Tag: Tim

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

Mobile can restore diminished brand loyalty caused by recession: Study
Due to the recessionary environment, consumers have been willing to forgo their favorite brands to cut household costs. Mobile represents a new access point for brand engagement and marketing opportunities. There has been a clear willingness to “trade down” to lower-priced brands over the past two […]

TheTMSway_Radar

Mobile can restore diminished brand loyalty caused by recession: Study

Due to the recessionary environment, consumers have been willing to forgo their favorite brands to cut household costs. Mobile represents a new access point for brand engagement and marketing opportunities. There has been a clear willingness to “trade down” to lower-priced brands over the past two years. According to research by comScore a decline in loyalty to consumer goods brands is typically one of the byproducts of a recession as consumers give greater consideration to price.

Consumer dependency on mobile devices increasing: InsightExpress

Forty-five percent of users check their mobile devices first thing in the morning, according to InsightExpress. The study showed a shift in three major mobile user profiles. Mobile Intensive, Mobile Casuals and Mobile Restrained represent the latest in mobile behavioral and attitudinal trends among consumers. “The Mobile Intensives segment, the group that is consuming the most content on mobile phones, is an incredibly attractive audience for advertisers,” said Joy Liuzzo, senior director, marketing and mobile research at InsightExpress, Stamford, CT.

Australians take to mobile internet

Nearly half of all Australian mobile phone users now own an internet-capable phone, but only a third accesses the web regularly on them, according to new research by The Nielsen Company. Australians’ ownership of internet phones now sits at 43 per cent, with 29 per cent regularly using it to search, email, find maps and to share their lives on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Even though people have an internet-enabled handset, some people aren’t necessarily using it.

Webinar: Applebee’s and MMA: Five Drivers Influencing Mobile Marketing This Year

As more marketers and retailers such as Applebee’s incorporate mobile into their multichannel plans and more consumers engage with content, marketing and commerce on their mobile devices, increased scrutiny and expectations are likely to result. In this free, hour-long webinar on Thursday, May 20 at 2 p.m. ET, Applebee’s executive Scott Fischer along with the top officials from the Mobile Marketing Association will outline the five factors that could propel the use of mobile.

Advertising Scene: Pepsi rolls out multifaceted LBS mobile loyalty initiatives

PepsiCo Inc. has debuted application-centered mobile initiatives to help its restaurant partners inspire customer loyalty and drive consumers to nearby locations. PepsiCo is working on two separate initiatives.

Indonesia: Bakrie Telecom issues $250 million debut bond

Indonesian mobile phone operator Bakrie Telecom sold $250 million worth of five-year bonds on Friday. The 144A high-yield notes, which are callable after three years, pay a semi-annual coupon of 11.5% and were re-offered at par, resulting in a yield of 11.5% as well. The maturity date has been set to May 7, 2015. Bakrie initially announced a deal roadshow on April 21 and on the following Monday (April 26) came out with guidance for a $250 million five-year issue with a yield in the area of 11%.

5 Keys For Successful Mobile Marketing

If the majority of your customers have cell phones, you might want to consider a mobile marketing strategy to reach them. Reaching out to your customers via text message is a great way to promote special offers and encourage further engagement with your brand. Choose a simple keyword that is easy to text. Most of your customers will join your mobile program by sending a text message to a short code number (5 or 6 digits) with a keyword to identify your program.

Smartphone Shipments Jump 50% During Q1

People want smartphones, as evident by a new report indicating global smartphone shipments totaled an estimated 54M units during Q1 2010, growing 50% from Q1 2009 when 36M units were shipped. The report, published by Strategy Analytics under the name “Global Smartphone Market Share Update,” also indicates Nokia shipped a record 21.5 million smartphones worldwide in Q1 2010, rising an above-average 57% from 13.7 million units a year earlier.

Mobile Marketing and Retail Sector to Exceed $8 Billion by 2012: Report

A recent research conducted by Juniper Research has found the mobile marketing and retail sector including mobile advertising, smart posters and coupons, will exceed $8 billion globally by 2012. The “Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies” report found that retailers have started exploiting mobile channel through advertising campaign on the handset and also by issuing free coupons.

Portals and directories lead mobile advertising spend in 2010: Study

Portals and directories, travel, entertainment and telecommunications lead mobile advertising spend in quarter one of 2010, according to Millennial Media. In the company’s one-year anniversary edition of its monthly Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting report, it focused on a number of trends observed from its ad servers and campaign data. In addition, the report showed that Blackberry smartphones dominate 12 of top 15 DMAs and the iPhone is tops in the Bay area.

Whitepaper: Mobile Marketing Predictions For The Next Five Years & Beyond

Dubbed “Mobile Marketing for Business – Part One – An Overview,” the new whitepaper does an excellent job at detailing the fundamentals of mobile marketing, current industry statistics, examples of “what’s working now,” current drawbacks and future predictions for the industry as a whole. The whitepaper details stats such as that mobile devices will surpass desktop Web browsing within five to ten years, citing the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) who states cell phone use is far higher than Internet use.

Industry News: Of budgets, Apple and mobile advertising

Apple CEO Steve Jobs seems intent on bludgeoning everyone to submission with his love-it-or-leave-it attitude to mobile. First it was the tight girdle around applications and now it’s his diktats on mobile advertising. Quite clearly, Mr. Jobs is taking advertising agencies, application developers, ad networks and advertisers on this rollercoaster ride, making each descent more frightening than the other. Does he know something that mobile marketers don’t?

Behold II

Despite the name, the Behold II has little in common with Samsung’s original Behold. T-Mobile likes to re-use names to a fault, and while the original Behold was a TouchWiz feature phone, the Behold II is an Android smartphone. The similarity lies in the TouchWiz UI, which Samsung has thoroughly bolted onto Android 1.5. Both share a good 5 megapixel camera and a touch screen, but beyond that, they have little in common. While the Behold II shares a similar, though larger, form factor with the MyTouch 3G and the same 528MHz CPU, the similarity ends there since the MyTouch runs stock Android while the Samsung’s is much modified by TouchWiz.
Samsung Behold 2
The Behold II is a large phone, though slim since it lacks a slider keyboard. It fits fine in roomy pockets but isn’t compatible with tight jeans. It’s pleasant looking though not sexy or chic. The front face features a faux brushed metal texture over the control area and this helps prevent finger slips. The round d-pad doesn’t captivate us the way HTC’s trackball does on their Android phones. It’s bit hard to press the outer directional rim though the center action button works well. As with the Omnia II on Verizon, we have to wonder why Samsung devoted a precious front button to their cube launcher which is more eye candy than substance. But we give back points for the large and easy to operate call send and end buttons and the dedicated camera button. The back is fingerprint-loving black plastic with a nice looking world map in bronze (much more recognizable than Verizon’s attempt at a world map on their version of the HTC Touch Pro2).

Samsung Behold 2

Samsung Behold 2

Phone and Internet

The Behold II is a quad band GSM phone with EDGE and 3G HSDPA On T-Mobile’s US 1700 and 2100MHz bands. Call quality is good and volume is adequate for all but very noisy places, but 3G reception is a little below average among T-Mobile phones. The phone supports Bluetooth handsfree devices and headsets as well as A2DP stereo Bluetooth headsets and headphones.

The Android browser is very good, as always. Like the iPhone and Palm’s webOS phones, Google’s web browser is webkit-based, and that means it can render desktop sites with good fidelity (minus Flash). Being a Google phone, it sync perfectly with Google services including gmail with contacts and Google Calendar. The phone also works with POP3 and IMAP email accounts but it can’t sync to MS Exchange.
Samsung Behold 2
Video Review
Here’s our 13 minute video review of the Samsung Behold II. It covers the design, web browser, GPS and it takes a deep look at Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface enhancements.

Performance and TouchWiz

The Behold II’s 528MHz Qualcomm CPU has become an old standby on Android and Windows Mobile phones. It’s not going to impress anyone but it’s up to the task of handling stock Android and Windows Mobile software. But TouchWiz proves to put too much of a burden on the CPU and our usual zippy Android experience lags here and there. The phone isn’t as responsive as the MyTouch 3G running standard Android, nor is it as fast as the HTC Hero on Sprint. It’s not dog slow, but it pauses and balks here and there; something we don’t often see on Android. The phone has 320 megs of RAM which is quite a lot for any smartphone, including Android (256 megs is more the norm with the Hero having 288 megs to keep HTC’s Sense UI moving smoothly). There are approximately 200 megs of free storage space where you’ll want to install applications since Android doesn’t yet support installing apps to a microSD card. T-Mobile and Samsung include a 2 gig microSD card in the box so you can store photos, videos, music and more.
Samsung Behold 2
TouchWiz feels a bit over the top here: Android is a fresh new OS and it doesn’t need that much help in the user interface department. Perhaps it’s meant to ease TouchWiz users migrating from the Samsung Behold and Samsung Memoir. That said, if it weren’t for the slowdowns and unwarranted skinning of Android apps, we’d complain less. It’s not hard to use TouchWiz on the Behold II, but it’s actually easier to use a standard Android phone since TouchWiz creates confusing duplications, and Android already has very capable downloadable widgets so the TouchWiz widgets don’t add much.

Camera and GPS

Thumbs up for both the very good 5 megapixel camera and the GPS that works with Google Maps and TeleNav. Google Maps is free and is fantastic for finding POIs, while TeleNav offers good turn-by turn directions. The GPS got solid fixes even in urban locations and TeleNav’s directions were cogent and clear.

The 5 megapixel camera has an autofocus lens and an LED flash. The camera took even better shots than the already good Samsung Behold, and video is among the best for US phones.

Conclusion

We love Android and we adore Samsung’s vibrant AMOLED displays. But we could do with a little less TouchWiz on top of Android: it slows down the phone and it creates confusing redundant functionality. But if you’re a Samsung feature phone user upgrading to your first smartphone, you just might appreciate the familiarity of TouchWiz. The phone is solid, well made and has one of the better cameras on the US phone market. With WiFi, a GPS that works with both Google Maps and TeleNav and Bluetooth with A2DP stereo, the Behold II has its merits.
Despite the name, the Behold II has little in common with Samsung’s original Behold. T-Mobile likes to re-use names to a fault, and while the original Behold was a TouchWiz feature phone, the Behold II is an Android smartphone. The similarity lies in the TouchWiz UI, which Samsung has thoroughly bolted onto Android 1.5. Both share a good 5 megapixel camera and a touch screen, but beyond that, they have little in common. While the Behold II shares a similar, though larger, form factor with the MyTouch 3G and the same 528MHz CPU, the similarity ends there since the MyTouch runs stock Android while the Samsung’s is much modified by TouchWiz.
Samsung Behold 2
The Behold II is a large phone, though slim since it lacks a slider keyboard. It fits fine in roomy pockets but isn’t compatible with tight jeans. It’s pleasant looking though not sexy or chic. The front face features a faux brushed metal texture over the control area and this helps prevent finger slips. The round d-pad doesn’t captivate us the way HTC’s trackball does on their Android phones. It’s bit hard to press the outer directional rim though the center action button works well. As with the Omnia II on Verizon, we have to wonder why Samsung devoted a precious front button to their cube launcher which is more eye candy than substance. But we give back points for the large and easy to operate call send and end buttons and the dedicated camera button. The back is fingerprint-loving black plastic with a nice looking world map in bronze (much more recognizable than Verizon’s attempt at a world map on their version of the HTC Touch Pro2).

Samsung Behold 2

Samsung Behold 2

Phone and Internet

The Behold II is a quad band GSM phone with EDGE and 3G HSDPA On T-Mobile’s US 1700 and 2100MHz bands. Call quality is good and volume is adequate for all but very noisy places, but 3G reception is a little below average among T-Mobile phones. The phone supports Bluetooth handsfree devices and headsets as well as A2DP stereo Bluetooth headsets and headphones.

The Android browser is very good, as always. Like the iPhone and Palm’s webOS phones, Google’s web browser is webkit-based, and that means it can render desktop sites with good fidelity (minus Flash). Being a Google phone, it sync perfectly with Google services including gmail with contacts and Google Calendar. The phone also works with POP3 and IMAP email accounts but it can’t sync to MS Exchange.
Samsung Behold 2
Video Review
Here’s our 13 minute video review of the Samsung Behold II. It covers the design, web browser, GPS and it takes a deep look at Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface enhancements.

Performance and TouchWiz

The Behold II’s 528MHz Qualcomm CPU has become an old standby on Android and Windows Mobile phones. It’s not going to impress anyone but it’s up to the task of handling stock Android and Windows Mobile software. But TouchWiz proves to put too much of a burden on the CPU and our usual zippy Android experience lags here and there. The phone isn’t as responsive as the MyTouch 3G running standard Android, nor is it as fast as the HTC Hero on Sprint. It’s not dog slow, but it pauses and balks here and there; something we don’t often see on Android. The phone has 320 megs of RAM which is quite a lot for any smartphone, including Android (256 megs is more the norm with the Hero having 288 megs to keep HTC’s Sense UI moving smoothly). There are approximately 200 megs of free storage space where you’ll want to install applications since Android doesn’t yet support installing apps to a microSD card. T-Mobile and Samsung include a 2 gig microSD card in the box so you can store photos, videos, music and more.
Samsung Behold 2
TouchWiz feels a bit over the top here: Android is a fresh new OS and it doesn’t need that much help in the user interface department. Perhaps it’s meant to ease TouchWiz users migrating from the Samsung Behold and Samsung Memoir. That said, if it weren’t for the slowdowns and unwarranted skinning of Android apps, we’d complain less. It’s not hard to use TouchWiz on the Behold II, but it’s actually easier to use a standard Android phone since TouchWiz creates confusing duplications, and Android already has very capable downloadable widgets so the TouchWiz widgets don’t add much.

Camera and GPS

Thumbs up for both the very good 5 megapixel camera and the GPS that works with Google Maps and TeleNav. Google Maps is free and is fantastic for finding POIs, while TeleNav offers good turn-by turn directions. The GPS got solid fixes even in urban locations and TeleNav’s directions were cogent and clear.

The 5 megapixel camera has an autofocus lens and an LED flash. The camera took even better shots than the already good Samsung Behold, and video is among the best for US phones.

Conclusion

We love Android and we adore Samsung’s vibrant AMOLED displays. But we could do with a little less TouchWiz on top of Android: it slows down the phone and it creates confusing redundant functionality. But if you’re a Samsung feature phone user upgrading to your first smartphone, you just might appreciate the familiarity of TouchWiz. The phone is solid, well made and has one of the better cameras on the US phone market. With WiFi, a GPS that works with both Google Maps and TeleNav and Bluetooth with A2DP stereo, the Behold II has its merits.

Corby TV

Samsung is expanding quickly in the cellphone industry and while most of its phones are mid-range or high-range smart phones, they also cater to the lower end of the scale. Recently, Samsung launched two new cellphones with support for mobile TV in the form of the Samsung Corby TV and Samsung Metro TV. The Samsung Corby TV is slightly higher end but both the Corby TV and Samsung Metro TV phones are set to be priced at sub Rs 10000.
The technical specifications for the Samsung Corby TV smart phone include features such as a 2.8″ TFT capacitive touchscreen with 240 x 320 pixels resolution, 50 MB internal and microSD for expandable memory, Bluetooth, USB connectivity, 2 MP camera and Stereo FM radio with RDS.

The Samsung Metro TV mobile phone on the other hand is set to feature a 2″ QVGA TFT display, microSD slot, 2 MP camera, Bluetooth, USB connectivity and Stereo FM radio with RDS.

Both the Samsung Corby TV and Samsung Metro TV feature quad-band GSM and HSPA class 3G connectivity. And more importantly both the Samsung Corby TV mobile phone and Samsung Metro TV cellphone feature MimobiTV mobile TV application.

MimobiTV essentially allows users to access more than 40 channels and watch live broadcasts or recorded content. Developed by Apalya, MimobiTV is a mobile TV application that works both on both CDMA 1x and 3G networks and it should be obvious that it will work through the 3G network on both the Samsung Corby TV cellphone and Samsung Metro TV mobile phone.
Samsung is expanding quickly in the cellphone industry and while most of its phones are mid-range or high-range smart phones, they also cater to the lower end of the scale. Recently, Samsung launched two new cellphones with support for mobile TV in the form of the Samsung Corby TV and Samsung Metro TV. The Samsung Corby TV is slightly higher end but both the Corby TV and Samsung Metro TV phones are set to be priced at sub Rs 10000.
The technical specifications for the Samsung Corby TV smart phone include features such as a 2.8″ TFT capacitive touchscreen with 240 x 320 pixels resolution, 50 MB internal and microSD for expandable memory, Bluetooth, USB connectivity, 2 MP camera and Stereo FM radio with RDS.

The Samsung Metro TV mobile phone on the other hand is set to feature a 2″ QVGA TFT display, microSD slot, 2 MP camera, Bluetooth, USB connectivity and Stereo FM radio with RDS.

Both the Samsung Corby TV and Samsung Metro TV feature quad-band GSM and HSPA class 3G connectivity. And more importantly both the Samsung Corby TV mobile phone and Samsung Metro TV cellphone feature MimobiTV mobile TV application.

MimobiTV essentially allows users to access more than 40 channels and watch live broadcasts or recorded content. Developed by Apalya, MimobiTV is a mobile TV application that works both on both CDMA 1x and 3G networks and it should be obvious that it will work through the 3G network on both the Samsung Corby TV cellphone and Samsung Metro TV mobile phone.

Nokia X2 : Sophisticated gadget with low price!

One good news is there for music lovers. Nokia is planning to launch their latest handset, Nokia X2 which is a fantastic low cost music phone for phone lovers. Apart from low price tag, one would find different latest phone features in this device.
Nokia phones are no doubt smart phones of the world. About Nokia […]

One good news is there for music lovers. Nokia is planning to launch their latest handset, Nokia X2 which is a fantastic low cost music phone for phone lovers. Apart from low price tag, one would find different latest phone features in this device.
Nokia phones are no doubt smart phones of the world. About Nokia […]

Apple iPhone surpasses BlackBerry as the #1 Opera Mini device in …

Opera Mini launched on the iPhone a mere few weeks ago and the Apple handset has already has taken the top spot as the device with the most Opera Mini users, as measured by number of installs, in the US. The iPhone ousted BlackBerry, …

Opera Mini launched on the iPhone a mere few weeks ago and the Apple handset has already has taken the top spot as the device with the most Opera Mini users, as measured by number of installs, in the US. The iPhone ousted BlackBerry, …

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Apple iPhone surpasses BlackBerry as the #1 Opera Mini device in …

Related Blogs

    TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

    MMA updates guidelines for cross-carrier mobile content
    The Mobile Marketing Association updated its United States Consumer Best Practices Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services. The guidelines are the industry standard for cross-carrier mobile services such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, short code programs, interactive voice response and mobile Web. The new 5.0 guidelines outline acceptable and unacceptable practices […]

    TheTMSway_Radar

    MMA updates guidelines for cross-carrier mobile content

    The Mobile Marketing Association updated its United States Consumer Best Practices Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services. The guidelines are the industry standard for cross-carrier mobile services such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, short code programs, interactive voice response and mobile Web. The new 5.0 guidelines outline acceptable and unacceptable practices for all players in the U.S. ecosystem.

    Mobile Advertising, SMS Can Achieve “More Than A 100% Response Rate,” Says Expert

    Though it may be perceived as a bit over ambitious, mobile advertising is said to be capable of a “more than 100% response rate,” according to one industry expert. Speaking at an Internet trade expo, Marc Hyatt of Txtlocal substantiated his claim by using the example of SMS and the viral effect that marketers can experience using the medium, saying “consumers receiving SMS did much of the marketing work themselves.”

    Nearly Half of Mobile Ads Served to Smartphones

    Reporting from Millennial Media, a mobile advertising network that reaches 83% of US mobile subscribers, indicates that smartphones account for almost one-half of mobile ad impressions in the country. More subscribers may have feature phones, but they make up only about one-third of mobile ad views, likely because users have less interaction with advanced mobile content.

    Mobile advertising bucks the downward spiral evident elsewhere

    2009 was a bad year for the “traditional” advertising industry with a significant drop in advertising revenues recorded in TV, radio and the print media. However, in one specific area, mobile advertising, revenues grew by 32 per cent – once again proving that it’s an ill wind that blows nobody good. Martyn Warwick reports. A new survey undertaken by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers also shows that a sea change is underway.

    Where’s mobile advertising?

    Smart phone usage. All of this comes as Forrester Research estimates that of the some 277 million mobile phones currently in use in the United States, 17 percent are smart phones, defined as “a mobile phone or Internet-connected handheld device that uses a high-level operating system such as iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Web OS, Symbian, and any flavor of Linux including Android.” And the number is growing, with Nielsen reporting that 25 percent of all new cell phones sold are now smart phones.

    Mobile email marketing will be driven by increase in commerce

    The mobile marketing sector – including SMS and email marketing – will be driven by a growth in consumer spending via the channel, it has been claimed. According to a new study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, total spending via mobile phones increased by 32 per cent last year – reaching £37.6 million. And the organisations believe this trend is set to continue.

    Shopping by Mobile Creates an $8bn Opportunity for Mobile Advertising & Coupons, Juniper Report finds

    A new report from Juniper Research has found that the mobile marketing and retail sector (comprising mobile advertising, coupons and smart posters) will exceed $8 billion by 2012 globally. The Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies report found that Retailers were already starting to exploit the mobile channel through advertising campaigns on the handset and by issuing money-off coupons. The market for these two activities alone is forecast grow by half in the next two years.

    UK mobile advertising market grows 32% in 2009 to £37.6m

    Despite a contraction in the advertising sector in 2009, total spend on mobile phone advertising in 2009 rocketed by 32% year on year to a new high of £37.6m, according to second, annual Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) – the trade body for digital marketing – and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study. While some brands and media owners cut back their investment in mobile advertising, the medium grew at a faster rate than predicted due to its exceptional targeting, immediacy and return on investment.

    Why Apple’s tilt toward control over openness may hurt all

    It is through this context that I view iPhone 4.0 and iAd as watershed moments for Apple’s mobile platform. If Apple continues to maintain a balance between control and openness, its path to becoming a dominant mobile platform will be unimpeded. However, if the balance it has achieved is disrupted, a rapid decline may be inevitable.

    Web sites may be losing affiliate revenue as mobile access increases

    Affiliates of networks like LinkShare and Commission Junction are not being properly compensated for traffic they refer when end-users are on mobile devices, according to MobForm. Per mobile publisher network MobForm, brands developing their mobile strategy may not have the full picture with respect to the restrictions that are currently in place preventing mobile affiliates from promoting their offers.

    Mobile Entertainment Forum US produces webinar and guidebook to foster better understanding of m-commerce in entertainment sector

    Hot on the heals of the Mobile Marketing Association coming over all ‘m-retailing’, the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) North America has set up a Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce) Initiative all of its own, to help brands, content producers and retailers better understand how to leverage the mobile phone to drive customer acquisition, retention, and conversion.

    South Africa Biz Market: Mobile Internet to become top earner on firms

    Ghana and Kenya led the top 10 African countries in terms of page-view growth at 4,348.6 % and 615.4 % respectively.
    Access to mobile internet is reported to offering a significant revenue opportunity for mobile operators, adding that consumers as well are befitting immensely from the convenience of portable internet, analysts said. 
    In a report from […]

    Ghana and Kenya led the top 10 African countries in terms of page-view growth at 4,348.6 % and 615.4 % respectively.

    Access to mobile internet is reported to offering a significant revenue opportunity for mobile operators, adding that consumers as well are befitting immensely from the convenience of portable internet, analysts said.  kenya market

    In a report from Business Daily Africa, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) revealed an increased statistics of last year’s mobile data subscribers from 1.86 million (third quarter) to 1.98 million (last quarter).

    The mobile internet users generate more than $4 billion per year for operators globally, and according to the Opera Software’s snapshot study in the South African countries, Kenya has emerged as a leader in the region in terms of mobile internet usage with each user browsing an average of 525 pages per month.

    “When people browse more, it is a win-win situation as operators receive more revenue, users have more incentive to upgrade their data plans, and people get the Web pages they want in an efficient and affordable manner,” Opera Software’s CEO said in an article published on Business Daily Africa.

    One factor seen in this increasing penetration of mobile internet usage in the region is the cheaper cost to acquiring and maintaining mobile handsets compared to computers and laptops.

    Meanwhile, the Communications Commission of Kenya said that the impressive 50% increase of mobile internet penetration in the region is also influenced by some other factors like the reduction in the cost of mobile handsets and the low value of prepaid calling cards.

    I6500U Galaxy

    Samsung I6500U Galaxy is a new phone powered by a fast 800MHz processor, and runs on the Android v2.1 OS. The phone also boasts Google Talk integration, A-GPS support, Bluetooth V2.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, as well as 180MB of internal storage and a 3.2-inch touchscreen. People are very happy with such a phone.
    On the Samsung I6500U Galaxy Smartphone, the 3.2-inch display features a 320 x 480 pixel resolution with 16M colors. The phone measures 117 x 59 x 13.3mm and weighs 126g. The 3.15 megapixel camera comes with face/smile detection, Geo-tagging, 15fps CIF video. It has an internal memory of 180MB and expandable up to 32GB via microSD card slot.

    Features & Specs:
    • 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 2100
    • Speakerphone Yes
    • 3.5 mm audio jack
    • Internal 180 MB storage
    • 800 MHz processor
    • Stereo FM radio with RDS
    • GPS Yes, with A-GPS support
    • Java Via third party application
    • MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player
    • MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player
    • Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
    • YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk integration
    • Organizer
    • Document viewer
    • Voice memo
    Samsung I6500U Galaxy is a new phone powered by a fast 800MHz processor, and runs on the Android v2.1 OS. The phone also boasts Google Talk integration, A-GPS support, Bluetooth V2.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, as well as 180MB of internal storage and a 3.2-inch touchscreen. People are very happy with such a phone.
    On the Samsung I6500U Galaxy Smartphone, the 3.2-inch display features a 320 x 480 pixel resolution with 16M colors. The phone measures 117 x 59 x 13.3mm and weighs 126g. The 3.15 megapixel camera comes with face/smile detection, Geo-tagging, 15fps CIF video. It has an internal memory of 180MB and expandable up to 32GB via microSD card slot.

    Features & Specs:
    • 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 2100
    • Speakerphone Yes
    • 3.5 mm audio jack
    • Internal 180 MB storage
    • 800 MHz processor
    • Stereo FM radio with RDS
    • GPS Yes, with A-GPS support
    • Java Via third party application
    • MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player
    • MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player
    • Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
    • YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk integration
    • Organizer
    • Document viewer
    • Voice memo

    Samsung I9000 Galaxy S

    Competition is certainly one of the things that make the Android OS so much fun. There are already several manufacturers involved in the Google OS game and each of them has already released a flagship that aims at the peak of the food chain.

    Samsung might be coming a tad late to the party but they are obviously entering with a bang. The I9000 Galaxy S packs a display of the greatest technology that the mobile world has ever seen and a pretty big one at that. A snappy 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, HD video recording and a sweetly slim waistline make it look like the real deal in the eyes of every real geek.
    Let’s take a look at the other features that the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S puts to the table.

    Galaxy S GT I9000 5 540x408

    Samsung I9000 Galaxy S at a glance:

    General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps,
    • HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
    • Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
    • Dimensions: 122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 mm, 118 g
    • Display: 4″ 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 480 x 800 pixels
    • CPU: Samsung Cortex A8 Hummingbird 1 GHz processor
    • OS: Android 2.1 (Eclair)
    • Memory: 8/16GB storage, microSD card slot
    • Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection and touch focus; 720p video recording at 30fps
    • Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
    • Misc: TouchWiz 3.0 UI, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype text input
    As you can see the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S specs sheet is long enough to be considered high-end. What’s even better is that it manages to put something on top, namely the large 4” Super AMOLED display, which should become the new thing to beat if it has the performance of the Samsung S8500 Wave unit.

    The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S at ours
    The TouchWiz-like Android customization still had some performance issues on the Galaxy Spica so we will have to see if those are fixed for the Galaxy S. We are also yet to check out how the new 1GHz Samsung Cortex A8 CPU compares to its Snapdragon peers in the Android environment, but we have a good feeling about it.
    At any rate the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is a fine piece of mobile technology and we are as eager as you to see if it will actually manage to top the charts or end up in the chasing pack. So let’s not waste any more time and head to the hardware part of the preview where we’ll examine the Galaxy S ergonomics.

    Competition is certainly one of the things that make the Android OS so much fun. There are already several manufacturers involved in the Google OS game and each of them has already released a flagship that aims at the peak of the food chain.

    Samsung might be coming a tad late to the party but they are obviously entering with a bang. The I9000 Galaxy S packs a display of the greatest technology that the mobile world has ever seen and a pretty big one at that. A snappy 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, HD video recording and a sweetly slim waistline make it look like the real deal in the eyes of every real geek.
    Let’s take a look at the other features that the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S puts to the table.

    Galaxy S GT I9000 5 540x408

    Samsung I9000 Galaxy S at a glance:

    General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps,
    • HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
    • Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
    • Dimensions: 122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 mm, 118 g
    • Display: 4″ 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 480 x 800 pixels
    • CPU: Samsung Cortex A8 Hummingbird 1 GHz processor
    • OS: Android 2.1 (Eclair)
    • Memory: 8/16GB storage, microSD card slot
    • Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection and touch focus; 720p video recording at 30fps
    • Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
    • Misc: TouchWiz 3.0 UI, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype text input
    As you can see the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S specs sheet is long enough to be considered high-end. What’s even better is that it manages to put something on top, namely the large 4” Super AMOLED display, which should become the new thing to beat if it has the performance of the Samsung S8500 Wave unit.

    The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S at ours
    The TouchWiz-like Android customization still had some performance issues on the Galaxy Spica so we will have to see if those are fixed for the Galaxy S. We are also yet to check out how the new 1GHz Samsung Cortex A8 CPU compares to its Snapdragon peers in the Android environment, but we have a good feeling about it.
    At any rate the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is a fine piece of mobile technology and we are as eager as you to see if it will actually manage to top the charts or end up in the chasing pack. So let’s not waste any more time and head to the hardware part of the preview where we’ll examine the Galaxy S ergonomics.

    TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

    Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) To Audit Newspapers On Mobile
    Acknowledging the growing number of readers who interact with newspaper content via mobile devices, the Audit Bureau of Circulations said its interactive unit, ABCi, is set to begin measuring newspapers’ mobile audiences, including readership on e-readers, through mobile Web browsers, and through free and paid apps […]

    TheTMSway_Radar

    Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) To Audit Newspapers On Mobile

    Acknowledging the growing number of readers who interact with newspaper content via mobile devices, the Audit Bureau of Circulations said its interactive unit, ABCi, is set to begin measuring newspapers’ mobile audiences, including readership on e-readers, through mobile Web browsers, and through free and paid apps on smartphones and Apple’s new iPad.

    TV Business Market: TV stations online ad revenue to reach $1.4 billion with mobile

    “Mobile is a new and upcoming medium, and television has a history of understanding new mediums and going after them,” said Borrell. Local online ad revenue of TV stations is anticipated to reach nearly $1.4 billion this year, according to latest study released by Borrell Associates and the Television Bureau of Advertising published in Broadcasting & Cable.

    Singapore Reported to Serve More Than 100 Million Mobile Ads during March

    At the Mobile Marketing Association Forum, Asia Pacific event held in Singapore last week, a nerd bumped into Jeff Merkel, Vice-President and Managing Director, APLA, of the world’s biggest mobile advertising network, Admob.

    Mobile barcodes hit Entertainment Weekly, from Microsoft Tag

    Next Fridays issue of Entertainment Weekly will have something a little different in it. The magazine is publishing 2d barcodes from Microsoft in the magazine, to give movie fans a way to see previews of upcoming movies.

    Consumers are ready for mobile marketing – and it all starts with text

    With 224 million mobile users engaged in texting, SMS has emerged as “the only form of mobile marketing to reach the entire mobile universe,” says a study into mobile marketing and retail published this week by Placecast, the company behind ShopAlerts.

    How online and mobile are sales saviours for hotels

    Hotels emerging from the global recession need to cultivate as many viable, sustainable revenue streams as possible. Vanessa Horwell, chief visibility officer, TravelInk’d explains how it can be done…

    SMS only reliable communications channel during significant events

    Working here gives us a unique perspective into the SMS traffic patterns from around the world – in fact, SMS traffic patterns from and to almost 900 wireless carriers. When some significant event occurs somewhere in the world, regardless of it being a local, regional or global event, it can and does affect text messaging to and from that locale.

    Online and mobile advertising gains more clout

    Online and mobile advertising is slowly but surely asserting its place in the advertising world forcing the traditional advertising agencies to embrace, otherwise become irrelevant, this new media to address a growing new market that is being created by the changing lifestyle of consumers. With this realization, the IMMAP (Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines) was born.

    How retailers are using mobile to drive consumers into physical stores

    National Retail Federation RACie Award-winning firm Placecast today announces the release of a report titled “Retail Goes Mobile: Finding New Consumer Connections Through Mobile Devices” by Kathryn Koegel, President of Primary Impact Research.

    Mobile media space expected to grow significantly in future: industry observers

    SINGAPORE: The global mobile advertising space is set to grow nearly nine-fold in the next three years to as high as US$17 billion. The rapid growth is expected to result in mobile advertising accounting for about three to five per cent of the world advertising spend within five years.

    McDonald’s LBS mobile ads achieve 7 percent CTR – Mobile Commerce Daily

    McDonald’s participated in a pilot campaign showcasing Navteq’s location-based mobile advertising services and achieved a 7 percent click-through rate, while also driving consumers in-store.

    Sony test program sees 36 percent of consumers opt for mobile tickets

    Sony Pictures ran a promotion in which it rewarded participants with “Stepfather” and “Zombieland” movie tickets via mobile. Sony partnered with TPG Rewards for the test program that proved successful for both Sony and Regal Theaters, the largest theater chain in the United States.

    Nestlé targets Hispanics with Carnation Evaporated Milk mobile site

    Nestlé USA’s Carnation Evaporated Milk is giving lovers of Latin cuisine meal preparation help with a new mobile Web site and custom iPhone application targeted at Hispanic consumers.

    SMS Marketing Reaches Users of All Ages

    Mobile behavior varies dramatically across demographics: 70% of consumers age 18-29 say they send text messages using their mobile phone, compared with 49% of those age 40-49 and 11% of those age 65+, according to a Merkle Inc. study of mobile adoption and use.

    Haiti Earthquake Relief Sees Mobile Giving Gaining Ground in Europe

    In the wake of the recent Haiti earthquake, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and its research partner, Lightspeed Research, have released the results of the latest Consumer Briefing reports into mobile giving in the UK, French and German markets, demonstrating that people are increasingly turning to mobile as a way of quickly donating to a cause.

    2010: Local Mobile Ads Expected To Double

    Business spending on mobile-marketing will more than triple this year as the category starts a soaring five-year growth trajectory, per a Borrell Associates. Local is the big news: Local mobile spending will double in 2010 as it begins a similar five-year boom.