Myspace updates music events through mobile

here

women as main users of smartphones

In an interesting piece, NY Times are exploring the recent developments and changes in smartphone target market: more women buy smartphones than man. 

the article shows that “In October, nearly one out of four owners of the iPhone was a woman, according to Nielsen. By March that number rose to one in three. The iPhone model announced Monday, with faster Internet access and mapping features, may accelerate the shift. “

The increasing shift reflects the needs of career women who are also moms and social organisers, to be in better control of their hectic career, social and family life (not necessarily in that order).

it seems like women are also the decision makers when talking about electronic deals: “According to Verizon Wireless, 71 percent of women make the decision about their family’s wireless choices, including phones and service plans”.

Taking all that into consideration, its imperative companies that are targeting women do not fall into the  ‘pink’ trap. designing a gadget for women doesn’t mean it needs a lipstick case and be coloured pink: “When she used to attend mobile trade shows with a male colleague, she said, “they showed him the cool phone and showed me the phone with a mirror… There are other things women want””.

The article offers interesting insight as to why women choose iphone over blackberry. It also displays different views for the primary need the smartphoneserve for women.  Is it for better life management or is it for pleasure purposes mainly? I guess the bottom line of this article is about which company could come up with a mishmash of blackbery’s functions and iphone’s design to serve both purposes in one device?

 

one million

FierceWireless today have broke the news that Bank of America have passed the 1 millionth user (vs 25m online).

According to Fierce, Bank of America allows users to:

1. check balances
2. pay bills
3. transfer funds
4. view posted and pending transactions
5. locate banking centers and ATMs, accompanied by maps and directions

 I would be curious to see if and how this info can be mashed into a more useful (and still secured!) service to the user.

can you hear me? voice search is listening to the customer

This weekend Businessweek’s Wildstorm published a cool column about mobile voice based search as implemented by Microsoft (TellMe) and Yahoo (oneSearch). Interestingly enough, Wildstorm’s experiments and conclusions of the two applications show the two lack in some aspects and in essence compliment each other. Yahoo’s search results were a mix of possible results (reminding me of their Glue experiments), and with the web getting wider yet narrower, focused as well as associative at the same time, the mobile arena is definitely offering a challenge: how do you offer a search that is targeted yet not limited, moreover a voice based one?

“Microsoft and Yahoo are each solving part of the puzzle” says Wildstorm. And not only that, a voiced based service is a big big step with mobile application and services and might help take mobile UX to the next level, as iphone did at the time.

… so seems like the blog IS on a diet :)

So sorry for not giving any updates last week – it was a mad mad mad week! definitely not the one you are expecting to have when launching a new blog . However, I am back on track and you should expect to see an update every couple of days or so.

Enjoy!

Mobile diet – the diet that works! :)

Who needs a cabbage, rice or carbs diet when you can obsses around mobile?

Early adopters have voted for mobile devices as No.1 long ago, leaving a trail of dust behind the (personal) computer. This trail of dust however is yet to be seen in the western world, where mobile entertainment and use is considered as an uncracked nut. In this blog I will follow mobile entertainment news and developments, to create a dialogue (with you of course) and in an effort to try to clarify the mobile evolution map.

 

Lets talk…

The LA times explores way advertisers communicate with teens:

http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/admark/la-fi-teenphone23-2008may23,0,2679094.story

This is a really useful article that analyses the current difficulties the mobile world is experiencing with communicating with their audience, along with it’s opportunities and advantages.

“teens use their cellphones for a lot more than just talking. It has become a palm-size entertainment and information center increasingly consuming their time and attention. Advertisers are realizing that if they want to reach teens, they need their number — literally… For them, responding to an ad that’s relevant by sending a text or following a link on their phone is a logical brand engagement”.