile Applications. It is with this bias that we present our picks of the month. Yes, two this month:

    • MobyAffiliates outlines the ins-and-outs for advertising in Android apps and how to best use a mix of ad networks for maximum return. Bottom line, there is money to be made.
    • It’s no secret you need to approach mobile Apps as a business unto themselves. The marketing of apps is arguably more important than the App itself and in-app advertising is an important channel to find that elusive and important beast called the “loyal user”. mobiThinking provides us with some interesting data on the growing importance and cost of acquiring loyal users and questions whether Apple may have missed the boat early on by pricing itself out of the already well served in-app advertising market.

    The COM is an open community of mobile enthusiasts and everyone is welcome to participate. If you would like to contribute to the next Carnival of the Mobilsits, submit your best blogging via email to Mobilists (at) gmail (dot) com. Be sure to include a link to your post.

    Next month’s COM will be hosted by James Coops at MobyAffiliates on February 27th. Keep an eye out.

    24 Jan 2011

    Carnival of the Mobilists #245

    Tego Interactive is once again honored to host the Carnival of the Mobilists, the monthly roundup of the Web’s best blogging on mobile and wireless.

    We encourage you to check out this month’s line-up – and we invite you to explore our own newly designed website, a destination from which we will also be sharing our own how-to tips and advice on a variety of topics in the mobile industry ranging from mobile commerce and retail to mobile video. Watch this space for in-depth blog posts and a series of “CheatSheets” that map out how companies can harness mobile to achieve their business objectives.

    And be sure to follow the COM on Twitter (@TheMobilists) to find out what’s happening within the COM.

    First, a huge round of thanks to all the Mobilists who participated in this month’s COM. After a review of the submissions this is the list of posts that made the final line-up. The quality and variety of this month’s posts made it tough to decide our pick of the month, but we include this at the end of the post along with an honorable mention for a veteran Mobilist who has consistently contributed valuable posts and insights to the community.

    For those of you tracking technology and developments around mobile platforms, check out Dennis Bournique’s look into the rumor that Nokia is planning to launch an Intel-based MeeGo handset next week at MWC. He doesn’t buy it and his analysis may well convince you too.

    • Antoine RJ Wright expresses his frustration with US mobile consumers and the marketing that is spoon-fed them by the “Mobile Elite” who blindly believe that market is innovative and beneficial to the consumer. Antoine clearly expresses that he believes neither to be true. Take a look at Pardon Our Ignorance in Mobile, We’re Just Different and empathize with his pain.
    • As only he can, Tomi Ahonen give us a thorough mobile strategy guide for CEOs and other senior executives at Fortune 500 sized corporations, written with a focus on U.S. management style.
    • Plan an efficient networking schedule using Eric Chan’s handy 2011 GSMA MWC Party List over at mobileslate.com Eric invites you to add your event/party/happening to his growing list!
    • Get your hands on two new guides from Andy Favell and the team at mobiThinking. The first is a guide to mobile research written by Dr Liz Nelson and Dr Lorenz Gräf. The second is a guide to mobile barcodes written by Laura Marriott. Both are excellent resources to download.
    • Mark Bridge at thefonecast.com predicts success for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Not everyone agrees but Mark may win you over with his outline of how the RIM PlayBook separates itself nicely from the iPad and Galaxy Tablets, and why the BlackBerry PlayBook will be a bigger success than many people expect.
    • Ram Krishnan at Movik Networks – who looks at the growth of WiFi supported devices and the strategic value from an operators perspective – posed the question: “Have femtocells become obsolete?” Check out his post Femtocells – Are They Still Relevant for Data? and decide for yourself.
    • Jamie Wells’ WikiMobiDex Insights Report at Wikimobidex points us to an analysis of mobile marketing industry mergers, acquisitions, key product launches, strategic partnerships, and other significant initiatives in mobile. A special feature is his Company to Watch category that identifies the companies driving these trends (and impacting mobile marketing at all levels).
    • Read the article and get the download from Chetan Sharma who’s 2011 Mobile Predictions Survey Results provides insight into key mobile trends from experts leading mobile companies across the value chain and around the world.
    • Our submission to the COM is our new white paper Real Goods, Real Commerce & Real Results: The positive future for mobile operator billing platforms. In it we examine the evolution of consumer attitudes toward mobile commerce and identify the payment mechanisms that will allow companies and merchants to satisfy customer requirements. Interestingly, mobile operator billing is an attractive (and lucrative) option now that many of the technology and attitude hurdles have been removed.
    • Finally, Peggy Anne Salz over at MSearchGroove has stepped up coverage of mobile codes, mobile health and mobile giving — thanks to the site’s new writer Cynthia Artin. This month’s submission to the COM is Five From Five, a new series that showcases top innovators in barcodes and their top 2011 trends. The surprise conclusion: barcodes are going to be big in the enterprise and the concept of connected retail — bringing together mobile codes on packaging and across multi-media such as video — is a development poised to transform how we shop.

    Our pick of the month: Antoine RJ Wright wins our vote (and admiration) for his straight-forward, no-nonsense attempt to grapple with a key issue. This industry is in need of a reality check, and Antoine expertly kicks off this conversation.

    Our honorable mention goes to Chetan Sharma who must be congratulated for his survey and – more importantly – for collecting (and synthesizing) the views of mobile industry experts and influencers.

    Everyone is welcome to participate, so continue to spread the word among your colleagues. It would be great to see more voices from developing markets and verticals (health, education, social impact), because that is surely where the action will be in 2011.

    Meantime, if you would like to contribute material to future Carnivals, please submit your best blogging to the COM (to the attention of Peggy Anne Salz, our coordinator and “keeper of the tents”).

    Next month’s COM will be hosted by Eric Chan over at MobileSlate on February 21st. Keep an eye out.

    23 Jun 2010

    Mobile Campaign Effects on Voter Behavior

    The Changing Face of Campaign Marketing

    Nearly two years ago, mobile advertising and social media forever changed the way political campaigns are run. In an increasingly connected and inter-connected world, the way to reach constituents and potential voters needed to change. And it did in a big way – to the advantage of U.S. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

    Limbo, the company that ran the SMS advertising campaigns for the Dems delivered over one million SMS impressions across the two campaigns and in January 2008 they released a report detailing some of what they learned about the effect of mobile advertising on voters’ attitudes and behaviors. Maybe not too surprisingly, the results suggest that SMS advertising provides a powerful tool for candidates to change consumer attitudes and voting behavior.

    Limbo found that those who received the SMS had a 53 percent awareness rate – higher than might be expected from traditional forms of media but in line with other SMS programs up to that point. The overall impact however was considerable with 28 percent of voters who received the SMS campaign messages altering their voting intentions in some way. Limbo’s key findings affected two changes in voters; voting intention and candidate perception.

    Voting Intention

    • About 6% of those surveyed said that the advertising had changed their voting intentions significantly. 
    • Men and people age 35 and older changed their voting intentions most at 7%.
    • An additional 22% said their intentions had been changed a little.
    • This represents a total of 28% of people who changed their voting intentions.
    • Post campaign, a net 10% increase in positive perception was realized.


    Candidate Perception

    • 14% said that their perception of the candidate was now more positive than before seeing the campaign.
    • Only 4% said that their perception of the candidate was now more negative.
    • This represents a net 10% increase in positive perception.
    • Barack Obama saw the biggest uplift, with a net gain of 16%.


    Bringing it Home

    Limbo’s findings were important to us for one very big reason. Here in Central Europe, Czech Republic and our neighbor to the east, Slovakia, had particularly hard-fought campaigns by several parties this spring. Facing the very real possibility of losing it’s seats in Parliament, a Slovakian political party with a small but exceptionally loyal following called Tego Interactive to provide strategic and technical expertise in utilizing Web, social media and mobile in their campaign.

    We prepared a joint mobile and Facebook campaign strategy that we believed would not only meet but exceed the party’s election goals, ensuring the retention of their parliamentary seats. The reason we felt so strongly that this was possible was:

    • Mobile campaigns clearly have observable effect on political campaigns.
    • Slovak Republic’s high mobile and facebook penetration make it ripe for joint mobile and facebook marketing.
    • Mobile facebook users are twice as active as non-mobile users.
    • Access to one engaged Facebook user means access to 130 more of their friends.
    • Facebook provides useful demographics of users that we could use to better target voters dynamically.


    I wish this story had a happy ending for both Tego Interactive and for the campaign. Unfortunately the party decided other more traditional campaign strategies were more likely to succeed. Well…

    Maybe you already see where this is going.

    Given the strength of the strategy we presented, perhaps the outcome of the elections would have been more positive for them had the party chosen to pursue our recommendations. Old ways die hard – and apparently so do parties that don’t evolve with their constituents.

    29 Apr 2010

    Does Apple need iPhone in the Enterprise?

    I’ve recently been part of a conversation over at Tech Republic regarding Jason Hiner’s post “Five reasons why BlackBerry is still winning in the enterprise”.

    In short, I don’t think Apple cares much about the enterprise sector- at least as far as the iPhone goes. My guess is that Apple doesn’t lose (much) by not owning the enterprise market and therefore doesn’t care (much). Here’s why..

    Integrated devices (ID) are what mobile operators call those devices that incorporate functionality other than voice and text messaging – what most of us refer to as smartphones. In a recent Q1 2010 earnings call, Rick Lindner, AT&T CFO called ID users “high quality customers”. Why? Overall, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) was up nearly 4% in the quarter for AT&T, driven mostly by an increase in data plan usage. That is significant. More important however is ID users generate an average ARPU of $90 – an amazing 1.7 times that of standard customers. Understand that only 50% of AT&T’s post-paid customers currently have data plans and you begin to see why operators want iPhones and other smartphones on their networks. This particular group of users can impact mobile operator bottom lines in a significant way, especially when coupled with a two year service commitment.

    Since ID users in general are so attractive for operators, the question of iPhone or Blackberry from an operator point of view is neutral at best. In fact I would say from a raw profit perspective, the iPhone is a strong favorite because there is no longer any revenue sharing agreement with Apple. Operators would suffer by not offering Blackberry since the enterprise segment is very important.

    Apple doesn’t comment publicly on this, though it is suspected that contrary to the Mac side of the business, they make more money on iPhone app sales than on hardware sales. In other words, profit margin on iPhone hardware is less than profit generated through purchases from iTunes and the App Store over the life of the iPhone. Now couple that with the introduction of iAd and the profit generated through in-app ad sales. Apple would make little if anything on Apps or ads in the enterprise space since most companies restrict their employee’s ability to make unauthorized purchases on their phones. So, no premium SMS voting for your favorite American Idol (or for our international audience, Superstar). No apps. And no App and ad revenue.

    Now if Apple were to roll out strong enterprise support coupled with premium services (a la RIM) that companies could justify paying for, this might change. For now, I just don’t see Apple’s motivation to push the iPhone into the enterprise sector.

    Image credit:

    09 Mar 2010

    Carnival of the Mobilists #214

    Carnival of the Mobilists is a weekly collection of the Web’s best blogging on mobile and wireless. Curated and presented in a concise post, the Carnival is hosted each week on a different blog. This week the Carnival is hosted by MobiThinking, from the dotMobi folks. See the full Carnival here and look for Tego Interactive contributions to the Carnival in coming weeks.

    14 Dec 2009

    Go With The Flow: Why The Best Usability Doesn’t Focus On Interface Alone

    Editor’s note: This is a repost of an article originally published November 23, 2009 on MSearchGroove.com where Tego Interactive is a regular contributor. MSearchGroove is a premiere knowledge portal providing analysis and commentary on mobile search, mobile advertising, social media and all things digital at the intersection of content and context. Please visit the Tego Interactive Briefing Room on MSearchGroove for more.

    usability checklistUsability – and how shortcomings in device/software features and functionality are impacting the mobile space at all levels – was the focus last week. Around the world (and in Prague, where Tego Interactive is headquartered) professionals and practitioners came together at World Usability Day 2009 to exchange views and seek solutions to the fundamental usability issues that threaten to stunt market growth and stifle innovation, if we ignore the work to be done.

    It’s a good news-bad news story. But, if we get it right, there is a happy ending.

    The bad news: there are real problems ahead if we continue to think of usability as UI (interface) centered, and neglect the importance of delivering a UX (experience) that customers will appreciate.

    The good news: participation in Prague World Usability Day 2009 has confirmed several of our own observations and provided some new insights into how mobile companies and developers can drive positive results for their businesses and deliver positive experiences to their users.

    But before we get to some valuable suggestions and steps you can follow to develop in what Frog Design calls “the age of convergence,” allow me to explain what is different out there and why it’s time for a rethink.

    WORLDS COMBINE

    Our requirements for software and hardware haven’t changed all that much. The shift is in what we want to do/accomplish with all the stuff (software/services/devices) that is fast becoming an integral part of our daily routine.

    Online and on mobile a lot of what we did was about accessing content. News, alerts, ringtones, images, music tracks – the works. Against this backdrop, most usability improvements focused on how to get to the content more easily (streamlining or personalizing portals, for examples) and methods to move content across platforms and devices.

    Improving UI had a central spot in our strategies because it was enough to improve access. (Remember the rage over handsets that could buzz through our playlists if we waved them in the air?)

    Fast forward to the present and we don’t just consume content; we create it, communicate it and want more control over the means of production. We want a good user experience from start to finish, and tweaking the UI alone won’t deliver it.

    IT’S THE SYSTEM, STUPID

    Put simply, people want to accomplish their objectives and the best app (the one with the best usability) is the one that understands this and makes it possible.

    As Tjeerd Hoek from Frog Design put it during Prague World Usability Day: “It’s the SYSTEM that is the product.” It’s about software that binds it all.”

    For example, a service or software that allows us to capture content on our mobile phones is no longer a crowd-pleaser. We want to leave our mark on all we do (through mix-ups and mash-ups with other content or software apps, for example); we want to keep it where we want (on the phone, on the PC, or a mix of both); and we want to share it freely (upload it to Facebook, post it on our mobile and online blogs, or broadcast it on Twitter). So, if we develop solutions that let people capture content we had better build in the flexibility to do a lot more with it!

    Put another way, features are still important – but it’s the seamless fit between the software and our own personal objectives (productivity, flexibility, self-expression) that matters most.

    NOT THE KITCHEN SINK

    But don’t read this shift as a sign that your customers want all-singing, all-dancing systems/software that covers everything.

    Consider the user push-back against mammoth software solutions from Microsoft and others designed from the ground-up to do it all. Connect the dots, and we no longer require a laundry-list of features and functionality. In fact, we will reject it flat out. Instead, we gravitate to the solutions that suit us best (allowing us to do what we want to do). In part, that’s why Windows 7 allows us the freedom to download the features we want.

    That’s also why a company like Mariner Software can have phenomenal success with a “Long Tail” of word processing software programs tailored to the precise needs of a variety of different customers, ranging from poets to screenwriters.

    The takeaway: In this space that which does everything does nothing.

    SIMPLE (SIMPLY) DESIGN

    So, what does this mean for how we develop software and systems now and moving forward?

    We certainly can’t ignore the advance of touchscreen devices, the impact of the Apple App Store experience (resulting in a plethora of app stores from operators, handset makers and independents) and the explosion of the mobile Web. All this has come together this year to lay the groundwork for a brave, new active/interactive Internet.

    Fixed or mobile? One Web or two? It doesn’t matter, really.

    Everything comes together at the point of action – and this convergence must sit at the core of all we do/design/develop.

    People do things with software and devices (a wide range of devices). The quality of an experience is therefore no longer a measure of how cool the interface is. Sure, it still plays a role, but usability stands and falls depending on how well developers can deliver exceptional usability at every step in the ‘app flow.’ (App flow is our internal term for the workflow that applications must enable. Remember, your customers are trying to do something.)

    What do YOU need to do?

    1) Tweak the UI but perfect the UX. It’s not about features and functionality that work well in isolation. Keep in mind what the user will want to accomplish with your software application and be sure that what you offer will cover that work flow.

    2) Stick to the basics. More than ever, good usability is about making things easy to do. Keep it simple. And remember: if you have to tell the user how to do something, you’ve lost them (!)

    3) Focus on the big picture. Software is the glue that holds it all together. Too much integration (old releases of Microsoft) and you lock people in (and they will vote with their feet). Too little integration and you have provided customers a one-trick pony that is hardly the way forward if you are serious about building business.

    The takeaway: Allow people to do what they want to do and don’t overwhelm them with too many bells and whistles, and it’s all good.

    Alfred DeRose is the Managing Director of Tego Interactive, a Web and mobile company specialized in integrated solutions for converged businesses determined to get more out of their digital assets.

    28 Oct 2009

    Long Tail Content & Discoverability; The Business Imperative To Make Finding & Buying Content/Apps A No-Brainer

    Tego Interactive’s Alfred DeRose has contributed another guest post on MSearchGroove titled Long Tail Content & Discoverability; The Business Imperative To Make Finding & Buying Content/Apps A No-Brainer. Continuing the series of articles addressing the importance of discoverability and good user experience, Alfred discusses how and why these key concepts are critical to the success of any content channel, including the horde of up-and-coming app stores.

    Alfred says “It’s just common sense, really. Smart retailers make shopping a no-brainer by placing hot-selling items where consumers can see them.”

    Read the article and contribute your thoughts and comments by visiting MSearchGroove here:

    Long Tail Content & Discoverability; The Business Imperative To Make Finding & Buying Content/Apps A No-Brainer

    23 Oct 2009

    Amazon’s Mobile Payments Service Raises the Usability Bar

    Tego Interactive’s Alfred DeRose has contributed an article on MSearchGroove titled Amazon Raises The Stakes; Making Mobile Shopping Less Hassle. Alfred discusses the importance of a streamlined payment process on mobile and how Amazon has helped developers by releasing Amazon Mobile Payments Service.

    Alfred believes Amazon hasn’t just released another way for people to pay for stuff using their phone, but that they have set a usability benchmark that more established players, particularly mobile operators, could find hard to beat.

    Read the article and contribute your thoughts and comments by visiting MSearchGroove here:

    Amazon Raises The Stakes; Making Mobile Shopping Less Hassle

    16 Jul 2009

    Buying Process Key to Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Other App Store Success

    A bit late to the discussion, but this is still a hot enough topic to warrant a few comments. There has been some controversy over Nokia allowing content for it’s new Ovi Store to flow in unmoderated. This is likely at least partly a reaction to the criticism Apple has taken in relation to it’s App Store approval process. Some claim it’s too slow and the acceptance criteria are vague at best, in some cases even hypocritical. But handset manufacturers like Apple and Nokia have more to worry about than just content moderation, maybe most notably the payment process.

    Apple took a risk going with a credit card-only model, but they had absolutely nothing to loose and everything to gain. Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and others have life-sustaining relationships with operators in that the operator distribution model is critical to their success.

    In running their own branded content portals, the manufactures have two primary billing choices:

    1. Use the same old billing mechanisms (SMS, WAP) that many subscribers either don’t understand or have grown to hate, or
    2. Use alternative billing like credit card and risk operator relationships.

    The answer – Nokia uses both. Granted it’s a much smoother process than we are used to, but compare the following process to the one-click Apple model.

    From Nokia:

    1. Select the item you want to purchase.
    2. Select Buy .
    3. Enter your Nokia account user name and password. If you do not have an account, select Create a Nokia account , and enter the required information.
    4. Select to pay using your credit card or through your phone bill. If you already have your credit card information stored in your Nokia account, and you want to use another credit card, select Edit payment settings , and enter the required information. To save your credit card information to your Nokia account, select the Save this card to my Nokia account check box.
    5. Select the e-mail address to which you want to receive a receipt of your purchase.
    6. Select Purchase

    Behind the scenes, Nokia claims this iteration of Ovi is a bit of a band-aid to stop the flow of blood Apple has created with it’s game-changing App Store. I’m certain they have something better on the way and look forward to seeing what it is.

    In contrast to the Build and Run it approach of Nokia’s Ovi and Apple’s App Store, the newly announced Sony Ericsson store will be powered by GetJar. This partnership demonstrates another approach – mandate someone to do it for you. Speaking from experience – we have done content aggregation for mobile operators – it’s an expensive and time consuming process to do well. In this case, GetJar has the experience to do it well and one assumes they can do it more cheaply through economies of scale.

    One key take away from this, the best content will sit on the virtual shelves unless the buying process is clean and simple and the App stores provide excellent discovery tools. Customers must be able to find and purchase content with minimal effort. This will leave them with a good feeling and assure return visits, and more importantly, purchases.