Mobile Banking ROI tips from Bank of America | Mobile Manifesto
very cool to mobile geeks like myself
Emerging Media Insights and Implications
About: 3IS4
Location: Toronto, Ontario
PLEASE NOTE ..... MUSIC HAS MOVED TO
http://3is4music.posterous.com/
Bio:
Jordan Kay is an Emerging Media Strategist, a media consultant and a proud husband and father.
Jordan currently consults for marketing agencies, and is active in the non-profit sector as well.
Contact: jordankay@me.com
3IS4 has existed for some time now. In its infancy it was simply a domain name that I thought was catchy, easy to remember, and generic enough to apply to anything.
No really, what the $%^&* is it?
At the end of the day, it is best summed up as:
Social. Simplified.
This blog is going to be different than the work I do for Benchmarketing (emerging media strategy consultations - currently for Hooplah).
This blog will be dedicated to ALL things social. It will mainly contain links to noteworthy articles. I use RSS to monitor and sift through TOO MUCH media. It's a problem. Really. That said, I do share the good stuff. So enjoy. Spread the word.
Subscribe by RSS to this blog.
Try using RSS for the first time. It's easy.
Most of all, enjoy!
Time’s top 50 innovations for 2009 a worthy read - SmartPlanet
Best regards, Jordan Kay Best way to find me is:
+14168884422
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AdMob Said to Talk With Apple Before Google’s $750 Million Deal
AdMob Said to Talk With Apple Before Google’s $750 Million DealBy Serena Saitto, Brian Womack and Connie Guglielmo
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- AdMob Inc. was approached by Apple Inc. about an acquisition before the company agreed to a $750 million offer from Google Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
Apple contacted AdMob a few weeks before Google made its bid, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations weren’t public. AdMob, based in San Mateo, California, sells ads that appear on mobile phones.
The interest in AdMob highlights the increasing competition in the mobile-phone market between Apple, maker of the iPhone, and Google, the most popular search engine. Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple’s board in July after serving for three years. At the time, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that move was necessary because Google was entering “more of Apple’s core businesses.”
Together, AdMob and Google will be the largest mobile- advertising company, with about 30 percent to 40 percent of the market, according to Karsten Weide, an analyst with researcher IDC in San Mateo.
Buying AdMob would have allowed Apple to expand into online advertising, a strategy that Nokia Oyj is pursuing, Weide said.
“If a lot of traffic goes through my devices, why can’t I become the middleman that serves ads against that inventory?” Weide said. “AdMob would have allowed them to do that quickly.”
Nicole Leverich, a spokeswoman for AdMob, said the company doesn’t comment on “rumor and speculation.” Matt Furman, a spokesman for Google, didn’t return a phone message seeking comment. Apple declined to comment, said Steve Dowling, a spokesman for the Cupertino, California-based company.
Smart-Phone Sales
Apple and Google are expanding in the market for smart phones -- devices that can play music, surf the Web and download video. Sales of those devices climbed 27 percent worldwide in the second quarter, even as total mobile-handset sales dropped 6.1 percent, according to researcher Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut.
Schmidt said in an interview this week that the company bought AdMob to sell ads that appear in the thousands of programs for the iPhone and devices running Google’s Android software. Being able to place ads in mobile-phone applications is as strategically important as selling links next to Web- search results, he said.
“AdMob is clearly the best of its ilk for applications monetization,” Schmidt, 54, said in the interview at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. “We think that’s as strategic as search monetization.”
IPhone Apps
There are more than 100,000 applications available for the iPhone, while Android has more than 12,000.
Apple has made eight acquisitions over the past decade, including last year’s takeover of chipmaker PA Semi Inc. and the purchase of mapping service Placebase Co. this year, according to Bloomberg data.
Apple, which began selling the iPhone in 2007, opened an online store last year to distribute applications for the device. The company has sold more than 30 million iPhones and 20 million iPod Touch media players, which also can run applications.
Apple rose $2.46 to $204.45 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have more than doubled this year. Google added $4.20 to $572.05 and has gained 86 percent this year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net; Brian Womack in San Francisco at Bwomack1@bloomberg.net; Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 14, 2009 00:01 EST
via bloomberg.com
for those of you who asked me what i meant in my Linked profile about parlaying Hooplah's success in search to the mobile medium.......
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AdMob Said to Talk With Apple Before Google’s $750 Million Deal
AdMob Said to Talk With Apple Before Google’s $750 Million DealBy Serena Saitto, Brian Womack and Connie Guglielmo
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- AdMob Inc. was approached by Apple Inc. about an acquisition before the company agreed to a $750 million offer from Google Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
Apple contacted AdMob a few weeks before Google made its bid, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations weren’t public. AdMob, based in San Mateo, California, sells ads that appear on mobile phones.
The interest in AdMob highlights the increasing competition in the mobile-phone market between Apple, maker of the iPhone, and Google, the most popular search engine. Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple’s board in July after serving for three years. At the time, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that move was necessary because Google was entering “more of Apple’s core businesses.”
Together, AdMob and Google will be the largest mobile- advertising company, with about 30 percent to 40 percent of the market, according to Karsten Weide, an analyst with researcher IDC in San Mateo.
Buying AdMob would have allowed Apple to expand into online advertising, a strategy that Nokia Oyj is pursuing, Weide said.
“If a lot of traffic goes through my devices, why can’t I become the middleman that serves ads against that inventory?” Weide said. “AdMob would have allowed them to do that quickly.”
Nicole Leverich, a spokeswoman for AdMob, said the company doesn’t comment on “rumor and speculation.” Matt Furman, a spokesman for Google, didn’t return a phone message seeking comment. Apple declined to comment, said Steve Dowling, a spokesman for the Cupertino, California-based company.
Smart-Phone Sales
Apple and Google are expanding in the market for smart phones -- devices that can play music, surf the Web and download video. Sales of those devices climbed 27 percent worldwide in the second quarter, even as total mobile-handset sales dropped 6.1 percent, according to researcher Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut.
Schmidt said in an interview this week that the company bought AdMob to sell ads that appear in the thousands of programs for the iPhone and devices running Google’s Android software. Being able to place ads in mobile-phone applications is as strategically important as selling links next to Web- search results, he said.
“AdMob is clearly the best of its ilk for applications monetization,” Schmidt, 54, said in the interview at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. “We think that’s as strategic as search monetization.”
IPhone Apps
There are more than 100,000 applications available for the iPhone, while Android has more than 12,000.
Apple has made eight acquisitions over the past decade, including last year’s takeover of chipmaker PA Semi Inc. and the purchase of mapping service Placebase Co. this year, according to Bloomberg data.
Apple, which began selling the iPhone in 2007, opened an online store last year to distribute applications for the device. The company has sold more than 30 million iPhones and 20 million iPod Touch media players, which also can run applications.
Apple rose $2.46 to $204.45 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have more than doubled this year. Google added $4.20 to $572.05 and has gained 86 percent this year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net; Brian Womack in San Francisco at Bwomack1@bloomberg.net; Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 14, 2009 00:01 EST
via bloomberg.com
for those of you who asked me what i meant in my Linked profile about parlaying Hooplah's success in search to the mobile medium.......
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another good post from the blog Hello Mobile
another good post from the blog Hello Mobile
Begin forwarded message:
Date: November 12, 2009 5:43:40 PM ESTSubject: What Will It Take To Dethrone The iPhone?Source: Hello Mobile!Author: John WoodWhat can Apple’s competitors offer that would give the average consumer a reason to buy their device instead of buying an iPhone? To me, the reasons are few, and becoming fewer.The mobile industry is exploding. In just a few short years, everybody will have a smart phone. A tiny, internet connected, mini computer right in their pocket. As each month passes, we learn more and more about what the future of this industry holds, and what the mobile handset landscape will look like. If one thing is for certain, it’s that nothing is for certain.
As it stands right now, Apple is king with consumers. Though not the first ones to market with an internet connected mobile device (the Blackberry has been around for a long time, and still holds the majority of the smartphone market share), Apple appears to be the first to really understand what the average, non-corporate consumer wants. A true mini computer. An open device that can play music, run applications, take photos, and provide a pleasant web browsing experience. And they did it in true Apple fashion, making the device extremely easy to use. As a result, the iPhone has become extremely popular with consumers, and is widely considered
”the device to have”.With the majority of people still without a smartphone, much of the market remains up for grabs. Apple’s competitors are scrambling to catch up, trying to ensure that they they get a piece of the pie. But, one very important question lingers.
(I’d love to hear your reasons in the comments. So please, chime in.)
A comparable feature set
This pretty much goes without saying. Any challenger to the iPhone crown must offer similar features to that of the iPhone. It is very unlikely that a competing device will lure anybody away from the iPhone if it is missing a feature that is now expected to be there. The device must be capable of running apps, taking photos, playing music, etc, for it even to be considered.
A better network
AT&T’s network leaves much to be desired. Having never been an AT&T customer, I can only relay the opinions of my friends and family who are AT&T customers. However, their opinions are one in the same. I’ve not heard a single word of praise when it comes to AT&T’s network. All of my friends and family with iPhones have expressed frustration that the device they love is frequently crippled by a network that is spotty and congested.
It’s no secret that Apple has an exclusive agreement with AT&T, and that agreement has an expiration date. Rumors have been circulating about a jump to another carrier, possibly Verizon, sometime next year. The more wireless carriers offering the iPhone, the less valid of a reason this will become for not purchasing one.
A comparable application ecosystem
Competing devices will need to have an application ecosystem that is at least comparable to the iPhone’s. This is no small task. There are over 100,000 applications in the App Store. Sure, several offer the same functionality, and many are of very poor quality. However, nobody can argue with Apple’s tag line of “There’s a app for that”. There really is an application, in most cases many, for everything you could possibly want to do with your iPhone.
Given their head start, beating Apple at this game will not be easy. Google’s Android OS currently stands the best chance of challenging Apple on this front, with over 10,000 applications already available. The Android OS is open, and capable of running on hardware from any manufacturer. In addition, applications written for Android are capable of running on any device that runs the OS (for the most part). Next year is going to be a big one for Android, with several new devices coming to market from many different manufacturers. Some analysts are even predicting that the number of Android devices in the hands of consumers will surpass the number of iPhones by 2012. This will no doubt attract more application developers to the platform.
However, Android has its own set of challenges awaiting. The fact that manufacturers are free to run Android on devices with very different hardware specifications (screen size, input controls, etc) poses a major challenge for application developers. Perhaps the risk of rendering thousands of existing Android applications useless by releasing a device with dramatically different hardware specs will be enough to convince manufacturers not to do it. Perhaps Google will provide a set of Android APIs that can help application developers deal with this issue. Perhaps a set of best practices will emerge as a guide for developers looking to tackle this issue. Perhaps we’ll see something similar to the PC application market in the mid-late 90’s (and the Blackberry application market today), where only certain devices will be capable of running certain applications. Only time will tell if these issues will prevent the development of the Android application ecosystem.
A killer feature
One wild card that is always in play is the killer feature. Apple’s competitors are only one, innovative, killer feature away from stealing the spotlight for themselves.
By “killer feature”, I mean a feature so awesome that when you see it in action, you say to yourself, “I need one of those!”.
Version 2.0 of the Android OS took a stab at this with the introduction of Google Maps Navigation. A fantastic feature, Google Maps Navigation morphs your mobile device into a fully functional GPS unit, complete with a synthesized voice telling you where to go, real time traffic information, and several map overlays showing you the location of everything from ATMs to gas stations. But, is this a killer feature? Frankly, I’m not sure. But, its announcement was enough to cause a significant drop in the stock price of traditional GPS manufacturers, and it certainly has potential.
An incredibly easy to use device
Making devices that are intuitive and easy to use has always been one of Apple’s strengths. Look no further than the iPod for an example of this. Competing devices will need to be as easy to use as the iPhone is to appeal to the average consumer.
How do I get my music onto the device? How to I get the photos I take off? These operations should be simple and intuitive. Motorola’s new Android 2.0 device, the DROID, is seriously lacking in this area. Several steps are required to store data on or pull data off of the device:
- Attach the device to your computer
- Use the device’s menu system to instruct it to mount itself as an external drive
- Locate the files on your hard drive that you would like to store on the device
- Copy and paste the files from your hard drive onto the device
- Unmount the deviceFor the iPhone, the list of steps is much smaller.
- Attach the device to your computer, and let iTunes do the restAre the steps required to store data on the DROID too much to handle for an experienced computer user. No, of course not. But, there is still a large percentage of people out there who would struggle with completing those tasks. Believe me, I know. Many are family and friends of mine who I help complete “simple” tasks on their computers all of the time. These people make up a significant portion of the market. If you want them to buy your device, then you have to make it stupid simple to use.
Summary
Apple has set the bar high with the iPhone, very high. While I can think of several reasons why developers and techies would prefer a different device, I can’t think of many reasons why the average consumer would. And, there are a lot more average consumers than there are geeks.
But make no mistake, Apple’s competitors have the iPhone in their sights. The tide can shift very quickly in this market, especially since most people get a new phone every couple of years. Will the iPhone challengers be able make a dent in the iPhone’s market share? Or, will the iPhone be the de-facto standard for smart phones? Only time will tell.
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Direct Sales versus Direct Branding for Manufacturers
Gib writes fantastic and relevant commentary on mobile --- take a look below
JK
+14168884422
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Begin forwarded message:
Date: October 25, 2009 11:03:58 AM EDTSubject: Direct Sales versus Direct Branding for ManufacturersSource: Hello Mobile!Author: Gib Bassettarticle on the Digital CPG Blog a couple days ago stood out. Apparently, direct to consumer selling by non-CPG manufacturers is the fastest growing online retail category.Given how we have talked about “direct branding” as an application of mobile marketing for CPG marketers, this
Titled “Mattel Goes Direct to Consumer Online,” the post describes how Mattel, the U.S.’ largest toy manufacturer, is selling its products direct to consumers via a new ecommerce web presence. Although ½ of its revenue derives from just three large retailers, Mattel is able to do this apparently without disrupting traditional sales channel relationships.
The author posits why the CPG industry doesn’t also adopt the approach, given a similar dependency on a small universe of distribution channels. I suggest one reason is that traditional CPG products remain the domain of the in-person shopping experience facilitated by real stores, as opposed to the web.
For that reason, direct customer relationships can be established and developed by CPG marketers today using mobile marketing techniques applied to programs such as loyalty, product trial and couponing. Mapping your marketing strategy to the mobile channel is a good first step.
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Apple Inc Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript - Earnings calls
--> Earnings Calls:
Apple Inc Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
123jump.com
Last Update: 11:12 AM ET October 20 2009
Apple Inc fourth quarter sales rose 25% to $9.87 billion and net income rose 46.5% to $1.67 billion or $1.82 a share.
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Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
October 19, 2009 5:00 p.m. ETExecutives
Nancy Paxton - Senior Director, Investor Relations
Peter Oppenheimer - Vice President of Finance and Chief Finance Officer
Tim Cook- Chief Operating Officer
Gary Wipfler - Treasurer
AnalystsRichard Gardner - Citigroup
Ben Reitzes - Barclays Capital
Gene Munster - Piper Jaffray
Scott Craig - Banc of America
Mike Abramsky - RBC Capital Markets
Shannon Cross - Cross Research
Bill Shope - Credit Suisse
David Bailey - Goldman Sachs
Mark Moskowitz - JPMorgan
Toni Sacconaghi - Sanford Bernstein
Maynard Um - UBS
Chris Whitmore - Deutsche Bank
Shaw Wu - Kaufman Brothers
Brian Marshall - Broadpoint AmTech
Bill Fearnley - FTN Equity CapitalPresentation
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Apple, Inc. fourth quarter 2009 fiscal earnings conference call. Today''s call is being recorded. At this time for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Ms. Nancy Paxton, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma''am.
Nancy Paxton
Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us. Speaking today is Apple''s CFO, Peter Oppenheimer and he''ll be joined by Apple''s COO Tim Cook, and Treasurer, Gary Wipfler for the Q&A session with analysts.
Please note that some of the information you''ll hear during our discussion today will consist of forward-looking statements including, without limitation those regarding revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, other income and expense, stock-based compensation expense, taxes, earnings per share, and future products. Actual results or trends could differ materially from our forecast.
For more information, please refer to the risk factors discussed in the Apple''s Form 10-K for 2008, the Form 10-Q for the first three fiscal quarters of 2009, and the Form 8-K filed with the SEC today and the attached press release. Apple assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective date.
With that, I would like to turn the call over to Peter Oppenheimer for introductory remarks.
Peter Oppenheimer
Thank you, Nancy. Thank you for joining us. We''re extremely pleased to report Apple''s most profitable quarter ever and sales of more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter. We are thrilled with these record breaking results, particularly given the economic environment around us.
Revenue for the quarter was $9.87 billion, representing 25% growth over the prior September quarter''s results. This was Apple''s second highest quarterly revenue ever, next to the record results reported for last December quarter.
Operating margin was Apple''s highest ever at $2.19 billion, representing over 22% of revenue and higher than our guidance, due to better than expected revenue and gross margin. Net income was $1.67 billion, which translated to earnings per share of $1.82.
In terms of non-GAAP measures, adjusted sales totaled $12.25 billion for the September quarter, which was almost $2.4 billion higher than our reported revenue. Adjusted gross margin was $5.21 billion, which was almost $1.6 billion higher than our reported gross margin. And adjusted net income was $2.85 billion, or almost $1.2 billion higher than our reported net income.
We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provided added transparency to our business and hope they are helpful to you in your analysis and understanding of our performance in the September quarter.
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via 123jump.com
Apple Inc fourth quarter sales rose 25% to $9.87 billion and net income rose 46.5% to $1.67 billion or $1.82 a share.
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