The document provides a summary of mobile news, views, events and developments for January 2013. It discusses how industry experts expect the definition of "mobile" to change, and Tomi Ahonen predicts 2013 will be the "Mobile Moment" when mobile handsets exceed the human population. Mobile ad spend doubled in 2012 and is expected to continue growing double-digits in 2013. The document also summarizes several other mobile industry stories and trends from January 2013.
With Internet usage shifting from desktop to mobile, Yahoo needed to get ahead of this trend, understand who was driving it, why, how fast it was occurring, and what advice to give digital marketers as a result. To answer these questions, Vital Findings used in-depth interviews, device tracking, and quantitative research in the US, UK, France, and Germany. Presented at THINK LA, INTERACT, the Razorfish Global Tech Summit, and showcased on Yahoo’s online advertiser resource center globally.
It’s a new era—welcome to the Control Shift. Exchanging data for utility, people are delegating an increasing amount of control over their lives to technology. Brands can capitalize on this societal change by positioning themselves as trusted partners and fostering consumer empowerment.
Are you interested in learning more about mobile marketing? If so, then this mobile marketing SlideShare deck is for you. It was compiled by Jamie Turner from the 60 Second Marketer and Jeanne Hopkins while she was at HubSpot.
Here are just some of the amazing facts you'll learn in this SlideShare deck:
• 91% of adults have their mobile devices within arm's reach 24/7
• 25% of Americans only use mobile devices to access the internet
• There are 5 times as many cell phones in the world as there are PCs
If you're interested in learning more about mobile marketing, this deck is for you.
From Facebook to Apple to Snapchat and more, we’ve collected a whole year of Mindshare POV articles together to give you a complete picture of how the industry evolved in 2015. Consider this your media cheat sheet (well, book).
As a follow-up to "Meet the Screens," published last year, which outlines how people engage with different screen devices, BBDO partnered with Collective to commission and analyze data from Nielsen, and looked to best...
With so much attention focused on mobile opportunities in the consumer space, Julie Renwick, Executive Director of Mobile, OgilvyOne Worldwide, is instead shining a light on mobile opportunities for B2B marketers.
In this presentation, Julie outlines six key pointers for developing a successful B2B mobile strategy:
1. Understand your (mobile) customer.
2. Develop a mobile-friendly content strategy.
3. Invest in discoverability.
4. Optimize the conversation chain for mobile.
5. Empower your team.
6. Listen and evolve.
2015 US digital future in focus - Comscore - 26 March 2015Romain Fonnier
Dans son livre blanc «2015 U.S. Digital Future in Focus», comScore revient sur le bilan de l’année 2014, marquée par de grands changements dans le comportement du consommateur numérique dans différents secteurs : mobile, social media, vidéo, publicité, search et e-commerce. A travers 24 pages, l’institut tire des insights de l’année passée pour projeter les tendances majeures en 2015. Les principaux points abordés au sein du livre blanc sont :
- L’implication d’une population de plus en plus numérique et multiplateforme
- La croissance dynamique des médias numériques et des applications mobiles
- La rupture continue du mobile dans tout l’écosystème digital
- Comment les audiences des principaux réseaux sociaux vont s’accumuler
- La transition de la publicité numérique vers la visibilité des impressions
- La croissance continue de la vidéo en ligne et l’émergence de la vidéo mobile et OTT
- Comment les requêtes sur le web vont se répartir entre desktop, smartphone et tablette
- La croissance incessante de l’e-commerce et l’émergence du m-commerce
The digital world achieved enormous progress in 2014 as several transformative changes shaped how Americans interacted with technology and consumed media. Perhaps more so than at any other time in recent memory, changes were not merely incremental but rather seemed to represent key inflection points in the evolution of various markets and behaviors. We saw platforms collide in ways that upended existing markets, reconfigured the economics of various industries, and suggested that we are embarking on a new era of digital that will look markedly different from its predecessor.
Consider some of the digital milestones of 2014 and what they suggest about the future. This was the year that:
Mobile app usage exploded on its way to becoming the majority of all digital media activity.
Leading publishers saw mobile revenues surpass desktop revenues, signaling a shift towards mobile as the primary digital media platform.
Traditional TV ratings saw pronounced declines as Americans’ viewing habits time-shifted and moved to emerging platforms.
Digital advertising went through a challenging but important transition to transacting on impressions that are actually seen by people.
In this report, we will examine some of the most important sectors of the digital media ecosystem to show how the landscape has changed, who is leading the way, and what it all means for the year ahead – and beyond. It is an exciting time in digital and we hope this exploration of today’s key issues helps put the Digital Future in Focus.
3.3 Billion active mobile accounts worldwide. That’s 1 phone for every 2 people on the planet. Broadband, “real” web browsing, widgets, social extensions, and streaming television are changing the marketplace, requiring us to write new best practices.
With Internet usage shifting from desktop to mobile, Yahoo needed to get ahead of this trend, understand who was driving it, why, how fast it was occurring, and what advice to give digital marketers as a result. To answer these questions, Vital Findings used in-depth interviews, device tracking, and quantitative research in the US, UK, France, and Germany. Presented at THINK LA, INTERACT, the Razorfish Global Tech Summit, and showcased on Yahoo’s online advertiser resource center globally.
It’s a new era—welcome to the Control Shift. Exchanging data for utility, people are delegating an increasing amount of control over their lives to technology. Brands can capitalize on this societal change by positioning themselves as trusted partners and fostering consumer empowerment.
Are you interested in learning more about mobile marketing? If so, then this mobile marketing SlideShare deck is for you. It was compiled by Jamie Turner from the 60 Second Marketer and Jeanne Hopkins while she was at HubSpot.
Here are just some of the amazing facts you'll learn in this SlideShare deck:
• 91% of adults have their mobile devices within arm's reach 24/7
• 25% of Americans only use mobile devices to access the internet
• There are 5 times as many cell phones in the world as there are PCs
If you're interested in learning more about mobile marketing, this deck is for you.
From Facebook to Apple to Snapchat and more, we’ve collected a whole year of Mindshare POV articles together to give you a complete picture of how the industry evolved in 2015. Consider this your media cheat sheet (well, book).
As a follow-up to "Meet the Screens," published last year, which outlines how people engage with different screen devices, BBDO partnered with Collective to commission and analyze data from Nielsen, and looked to best...
With so much attention focused on mobile opportunities in the consumer space, Julie Renwick, Executive Director of Mobile, OgilvyOne Worldwide, is instead shining a light on mobile opportunities for B2B marketers.
In this presentation, Julie outlines six key pointers for developing a successful B2B mobile strategy:
1. Understand your (mobile) customer.
2. Develop a mobile-friendly content strategy.
3. Invest in discoverability.
4. Optimize the conversation chain for mobile.
5. Empower your team.
6. Listen and evolve.
2015 US digital future in focus - Comscore - 26 March 2015Romain Fonnier
Dans son livre blanc «2015 U.S. Digital Future in Focus», comScore revient sur le bilan de l’année 2014, marquée par de grands changements dans le comportement du consommateur numérique dans différents secteurs : mobile, social media, vidéo, publicité, search et e-commerce. A travers 24 pages, l’institut tire des insights de l’année passée pour projeter les tendances majeures en 2015. Les principaux points abordés au sein du livre blanc sont :
- L’implication d’une population de plus en plus numérique et multiplateforme
- La croissance dynamique des médias numériques et des applications mobiles
- La rupture continue du mobile dans tout l’écosystème digital
- Comment les audiences des principaux réseaux sociaux vont s’accumuler
- La transition de la publicité numérique vers la visibilité des impressions
- La croissance continue de la vidéo en ligne et l’émergence de la vidéo mobile et OTT
- Comment les requêtes sur le web vont se répartir entre desktop, smartphone et tablette
- La croissance incessante de l’e-commerce et l’émergence du m-commerce
The digital world achieved enormous progress in 2014 as several transformative changes shaped how Americans interacted with technology and consumed media. Perhaps more so than at any other time in recent memory, changes were not merely incremental but rather seemed to represent key inflection points in the evolution of various markets and behaviors. We saw platforms collide in ways that upended existing markets, reconfigured the economics of various industries, and suggested that we are embarking on a new era of digital that will look markedly different from its predecessor.
Consider some of the digital milestones of 2014 and what they suggest about the future. This was the year that:
Mobile app usage exploded on its way to becoming the majority of all digital media activity.
Leading publishers saw mobile revenues surpass desktop revenues, signaling a shift towards mobile as the primary digital media platform.
Traditional TV ratings saw pronounced declines as Americans’ viewing habits time-shifted and moved to emerging platforms.
Digital advertising went through a challenging but important transition to transacting on impressions that are actually seen by people.
In this report, we will examine some of the most important sectors of the digital media ecosystem to show how the landscape has changed, who is leading the way, and what it all means for the year ahead – and beyond. It is an exciting time in digital and we hope this exploration of today’s key issues helps put the Digital Future in Focus.
3.3 Billion active mobile accounts worldwide. That’s 1 phone for every 2 people on the planet. Broadband, “real” web browsing, widgets, social extensions, and streaming television are changing the marketplace, requiring us to write new best practices.
The mobile is moving well beyond its role as a communication device, becoming an enabler for a wide range of experiences from TV viewing to shopping to banking. And mobile connectivity is disrupting industries from retail to auto to finance and beyond. The consensus is that change is occurring at an astonishing scale and speed.
In this report, JWTIntelligence outlines key trends in evidence at the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona in late February, along with examples that illustrate these developments and implications for brands. The report also incorporates insights from interviews with several mobile experts and influencers.
If you have a website, then you have a site that can be accessed by any mobile device with any browser. Now, the bad: Chances are, that site looks pretty crappy on said mobile device.
Mobile Goes Mainstreet: Consumers Lead the Way — Key Trends and Investment Op...Linda Gridley
The number of smartphone users in the U.S. is consistently growing and the connected user is turning to mobile more and more frequently for everyday consumption. Global mobile data traffic is predicted to increase 26-fold between 2010 and 2015. Smartphone and tablet revenues overtook traditional desktop and laptop revenues in 2013. At the same time, the amount of time users are spending on mobile daily is increasing. Mobile commerce sales are reaching all-time highs, and now represent 12% of total digital commerce, while mobile traffic represent about 40% for major eCommerce retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Apple, and Walmart.
The mobile industry was unquestionably the most important growth channel across digital media. Some of the most important trends we’ve seen in the sector include:
Average mobile (plus tablet) time spend now equal to desktop
Mobile is no longer just for gaming. Growing number
of use cases and apps hitting mass adoption— utilities, productivity,shopping, media & entertainment
Total mobile ad revenue grew twofold in 2013, and still only represents 2% of total ad spend but 12% of total media time spend
Strong M&A and funding environment – First $1bn M&A deal in mobile. Q3’13 was record quarter for mobile
Digital media leaders such as Facebook and Twitter realigned their organizations to mobile over the past two years and now see 40% plus of their revenue from the mobile channel
The evolution of mobile as the next computing platform is just beginning to take shape, bringing new billion market opportunities to the digital media ecosystem. We believe it is still early in this evolution and expect to see new technologies and innovative applications to fuel continued growth over the next five years.
I livelli di diffusione raggiunti dalla tecnologia mobile, insieme alla possibilità di avere un device connesso durante tutta la giornata, offrono ai Marketers nuove opportunità di comunicazione e pubblicità, grazie ad un’audience consistente, variegata e fortemente segmentabile. Viene riconosciuta l’importanza del canale, inserendo il Mobile fra le priorità di investimento, sia a livello strategico, che tattico. Emergono però segnali di cautela fra gli operatoi di settore (Fonte: TNS per IAB Australia 2013): per un 32% risulta difficile individuare il value for money delle campagne mobile rispetto agli altri media.
Le nuove tecnologie però possono supportarci attraverso misurazioni dei comportamenti effettivi tenuti dagli utenti. In questo modo si può evidenziare una digital footprint tipologica, che coinvolge l'utilizzo dei device, le attività maggiormente effettuate, quando e dove, i canali di fruizione (app vs web) e i contenuti stessi.
A presentation by Georgia Zacharaki, Digital Account Director, Tempo OMD Hellas
This presentation was part of the 2nd Mobile Marketing event by Warply. Top executives from leading brands, media agencies and Greek media presented trends of the mobile industry and real examples of how they engage their customers and capitalize on the shift towards a mobile-first reality.
The event was powered by:
Warply
Microsoft Innovation center
Nespresso
Papadopoulou Biscuits
Technology Macro Trends - What Marketers Need to Know in 2014Percolate
In the last four years, we’ve seen tremendous upheavals in social channels, mobile adoption across the globe, and software that’s changed the way we live and work.
Technology has reshaped marketing.
To adapt to this new world, marketers need to first understand it. Here are some of the key technology macro trends that have redefined our industry.
Macro trends include:
- Growth of global internet users
- Venture financing of tech startups
- Photo sharing across mobile messaging platforms
- Mobile usage in China and the world
- Advertising revenue across Google, Facebook, and Twitter
- Education technology startups like Khan Academy
- YouTube stars and spectator gaming
Percolate is a marketing technology company with a mission to help brands of all sizes create great content and distribute it to the right audience. With an end-to-end suite of web-based and mobile tools, Percolate allows brands, agencies and other external partners to work within a single platform.
Learn more at: http://percolate.com
Best Practice Guide Mobile Apps - Marketing Overviewcrisdresch
This is a best practice guide on Mobile Applications, focused on the Marketing overview. It talks about the mobile market and the planning and strategy behind the mobile apps. Hope you enjoy it.
Globally, there were 3.4 billion unique mobile
subscribers and 6.9 billion SIM connections in 2013, with an average of 1.8 active SIM cards per unique subscriber.
The number of mobile broadband connections has also grown astoundingly to well over two billion in 2013 from 364 million in 2009. This growth is expected to continue and India is predicted to be the second largest mobile broadband market by 2016, with 367 million connections, following China with 639 million connections.
Your monthly dose of the latest trends locally and abroad. This month we look at enhancing the experience and connection of being human in ways that go beyond what was thought possible.
2. A MONTHLY
INSERT IMAGE IN BACKGROUND
SNAPSHOT OF
MAKE SURE IT FILLS THE SCREEN 100%
MOBILE NEWS,
VIEWS, EVENTS &
DEVELOPMENTS
LOCALLY AND
ABROAD
2 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
3. HOW TO USE THIS REPORT
» This report is intended as an easy-to-reference tool
» It is a resource that allows you to easily flip through in your own time
– and not to necessarily read it from front-to-back
3 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Industry experts expect that “mobile” as we know it will never be the same. It’s
definition is changing to facilitate more connected machines and gadgets
2. Tomi Ahonen predicts 2013 to be the year of the Mobile Moment – when mobile
handsets exceed the human population (no gadget in the world has ever achieved
this)
3. Mobile ad spend doubled last year, with double-digit growth expected for 2013. The
Africa region appears to be on par with worldwide estimates for the year
4. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) plans to measure the value of mobile
and standardise mobile advertising industry guidelines
5. The highly anticipated ‘Jobs’ movie is set to be released on Apple’s 37th
Anniversary this year
4 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
6. Get the latest South African statistics from the DMMA Media Consumption
Measurement Conference
7. Find out about the newest South African apps like FNB’s app for Blackberry 10,
Find Free Wifi, Mango, and TUT
8. Old Mutual makes a strategic move in the acquisition of the personal financial
management app 22seven
9. See how the automotive industry uses mobile to revolutionise the way it designs
vehicles, engages with consumers, and develops technology
10. The total mobile device market for year ending 2012 showed Samsung, Nokia and
the big surprise Huawei taking top spots
5 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
6. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
11. Mark Shuttleworth announced that he plans to release a Linux-based Ubuntu
operating system (OS) for smartphones
12. The first Firefox OS handsets were revealed. What makes them special? Every
phone feature (calling, messaging, games and so on) is an HTML5 application
13. Orange launches a retail telecoms website to build brand awareness in South
Africa ahead of the possible launch of an MVNO
14. All eyes were on the launch of the Blackberry 10. It also renamed it’s Blackberry
App World to Blackberry World and Research in Motion (RIM) to Blackberry
15. The social networks were also busy, with MySpace opening again for business, the
launch of Facebook’s Social Graph, and Twitter’s Vine
16. We are keeping a close eye on Mxit, with the naming of a new executive
committee, new innovate apps and very ambitious plans for 2013- watch this
space
6 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
7. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
» Global mobile subscribers, phones, and users at end of 2012:
– Planet: 7.1 Billion humans
– Mobile accounts: 6.7 Billion total active subscriptions (94% of all humans)
– Phones in use: 5.2 Billion including those with 2 phones (73% of all humans)
– Unique users: 4.3 Billion humans who have at least one phone and account
(60% of all humans)
Source: TomiAhonen Almanac 2013
7 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
8. CONTENTS
» Section 1: Mobile Landscape……………………………. 9
» Section 2: Mobile Marketing and Innovation……………. 21
» Section 3: Mobile Devices & Operating Systems……… 35
» Section 4: Mobile Networks………………………………. 50
» Section 5: Social Networks ………………………………. 54
» Section 6: Summary & Contacts…………………………. 66
8 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
9. SECTION 1
MOBILE LANDSCAPE
9 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
10. FORBES PREDICTIONS
FOR MOBILE IN 2013
» The definition of “mobile” will broaden. Today the smartest
machine in many homes, besides a desktop computer or
laptop, is a smartphone. Everything else from the TV to the
toaster, are dumb by comparison. But that’s changing. More
devices will go mobile, augmenting the very definition of the
term, and the smartphone will become increasingly
important as the “mothership” that controls them all
» HTML5 will make a comeback, helping to make
smartphones cheaper
» Samsung will continue to dominate
» Dark horses will challenge the third ecosystem
» Carriers will lose more control to software providers
» Big demand for big data
Forbes, 2 January 2013
10 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
11. WILL WE EXPERIENCE THE
MOBILE MOMENT IN 2013?
» The moment in time when human evolution reaches the
point, where a single consumer gadget exceeds the total
human population by users i.e. when mobile phones will
exceed the total human population alive
» Never in human history has any gadget or technology
achieved 100% penetration levels
» Asia is almost at 100% and Africa will reach 100%
penetration rate level well before this decade is done.
Leading countries are past 200% like the UAE and Hong
Kong
» Tomi Ahonen’s projects that it will happen in July of 2013.
The planet is at 7.07 Billion humans and we are at 6.71
Billion mobile subscriptions now in January 2013. We are
growing new mobile accounts at a rate of about 54
million per month
TomiAhonen Almanac 2013, 15 January 2013
11 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
12. CONNECTIVITY IS CORE
FOR MOBILE CONSUMERS
» Deloitte's second Global Mobile Consumer Survey,
provides a unique insight into the mobile consumer
behavior of 26,960 respondents across 15 countries
(Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia,
France, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Russia,
South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the
United States)
» The survey's scope ranges from quantifying
ownership of devices to understanding how these
are being connected and used
» Other areas covered include LTE (long term
evolution), apps, NFC (near field communication),
tariffs and billing, and mobile advertising
» Download the report here
Deloitte, 7 January 2013
12 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
13. MORE AD MONEY IS
GOING MOBILE
» Mobile ad spending around the world more than
doubled last year, eMarketer estimates, and
though growth will moderate this year, double-
digit increases in mobile ad spending will
continue in coming years as outlays approach
$37 billion by 2016
» In 2012, mobile spending was at $8.41 billion.
Estimates of worldwide mobile ad spending
include dollars going toward display and search
advertising only, and exclude spending on
messaging-based formats. Spending on tablets
is also included
eMarketer, 11 January 2013
13 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
14. MOMS' MOBILE SHOPPING
SKYROCKETED IN 2012
» Although moms may regulate cellphone use for their
kids, they definitely love spending one-on-one time
with their own smartphones
» An infographic from pregnancy app BabyBump shows
that 93% of moms spent more time shopping on their
cellphone in 2012 than in 2011, while 34% did more
than half their shopping from their mobile device last
year
» When it comes to what they bought, moms relied
heavily on input and recommendations from other
moms (58%)
» Dozens of studies that suggest smartphones make
parenting easier by lowering back-to-school stress to
keeping parents organised and even acting as
emergency kits
Mashable, 9 January 2013
14 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
15. FIVE CRUCIAL CONSUMER
TRENDS FOR BUSINESS
LEADERS
» Get ready for an explosion in products and services from
emerging markets for emerging markets. Think Chinese and
Brazilian brands selling to the middle classes here in South
Africa, or in Turkey or India, and vice versa
» In 2013, consumers will look to their mobile devices to help
them maximise every moment. Banks have embraced the
mobile revolution better than most, but other companies,
such as Cape Town's Taxi Rank are also jumping in
» If data is the new valuable resource, in 2013 expect
consumers to start demanding their share of this value.
Increasingly savvy consumers will start to reverse the flow,
seeking to profit from their lifestyle data, and turning to
brands that use this data to offer advice proactively on how
to save money and/or optimise behaviour
Bizcommunity, 9 January 2013
15 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
16. MOBILE AD INDUSTRY
CALLS FOR STANDARDS
» With the proliferation of tablets, smartphones and
corresponding apps and mobile websites, mobile ad
unit inventory is varied, complex and constantly
growing. For creative shops, this has meant a
difficulty in devising campaigns engineered to run on a
myriad of devices. Publishers, likewise, have been left
with painfully low CPM rates for mobile ads even as
consumption on mobile devices has increased
» The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and the
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) are hoping to
change that by imposing a new set of industry
guidelines. The two groups released the "Mobile
Phone Creative Guidelines” in order to help
standardise mobile advertising industry-wide
Adage, 25 January 2013
16 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
17. MMA, NIELSEN PREPARE
TO MEASURE VALUE OF
MOBILE
» Nielsen and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) are
preparing to launch their joint bid to measure the economic
value of mobile advertising
» The pair are preparing to launch SMoX.me (Smart Mobile
Cross Marketing Effectiveness) which they claim is the
industry’s first panel-based research study, and Coca-Cola
and Colgate-Palmolive are backing the study
» SMoX.me will help brands optimise their campaign budgets
to accommodate the shifts on media consumption, especially
the trend towards mobile devices
» Paul Berney, MMA’s CMO and managing director for EMEA,
says: “We’re 99% of the way there with the methodology and
what we aim to do is work out the economic value of mobile
[marketing] against [spend] on other platforms such as the
internet and other media.”
Marketing Week, 21 January 2013
17 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
18. JOBS SET FOR APPLE
ANNIVERSARY RELEASE
» It’s a film that’s been under intense public scrutiny
since being announced six months after the legendary
Apple co-founder passed away — and one month
before Sony Pictures hired The Social Network scribe
Aaron Sorkin to write a script based on Walter
Isaacson’s official biography
» The film, which is set to play on the last night of the
Sundance film festival, stars Ashton Kutcher in the title
role
» The release date was carefully chosen to coincide
with Apple’s 37th anniversary — April 19 2013
» The film will only chronicle Jobs’ life from 1971 to
2000 — which will show his term as CEO of Apple,
him leaving the company in the 80s and the founding
of Next
Memeburn, 24 January 2013 The Verge, 26 January 2013
18 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
19. TOP INSIGHTS FROM DMMA
CONFERENCE
» 75% of people who access the internet on their mobile phones,
do so every single day
» Internet Explorer is still favoured over Google’s Chrome
browser
» Which ads are most noticed? Mostly on websites, then social
networks. Banner ads have the biggest Call To Action
» Almost 1 in 5 internet users are likely to spend more than 5
hours a day on Facebook!
» 72% say they actively follow or 'like' brands on social networks
» 22% say they have changed their mind about buying a brand
after seeing negative feedback on their social networks
» Top three online shopping satisfaction brands: 1. Kalahari, 2.
TakeAlot, 3. Woolworths
» 47% of SA's online traffic comes from Gauteng, with 22% from
Western Cape Heavy Chef, 31 January 2013
19 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
20. SA TO GET ANOTHER
MUSIC STREAMER
» Another online music service, France’s Deezer,
has been launched — or “soft-launched”,
according to a company source
» France’s Deezer, which enjoys a close business
relationship with France Telecom/Orange in
Europe, is the third music streaming service to
arrive on South African shores, following the
entrance in 2012 of Germany’s Simfy — launched
with Primedia’s eXactmobile, and the UK’s
rara.com
» Although Deezer’s entry into the market is on a
“soft-launch” basis for now, the move means South
Africans are now served by three online music
streaming providers, with a fourth — from software
giant Microsoft — set to launch in the form of Xbox
Music soon
TechCentral, 18 January 2013
20 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
21. SECTION 2
MOBILE MARKETING &
INNOVATION
21 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
22. STARBUCKS IS 2012 MOBILE
MARKETER OF THE YEAR
» This is the second time in the past three years that
Starbucks has received this prestigious award, which is an
impressive feat in the competitive world of mobile
advertising
» Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer. “It
shows Starbucks’ understanding that mobile is not just the
future of marketing, but also retail.”
» In recent years, the company has implemented a mobile-
first strategy never before seen in the mobile marketing
arena. Their approach spans the spectrum from the
advanced technology of augmented reality and QR codes,
to the more traditional channels of mobile apps and SMS.
» Most of all, it’s the brand’s 360-degree mobile marketing
strategy that serves a comprehensive range of functions
and provides an endless array of opportunities to develop
ongoing relationships with its customers MDG Advertising, 13 January 2013
22 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
23. DIGITAL LIFESTYLE IN
THE CAR
» A Mercedes-Benz executive at the 2013 Mobile Marketing
Association Forum San Francisco said that the car of the
future is less about the design and more about connecting
users digitally
» During “The Connected Life: From Mobile to automobile –
Driving Consumers to Your Brand” session, executives
from Mercedes-Benz and Glympse spoke about the
company’s partnership. Additionally, the session presented
ideas on how mobile and social are playing an increased
role for marketers
» The Mercedes-Benz Digital DriveStyle application can be
downloaded to drivers’ mobile devices. The app then
recognizes when a user is in a car and
turns the vehicle's dashboard into a virtual hub for drivers
Mobile Marketer, 31 January 2013
23 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
24. BMW CAR TO BECOME A TRULY
MOBILE 4G LTE HOTSPOT
» Let’s say you want to go on a long road trip and you
are taking along your wife and kids and naturally all of
them have an iPhone or iPad or laptop or all three.
They’ll be spending the entire ride playing around on
those things, streaming movies, playing social games,
answering emails, and reading the news
» To make that all faster and more enjoyable, you could
bring a mobile hotspot. Or, your car could be the
mobile hotspot
» BMW has enabled, and rolled out a new feature that
will let passengers stay connected, by adding 4G LTE
WiFi connectivity to its cars. BMW owners will be able
to buy an optional hotspot that connects with the car
and can use its antenna to provide blazing-fast
wireless Internet speeds
Tech Crunch, 11 January 2013
24 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
25. HYUNDAI LEVERAGES
MOBILE, SOCIAL TO
ENGAGE
» Hyundai created a social experience specifically designed for
mobile to support its Super Bowl marketing strategy for the
new Santa Fe viia a second-screen engagement
» The Find Your 7 social experience enables users to create a
team from their Facebook friends, with each assigned a
character archetype such as ‘the bully’ or ‘the brains’. The goal
is to harness Facebook to provide a second-screen
experience, enabling users to create their own dream team
and have fun with friends across social media sites during the
Super Bowl game.
» “People use their mobile phone and tablet to stay connected
across social media sites every day,” said Steve Shannon, vice
president of marketing at Hyundai Motor America.
Mobile Marketer, 31 January 2013
25 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
26. US BANK EXPLORES NFC-
EQUIPPED IPHONE CASE
» The iPhone may not come with built-in NFC, but that hasn't
stopped it from finding itself at the center of plenty of NFC-
based payment projects. The latest comes courtesy of US
Bank, which is now kicking off trials of its new Go Mobile
service in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Portland, Oregon
» As with similar efforts from RBS and the Commonwealth
Bank of Australia (among others), this service relies on an
iPhone case equipped with an NFC chip (iPhone 4 and 4S
only), which lets customers pay by swiping their phone over
an NFC reader at participating retailers -- in this case,
anyone that accepts Visa payWave
» Unfortunately, US Bank isn't offering many details about its
plans beyond this initial trial, saying only that it's looking to
introduce it "more broadly in 2013."
Engadget, 12 January 2013
26 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
27. BIG BANKS ADAPTING
TO MOBILE PLATFORMS
» In South Africa, mobile money transfer and payments
are increasing, according to research which shows
that by the end of 2012, 14-million mobile users in
South Africa will have made a total of R7bn on mobile
payments
» Brett St Clair, Head of New Products at Google’s sub-
Saharan Africa office says 65% of South African smart
phone users access the internet at least once a day
» "On average they have 17 (applications) installed on
their smart phones compared with the average of over
30 installed in mature markets," he says
» "Some of the opportunities open to banks include that
smart phones provide a secure, intelligent platform —
that caters to the fact that 85% of South Africans have
researched a product or service on their phone.”
BDLive, 4 December 2013
27 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
28. FNB LAUNCHES APP FOR
BLACKBERRY 10
» FNB, which is yet to release a banking app for
Windows Phone, announced hours before Blackberry
launched BB10, that it has a version of the app
available for the new platform
» FNB’s app, which works on a range of devices running
Android, iOS and other operating systems, has
380 000 active clients and is adding new users at a
rate of 40 000/month
» Farren Roper, head of the FNB Connect Internet
service provider and the bank’s business operations,
says BlackBerrys are among the most popular with
active app clients. “BlackBerry currently constitutes
29% of our app user base.”
TechCentral, 30 January 2013
28 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
29. NEW WEB, MOBISITE OFFERS NPO
DONATION OPTIONS
» To encourage South Africans to support non-profit
organisations (NPOs), Vodacom has created a newly
launched web and mobisite that enables the public to
search for an NPO, read its basic profile, view what
projects and needs it has, contact it and make a cash
donation in a safe and easy way through a dedicated
short code SMS
» This initiative forms part of the Vodacom Change the
World (CtW) programme, a programme that enables
volunteers to work for any NPO of their choice for a year,
at no cost to the volunteer and host organisation.
» Visit: vodacom.mobi/changetheworld
Bizcommunity, 23 January 2013
29 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
30. SA APP ‘FIND FREE WIFI’
GATHERS MOMENTUM
» Finding freely available public WiFi spots in South
Africa could become easier thanks to a crowd-
sourcing online tool that has tracked almost 400
access points across the country
» FindFreeWiFi.co.za was started as a tech project
by its founder Simon Stewart along with other
developers just over a year ago. The online
offering has been further developed since to
include mobile apps for Android and Apple devices
that help users submit and find lists of exact
locations of freely accessible WiFi points in the
country
» This data is then displayed on a digital map of the
country on the Finding Free WiFi website and
mobile apps
ITWeb Africa, 8 January 2013
30 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
31. TUT STUDENTS ACCESS INFORMATION
VIA MOBILE DEVICES
» Following a successful pilot project in December 2012,
students at the Tshwane University of Technology
(TUT) will be able to access academic and financial
information on their mobile devices through ITS
Mobile’s new app. It will be the first institution to go
live on the application in South Africa
» The app provides students with access to their
university data from a variety of mobile platforms,
including tablets, smartphones and other cellphones.
It gives 24/7 on demand access to available
academic, financial and residential information to
students, including exam timetable information, exam
results, registration information, admission status,
financial statements and financial aid information
» more, go to www.itsmobile.co.za
Bizcommunity, 11 January 2013
31 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
32. MANGO AIRLINE
LAUNCHES APP
» Mango announced that it is the first domestic airline in
SA to launch an app in the Apple App Store
» Nico Bezuidenhout, CEO of Mango, said that the
popularity of their mobile website which launched last
year indicated the need for mobile accessibility, such
as apps
» Since the launch of its mobi-site, Mango said it has
logged in excess of 30,000 flight queries from it.
Usage via Apple platforms dominates device types
used, making up 60% of enquiry volume
» Mango’s app will let users book, pay, change flights,
receive updated airline communication, and
participate in promotions, the airline said
» An information wallet will also lets users store generic
travel details, Mango said.
MyBroadband, 30 January 2013
32 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
33. POOR LOCAL MARKETING 'FAILS
MOBILE APPS'
» Mobile device applications (apps) are not marketed well
enough in South Africa to make substantial money for
their developers or companies. Mobile apps are a multi-
billion dollar industry in the US, Europe and Asia, but
have not yet taken off commercially in South Africa
according to Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of
World Wide Worx
» Goldstuck said PriceCheck, an app built in South Africa
which allows comparisons of the prices of products from
different shops, was well made.Property24’s appening,
a gig guide for Johannesburg which can be downloaded
onto cellphones and bidorbuy are two apps that are
gaining popularity
» Mxit, South Africa's largest local social network with
more than 9-million users, had about 2,500 app
developers using its software
Bizcommunity, 2 January 2013
33 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
34. 22SEVEN ACQUIRED BY
OLD MUTUAL
» Local personal financial management start-up,
22seven has been acquired by long-term savings and
investment group, Old Mutual
» 22seven says business will continue as usual for the
service and its current team will remain the foundation
of a group "that will expand over time" and will remain
based in Cape Town
» 22seven was officially launched in January 2012, and
caused a stir in the local banking sector. The service
links to users' online banking accounts and draws the
information into a single “smart statement”, with
detailed categorisation of spending, and mechanisms
to assist in meeting savings goals
ITWeb, 31 January 2013
34 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
35. SECTION 3
MOBILE DEVICES &
OPERATING SYSTEMS
35 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
36. APPLE REPLACED AS WORLD'S
MOST VALUABLE COMPANY
» Apple was dethroned as the world's most valuable company as
its shares continued to fall, dropping from a high of about
US$700 to US$439 a share and giving it a market
capitalisation of US$413bn
» Oil giant ExxonMobi's shares rose 0.36% to US$91.68 giving it
a market cap of $418bn to edge back into first place
» Apple first overtook ExxonMobil in August 2011 as the most
valuable company in the world based on the value of its stock.
A year later, Apple dethroned longtime rival Microsoft as the
most valuable company in history based on the value of its
stock at US$622bn
» Apple's profit was US$13.1bn on revenue of US$54.5bn for the
quarter that ended in December. However, sales of iPhones
and iPads set quarterly records
Bizcommunity, 29 January 2013
36 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
37. HUAWEI GETS 3RD PLACE
FINISH IN 2012: IDC
» The IDC’s release outlines the fourth quarter mobile
device market share breakdown for the end of 2012,
with none other than Huawei taking third place. Groups
like LG, Motorola, and Nokia do not appear in the top 5
for smartphone sales in the quarter, while Nokia sits
pretty in second place for total mobile phone “Vendors,
Shipments, and Market Share” for 2012 (that includes
non-smart phones)
» Samsung and Apple are right up on top of the
smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2012, as it
was expected, with a 29% and 21.8% market share
respectively. Compared to these numbers, the third
place entrant (Huawei) brings on a tiny 4.9%, while
Sony and ZTE come in fourth and fifth with 4.5% and
4.3% respectively, the all-encompassing “Others”
category gathering up the rest with 35.5% of the
market total SlashGear, 27 January 2013
37 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
38. THE WRISTWATCH,
JUST REINVENTED
» Arguably the most exciting of the smart watch projects is
the $150 Pebble E-Paper Watch – first seen on
Kickstarter.com
» A new generation of modern wristwatches can help you
get into shape, monitoring your exercise and offering you
advice, after you’ve been lazing on that couch for too long
to name a few
» Anyone can build third-party apps for Pebble, too, thanks
to a free software development kit — a smart move by
Pebble’s developers, who won’t have thought of all
possible applications, to extend the functionality of the
device.
» Pebble connects to Android smartphones and the Apple
iPhone using Bluetooth and the watch can show you who’s
calling and your latest messages, as well as Facebook and
Twitter updates, weather alerts and reminders about
meetings TechCentral, 23 January 2013
38 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
39. APPLE TV COMES TO SA
» South African Apple distributor Core Group has begun
selling the Apple TV set-top box at a recommended
retail price of R1 099
» The move may, of course, be a precursor to the
launch of more content in the local iTunes Store,
possibly including television shows, which have been
available in markets like the US for some time. For
now, though, the selection of content available to
South Africans remains limited
» The Apple TV set-top box, is essentially a tiny box that
gives consumers access to the iTunes library of
movies and music
» It is available at Makro, Incredible Connection, Dion
Wired, Hi-Fi Corp, Digicape and iStore outlets
TechCentral, 16 January 2013
39 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
40. SAMSUNG DEBUTS S III
MINI
» Amid rumours of Apple planning an iPhone mini for
release later in the year, Samsung has stolen a march
with a "mini" version of its market-leading Galaxy S III
» As the best-selling smartphone model in the world for
the past year, a mini version will cement Samsung's
market leadership
» The device is positioned as an optimal choice for
consumers who are looking for a more affordable
super smartphone, without losing the benefit of the key
features
» The Galaxy S III mini is available at recommended
retail prices starting from: 8GB - R4 599 and 16GB -
R4 999
Gadget, 23 January 2013
40 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
41. NOKIA 'EXCEEDS
EXPECTATIONS’
» Nokia says on the back of strong sales of its Lumia
and lower-end Asha smartphones, the company has
“exceeded expectations” and achieved underlying
profitability in the fourth quarter of 2012
» According to the preliminary financial results,
Nokia’s ‘smart device’ net sales brought in
€1.2 billion (about R13.8 billion) with a total of
6.6 million units sold. Of those, 4.4 million were
Lumia smartphones
» In the third quarter of 2012, Nokia reported it had
sold 2.9 million Lumia devices (down from
four million in Q2 2012). In terms of smartphones,
Nokia says a total of 15.9 million units were sold,
9.3 million of those being Asha smartphones and
2.2 million were Symbian handsets
ITWeb, 11 January 2013
41 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
42. NOKIA’S PLANS
FOR AFRICA
» HumanIPO caught up with Tom Erskine, Nokia’s
Head of Smart Devices for India, Middle East &
Africa, to get an idea of where Africa fits into
Nokia’s strategy and plans. This is what he had to
say:
» “Nokia has a wide portfolio, making sure we cater
to a number of different customer needs
The Nokia Asha range is our major mobile phone
brand, with the key strategic goal of connecting the
next billion consumers to the Internet”
» “I think people write Nokia off at their peril. We are
still a major player in mobile…Africa is an essential
market for Nokia, and one that we are fully invested
in.“
HumanIPO, 10 January 2013
42 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
43. MOBILE UBUNTU – LINUX
POWERED SMARTPHONE
» Mark Shuttleworth, South African IT millionaire and Open
Source Champion recently announced and demonstrated
the planned release of the Linux-based Ubuntu operating
system (OS) for smartphones
» It is planned that you would be able to install Ubuntu on
most Android devices because it is built on Linux in the
same way that Android.
» During his keynote address earlier this year, Shuttleworth
continually referred to 'emerging' markets as the
battleground on which an Ubuntu Phone would fight it out
for impact... "It's this sector, the low-end, that the battle
for the hearts, minds and hands of the less tech-savvy
will take place."
Bizcommunity, 21 January 2013
43 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
44. RIM LAUNCHES NEW
ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE
» In the run up to launch of the Blackberry 10, Research
in Motion (RIM), the company has launched its new
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solution,
BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10)
» According to RIM, BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10
re-invents the company’s mobility management by
bringing together device management. This is the first
of RIM’s EMM solutions to also provide management
for rival devices, including those running Android and
iOS
» RIM is currently offering a 60 day free trial of the
server software, which includes client access licenses
as well as a programme for current BlackBerry
servers
Memeburn, 23 January 2013
44 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
45. BB APP WORLD GETS A
REBRAND + MORE TO COME
» A week before the official launch of Blackberry 10,
RIM officially flicked the switch and implemented the
new name for its store — it’s dropped the word ‘app’
from BlackBerry App World and gone with a more
open BlackBerry World. And because it’s not all just
about apps anymore, it has also taken the
opportunity to reiterate that its store will soon be
stocked with music, TV shows and movies for
download, along with the usual apps and games
» There will be 70 000 apps available at launch in
BlackBerry World. BlackBerry’s VP of Business
Development, Marty Mallick, singled out Skype,
Amazon Kindle, Whatsapp and Angry Birds. Sadly,
neither Instagram nor Flipboard made the cut
Memeburn, 21 January 2013 Gearburn, 31 January 2013
45 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
46. BB 10 LAUNCH AND RIM
RENAMED
» BlackBerry CEO Thorstein Heins confirmed the
rumours. Research In Motion has been renamed and
will now be known as BlackBerry.
» To launch the Blackberry 10, BlackBerry held
simultaneous launch events in Dubai, Toronto, London,
Paris and Johannesburg with video being streamed live
from New York
» BlackBerry will launch with two devices. The full-touch
BlackBerry Z10 and the QWERTY-touch hybrid Q10.
The Z10 features a 4.2-inch, 356PPI display — 1280 x
768 resolution — and will be available in both black and
white. The Q10 has a 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 display,
translating into a pixel density of 360PPI. The Q10 also
has a unique glass weave back which is “thinner, lighter
and stronger than plastic.”
Gearburn, 31 January 2013
46 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
47. BLACKBERRY 10 BIS
CHANGES IN SA CONFIRMED
» South African mobile operator 8ta has confirmed that
Blackberry has redesigned the architecture of its
mobile operating system for BlackBerry 10
» BlackBerry 10 traffic will terminate on the carrier’s
“Internet” APN – unlike the current BlackBerry Internet
Services (BIS) and BlackBerry Enterprise Server
(BES) traffic that terminates on the “blackberry.net”
APN
» Subscription charges on the popular BIS data
packages (hence the unlimited, flat-rated data
packages) will fall away with the BlackBerry 10
operating system
» This is to “enhance the user experience of consumers
who download apps, games, music, videos, books,
magazines and more via their handset,” 8ta said
MyBroadband, 30 January 2013
47 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
48. FIRST FIREFOX OS
HANDSETS REVEALED
» Mozilla has revealed the first official phones to run the
Firefox mobile operating system. The handsets will be
made available for purchase to developers in February
» Mozilla first revealed its intentions to build its own fully
open, HTML5-based OS for smartphones and push
against the siloed nature of existing mobile platforms in
February last year, under the project name “Boot 2 Gecko”
» The browser maker released a beta version of its Firefox
OS simulator in December last year, and now the new
handsets are the first real-world pieces of hardware to be
built to run the Firefox OS
» The OS offers a new phone architecture whereby every
phone feature (calling, messaging, games and so on) is an
HTML5 application. The first handsets, named the Keon
and the Peak, have been built by Spanish start-up
Geeksphone (in partnership with Telefonica) ITWeb, 23 January 2013
48 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
49. APPLE ADDS LTE
SUPPORT FOR VODACOM
» Apple has released an updated version of its mobile
operating system, iOS 6.1, which has added LTE
capabilities for 36 new iPhone carriers – including
Vodacom in SA
» The full list of supported iPhone LTE carriers can be
seen here. Vodacom is currently the only carrier to be
listed for SA, and it is unclear why MTN has not been
included. Both MTN and Vodacom launched their
commercial LTE networks towards the end of last year
» The iOS 6.1 update also includes LTE support for an
additional 23 iPad carriers. However, SA does not yet
feature on the full list of supported carriers
» Vodacom customers wanting to enable LTE on their
iPhone 5 handsets will need to ensure they have an
LTE-enabled SIM, and can call the Vodacom helpdesk
to activate the service ITWeb, 29 January 2013
49 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
50. SECTION 4
MOBILE NETWORKS
50 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
51. ORANGE TO ENTER SOUTH
AFRICAN MOBILE MARKET
» French telecommunications group, Orange, could launch a
mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service in South
Africa, as part of its aggressive plans to enter the lucrative
mobile market in Africa’s largest economy and other parts of
the continent
» Orange, owned by France Telecom, has been operating in
South Africa for more than 10 years through subsidiary
Orange Business Services, which provides technology
services to corporate clients
» But now the company intends to enter the mobile services
market and is using its sponsorship of Africa’s biggest football
tournament, the African Nations Cup (Afcon), to unveil
several initiatives to position itself in the market
» Visit the online store:
http://store.orange.com/za/p_orange_home.aspx
» Editors note – could a Cell C tie-up be on the cards? Ventures Africa, 18 January 2013
51 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
52. CELL C, MWEB PROMOTE
CHEAPER BROADBAND
» MWeb, SA’s second biggest Internet service provider
(ISP), and Cell C, third mobile operator, have teamed
up to introduce reduced mobile data packages as part
of the duo’s campaign for cheaper broadband
» As well a promotional offer of 2GB for R89 per month,
MWeb subscribers can also sign up for 5GB, 10GB
and 20GB 12-month packages for R499, R899 and
R1 799 per month, respectively
» Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig is also an ardent
advocate for the introduction of a wholesale model in
SA. While he has been making waves in the mobile
data space with lower prices since his induction as
CEO last year, he says a lot needs to be done by
government to enable providers to offer cheaper data
ITWeb, 8 January 2013
52 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
53. CELL C STEPS UP
MOBILE PRICE WAR
» Mobile operator Cell C will from next month give
prepaid and top-up consumers, who recharge with
R500 or higher, free, unlimited calls to other Cell C
subscribers for 30 days from the date of recharge.
The new product, called Supacharge, comes into
effect in February
» Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig says the operator’s new
offering will be part of its standard product offering
rather than simply being a promotional offer.
» In addition to the unlimited calls, Cell C customers that
recharge with R500 or more will receive a thousand
SMS messages for use to other Cell C customers and
1GB of data. These will also be valid for 30 days
TechCentral, 30 January 2013
53 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
54. SECTION 5
SOCIAL NETWORKS
54 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
55. 'HASHTAG' DECLARED
2012'S WORD OF THE YEAR
» The American Dialect Society has named
"hashtag" as the word of the year, beating out
"Gangnam Style," "YOLO" and "fiscal cliff,"
among others. Or, to put it another way:
#winning
» Each year, the group nominates a series of
words and phrases, and then votes to decide
the word of the year. It also determines the top
word in other categories, including: most useful,
outrageous, unnecessary and creative
» "Hashtag" is hardly a new word, but the judges
concluded that it really came to prominence in
2012
Mashable, 6 January 2013
55 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
56. MEET THE NEW JUSTIN
TIMBERLAKE-FUELED MYSPACE
» Anyone going to Myspace would’ve been met
by a picture of Justin Timberlake, with an
invitation to join or sign in to the social network
to listen to his new single
» The Myspace makeover has been in the works
for some time now. What the company teased
looked beautiful. Gone were the messages from
Tom, the insane backgrounds and, it seems, the
music that used to blare as soon as you entered
a page
» Instead of the old clutter, imagery was
emphasised, there’s looked to be a static footer
for navigation, a left-to-right timeline of posts
and a built-in music player
Memeburn, 15 January 2013
56 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
57. INSTAGRAM RELEASES
USER FIGURES
» Popular photo sharing platform Instagram has reported
its monthly user stats for the first time. According to the
company’s site it currently has 90-million monthly active
users sharing 40-million photographs a day
» The number is up 10% in the period from December to
January “Instagram continues to see very strong growth
around the world,” Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom
told AllThingsD.
» According to the reported stats, the platform handles
more than 1 000 comments per second and over 8 000
likes in a second. A second post by the company’s other
co-founder Mike Krieger contradicts the figures a bit
stating that Instagram is actually handling more than 10
000 likes a second
MyBroadband, 18 January 2013
57 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
58. FACEBOOK LAUNCHES
GRAPH SEARCH
» Facebook unveiled its take on search, the social
giant’s major push into helping its users find
content from within Facebook
» For as big as Facebook has grown, something
like this has been sorely needed. More than one
billion people are on Facebook’s network, with
upward of 240 billion photos and more than a
trillion connections within the social graph. For
anyone looking for a specific topic of information,
place or person, that’s a lot of stuff to sort through
» “Indexing all this content and making it so you can
find it easily is a really hard problem,” CEO Mark
Zuckerberg said. “Graph search is designed to
take a precise query and return to you the precise
answer.”
AllThingsD, 15 January 2013
58 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
59. FB TO PUT MOBILE-FIRST
AT CORE OF STRATEGY
» Facebook’s mobile advertising revenue continues to grow and
represented approximately 23% of overall advertising revenue
for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 2012, up from 14% in the
third quarter
» The number of active mobile users is still growing at a healthy
pace and daily mobile users outnumber Web users for the first
time
» One way that Facebook will look to build an even strong
mobile presence this year is with new mobile-first experiences.
“A lot of what we had to do last year was simply improve our
mobile development process,” said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of
Facebook
» “That is going to be a big theme for us this year. If we do it
well, we should be able to bring even more relevant content to
users.”
Mobile Marketer, 31 January 2013
59 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
60. FACEBOOK MOBILE BY
NUMBERS
» While Facebook does not widely share the statistics on its
mobile users apart from overall numbers, an independent
technology analyst has compiled a detailed breakdown of
Facebook’s mobile user base for the first time
» The numbers compiled by Benedict Evans of Enders
Analysis show that while iOS is currently the biggest
platform for Facebook’s mobile app, Android is showing
the fastest growth rate and will soon become the most
important platform for the social network
» In September 2012, Facebook reported 470m users of its
smartphone apps for iPhone, Android, RIM, Nokia,
Windows Phone and J2ME (Feature phones)
» Out of 1.07bn total users, Facebook reported 604m
'mobile users', implying that 134m were not using these
apps and hence were using the mobile web
ITWeb, 7 January 2013
60 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
61. TWITTER MOVES BEYOND
TEXT WITH VINE
» Twitter is continuing to pursue its rich-media ambitions
and has released Vine, a social video app that offers
deep integration with the micro-blogging platform
» Vine allows users to share six-second looping videos
(with optional sound) both on the service and within
embedded tweets. The videos play directly inside
tweets and in expanded tweets within the tweet stream
» Vine marks an interesting step for Twitter and is the
micro-blogging platform’s first standalone app for non-
text-based media creation. Twitter will no doubt be
hoping the new type of content within the tweet stream
will keep users engaged with the site for longer
» Editor’s note – an unintended consequence has been
the surge in flesh-toned videos. AMR
ITWeb, 25 January 2013
61 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
62. NEW MXIT ANDROID
APP COMING SOON
» Mxit is set to release version 6.4 of its Android App, which
will offer numerous visual enhancements, improved
performance and improved profile photos
» New Mxit Chief Marketing Officer Vincent Maher explained
that these significant enhancements may be unusual for a
point release, but there is a reason behind this decision
» “The reasoning is that Android is our flagship smartphone
platform and we use it to gauge user opinion about new
features and functionality before we roll it out to our larger
base of feature phone users,” said Maher
» The new Mxit Android app will be more data efficient,
support larger profile pictures and have better memory
handling
» It further supports Mxit’s speed dial, and users will be able to
cut and paste in-message
MyBroadband, 20 January 2013
62 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
63. MXIT’S BIG PLANS FOR
2013
» Mxit has announced a new executive team which will
drive the company forward in its quest to double its user
base in 2013
» Mxit announced the official appointment of Vincent
Maher as Chief Marketing Officer, Andrew Davies as
Chief Operating Officer, and Richard Newton as Chief
Financial Offer
» These executives will support CEO Francois Swart in
the company’s quest to grow its subscriber base and
extend into various other market segments
» The mobile platform is also getting ready for releasing a
movie on Mxit in February. “It’s via an app called
‘Cinemo’ and the movie is broken into 4 minute
‘episodes’ with one episode appearing every day until
its finished,” explains Mxit spokesperson Sarah Rice
MyBroadband, 21 January 2013
63 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
64. USERS CAN NOW BROWSE
TWITTER ON MXIT
» As a platform, Mxit seems to be evolving. In the last year
it has expanded the user experience by opening up its
API and allowing third-party developers to build apps for
the mobile social network
» In December a third-party developer quietly launched
Tweetr on Mxit, an app that allows users to browse
tweets from Twitter’s mobile site without the need for a
Twitter account
» According to the app developer, users can add the app as
a contact on Mxit and then browse for channels that are
of interest to them. The channels work as categories,
such as comedians, facts and quotes, football teams and
religion. The tweets that appear on Mxit are updated
every 20 minutes from chosen Twitter handles. Users
with Twitter accounts can reply, retweet or simply email
from the app
Venturburn, 21 January 2013
64 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013
65. TELKOM FINALLY BOARDS
SOCIAL MEDIA TRAIN
» Telkom’s social media inauguration yesterday got a
cynical reception as many social network
commentators responded to the news with sarcastic
quips and critical inferences
» SA’s telecoms giant has joined three of the social
networking world’s biggest sites – Facebook, Twitter
and LinkedIn – roughly nine, seven and 10 years,
respectively, afterthe inception of the platforms
» Asked why it had taken Telkom – as a leading ICT
entity – so long to board the social media train, Telkom
said (via Twitter) that it wanted to be sure all the correct
systems were in place
» “We do understand that we are late. We know the
importance of social media, so we want to make certain
that we deliver.”
ITWeb, 29 January 2013
65 MOBILE REPORT/JANUARY 2013