Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

Design Observer has published a fascinating two part essay on augmented reality, the warping of space and time, and how mobile is changing humanity.

The contemporary convergence of mobile phone, camera, wireless Internet and satellite communication — the key ingredients of the digital handheld — accelerates the reconstitution of place from real, occupied space to a collage of here and there, past and present. But digital technology’s effects do not only blast us out of place; they also bore us into the sights right in front of us — those in our viewfinder. Our sense of place is augmented by information wired from the World Wide Web.

The article takes a deep dive into history to put our present behaviors into context. Continue reading here: Part 1 | Part 2

Vodafone has announced the release of two of its most affordable, low cost handsets today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Vodafone 150 and 250 are aimed at emerging markets with the intention of giving millions of people the opportunity to use mobile technology for the first time. These handsets will initially be offered in India, Turkey and eight African countries.

The Vodafone 150 will sell for below $15 USD unsubsidized and the Vodafone 250 for less than $20 USD unsubsidized, depending on the local market.

Patrick Chomet, Vodafone's Group Director of Terminals, said, “The cost of mobile handsets can be one of the most significant barriers for people in accessing and benefiting from the growing number of socially valuable mobile services. The lives of people who use these phones - the Vodafone 150 and Vodafone 250 – will be changed and improved as they become part of the mobile society...”

The phones offer voice and SMS, relatively long battery life depending on usage, as well as support for mobile payment services. According to Vodafone, the phone launches will also be supported by an extensive logistics infrastructure in order to make these handsets available to isolated rural populations in emerging markets.

[via wired]

India may have developed its own version of Twitter. SMS GupShup is a service that offers groups of cellphone users the opportunity to text message for free with the intent of promoting social networking through text messaging. Users discuss everything from stock tips to religion.

The key to SMS GupShup's strategy is two-fold: one, in a country like India, Internet usage is low and consumers use cellphones more than PCs. And two, that the service can stay free as long as it does not become too popular.

Wall Street Journal reports:

“SMS GupShup's strategy of targeting cellphone users comes with special challenges. Each text message a user sends costs money and SMS GupShup—which means "chitchat" in Hindi—pays on their behalf. While the company buys capacity in bulk from Indian wireless operators, it still costs about 20 cents for each 200 messages.

Given those economics, SMS GupShup is being careful not to let its message traffic grow beyond its ability to generate revenue, which is coming in from advertisers...”

The company limits usage to a maximum of four to eight messages per day, depending on the audience size. This contrasts with U.S. social-networking startups who do not restrict usage because of affordable, web-based services.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping event of the year. CNET came out with a roundup of iPhone Apps for Black Friday shopping, which included a handful of popular mass retailers that rocked 2009. For those who would rather avoid the big crowds, but crave designer labels on sale this is for you. Here are five iPhone apps for the fashionable and mobile-savvy shopper.

• “Lucky At Your Service” is the iPhone app introduced by Conde Nast’s Lucky magazine that retrieves the inventory of retail stores. The app shows products based on category, such as shoes, and lets shoppers browse by type of shoe, brand, color, or size. Typing in a keyword, like “Diane von Furstenburg patent pump” and clicking the “Find It Near You” button will utilize your GPS or zip code to determine which stores in the area have the item available. Shoppers can make an online purchase or place the item on hold at the store.

• “Teen Vogue Haute Spot” is Teen Vogue’s answer to shopping on the mobile. The iPhone app is an extension of the magazine’s pop-up retail store, the Teen Vogue Haute Spot, and has been running for two years. Teen Vogue created a brand experience that their teen readers crave. “It is as if you’re walking into the store and closets of Teen Vogue,” said Laura McEwen, Teen Vogue publisher. The app enables users to peruse the apparel and beauty products found in the store and click to buy them.

• We previously mentioned Seventeen Magazine's Fashion Finder iPhone app which allows users to search for local availability of clothes, shoes and accessories by style or price point. Once the Seventeen Fashion Finder tracks the item down it will notify you by text message and place the item on hold until you visit the store.

• Gilt Groupe launched “Gilt on the Go,” an iPhone app for shoppers to literally follow the website everywhere they go. On the app shoppers can preview when the sales start (diligently at noon), shop, and purchase all on your mobile phone. It also sends sale alerts to your mobile so you will never miss an opportunity to shop for your favorite designer.

• Barcode scanners are great for competitive price shopping. RedLaser is a barcode scanner on the iPhone and you can scan the item’s barcode and the app will access a range of prices, information, and even online reviews of the product.

• The Gap recently held a contest to create a Gap iPhone app with a concept that was closely modeled after a live shopping experience. The top five winners can be found here.

It’s apparent that an increasing number of brands (and magazines) are creating mobile apps to make connections from the product to the consumer. From "purchase now" to "try on later," all the mobile apps mentioned have a different call to action. Does this make shopping easier? Is it enough to replace an actual shopping trip, a one-of-a-kind experience that some refer to as “retail therapy?"

Janice Momoko Chow is a freelance strategist and writer in New York City.  She writes Momoko Mashups and for PSFK, a global innovation consultancy that spotlights new ideas and trends in consumer and business culture.

There has been much talk about how effective mobile devices are in a classroom setting. Since the start of 2009, industry experts have been spreading the word that smartphones should play a role in the classroom. From developing mobile educational software to testing its usage in the classroom, here is how this trend is received around the world.

• The Mobile Learning Environment is an educational tool used to turn smartphones into personal computers. Currently implemented in two Texas classrooms, it includes programs that let students map concepts, animate their drawings, surf relevant parts of the Internet and integrate their lessons and assignments. It also includes mini versions of Microsoft Word and Excel.

• Digital Millennial conducted a study of four North Carolina schools in low-income neighborhoods, where 9th and 10th-grade math students were given smartphones by HTC. The devices operated Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software and special programs to help students with algebra studies. The students used the phones to record, share, and discuss their work, including posting videos on a private networking site. The study found that students with smartphones performed 25 percent better on the final algebra exam at the end of the school year, than did students without the smartphones in similar classes.

• The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina created The Birds and the Bees Text Line, a center that sends instant text messages to sex-related questions posed by teenagers. As epidemiologists claim sex education in the classroom is often ineffective, the program was created as a solution to provide teens with advice from a faceless, non-judgmental expert.

• Beginning March 2009, the government of Tajikistan banned the use of mobile phones in all educational facilities in the country, including schools and universities, to both students and teachers. Perhaps this was a response to the overwhelming impact of protesters who used Twitter to share with the world and speak out against the happenings on war in Iran.

• As we mentioned previously, Purdue students are experimenting with a social "backchannel" platform, called Hotseat, that integrates Twitter, Facebook, and SMS text messaging to make comments in real-time during class. It's being pilot tested in two courses. Professor Sugato Chakravarty, whose personal finance course is one of the pilot tests, said, “I’m seeing students interact more with the course and ask relevant questions.”Implementing smartphones in classrooms is the next step in tomorrow's technology.

Smartphones have already become our dominant communication device. Decades ago educators were skeptical at how the PC would play a role in education. This generation of millenials' conversations will accelerate faster than ever. It is up to instructors and educators to navigate these budding conversations to mature levels of thinking and questioning, as higher education aims to do.

Janice Momoko Chow is a freelance strategist and writer in New York City.  She writes Momoko Mashups, a blog about ideas and inspiration for tomorrow.

Dachis Group's David Armano recently outlined six social media trends for 2010, number five describes mobile as being a "social media lifeline."

"With approximately 70 percent of organizations banning social networks and, simultaneously, sales of smartphones on the rise, it's likely that employees will seek to feed their social media addictions on their mobile devices. What used to be cigarette breaks could turn into "social media breaks" as long as there is a clear signal and IT isn't looking. As a result, we may see more and/or better mobile versions of our favorite social drug of choice."

A keen observation, but should we be aligning social media with the negative connotations that come with a quick nicotine break?

[via harvardbusinessreview]

A while back Nokia's Jan Chipchase pointed out what has become quite obvious, the positioning of our mobile phone alongside our keys and wallet. These three objects are necessary to modern survival and we do not leave home without. First&20 attempts at drilling down to the core of what this new tool actual means to certain individuals. Taking a look at the iPhone home screens of well known developers, designers, and writers they reveal what apps are central to people's everyday routine. If we could expand this survey to those outside the tech community, even more would be said to individuality and personal needs.

[via thenextweb]