by Mark Walsh on Sep 30, 1:26 PM
With Apple announcing this week that iPhone application downloads have hit 2 billion, it raises the question of whether rival new app storefronts have any chance of ever catching up. At least one app developer and distributor believes a rising tide of iPhone apps will raise all boats. "There's no question in my mind that these other [mobile] operating systems like Android and BlackBerry will have extremely vibrant app ecosystems and are already well on the way," said Evan Conway, vice president of marketing for Handmark, which powers some 50 mobile content storefronts globally.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 29, 12:38 PM
Mobile entertainment company mSpot is taking on iTunes by offering streaming, full-length movies for mobile phones. The new mSpot Mobile Movies service will be available on 30 different smartphones including the iPhone, BlackBery and Android and Windows Mobile devices and through the four major U.S. carries.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 28, 12:19 PM
Apple announced Monday that more than 2 billion applications have been downloaded from the App Store, a half-billion in jus the last quarter. Apple also said there are now more than 85,000 apps available for the more 50 million iPhones and iPod touches and 125,000 developers creating apps for the devices.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 25, 3:07 PM
Mobile video is gaining ground and getting cheaper but still faces a bumpy road to wider option, according to new data from Nielsen. The mobile video audience has grown 70% in the last year to 15.3 million as of the second quarter. That's equal to about 7% of all U.S. mobile subscribers.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 24, 12:06 PM
With Interbrand and BusinessWeek releasing their annual ranking of top 100 brands this week, the number of mobile technology companies making the list can again be counted on one hand. That select club is comprised of Nokia, Apple, BlackBerry and Samsung. (Intel, ranked No. 9, makes chips for mobile devices but most consumers don't associate the tech giant with mobile.) And of those four, only Nokia and BlackBerry are mobile-only companies.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 23, 2:39 PM
Don't bet on Mark Cuban making any big investments in mobile. Speaking as a panelist at Media magazine's Future of Media conference today, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and chairman of HDNet, made it clear he's thinking much bigger-at least in terms of screen size.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 22, 4:22 PM
Jordan Rohan, founder and managing partner of Clearmeadow Partners, painted a sobering picture of the outlook for mobile marketing at the OMMA Global conference earlier today. He suggested cracking the code on mobile will be even more challenging for agencies and advertisers than figuring out social media because of the small screen size of devices and the greater complexity of the wireless ecosystem compare to online.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 21, 12:44 PM
AT&T has been a vocal opponent of new regulations enshrining net neutrality -- the idea that wireless carriers and ISPs must give equal treatment to all types of traffic running on their networks. But when it came to answering a question about the formal net neutrality rules being introduced today by Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski, AT&T's Greg McCastle was rendered speechless today at the OMMA Global conference.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 18, 4:36 PM
Palm said during its first quarter conference call Thursday that it planned to dump Windows Mobile for its phones in favor of its own webOS mobile operating system. Not a huge surprise considering Palm has staked its future on webOS, starting with the launch of the Pre in June. Still, it's a setback for Microsoft as it tries to gain ground in smartphone market against the likes Apple and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion and Google's new Android operating system.
by Mark Walsh on Sep 17, 3:57 PM
New findings from Yankee Group offer further evidence that "mobile Internet" remains an oxymoron. Of the 27 large mobile sites the firm evaluated, the average score was 52 out of 100 -- a failing grade and actually two points lower than last year's average.