Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

On the heels of several big announcements from new Foursquare partners, the New York Times says they are launching our first integration with Foursquare this Friday for the Winter Games. According to Jenna Wortham on their Bits Blog:

In conjunction with the Winter Olympics, The Times will be offering recommendations to Foursquare users on restaurants, attractions, shopping and nightlife in Vancouver, Whistler and the nearby town of Squamish. The tips will be pulled from The Times’s travel and entertainment coverage.

Foursquare users who check in at one of the suggested venues will earn a New York Times Olympics badge, said Stacy Green, public relations manager for The New York Times Company.

“Going forward,” Ms. Green said, ”we are looking into other ways we can work with Foursquare in New York and other markets to integrate our strong travel and entertainment content.”

Ms. Green tells us the Times believes this partnership "will be a great way to bring useful Times content about Vancouver and Whistler venues to Foursquare users."

There are several other mobile components to this effort. Times mobile users can sign up for text alerts for medal count per country and medals awarded per sport, according to Ms. Green.

To sign up for all medals awarded for countries of choice:
Text MEDALALERTS [country] to 698698. E.g. MEDALALERTS USA

To sign up for text alerts to receive a message when medals are awarded to the sport of choice:
Text OLYSPORTS [sport] to 698698. E.g. OLYSPORTS Figure Skating to 698698

Alternatively, users can go to mobile.nytimes.com/smsalerts with a mobile phone to signup, though they will need to login with their New York Times ID.

If you just want a single update without signing up continual alerts, they are adding a one-time request option: Text OLY to 698698 to request the latest 3 Olympics headlines from The New York Times.

There is also a BlackBerry shortcut for the Olympics (pictured at top) available for download from mobile.nytimes.com. The shortcut will live on the user's homescreen (like an app) and take them directly to the sports sections of the Times' mobile site.

• FanFeedr Aims to Hit a Home Run With Comments | GigaOm - FanFeedr aims to be a one-stop online destination for sports fans by aggregating news, photos, videos, tweets and scores for a variety of sports teams they choose to follow. The company just released a feature that lets people comment on status updates and user activity posted on its home page, which is intended to encourage virtual cheering and friendly banter among users about the latest happenings in the sports world.
• Reading bar codes with mobile phones: Snap it, click it, use it | The Economist - Good round-up of barcode technologies around the world.
• The Mobile App User Experience | Functioning Form (via EverydayUX) - The 1.5 billion downloads thus far from Apple’s App Store clearly demonstrate a user experience in high demand. But why are native mobile applications such a desirable user experience? LukeW outlines 3 factors.
• Zune HD's "Apps" menu item spotted in the Marketplace, still short on details | engadget - Footage from Best Buy's Zune HD preview of the "Apps" item that resides within the "Marketplace" section on the device. It's unclear what Microsoft's plans are for that functionality, but there's obviously a lot of implied competition with Apple's App Store that the word "Apps" on a touchscreen device conjures up.
• Nokia to use Windows in forthcoming Booklet 3G | FierceWireless - Nokia is skipping touchscreen phones and going straight after Apple's new Tablet. Just days after confirming plans to enter the netbook market, Nokia released additional details of the effort including the name of its forthcoming gadget: Booklet 3G.
• Mobile Gaming Wrap: EA, SocialDeck Stock Up The BlackBerry App World | mocoNews - Mobile social gaming firm SocialDeck just released Shake & Spell for the BlackBerry, creating its first game that shares info across Facebook, the iPhone and the RIM device. The game initially launched on the iPhone and Facebook last year; it amassed over 500,000 users. Now users can play with and compete against each other across all three platforms.
• AT&T to require smartphone data plans starting September 6th | Boy Genius Report - As of September 6th, AT&T will begin requiring that all smartphones sign up for a smartphone data plan.
• Are publishers heading for an ad-free mobile future? | Mobile Marketer - Mobile is not going to save publishing. Differentiated content is. But how much of the content we consume today in print, online, broadcast or mobile is unique? Commoditization is the real risk.
• Johnson & Johnson's BabyCenter gives birth to new breed of app | Mobile Marketer - 55% of moms today let their children play with their mobile phone regardless of handset model or price, according to “BabyCenter’s 21st Century Mom Report.” With this in mind, BabyCenter came out with the PhonyPhone application, which provides for an educational experience for the child and a mother’s uninhibited ability to let children play on.
• A Manifesto for Slow Communication | WSJ.com - A well-reasoned argument for slowing down the breakneck pace of the Information Age: "This is not a sustainable way to live. This lifestyle of being constantly on causes emotional and physical burnout, work­place meltdowns, and unhappiness. How many of our most joyful memories have been created in front of a screen?"

• TV Everywhere may not be anywhere until 2014 | Blog | Econsultancy - Cable television companies are getting excited about a web push to put all of their content online for subscribers. Called "TV Everywhere," the endeavor will make many television shows available online for free to customers who pay for cable on television. But getting all the major players to cooperate on this project could take quite some time.
• Washington business improvement district goes mobile | Mobile Marketer -Just in time for the area's Restaurant Week, Washington’s Golden Triangle Business Improvement District launched its new mobile Web site to help smartphone users navigate the busy area of the capital including finding places to dine.
• 3banana partakes in mobile giving using social networks | Mobile Marketer 3banana Inc. has launched a “Share to Win” contest to help nonprofit organizations spread their message and have the chance to win $10,000 in donations. The strategy behind the contest is to have nonprofit organizations use 3banana’s notepad application and spread their message virally via Twitter, Facebook and mobile email. The organization with the most votes will have a chance to win one of five prizes totaling $10,000 worth of donations.
• Smartphone Apps Fuel Business - WSJ.com -More firms are turning to apps to enhance the way customers interact with their products and services — and even boost their bottom lines. Said one expert, "People nowadays want everything to be at their fingertips, and if companies are not finding ways to provide these tools [they] will soon see drop-off from their customers."
• Orange, Vodafone Push Mobile Social Networks | mocoNews - Orange just rolled out Social Life in the UK, an aggregator that lets users post to their social networking profiles and send messages via the Orange World mobile site using one login. Meanwhile, Vodafone may soon be rolling “Vodafone People,” which organizes users’ contacts and messages across mobile and PC. And it’s not just for Vodafone users, but people on 247 networks.
• Study: Over 8 Percent Of American Households Use Mobile, E-Mail Coupons | mocoNews - The majority of shoppers still get their coupons from Sunday newspapers, but more than 8.9 million U.S. households—or just over 8 percent of the total population—receive coupons via text or e-mail, according to new stats from Scarborough Research. The typical mobile/e-mail coupon user is young (14 percent more likely to be aged 18-24, than average), educated (51 percent more likely to be a college graduate or have an advanced degree) and decidedly female.
• Discovery iPhone App an Early Hit | Contentinople - Acting on their  strategy " to have as many touch points to our fans as possible," Discovery Channel released a new, free application for iPhone and iPod Touch users. It has fast become a success with more than 180,000 downloads just one day after it hit the app store.
• Jay-Z's Favorite New Rapper: Free Music Is The Future | Techdirt -
  Breakout Rap star Wale was quoted as saying, "Free music is the way for the future. To get your music off the ground you've got to give it away for free at first." Now he's Jay-Z's favorite rapper and doing collaborations with every top name in the industry.

• The Real-time Web: Sifting Required | GigaOm -  With the constant stream of status updates flowing on the web, it can be easy to miss the stuff we care about. Facebook and Twitter have yet to figure out how to help users easily scan the glut of news streamed in real time without missing information from earlier that they need or want to see. This influx of status updates often results in a series of disjointed conversations that lack context, making it hard to piece together and decipher what it all means.

Move Over GPS, Here Comes the Smartphone [NYTimes]
Last year we said that mobile phones will kill GPS systems, well, it seems to be coming true. Sales of traditional GPS units from companies like TomTom, Garmin and Magellan have fallen sharply recently. Meanwhile, Garmin's plan to release a phone seems to be taking a lot longer than it should (accounced Jan 2008, now they're saying "later this year"). Guess they ran out of money....

Five Companies Joining Together For 2D Barcode Push [Mobile Marketing Watch]
Modavox, DuPont, Scanbuy, Graphic Packaging, and Augme Mobile are partnering to make mobile barcodes a mainstay in the US. Why could this actually work? DuPont and Graphic Packaging represent hundreds of packaged good services in a wide array of industries, putting the actual implementation directly into the development model.

The Future of the iPhone: Intelligent Object Recognition [Mashable]
Apple has filed patents for an augmented reality technology called ID App that uses image recognition to recognize objects and show more information about them.

6.5 Hours Per Month of Video Consumption Amongst Teens on their Mobile Phones [BitBriefs]
Research from Nielsen shows that 77% of 13-18 year olds own a phone, while 11% borrow one regularly. More specific usage numbers show that in Q1 of 2007, teens sent/received 435 sms a month on average. Q1 of 2009? 2899 text messages, yes that is a a 666% increase in two years. The data also shows mobile video usage by type (Music is number 1).

NY Philharmonic to Raise Funds Via Text Message [PC Magazine]
For its 2009 Concerts in the Park series, the NY Philharmonic is enabling SMS donations. Audience members can send $5 gifts with a limit of $25 per billing cycle and can even download a desktop widget to facilitate donations from home. Understanding the immediacy of the mobile to a user's life is key for leveraging the platform's potential. Signing up, filling out forms, is a discouraging for many, while sending a text is routine.

Google Product Search for Mobile Expanding Rapidly [IntoMobile]
Awhile back Google launched their Product Search for iPhone and Android and now support has been added for the Palm Pre and all devices (with a data connection) in the UK, US, Germany and South Korea.

Top 10 Youth Marketing Myths by Graham Brown [mobileYouth]
Straight to the point slide about the mistakes and misconceptions many marketers hold about Gen Y. Trying to define an age group by certain limited characteristics makes understanding youth easier, but reaching them impossible.

Days Inn Finds SMS is Key to CRM Strategy [Mobile Marketer]
The hotel chain is driving sign ups to an SMS database that lets them send out room offers. So far 30% of guests that opted in have called to make room reservations.

Broadcasters Hope To Re-Program How People Watch TV On Mobile Devices [mocoNews]
The ATSC Technology and Standards Group is due to vote this summer on a definite standard to offer TV to mobile phones. What does this mean for mobile users? Maybe nothing. Indeed, the format will require a special chip to be installed in mobile devices and users will have to pay a monthly fee to receive content. These two factors are enough to block wide adoption because users get plenty of video and TV through channels like Youtube and other streaming sites. Too little, too late?

Multi-Platform Media Sync Software DoubleTwist Gains “Hundreds Of Thousands Downloads”, Is Now Available in Japan [TechCrunch]
Double Twist has been steadily growing as a complementary software for iTunes. The PC/Mac application allows users to share all their photos, videos, and music from one place to a multitude of social networks and mobile devices.

Who Uses Social Networks and What Are They Like? (Part 1 and Part 2) [ReadWriteWeb]
According to research from  Anderson Analytics, 52% of SNS users are a fan of at least one band, 20% would like to see more communication from brands, 15% say they log on at work, at 63% only friend people they know.

Is BlackBerry in the Catbird Seat or the Doghouse? [FierceWireless]
Analysts are debating over the future of RIM. Surely all eyes will be on their new devices --the Tour, launching this summer, and BlackBerry Storm 2, launching in October.

Trends in Youth Media [mobileYouth]
New research about teen music consumption, their relationship to TV, and their responsiveness to ads on various mediums.

Two in three Japanese dissatisfied with their mobile carrier [WhatJapanThinks]
New study by Goo research shows that 2/3 of Japanese from all ages, and sexes, are dissatisfied with their carrier. The grudge comes from voice plan rates, data rates, network availability, and lack of choice for phone model.

Boston Debuts Citizen Connect iPhone App [PSFK]
The city of Boston has just released an iPhone app that allows residents to file minor complaints with their mobile device. The app supports picture, and text complaints which are geo-tagged through the iPhone's GPS. After mobilizing the complaint, residents receive a tracking number to follow what the city is doing about it.

Google Maps Will Now Include Property Listings [BusinessInsider]
Available in Australia, Gmaps now offers Aussies the ability to find real estate deals around them. The certainty of the feature being launched in the U.S. is unquestionable. Idea: how about a mobile app that notifies apartment hunters when they are in proximity of a location that meets their criteria.

Raising the Ante on Metrics for Mobile Advertising [Mobile Marketer]
In the constant move to find accurate ways of measuring the effectiveness of advertising, the mobile platform offers detailed metrics that no other medium can. Whether through WAP, or smartphone browsing and applications, mobile metrics offer users' preferences, history and, most importantly, behavior.

Obama On The Go: Clippz Launches Mobile Channel For White House Videos [TechCrunch]
Clippz eliminates the hassle of figuring out if a video will play on your phone.  By entering your phone model, the service offers you a choice of videos that will play on your device. They even launched a dedicated White House channel.

Taco Bell Spices up Marketing Strategy with Mobile [Mobile Marketer]
Taco Bell has just launched a new iPhone application to promote its 79, 89, 99 cents value meal. Users enter their budget, shake their phone, and get a randomized choice from the value meal. Taco Bell says that the mobile medium is perfect for its demographic, and the on-the-go customer.

Watermelon Express [Watermelon]
Crunching for the GRE, LSAT, GMAT, MCAT, or even the SAT? Watermelon Express offers internet, laptop, and mobile applications to help you study wherever you are, whenever you want.

Facebook Connect for iPhone Now Live [insidefacebook.com]
iPhone app developers are rejoicing at the news that Facebook Connect is now available for native apps. The popular platform makes it easy for iPhone app and game developers to authenticate users through their Facebook accounts and share content from the app with their friends through Facebook’s News Feed.

Live Blog: iPhone OS 3.0: 100 New Features, 1,000 New APIs [AllThingsD]
What kind of people would we be if we put “mobile” in the title and didn’t say anything about iPhone 3.0. Being said, if you’re here, chances are you have an iPhone and/or probably know all about it. If you don’t – this live blog (well, it was live) by John Paczkowski pretty much dances you through the steps. YES – cut & paste. NO – video recording.

Daily News Habit Doubles Among U.S. Mobile Users [TechCrunch]
Phones are becoming the ultimate free-time filler (or killer, depending on your POV). Running down to Starbucks? Enough time to check out the New York Times on your iPhone to see who’s getting yelled at now.

Counting Crows Go Label-Free [TechCrunch]
Looking forward to some pay-as-you-will action guys.

TaxiFlasher iPhone app helps you get a cab without yelling [IntoMobile]
This is a must for any iPhone user in a big city. Why stand on the corner jumping up and down when you can strobe it?

Big-Bellied, Text-Messaging Trash Cans? [textually]
“Empty me” will soon be the cry on the lips of about 50 trashcans in Somerville, Mass. sometime in the near future. These “smartcans” will be loaded with the technology necessary to ping trash collectors when it’s time to be emptied.

New Bar Codes Can Hold Videos, Music and More [PSFK]
QR Codes are still a bit of an oddity here in the states. Well, hurry up and get used to the idea because pretty soon they’re going to be more outdated than the pair of Kamikazes you’ve been saving since high school.

NASA Space Center uses mobile to draw in younger visitors [MobileMarketer]
More interesting than NASA using mobile is the WHY cited: “the low carbon footprint and generally low cost ROI that mobile offers is an increasingly attractive proposition for both Space Center Houston and other marketers."

CBS Launches App to Stream March Madness Games to the iPhone [IntoMobile]
Just one more reason for college students to get have "iPhone Face."

“Social networks ‘are new e-mail’" [BBC]
The simplicity and ubiquity of microblogging services like Yammer, Facebook and Twitter is beginning to see activity feeds and status updates replace many of the uses to which e-mail was once put.

• Why the Japanese Hate the iPhone [Wired] - The iPhone may be trendsetting on this side of the world, but in Japan ... meh. In fact, the phones are being given away for free with a two-year contract in order to boost popularity. Some top reasons for the discontent include video and picture capabilities and high pricing plans.
• UN study finds poor countries drive growth in global cell phone use [MSNBC] - Global cell phone use is increasing - six in ten people across the world use mobile phones and this includes developing countries which actually account for 2/3 of cell phones in use. This is a major trend we've been seeing and, so far, all signs point to its continuation!
• Smartphones Will Double Their Share of the Handset Market by 2013, According to In-Stat - According to a new study from In-Stat, smartphone use will swell to 20 percent of the market by 2013. Android-powered phones should lead the pack, with BlackBerry and Apple kicking around as well.
• Skittles.com is the worst thing to ever happen to social media branding [This is Going to be Big] - To follow up on Tuesday's post, here's one opinion on the new Skittles homepage from Charlie O'Donnell. He brings up a great point of comparison in the form of Jelly Belly - same category, totally different approach to social media.
• Land Rover, Jaguar to Spend $1.6m on Mobile Ads in '09 [Media Bistro] - 10 - 20 percent of Land Rover and Jaguar's media spend next year is projected to go towards mobile support. Both brands have been in the sphere since 2007, but even so, this bodes well for the mobile marketing industry - specifically, AdMob, who will be driving (pun intended) campaigns for both.
• comScore: Light PC Internet Users Are 30 Percent More Likely than Heavy ... - comScore reported that light PC Internet users are 30 percent more likely than heavy PC Internet users to use their mobile devices to access Internet content. While this may seem counter intuitive at first glance, it's also somewhat logical: People who are "active" aren't sitting at home in front of PCs. Rather they use the web while on-the-go and prefer the shorter, more practical mobile experience.
• Conveneer Raises $4.5 Million To Turn Cell Phones Into Servers [Tech Crunch] - Swedish mobile startup, Conveneer, is building a mobile platform called Mikz. Essentially, Mikz turns the cell phone into a web server by assigning a URL to the phone which, in turn, makes the content available on the online. They are slated to launch later this year. Godspeed, Swedes!
• Amazon launches free Kindle app for iPhone and iPod touch [Mobile Burn] - Books on phones! We love it. Amazon just launched a free Kindle app for the iPhone and iPod touch allowing users to purchase desired books off Amazon to transfer to their device. Some cool features include bookmarks, text size adjustment and highlighting.
• Emerging markets are fertile ground for mobile banking [RCRWireless] - Developing markets are ripe for mobile banking opportunities. Cellphones are more prevalent in these nations than landlines, allowing for the growth and expansion of m-banking. It is hoped that by 2012, an estimated 20 million untapped users can be reached.
• Why Imeem's Music Isn't Free on Cellphones [Bits Blog] - Gotta love Imeem. The music-oriented social network has now brought us a mobile music application. The only caveat is they want users to pay for tracks on their phone whereas music on the computer = free. Dry your eyes; the new application has a customizable Internet radio service that is free. Imeem's charm is still there. Kinda.
• Slowdown may snag smartphone newbies [RCR Wireless News] - Like cartoon coyotes that extend themselves to full height before an exaggerated pounce on prey, handset vendors have offered little this year — but portended much — before an expected lunge at the market. Analyst Takeaways: Device makers could be squeezed out of apps business; new entrants to have difficult time finding success; lower data plans would drive smartphone sales.
• Report: Mobile Music To Hit $14.6 Billion In 2013 [mocoNews] - The Mobile Music Services market is predicted to hit $14.6 Billion in 2013 - $3 Billion less than predicted one year ago. Participation from major labels in mobile ventures and improvements in technology will contribute to mobile music growth, countering the decline of ringtone revenues.
• By the numbers: Top 10 most popular U.S. handsets in December [RCR Wireless News] - AvianResearch L.L.C ranks the 10 most popular handsets in the United States in December 2008. The firm derives its ranking via  monthly survey of service representatives and store managers at retail stores of the four major U.S. wireless carriers (AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc.). The iPhone is NOT #1.