Tag Archives: mobile

Do You Ever Find Yourself Asking, “How Can I Stay Ahead in This Fast-Paced, Competitive Marketplace?”

Posted on May 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

For most people, the answer would be a resounding “Yes.” In this day and age, the key to success is making the most of your time, ALL the time. With so many suppliers optimizing their sites for mobile browsing and creating apps for your smartphones and tablets, you can get pricing, specs, and inventory levels with just a few taps. Instead of spending your commute sitting idly, you can utilize this new technology for your benefit. Now you can actually knock off some of the items on your to-do list before you even arrive at the office and get a jump on your day. Or you can hammer away at that pile of work while you are away on vacation before that dreadful Monday morning hits.

For example, armed with just an iPad and my cell phone, I can fulfill my current role at Vanguard of finding the best suppliers and quoting the best possible pricing for our customers no matter where I am. Mobile sites are popping up all over––just check out a few of the leaders in the promotional items industry.

These apps and mobile websites also allow you to see orders in the proofing and production stages, as well as their shipping status, so you can have answers for your clients before you even fire up your desktop at the office. Additionally, you can now check pricing, inventory, and turnaround time remotely, allowing you to easily type up a quote while on the go. Gone are the days of train or flight delays slowing down our productivity when these little challenges come our way. With more and more companies developing these types of user-friendly options for our mobile devices, we can not only improve our time management skills, but deliver superior customer service as well. Soon, we just may be able to steal that famous Army quote: “We do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day.”

Author: Amy Carroll

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Hope, Change, and Whining in the Mobile Arena

Posted on May 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

As we all keep heading back to the cloud-services buffet line to fill our plates with streaming music, document collaborations, and photo sharing, our glasses of data––once advertised as bottomless––are leaving us thirsty. Mobile devices––the smartphones and tablets of the world––make the cloud-service buffet line seem so much cooler, more powerful, and more useful, but what does the future hold? Three stories from the past few weeks help us read the tech tea leaves.

RIM
From execs going nuts on international flights to just poor long-term planning, the struggling Canadian former tech giant has had it rough. For a seemingly stagnant company that once paved the way with mobile email, calendars, and contact functionality from a mobile device (the BlackBerry), recent news of a well-received new device might be the fair-weather forecast RIM has been waiting for. Before you slam RIM and its loyal hoard of CrackBerry zombies, remember that the company was once innovative––that innovation in the marketplace can lead to better devices for us, the consumers. During the BlackBerry developers conference, alpha-stage BlackBerry 10 devices were distributed to developers to kick-start app development. Check out the video below:

 

Mobile Interactions: Change Your View
Change how you view your mobile customers (if you even know they exist). Custora, a mobile-commerce analytics start-up, posted an interesting infographic showing the different purchasing habits of mobile customers. From device stats to analysis of mobile versus non-mobile customers, the message is clear: Know your customers and study their habits based on their mobile identifiers. Those identifiers will lead you either to enhance their experience or to fine-tune your strategy.

Wireless Whining
Rumblings (think “wahhhhhhhhhh!”) from the mobile carriers and their Washington lobbyists about the future of our airwaves and the portions that wireless carriers claim they need in order to support our new and growing thirst for mobile data are creating a controversy. It’s a battle between developing new technology and the “easy way out,” snatching up more spectrum to protect revenues and control the marketplace. The New York Times reports that the now dead-in-the-water deal between AT&T and T-Mobile was purely about access to spectrum, or more of the radio frequencies that we use to pass voice and mobile data through our smartphones. All in all, technology seems to be a logical solution––one in which the use of spectrum-neutral techniques could make the spectrum-licensing and -dividing model obsolete––but it would require the big mobile carriers to reconfigure their networks.

Author: John Carew

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The Competitive Edge May Lie in the Method of Communication

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 1 Comment

From the first caveman’s grunt to today’s mobile technology, from writing on stone tablets to text messages delivered with 4G speed, we’ve come a long way in a short period of time.

We’re still communicating in more ways than ever … what’s your message? What is the true value of the message you’re sending? The information age has definitely kicked the art of communication up a few notches. Supplying users with an array of devices and applications, the challenge lies in how best to deliver the message. The goal is connecting with your targeted audience at maximum speed and reach.

Social media is an equalizer! It levels the playing field, as each person––anyone––has the ability to be heard and seen. Whether it’s an individual or big business, we want to send and deliver a message that will be read. Again, the goal is the same, but the method can vary.

With so many vying for everyone’s attention, how does one stand out, stay relevant, rise above, shine brighter? By asking the right questions! We know businesses are cutting budgets. More than ever, it’s important to ask what brand benefits set us apart from the competition? How can we analyze an existing customer database to build brand loyalty, to expand into new markets, and perhaps reach deeper into multicultural consumer segments?

In our new global markets, businesses struggle to stand out from their competition. Competition––an old game, but the rules are continually changing. From the ever-increasing reality shows to the politicians running for office and the businessmen trying to increase their bottom lines … we’re all competing.

We can rise above the crowd today and tomorrow by reevaluating our customers, staying abreast of new ways of grabbing their attention, and reanalyzing, as there’s no one-time solution. Technologies and how we communicate are forever changing!!

Author: Velda Gardiner

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Facebook, Instagram and Roller Coasters, three ideas to keep an eye on

Posted on April 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

On Monday, Facebook announced their planned acquisition of mobile app Instagram for a cool (cue the evil laugh) one billion dollars. For those unfamiliar with Instagram, the app is a photo sharing program that lets users capture a photo, apply a filter and share on social networks.

A billion dollars is a massive, virtually unimaginable number. Chances are you probably have only ever seen tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of any one thing at one time. So let’s introduce some reference material starting with a comparison to the recent MegaMillions winning of some 656 million dollar annuity. If you lined up the jackpot value in presidential dollars, you have just shy of 11,000 miles of coins. Comparable, the Instagram reported sale to Facebook lined up with a far smaller diameter coin, the dime, would stretch 11,127 miles. Let’s put this in more thrilling terms. The roller coaster, Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio is the longest roller coaster in North America by distance (and fourth in the world) coming in at 6,595 feet long. Riding Millennium Force 8,909 times would let you travel the same distance as Instagram’s value equated to dimes, but to ride the coaster for that long would take you some 346 hours, which I doubt you would want to spare riding the coaster continuously.

Get this picture yet? Instagram’s value by the Facebook offer is a big deal on the simple side with the sheer amount of cash Zuckerberg’s empire is willing to shell out, but there several areas which need to be watched as the story unfolds. Check the list below for a few of the topics to watch and what has been said already.

Reliability. Reliability. Reliability.
Wired’s Cloudline, posted a nice piece talking about how Instagram’s development process, structure and approach may be an omen for the future of how mobile only apps grow and become valuable. In the end, it is all about how reliable the application is and Instagram proved that their structure is one to study and apply its principles as we move toward a world where more content is in the cloud.

Experience is mission critical.
Face it, well-designed devices, like that of Apple, have put an expectation of higher level design square in the sights of any consumer. If the form is sexy, the function better be the same and judging by the tens of millions of iOS devices in the world, the function is desirable. Instagram may only perform three basic functions, but Facebook has a corner on the market of photos and the added features (and sexy, well-designed interface of the app) make the app’s acquisition be Facebook all that more meaningful.

Young vs. Old
Experience and utility drive people back to mobile devices and ultimately to apps that accomplish both ideas. The people return again and again and on many platforms generate advertising revenue for provider, but as behavior and consumption patterns emerge, we are seeing a disparity between the actions of different age groups. Facebook knows that on average their users are older than that of other social platforms and by adding Instagram it may shift their age groups. Either way, look for expansion by other social networks to garner a larger swath of eyeballs to their platforms and it may be accomplished by acquisitions like Instagram by Facebook.

One last fun fact, with the Instagram cash, you could buy tickets to Cedar Point for 70% of the population of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, which could be one heck of party.

Author: John Carew

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Congress and Wireless industry make stolen phones worthless

Posted on April 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

An astounding 40% of all robberies in New York City are smartphones. They have high resale value, and also often carry personal information, like bank accounts and other ways for thieves to rob you. But on Tuesday, the FCC and all wireless carries will create a global data-base that will make this crime less attractive.  The new system would allow the smartphone to be disabled or bricked remotely, educate the public about the mobile apps that allow users to remotely lock or delete information on their phone or help the authorities to find the phone, like the NYC police favorite “find my phone”:

Cell phone manufacturers will also prompt users/owners to create a password, and take other steps to protect your data. If this seems a little extreme, a study by Symantic can be eye opening, Symantic placed 50 “lost” smartphones throughout several large cities. The smartphones have software that allowed the company to monitor what happened to them once found. Their experiment revealed:

• 89% of the phones were accessed for personal information, including 72% had photos viewed

• 43% had banking information open

• 57% looked at a list containing logins/and passwords

And in the end only 50% of the phones were actually returned. How do you feel about the new plan?

Author: Susan Hallinan

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I See Data Everywhere!

Posted on April 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

Data surrounds us. Our brains wrap them up nicely with words like “feelings” or “impulse” or “hunger,” but those inputs from our environment or our own bodies are, at the most basic level, pieces of data. For a long time I thought I was alone in my view of the world. I often described it as a cross between this image from Terminator

and the opening sequence to Person of Interest (except for the whole crime, terrorism, bad guy craziness).

Come to find out, there are others like me and in a recent story by the Wall Street Journal, H. James Wilson discusses in Employees, Measure Yourselves, how employers should encourage their workers to review data about their activities to better themselves and their performance in the workplace. From screen tracking technology, to heart rate monitors, to thought modeling tools, there are a growing number of auto-analytics devices and applications that allow people to track information about them and analyze the results for self-improvement.

We live in a world where the view from our eyes is in vectors, analysis and pieces of data from the thousands of systems with which we interact every day. Maybe that is why people love New York City, a city of 8 plus million individual human systems who interact with tens of thousands of independent systems from businesses to public transit to taxis to law enforcement. With these auto-analytics tools, individuals can answer questions like “am I more productive when I get more sleep” or “how much time do I spend online every day?” I can say from personal experience, measuring data like sleep hours, calorie intake, calorie burn and hours at work have measurable and predictable patterns. Without my own home grown analytics, those patterns would just have lived as hypothesis in my brain, but with years of data to prove the pattern, I can predict and compensate for the effects of various scenarios between those data points.

Here’s my challenge to you. Overcome your fear of big brother, whether big brother be your boss, employer, government or some nefarious cybercriminal and pick three data points to capture, analyze, strategize and implement. Take email response time for example. Tools like Xobni (for Microsoft Outlook) or Smartr (for Gmail) give you powerful analytics tools to see how long it takes you to respond to email, who is your most frequent contact or what time of day do you receive or send the most emails. Look at the results of email analysis and compare it to other factors like time away from your desk for meetings, travel, or time out of the office. Then look at your perceived weaknesses and see how email may be a factor and determine a short -term experiment to improve on a weakness.

At our fingertips are powerful auto-analytic tools, many of which are free or very inexpensive, that give you a world if insight into how we function as humans within the context of the complex systems of which we interact daily. Our ability to measure, analyze and improve will make us more efficient, self-aware and productive. So, go ahead, pick a few data points, find a tool to help you capture the data and analyze the results. See you on the other, more efficient and data rich side.

Author: John Carew

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The Future of Next Generation Augmented Reality

Posted on March 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Augmented reality, or AR––sounds futuristic, but there has been an increasing number of practical applications coming out since the release of the iPhone 3GS. For those who don’t know the term, “augmented reality” is the enhancement of your reality using digital means. Think of the marker lines going across the football field when you watch a game on TV. They are not really on the field but just digital images on your screen.

We have been creating AR experiences on iPhones, Android devices, and iPads since 2009. We once envisioned using our smartphones and iPads to view enhanced imagery triggered by locations or visual markers, but now we will be able to see this imagery without holding up a device. The latest in our augmented world is the news that Google will offer AR glasses by the end of this year. These glasses won’t be the first but may likely be the product that accelerates AR development to the tipping point in use.

The implications are huge for education, health care, and just about every other industry. Think about a doctor who can view digital CAT scans and manipulate the images that are overlaid the patients body.  The iPad or smartphone recognizes the body outline and other parts and can accurately overlay the images. . Cool and useful. Or imagine reading a book with your heads-up display (HUD) glasses on and seeing 3-D imagery that is activated by a little head gesture. Or a munchkin on the screen turning to you and asking, “What would you do?”

Rumor is that the Google HUD glasses could look something like these Oakley Thumps.

Our job as technology “Vanguards” is to come up with practical ways to use the tech. I can think of a hundred ways this will help my life––from driving to recognizing people. The future is being augmented before my eyes. How cool is that?

Author: Dana Farbo

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24/7/365: One Vanguardian’s Perspective on Our Plugged-In Nature

Posted on March 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

I took a day off from work to run some errands and tend to some personal business, causing me to ride New York City’s subway system all day. Riding the subway for a total of three hours of the day led me to realize how dependent we are on electronic devices. I sat and observed everyone’s activities: 10% of the passengers were talking to someone (or to themselves), 10% were sleeping, 2% were reading an actual paperback book, and the other 78% were occupied with an electronic handheld device (iPod, iPad, MP3 player, Nook, Kindle).

I remember the days when I would ride the train with my mother as a child and be mesmerized by the big overhead poster advertisements. At one point I considered visiting Dr. Zizmor or attending Metropolitan College. Now what you get are alcohol, vocational training, or television ads. I wonder when those postings will go digital also. Instead of 12″ x 36″ paper banners above your head, wouldn’t it be cool to sit and actually see snippets of those shows on little monitors or commercials like on YouTube? Everyone seems to be upgrading to 2-D interactions.

After my long day, I picked up two daughters and decided to take them to our favorite little local diner. After ordering, I looked over at my two girls and––surprise, surprise––they were both playing on their handheld electronic devices. My twelve-year-old was playing Words With Friends on her tablet, and my six-year-old was playing Temple Run on her sister’s iTouch. I laughed at myself because I too had given in to society’s gidget-gadget habits––and brought my kids along. I want my kids to evolve with the times, but more importantly I want them to continue to develop their minds. They need to read and write more (I don’t care if it’s on their computer, tablet, or cell phone). We all are so fascinated by these devices––whether they be for work purposes, to play games, shop, or to access social network sites––that we don’t take time to relax our minds. Everyone (adults included) needs “offline time.” Time to think and reflect on life––a moment to see where you are professionally, domestically, mentally, financially… I’ve asked my daughters to begin keeping a journal to write their thoughts and transcribe some plans/ideas, and my oldest responded with “Oh, maybe I can start a blog.” Damn digital age. These modern times have everyone so enthralled with electronics that we forget to rest our eyes, our minds, and our souls and take in some quiet reflection time.

Commuters who switch from driving to mass transit often miss the forced “offline” and disconnected time they used to have while driving. So in a world of planned “unplugging” events, take time to observe your actions to and from work the next few days and see if you’re automatically prone to take out that little electronic device. If you notice that you do, make a conscientious effort to put it away and quietly meditate. You’ll be glad you did.

Author: Chantelle Santiago

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Social Media Week NYC 2012

Posted on February 24, 2012 | Leave a comment 

Please note: Video contains some adult language.

Last week, Social Media Week 2012 kicked off in 12 cities worldwide, attracting more than 60,000 attendees in person and thousands more tuned in online through Livestream. According to its organizers, the event reflects social media’s role as “a catalyst in driving cultural, economic, political and social change in developed and emerging markets,” and the 2012 installment was no different. Unless you have a knack for time travel, attending these events is now impossible, but here are a few themes and observations from Social Media Week in NYC.

Live life in permanent beta: always be improving.
This paraphrased statement by LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman (@quixotic) presents an interesting concept even in this time of social, mobile, and web 2.0 revolution. The “hacker” mentality that drives Facebook is cut from the same cloth but with a slightly different weave, if you will, since LinkedIn appears to approach new feature rollouts differently from Facebook. Either way, both companies have a permanent beta mentality of constantly improving, which means keeping one ear––if not both ears and eyes––on what is new, current, and possibly already being distributed in the social/mobile/technology marketplace.

Technology doesn’t solve problems––it creates tools.
Jay Walker (@TedMedJay) discussed his idea of an evolving system, citing examples like health care, medicine, the human body, and international banking as being non-fixed, constantly evolving systems. Walker concluded that evolving systems usually have some type of acceptable range, deal in probabilities, have compounding effects, and have infinite interrelatedness combined with a high degree of randomness. Sound like social media or the emerging mobile market? Walker thought so as well and went on to say that technology doesn’t solve problems, but rather it creates tools for “system thinkers,” which is exactly what we have seen in the marketplace to date. Entrepreneurs have a lower cost of entry into the market and make some amazing new online services. As these services grow, they gain capital investments and expand. As expansion and adoption continues, other “system thinkers” in different industries see the technology and adapt its functionality to solve their evolving system problems.

Curation versus original content––what is the future?
In a session hosted by Hearst Magazines, Noah Brier of Percolate, Anthony De Rosa of Reuters, Kellee Khalil of Lover.ly, and The Filter Bubble author Eli Pariser sat down with moderator Keith Butters, cofounder of The Barbarian Group, to discuss curation. The need for end-user filter control was a common thread in the discussion, along with the feasibility of creating an algorithm that mimics what editors do daily as they curate content for their publishing channels. The future of content––its discovery and consumption online––will be evolving as companies develop features to control the fire hose of content that rushes at us daily. The need for feed and filter literacy was introduced during the conversation and opens the door for not only personal but corporate training on how content is delivered to a user and how that user can and should control the content he or she reads. What one user considers important is a difficult decision to make and ultimately program and is very subjective. The future of curation or algorithmic filtering and delivery of content will depend on how transparent and user-friendly the features become.

Data, analytics, and a concentrated focus were the overwhelming themes across Social Media Week 2012. What ideas are you thinking about relating to social and mobile for 2012?

Author: John Carew

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Mobile World Congress 2012

Posted on February 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Every year in February, the mobile industry and tech fans turn toward Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress. In the past, this event has introduced the latest and the greatest––the QR code, for example, and last year, near-field communications. This year is no different––major mobile companies will be unveiling their newest wares. (Unfortunately, one of the most anticipated smart phones will not be there. The Galaxy S III, which is generating a lot of buzz because of its AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) display and promises to be flexible and 3-D, will be shown at a Samsung-hosted event later this year.)

Here are some new products that will be presented at this year’s Mobile World Congress:

  • HTC is introducing two new phones running Ice Cream Sandwich: the Ville (dual-core) and the Edge (quad-core).
  • Nokia is back with its 900 Windows Phone.
  • RIM is expected to introduce the BlackBerry 10 OS.
  • One of the more interesting rumors concerns Tizen, a Linux-based open-source mobile operating system.

I predict the thing that everyone will be talking about is cloud-based mobile computing: a cloud-based app behaves like any other app, but the processing power comes from the cloud. There are a couple of cloud-based apps out there, like Mobile Gmail and Google Voice for iPhone, but expect to see more.

Author: Susan Hallinan

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