Texting Outpaces Calling On Mobile Phones

While the number of calls has remained relatively steady, text messages have shot up 450% in the last two years.

Not surprisingly, the biggest gap between calls and text messages is found among teenage mobile customers. Those ages 13 to 17 sent or received on average 1,742 text messages a month, compared to only 231 calls.

For those ages 35 to 44, the ratio was about even at 223 to 236. And for mobile users 45 and over, voice is still the preferred method of communication.

MediaPost Publications - Texting Outpaces Calling On Mobile Phones - 09/23/2008

And, as I beat this drum over and over, here is more evidence of the new generation gap.

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U.S. on Track to Top Mobile Web Market, Study Says

After years of lagging behind European countries, the U.S. is poised to take the top spot for mobile Web usage by month's end, according to data collected by technology firm Bango, which provides mobile Internet access platforms to 100,000 Web sites worldwide.

In July, Bango reported the U.K. was top ranked in mobile Web usage, accounting for almost 19.4 percent of the worldwide total, just ahead of the U.S., which collected about 18.9 percent of total usage. Rounding out the top five were India (10.8 percent), South Africa (8.8 percent) and Indonesia (4.1 percent).

U.S. on Track to Top Mobile Web Market, Study Says

But can we trust Bango's numbers?! Don't get me wrong, I really want to. In fact, I want to sing the mobile gospel in every meeting and brainstorm.

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Springwise: Zero cents per minute: 100,000 takers so far

Blyk targets 16- to 24-year-olds with its free mobile phone service, which includes 217 texts and 43 minutes every month. In exchange, of course, they get advertising—up to 6 messages sent to their phones each day. Britain's youth don't seem to mind, though—Blyk reached that 100,000-member target six months ahead of schedule. Response rates to the ads in question have also achieved a whopping average of 29 percent—far surpassing the norm, which tends to hover in the single digits.

Springwise: Zero cents per minute: 100,000 takers so far

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Thirty Countries Exceed 100% Per Capita Cell Phone Usage (But Not the USA)

By the first quarter of 2006, notes the report, thirty countries had already exceeded 100% per capita cell phone usage. In that same year, there were about 241 million mobile phone users in the US (roughly 80% per capita mobile phone penetration). The U.S. market is not expected to top 100% per capita penetration until the year 2013.

Included by the author is the Simmons New Media Study released in April 2008 comparing the usage of different mobile functions among consumers in the U.S. While 59% of people who have used a cell phone in the past 30 days have text messaged, and 49% have taken photos, less than 2% have shopped by mobile and less than 5% have used mobile GPS.

Research Brief » Blog Archive » Thirty Countries Exceed 100% Per Capita Cell Phone Usage

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MediaPost Publications - Mobile Feedback: Screenvision Launches Cinema Polling - 06/05/2008

Screenvision is integrating interactive polling via mobile text messages into its pre-show advertising. Depending on its success, the interactive polling, set to debut in the top 10 DMAs around the middle of the month, may eventually extend to Screenvision's High Definition digital network of approximately 7,000 screens; altogether Screenvision reaches about 14,000 screens, when analog theaters are included. The first advertiser to associate its brand with the poll feature, Verizon Wireless, is sponsoring polls about the audience's musical tastes. They will then be calculated via a live feed, with the results instantly displayed onscreen in the form of a bar chart.

MediaPost Publications - Mobile Feedback: Screenvision Launches Cinema Polling - 06/05/2008

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Mobile Insider » Blog Archive » Mobilizing The Mall Crawl

Imagine if you will a smart phone application that locates your current position in the shopping mall, searches for the item you want, and then directs you to the nearest store with your target in stock. Now, imagine if competing retailers knew from your search and eventual destination, where you were headed next and could send you ads keyed to the path you were taking. A competitor could poach you with a special discount, so you might buy those Adidas shoes from Foot Locker instead of the original destination. The mall could turn into an exciting place, where shop keeps actually vie for your business in real time.

Mobile Insider » Blog Archive » Mobilizing The Mall Crawl

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Nomads at last | Economist.com

Just as Sony's Walkman once planted the notion that music can be mobile, the BlackBerry by Research In Motion (RIM), a Canadian firm, has since 1999 made e-mail on the go seem normal. And just as the personal-computer era entered the mainstream only in the 1980s with Apple's commercialisation of the “graphical user interface”, the mobile era arguably began only last summer when the same firm launched the iPhone, with its radically new and user-friendly touch interface. As a result, Google, for instance, has received 50 times more web-search requests from iPhones this year than from any other mobile handset.

Nomads at last | Economist.com

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Burger King Brands Subscription Mobile Games

Burger King is extending into casual mobile games with the launch of “BK City,” a set of handset games that users can download for a monthly subscription fee of $2.99.The games, developed in partnership with Seattle-based licensee Mobliss, offer a multi-level series of challenges in several virtual worlds. Players complete puzzles and skill games to earn a place in the Burger King’s court, completing tasks such as remembering how to make a Whopper, squirting ketchup while racing through a BK outlet, the King’s mansion and a goal called BK City.

Burger King Brands Subscription Mobile Games

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Google Tests New Barcode Tech in Newspaper Ad Program - ClickZ

Google is testing an emerging barcode technology in its print ad program, along with several other response options aimed at tracking results of newspaper ads placed through the system. Though newspapers may be making less for ads sold through Google Print Ads than they might selling those placements direct, advertisers that wouldn't be buying paper ads otherwise are testing them.

Google Tests New Barcode Tech in Newspaper Ad Program - ClickZ

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MediaPost Publications - Study: Biggest Barrier To Mobile Ads Is Unfamiliarity - 04/14/2008

In a new study, Forrester reports that 83% of marketers believe that mobile will become a more effective platform over the next three years. But at present, consumers' lack of familiarity with the format remains a barrier. For instance, only 7% of mobile users trust ads on their cell phones.
Still, the research firm suggests that advertisers look at the kinds of things people are using their phones for in addition to talking. Some 42% are text-messaging, nearly a quarter are exchanging picture-messages, and 15% are using mobile e-mail.
Furthermore, almost one-third have interacted with some type of marketing on their phones, which Forrester calls a "sizeable minority" that will grow as mobile is increasingly added to the digital mix. Despite frequent claims of high click-through rates for mobile, however, only 1% said they had clicked on a banner ad while browsing on their cell phones, according to Forrester's data.

MediaPost Publications - Study: Biggest Barrier To Mobile Ads Is Unfamiliarity - 04/14/2008

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MediaPost Publications - Verizon 'Supercharges' Growth With Nationwide Clear Spectrum - 04/07/2008

The first response to what Verizon plans to do with its newly acquired UHF bandwidth (formerly known as television!).

VERIZON WIRELESS UNVEILED PLANS FRIDAY to roll out a fourth-generation (4G) wireless network over the next three years with its newly acquired slice of spectrum.

MediaPost Publications - Verizon 'Supercharges' Growth With Nationwide Clear Spectrum - 04/07/2008

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58 Million U.S. Mobile Subscribers Have Seen Advertising Over Their Phones - SlashPhone.com

Not terribly impressive ... yet. An audience of 58MM is good. Not yet great.

Twenty-three percent (58 million) of all U.S. mobile subscribers say they have been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days, according to a new report out today from The Nielsen Company. Half (51% or 28 million) of all data users who recall seeing mobile advertising in the previous 30 days say they responded to a mobile ad in some way.061116_Google_mobile_adsThe findings come from the bi-annual Mobile Advertising Report from Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company, and are based on a survey of more than 22,000 active mobile data users who used at least one non-voice mobile service in the fourth quarter.

58 Million U.S. Mobile Subscribers Have Seen Advertising Over Their Phones - SlashPhone.com

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MediaPost Publications - Unicast Partners With AdMob To Power Mobile Web Pages - 03/03/2008

Early Adopter Alert!

The Rich Media Mobile technology is a hosted delivery and tracking solution for optimized rich mobile Web page content aiming to help advertisers provide a richer experience for audiences that are both media- and mobile-savvy. The platform provides tools for advertisers and agencies to create, deliver, and measure the effectiveness of rich media mobile ad campaigns.

The campaigns can be tracked with real-time reporting, and the metrics can be tied to the reporting interface for rich media online and in-game ad performance metrics providing a cross-platform solution for the efficient management of mobile marketing campaigns.The Rich Media Mobile technology detects the type of media a user's mobile phone can play, and then offers the advertiser's content in the appropriate format.

Currently, Unicast Rich Media Mobile is compatible with many devices across the major U.S. wireless carriers, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

MediaPost Publications - Unicast Partners With AdMob To Power Mobile Web Pages - 03/03/2008

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Sprint expected to undercut rivals' call plans - Yahoo! News

Finally, there's some movement in the US mobile phone marketplace. Consumers will benefit from falling prices for plans. And though "Wall Street is worried" (see below) the European and Asian mobile phone markets show us a way forward. Consumers pay less for having a handset and service while the telecoms make lots of money selling in lots of interactive services.

Wall Street is worried about a looming price war, even though Tuesday's new plans were not seen in and of themselves to have a big impact on service revenue as only about 5 to 10 percent of consumers now pay more than $100-a-month for calls.

Sprint expected to undercut rivals' call plans - Yahoo! News

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