Social Networking

Andrew Seybold: Android winners lack innovation

Andrew M. Seybold — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:52:15 -0400

The Google Android developer contest is over, 50 companies entered and the winners have been chosen. Let me say right up front that I have a lot of respect for people who can design and code applications, they are a special breed of people. However, I must say that in reviewing what one would think would be the best of the best when it comes to applications, I was underwhelmed with the offerings. (Click here to see the winners).

Many of the applications, or ones like them, are already available on other platforms and some were launched years ago and failed. Very few of them seem to solve a problem I might have or help me do something faster and easier.

The top applications where the winning companies were awarded $270,000 from Google are particularly disappointing to me. One is a program to help locate a cab--there are at least two other companies out there doing the same thing. I recently saw similar applications from companies that entered the SiRF Location 2.0 Summit application contest, of which I was one of the judges. Two of the applications help comparison shop by providing product reviews and finding the best prices. Been there, done that. One of the issues that may not be obvious to those who write such applications is that each major chain store--at least in electronics--has its own model numbers that are specific--not only to the equipment--but to the store chain as well. This is why you see so many ads that state, "We will beat any price for this model."

One of the Android winners tracks your mobile carbon footprint and suggests transit and carpooling alternatives, which might be interesting to a very limited number of people. One changes your phone's settings based on location and other undetermined events, which might be fun. There is also one for workout enthusiasts. One is a social media player and social networking app, one enables personalization of your pictures and sharing with friends or sending them off to photo sites and, finally, one application helps you in the event of major and minor disasters.

I was pleased to see some of the programs using location-based services, which I believe can add real value to a number of applications. There were a lot of music and several game applications and one that will help with virtual storage and remote file access so you can keep your files in the cloud, accessible anywhere (or at least where you have data coverage).

A few of the applications look as though they might appeal to a larger audience including one designed to help keep track of personal events, track severe weather and emergencies in your area. There were also many social networking applications where you can share your location, track your friends and so on. I find it interesting that diverse groups of developers seem to have the same idea and develop applications that do essentially the same thing. None of the applications I saw listed make me think that the Android platform will come out of the chute with some really great applications or services.

What I did not see were applications that would enable me to select people out of my address book and then, without having to retype their name, locate them on Google Earth, get turn-by-turn directions to their houses or businesses or find their status (online, not available, etc). Nor did I see any really good navigation and/or turn-by-turn direction programs using Google Earth, any mapping platform or claim to report real-time traffic. And not a single application listed was compelling for the business community.

I guess I am disappointed. I like the Android concept and I like the fact the platform is open to all who want to develop on it. But similar to the Apple iPhone applications, I don't see any new thinking or new ideas emerging. Since Android is a brand new platform, it should be easy to turn my calendar into a "living" calendar so when information is put into it, it controls a smart back-end that tells me, for example, what time I need to leave to arrive at my on-site meeting, if my plane is on time, if there has been a gate change, whether I got my upgrade or the weather conditions in my destination city.

Google, like Apple before it, was starting with a clean slate and I was hoping to see some integration of products and services, not simply a bunch of standalone applications. I am sure serious work is being done by other developers, but I believe many share Google's apparent belief that the browser is the first and best way to access the Internet for information, which means that most of the applications on the Android platform will be more of the same, only on a different platform. Someone please prove me wrong!

Andrew Seybold is an authority on technology and trends shaping the world of wireless mobility. A respected analyst, consultant, commentator, author and active participant in industry trade organizations, his views have influenced strategies and shaped initiatives for telecom, mobile computing and wireless industry leaders worldwide.

Movial Social Communicator - Top Mobile Applications 2008

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:43:26 -0400

Movial Social Communicator

Company: Movial http://www.movial.fi/en/index.html

Why It's a Top App: Sometimes mobile social networking can seem positively antisocial--given the schism between the wireless platform and the wired web, communicating experiences and sharing media is often anything but an intuitive, organic process. That's where the carrier-agnostic Movial Social Communicator comes in, bringing together Internet calling, user-generated content, unified messaging and web and video feeds to enable content sharing and real-time communication across mobile handsets, PCs, IP set-top boxes and Internet tablet devices. The Social Communicator app automatically determines the most efficient and sensible method to share content, regardless of a user's device or online/offline status. In addition to built-in presence as well as single-click access to SMS, MMS, IM, multimedia calling and video sharing, it also allows users to receive desired web content direct to any device, and view videos without opening up a separate browser window. By simplifying communication and sharing, Movial also promises to increase revenue from data usage and advertising--seems like an application worth sharing with friends, and isn't that what social networking is all about?

Top Mobile Applications 2008

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:57:34 -0400

Top Mobile Applications Awards 2008

With consumers tightening their belts and hunkering down in the face of an imminent recession, the mobile industry finds itself at a crossroads. On the one hand, devices, multimedia services and user interfaces continue to improve--but on the other hand, wireless subscribers find themselves with little disposable income to allocate on luxuries such as mobile TV and music.

Growing evidence suggests that users desire a mobile experience that transcends passive entertainment, preferring instead practical, utility-based applications like mobile-optimized banking and travel planning. A recent usage and attitudes study conducted by mobile web domain registry dotMobi and digital agency AKQA cites growing consumer trust in the security of the mobile web, noting the volume of consumers demanding access to mobile banking and related m-commerce services. According to the dotMobi study, roughly 90 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to select an airline with mobile check-in over one that did not offer mobile services, while almost two-thirds of participants said they would consider purchasing theater tickets, take-out food and travel tickets on mobile.

FierceMobileContent's third annual Top Mobile Applications Awards reflect the changes sweeping across the industry they honor, heralding a new wave of practical, prosumer-oriented mobile services and tools that simplify and improve the day-to-day lives of a consumer segment in perpetual motion. The spotlight this time around falls on applications that exploit the possibilities implicit in a catch-all term like "smartphone"--these are intelligent applications for intelligent subscribers, with an emphasis on m-commerce, mobile social networking and location-based services.

What remains the same year in and year out is the process for determining the finalists: After evaluating hundreds of apps according to guidelines including technological innovation, revenue potential and competitive edge, we've come up with a diverse roster linked by their originality, practicality and personality. They are mobile applications that will survive and even thrive regardless of the economic turmoil ahead--necessities, not luxuries. -Jason

And the winners are...

Cellfire

CellSpin

CTA Bus Tracker

E*Trade Mobile Pro

MightyBackup

Movial Social Communicator

Remember the Milk

Skyfire

sniff

VZ Navigator

Apple gives out first iPhone applications awards

Jason Ankeny — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:28:41 -0400

The annual Apple Design Awards, given during this week's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, for the first time recognized development for the iPhone mobile platform. The awards, which according to Apple recognize technical excellence, innovation and outstanding achievement in software development, were bestowed upon the following iPhone applications:

Best iPhone Entertainment Application: AOL Radio. AOL Radio delivers over 200 AOL and 150 CBS streaming radio stations, determining a user's location to offer the nearest local radio stations from a nationwide footprint.
Best iPhone Social Networking Application: Twitterific. The Iconfactory's Twitterific integrates geographic location and communications tools to enable users to easily find their friends, family or co-workers.
Best iPhone Game: Enigmo. Pangea Software's Enigmo for iPhone is a 3D puzzle game enabling players to construct mechanisms to direct lasers, plasma, and water to toggle switches, deactivate force-fields and lead them to their final destination.
Best iPhone Web Application: Remember The Milk for iPhone & iPod touch. Remember the Milk is an online task management service targeting both the consumer and business markets and available in 24 languages.
Best iPhone Productivity Application: OmniFocus. The Omni Group's OmniFocus promises efficient creation and management of tasks, projects and contexts on-the-go while also recommending things to do nearby.
Best iPhone Healthcare & Fitness Application: MIM. MIMVista's MIM for iPhone medical imaging application provides multi-planar reconstruction of fused data sets such as PET/CT, enabling physicians to retrieve patient images via iPhone or iPod touch.

For more on the Apple Design Awards:
- read this Apple Developer Connection page

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Five mobile social networking services you should get to know

Jason Ankeny — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:54:39 -0400

Mobile social networking continues to win friends and influence people. A FierceMobileContent web exclusive spotlighting five fledgling mobile social networking services worth watching.

Nokia adds advertising to MOSH

Jason Ankeny — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:00:31 -0400

Nokia announced it will integrate its fledgling MOSH multi-platform user-generated content service into the Nokia Media Network, promising advertisers an opportunity to reach consumers via original mobile content. According to the handset giant, the Nokia Media Network reaches more than 100 million consumers worldwide across a series of mobile publishers, operator partners and Nokia properties--in concert with the announcement, MOSH will debut a new paid-placement advertising program, dubbed Spotlight, that offers banner ad campaigns for both the mobile and traditional web. Nokia added that user-generated content community Vringo has already signed on for the Spotlight program, and in roughly one month enjoyed a 100 percent increase in downloads. Mobile social networking application provider Blue Lion Mobile experienced a similar boost when downloads of its qeep software jumped over 95 percent in one month as a Spotlight partner.

For more on MOSH Spotlight:
-read this release

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Millennials to spearhead mobile social networking

Fri, 30 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

So-called "Millennials" are driving mobile social networking according to a new report issued by market research firm In-Stat, which points to blogging, photo and video sharing, location-based socialization services, games and messaging as elements that will combine to create a complete social networking experience from a handset application. In-Stat forecasts that nearly 30 million U.S. Millennials will subscribe to mobile social networking services by 2012--in the short term, the firm anticipates social network ad revenues of $1.5 billion. In-Stat points to Apple's iPhone as the device that shifted mobile user expectations by enabling the least tech-savvy consumers to surf the mobile web, download music and record videos.

For more on the In-Stat report:
- read this release

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JuiceCaster squeezes location into social networking

Wed, 28 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Mobile social networking service provider Juice Wireless announced the addition of location-based geotagging to its flagship JuiceCaster service, enabling users to upload location-specific photos and videos to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and related sites. The geotagging feature enables users to employ a video's location information as a friend-finding tool--JuiceCaster also immediately notifies users when someone updates their status in a nearby area, and facilitates content searches based on specific location criteria. Location is only viewable by authorized contacts, and the feature may be disabled.

For more on the JuiceCaster upgrade:
- read this release

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How social is the mobile web?

Fri, 23 May 2008 07:00:00 -0400

It's social networking's web--the rest of us just surf on it. In fact, social networking now generates almost 40 percent of worldwide mobile web traffic, even topping 60 percent in markets including the U.S., South Africa and Indonesia, according to browser development firm Opera Software's first "State of the Mobile Web" report. Basing its findings on the traffic patterns of more than 44 million Opera Mini browser users worldwide, Opera reports MySpace is the most visited mobile web destination in the U.S. market, followed in descending order by Google, mobile social networking service MocoSpace, Yahoo and Facebook. (Be sure to check out the Opera report in full: It's fascinating to contrast the U.S. with the other international markets under the microscope. In Indonesia, for example, the most-visited site is Friendster, which if memory serves was last popular in the U.S. at roughly the same time FDR was still in office.)

But percentages and actual numbers tell different stories. Compare the results of the Opera study with a recent Nielsen Mobile report that states only about 4.1 million U.S. wireless subscribers--just 1.6 percent of the overall U.S. mobile consumer population--actually browse and update social network profiles on mobile devices. According to Nielsen, the U.K. slightly edges the U.S. on a percentage basis, with 1.7 percent of British mobile subscribers (roughly 810,000 subs in all) visiting social communities during the first quarter of 2008, far ahead of Spain (0.8 percent of subscribers, or 291,000 consumers), Italy (0.6 percent, or 293,000 subscribers), France (0.6 percent, or 255,000 subscribers) and Germany (0.2 percent, or 141,000 subscribers). Depending on whether your perspective leans towards the glass as half empty or half full, you can conclude either that precious few people are surfing the mobile web for any reason, including social networking, or that social networking at least creates some genuine consumer enthusiasm in the absence of other compelling mobile web experiences.

The growing mobile stature of sites like MySpace and Facebook does underscore a point Opera has been making all along: There's only one web. Consumers expect to surf the same sites and do the same things on a mobile device that they would on a PC, without limitations or compromises. What's unique about social networking is that it promises an even richer experience on mobile by liberating users to update their profiles and check in on friends while on the go, as life happens. It's an experience that demands a full-fledged web platform. Both social networking and wireless technologies are changing the way people communicate…and the mobile web is the bridge that connects them. - Jason

P.S. FierceMobileContent will not publish Monday in observance of Memorial Day, and will resume publication Tuesday. Enjoy the long weekend.

Moblyng scores $5.7 million in venture funding

Wed, 21 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Mobile social media solutions provider Moblyng announced the completion of a $5.7 million funding round led by MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures and Deep Fork Capital. Previously known as Fliptrack, Moblyng's beta product enables consumers to view social media including photos, videos and slideshows on most feature phones, including handsets that do not otherwise permit Flash-based content--the technology automatically converts Flash content to mobile-friendly formats, "scraping" content from the user's social network page and sending it directly to their mobile device. Moblyng has also developed a Mobile Slide Show app for the Facebook platform.

For more on Moblyng:
- read this release

Opera: Social networking 40% of mobile web traffic

Tue, 20 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Social networking now accounts for almost 40 percent of worldwide mobile web traffic, topping the 60 percent mark in some countries including the U.S., South Africa and Indonesia, according to browser development firm Opera Software's first "State of the Mobile Web" report. Based on the aggregate, anonymous traffic patterns of more than 44 million cumulative Opera Mini users worldwide, Opera reports that full web surfing represents close to 78 percent of all traffic, far outpacing content on WAP and .mobi sites--in the U.S. market, MySpace is the most visited mobile web destination, followed in descending order by Google, mobile social networking service MocoSpace, Yahoo and Facebook. Among the top 100 sites visited by all Opera Mini users, almost a quarter of all traffic directs to content portals or search engines.

For more on mobile web trends:
- read this Opera report

Related articles:
Mobile social networking tops 4 million users in U.S.
Mobile social networking revs to $412M by 2012

Vodafone acquires mobile social network ZYB

Fri, 16 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

International operator giant Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire mobile social networking firm ZYB for $48.7 million. Privately-owned ZYB offers subscribers an online management tool promising handset contact and calendar information sharing and backup, additionally enabling users to transmit messages and images from their PC to multiple mobile devices within the ZYB mobile community. The firm will remain headquartered in its native Denmark, with incorporation into Vodafone's Internet Services Division once the acquisition is completed. According to Vodafone, the deal advances its Total Communications initiative, which aims to generate new revenue growth via mobile advertising, web services and fixed broadband.

For more on the Vodafone/ZYB deal:
- read this release

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Virgin extends Sugar Mama to Facebook

Thu, 15 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Virgin Mobile USA announced the Fund My Phone application, which extends the operator's Sugar Mama marketing program to the Facebook social networking platform and enables consumers to earn wireless airtime for their fellow Virgin Mobile subscribers. Over 700,000 Virgin Mobile USA customers have joined the Sugar Mama initiative since its 2006 launch, viewing ad spots, responding to branded text messages and completing surveys to earn free airtime; with Fund My Phone, consumers download the app to their Facebook profile page and share up to five different spots with Facebook friends, scoring free minutes as the ads are viewed.

For more on Fund My Phone:
- read this release

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Dada Entertainment debuts DRM-free MP3s

Thu, 15 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Multi-platform social networking and entertainment community provider Dada USA and Sony BMG Music Entertainment announced their Dada Entertainment joint venture will introduce DRM-free MP3 downloads to its mobile media product suite. For $9.99 per month, Dada users are given 15 tokens, each redeemable for a full-track MP3, ringtone, wallpaper or related content offering. Consumers may also download MP3s directly to their PCs for transfer to any portable media player. Dada said it plans to introduce over-the-air MP3 mobile downloads in coming months. While its content library is presently limited to the Sony BMG catalog, other labels are expected to sign on in the near term. In conjunction with the MP3 announcement, Dada said it will repurpose its existing social network to reflect the service's increasing emphasis on music. The renamed Music Movement community will enable users to discover new acts and network with existing members and communities while doubling as a promotional tool for artists and labels, complete with mobile alerts, concert information and exclusive contests. The Music Movement is available via operators including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA and Alltel Wireless.

For more on Dada's mobile music push:
- read this release

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MEF launches social networking initiative

Thu, 15 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

The Mobile Entertainment Forum global trade association announced it will launch a mobile social networking initiative focusing on revenue generation, business models and consumer protection. The mobile social networking effort, which initially spans the U.S., U.K., France, India and Italy markets, will develop best practices for different territories according to local regulatory standards. The MEF will install three members in each market to formulate a project plan, schedule of deliverables and communications outreach program. A recent internal survey identified social networking as the top priority among 60 percent of MEF members.

For more on the MEF program:
- read this release

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Forecast: Mobile Web 2.0 revs to $22B by 2012

Wed, 14 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Total global revenues for Mobile Web 2.0 services like social networking, user-generated content, mobile search and IM will increase to $22.4 billion by 2013, up from current $5.5 billion profits, according to a new forecast issued by market analysis firm Juniper Research. Crediting the growth to the evolution of UGC and the social web--which the report anticipates will increase from $1.8 billion worldwide in 2008 to $11.2bn in 2013, representing 50 percent of the combined Mobile Web 2.0 market--Juniper said service revenues will yield the majority of the segment's profits, although the mobile advertising opportunity is significant. The Far East and China, Western Europe and North America are expected to dominate the global Mobile Web 2.0 market in its initial stages, although Juniper added that developing regions will take the lead over the course of the forecast period. Potential roadblocks: Weaving together a badly fragmented marketplace, and overcoming regulatory concerns over privacy and data retention.

For more on the Juniper forecast:
- read this release

Related article:
Mobile social networking tops 4 million users in U.S.

Action Engine intros IM for on-device portals

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

On-device portal solutions provider Action Engine announced the launch of an integrated instant messenger service for ODPs, promising its content and media partners an outlet for their consumers to chat or IM without leaving the portal in question. Action Engine's IM service transmits each individual message over the network without refreshing the entire page, enabling a faster chat experience with fewer network delays than conventional mobile web IM. The firm will initially deploy the service within the AOL MyMobile on-device portal, which is available in beta across the Windows Mobile platform.

For more on Action Engine's IM service:
- read this release

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How to make mobile social networks work

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:00:00 -0400

Here's the good news: The U.S. market, which typically lags behind Europe in all things mobile, is actually ahead of the international pace on mobile social networking, according to a new report issued this week by media research firm The Nielsen Company. Here's the bad news: Only about 4 million U.S. wireless subscribers--just 1.6 percent of the total U.S. mobile consumer population--actually access social networks via mobile device. Nielsen reports that the U.K. slightly edges the U.S. on a percentage basis, with 1.7 percent of British mobile subscribers (roughly 810,000 subs in all) visiting social communities during the first quarter of 2008--compare that to Spain (0.8 percent of subscribers, or 291,000 consumers), Italy (0.6 percent, or 293,000 subscribers), France (0.6 percent, or 255,000 subscribers) and Germany (0.2 percent, or 141,000 subscribers).

Despite the underwhelming numbers, Nielsen remains convinced mobile social networking's future is bright, and recent industry trends toward unlimited data pricing plans certainly enhance the social networking market's potential. But while most monetization hopes are pinned to the same targeted advertising model that's supposed to lead conventional online social networking to the promised land, the mobile subscriber totals simply aren't yet big enough to generate significant revenue. Moreover, it seems like a huge mistake to assume mobile social networking is roughly analogous to conventional online social networking anyway--every other media platform is a very different beast on mobile, so why should social networking be any different?

Social networking giant MySpace's forthcoming MySpace Music--a digital retail effort offering consumers free, ad-subsidized streaming content as well as premium downloads--doesn't formally launch until this summer, but its basic approach seems to herald the true future of mobile social networking: Specifically, off-deck content and community destinations where users can make new friends, discover and purchase new music from major and independent labels, and ultimately recommend this new music to their new friends--all within the confines of a single, operator-agnostic mobile website. It's silly to believe that content creation, browsing and sharing ever represented the alpha and omega of the social networking experience--of course MySpace, with its endless numbers of artist websites, would eventually expand its reach into music retail. But especially in mobile, where the user interface makes it so difficult to bounce from one website to the next, the concept of an all-in-one site where consumers can share photos, update their status and purchase a new ringtone in the span of a few clicks carries enormous appeal. Commerce and community belong with each other…and social networking is all about bringing likeminded individuals together. - Jason

Mobile social networking tops 4 million users in U.S.

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

More than 4 million U.S. wireless subscribers--1.6 percent of the total U.S. mobile consumer population--now access social networks via mobile device, according to a new study released by media research firm The Nielsen Company. Nielsen finds the U.K. leads Europe in mobile social networking percentage, with 1.7 percent of British mobile subscribers (roughly 810,000 of all subs) visiting social communities during the first quarter of 2008. By comparison, only 0.8 percent of Spanish wireless subs (291,000 consumers) access social networks via the mobile web, followed by Italy at 0.6 percent (293,000 subscribers), France at 0.6 percent (255,000 subs) and Germany at just 0.2 percent (141,000 subs).

Nielsen adds that in the U.S., MySpace.com is the most popular mobile social networking site, logging 2.8 million unique mobile users in December 2007 while rival Facebook enjoyed 1.8 million unique mobile visitors. However, in the U.K., Facebook leads all mobile social networking sites with 557,000 unique mobile users per month in the first quarter, followed by MySpace with 211,000 unique mobile users. Facebook and MySpace.com dominated most other European markets as well, although MSN's Windows Live Spaces led in Italy with 154,000 unique mobile users per month.

For more on the Nielsen study:
- read this release

Related articles:
Mobile social networking revs to $412M by 2012
Will social networking and UGC live up to projections?
Will mobility revolutionize social networking?

Crush or Flush bows on T-Mobile USA

Wed, 07 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Mobile social networking software and services provider Icebreaker announced its Crush or Flush community is now live on T-Mobile USA via the operator's T-Zones portal. According to Icebreaker, Crush or Flush--which enables users to meet, chat and flirt by browsing photo profiles--now boasts roughly 1 million registered U.S. subscribers, and is also available via carriers including AT&T, Alltel Wireless and Boost Mobile. The firm also released demographic data on its user population, noting that men make up 59 percent of total Crush or Flush members--77 percent of users are between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, and 56 percent are between the ages of 18 and 25. The average Crush or Flush member has 20 friends on the site. The states yielding the most members are California, Texas, New York, North Carolina and Florida.

For more on the Icebreaker/T-Mobile USA deal:
- read this release