This video shows an impressive overview about the worldwide mobile data growth in the recent past and in the near future to happen.
Category : Blog
The PC market is being surpassed by mobile according to Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt who announced at the Mobile World Congress that Google will be taking a “mobile first” approach to everything.
“This is the time for us, now is the time for us to get behind this. … We understand that the new rule is mobile first.”
Alan Moore explains how profound this statement is on his blog Communities Dominate Brands where he explains how this impacts “… your business, project, team, budget – or even your personal career”. Moore makes the point that the largest Internet companies in Japan already have a mobile first approach. He offers some very compelling rationale for why mobile first is a no-brainer, including this paragraph:
Its because Google are a very smart company and they know the numbers. Mobile has already overaken the internet in total users. And in total revenues. And in total profits. Not just overtaking the internet, mobile has passed the PC industry, and passed the fixed landline phone industry. Get this, the mobile industry alone, is about as big as the global worldwide PC/IT industry, plus the internet industry, and the landline phone business – all rolled into one! In 2008 mobile became one of only a handful of industries on the planet that generates a Trillion dollars of revenues annually. Thats almost three times what the televsision industry earns. More than twice what the advertising industry makes in a year. About twice the size of the total worldwide print industry (before the economic crash) ie all newspapers, all books and all magazines. Trillion dollar sized industries are things like cars, the food industry, construction, and armaments. And mobile telecoms.
We recommend reading the entire post as it is well organised and provides several key takeaways such as “Mobile is also bigger than any other mass media channel by reach - far bigger than TV or newspapers or cinema or radios even”. The section on mobile payment alone will probably eye-opening to many.
Category : Blog
Cnet reports that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is forecasting the number of cell phone users will reach 5 billion people worldwide in 2010. There are currently 4.6 cellphone users which means at 400 million people are predicted to become new cell phone subscribers this year. The increase in cell phone use is also a driving factor in increased mobile internet use:
“Along with the surge in cell phones, demand for mobile access to the Internet has skyrocketed. The ITU expects the number of mobile broadband subscriptions to surpass 1 billion around the world this year, a leap from 600 million at the end of 2009. The organization predicts that within the next five years, more people will hop onto the Web from laptops and mobile gadgets than from desktop computers.”
Category : Blog
Morgan Stanley has released “The Mobile Internet Report“, an impressive 424 page document along with two companion slide presentations with their goal is: ” … to get our thoughts and data into the conversation about what may be the biggest technology trend ever, one that may help make us all more informed in ways that are unique to the web circa 2009, and beyond.”
We have noted many reports containing hard data on mobile Internet use and predictions for rapid growth in the future, but the Morgan Stanley report is important for its comprehensiveness and its prediction that we are entering the mobile Internet cycle, the 5th cycle in the last 50 years of material wealth creation and destruction. This means that as much as the Internet has shaped the last 10 years mobile Internet will shape the next 10 years and that there will be winners and losers in this process.
Mobile Internet use is growing faster than Internet use and Morgan Stanley predicts that in 5 years the mobile Internet will surpass desktop Internet with the emergence and convergence of:
- 3G adoption
- Social networking
- Video
- VoIP
- Impressive mobile devices
You can find the Mobile Internet Report and support presentations on moganstanley.com
The Mobile Internet Report Setup
The Mobile Internet Report Key Themes
Category : Blog
Where will you find over one billion Internet users? In 2013 you will find them on their phone according to IDC. Currently there are 450 million mobile Internet users, which is more than the total amount of Internet users in 2000. The amount of total Internet users (including mobile) is also predicted to grow from 1.6 billion today to 2.2 billion in 2013. This means that while currently mobile is a quarter of the total Internet market by 2013 it will make up half of the total Internet market. This means more mobile browsing, more mobile data use and more mobile purchases. For more mobile and general Internet stats see the IDC press release.
Category : Blog
You arrive at the movie theatre to see the big blockbuster opening today, but so is everyone else. All the show times are sold out, but you are already there so what do you see? Your friends have different opinions about what looks good, but those are based on trailers and bus ads – what you really want is the opinion of people who have seen the movie. Luckily for you and your friends you can now go to m.twitcritics.com on your phone and find out what real people think of the movies that are playing.
TwitCritics has been called the Rotten Tomatoes of Twitter and many people like their how easy it is to see if a movie is a hit or not. Like Rotten Tomatoes a movie’s rating is based on the percentage of positive reviews. The site works by examining tweets about a movie and then determines if the review is positive or negative. For example “The Men Who Stare at Goats was awfully bland and boring. Tons of light music is not enough to create comedy. Felt like eating wet clay.” was categorised as negative while “Men who stare at goats….such a good movie” was categorised as positive. The site is still in beta and sometimes tweets are categorised incorrectly, but it is accurate enough to give you an idea about what the twitterverse thinks about a film. Twitcritics is a great tool to have access to at any time from the convenience of your phone. It may save you from sitting through two hours of a bad movie and help you enjoy two hours of a good one.
Category : Blog
TechCrunch is reporting eBay users are buying a lot of things through their phones this year, apparently over $500 million worth of auction items. According to eBay the month-over-month growth of mobile purchases is in the double-digits and currently 1 item is purchased every 2 seconds on their mobile website or iPhone app.
Category : Blog
According to a recent IDC press release 43.3 million smartphones were shipped in the third quarter of 2009, setting a new record. Year-over-year growth was especially strong for Research In Motion, the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, who posted an impressive 35.7% increase. HTC also posted double digit gains with a 14.7% increase. HTC is largest manufacturer of Windows Mobile smartphones, but IDC stresses their line of Android powered phones such as the Dream, Hero and Magic for future growth. Apple is also shipping more phones with a 7.1% increase thanks to the iPhone 3G S and a price drop on the iPhone 3G.
We recently wrote about the surge in mobile data usage. With more smartphones out there and better networks this trend will only continue.
Category : Blog
The first device dedicated completely to Twitter has been launched by Peek, who already makes a device, the Peek Pronto, dedicated to email and text messages. The Twitter-only device is aptly named the TwitterPeek and costs $100 US with 6 months of service and $8 month after that or $200 for the device and lifetime service. The announcement has generated a lot of buzz, but many people are questioning if there is a demand for the device:
What’s the point of Twitter Peek?
Telegraph.co.uk – Claudine Beaumont
“A new dedicated device, launched in the United States, gives users access to their Twitter stream on the move. But in the age of the smartphone, is it really necessary?”
Is Twitter-only gadget TwitterPeek a one-hit wonder?
Computerworld – Sharon Gaudin
“There’s a new gadget out today that will let people Twitter while they’re on the go. The issue is that it’s the only thing the device, dubbed TwitterPeek, can do. And that’s going to be a problem, according to one analyst.”
Why the TwitterPeek will almost certainly never take off
Christian Science Monitor – Matthew Shaer
“A New York City start-up has released the TwitterPeek, the world’s first Twitter-only device. But the Peek won’t do much that a good smart-phone doesn’t already do.”
TwitterPeek: The Twitter-Only Gadget Destined for Extinction
PC World – Jr Raphael
“Gee willikers, have you heard? They’ve just invented a new device that can let you use Twitter, even if you aren’t at a computer! This could be the biggest thing in made-to-be-obsolete technology since the standalone Wi-Fi text messenger!”
It’s The First Twitter-Only Mobile Device, But Why?
PC World – David Coursey
“My take: There are products which seem to fulfill no real need. This is one of them.”
So why does Peek think it has a winner? They say that the TwitterPeek is cheap, fast, and easy to use:
“TwitterPeek is designed for Twitter, so it’s easier to use, includes more features, and won’t cost you text message or data overages like cell phones and smartphones apps do. “Always on” technology means you never miss a tweet or have to wait for only your last 100 tweets to download. TwitterPeek also runs on its own mobile network, so you don’t have to worry about excessive text message or data charges.”
Ultimately consumers will decide if there’s a need for a device dedicated to Twitter but traditional cellphone and smartphone manufacturers are probably not too worried.
Category : Blog
Reuters has reported an increase in mobile data use for the month of September. Using the Opera browser as a barometer web traffic increased by 8.7 percent over the previous month and over three times as much data was used over the same month last year. Opera with 35.6 million users – the largest user base worldwide – is an excellent indicator of the overall state of the mobile web.
In North America the web browsing leader is clearly the iPhone as the graph by StatCounter indicates, followed by the BlackBerry and Android browsers. According to AT&T’s CEO, iPhone users consume 13 times as much data as the average smartphone user. Apple reported strong iPhone sales from July – September with 7.4 million sold, an increase of half million devices over the same period a year earlier. New BlackBerry and Android devices should also translate into strong smartphone sales and increased mobile web use.
Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Mobile Browser Market Share
Category : Blog
