Forrester: 2011 Mobile Trends by Mark Walsh

Forrester has issued its annual report outlining top mobile trends for the upcoming year. The research firm gave itself a "B+" for its 2010 predictions, but said it expected mobile strategy professionals would spend more last year. Among other things, it says it correctly predicted Android would emerge as a rival to other platforms, social and mobile would expand their "love affair," and app stores would flourish but not replicate Apple's success. (I didn't come across "Angry Birds" on that list.) ...Read the whole story

  • iWallet: Apple To Integrate NFC With iOS? by Laurie Sullivan

    Apple, which endorses near field communication technology, will likely integrate NFC into the next version of its operating system -- allowing consumers to make contactless purchases and advertisers to serve up content and ads on mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad. ...Read the whole story

  • Study: Mobile Diners Looking For Cheap Eats Close By In The 'Burbs by Mark Walsh

    It's no surprise that finding nearby restaurants and dining options is one of the ways people use their mobile phones. Everyone's got to eat, right? New findings from a broader mobile study last year by Yahoo and Nielsen, however, aim to shed more light on the connection between cell phones and eating out (or ordering in). ...Read the whole story

  • iAd Not Much Of An Ad Fad by Erik Sass

    The Apple iPad and iPhone may have captivated consumers and the tech trade press, but Apple's mobile iAd platform still doesn't rank particularly high in the minds of most advertisers, according to a new survey of ad agencies by Strata. The findings were especially noteworthy because the devices have definitely captured advertisers' interest. ...Read the whole story

Getting Closer: Will iPhone 5 Make NFC Real? by Steve Smith

The prospect of waving your cell phone at a checkout card reader to make a purchase has been something akin to a sex dream in the mobile industry for nearly a decade or more. It doesn't take much thought to see the possibilities and interconnections that the mobile wallet allows, from a massive new sales revenue stream for someone in the chain, to back-end integration with targeted marketing efforts and CRM. Putting the phone into the purchase stream so directly has the potential to change the game for everyone in the mobile ecology. ...More

  • Early Morning Email Readers Use Mobile by Jack Loechner

    Based on a composite cross sampling of 155.3 million emails sent across 12 industry segments in the 4th quarter of 2010, a new Knotice study finds that 13.36% of emails are opened by a mobile operating system or device, and the balance on a desktop. The report suggests that the most intuitive and useful way to look at mobile data for summary purposes is technically blending devices (iPhone and iPad) with operating systems (Android), OS and browsers. ...More

  • Mobile Search Behavior To Give Campaigns Traction by Laurie Sullivan

    An increase in consumer spending on mobile phones through emerging technologies such as near field communication (NFC), a technology Google and others continue to invest in, will push advertisers to spend more than $1 billion on mobile marketing campaigns in the U.S. this year, according to a study released by Forrester Research Tuesday. ...More

  • Are Apps the New Music Video? by Steve Smith

    When MTV launched oh so many years ago, the genuine revolution in music creation and consumption opened with the Buggles' catchy and clever "Video Killed the Radio Star." The self-styled launch of a new model for music video apps arrived this week with a much less promising ante -- the Black-Eyed Peas' BEP360. I admit that I am the last one to criticize anyone's musical taste. My family complains regularly that I have to revise the playlist on the iPod that runs through the car stereo, "because the Keith Richards' guitar opening to 'Street Fighting Man' stopped being cool fifty ...More