FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK, NY March 6, 2012 – QWASI, a leading social and mobile marketing communications and technology company providing cross-market interactive solutions, announced the launch of its new mobile photo sharing and print solution. The new service solves the problem many people have – getting quality pictures printed from photos taken on their cell phones. The service is initially only available to mobile users in the United States. A simple picture message (MMS) of the photo is sent to the cloud where users can print their albums and have them shipped direct to their homes.

SNAP. SEND. PRINT. Powered by QWASI's MMS CLOUD.

It’s easy to use too. Customers text their PHOTO to the SHORTCODE to get started. Powered by QWASI’s two-way MMS, users can simply send a picture message to the short code (MSG&Data Rates may apply). Each photo album posted is secured for the user and accessible through a PIN. It also offers social features such as sharing with friends or family on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and others. The new service does not require a special app and works across standard and smart cell phones.

“We’re delighted to have developed the print solution to meet the need in the market place,” shares Leon Samuel, President & CEO, QWASI, Inc. “We’ve developed an easy way for users to print from the cloud – it’s appnostic, requiring no app or download. It’s never been easier to print photos from cellphones. We see enormous customer engagement opportunities where retailers and brands leverage this service to drive new sales and sponsorships, ultimately providing another way to be relevant in this rapidly changing marketplace. The lifetime value of a photo print is so much greater than its digital counterpart. Our mobile print solution is very simple and offers photo retailers and brands a simple, convenient solution. It’s game set and match.”

Gone are the days of snapping a pic, dropping a roll of film off and picking it up later. Today’s busy consumers suffer from the convenience of having multiple options when a photo opportunity presents itself. Yet their phones, frequently the only device users have with them at all times, typically capture and produce low quality prints through a tedious process. QWASI now makes it easy to get photos off the phones, to be printed and shared- by converting them to a quality 4”x6” print. Users post their pictures into albums, checkout using PayPal Mobile from the secure mobile website and receive their prints in the mail within days. Now the memories live on.

The QWASI photo sharing and print service can also help helps customers augment the traditional method of photo printing at retail locations using photo kiosks. By placing the service in the palm of each consumer’s hand, it offers convenience for busy consumers.

According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 76% of cell phone owners use their cell phone to take a picture and 72% send or receive a text message. That’s nearly twice more than playing a video game or using email on their phone. MMS and Text messaging is the ideal channel for customers. “The cloud-based MMS solution further demonstrates our ability to power great campaigns for our customers as QWASI continues to innovate,” adds Samuel.

QWASI’s mobile print solution provides an immediate print solution to consumers for all those treasured moments while utilizing the cloud storage for digital prints. Now anyone with a cellphone can get his or her phone photos printed. QWASI has been a leader in MMS solutions in the US working with leading brands, marketing agencies and retailers.

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc. is a leading mobile and social communications and solutions provider of interactive applications, currently powering over 25,000 clients, around the globe utilizing Social Messaging, SMS, MMS, Mobile Web and Apps. Through its Synchrosy® methodology, QWASI creates and implements mobile strategy for business, simplifying complex problems with mobile marketing, mobile messaging, social messaging, mobile commerce, text ordering, mobile coupons, mobile chat, and customized interactive alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

QWASI CONTACT
Michael Honors, QWASI, 877-747-9274, michael.honors @ qwasi.com

Americans are much smarter these days with nearly half of all Americans aunts owning a smartphone as of the beginning of 2012. According to a recent study by Pew Internet & American Life Project, they found: 46% of American adults now own a smartphone of some kind, up from 35% in May 2011 and that Smartphone owners now outnumber users of more basic phones as of February 2012. That’s an increase of 11 percentage points over the 35% of Americans who owned a smartphone last May.

What is a Smartphone?
1) 45% of cell owners say that their phone is a smartphone, up from 33% in May 2011.
2) 49% of cell owners say that their phone operates on a smartphone platform common to the US market, up from 39% in May 2011.
When taken together, over half of cell owners (53%) said yes to one or both of these questions and are classified as smartphone owners.

Today, 88% of US adults own a cell phone. Of that population, a total of 46% of all American adults are smartphone users. Another way to look at the data is to say that 2-in-5 adults (41%) own a cell phone that is not a smartphone. A general conclusion therefore means that smartphone owners are now more prevalent within the overall population than owners of more basic mobile phones.

According to Ownership:
20% Android Owners (up from 15% in May 2011)
19% iPhone Owners (up from 10%)
6% Blackberry Owners (down from 10%)

The proportion of cell owners describing their phone as a Windows (2%) or Palm (1%) device is unchanged since the last time we asked this question in May 2011.

DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS
Nearly every major demographic group—men and women, younger and middle-aged adults, urban and rural residents, the wealthy and the less well-off—experienced a notable uptick in smartphone penetration over the last year

African-Americans and Latinos did skew higher with 49% ownership (slightly higher than the 46% penetration).

AGE MATTERS:
Just 13% of those ages 65 and older now own a smartphone.

Similarly, smartphone ownership decreases dramatically with age even among adults with similar levels of education. However, younger adults with a high school diploma or less are significantly more likely to own a smartphone than even those seniors who have attended college.

Those age 18-29 dominate smartphone usage with 66% owning a smartphone. Young adults tend to have higher-than-average levels of smartphone ownership regardless of income or educational attainment.

BOTTOM LINE:
Smartphone users have a QWERTY keyboard (easier for texting and email). They have a camera inside. They have access to wireless broadband networks through the carrier and most have wifi access. They usually have an Application Marketplace or App Store. Smartphone owners are considered highly mobile users. More details from the report are found here.

What’s your mobile strategy to reach today’s highly connected mobile users? Do you have a SMS Strategy? A QR Code Strategy? A Mobile App Strategy? A Social Marketing Strategy?

Learn how QWASI can help with your Mobile & Social Marketing.

Contact QWASI today:
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Texting remains the universal method of communication – around the world. According to a survey of cellphone users in 21 countries, 75% replied they send text messages. The Pew Research Center Global Attitudes Project study, published this week, studied the use of digital communication tools including mobile and social networks worldwide. The study found those young and well-educated are the most likely to adopt new technologies. Those under 30 who hold college degrees are most likely to use many mobile functions and social networks. And that only one-half of the respondents send photos or videos, and just 23% use the Internet.

MOBILE USAGE
Texting is most popular in Kenya and Indonesia, the two poorest nations included in the study. Sending photos or videos is most popular in Japan (72% reported the behavior), followed by Mexico (61%), Spain (59%) and Egypt (58%). Using mobile data still seems to be a behavior of wealthier countries, most popular in Israel (47%), Japan (47%) and the U.S. (43%). Complete results:

SOCIAL NETWORKS
The study also looks at the use of social networking, which corresponds with wealthy nations where Internet access is more common. Social networking is most popular in Israel (53%) and the U.S. (50%), followed by Britain (43%), Russia (43%) and Spain (42%). However, Internet users in poorer nations use social networks at equal if not higher rates than those in richer countries.

The study, conducted between March 21 and May 15, 2011 – surveyed between 700 and 4,029 mobile users per country by telephone or in person in the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, China, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Mexico and Kenya.

For more information, see Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

QWASI implements Mobile & Social Strategy for business. Contact us today to learn more about Social Marketing and Mobile Marketing strategies @ 877-747-9274.

NEW YORK, NY, December 21, 2011 – QWASI, a leading mobile and social marketing and communications company providing cross-market interactive solutions, announced the recent launch of real-time mobile UPS delivery alerts for one of the largest multimedia retailers in the world. Retailers can now extend the power of mobile communication and the convenience it offers its customer through package delivery alerts. The customers receive text message alerts on their mobile phones when their packages leave UPS, keeping them informed, improving delivery anticipation and reducing the dreaded delivery- attempt notices on their front doors.

HOW MOBILE DELIVERY ALERTS WORK
When customers order from participating retailers, they can sign up for free text message notifications about their purchase deliveries from UPS (msg&data rates may apply). In the past, when packages leave retailers’ warehouses and enter into the delivery stream, customers are required to frequently ping the delivery company’s website with their assigned tracking numbers and track their own packages. With QWASI’s Mobile Shipping Alerts, customers get notified when their packages leave the shipper’s distribution center on the delivery truck. The nature of text messages, commonly called SMS, ensures immediate alert delivery.

QWASI makes the process easy for retailers to implement. Customers can opt-in to this service during the order process or by updating their account preferences through the retailers. They don’t need to know their tracking numbers in advance – just ask to be notified when the package is out for delivery. Included with each alert are special links enabling customers to view delivery status in real-time from UPS.com or the shipping company they use. Other notifications QWASI powers for retail includes mobile marketing campaigns, mobile coupons, text ordering, order confirmation, shipping confirmation and now delivery notifications.

“We’re excited to announce the addition of real-time shipping alerts for our client and UPS. When we first identified this solution, our client and UPS quickly agreed it was an ideal service to better communicate with customers regarding the status of shipments, in hopes of reducing the dreaded delivery-notice slip on the front door,” shares Jon Thies, CTO of QWASI, Inc. “Working closely with both the client and UPS to bring this solution to market further demonstrates our leadership in the mobile commerce space. We answer the question everyone asks: where is my order? Our service helps remove headaches for everyone – especially helping customers know where their products or presents are during the hectic holiday shopping season.”

QWASI provides retailers of all sizes the means of driving in-store traffic, increasing order size, building customer loyalty, improving communications and reaching new customers through interactive mobile marketing, mobile commerce, mobile apps and social marketing solutions. QWASI makes it easy for catalogers, ecommerce, retailers and brick-and-mortar companies to quickly realize the benefits of mobile through measurable marketing that power transactions.

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ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc. is a leading mobile and social communications and solutions provider of interactive applications, currently powering over 24,000 clients, around the globe utilizing Social Messaging, SMS, MMS, Mobile Web and Apps. Through its Synchrosy® methodology, QWASI creates and implements mobile & social strategy for business, simplifying complex problems with mobile marketing, mobile messaging, social messaging, mobile commerce, text ordering, mobile coupons, mobile chat, and customized interactive alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

QWASI CONTACT
Michael Honors, QWASI, 877-747-9274, michael.honors @ qwasi.com

Adults are still watching more and more traditional TV, whether it’s live or recorded on a DVR or DVD, according to eMarketer. The average US Adult consumer spends 4 hours and 34 minutes each day watching TV and video on a traditional television set this year, up 10 minutes from last year.

Time spent with the internet and mobile phones was also up—by 7.7% and 30%, respectively—and while adults are spending less time than last year with radio and print publications, the increases to TV and digital also mean an increase in total time spent with media, to 11 hours and 33 minutes.

Mobile’s 30% jump from 2010 helped propel it past the 1-hour mark, but also means that US adults now spend more time with their mobile phones than with print magazines and newspapers combined, at 1 hour and 5 minutes vs. just 44 minutes.

Average Time Spent per Day with Major Media by US Adults, 2011 (hrs:mins)

Note: Time spent with each medium is averaged across the whole US adult population, not just users of the respective medium. Time spent with each medium also includes all time spent with that medium, regardless of multitasking, so an hour of watching TV while simultaneously on the internet is considered an hour of each activity.

Shifts in ad spending remain behind the shifting consumption patterns of the US population. While TV is unquestionably getting its fair share of dollars, the amount of ad spending going toward digital does not yet reflect the amount of time consumers have invested in these areas of their lives. Mobile, for example, has a more than 10% share of adults’ media time each day, but less than 1% of ad dollars. While much time spent on mobile is on communication activities that marketers would be wise not to interrupt (such as phone calls), it is also an underused touchpoint.

Share of Average Time Spent per Day with Select Media by US Adults vs. US Ad Spending Share, 2011 (% of total)

On the flip side, newspapers and magazines continue to command ad dollars far ahead of their importance in consumers’ day. Part of this is due to the cost of advertising—glossy magazine ads and full-page newspaper spreads command higher rates than much digital advertising. But it also indicates that the revenue troubles for print will likely continue as advertisers follow eyeballs and continue to pull spending from these media.

Take-Away: As advertisers awaken to the surge in mobile & social usage and the imbalance in advertising spend compared to other media options, advertising dollars will follow.

The latest research from local media research firm BIA/Kelsey, “Annual U.S. Local Media Forecast, 2010-2015 – Fall Update” reports that spending on local digital ads will grow this year from $23.3 billion to $37.9 billion in 2015. This revised inure is actually lower from previous expectations of combined digital and traditional local advertising revenues in 2011 from $136.2 billion to $135.9 billion. While social advertising & social marketing is quickly growing.

GLOBAL DIGITAL MEDIA BUDGETS
BIA/Kelsey sees a global increase in the share of digital media spend will increase from 14.6 percent of all local ad revenues in 2010 to 18.9 percent in 2012 and 25.4 percent in 2015.

RISE IN SOCIAL MARKETING BUDGETS
In addition, they also measured expenditures on social media by local and national advertisers, noting that $4.6 billion will be spent on social network ad formats in 2012, up from $2.1 billion in 2010. By 2015, that will go up to $8.3 billion. National advertisers dominate in social ad spending, though; in 2012, $3.5 billion of the $4.6 billion total will be spent by national ad buyers, however, the digital media spend in social will move quickly to local advertisers as they adopt social marketing strategies to promote their business.

Charting Local Digital Ad Revenue:

Contact QWASI today @ 877-747-9274 for Social Marketing and Mobile Marketing solutions for your business.

Throughout more advanced countries, behavior has shifted after spending years on the sites. According to the GlobalWebIndex Wave 5 Trends report, social network usage growth has all but stopped among 16 to 24 year-olds in the US and only in in a few countries where it’s actually declining.

Among those who remain on Facebook, GlobalWebIndex reports, declines were detected in activities participation including messaging with friends, sending digital gifts, installing applications and joining groups between July 2009 and June 2011. These activities appear to be decreasing faster in the US than worldwide and are often decreasing even further among college-educated US users under the age of 30.

Meanwhile, on microblogs like Twitter, the heaviest users are focused on disseminating content. Links to other microblogs, personal photos, and links to videos and news stories were the top subjects of status updates on these real-time oriented social sites among frequent users. Other than personal photos, these all relate to content created by others, while most content creation activities scored lower.

When these users are asked what they want from brands, consumers ask for knowledge and among younger adults, entertainment. Brands have an opportunity to use the transmission-oriented social media landscape to disseminate valuable content to followers—who in turn are hungry for interesting and entertaining content to transmit.

A new Pew Research Center study, the Pew Internet & American Life Project, finds that 35% of American Adults own a smartphones. There May survey found 83% of U.S. Adults have a cell phone and that 42% of them own a smartphone or 1/3 of all adults.

Smartphone adoption is highest among the affluent and well-educated, the (relatively) young, and non-whites. Several groups have higher than average levels of smartphone adoption, including:

• The financially well-off and well-educated — 59% of adults living in a household earning income of $75,000 or more are smartphone owners; 48% of those with a college degree own smartphones.
• Those younger than age 45 — 58% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 now own a smartphone as do 49% of those ages 18-24 and 44% of those ages 35-44. Even among those with a household income of $30,000 or less, smartphone ownership rates for those ages 18-29 are equal to the national average.
• African-Americans and Latinos — 44% of blacks and Latinos are smartphone users.
• Urban and suburban residents are roughly twice as likely to own a smartphone as those living in rural areas, and employment status is also strongly correlated with smartphone ownership.

Mobile phones are a main source of internet access for one-quarter of the smartphone population
Some 87% of smartphone owners access the internet or email on their handheld, including two-thirds (68%) who do so on a typical day. When asked what device they normally use to access the internet, 25% of smartphone owners say that they mostly go online using their phone, rather than with a computer. While many of these individuals have other sources of online access at home, roughly one third of these “cell mostly” internet users lack a high-speed home broadband connection.

Smartphone owners under the age of 30, non-white smartphone users and smartphone owners with relatively low income and education levels are particularly likely to say that they mostly go online using their phones.

Android is the most common smartphone platform, followed by iPhone and Blackberry devices
Phones operating on the Android platform are currently the most prevalent type of smartphone, followed by iPhones and Blackberry devices.

Demographically, Android phones are especially common among young adults and African-Americans, while iPhones and Blackberry devices are most prevalent among college graduates and the financially well-off.

Read the full report for an in-depth look at the demographics of smartphone owners and how they use their devices at pewinternet.org.

Smartphone Definition:
A smartphone owner includes anyone who falls into either of the following two categories:

• One-third of cell owners (33%) say that their phone is a smartphone.
• Two-in-five cell owners (39%) say that their phone operates on a smartphone platform (these include iPhones and Blackberry devices, as well as phones running the Android, Windows or Palm operating systems).

Apple’s iPhone is the number one way Americans are accessing the mobile Web. Put another way, Apple owns over 60% of mobile web browsing. Considering that the iPad is just over a year old, it is shocking how quickly people have gravitated to using it for daily mobile web consumption. Apple has connected today’s mobile consumers to the web better than anyone.

The iPhone took the top ranking, accounting for 35.2 percent of the U.S mobile Web browsing market share, the iPad at 25.5% of mobile web browsing, followed by Android devices, with a 31.6% share.

In June, ComScore reported that the Apple iPad accounts for 97 percent of all tablet traffic in the U.S., despite the entrance of highly anticipated competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry PlayBook, the HP TouchPad and others.

According to comScore, Android-based tablets took up only 0.6 percent of all tablet traffic, while “other” tablets (in other words, the PlayBook), took up 0.1 percent.

Additional research from Net Applications shows that in the US, smartphones and tablets accounted for 8.2 percent of all browsing activities during June. Apple’s iOS-based iPhone and iPad, which run Safari, accounted for a combined five percent share of the U.S. browser market.

Android-based smartphones commanded 2.6 percent of the U.S. browser market, according to Net Applications. By contrast, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platform accounted for only a 0.57 percent share.

BOTTOM LINE: Mobile web usage is growing quickly with the continued increases in smartphone and tablet sales (mainly the iPad). What’s your mobile strategy? Let QWASI help your organization discover the power of mobile.

They found that 64% of app downloaders – smartphone users surveyed who had downloaded an app within the past 30 days – reported having downloaded at least one game over the past 30 days, just ahead of weather apps at 60% and social networking apps at 56%.

What’s more, a whopping 93% of app downloaders are willing to pay for the games they play. iPhone owners seem appear to be the most avid gamers too – iPhone gamers play games for about 14.7 hours on average each month which is nearly twice as long as the average mobile gamer last quarter.

Nielsen also found that consumers with iPhones, Windows Phones or Android phones were likely to have downloaded the games they play, while BlackBerry users and feature phone users typically played pre-loaded games.

FULL REPORT: Click here.

That’s represents a shift upward from the $240 billion Juniper Research has predicted for the total value of mobile payments in 2011. Juniper finds that during the next 18 months, 20 countries will begin deploying NFC payment systems and services; transactions from those services will be in the ballpark of $50 billion by 2014.

The new Mobile Payments Strategies report revealed that all segments will exhibit 2x to 3x growth over the next five years. This growth will be driven by the rapid adoption of mobile ticketing, NFC contactless payments, physical goods purchases and money transfers as people in both developed and developing countries use their devices for everyday transactions.

Recently, Google announced its Google Wallet and Google Deals services in the U.S., and the search giant has large retail partners on board, including Citi, Subway, Mastercard, Sprint, Macys, and Walgreens. The Far East and China, Western Europe, and North America are the largest mobile payment regions, and those areas “will represent 75% of the global mobile payment gross transaction value by 2015,” the report said. Read on for the full release from Juniper Research.

READ MORE: Click here.

Automotive Mobile Search and Mobile Marketing becomes Focus for Dealers & OEMS

While reading on of my favorite blogs from eMarketer, I came across this article about how Google’s insight into the Car Buyer’s experience is very insightful. Having a strong presence in Mobile Marketing for the Auto Industry and Car Dealers nationwide for several years, I read the article top to bottom. It was very insightful and sheds light into what Google is tracking across their properties. In addition, it should come as no surprise, that many recent enhancements made to their ad serving capabilities further extends benefits to better local search results from their advertisers – especially local car dealers.

According to Google’s own Automotive Industry Development Manager, Kimberly Stonehouse, they have identify some key factors influencing the way today’s consumers shop for automotive products (their next car).

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:
1) 3 Months to buy
2) Funnel Leads from National Advertising to Local Dealer
3) Mobile & Local Combination = SUCCESS

Questions & Answers from the Google/eMarketer Q&A session.
QUESTION: How long does it take a typical consumer to research and purchase a vehicle?
On average – Three months.

Google can see “an interplay between digital and the dealer. Digital media is used often for comparison purposes to determine the consideration set and narrow it, but it is not negating the importance of the dealer.”

QUESTION: What are OEMs doing to get auto shoppers’ to their sites? 
According to Stonehouse, “Automakers aren’t trying to necessarily predict where a shopper is in their purchase funnel, but are providing choice so shoppers can determine where they want to go, where they want to find information. For example, if you search for Toyota on Google, you’ll typically see an ad for the brand, Toyota.com, you’ll see a site within the ad space for BuyaToyota.com, which is the national dealer site. And you’ll also most likely see an ad for a local Toyota dealer.

What Toyota and what a lot of our automaker partners are doing is recognizing that it’s difficult to predict from a search of Toyota, or something similar, exactly what the consumer is doing or is looking for. They can increase their efficiency and, in many cases, lower their acquisition cost or lead cost by providing that choice. It increases the likelihood that the consumer will click because they’re provided with all of the options that they could potentially be looking for, regardless of where they are in the funnel.”

QUESTION: How and when does mobile come into the picture? 
According to Stonehouse, “Mobile is one of the biggest consumer trends this year, and we’re really starting to see automakers recognize the importance of mobile in the shopping process. Within automotive specifically, it varies among brands, but up to 20% of search traffic to OEMs comes through a mobile device. So that’s a tipping point for automakers to realize that mobile is a substantial portion of search traffic, and those consumers are ones they need to reach.

We’ve seen that mobile traffic doesn’t replace desktop by any means. It’s additive, and it’s complementary. Through our search data, we see more desktop search traffic in the middle of the day, but mobile will spike in the evenings. Although mobile usage is strong in the evening timeframes, it also has proliferated past what the typical uses and time periods you might expect.”

QUESTION: What advantage does the mobile platform offer to local dealerships? 
“One in three mobile searches are local. When a mobile device can recognize a consumer’s location, it becomes a much more powerful tool. Dealers can provide an offer to a consumer who is driving around looking for a vehicle on a Saturday. This enables the advertiser to send a targeted message—and for the consumer to receive something useful and relevant. “

For the complete interview, visit eMarketer (eMarketer Total Access clients only)

28% of that total $2.1 trillion or $600 billion is spent on devices themselves, and 10% is spent on content such as computer software, video on-demand, and pay-per-view services. “The three key technology areas that will offer the best opportunity for vendors during the next three years are:

1) Wireless Broadband – which will enable constant connectivity;
2) Location-based services (LBS) - which will personalize and take advantage of the constant connected state; and
3) Operating systems – which are the foundation for integration applications that can bring it all together.

The total consumer spend is expected to increase to $2.8 trillion by 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide consumer spending on digital information and entertainment products and services is projected to reach $2.1 trillion in 2011.

The trend among vendors to offer a diversified portfolio of products and/or services puts them in a better position to seize a larger share of the consumer wallet. Gartner defines consumer wallet spending as the money spent by consumers for digital technology devices and services that are for accessing, consuming and creating content. This wallet is divided into three basic spending types — content, devices and services.

“While a vendor can be a leader in specializing within just one segment of the consumer wallet, there are a mounting number of examples that suggest diversification may be the optimal path forward in the consumer electronics industry,” said Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Vendors that diversify their offerings across multiple consumer spending segments earn revenue across the full ecosystem and take legacy services to transform to newer products and services.”

“There are two basic strategies that vendors have used to capture consumer spending that will enable their interconnected consumer experience,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The first is to concentrate in one consumer spending segment, and the second is to diversify into other consumer spending segments.”

“The challenge to vendors choosing to be hyper-focused on one wallet spending segment is the relentless pursuit of innovation required to maintain segment sales leadership in this one specific segment,” Ms. Kitagawa said.

“Technology innovation opens windows of opportunity for vendors to consider diversification,” said Ms. Kitagawa. “However, technology innovation also opens a window for change among consumers to switch vendors in the pursuit of cost savings or lifestyle-changing technology.”

“The three key technology areas that will offer the best opportunity for vendors during the next three years are: wireless broadband, which will enable constant connectivity; location-based services (LBS), which will personalize and take advantage of the constant connected state; and operating systems, which are the foundation for integration applications that can bring it all together.”

Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Market Trends: Diversification Trends Capture More of Consumer Technology Spending.” The report presents what products and services make up the consumer wallet, and a high-level analysis of the varying strategies to capture that spending within and among the various segments.

Locally targeted mobile ads will have a 70% share ($2.8 billion) of the expected $4 billion in overall U.S. mobile ad spending by 2015, according to Chantilly, Virginia-based BIA/Kelsey. In addition, total US mobile ad spending will balloon from $790 million in 2010 to $4 billion in 2015. Concurrently, the local portion of that total will increase from $404 million to $2.8 billion. Consequently, the advisory firm projects, locally targeted mobile ads will then make up 51% of overall US mobile ad spending, growing to 70% by 2015.

“Exploding mobile usage, clearer ROI and a shorter purchase funnel will accelerate this demand within display, search and SMS advertising formats,” the report reads. In 2010, overall U.S. mobile advertising was at $790 million. Local mobile advertising’s piece of the pie is $404 million — 51% of the whole mobile advertising market.

The gain is expected when large brand advertisers adapt their marketing goals for the mobile device. That’s thanks to a growing awareness of retail locations, driven by consumers’ increasing smartphone ownership. Once large advertisers move in, BIA/Kelsey says small and medium-sized businesses will also push marketing efforts on mobile. All advertisers will benefit from the clearer return on investment and shorter purchasing funnel.

Mobile advertising sellers will also garner premium pricing on location-targeted ads. Michael Boland, senior analyst and program director of BIA/Kelsey Mobile Local Media practice, stated: “These premiums result from higher performance for locally targeted mobile ads when compared with non-local ads, due to higher relevance, immediacy and consumer buying intent, all of which are more prevalent in mobile than many other print and digital media.”

Bottom Line: Further targeting coupled with LBS and Geo-Fencing advancements will drive an increase in local advertising. Advertisers quickly need to focus on capturing intent to deliver greater ROI on each placement. Mobile is very focused and directive and therefore conversion cannot be ignored.

Let QWASI develop a conversion strategy off your mobile display, in-app advertisements, SMS ads and other placements. For more information on mobile marketing or other QWASI services, contact us today @ 877-747-9274.

THE FINDINGS
Out of 1,000 people surveyed:
76% use the devices to read books or news or books
64% watch TV shows and/or movies
61% listen to music
56% update their social network profiles

Additionally, it is worth noting that 53% said they would rather play games on a tablet than a PC or dedicated game console and 41% shared they were interested in video chat.

The national survey, commissioned by Samsung Mobile, was conducted by Kelton Research and included 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older. Samsung had the survey conducted as part of an upcoming launch for their Galaxy Tab 10.1 device powered by Google’s Android 3.1 Honeycomb OS.

THE iCLOUD
Just this week, Steve Jobs also introduced the world to the new iOS5 which promises greater notifications, messaging options and hooks into their new iCloud service. Apple will launch the new iOS in the coming months across all their latest devices including iPad, iPod and iPhone.

According to John Gruber, a veteran Apple Commentator, the new “iCloud will shape the next 10 years the way the iTunes-on-your-Mac/PC digital hub shaped the last 10,” he wrote. “This is a fundamentally different vision for the coming decade than Google’s. In both cases, your data is in the cloud, and you can access it from anywhere with a network connection. But Google’s vision is about software you run in a web browser. Apple’s is about native apps you run on devices. Apple is as committed to native apps – on the desktop, tablet, and handheld – as it has ever been.”

It will be interesting to see how Google responds with future versions of Android or if it will leave it up to developers to share their open-source direction for their platform.

Bottom Line: Apple continues to dominate the Tablet space making it even easier for these users to be connected to the other facets of their life (and Apple devices). The average American wants a tablet and the ease of access it provides to information and content. Brands need to be mindful of these trends and be sure to include them in their marketing mix and mobile strategy.

This study finds that 91-percent of retailers currently have a mobile marketing strategy in place, up from 74 percent a year ago. In addition, it finds that an additional 72 percent of retailers reported they plan to increase spending on social networks this year, according to “The State of Retailing Online 2011: Marketing, Social and Mobile” report.

Many consider 2010 as a year of exploratory efforts and first initiatives for retailers in social media and new mobile technologies. This year is being spent looking at tablet devices, such as the iPad according to Shop.org head of research Fiona Swerdlow. “As sales channels continue to blur in retail, companies are creating mobile apps that make their brands seem current, entertaining or fun, while at the same time creating a unique opportunity to connect with more shoppers than ever before.”

Some surprises find the following:
21 percent of all mobile traffic is coming from tablets
48 percent of retailers report having a mobile-optimized website
35 percent have deployed an iPhone app and 15 percent offer both Android and iPad apps.

Social Commerce

Retailers’ interest in social networks has also increased when compared to last year, according to the report, which showed that social networks ranked fourth on the list of successful customer acquisition sources. However, concerns remain over the ability to clearly track ROI from social-network marketing, with 62 percent of retailers saying the returns on social marketing strategies are unclear. (Nearly the same amount of retailers said the primary ROI from social media is a better understanding of consumers.)

“The data indicates that significant investments in social and mobile tactics will be in place this year,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president, principal analyst at Forrester Research. “Retail executives should have modest expectations for the benefits of social commerce. With regard to mobile, retailers should be working to increasingly integrate features and functionality into the physical store experience. While consumers may not be extensively exploring product information yet, basic store information, transparent pricing and easy checkout capabilities are likely to be the most pressing opportunities for most sites in the near term.”

BOTTOM LINE: Retailers are currently using one ore two successful solutions aimed at attracting and retaining new customers via the mobile channel. As they continue to more effort behind growing the effectiveness and reach of their platforms, they will grow both revenue, but also increase ROI. These approaches include the fluid use of Apps (device and tablet), Messaging (Mobile Messaging and Social Messaging) and Mobile Web. Without a clear view into the data across these services, retailers will remain in the dark.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA, PA May 26, 2011 – QWASI, a leading mobile marketing and communications company providing cross-market interactive solutions, announced today it has been selected by the Business Marketing Association (BMA) to power mobile marketing and event communications at The 2011 International BMA Conference in Chicago, IL June 1-3. In partnership with Syniverse, QWASI will power text messaging for all pre, during and post event communication for the show using the BMA shortcode – 26246 (BMAGO). The tools provided to the BMA are part of QWASI’s Mobile Marketing Center Platform that’s designed for companies to power mobile marketing campaigns and communication.

Along the lines of this year’s BMA theme – Unleash – QWASI plans to introduce many business marketers to the potential mobile marketing brings to their bottom line. “QWASI is pleased to have been chosen by such an important organization such as the BMA to power their message. We see an unique opportunity for business to embrace all that mobile marketing and communications hold to reach today’s consumers and business decision makers,” shares Leon Samuel, President & CEO of QWASI, Inc. “B2b marketers have been slow to adopt and implement a mobile strategy as part of their b2b campaigns. The time is now for them to use the mobile channel to attract and retain their valuable customers and future prospects. The results from other channels show its immediate effectiveness across various areas of business.”

One of the tools QWASI provides to its clients is a website widget for pre-event registration for alerts and notification. It also includes a Vote2Screen program that allows participants to vote on select questions with a simple reply answer. The live vote is calculated in real-time and can be broadcast via projectors and screens throughout the event. Text2Screen sessions also allow participants to pose a question or share a comment. Using a moderator display, the organization or presenter can choose select questions and post them on screen for attendees.

Other features include surveys, auto-responders, 2D Barcodes, a Mobile Website builder and reporting and analytics. Benefits of this powerful communication channel include driving participation, enhancing engagement, collecting valuable feedback, and building a mobile database. These conference tools combine the power and convenience of text messaging with great visuals that promote participation throughout the event.

ABOUT BUSINESS MARKETING ASSOCIATION
Started in 1922, today’s Business Marketing Association (BMA) works to increase the importance, impact and value of marketing in businesses worldwide. BMA is the only professional organization with an exclusive focus on business-to-business marketing and its key drivers: Customer engagement and relationships, product and service innovation, value pricing, channels, online/offline marcom, and analytics. BMA’s members represent state-of-the art expertise in business-to-business marketing and communications, and share best practices for the benefit of the global business community. For more information about BMA, call 630-544-5054 or visit www.marketing.org.

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc. is a leading mobile and social communications and solutions provider of interactive applications for clients around the world utilizing Social Messaging, SMS, MMS, Mobile Web and Apps. Through its world-class Synchrosy® methodology, QWASI creates and implements mobile strategy for enterprise business simplifying complex problems with mobile marketing, social messaging, mobile commerce, text ordering, mobile coupons, mobile chat, and customized interactive alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

While reading Response Magazine the other day, I ran into a few articles that looked at the adoption of mobile at various retailers. While nothing shocks me, it still resonates that most businesses are operating without a concerted mobile and social strategy.

Consider some of these statistics:

• Only 33 percent of businesses currently have a mobile strategy in place. All respondents to a survey suggested they plan on having one in the next 12 months (source: King Fish Media).
• Less than 20 percent are currently conducting mobile commerce, mainly through the mobile web, and respondents suggest it will grow next year – in 2012.
• 24 percent reported that their mobile strategy “exceeded or performed as expected” while another 30% had not measured it at all.
• 34-percent of the group said they would be keeping track of results.

As retail continues to embrace mobile marketing and mobile commerce, data analytics and reporting will become the focus and centerpiece for this key channel. Another statistic from the survey also found that forty-one percent of those surveyed said “future mobile marketing programs will need to show a positive return” for them to continue with such initiatives. Without key metrics in place, it will be like the wild-west with direct response and brand marketers shooting into the air versus shooting fish in a bucket.

At QWASI, we recently unveiled our updated Synchrosy Methodology for enterprise clients. Specifically within retail, we have had great success helping our clients analyze their business through a variety of lenses and then we create solutions that drive the desired interaction and/or transaction. It is different for each business, so our engagement approach varies too. However, based on the variety of ROI metrics retailers embrace, it’s most effective for their management team to monitor and track while staying in the drivers seat running their day-to-day business.

We hope you’d give us a chance to introduce your business to Synchrosy and drive results with a fresh, innovative and results-oriented mobile and social strategy.

A new research study by Greystripe finds a majority of moms, over 66 percent, now use their devices in the shopping process. Greystripe collected the data from its expansive network of touch devices during a three-month period from November 16, 2010 to February 15, 2011.

The research report found other trends on smartphone moms including:

• 45% use their smartphone to locate the nearest store
• 36% use their phone for price comparison
• 31% percent use their phone for new product research

Besides the many functional purposes of a smartphone for a mom juggling multiple tasks, many of the women surveyed also use their iPhone or Android to save money. The study found that 57 percent of smartphone moms use coupons every time they shop.

For many smartphone moms, grocery shopping is also facilitated through their handy mobile device. The study found that 42 percent of smartphone moms use their smartphone while grocery shopping, in a variety of ways.

• 32% use their smartphones for shopping lists
• 21% use their smartphone to look up recipes
• 14% use their smartphone to do a price comparison

Greystripe’s research also found smartphone moms are receptive to advertising – 55% indicated that advertising plays a role in their purchasing decisions and 91% prefer free apps with ads over paid apps without ads. As moms on the go learn how to use their smartphones to make smarter decisions at the store, usage will only increase over time.

About the Survey: This research is based on data Greystripe gathered from 239 women with children on iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices on its network from November 16, 2010 through February 15, 2011. For the complete study, click here.

PHILADELPHIA, March 7, 2011 – QWASI, a leading mobile marketing and communications company providing cross-market interactive solutions, announced its Mobile Messaging API 2.1 for enterprises, agencies and brand marketers. By using the QWASI Mobile Application Programming Interface, known as an API, a company can program mobile marketing services including mobile coupon delivery, mobile ticketing, mobile voting, polling, keywords, text2win, info-on-demand and more. The two-way messaging gateway utilizes either a shared shortcode or dedicated short code to power messaging via SMS (text messaging) and MMS (multi-media messaging) to users in the US.

“The time for companies to tap into the power of mobile is now. Over the last twelve months, we have seen a tremendous push by small and medium size businesses to adopt mobile marketing for their customers,” states Dave Geipel, Founder of QWASI, Inc. “With the ability to use our mobile marketing platform, a company of any size can now embrace mobile marketing for pennies a customer. We are seeing many new Fortune 1000 companies moving to dedicated short codes to support their business needs.” QWASI provides an easy short code search tool from its website.

Recent reliability and delivery issues for many companies using low-cost providers and second and third tier aggregators have mounted and have brought many new customers to QWASI. This has forced many corporate clients to find an alternative to low cost “bulk messaging” which often isn’t delivered to end users by wireless carriers. It requires a dedicated team to monitor campaigns and traffic to ensure maximum up time for their clients.

QWASI recently released several new updates to its Mobile Marketing Center Platform. The Mobile Marketing Center is a self-service portal that allows companies to create, launch and manage their campaigns with relative ease. The Mobile Marketing Center is available to customers using a their own dedicated short code and works across multiple US aggregators. Mobile Marketing services available through the two-way SMS API include:

• SMS Auto Responders: drip marketing campaigns via text messaging to opt-in users.
• Info-on-Demand: information sent to opt-in users via custom Keywords. Capture opt-in users for future message blasts including email addresses.
• SMS Alerts and Blasts: send text messages to a subscriber lists. Keep customers informed of promotions, offers & events.
• Mobile Coupons: distribute coupons to cell phones of customers who have opted-in to receive your promotions. Track promotional code usage.
• Text-to-Win: Enable potential customers to text in a special keyword to instantly enter-to-win a prize.
• Text-to-Vote: Provide a poll or vote and gain valuable feedback – in real-time.
• Web Widgets: Build a subscriber list from web-widgets.
• Custom Applications: The Marketing Center API allows companies to build any custom mobile messaging application.

With twice as many users of SMS than email globally and over 200 Billion text messages sent every month in the United States, consumer brands continue to look for new, innovative campaigns to reach today’s mobile consumer. QWASI is also bringing two-way MMS to market in the US with innovative MMS Applications to allow end users to participate with brands using picture and video messaging. With a huge shift toward social marketing, QWASI is bringing the power of mobile and social together creating new engagement. And through an easy-to-use white label mobile marketing platform, launching campaigns and monitoring performance is now possible for any client with powered by their own short code.

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc. is a leading mobile and social communications and solutions provider of interactive applications for clients around the globe utilizing Social Messaging, SMS, MMS, Mobile Web and Apps. Through its Synchrosy® methodology, QWASI creates and implements mobile strategy for business, simplifying complex problems with mobile marketing, social messaging, mobile commerce, text ordering, mobile coupons, mobile chat, and customized interactive alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

Recognizing this shift in consumer behavior, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA) has partnered with Text2Drive to harness the power of this communication channel throughout this year’s Chicago Auto Show. CATA will incorporate the Text2Drive Mobile Marketing platform to collect opt-in mobile numbers through campaigns that will be incorporated in the CATA’s promotional advertising campaigns leading up to the show. The innovative Text2Drive Platform will be used to drive show attendance and increase attendee’s participation by raising awareness and creating a “buzz” around special events, featured vehicles and show promotions.

“The best part about Text2Drive is that it provides multiple benefits to our attendees and exhibitors,” said Dave Sloan, president of CATA. “Not only can we leverage this technology to help us promote the show and use it throughout the show for marketing, our exhibitors can use it to uniquely promote their brands. Imagine someone at the show looking at the new Chevy Camaro and wanting more information, using Text2Drive they can immediately receive pictures and all the important information about the vehicle right to their phone.”

Text2Drive offers car shoppers a very quick, easy and hassle-free method of obtaining vehicle information without the need of the Internet on their phones. “According to Nielsen only 30-40% of consumers have Internet connectivity on their phones. Text2Drive allows car shoppers to search inventory, receive vehicle information including photos and special incentives, and communicate instantly with sellers via text messaging from their cell phones,” said Gregg Owen, CEO & Co-Founder of Text2Drive. “Text2Drive offers many compelling reasons for consumers to opt-in, resulting in our clients being able to create large mobile networks. Once the network is created we afford our clients the ability to easily collect, track, and organize this data so they can continue to remarket their products and services to interested consumers.”

In addition to the auto show campaign, the CATA has created an introductory Text2Drive program for their dealer members.  This program provides tools for the dealer’s website while incorporating the Text2Drive online mobile number collection widget on Drivechicago.com.

ABOUT QWASI, Inc.
QWASI creates and implements mobile strategy. The company is a leading mobile communications and solutions provider of interactive applications for clients around the globe utilizing SMS / Text Messaging, MMS, Mobile Web, Apps and Social Networks. Specializing in custom enterprise solutions using its proprietary methodology, Synchrosy, QWASI makes complexity simple with turnkey solutions in Mobile Marketing, mCommerce, text ordering, mobile coupons, hyper-local mobile search, mobile chat, social chat, and customized alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

See also: Text2Drive Powers Mobile Marketing Campaign for the 2010 Chicago Auto Show

It’s not a mystery, but it is still of interest to those of us who watch trends: Mobile users steadily continue to discovery mobile video on their cell phones.

A recent study by Nielsen shows that the number of mobile video users continued to grow along with their time spent watching video. However, the population remains small – for now.

PEOPLE WATCHING MOBILE VIDEO
According to Nielsen, during the 2nd Quarter, 22 million people watched mobile video on their mobile devices – a 43% increase. That represents about 10% of all mobile phone users, which stands at 229.4 million during the 2nd Quarter of this year — a number that has climbed 4% over a year ago.

MONTHLY TIME SPENT WATCHING MOBILE VIDEO
The time spent among mobile subscribers watching video over each month was 3:37 minutes (three hours thirty-seven minutes) – a gain of 11.3% over the previous year. That is 22 more minutes in the second quarter 2010 versus the second quarter 2009.

BIGGEST USERS OF MOBILE VIDEO
The largest group of mobile subscribers were teens 13-17, racking up 7:13 minutes (seven hours and 13 minutes) a month of video; 18-24 users were next, with 4:20; followed by 25-34 users with 3:37; 35-49 users at 2:53; adults 50-64 at 2:10; those 65 and older, 1:48; and persons 13 years and older (the entire mobile population) at 3:37.

Looking at overall share among each group, 25-54 users comprised 30% of all video usage; 35-49 was next, at 25%; then 13-17 users, 18%; 18-24 users, 15%; 50- to-64-year-olds, 11%; and 65-plus, 2%.

Overall, men use mobile video more than women — 55% to 45%. However, that too is shifting to 50/50 as does most technology patterns as they become widely adopted.

BOTTOM LINE:

As more smart phones hit the market such as iPhones, Androids and Win7 devices, so will the adoption of mobile video. Intermediary devices and tablets will also fuel “mobile” video usage as a higher percent of computer viewing moves from the desktop and laptop into consumers hands.

Read More: State of the Media Report (click here)

“2011 is the year for More Mobile,” David Geipel, Founder

As the end of the third quarter comes to a close this year, corporate budgets are being reviewed and Mobile is finally getting respect within the organization from the top down. However, as this new channel continues to grow, departments are beginning to take a closer look at where they can grow and how they can save using mobile messaging, marketing and mobile apps.

In the past, most marketers took from digital budgets to fund a mobile.

For 2011, budgets have grown from single campaigns to funding a complete mobile strategy. This has created the need to create a new line item on the budget so companies can graduate mobile from an “emerging technology” to a proven channel – it’s own format.

WRESTLING BUDGETS
How are companies wrestling money from other budgets? Many take it from digital budgets. That type of thinking though is short sighted as digital marketing and interactive services all achieve different goals to drive sales, increase retention and even reclaim lost revenue through cost savings. Many agencies are adding to the complex budget process by pulling in dollars for their “digital agency” where these monies typically get put into distinct components of a budget leaving little room for mobile. What is fueling most of the mobile spend within these agencies is shifting the budget from traditional media to digital.

THE SHIFT
As spending shifts from traditional media to digital media and mobile, new lines will be expanded on budgets to better clarify the type of spending. This will lead to a greater need for mobile analytics and reporting. How much is my iPhone App generating? What is the ROI for my Mobile Advertising campaigns? What is the lift in spend from my customers receiving SMS Alerts on a daily basis? ROI tracking will become another budget requirement within the digital category. While many agencies push back on measurement, studies and direct spend to return calculations, companies will demand greater oversight and results from their investments.

According to a MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) survey released in June 2010, they found that marketers in the US plan to increase spending on mobile 124% next year – up from $2.3 billion to $5.5 billion – with a budget allocation for mobile representing almost 4% of overall marketing budgets. That total includes paid and unpaid mobile segments including SMS, mobile websites, location-based services, mobile video and mobile email. Forrester, on the contrary predicts US spending on mobile marketing will grow from $561 million this year to $748 million in 2011.

It’s time to start planning your 2011. It’s time to get MORE mobile.

Other popular activities by mobile users include:
34% Play a Game
34% Send/Receive an Email
33% Play Music
30% Send/Receive IM
34% Record a Video (quickly growing)

Compared to April 2009, 76% of people take pictures with their phones, up from 66% and 72% send/receive text messages compared to 65% in 2009. Other comparisons include: over a third play games, up from about a quarter. A third of people now play music on their phones, compared to 21% in 2009, but the biggest jump is in recording video: 34% vs. 19% before. Given the number of new video-enabled phones released throughout the last year, it is expected this will grow to the heights of pictures.

Additional mobile activities are now being tracked. Among all cell phone owners:
* 54% have used their mobile device to send someone a photo or video
* 23% have accessed a social networking site using their phone
* 20% have used their phone to watch a video
* 15% have posted a photo or video online
* 11% have purchased a product using their phone
* 11% have made a charitable donation by text message
* 10% have used their mobile phone to access a status update service such as Twitter

Mobile Internet usage growing.
Nearly 89 million people in the U.S. have used the mobile internet in the past year — close to one third of the total current U.S. population.

Pew also found that 53 percent of Americans who use their phones to go online do so at least once per day. That’s more than 47 million daily mobile internet users in the U.S.

One would think that these growth numbers come solely from the increase in smartphones. And while there certainly is a bump, consumers are using more mobile internet even on their regular cell phone. According to Forrester Research, by the end of 2009 only 17 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones. So while the iPhone and Android user consumes more mobile web, the average user using newer feature phones are also hitting the mobile web in droves.

Mobile Web Usage by Demographic:

African-Americans and Hispanics leading mobile usage trends
When we break out mobile web usage by demographic, you find 46 percent of non-Hispanic blacks and 51 percent of English-speaking Hispanics using their phones for internet access, compared with only 33 percent of non-Hispanic white Americans.

The survey also found cell phone ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among whites (87% vs. 80%) and minority cell phone owners take advantage of a much greater range of their phones’ features compared with white mobile phone users.

Mobile Web Usage by Age

About 65 percent of U.S. cell phone users ages 18-29 go online from their phones, compared with 43 percent of those aged 30-49. Young adults are heavily invested in the mobile web, although 30-49 year olds are gaining ground.

Nine in ten 18-29 year olds own a cell phone, and these young cell owners are significantly more likely than those in other age groups to engage in all of the mobile data applications we asked about in our survey. Among 18-29 year old cell phone owners:

* 95% send or receive text messages
* 93% use their phone to take pictures
* 81% send photos or videos to others
* 65% access the internet on their mobile device
* 64% play music on their phones
* 60% use their phones to play games or record a video
* 52% have used their phone to send or receive email
* 48% have accessed a social networking site on their phone
* 46% use instant messaging on their mobile device
* 40% have watched a video on their phone
* 33% have posted a photo or video online from their phone
* 21% have used a status update service such as Twitter from their phone
* 20% have purchased something using their mobile phone
* 19% have made a charitable donation by text message

Although young adults have the highest levels of mobile data application use among all age groups, utilization of these services is growing fast among 30-49 year olds. Compared with a similar point in 2009, cell owners ages 30-49 are significantly more likely to use a range of mobile data applications on a handheld device.

The mobile data applications with the largest year-to-year increases among the 30-49 year old cohort include taking pictures (83% of 30-49 year old cell owners now do this, a 12-point increase from 2009); recording videos (39% do this, an 18-point increase from 2009); playing music (36% do this, a 15-point increase); using instant messaging (35% now do this, a 14-point increase); and accessing the internet (43% now do this, a 12-point increase compared with 2009).

For more information, click here: Pew Internet Research 2010 Mobile Access Survey

Tap into the power of mobile marketing, give us a call toll-free today @ 877-747-9274.

To date, many brand marketers have dabbled in mobile marketing. The main reason is the lack of commitment to this medium for their audience. However, the segment is so ripe that it’s now time for them to take notice and put forward an engaging offering to keep them connected. Why? Because now that mobile phones are nearly ubiquitous among teens and becoming ever more popular among younger kids, the opportunities are increasing.

“Tweens are the growth engine,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “Kids and Teens: Mobile Everywhere.” “Recent surveys from Pew, Kaiser Family Foundation and others indicate that in some age groups—particularly the tween–young teen bracket—ownership has nearly doubled since 2005.”

66% of US children and teens ages 8 to 18 had a mobile phone as of 2009, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation,

Turning wide ownership into wide marketing opportunities may be difficult, however. Companies must take into account extra privacy and safety considerations when it comes to minors, and young people who view their mobile phones as devices for personal communications may not welcome marketing messages.

In addition, most children and teens are still using feature phones, so relatively few can be reached through more sophisticated mobile advertising such as via the mobile internet or smartphone apps. Just 14% of moms surveyed by Q Interactive in January 2010 said their kids had a smartphone.

14% of moms surveyed said their kids had a smartphone, according to a survey by Q Interactive (Jan 2010)

The future lies in smartphones, but for now mobile marketing efforts directed toward kids and teens will have to focus on feature phones. Texting is best for driving immediate actions, but also has its drawbacks.

“Although text messaging is hugely popular with teens, they are like adults in that they do not necessarily want companies to contact them via text messaging,” said Ms. Williamson. “The mobile phone is perceived as a very personal device, and intrusive marketing is not well received.”

Read more – get the full report here: Kids and Teens: Mobile Everywhere

BOTTOM LINE: Our work with teens and tweens also reveals their desire to connect via mobile channels SMS, Mobile Web and Apps. However, the level of adoption for Mobile Web and then Apps quickly trail off since most kids, teens and tweens do not have a smartphone. So the clear choice ismobile marketing via SMS.

Retailers add mobile commerce and mobile marketing to ecommerce strategy.

Online retailers have quickly sized up the mobile opportunity and the potential it holds to engaging a mobile advertising strategy to supplement their efforts according to a new report published by Forrester. Focus is on multi-channel marketing efforts including social and mobile marketing.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of online retailers either already have or are developing a mobile strategy, and one in five boasts having a fully-implemented mobile strategy in place already. The report forecasts $170,000 per online retailer is expected to be spent on mobile sites this year with larger retailers spending much more. This ”mobile investment is modest now, but we see that it will pick up in the future, especially among the biggest brands that have already invested significant amounts in their mobile operations,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, and lead author of the “The State of Retailing Online” report.

The survey of 109 companies provides e-business professionals with an annual industry benchmark for marketing and business investment and activities. Earlier this year, Forrester forecast U.S. online retail sales to total $173 billion in 2010. According to the report, Web retailers with mobile strategies are investing in features that support the cross-channel experience: Product and price information, store information and coupons to support the in-store experience are among the most popular features that retailers are offering consumers, the report said.

SOCIAL MARKETING
Forrester noted that search advertising will continue to command the largest portion of US online retail budgets this year, coming in at 40 percent, while email and affiliate marketing will also command large portions, the report notes. The report also found while retailers are finding value in social media marketing, the return on investment (ROI) for driving online sales remains murky. Listening to customers is the most significant objective for social tools according to respondents, with 80 percent of retailers reporting that they are pursuing social strategies to experiment and learn. And while 28 percent noted that social marketing has helped grow their business, direct sales from social tactics are not widely measured. The same can’t be said about mobile advertising, where ROI is easily measurable and obtained.

Digital marketing in general is quickly becoming centered around the art of “integrated communications,” whereby numerous channels are utilized to work off the strengths and weaknesses of one another. With mobile coming to the forefront, Online retailers need to quickly diversify their strategy to maintain relevancy.

“Mobile investment is modest now, but we see that it will pick up in the future, especially among the biggest brands that have already invested significant amounts in their mobile operations,” concluded Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research and the lead author of the report.

Bottom Line: For most retailers as they make a surge into mobile, don’t forget that it starts with SMS and Text Messaging first, then an App to compliment the strategy. Also, read Mobile Messaging article and other mobile commerce services including interactive sms apps and device apps for iPhone, Droid, Blackberry and more.

SMS is interactive. It’s two-way. It builds community and connects people. With a huge sporting event that rivals the Olympics in viewership worldwide, the World Cup soccer tournament (football for all of you in the UK), brings together people of many countries together huddle around their TV (online and mobile) – so getting data on texting usage for this event is like a kid in a candy store.

Text Message Volume over the Orange Wireless Network in the UK during a World Cup Game – England vs. United States

Here’s what our friends at FlowingData had to share. They received data from O2, a popular UK mobile service provider that shows texting volume during the World Cup and highlights the points of interest for UK Cell Phone customers. England scored a goal and lit up the texts – Goooooooooooal.

Here’s a similar response during Rooney’s rant at the games.

Text Messages over the Orange Wireless Network in the UK during a Rant from Rooney during the World Cup

Bottom Line: Texting proves the go-to medium to share in the ups and downs… the points on net and the points on your team… The same holds true while tuning into shows in the US. Nothing has been published on this scale, so this is great insight into how people are still human – they love to communicate. And SMS is just that – interactive.

Published by Pew Internet & American Life Project
The mobile phone has become the favored communication hub for the majority of American teens. And texting is the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends with phone calls coming in second on the list. Some 75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in 2004. Those phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns.

Fully 72% of all teens (88% of teen cell phone users) are text-messagers. That is a sharp rise from the 51% of teens who were texters in 2006. More than half of teens (54%) are daily texters. Of all teens, the frequency of texting has overtaken all common forms of interaction with their friends.

1-in-3 teens sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 texts a month.

2/3 of teens texters say they are more likely to use their cell phones to text their friends than talk to them to them by cell phone.

Among those teen texters:
* Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month.
* 15% of teens who are texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month.
* Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day.
* Teen texters ages 12-13 typically send and receive 20 texts a day.
* 14-17 year-old texters typically send and receive 60 text messages a day.
* Older girls who text are the most active, with 14-17 year-old girls typically sending 100 or more messages a day or more than 3,000 texts a month.
* However, while many teens are avid texters, a substantial minority are not. One-fifth of teen texters (22%) send and receive just one to 10 texts a day or 30 to 300 texts a month.

Calling is still a central function of the cell phone for teens, and for many teens voice is the primary mode of conversing with their parents (surprise, surprise).

Teens use SMS and Text to communicate more than dialing.

CALL STATISTICS
Teens typically make or receive five calls a day. White teens typically make or receive four calls a day, or around 120 calls a month, while black teens exchange seven calls a day or about 210 calls a month and Hispanic teens typically make and receive five calls a day or about 150 calls a month.

TEEN GIRLS SKEW THE RESULTS
Girls more fully embrace most aspects of cell phone-based communication.

As we see with other communicative technologies and applications, girls are more likely than boys to use both text messaging and voice calling and are likely to do each more frequently.

* Girls typically send and receive 80 texts a day; boys send and receive 30.
* 86% of girls text message friends several times a day; 64% of boys do the same.
* 59% of girls call friends on their cell phone every day; 42% of boys call friends daily on their cell phone daily.

Girls are also more likely than boys to text for social reasons, to text privately and to text about school work.

* 59% of girls text several times a day to “just say hello and chat”; 42% of boys do so.
* 84% of girls have long text exchanges on personal matters; 67% of boys have similar exchanges.
* 76% of girls text about school work, while 64% of boys text about school.

PHONE USAGE AT SCHOOL
Most schools treat the phone as a disruptive force that must be managed and often excluded from the school and the classroom.

Even though most schools treat cell phones as something to be contained and regulated, teens are nevertheless still texting frequently in class.

* 12% of all students say they can have their phone at school at any time.
* 62% of all students say they can have their phone in school, just not in class.
* 24% of teens attend schools that ban all cell phones from school grounds.
* Still, 65% of cell-owning teens at schools that completely ban phones bring their phones to school every day.
* 58% of cell-owning teens at schools that ban phones have sent a text message during class.
* 43% of all teens who take their phones to school say they text in class at least once a day or more.
* 64% of teens with cell phones have texted in class; 25% have made or received a call during class time.

TEEN MOBILE INTERNET USAGE
Cell phones help bridge the digital divide by providing internet access to less privileged teens. Still, for some teens, using the internet from their mobile phone is “too expensive.”

Teens from low-income households, particularly African-Americans, are much more likely than other teens to go online using a cell phone. This is a pattern that mirrors Pew Internet Project findings about adults and their cell phones.

* 21% of teens who do not otherwise go online say they access the internet on their cell phone.
* 41% of teens from households earning less than $30,000 annually say they go online with their cell phone. Only 70% of teens in this income category have a computer in the home, compared with 92% of families from households that earn more.
* 44% of black teens and 35% of Hispanic teens use their cell phones to go online, compared with 21% of white teens.

Cell phones are seen as a mixed blessing. Parents and teens say phones make their lives safer and more convenient. Yet both also cite new tensions connected to cell phone use.

HOW TEENS USE THEIR PHONES
Cell phones are not just about calling or texting — with expanding functionality, phones have become multimedia recording devices and pocket-sized internet connected computers. Among teen cell phone owners:

Teens who have multi-purpose phones are avid users of those extra features. The most popular are taking and sharing pictures and playing music:

* 83% use their phones to take pictures.
* 64% share pictures with others.
* 60% play music on their phones.
* 46% play games on their phones.
* 32% exchange videos on their phones.
* 31% exchange instant messages on their phones.
* 27% go online for general purposes on their phones.
* 23% access social network sites on their phones.
* 21% use email on their phones.
* 11% purchase things via their phones.

UNLIMITED PLANS
Unlimited plans are tied to increases in use of the phone, while teens on “metered” plans are much more circumspect in their use of the phone.

Fully three-quarters of teen cell phone users (75%) have unlimited texting. Just 13% of teen cell phone users pay per message. Those with unlimited voice and texting plans are more likely to call others daily or more often for almost every reason we queried — to call and check in with someone, to coordinate meeting, to talk about school work or have long personal conversations. Teens with unlimited texting typically send and receive 70 texts per day, compared with 10 texts a day for teens on limited plans and five texts a day for teens who pay per message.

BOTTOM LINE
The teen segment has always pointed the way to older demographic groups being socially connected vie various channels. Texting patterns only indicate that text is the preferred method to communicate to this group of today’s consumers. They are also driving usage for their parents which will continue to help shape 35-54 year old segment.

READ MORE: Get the full Pew Internet Research Report here.

Text2Drive, the leading mobile marketing firm in the auto industry, is in the driver’s seat again – taking car information mobile for auto buyers at the New York International Auto Show. Building on the success Text2Drive achieved by powering the Chicago Auto Show in February with their Mobile Marketing Platform, Text2Drive has recently been selected to promote Suzuki’s mobile ad campaigns during the New York International Auto Show from April 2 – 11, 2010.

Suzuki New Kizashi Mobile Marketing Campaign

Suzuki is using the Text2Drive Mobile Marketing platform to offer car shoppers a very quick, easy and hassle-free method of obtaining vehicle information without the need of the Internet on their phones. Using text messaging (SMS) and picture messaging (MMS), car shoppers can take home important information on different makes and models available from Suzuki. According to Nielsen, only 30-40 percent of consumers have Internet connectivity on their phones. Text2Drive allows car shoppers to get instant information on their cell phone about a specific car including mobile website links and photos sent via MMS.

Text2Drive is powered by leading mobile marketing and mobile commerce company, QWASI, Inc. The Philadelphia-based company provides cross-market interactive solutions for fortune 500 companies, as well as SMBs (Small to Medium Businesses), across the nation.

It’s exciting to see how auto manufacturers are using the Text2Drive service at the New York Auto Show and other car shows around the country. It’s important to provide today’s car buyers with instant information that is easy to access. The power to connect with these car buyers is available through a program like Text2Drive so car manufacturers can also connect with them after the show ends.

We see more and more carmakers and dealers finally beginning to get serious about offering mobile marketing and communications at dealerships, their advertising and direct communication with their customers. Text2Drive can be found online at http://www.text2drive.com

SX4Sportback SMS Campaign

SX4Sportback MMS (Picture) Message

The first reaction is either something like this: “Well, we’re starting to think about an iPhone App and maybe a Blackberry or Android App by the end of the year”… OR they simple respond “We have an iPhone App and we think it’s great.” It’s almost so predictable that its easy to write it down on a piece of paper before asking the question and then passing across the table and asking how close you were to guessing their response.

Here’s the problem with having just an App: it should never be the “your mobile strategy” or solution to having a mobile channel. Why? It’s simple: Mobile App usage trails mobile web and mobile messaging.

TEXT MESSAGING REIGNS SUPREME
The most popular activity for the average cell phone user is Text Messaging. It’s then followed by mobile web access and then Apps. Text Messaging reigns supreme because of two simple forces: reach and usage.

Nearly every mobile phone in the U.S. is text messaging enable. To send or receive a text message, you do not need a smart phone (Blackberry, iPhone or Android device). In the US, only 18% of all phones are smartphones. Within the next 2-3 years, Juniper Research predicts that smartphone usage worldwide will only account for just 23 percent of all new handsets sold. That means that main population in a few years will still not have enhanced capabilities of using Apps.

MULTIPLE PLATFORMS: IPHONE, BLACKBERRY, ANDROID (and SEVERAL OTHERS)
When a company considers launching an App, they typically go right to the iPhone. A recent Nielsen survey found that Apple dominates app downloads with a 25 percent market share. However, the iPhone only represents 4 percent of the entire mobile market. And in the US, it’s currently still only available on AT&T network. If you’re looking to launch an App, consider this – Nielsen has identified more than 10 major app stores for your App. That means developing across several platforms that differ in the use of libraries, code and submissions (to get the application approved and added to the app store).

USAGE
We return back to text messaging for ease of development and uniform customer experience because it is used more than Apps. According to Pinch Media, the vast majority of apps downloaded from the App Store are in use by less than 5% of users after one month has passed since it was downloaded. Just 20% of users even return to run a free application again the day after it’s downloaded. As time goes on, that decline continues, eventually settling below five percent at the one month elapsed mark and nearing zero after three months. According to Strategy Analytics (October 2009) only four to six mobile apps are used on a consistent basis.

Furthermore, if you create an iPhone App, you will be one of over 180,000 Apps available in the Apple App Store (as of March 2010). It’s such a competitive share of mindshare and space is limited on the phone’s screen. The iPhone for example offers 10 pages of Apps, but many people never make it past their third screen to even get to your app if it’s not up front. I would argue that we’ve hit the saturation point for most users. Why? Because of a simple litmus test called utility. If your App provides utlity to the end user, they will continue to use it to connect to people, places, information and entertainment. An App with a few stars or a low rating really does indicate how most end users will think and use the app.

SIMPLE IS OFTEN BEST
Most companies dismiss SMS or Text Messaging for two reasons: simplicity and cost. Let’s examine each.

First, a text message is limited to 160 characters. Every space counts. Creative wording is often required to communicate the message. However, it can also include a phone number or link to a mobile website or information page optimized for mobile phones. In it’s simplicity lies it’s strength.

• Delivered – each SMS using carrier-grade messaging is delivered

• Read – almost 95% or all text messages are read by end users

• Direct – often provides a preview w/o reading the entire message

• Concise – read and take action in seconds

• Easy-to-Read – most of the message fits on the screen

• Link-Enabled – ability to point to a Mobile Website

• Call-Enabled – include a phone number to call

More reasons why simple is often best. A single text message can easily be forwarded to a friend or posted to a social network. SMS can be interactive providing two-way messaging features included information on demand, mobile coupons, mobile ticketing, surveys, voting and polling. Finally, with a list of opt-in users, messaging can be sent out to users via blasts, notifications and alerts.

The other hesitancy by brands in using text messaging for marketing is the cost factor of an SMS. Companies often are quick to sign off on large budgets to build mobile Apps, yet never conduct a full cost analysis of SMS and Text Messaging to evaluate how it scales over a longer period of time while achieving greater usage and take up. Sure, a text message can cost a few pennies per message, however, during an ROI analysis, it’s easy to see how it pays itself back with the value it provides customers to connect with the Brand in building some of the strongest one-to-one relationships possible.

MOBILE METHODOLOGY (see the QWASI Mobile Methodology)
Don’t be so quick to rule out Text Message Marketing (SMS) or the Mobile Web.

Build out your mobile site. Offer Mobile Messaging. Then build specialty apps that provide usefulness for your customer. And don’t neglect voice as part of your mobile strategy.

Let QWASI help you build out your mobile channel today.

About the Author:
David Geipel is COO & Founder of QWASI (http://www.qwasi.com). You can reach him at dgeipel at qwasi.com or chat with him – text DAVE to 79274 (QWASI).

My first MP3 Player was a Zune (by Microsoft)

COMMENTARY: I loved my Zune 30 – a music device introduced by Microsoft in 2006. It was a great MP3 player. The first generation Zune was a 30GB model in black. I loved it so much that I ended up buying one for my wife, in white, the next year. After purchasing my Zune, I then proceeded to spend just as much on accessorizing it as I did on the device itself! As we all know, accessories alone- from gels to screen protectors- are multi-billion-dollar industries. From there, the focus shifts to power sources, because of course you need a power cord for your computer (USB) and for your car so you don’t run out of juice. Speaking of your car – where you listen to your tunes- you’ll need an adapter for the audio system (unless your car has an accessory jack and AUX input, in which case you will need yet another cord). And finally, you’ll want to be able to listen to your tunes in your office or around the house. You don’t want to be rude and walk around the house jamming to the latest download with your headphones. However, if you’re a teen, then not having a pair of headphone in your ears probably never occurred to you.

Aside from all of these “additions” that I did not consider prior to my purchase, I could not have been happier with my Zune. I liked the interface, software and storage it offered, which is appropriate because at the time I was considered a full-fledged PC guy. Until one day, when my Zune took a swim in the reservoir of my coffee pot. It was all downhill from there.

Today, as I type this on my silver Macbook Pro, I should clarify that my “full conversion” to a MAC Guy began with my iPhone. While deciding whether or not to replace my beloved Zune, I was enticed to consider the iPod. I ended up with an iPhone instead, converted to iTunes (proprietary formats and interface) and eventually purchased said Macbook. See, I told you it was a slippery slope.

My first Mac – a Macbook Pro

I had fought getting a Mac for years. I use my laptop for more than 12 hours a day, causing me to chew through one a year, regardless of brand or price range. My experience with the longevity of my iPhone is what ultimately led me to consider the Macbook, and I will never look back. Call this my brief testimonial for Apple; a simple story of how one PC Guy became a Mac Guy and a diehard Apple fan. I attribute 80% of my Apple conversion to the iPhone. Without my iPhone, I would still not understand why everyone has become so gaga over Apple. Now, anything Apple releases, I have to contemplate adding it to my wish list, considering how it will make my work and play easier and more enjoyable.

Many ask me if I like my iTunes software compared to Zune. The answer is a resounding “NO.” While Microsoft seems to have every step of the process ironed out and has proved to be successful, iTunes remains difficult for first-timers to navigate through even simple tasks. However, once you master iTunes on your computer or iPhone, making a purchase is simple and repeat purchases are even easier with a click of a button. In my opinion, Apple still needs to fix some snags before iTunes grows into an even larger online marketplace.

So how does Apple continue to grow despite a weak application called iTunes? Simple: sexy devices that you can’t put down and great marketing. They are smooth, slick, and intuitive, impressive to almost everyone. And they are driving commerce. The iTunes software can only improve, and I have confidence that as it evolves with new downloads and digital content, purchases will increase, as will Apple’s dominance as a retailer.

Let’s take a look at a brief history on how Apple (and the iPod) revolutionized digital purchases.

My first iPhone was the 3G (ready for 4G)

The iPod came on the scene in 2001 (and was met with great skepticism regarding Apple and their business model). By 2009, the skeptics long since silenced, iPod and iTunes sales added more than $12 Billion to Apple’s revenue. What Apple accomplished helped to change the way music is bought and sold. Remember the days you could go to the mall and buy the latest cassette tape and then CD from a “record store” such as Coconuts, Strawberries, Planet Music or Tower Records? And while you can still find a few F.Y.E and Suncoast stores at some malls, I wonder for how long. With the introduction of the iPhone, physical media has been dealt the final blow and is becoming obsolete. Apple developed an empire that created a new segment of the market: highly interactive phones that included touch screens and mobile marketplaces for Music, Books and Apps.

In September 2009, Apple announced that it has sold more than 30,000,000 iPhones. Over 2 billion app downloads, with 100 million accounts with credit cards and 8.5 billion songs sold. Apple currently has 73.8 percent of the Music Device market (followed by 18 percent held by “other,” SanDisk with around 7.2 percent and Microsoft about 1.1 percent share). Apple has also shown, with its own data, that 50 percent of new iPod sales are to new customers (those who haven’t previously owned one) and the total number of iPods sold is closing in on 225 million units.

So how does this story about my Zune and iPhone continue as we begin this new decade?

The Apple iPad

With the launch date of the Apple iPad upon us, the same company that dominates the music device category is looking to do the same with tablet or slate devices. Their digital sales will continue to propel their business, as others like Amazon and Microsoft (don’t count them out…yet) work to overthrow the Apple empire. The battle is really not about music, books or movies. For Apple, it’s all about iCommerce.

So what’s on the horizon? High definition investments in each home have significantly driven the bottom line for companies like Best Buy and WalMart. And it hasn’t escaped the attention of those who deliver content to your home, such as cable companies and even Verizon (with their FIOS service).

Xfinity (Comcast) is working on new technology to further exploit their relationships with subscribers (a brilliant subscription model). They are actively working on new ways to provide an even better experience for those people adding new devices to their televisions, ranging from networked Blu-ray players to computers running Windows 7 Media Center equipped with a cable card. Verizon’s FIOS now sports Facebook and Twitter integrated into their service so you can multi-task and tweet or post a status update. And don’t forget leveraging TV content through online and device distribution.

Fios sports Twitter and Facebook connections

A recent DirectTV commercial that showed a bank hold-up with a guy on the floor using his phone to tell his TV to record a show is a great example of the power of mobile access. That’s one example of building a ubiquitous network. What about activating each device the cable subscriber uses in and outside the home from the computer to mobile phone to their new iPad? Now that’s bringing it all together. It’s quickly moving into the “cloud” and a device like the iPad is helping to make that push and thrust for the industry with Touch, Social Connections, Location-based, Tablet, Wireless and Commerce.

The battle now is brewing over devices and distribution of all kinds from advertising to content. And yes, including video – even your TV will soon reclaim center stage appearances again as it becomes more interactive and connected. You will see that the new frontier will be centered around connected devices. And who can we count on to be right in the middle of the commerce war? Why Apple, of course.

And may the best one win – the consumer!

THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN MOBILE MARKETER. Read it here.

About the Author:
David Geipel is COO & Founder of QWASI (http://www.qwasi.com). You can reach him at dgeipel at qwasi.com or chat with him – text DAVE to 79274 (QWASI).

NOTE: This is not an endorsement for Apple. We consider them to be the leading innovator today for consumer adoption of interactive commerce. The iPad debuts at Apple stores on April 3, 2010. Start standing in line now.

Google shares that 30% of mobile web traffic is location-based searching.

Google this week shared some very powerful and persuasive data about local search on mobile phones and devices. Diana Pouliot, Director of Mobile Advertising, Google, Inc, shared with those in attendance at the CTIA Wireless Conference Mobile Marketing & Advertising forum that 30% (one-third) of all Google searches on the mobile web are about some aspect of the searcher’s local environment.

Paul Feng, Google’s Mobile-Ads Group Product Manager, expounded on Google’s efforts to make the search giant’s advertising reach as “local as possible”. Some efforts underway include developing new ad formats. Feng suggested further tweaking of those formats in the near future – changes that may even involve new forms of user interaction, including navigation. “We think of location as a hugely important signal.”

And Google is admittedly hard at work optimizing advertising platforms for the increasing pertinence of “local-intent” in a substantial chunk of all mobile searches. Google, however, isn’t along in its efforts. For example, this week Yahoo’s sales reps are “going after big companies with outlets that advertise in local newspapers and on regional radio stations and Web sites.” The marketers referenced include Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, Pizza Hut, State Farm Insurance and Home Depot.

The mobile industry seems to agree: analysts are now forecasting and predicting that location-based mobile spending will top $4 billion in 2015. That’s up from just $34 million spent just last year.

Mobile Marketing and Mobile Advertising center on location, location, location. Certainly already a very familiar concept in real estate marketing and other industries that base it’s value around location including: billboards, channel position on cable channels, online marketing (above or below the fold), land value, store traffic, etc.

Bottom Line: Local Intent will drive mobile marketing and advertising.

THE HIGHLIGHTS
SMS/ Text Messaging Stats:
According to the survey, text messaging (SMS) continues to grow at an unprecedented rate: more than 822 billion text messages sent and received on carriers’ networks during the last half of 2009—amounting to almost 5 billion messages per day at the end of the year. During the 2009 calendar year, there were more than 1.5 trillion text messages reported on carriers’ networks.

MMS / Multi-Media Messaging Stats:
Wireless subscribers are also sending more pictures and other multimedia messages with their mobile devices—more than 24.2 billion MMS messages were reported for the last half of 2009. That’s more than double the number from the previous year, when only 9.3 billion were reported for the last half of 2008 – a growth of over 250% year over year growth. The growth in messaging take up is also fueling mobile marketing growth and adoption of mobile marketing by companies of all sizes.

Device Growth & Increase Data Connection:
There are now more than 257 million data-capable devices in consumers’ hands in the US – up from 228MM at the end of 2008: 50 Million are smart phones or wireless-enabled PDAs and nearly 12 million are wireless-enabled laptops, notebooks or aircards.

As of December 2009, more than 285 million wireless connections. This represents a year-over-year increase of more than 15 million.

“With wireless connections now equal to more than 91 percent of the U.S. population, mobile broadband is pivotal to ensuring all Americans are ‘digitally literate’. CTIA’s survey results show the wireless ecosystem is constantly reinventing itself, and other industries, to be more productive and efficient” said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA -The Wireless Association. “Mobile broadband will increasingly play a vital role in people’s lives.”

People Still Making Calls:
Other highlights included wireless customers using more than 1.12 trillion minutes in the last half of 2009, up 38 billion from the last half of 2008—and breaking down to 6.1 billion minutes-of-use per day. Wireless service revenues for the last half of 2009 amounted to almost $77 billion—up from a little more than $75 billion in the last half of 2008.

The CTIA Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey results were released at International CTIA WIRELESS 2010. For more survey information, please visit: http://www.ctia.org/advocacy/research/index.cfm/AID/10316

POSTED: March 23, 2010 (LIVE FROM CTIA)

Juniper categorizes mobile ticketing into three major segments that cover most of the ticketing applications in the following categories:

• Transportation including Air, Rail and Bus
• Sporting Events, including sports at the club, national and international levels, as well as major international sporting events such as the Olympics and World Cup.
• Entertainment & Events, including live music, theatre, ballet, comedy, cinema, night clubs, museums & galleries & trade shows.

The Juniper report shares that mobile ticketing is being adopted the fastest in the transport sector through SMS, bar codes and apps offered by mass transit, railways and airlines. It predicted mobile ticketing would be more widespread in Cinema’s, Concert halls and sports stadiums by 2014.

The report also stated that in 2009 the majority of mobile ticketing transactions where in the Far East and China. While Europe’s contribution in 2009, of 17% is mainly due to advanced transport ticketing systems in Scandinavia. But the report predicted that Europe would be the leading region by 2014.

Mobile Tickets for Movies, Travel, Sports and more.

Chicago, IL, February 12, 2010 – Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA) announced that they have partnered with Text2Drive to harness the power of the mobile communication channel throughout this year’s Chicago Auto Show. CATA will incorporate the Text2Drive Mobile Marketing platform to collect opt-in mobile numbers of those in the Chicago area that will later be incorporated in the CATA’s promotional advertising campaigns leading up to the auto show. The innovative Text2Drive Platform will be used to drive show attendance and increase attendee’s participation by raising awareness and creating a “buzz” around special events, featured vehicles and show promotions.

Recognizing the power of the mobile platform, Text2Drive offers car shoppers a very quick, easy and hassle-free method of obtaining vehicle information without the need of the Internet on their phones. “According to Nielsen only 30-40 percent of consumers have Internet connectivity on their phones. Text2Drive allows car shoppers to search inventory, receive vehicle information including photos and special incentives, and communicate instantly with sellers via text messaging from their cell phones,” said Gregg Owen, CEO & Co-Founder of Text2Drive. “Text2Drive offers many compelling reasons for consumers to opt-in, resulting in our clients being able to create large mobile networks. Once the network is created we afford our clients the ability to easily collect, track, and organize this data so they can continue to remarket their products and services to interested consumers.”

“The best part about Text2Drive is that it provides multiple benefits to our attendees and exhibitors,” said Dave Sloan, president of CATA. “Not only can we leverage this technology to help us promote the show and use it throughout the show for marketing, our exhibitors can use it to uniquely promote their brands. Imagine someone at the show looking at the new Chevy Camaro and wanting more information, using Text2Drive they can immediately receive pictures and all the important information about the vehicle right to their phone.”

In addition to the auto show campaign, the CATA has created an introductory Text2Drive program for their dealer members.  This program provides tools for the dealer’s website while incorporating the Text2Drive online mobile number collection widget on Drivechicago.com.

Text2Drive is powered by leading mobile marketing and mobile commerce company, QWASI, Inc.  The Philadelphia-based company provides cross-market interactive solutions for fortune 500 companies, as well as SMBs (Small to Medium Businesses), across the nation.  “We are excited to see the Chicago Auto Show embrace the power of mobile connection with their exhibitors and show attendees,” notes Dave Geipel, COO of QWASI, Inc.

ABOUT THE CHICAGO AUTO SHOW
Sanctioned by International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, the Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America and has been held more times than any other auto exposition on the continent. First staged in 1901, 2010 will mark the 102nd edition of the show. The Chicago Auto Show will open to the public Feb. 12-22. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Feb. 12-21) and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Feb. 21). For additional information visit: www.ChicagoAutoShow.com

ABOUT TEXT2DRIVE
Text2Drive is a pioneer in providing the automotive industry with exclusive tools to leverage the most powerful, efficient, and most popular communication channel ever created. Text2Drive provides its clients with platform to build their own mobile network and maximize the value of that network. The Text2Drive platform has greater reach and appeal because it is the only solution that allows the consumer to search dealer inventory, receive information and photos, receive coupons and instantly connect with the client via chatting/texting, all this without the consumer needing the internet on their phones. For additional information please visit www.text2drive.com, or email info@automotiveinternetmedia.com

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading mobile solutions provider of interactive applications for clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP and iPhone applications, QWASI makes complexity to simple with mobile marketing, mCommerce (mobile commerce), private label mobile search tools, event marketing, mobile chat, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, mobile real estate marketing services and mobile alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses. QWASI powers the Text2Drive service.

QWASI CONTACT
Patricia Scanlon, QWASI, 877-747-9274, patricia.scanlon @ qwasi.com

According to a new research published by Portio Research called ‘Mobile Messaging Futures’ reveals that revenues for mobile messaging is expected to reach 233B By 2014. SMS and MMS usage continues to grow worldwide. The Mobile Messaging Futures report, focusing on the overall mobile messaging industry worldwide, indicates that in 2009 alone, the industry generated a $150 billion in revenue, with a projected $233 billion by 2014. The report also reveals that the use of the technology shows no signs of slowing down either.

Text Messaging remains a ubiquitous feature on all cell phones in use today. In 2009 alone, the report suggests, worldwide SMS traffic topped 5 trillion messages, and that figure is set to exceed 10 trillion in 2013.

MMS is ready to break out too in the coming months as carrier finish upgrades to their platforms and allow for interaction via short codes. Full year revenues for MMS in 2009 amount to almost USD 27 billion, an impressive figure, and lest people forget and not far off what SMS was generating a mere 5 years ago. MMS is growing fast in all major regions around the world as affordable camera-equipped handsets flood the market and increasingly become the norm. Read more on MMS here: MMS Messaging

QWASI MMS OUTLOOK: MMS will move mainstream as SMS has done over the last several years offering a true multimedia approach to messaging.

The uses of mobile messaging for business today for entertainment, mobile commerce, mobile coupons, mobile ticketing, mobile donations, mobile search, blasts, alerts and additional mobile marketing.

Read the entire report here: Worldwide Mobile Messaging 2010 Report

According to Apple’s announcement this morning from Steve Jobs, Apple currently has the phone market covered. They have the notebook category. But it needed to find something “in between” – and therefore, a new category of devices they have named their iPad.

The new Apple iPad supports: Browsing the web. Doing email. Enjoying and sharing pics. Watching videos. Enjoying music. Playing games. Maps. Reading ebooks. Super smooth scrolling. iCons fly in when you unlock it. It has iTunes store built right in. YouTube, and YouTube in HD. Replaces the old paper calendar with a similar size version.

Apple iPad Pricing

Hardware Details:
.5 inches thin
1.5 pounds
9.7 inch IPS display
1GHz Apple A4 chip
Full capactitive multi-touch
Available in 16GB, 32, 64
Wifi & Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
10 Hour Battery Life (they claim)
App Store – supports iPhone Apps
Built in Apple Software
Speaker, Microphone
Accelerometer & Compass
iWork – for the iPad

iPad Dimensions

The Specs:

Size and weight:
Height:
9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
Width:
7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
Depth:
0.5 inch (13.4 mm)
Weight:
1.5 pounds (.68 kg) Wi-Fi model;
1.6 pounds (.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model

The other announcement is iBooks. The new iBookstore allows for easy book browsing and purchases, includes a great reader too. All in one really great app. We use the ePub format.

The uses for the new iPad are unlimited. It’s the true “cross-over” platform and device. including leisure activities to light business work. It is also expected to take colleges and universities wireless for textbooks.

“At that price, they’ll sell millions,” Hakim Kriout of New York-based Grigsby & Associates told Bloomberg News. (Kriout’s firm owns Apple shares.) “It’s very, very affordable for what it does. This is going to add a huge revenue stream for Apple.”

As for connectivity, the iPad works on WiFi networks, and there are models that will have 3G connectivity. AT&T will offer unlimited data for $29.99 a month, or $14.99 for 250 Mb/month. There are six models in all, ranging in price from $499 to $829, depending on the amount of storage you want and whether you want 3G.

For more information, visit http://www.apple.com/iPad/

Details on the forthcoming new Apple product, rumored to be named the iPad or iSlate, have been revealed on US TV. Terry McGraw, head of publishing company McGraw-Hill, revealed in an interview with CNBC this morning that the product was going to be based on the operating system of the iPhone, and would be able to display book content to read. Watch the video here:

Apple is holding a press conference later today (January 27) to reveal details of the new product. “The tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system, and so it will be transferable,” he said. “We have a consortium of ebooks – we have 95 per cent of all our materials that are in ebook format on that one – so with the tabloid you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tabloid, the tablet is going to be just really terrific.”

It is still unclear whether McGraw was using the words “tabloid” and “tablet” to refer to a specific product name. We shall see.

Bottom Line: Apple will shake up the Apps and Publishing World with their new device. Mobile Marketers take note – new opportunies are being created with Mobile Apps and Mobile Marketing services. It also sets the stage for new mobile commerce. The new decade marks the start for anexplosion in sales of mobile apps and e-book marketplaces.

Micro Donations Raising Millions for those in need

For the first time in history a mobile contribution channel has been effectively utilized that gives Americans easier access to donate despite their busy lives: text messaging. Largely targeting the technology savvy Generation Y, businesses and non-profits across the United States, such as the American Red Cross, have created a more streamlined outlet for users to participate in charitable giving. With the use of a mobile device, those desiring to give can text “Haiti” to 90999 and contribute to the disaster relief of Haiti, at anytime from anyplace. This is a form of “Micro Donations” that allow users to contribute a set amount ($5 or $10) from their cell phone bill. While micro donations are not new, they have never received this much press from local television outlets, radio stations, print, online and other PSA’s (Public Service Announcements). This form of text donations allow people to use text messaging to provide a quick and simple donation and has officially become a vital link in helping to save lives.

Although the American Red Cross has tried previously to create a successful charitable mobile campaign for the relief efforts of Hurricane Katrina, their Haiti text-to-donate platform has received an unprecedented $30+ million response (as of January 25, 2010). This effective campaign helps to further prove the advancement of SMS donations and Mobile Commerce (mcommerce) over the past few recent years. The future of mobile payments and mobile commerce is a bright one as the ease of text-donations has now been widely accepted. Mobile Commerce proves to be a very bright spot during an unfortunate event that occurred in Haiti. Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Haiti as these much needed funds will quickly be used to help support the nation over the coming years.

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For those new to Mobile Donations, here’s how it works for the current Red Cross Campaign.
“HAITI” to 90999

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS about the Mobile Giving Campaign
Q Does the full $10 go to the Red Cross?
A Yes. 100% of your text donation will support the American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.

Q Will my wireless carrier charge me for text messaging to 90999?
A When you text the word “HAITI” to 90999 you donate $10 to the Red Cross. A onetime $10 donation will be added to your phone bill. Depending on your carrier agreement, message and data rates may apply. Reportedly, Verizon Wireless and AT&T have both agreed to donate the cost of the back-and-forth text messages. Your $10 donation will appear on your regular monthly mobile phone bill.

Q Is there a processing fee for the company hosting this service?
A Mobile Accord and mGive have generously donated their fees.

Q Has this kind of program been done before?
A Yes. In the past, the Red Cross has raised funds for domestic disasters through a program called Text2Help. Text2Help initiative is a partnership between the Red Cross and the Wireless Foundation.

Q What’s the strategy behind the text donations?
A Mobile giving is a fast and convenient way for people to make a donation that can help save the day for people in need, and this effort has proven to be especially popular in social media such as Twitter and Facebook. The American Red Cross is deeply grateful to be the beneficiary of this opportunity created by the State Department and powered by Mobile Accord and the MGive Foundation.

Q How many times can someone make a text donation via 90999?
A Two or three times. AT&T and T-Mobile subscribers can donate three times. If you wish to donate more than $20 or $30, please visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.

Q Are there other ways to donate larger amounts?
A Yes. If you would like to make a larger donation, please visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.

Q Why do you think people want to give this way?
A It’s easy and convenient to donate using your mobile phone. A donation can be made from any place you get a signal and you don’t have to enter in a lot of information to give a quick and meaningful gift. Raising this amount of money $10 at a time is a true testament to the generosity of the American people. The success of the mobile campaign shows the powerful impact and opportunity this channel can have on fundraising. The needs in Haiti are tremendous and we thank the people who continue to donate and help the American Red Cross meet that need.

Q How will people know that this texting program is legitimate?
A The principal organizations behind the 90999 program (i.e., The State Department, mGive Foundation, Mobile Accord, and The American Red Cross) have made public statements to confirm their involvement in this special program. To document your donation, after you send a text message you will receive a confirmation text that asks you to reply “YES” if you intend to give a $10 donation to the Red Cross Haiti relief efforts. A thank you text will follow.

Q How did the text “Haiti” to 90999 mobile giving program come about?
A The State Department worked with The mGive Foundation, Mobile Accord, CTIA (CTIA-The Wireless Association) and The American Red Cross to set up an immediate system to channel contributions for relief directly through cell phones. Quickly providing necessary resources to assist with relief efforts is vital. Understanding that Americans are eager to do their part to help, mGive, participating wireless service providers, and the American Red Cross have created an easy and efficient way for their subscribers to lend their support.

Q Why is the State Department sponsoring mobile giving? What is their role?
A The State Department worked with The mGive Foundation, Mobile Accord, CTIA (CTIA-The Wireless Association) and The American Red Cross to set up an immediate system to channel contributions for relief directly through cell phones. The American Red Cross is deeply grateful to be the beneficiary of this opportunity created by the State Department and powered by Mobile Accord and the MGive Foundation.

Q Why is the mobile donation fixed or limited to $10 dollars?
A Current carrier and Mobile Marketing Association guidelines stipulate offering either $5 and or $10 options.

Q What happens after a donor opts in to receive additional news from the Red Cross?
A After your donation and acknowledgement, you will then receive one more text asking you to reply with YES if you want to receive text updates from the Red Cross. You do not need to reply to this message if you do not wish to receive updates. If you DO want to receive text updates you will need to reply with YES. Red Cross can communicate with opt in donors up to 4 times per month via text.

Q How do I get a tax receipt for this donation?
A Go to www.mgive.org/receipt and enter your mobile number. A PIN number will be sent via text to your phone and you will need to enter it on the site where requested. You will then be able to see confirmation of all donations you have made via the mobile phone number that was entered. You can print a receipt for your records that can also be treated as the official donation receipt for tax purposes.

Q Will anyone other than the Red Cross have access to the donor data from the 90999 program?
A Only mGive, working under an agreement with the Red Cross, and the Red Cross have access to the donor information.

Q Can people outside the US give using 90999?
A Only US wireless subscribers can donate this way.

Q How much money has the Red Cross raised via mobile giving for Haiti Earthquake relief?
A As of Friday morning, January 15, the text “Haiti” to 90999 program has raised more than $8 million. The Red Cross continues to receive donations for relief in Haiti. You can make a donation to the Red Cross by texting “Haiti” to 90999, visiting redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS.

Q How much has Red Cross raised via mobile versus other giving vehicles?
A In the 48 hours since the earthquake struck in Haiti the American public pledged more than$37 million specifically for this response and we are thankful for this unprecedented outpouring of support. More than half of the total donations have been through online contributions, with strong support as well from corporations and the unprecedented activity over the past two days in mobile giving.

Q How quickly does the Red Cross receive the donations after the donor text messages the number?
A The carriers and Mobile Accord will work to get the Red Cross these donations as quickly as possible. It can take anywhere from 60-90 days for the Red Cross to get these funds. Despite this delay in receiving funds, the American Red Cross will continue to provide relief in Haiti and these donations will cover expenses incurred after the fact.

Q What challenges does mobile giving address for the Red Cross?
A By accepting donations through the mobile sphere, the Red Cross can reach a wider audience during times of disaster when support is needed immediately. Supporters are not limited to writing a check and putting their gift in the mail nor having immediate computer access and entering in credit card information – the donation can be made instantly from a mobile phone.

>>>Need a mobile donation campaign? Contact QWASI today to get started.

Amazon’s Kindle Adds Apps

The competition from Apple will be the Kindle’s most formidable competitor to date. It also comes a day after Amazon said it was hiking the royalty rate for authors for each e-book sold via the Kindle to 70% — the same rate Apple pays developers on app sales through iTunes.

Some Kindle Apps in the works include a Zagat guide for restaurants worldwide, games from Electronic Arts and word games and puzzles from smaller game publisher Sonic Boom. The third-party apps won’t be available in the Kindle Store until later this year. Starting next month, Amazon will allow developers to download the software development kit in a limited beta.

“We’ve heard from lots of developers over the past two years who are excited to build on top of Kindle,” said Ian Freed, vice president, Amazon Kindle, in a statement. “The Kindle Development Kit opens many possibilities — we look forward to being surprised by what developers invent.”

Apple, has been coy about its designs on the e-reader market. But recent reports that the company is in talks with a wide range of publishers including HarperCollins and The New York Times to supply content for its forthcoming tablet device suggest it’s taking dead aim at the Kindle.

The release of yet another App Store and digital marketplace shows the trend for Apps and Digital Content to grow over the coming years (see the Mobile App Stores Sales expected to hit $6 Billion in 2010 article).

According to a recent Gartner report, consumers will spend $6.2 billion in mobile application stores this year while mobile advertising revenue is expected to generate $0.6 billion worldwide. In general, analysts predict Mobile App Stores will exceed 4.5 billion downloads this year — 80% are expected to be free downloads. Looking forward, Gartner forecasts worldwide downloads in mobile application stores to surpass 21.6 billion by 2013, while the share of free downloads will increase from 82% of all downloads in 2010 to 87% of all downloads in 2013.

Mobile App Stores Sales Expected to reach over $6 Billion in 2010

Worldwide, mobile application stores’ download revenue exceeded $4.2 billion in 2009 and will grow to $29.5 billion by the end of 2013. This revenue forecast includes end-user spending on paid-for applications and advertising-sponsored free applications. Advertising-sponsored mobile applications will generate almost 25% of mobile application stores revenue by 2013.

“Consumers will have a wide choice of stores and will seek the ones that make it easy for them to discover applications they are interested in and make it easy to pay for them when they have to. Developers will have to consider carefully not only which platform to support but also which store to promote their applications in,” said Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner.

According to a survey conducted by Tekelec (a messaging company powering telecom operator applications), 60% of 45 year olds were found to be just as likely to use SMS as they were to make voice calls from their mobile device. The survey of 500 people in North American and Europe also found that text messaging is gaining on email as the preferred means of daily international communication, with 32% of responses across all ages preferring SMS, compared to 33% for email. And nearly a third of respondents said their use of SMS would increase in 2010.

Mobile Messaging continue to grow through SMS & M2M

In addition, more than 80 percent of respondents across all age groups thought they would get a quicker response from a text than from an email or voice message. Women preferred to let their fingers do the talking, with 40% describing themselves as ‘mainly texter’, compared to 30% of men.

One more difference between the sexes: women were more likely to engage in TV voting via text, with 25% versus just 14% of menengaging in such behavior.

But those under 35 were the most likely age group to vote via text, with 16% of them saying they do so, followed by 9% of 35-44 year olds, and 7% of those 45 and older. However, 35-44 year olds are the largest consumers of news and sports by text at 18% compared to 17% for those under 35, and only 8% for those over 45.

SMS – A look ahead at growth for M2M (machine-to-machine)

AT&T and Verizon Wireless nearly doubled their text message traffic from third-quarter 2008 to third-quarter 2009, showing that SMS continues to become even more pervasive.

While person-to-person (P2P) messages will keep increasing, the next major growth area is in fact machine-to-machine (M2M) SMS.

ABI Research recently released data showing that M2M SMS and MMS message volume will have a compound annual growth rate of 40.06 percent from 2008 to 2014 (“Mobile Messaging Services: SMS, MMS, Mobile Email, and Mobile IM,” 4Q 2009).

Brands can capitalize on SMS M2M to more rapidly meet their customers’ needs. For example, vending machines located anywhere with cellular reception can send texts when inventory is low, rapidly and affordably assuring that goods remain in stock. M2M will open up an entirely new growth area as new solutions focused on cost savings emerge.

Bottom Line: SMS & M2M will bring huge growth in mobile over the next decade as consumer prefer SMS for their mobile communication.

PHILADELPHIA, January 7, 2010 – QWASI Inc., one of the leading enterprise mobile marketing application companies providing interactive mobile solutions for the US mobile market and small and medium-sized businesses (the SMB market), announced today the official launch of the QWASI Mobile Marketing Center 2.0. With this release, it’s never been easier to build, manage and analyze mobile marketing campaigns through a self-managed online portal. Companies of any size can seize the opportunity of enterprise features that mobile marketing offers through the power of QWASI’s mobile marketing platform.

Create Interactive SMS and MMS Mobile Marketing Campaigns

With twice as many users of SMS than email globally and over 125 billion text messages sent every month in the United States, 45% of brands have already deployed text messaging campaigns, with a projection of 89% planned to go to market by 2010. There has never been a more important time to engage customers via the mobile communication channel. QWASI is committed to helping clients and companies navigate effectively through the mobile landscape as they reach SMB consumers on-the-go. The QWASI Mobile Marketing Center 2.0 now provides its clients with the platform that will help to launch their campaigns into the mobile marketing space and realize the power of mobile.

QWASI provides its clients with a variety of key services designed to better promote marketing campaigns with mobile services. With the ability to quickly set up interactive text messaging and mobile campaigns from any browser, QWASI gives its clients the power to control their own interactive mobile marketing solutions.

The QWASI Mobile Marketing Center 2.0 provides such popular features and new services including:

• SMS Auto Responders (NEW): Power drip marketing via text messaging to opt-in users.
• Info-on-Demand: Providing information via custom Keywords. Capture opt-in users for future message blasts including email addresses (NEW).
• Blasts / Alerts: Send text messages to subscribers. Keep customers informed of promotions, offers & events.
• Mobile Coupons: Distribute coupons to potential customers who have opted-in to receive your promotions. Track usage with Promo Codes (NEW).
• Text-to-Win: Enable potential customers to text in a special keyword to instantly enter-to-win a prize.
• Text-to-Vote: Have interested customers text to vote on a topic and provide real-time results.
• Ringtones, Wallpapers & Mobile Video: Deliver rich content to customers with MMS and mobile downloads.
• Website Widget: Build a subscriber list from web-widgets.
• Custom Applications: The Marketing Center API allows companies to build any custom mobile messaging application.

Use the Mobile Marketing Center to create a voting & polling campaign in seconds.

“Many of our new features in this release have been in use for QWASI enterprise clients. We’re now making them available to small and medium size companies to leverage the mobile channel,” states David Geipel, COO and Co-Founder of QWASI, Inc. “We enable companies to power a simple mobile campaign and provide them with tools that connect companies with their customers. We’ve seen an insurgence of companies desiring to utilize a short code to power one-to-one mobile messaging. With the Mobile Marketing Center API, we’re also enabling other companies to power highly interactive campaigns using the same API our platform uses. QWASI has been providing successful and cost effective mobile campaigns for over 5 years.”

Get real-time reports on user mobile marketing activity.

QWASI’s Mobile Marketing Center 2.0 also enables companies to white-label a powerful mobile marketing platform using a shared short code provisioned on wireless carriers including Alltel, AT&T, Boost, Centennial, Cellular One, Dobson, Immix, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile, Virgin, Verizon and other second and third tier carriers. The platform provides companies the ability to give their clients access to further provide control over their marketing campaigns. In addition, the service can be connected using a dedicated short code (vanity or random).


ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading mobile solutions provider of interactive applications for clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP and iPhone applications, QWASI makes complexity to simple with mobile marketing, mCommerce (mobile commerce), private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, interactive property marketing services and customized alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

QWASI CONTACT
Patricia Scanlon, QWASI, 877-747-9274, patricia.scanlon @ qwasi.com

Mobile Alerts by QWASI

PHILADELPHIA, December 31, 2009 – QWASI Inc., a leading enterprise mobile applications company providing interactive solutions is enabling businesses to communicate with their employees and internal customers on a broader scale. QWASI recently launched its Mobile Alerts service with Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online retail lender and 6th largest retail mortgage lender, to communicate internal urgent messages, such as emergencies, potential outages or other important information to employees.

Designed to alert associates throughout the company of urgent notifications, QWASI’s Mobile Alerts allows department administrators across the organization to send important and timely SMS (text messages) to people within the department, team or enterprise. It also gives them the ability to broadcast region-wide messages to their remote workers. Since alert messages are sent via SMS to subscribers, the message is delivered within seconds to employee cell phones.

“Mobile Alerts is an efficient way for us to quickly and succinctly alert our team members of urgent information,” said Frank Laura, Quicken Loans CIO. “Our people are tech savvy and always connected, so enacting a streamlined way to alert them after hours is an important service that QWASI’s technology allows us to provide.”

QWASI also powers Mobile Alerts and Enterprise Communication solutions for Fortune 500 companies, small to medium-sized businesses, churches, non-profits and other political organizations. Similar text message alert systems have been deployed for colleges, universities, school campuses, mass transit, hospitals, and the like. These alerts can be critical in providing vital information in emergencies and giving crucial details that would be helpful in getting more information about the event or crisis.

“Our mobile alerts platform allows any company to send important information about an urgent situation, even when the company server or power is down,” states David Geipel, COO of QWASI, Inc. “We’re pleased to be working with Quicken Loans to power their internal mobile alert system.”

ABOUT QUICKEN LOANS
Quicken Loans is the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender and the sixth largest retail mortgage lender in the United States, closing $15 billion in home loan volume in the first half of 2009. The company closes loans from five Web Centers located in Michigan, Ohio and Arizona, and from its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. The QuickenLoans.com Web site has been named “Best of the Web” by Forbes and Money magazine. Quicken Loans has been named to Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for six consecutive years, ranking as high as No. 2. The company also has been named one of Computerworld Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work in Technology” for the past five years, ranking No. 1 in 2005, 2006 and 2007. For more information, visit www.QuickenLoans.com.

QUICKEN LOANS CONTACT
Aaron Emerson, (734) 805-7173, aaronemerson@quickenloans.com

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading mobile solutions provider of interactive applications for clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP and iPhone applications, QWASI makes complexity to simple with mobile marketing, mCommerce (mobile commerce), private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, interactive property marketing services and customized alerting for Fortune 1000 businesses.

For more information on Mobile Alerts, give us a call today @ 1-877-747-9274.

New Apps like Price Scanning and Deal Alerts are help driving the frenzy across online and traditional brick and mortar stores. While most retailers were hoping for greater consumer spending, some figures early figures on mobile retailing over the three-day Black Friday weekend are sure to raise a few eyebrows:

According to the Yankee Group, some of the surprising news include:
* Mobile Payments are More Popular than ever: The WSJ reports that the number of mobile online payments made through Paypal on Black Friday is 650% higher than it was last year.

* Mobile Product Search has Grown: Siva Kumar, the chief executive of TheFind.com (a product search engine), has stated that the number of searches on mobile devices on Black Friday grew from 5,000 last year to 200,000 this year.

* Price Comparison Shopping Apps are More Popular: ShopSaavy, a comparison-shopping application for the iPhone, has reported that 1 million users scanned at least one product with the App’s barcode scanner over the three-day Black Friday weekend.

It’s no wonder that consumers are using their mobile phones more than ever in the discovery, research, planning and actual shopping. Data from the Yankee Group’s Consumer survey indicates that the holiday shopper of 2009 will not only be far more price sensitive than his 2008 predecessor, but will also increasingly rely on sales and price comparison tools when he does decide to spend his hard earned dollar.

That’s where mobile steps in to solve the challenge of comparison shopping. Today’s Smartphone provides access to pricing and product review information, product availability at the store level. It’s certainly becoming the “emerging as the tool of choice for any holiday shopper” looking to save some dough.

If you’re a retailer looking for mobile commerce solutions, consider many commerce services and applications from QWASI including:

Text Ordering

Using SMS, this service allows customers to order via any cell phone, anytime, anywhere through a few texts.

Mobile Apps

Launching an iPhone App or Blackberry App targeting on-the-go shoppers. However, not all apps are worth building. Consult before building an App.

WAP Site

The place most retailers start – this allows anyone with a data plan to access product information, reviews and checkout. Check out the QWASI PCI compliant shopping cart.

SMS Alerts

Drive sales online or in store with alerts and notifications. Include CTAs (call to action) including click-to-call, trackable WAP site links,  MMS and other push methods.

Mobile Loyalty

Allows companies to offer specials and promotions vis SMS. Track activity and reward/incentivize customer activity.

Mobile Optimized Email

A must for email today. Browser detection can quickly format the message for readability on smartphones.

Store Locators

Utilize SMS or WAP and tapping into Google Maps and other local-based services, let shoppers find you while out and about.

Custom Application and Interactive Programs

Building mobile mash-ups and multi-mobile commerce apps, provide multiple campaigns targeting mobile shoppers.

Check out QWASI’s Mobile Retail methodology and let QWASI take your company mobile and start generating new sales from today’s mobile consumers.

Call QWASI @ 877-747-9274.

PHILADELPHIA, November 19, 2009 – CellSigns, Inc., the leading provider of mobile tools and services for real estate, announced today the addition of new social network features to its CellSigns Property Marketing and Mobile Agent solutions. CellSigns brings together two very powerful forces: mobile and social networks.

`Continuing its leadership within the Real Estate Industry, CellSigns brings new ways for Home Buyers and Real Estate agents to tag and share their properties on social networks. With the addition of FaceBook and Twitter connections, home buyers can now tag a home and share it with family & friends on social network accounts. It’s become vital for REALTORS and real estate agents to reach across social networks like Facebook.

Buyer sees a home of interest and using Mobile Agent and can share it on Social Networks FaceBook and Twitter

According to Parenting Group’s research panel of 5,000 moms, 60% of moms report having used a social network in the past 24 hours. Of that group, over 80% are online with Facebook. According to a recent eMarketer survey, “mobile social networkers” will total 56.2 million by 2013 in the United States, accounting for 45 percent of the mobile Internet user population and highlights the importance of using this media to reach Gen X and Gen Y as a means of communication.

Agents using CellSigns Property Marketing and Mobile Agent can easily extend their area of influence through mobile and social networks. The services can also distribute and syndicate their listings, automatically. This allows agents to provide greater reach for their listings and reach new buyers and sellers in the process.

• Automatically distribute listing content to FaceBook or Twitter
• Allows FB and Twitter friends to see full details of the listing content
• Data automation available through MLS Feeds (IDX or RETS) and Direct Broker Feeds

The first client to launch with these new features is the Allen Tate Company. Allen Tate, the Carolinas’ leading real estate company and the 11^th largest broker in the country, is making real estate text messaging available throughout the Charlotte, Triad, Triangle and Upstate South Carolina regions. Properties with mobile texting capabilities will be identified with sign riders, indicating the unique property ID and text messaging number. The mobile texting technology is compatible with all types and brands of cell phones.

“The power of mobile search, mobile marketing, and social networks come together with the CellSigns mobile real estate service,” notes David Geipel, COO of QWASI, Inc. “Mobile is not a trend or fade but a way of life in real estate. It’s a ubiquitous activity that encompasses search and discovery. What we’ve done with our services is to tap into the strengths of mobile and social networks. Allowing home buyers, for example, to pull up to a home for sale, search via their mobile phone using SMS (text messaging) or even Mobile Web (WAP) and then share that property with their family or friends is very instinctual. It gives the buyer a chance to let others share their thoughts on that home directly with others.”

Home buyers can sign up for Mobile Agent by visiting http://www.mymobileagent.com.

CellSigns has also introduced these features to its popular mobile IDX service Mobile Agent. Mobile Agent is the only mobile real estate service that allows buyers and agents to search and interact via SMS & WAP. The CellSigns real estate text messaging service and mobile search tools were awarded the “Most Innovative Technology of the Year” award in real estate from Inman News.

ABOUT CELLSIGNS
CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of QWASI, Inc. company, is a leading mobile applications company providing interactive solutions and mobile marketing for businesses via text messaging, SMS, MMS and WAP. Supported by every major wireless carrier and working on over 99% of all cell phones, the company offers Mobile Agent real estate search, private label mobile search tools, mcommerce, SMS Chat, Text Ordering, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and the only interactive property marketing service for real estate. CellSigns powers over one million real estate listings, 1.5 million mobile ads and mobile alerts.

VIDEO: CellSigns and Mobile Agent – the power of Social Networks

What’s most revealing is that the Android phone also outpaces Mobile Web and Data use over the iPhone which has been quickly adopted by consumers looking to use their iPhone Data & Web plan through the use of Apps, Text, MMS and Mobile Web. Here’s how web and data consumption fares among the leading smartphones:

SMARTPHONE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
Nielson projects that the majority of mobile phones by 2011 in the U.S. will be smartphones, with the devices used by half of cell phone subscribers, or 150 million people, by mid-2011.

“This shift could happen much faster with the right conditions such as continued competitive price points on devices, lower ‘all you can eat’ data packages and the increasing consumers who need to be connected anytime, anywhere,” according to a post Wednesday on the Nielsen blog by Jerry Rocha, senior director of the online division.

In just the third quarter of 2009, Nielsen estimates that smartphones accounted for 40% of new phones sold in the period, up from 25% in the prior quarter. And in the third quarter, for the first time, more people accessed the Internet from smartphones than regular phones. “If this trend continues, we’ll see more than 80% of the devices accessing the Internet being these advanced phones,” wrote Rocha.

MOBILE INTERNET via a SmartPhone Device
Assuming that 150 million people will be using smartphones by mid-2011, that means 120 million will be on the mobile Internet and 90 million, or 60%, will be watching video, according to Nielsen projections based on current data trends.

As of the second quarter, Nielsen has previously reported that some 15 million U.S. mobile subscribers watch video on their phones for an average of three hours, 15 minutes each month.

With the launch of the Motorola Droid by Verizon Wireless last week, Nielsen also compared data and Web usage between the iPhone and Android devices. The results were roughly even, with 92% of Android users accessing the Internet compared to 88% of iPhone owners, and 76% of Android customers using applications versus 74% on the iPhone. Given Apple’s 10-to-1 advantage over Android in the number of mobile apps offered, the parity in usage should be welcome news to Google.

MOBILE VIDEO
When it comes to watching video, Android had a clearer edge over the iPhone, at 47% to 40%. But iPhone and Android users separately outstripped smartphone owners overall in Web browsing, video viewing and using apps. The Android phones helps accelerate adoption of the mobile Web and content, especially of popular Google programs like Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Voice.

“The trend in the U.S. is more interaction, more consumption, and more connected devices,” wrote Roche. “While not a competition killer, the Droid is the next logical step in a market with a wide array of rich media devices.”

SmartPhone Mobile Internet Usage vs. Standard Cell Phone

“Mobile advertising has enormous potential as a marketing medium and while this industry is still in the early stages of development, AdMob has already made exceptional progress in a very short time,” said Susan Wojcicki, VP of product management at Google in a statement. “AdMob is the quintessential Silicon Valley startup — generating impressive year on year revenue growth — and we’re excited to welcome this talented team to Google.”

AdMob brings an extensive network of display ad inventory on 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications for iPhone and Android along with mobile web banners. To date, AdMob has been one of the largest (if not the largest) mobile ad network for in-app ad inventory on the iPhone. This has brought new implications for demographic targeting and audience segmentation toGoogle. The combination of AdMob’s display and in-app advertising coupled with search adverticing makes Google king of the hill again in mobile.

What does this mean for Mobile Marketing and Advertising?

First, it’s clear that Google is serious about mobile advertising and sees the space as a growth market. We too are excited about the space and the future mobile advertising holds for marketers, brands and consumers. Google also brings credibility (think about online advertising BEFORE AdWords). The ease of use AdMob is able to demonstrate with it’s platform will also lead to a better advertiser experience when researching and placing mobile advertisements. This deal also brings better ad formats and options to Google – something Google knows very well how to monetize.

AdMob offers a variety of sizes for mobile ads.

In addition, Google will ad focus to this emerging market opportunity of self-service advertising. Google will help bring mobile to an entirely new audience. Google has been testing mobile advertising for several years with their own mobile search, banner and in-app ad networks and now mobile analytics.

What Admob did was to help businesses and agencies navigate the space with a platform that is easy to use and has evolved from text links to interactive banners and in App advertisements.

Next, this move will lead to a shift in mobile acquisition and bring new investment to mobile. Let’s face it, it’s great to run a mobile ad, but to covert traffic is an entirely separate event. Then to resell or market to these new prospects and finally, lead them to water – the Holy Grail – a purchase or some sort of transaction. This will also lead to greater focus on Mobile Analytics too over the entire mobile ecosystem.

This purchase is very similar to other acquisitions made by AOL (Third Screen Media), MicroSoft (TellMe and ScreenTonic) and Yahoo (Actionality and RightMedia).

With Google sitting on top of the mobile advertising scene, it still leaves other competitors to focus on their edge over the other companies. These companies include Quattro Wireless, Millennial Media, Jumptap and 4INFO to name a few.

Mobile Advertising Projected Growth

Gartner projects that the worldwide revenue for mobile advertising will be $13.5 billion in 2013, up from around $500 million in 2008. This includes mobile banner ads, SMS, text links, search and maps, ads in applications and games, ads in videos and TV shown on a mobile phone. Until now, Google has focused mainly on search advertising, but this deal signals that it has its sights set on other areas as well.

Focusing on display, search and messaging-based advertising, eMarketer predicts that U.S. mobile advertising spending will grow from $320 million last year to $416 million this year to more than $1.5 billion by 2013.

———————–
QWASI brings results to your mobile advertising buy. Contact us today to learn more. Call us toll-free at 877-747-9274.

A few years ago, several organizations outsourced their mobile campaigns through their ad agency. Early results showed huge promise. Customer adoption followed with phones & devices that got more personal. And the demand for interaction increased. Today, consumer’s view mobile and social communication as their primary form of communication.

Corporate websites and email marketing helped organizations prepare for today’s interactive boom. Having a website was not enough without constant growth in traffic. Driving web traffic focused on natural, organic search marketing and email marketing to communicate with customers.

Then SPAM infiltrated email as people received unsolicited email. People were getting more and more upset and technology was put into force to protect customers from these emails. This lead to  decreasing open rates and response rates from email. Most companies tested email campaigns with great success, but over time, even email lost it’s luster.

Then mobile marketing entered the marketing mix. It resembles email in main ways to corporate executives. However, while it too is trackable, mobile is near real-time, extremely responsive and viral, ubiquitous (accessible anytime, anywhere) and requires dedicated resources and a budget.

Unlike mobile, email marketers have to address a high turnover rate of email addresses. Within a year, it is reported that 33% of email addresses in your opt-in list of email addresses are no longer valid. However, mobile phone numbers have a far lower turnover rate. Many people keep their cell phone number for life.

While email suffers from deliverability issues, mobile delivers on delivery (carrier-grade messaging ensures your message is delivered). Today, nearly 100% of cell phones SMS enabled and more people have a cell phone than a television or computer. Finally, most text messages are read within 30 minutes versus up to 48 emails for many emails.

In order to receive high response rates, there is a need to have an educated mobile marketer. This is someone who understands the strengths of the mobile channel and how to build and execute a mobile marketing strategy. Since mobile is opt-in, a good mobile marketer will work hard to keep the messages targeted, relevant, and provide value to their customers through the mobile communication channel.

Some other important considerations:
* The ideal first step in a mobile strategy is to provide access to a mobile touchpoint.

* Create incentives that are unique to mobile users.

* Provide customers the ability to double opt-in to campaigns.

* Manage customer expectations using the proper type of messages they will get, using the frequency you communicated (1x daily, per week, per month) and provide them with a means to opt-out.

* Promote the mobile channel in everywhere. Integrate it with radio, television, online and email.

* AND use email to promote mobile to existing subscribers. Mobile is central to your marketing mix.

The success of mobile marketing lies in ability to empower the customer. Be sure to have someone educated on mobile marketing and today’s mobile consumers.

QWASI’s team of mobile consultant’s are ready to help you get mobile. Contact us today @ 877-747-9274.

The survey — part of Deloitte’s 24th Annual Holiday Survey, a poll of more than 10,000 adults in the U.S — says that of the nearly 1 in 5 plan to use social media sites. Of that group, 60% say they will do so to find sales, discounts, and coupons; 53% intend to use sites like MySpace and Facebook to research gift ideas, and 52% say they will check the wish lists of friends and family.

While young people certainly have greater amounts of social-media savvy than more grizzled consumers (52% of those in the 18-29 group will use social media to shop), interest is relatively strong among other age groups. In the 30 to 44 age bracket, 33% will use social media as a shopping tool, and in the 45 to 60 age group, 10% plan to do so.

Also revealed in this study is that of the shoppers who plan to use their smartphones, 55% say they rely on their devices for a mobile store locator, 45% to research lowest prices, 40% to find general product information, 32% to get mobile coupons and 31% to find reviews. And this year, 25% of consumers say they will also use their phone to make a digital purchase.

The Deloitte study also found strong interest in shopping online, with 22% of respondents vowing to shop primarily via the Web, and 44% planning to use coupons they find on the Internet. It also found plenty of evidence that consumers love the luxury of shopping through multiple channels. About 78% say they have made an in-store purchase after viewing the product at a store’s Web site, for example, and 65% have done the reverse — seen an item in-store, then gone home, done some more research and purchased it online.

These trends will play out as retailer rush to distribute and promote their iPhone Apps geared toward gift buying and to move customers toward signup of offers and specials throughout the holiday through us of proximity marketing and mobile alerts. The reality is that mcommerce is here.And QWASI helps get you there.

QWASI takes retail mobile.
Get started today. Call us toll-free @ 877-747-9274

Google Analytics adds Mobile Analytics

According to Google’s blog, Google Analytics will now include reporting for mobile Websites and mobile apps with a new soon-to-be-released server-side code-snippet in the coming weeks.  This will allow Google Analytics to track traffic to your mobile website from all web-enabled devices, whether or not the device runs JavaScript.  The release is reported to support PHP, Perl, JSP and ASPX-based sites, and will be in addition to allowing users to track visits to their regular website coming from high-end, Javascript enabled phones.

In addition to expanded mobile reporting, Apple’s iPhone and Android mobile application developers can now track how users engage with apps. For Android devices, usage can be tied back to ad campaigns: from ad to marketplace to download to engagement. In the future, Google promises the ability to see breakout data on mobile devices and carriers in the new “mobile reports” area of the Visitors section.

While it has taken some time for this to be introduced, it certainly is a welcomed improvement. The ability to include Mobile Analytics to further help break out ROI and Campaign Response Rates will allow marketers to see the value of delivering converts through mobile communication and applications. Mobile publishers and advertisers using this solution will be thrilled to have these new Mobile Analytic tools at their finger tips.

QWASI offers advanced mobile analytics and mobile reporting so clients can have a complete view of the mobile ecosystem and their customers. Contact QWASI today for more information @ 877-747-9274.

Forrester reports that mobile access to social networks like FaceBook is soaring

Forrester claims that the number of people regularly accessing social networks on their mobile phones has doubled in the past six months. The percentage of mobile subscribers in the US accessing social networks from their mobile phones at least once a month has jumped from 5 percent in early 2009 to 10 percent last quarter.

“If mobile experiences are convenient, consumers will use them.” said Julie Ask, San Francisco-based vice president/principal analyst at Forrester Research. “In mobile, convenient mobile experiences will have context, that is, leverage location or past usage, be simple and be such that consumers value immediacy of the information or service,” she said.

The Forrester report argues that mobile phones hold the key to unlocking the full potential of social technologies, because the digital social experience is fragmented. People have separate identities in each social network they visit.
Facebook nets 1M mobile app downloads weekly over

However, in the future, universal social IDs will enable a portable identity that will empower consumers. And that is when the mobile phone will become the hub of social computing activities—the glue that holds the social graph together.

The always-on handset connected to the mobile Web is what frees social from the chains of the PC and thrusts it into the real world, according to Forrester.

The ubiquitous experience that mobile creates when it links together online and offline communication and touchpoints will further be realized by consumers when they are able to have a seamless, easy and convenient experience.

A methodology at QWASI used to evaluate customer connections and communication touchpoints is called Synchrosy. This approach allows QWASI to evaluate the customer experience in light of existing forms of communication and reveals new methods to connecting customers to communications and community. Contact QWASI today to learn more about Synchrosy when creating your Mobile Strategy.

Apple Store traffic strong. Photo taked on Tuesday, October 20 @ 1:30pm.

WHAT’S HOT
Apple’s iPhone shipments include its 3G device, launched last year with AT&T for $99 and the new 3GS iPhone introduced July and priced from $199. Apple said it sold over 1 million units of the iPhone 3GS, which added video and MMS capabilities, in its first weekend of availability.

Further, Apple executives indicated that the company struggled to meet demand throughout the quarter, implying the company could have sold more iPhones than it reported, had it been able to meet a demanding consumers’ smartphone appetite.

“I would have liked to have had more, honestly, because we were still short in some countries at quarter end. As I indicated, it was early October before we were able to get supply and demand balanced in some countries,” said Apple executive Timothy Cook in the company’s conference call with analysts, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha.

FINANCIAL DATE
The company had a net profit of $1.67 billion, up 47 percent from the $1.14 billion profit it had in the year-ago quarter. The smartphone and computer maker also booked $9.87 billion in revenue, up 25 percent from $7.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. Apple’s gross margin was 36.6 percent, up from 34.7 percent in the same period last year.

And research firms appear to be backing up that claim. According to market research outfit According to researcher iSuppli, the iPhone is “dramatically outperforming” the overall smartphone market. The firm said worldwide smartphone unit shipments are set to rise by 11.6 percent this year over the previous year, while shipments of Apple’s iPhones are set to soar by 37 percent during the same period.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted that “We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.”

Finally, Apple execs had some choice words for competitors scrambling to cash in on smartphones such as Pre maker Palm, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, Windows Mobile vendor Microsoft and Google via its Android platform. “Frankly I think that people are really just trying to catch up with the first iPhone that was announced two years ago, and we’ve long since moved beyond that,” Cook boasted.

In addition, last month Apple announced that it sold over 2 Billion iPhone Apps.

As seen on Mobile Marketer.
A Jiffy Lube mobile advertising initiative that was part of a larger multichannel campaign achieved a 0.2 percent response rate, outperforming its Web counterpart.

Jiffy Lube tested this program in Los Angeles, California using a geo-targeted mobile ad campaign offering coupons for oil changes. The program launched in March where twenty-eight percent of respondents texted in their ZIP code to receive a list of oil-change stores closest to them. More than 200 coupons were redeemed at Los Angeles stores, which equates to around 10 percent of original respondents.

According to the company release, “The strategy was to reach the 18-24-year-old demographic group by advertising on text messages being sent to existing mobile content subscribers. The goal was to evaluate the mobile channel, and gauge the interest of the audience in engaging with the brand over a mobile device.”
A similar campaign was advertised online to compare the opt-in and response rates between the mobile and wired Web channels, she said. Jiffy Lube agency Kovel/Fuller declined to disclose the online metrics in the case study first posted on MarketingProfs.com.

The 20-percent-off messaging generated more text-in responses overall. However, the coupon for $7 off resulted in more coupon redemptions. The text message ad copy was appended to user-requested text message content with messages such as “20 percent off Jiffy Lube Oil Change! Reply JIFFY” or “Save $7 on a Jiffy Lube Oil Change! Reply JL.”

Customers who replied to the ad received a text message with a coupon code for redemption, and an invitation to find their nearest Jiffy Lube location by replying via text message with their ZIP code.
Jiffy Lube wanted to find a new way to reach consumers ages 18-24, a demographic likely to ignore the company’s television, newspaper and Yellow Pages ads.

Further building the case for mobile, the company chose to conduct its test in the Los Angeles metro area, where residents—especially Jiffy Lube’s target demographic—spend a lot of time on the road.
Mobile offered a means for connecting with these hard-to-reach individuals even while they were out and about.

The companies learned a few lessons from this campaign including:
• To win over the attention of a hard-to-reach market, first figure out how you can best work your way into their existing day-to-day routines.
• Test multiple mobile offers and messages to determine the optimal approach for attracting your audience and driving conversions.
• Refresh mobile ads regularly to optimize performance.
• Try advertising SMS campaigns via mobile advertising. You may generate a higher response rate because all user activity is performed using the same channel and device

Activate a Multi-Channel Mobile Campaign today.
Contact QWASI: Call 877-747-9274.

More than 740 billion text messages carried on carriers’ networks during the first half of 2009. That’san average of 4.1 BILLION text messages sent/received each day. That’s nearly double the number from last year, when only 385 billion text messages were reported for the first half of 2008.

Wireless subscribers are also sending more pictures and other multi-media messages with their mobile devices—more than 10.3 billion MMS messages were reported for the first half of 2009, up from 4.7 billion in mid-year 2008. MMS stands for MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and more commonly referred to as ‘Picture Messaging’ to subscribers. iPhone users in the US recently received access to MMS through AT&T last month (read our post: iPhone finally gets MMS). For more information on MMS, see What is MMS post.

Just last year, Nielson Mobile released important trends showing how Texting outpaces Voice as the number one activity on a cell phone.

For the latest CTIA Wireless Carrier Survey, click here.

A new study has found while more than 85 percent of all marketers are executing multichannel campaigns, less than half know what channels their customers prefer.

Marketer’s Communication Tools: SMS, Email, Direct Mail, Phone, Online, Social and Mobile Marketing

“The bottom line is that in an industry where new digital communications make it easier to send a variety of messages, it’s imperative that marketers not only send the right message, to the right person, at the right time, but that they use the right channel as well,” said Morgan Stewart, ExactTarget’s director of research and strategy, in a release.

The study found that:

80% of marketers claim customer preference is a key factor but only 12% ask customers their preferred frequency for email messages.

47% of marketers do not take any actions based on customer preferences.

27% of marketers measure whether efforts in one channel boost results in another.

Other valuable information from the ExactTarget Email sponsored study shows that:

• 70% of consumers who visit Facebook at least once a month and say they are a “fan” of at least one company/brand and claim they have never given a company permission to send them information through a social network.
• Consumers prefer email more than 3-to-1 for marketing communications.
• 50% of consumers consider unsolicited messages from companies whom they regularly conduct business unacceptable — up from 26 percent in 2008.

Mobile Marketing could be an important platform for reaching her with product announcements, offers and other promotions,” said Howard Goldberg, senior vice president of agency services, Scarborough Research.

Some FACTS about Working Moms:
They also have higher disposable income. The average adult annual HHLD Income is $73,400 while Working Moms is $81,900. Working Moms are in her 30’s and 40’s. They are more likely to be well-educated, having a 4-year college degrees or greater.  They are 13% more likely to be married.

MOBILE COUPONS
When it comes to saving money, they are deal seekers. Two out of three Working Moms use grocery coupons monthly; 28% use them weekly. Working Moms are 46% more likely than the average adult to get coupons from email/text messages. And 49% more likely to get them from the Internet. They are also tech savvy – the opportunity still remains for further integration of digital’s benefits into the
Working Mom’s day: mobile devices, mobile coupons, content for the small screen. The take away there: Find ways to connect with mom’s “me time”: promotions, products, messaging.

The data analysis examined the distinctive consumer patterns and marketing appeal of women who work full‐ time and have one or more children at home, and found insights into their shopping habits, media patterns, demographics and lifestyles.

MOBILE ALERTS
“The Working Mother is the gatekeeper for purchases related to clothing, feeding and making a home for her family. Her high spending on cellular services together with her propensity to download content via her cell phone imply that mobile marketing could be an important platform for reaching her with product announcements, offers and other promotions,” said Howard Goldberg, senior vice president of agency services, Scarborough Research.

Working Moms account for nine percent of the U.S. adult population (21.6 million adults) and 11% of all cellular users – but they also are more likely to utilize certain cellular features such as texting and downloading. Also, Working Moms are 9% more likely than the average adult to have driven 1,000 or more miles during the past month. So they are mobile in more ways than one.

Available for download at Working Moms Research Study

During the second quarter of 2008, a typical U.S. mobile subscriber placed or received 204 phone calls each month. In comparison, the average mobile customer sent or received 357 text messages per month — a 450% increase over the number of text messages circulated monthly during the same period in 2006. (Nielsen Mobile, September 2008)

Nielsen Mobile released a new study on “How Teens Use Media” and reveled new information on the rise of mobile usage for this demographic.

Here are some excerts from their study:

Of all the mobile behaviors of teens, texting is most talked about. Fingers fying and phone cameras fashing, 83% of U.S. mobile teens use text-messaging and 56% use MMS/picture messaging. The average U.S. mobile teen now sends or receives an average of 2,899 text-messages per month compared to 191 calls.

The average number of texts has gone up 566% in just two years, far surpassing the average number of calls, which has stayed nearly steady.

More than half of all U.S. teen mobile subscribers (66%) say they actually prefer text-messaging to calling. Thirty-four percent say it’s the reason they got their phone. Still, texting isn’t the only means of communicating with teens over the mobile phone. Teens are avid users of a wide variety of advanced mobile data features. More than a third of teens download ringtones, Instant Message or use the mobile Web, while about a quarter of U.S. teens download games and applications.

To a lesser extent, teens are using video messaging (26%), watching mobile video (18%) and using location-based services on their phone (16%). There is a popular notion that teens in the U.S., indeed U.S. subscribers at large, may be far behind subscribers in other markets in terms of mobile data use. In fact, U.S. teens have adopted mobile media more quickly than in many of the markets Nielsen tracks. Consider mobile Web: as of Q1 2009, 37% of U.S. mobile subscribers 13–17 accessed the Internet on their phone—this ranks U.S. teens second, behind 50% of China’s mobile teens, in terms of mobile Internet penetration. With all of this expanding mobile activity, schools and parents are stepping in to set parameters. Sixty-two percent of U.S. mobile teens say that parents have placed at least one restriction on their mobile use. Ninety-three percent say that their school has.

At home, 24% of teen mobile subscribers said they were not allowed to use the phone at dinner, 22% were required to make certain grades, 21% had a limited number of minutes and 13% had a limited number of text-messages. At school, 77% of mobile teens say they are not permitted to use their phone in class and 50% are restricted from using it during assemblies. As teens around the world continue to adopt mobile phones, mobile media and messaging, marketers will be paying attention. Mobile marketing offers the most personal and direct form of engagement for an audience that, as this paper demonstrates, is spread broadly across the media ecosystem. Moreover, teens seem to be particularly open to the idea of mobile advertising. A 2008 study by Nielsen found that teen mobile media users were roughly three times as receptive to mobile advertising as the total subscriber population: just over half of teen mobile media users considered themselves open to mobile advertising.

However, while these trends are most revealing about teenagers, they happen to strike a chord at home too. Why? It’s a universal trend.

David Crystal, author of the book “txtng: the gr8 db8” (Oxford University Press), said that the idea that texting is still just a youth thing is a lingering myth of the past, and that moms learning to text has been a driving force around the world. AT&T also confirmed this is their own research conducted last year that showed 50% of moms and dads started first texting because of their teens. “The trend is pretty universal,” said Crystal, a linguistics professor in Wales. “It’s even more noticeable in places that have taken up cellphones even more obsessively than in the United States, places like Japan and China and the Philippines.”

So if the average number of text messages sent has gone up for this demographic over 500% in the last two years, how do you think it trends for Mom and Dads on the go – a key demographic for most brands. Let’s also look out 5 years and you will quickly see that this has ginormous implications for brands ignoring the mobile revolution.

Don’t forget, by the time the ink drys on these strudies, the numbers are even larger… So get mobile. Let QWASI help take you there.

Apple announces over 2 Billion iPhone and iPod Touch Apps have been downloaded.

Today, Apple announced that more than 2 billion applications have been downloaded from the App Store – over a half-billion in just the last three months. Included in their announcement, Apple stated that there are now more than 85,000 apps available for the more 50 million iPhones and iPod touches and 125,000 developers creating apps for the devices.The number or iPhone and iPod touch users continues to grow and the rate at which apps are downloaded is accelerating

According to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, “The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone. The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it.”

Apple previously announced reaching 1.5 billion downloads in its first 12 months when the store turned 1 year-old in July. Since opening, the App Store has averaged 4.5 million downloads per day, and in the last 80 days that figure has jumped to 6.3 million, says Apple Insider. There just may be something to this whole app thing.

While the iPhone gets most of the glory, Ed Kaczmarek, director of innovation, new services, at Kraft, advised at the Apps for Brands conference last week not to overlook the iPod touch in app promotional campaigns. He called the device a “little sleeping giant” in its ability to extend the reach and effectiveness of campaigns. Of the 50 million iPhones and iPod touches worldwide, 40% of those units or 20 million are iPod touches.

Today, it’s hard to ignore this phoenominom. Brands need to rush to offering an iPhone App for many reasons including branding, demonstration and connection. See our article on “To build or not to build an iPhone App” from February 2009.

For help with building an iPhone App, contact QWASI today: click here.

AT&T iPhone users get MMS

As many throughout the industry know, over the last several years, carriers nerviously build out new networks and watch as they quickly outgrow their platforms. So today, AT&T is doing just that as the introduction of MMS  for Apple’s iPhone could slow or possibly even crash the AT&T network.

It has also been reported that many companies are suspending or delaying the start of their mobile marketing campaigns until after today to avoid giving a push in the midst of a potential blackout. We don’t expect this new feature to crash AT&T. However, never say never.

There have been preliminary tests at AT&T which indicate a substantial strain on the company’s MMS servers. Starting at 10AM Eastern today, it’s do or die as it officially rolls out. As a result, some industry analysts estimate that traffic on AT&T’s already well-stretched wireless network could see a 40% increase in traffic as iPhone excitedly break in the service.

In September 2008, QWASI released a MMS solution for the lack of MMS with an iPhone App calledActivMMS. Unfortunately, like the Google Voice Application, Apple rejected the App without reason. Several appeals still left it dead on arrive.

The iPhone App was recently introduced in the last release  – 3.0 and has been in use in other networks around the world. At&T chose not to support it until it could work out the bugs in its network. The change will not be automatic for users today and requires the user to open iTunes, connect their device and download the new profile.

Mobile Campaign Drives Results

To attract visitors to its new Fantasea aquatic show, Shedd Aquarium put a couple of direct-response tactics to the test to see if consumers preferred SMS or web-based calls to action. At the end of 30-second spots that aired on Chicago’s NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates, the aquarium announced a contest with prizes that included a hotel stay and VIP seats for the Fantasea premiere. The commercials were identical across the networks except for the calls to action: All the ads directed viewers to a Web site to register for the contest, except one spot, which gave viewers an additional mobile option to enter the contest by sending a text message to a special code.

The SMS call to action generated 325% more entries than the web-based call-to-action, making up 52% of the total entries, though it ran in only 25% of the ads.

According to Jay Geneske, Shedd’s assistant marketing director, the results show that the “phone is always with you, it’s nearby and immediate,” even when you’re watching TV. Shedd also ran a one-day print campaign in a local paper with a text call-to-action, yielding the highest or near highest number of responses for a single-day print piece, Mr. Geneske said.

Additionally, when people are watching TV, they’re more likely to have their cellphones near them than a computer.

Fresh impressions
“The mobile phone gives the consumer the ability to respond to the advertisement in real time, while the impression is still fresh in their heads,” said Aaron Watkins, a former mobile-marketing agency executive turned independent consultant.

Likewise, companies like QVC use Mobile Marketing Alerts and Text Ordering to send out promotions every day, throughout the day, and drive real-time purchases via SMS.

To get consumers to respond via the web, on the other hand, means they not only have to be interested in the ad but need to recall the website address later if they were not near a computer when the ad ran. The likelihood that they will remember the address drops “exponentially,” given the nonstop barrage of messages and media that hit people every day, Mr. Watkins said.

Mobile works best when overlaid with mass media such as TV and radio, because they radiate that much more reach, compared to, say, mobile apps or display banners, Mr. Alpert said.

For consumers to text in, however, the offer has to be compelling and valuable, whether it’s entertainment, information or access to something special. Shedd’s campaign worked well because the short code was part of the narrative and script, rather than an afterthought of just slapping a code at the end of the commercial.

Mr. Alpert said over the hundreds of mobile campaigns his agency has managed, an average 85% of those who opt into a campaign will respond to more requests for information, such as age and ZIP code.

Customer’s FMOT: First Moment of Truth & Mobile Coupons

A few years ago, P&G (Procter & Gamble) introduced their findings that brands have “three to seven seconds to win the consumer” in-aisle. First Moment of Truth (FMOT, pronounced EFF-mot) are the 3-7 seconds after a shopper first encounters a product on a store shelf. It is in these precious few seconds, P&G contends, that marketers have the best chance of converting a browser into a buyer by appealing to their senses, values and emotions. Other Consumer Packaged Goods companies proceeded to assign FMOT directors to develop FMOT marketing strategies to win the consumer in this shopping inflection.

While in-store marketing certainly isn’t new to anybody involved with digital merchandising initiatives like touchscreen kiosks and digital retail signs, the advertising world at large traditionally didn’t pay a lot of attention to it, instead choosing to focus on mass-media like TV, print and radio. So over the last few years, marketers have testing new ways to attack FMOT.

Today, everyone is looking at mobile – THE just-in-time retail solution to compliments any FMOT strategy. So how do you make that item you’re marketing make it into your customer’s shopping cart? On average, 80 percent of the consumer’s shopping list is bought. However, the shopping list only account for 40 percent of their final basket. This allows for a fair amount of freestyle shopping and FMOTing.

One influential factor could be a mobile coupon. Traditional paper coupons produce 0.05 percent redemption. But mobile coupons enjoy a 20 to 40 percent higher redemption rate than paper.

Grocery stores including Kroger and Safeway are testing solutions that take mobile offers and link them to store cards. Mobile coupons are selected on the phone and transferred to the physical loyalty card which is swiped at checkout. In recent trials with J.C. Penney in Houston, the company tested 2D codes presented on the phone. These codes were then scanned with specially installed image scanner at checkout. Traditional laser scanner cannot read the screen because of refraction.

All encouraging news for 2-D barcodes, but the sample size is still small. The challenge will be growing the installed base of mobile-powered consumers.

Other reasons to use Mobile Coupons to effect First Moments of Truth:
1. It is cost-effective. Unlike newspaper coupons, you only pay for engagement.

2. Mobile Coupning represents a NEW demographic. The retailer is not cannibalizing the existing paper coupon consumer. Statistics show that 30 percent of mobile coupon users have never clipped a paper coupon.

3. The medium allows for onward engagement. Unlike paper coupons, you have a two-way channel.

—————————-
Implement your mobile coupon strategy with QWASI. QWASI offers SMS Promo Codes, Unique Trackable Coupons, 2-D barcodes and other mobile coupon solutions.

Contact QWASI today at 877-747-9274.

QWASI powers Mobile Marketing for Gas Station TV

July 10, 2009 – QWASI, a leading mobile marketing and mobile commerce company providing cross-market interactive solutions, announced they were selected by Gas Station TV (GSTV) to power their interactive ad campaign for companies like Toyota. With a consumer base in over 800 major cities (including New York, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.), GSTV reaches consumers on-the-go – now with the power of mobile by QWASI.

As leaders in destination marketing and technology, GSTV can now provide their viewers with a social & mobile media platform from QWASI. Using QWASI’s Mobile Marketing Center, GSTV can provide advertisers with the tools to take their ad campaigns to the next level through the power of mobile marketing. In the same venue, consumers now have the opportunity to directly respond to ad promotions via text message as they view advertisements while pumping their gas.

Starting on June 15, 2009, GSTV and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. announced an ad campaign to promote a community based interactive program, the “Prius Neighborhood.” Through this program consumers can generate ads for local events and community happenings at-the-pump. GSTV incorporates text messaging to help further promote the message and cause.

“Gas Station TV is an extremely innovative out-of-home advertising channel. We look forward to working with them to further their “on-the-go” advertising efforts using mobile,” states David Geipel, COO, QWASI, Inc.

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading mobile solutions provider of interactive applications for over 15,000 clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP, iPhone Apps and Mobile Chat. QWASI makes complexity simple with intuitive mobile marketing, mCommerce (mobile commerce), private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and interactive property marketing services for Fortune 1000 business. QWASI powers several other platforms for clients including CellSigns, a wholly owned subsidiary, providing Real Estate Mobile Marketing and Mobile Agent, the only mobile search for real estate.

QWASI CONTACT
Patricia Scanlon, QWASI, 877-747-9274, patricia.scanlon @ qwasi.com

Here’s an introduction to the latest Pew Internet Research Study called “The Mobile Difference” published March 25, 2009.

Before you read, please take note that the dates of the two surveys used to formulate this report concluded in December 2007. Of course, we know that things change at such a fast clip these days that these results can be seen as a precursor to the change in habits that have been formed since this study. Again, the iPhone didn’t even hit the market, quick text phones with full keyboards were only found on a smartphone and 3G wasn’t full deployed allowing fast connectivity for mobile users. Enjoy the study.

In the early 1980s, Americans started spending more time on the telephone. From 1980 to 1987, the number of minutes spent on the phone increased by 24%, three times the rate of population growth. At first, the reasons first seemed mysterious. Yes, fax machines were entering the workplace and the personal computing revolution was getting off the ground, both of which might have spurred growth voice traffic. But these factors were thought to account for no more than 10% of the growth.

The cause? The telephone answering machine. Although just 28% of homes had answering machines for their telephones in 1987, these new devices meant once-missed calls were returned and now-completed calls encouraged more phone calling.

This episode shows how relatively small changes in society’s technology portfolio in one area can have significant impacts in a related one. The answering machine served as an accelerant in to Americans’ existing calling patterns.4 In a similar way, mobile internet access is drawing people into more frequent online use. The information nugget initially discovered on the handheld device might prompt a user to open the laptop at home to explore further. Conversely, the fascinating blog post discovered on the desktop at home might be pursued further on the mobile device on the train to work and then taken along new pathways once online at the office.

This finding that mobile internet access is drawing people further into the digital world is the cornerstone of the Pew Internet Project’s second typology of information and communication technology (ICT) users.5 Some five groups in this typology – making up39% of the adult population – have seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased. Across those groups, there is a lot of variation on what these changes mean to users. Some find this extra connectivity a Pew Internet & American Life Project   The Mobile Difference | 18 platform for self expression. Others are not entirely positive about ICTs’ impacts on their lives. communication technology (ICT) users.    Some five groups in this typology – making list of 10 actions on their cell phone and whether they had, on the prior day, done a up 39% of the adult population – have seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased. Across those groups, there is a lot of 2006. In 2006, respondents were asked about the various capacities (e.g., to take a Pew Internet & American Life Project    The Mobile Difference | 19 picture or record video) with some follow-up questions on whether they actually used variation on what these changes mean to users. Some find this extra connectivity a platform for self expression. Others are not entirely positive about ICTs’ impacts on their lives.

Then there is the other 61% of the adult population who do not feel the pull of mobility – or anything else – further into the digital world. Across the five groups that make up this part of the population, several have a lot of technology at hand and have seen their tech assets grow in recent years. Yet ICTs remain on the periphery in their lives, suggesting that some adult Americans reach a plateau in their technology use. Some groups are content with this distant relationship to technology. For others, even a little modern gadgetry is too much.

Read the complete study here: The Mobile Difference

A survey conducted by the NCHS found that on- fifth of U.S. households have cut out their land line phones and rely solely on their cell phones. In fact, the rate of households going wireless may be increasing as families cut costs during the economic downturn.

Preliminary results from the July-December 2008 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that the number of American homes with only wireless telephones continues to grow. More than one of every five American homes (20.2%) had only wireless telephones (also known as cellular telephones, cell phones, or mobile phones) during the second half of 2008, an increase of 2.7 percentage points since the first half of 2008.

The number of households without a land line phone jumped to 20 percent from 17 percent in the second half of 2008. This is the largest jump in mobile-only health since the National Center for Health Statistics began this survey in 2003.

The NCHS collects statistics on land line and mobile phone use as part of its annual National Health Interview Survey. The survey showed that over 12 thousand US households became mobile-only from July to December last year.

Now there are more households in the US relying solely on mobile phones than land lines. Just 17 percent of households surveyed relied solely on a land line phone for calls.

Of the households with land line phones, many of them already receive the majority of their calls on their mobile phone. This portion of the homes with land lines represents almost 15 percent of the remaining households.

Over 60 percent of adults that share a flat with other roommates and a third of those aged 18-29 also rely exclusively on mobile phones to communicate.

Other groups relying solely on mobile phones are 40 percent of all renters and 25 percent of Hispanic households. On the other end of the scale are homeowners, of which only 9 percent have cut out their home phones.

Stephen Blumberg of the CDC, an author of the report, believes, “that with the recession, we’d see an increase in the prevalence of wireless only households, above what we might have expected had there been no recession.” After all, if a family has to choose between the two, they’re more likely to keep the mobile phone that they can carry with them.

BACKGROUND:
For many years, NHIS has included questions on residential telephone numbers, to permit recontacting of survey participants. Starting in 2003, additional questions were asked, to determine whether the family’s telephone number was a landline telephone. All survey respondents were also asked whether “you or anyone in your family has a working cellular telephone.”

A “family” can be an individual or a group of two or more related persons living together in the same housing unit (a “household”). Thus, a family can consist of only one person, and more than one family can live in a household (including, for example, a household where there are multiple single-person families, as when unrelated roommates are living together).

So these results may shock some of you:

Want to learn more about these numbers and how they impact your business, give our friends at Keynote a call. Tal Turner can be reached at 650-403-3435 or via email: tal.turner @ keynote.com (tell him Dave from QWASI sent you). He’ll have a good laugh.

PHILADELPHIA, May 6, 2009 – QWASI, a leading mobile marketing company, announced the launch of David’s Bridal Prom Mobile which allows girls to access the latest fashions for prom on their mobile phones. The Prom campaign was launched on QWASI’s Mobile Marketing Platform that enables David’s Bridal to tap into the power of mobile marketing. The campaign includes SMS promotions, a mobile site with a click-through slideshow of the retailer’s latest fashions, a store finder and send-to-friend capabilities.

Teenagers- or anyone for that matter- can text the keyword “PROM” to 74362 to get content on their cell phones, vote for their favorite dress styles, and get special targeted promotions leading up to the big day. They can also browse styles at the new mobile website, http://m.davidsprom.com,

“We have seen a positive reaction to our initial mobile marketing messages from our customer base. We utilized the mobile channel to communicate an urgent ‘last chance to enter’ message for a scholarship contest running on davidsprom.com. The mobile call to action produced a spike in contest entries 24 hours following the message, notes Carol Steinberg, VP, Internet, David’s Bridal Inc.

David’s Bridal launched their mobile initiative at the start of the Spring 2009 prom season. Interactive by nature, teenagers are the heaviest users of text messaging; according to a 2008 Nielsen Mobile report, the typical U.S. teen mobile subscriber (ages 13–17) now sends or receives 1,742 text messages per month (compared to making or receiving 231 mobile phone calls).

“We’re excited to see the early results from this text messaging campaign. It’s obvious that teenagers desire to engage in mobile campaigns. Brands have realized that it’s important to reach customers and David’s Bridal is clearly demonstrating the power and reach of mobile marketing,” says David Geipel, Co-Founder QWASI, Inc. “We created a complete mobile experience for their customers that helps teens identify their styles and browse dresses directly from their cell phone. They can then receive additional targeted offers, share the mobile site with their friends and have access to a store finder to locate local stores. Mobile is all about relevancy and interaction and they’ve nailed it in this one.”

QWASI provides agencies and retailers of all sizes the means of driving in-store traffic, increasing order size, building customer loyalty, improving communication and reaching new customers through an interactive mobile ordering solution. The Mobile Marketing and mCommerce Platform makes it easy for catalogers, ecommerce, retailers and brick-and-mortar companies to quickly realize the benefits of mobile through measurable mobile marketing campaigns.

ABOUT DAVID’S BRIDAL
With more than 50 years of experience, David’s Bridal understands the importance of providing teens and brides-to-be with a vast selection of exquisitely crafted dresses, available at affordable prices. Today, with over 300 locations nationwide, David’s Bridal continues to expand its retail store locations, while maintaining its philosophy of superior quality, value and service. To locate a store nearby, consumers can call 1.877.706.PROM or visit www.davidsprom.com.

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading Mobile Consultancy and Solutions provider of interactive applications for over 10,000 clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP and iPhone applications, Since 2004, QWASI has been providing mobile solutions including mobile marketing, mobile retail & mCommerce (mobile commerce), mobile search, chat and other interactive mobile platforms to Fortune 1000 clients in industries such as eCommerce, Retail, Financial Services, Real Estate and Enterprise Communications. The company has received multiple awards for its CellSigns Real Estate & Publishing services from Inman News and the NAA (Newspaper Association of America). QWASI can be found online at http://www.qwasi.com.

If phone calls and e-mail are still your preferred way to share information with clients, it might not be long before text messaging takes priority. According to the 2008 REALTOR® Technology Survey, 35 percent of real estate practitioners use cell phone texting on a daily basis; another 27 percent text on at least a weekly or monthly basis.

The general public has also embraced the convenience of texting. While the number of phone calls made or received by wireless subscribers in the United States remained relatively steady from 2006 through mid-2008, text messaging skyrocketed nearly 450 percent, according to a Nielsen Mobile analysis.

Many real estate practitioners have recognized this phenomenon and are incorporating text messaging into their client communications. “One of the first things I ask when I meet new clients is if they can receive text messages on their phone, and if they would like to be updated by e-mail or text,” says Richard Van Kluyve, broker-associate with Century 21 Premier in Mount Juliet, Tenn.

About half of Van Kluyve’s clients tell him they prefer text, including one house-hunting couple in their 20s who’ve taken texting to a whole new level: “We may have spoken on the phone 10 times, but we’ve probably sent 100 text messages back and forth in the weeks I’ve been working with them,” he says.

But don’t just assume that only younger clients are apt to text. With texting now available on all mobile phones, consumers of all ages are appreciating the ease of using their keypad to send real estate practitioners a quick question, arrange a meeting, or comment on a home they’ve toured. In fact, a whole class of mobile marketing services has emerged to deliver listing data directly to a consumer’s cell phone—and capture leads for real estate practitioners in the process. Once you’re subscribed to services like CellSigns, you can post a special text code on your listings’ For Sale signs. Consumers who drive by the home can punch the code into their phone to receive a return message with property information and photos. Van Kluyve hopes for the day when clients can even receive text alerts as listings are added to the MLS, similar to e-mail alerts that are now commonplace.

Even as text messaging goes mainstream, there are times when it’s better to do things the “old-fashioned” way—with an e-mail, a phone call, or a meeting. Texting’s casual convenience is ideal for any situation in which a quick and informal message will do. Messages that are long or complicated or that can potentially spark questions from clients are better left to other media. Here are some other general guidelines:

• Don’t text without permission. Ask clients if it’s OK for you to send them text messages. They may not be familiar with the medium, or they may simply be annoyed by it. Depending on their phone service, they also may have to pay for received messages. And never text a prospect you don’t know; it can land you in legal trouble. A pending revision to the CAN-SPAM Act prohibits sending unsolicited text messages to a wireless phone number unless the recipient has given prior consent or you have an established business relationship with the recipient. Also, the federal Do-Not-Call registry applies to text messaging.
• Learn the lingo. Texting is all about fitting the most words into a maximum of 160 characters for the sake of speed and convenience. Even if you feel silly using shortcuts like BTW (by the way), QQ (quick question), or THX (thanks), you’ll want to be familiar with the terms so you can decipher clients’ messages. For a list of common abbreviations, visit Webopedia (www.webopedia.com).
• Be considerate. Texting can quickly become addictive. But when meeting with clients or colleagues, don’t be absorbed with your cell phone—reading messages and hammering out replies. Let clients know at the outset if you’re anticipating an important message that will require your immediate attention. Otherwise, turn your ringtone off and reply to messages when the meeting’s over.
• Set limits. When you encourage others to text you, you’re implying that you’ll always be ready to take their message—and customers often expect a quick response. You may want to establish hours you’ll be available.

Mike Antoniak is a journalist and technology expert with a focus on real estate applications.

Apr 23, 2009 (COMTEX) – KEYN — Keynote Systems, a provider of on-demand mobile and Internet test & measurement solutions, announced that Qwasi, a mobile marketing company providing cross market interactive solutions, has selected two Keynote solutions for monitoring and testing its services: Keynote Mobile Application Perspective (MAP), which monitors SMS service, and Keynote Mobile Interactive Testing Environment (MITE), which offers interactive testing and validation of mobile content.

“We selected Keynote because it was very flexible in its monitoring approach and methodology, allowing us to conduct testing on our own terms,” said Dave Geipel, COO and co-founder of Qwasi. “We also liked the fact that Keynote specializes in network monitoring and is a publically traded company.”

Keynote’s SMS monitoring service was created to meet growing industry demand for a solution that offers increased visibility into the performance, availability and delivery of messages sent via Common Short Codes. The company stated that MITE is the industry’s first desktop testing tool that allows mobile developers to interactively test and validate mobile content over the Internet or live carrier networks across more than 1,600 mobile device profiles. Users benefit from the end user perspective MITE offers right from the desktop.

Qwasi uses the Keynote solutions to test and monitor a service it runs for a large multimedia retailer. The service includes a mobile transaction system that allows customers to use their mobile phones to purchase products that the company sells on cable television. The service also delivers daily text message alerts to customers about new products on their mobile phones. Customers have the option to purchase these products by clicking on the phone number to call, texting in the product ID or clicking on a URL to make a purchase over the mobile Web.

“We use Keynote Mobile Application Perspective to monitor the performance of our SMS text messaging systems to keep uptime as high as possible to meet service level agreements,” said Geipel. “The solution tests our SMS service using different types of handsets across four major wireless carriers from two different locations in the U.S. several times an hour. The service initiates a message from the mobile handset, which travels through our aggregator service, applications and then back through the aggregator and to the handset. This gives us an accurate representation of the user experience. If Mobile Application Perspective receives no response or a slow response, it triggers an alert to Qwasi’s engineers, who can then immediately troubleshoot the problem.”

“We’re pleased to help Qwasi optimize the performance and availability of its SMS services and perform QA testing on its mobile Web sites,” said Vik Chaudhary, vice president of product management and corporate development at Keynote. “By using Mobile Application Perspective for SMS performance monitoring and MITE for mobile Web site testing, Qwasi can be confident that the end-user experience for its SMS services and mobile applications will be world-class.

> 270 Million Wireless Users at the end of 2008.
That is a year-over-year gain of 15 Million subscribers.
Why is this important? Mobile is already they best means at reaching more users than online.
TEXTING (SMS) – According to the survey, SMS (text messaging) continues to be enormously popular.
> More than 1 Trillion text messages sent/received in 2008. That is almost triple the messages compared to 2007 (363 Billion).
> Average of more than 3.5 billion SMS messages per day.

MMS (Multi-media Messages)
> 15 Billion MMS messages reported in 2008 – up from 6 Billion in 2007.

The Bottom Line:
“Wireless technology is an integral part of everyday life for more than 87% of the U.S. population; changing and improving the way we connect and interact with the world around us,” said Steve Largent, President & CEO of CTIA -The Wireless Association®.

The survey may be found here: CTIA Survey (Spring 2009).

QWASI offers text=based marketing solutions for companies of all sizes. See “mobile marketing” for details.

Here is some general information and advice on MMS Picture Messaging, and how it works.

What is MMS?
MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and is commonly referred to as ‘Picture Messaging’ to wireless users. MMS is similar to Text Messaging (SMS) but adds animation, images, sound and video.

What can you do with MMS?
Some uses included:
* Take digital photographs and store photographs on the Internet
* Send and receive full color pictures
* Send and receive voice clips
* Add a text message to your picture
* Purchase pictures and sounds from the Internet
* Have enhanced polyphonic ringtones

In order for MMS to work on your phone, you need to have ‘Media Messaging’ enabled on your plan. You will also need a phone or device that supports the MMS service. Today’s cell phones and smartphones (including the Blackberry, Android, Palm Pre and iPhone) are usually MMS-enabled. On most carriers, if you are sent an MMS message and don’t have a suitable handset  or plan, you’ll receive a SMS to notify you with a link to a web page.

QWASI offers various MMS Messaging solutions. Contact us today to get started.

iPhone Apps & the App Store

One of the hottest trends in the mobile market today is extending your mobile presence to the iPhone. Why? Simply it is the most popular phone on the market today (taking over the coveted #1 Position from Motorola’s RAZOR in October 2008).

It is also one of the best phones to display websites garnering more web usage than other smartphones, let alone cell phones. Many would argue that the user is more advanced. Rather, it’s the device that allows consumers to be advanced users.

When we talk about the iPhone’s ability for the mobile internet, we have to consider that the iPhone is really includes two devices in this conversation: the iPhone and the iPod touch (which has wi-fi capabilities).

Here are some reasons you SHOULD develop an iPhone Web application.

1. As stated previously, it’s the number one selling mobile phone. Consumers are flocking to it in droves (including the iPod Touch). AT&T is currently achieving over 2 Million new subscribers a quarter now due to the success of the iPhone.

2. More people surf & browse the Web on the iPhone. According to M:Metrics (Jan 2008):
iPhone MOBILE INTERNET USAGE (% of users accessing mobile content)
- 85% iPhone Users
- 58.2% other Smart phones
- 13.1% Standard Cell Phone
As you can see, an estimated 85 percent of iPhone users browse the Web on their handset.

3. The iPhone is an effective advertising platform. It’s the perfect device for targeting advertising campaigns. This includes the iPod Touch. According to AdMob (a mobile advertising network), the number of requests to their network from the iPod Touch was up 300 percent between November and December in 2008. The iPhone and the iPod touch now account for 15.5 percent of requests to AdMob’s network.

4. Competition for business specific apps is limited. However, many grassroots developers are quickly filling in the void with simple to use mash-ups.

5. Mobile-Optimized iPhone Web Sites are still missing. Time is now to get bookmarked as an easy to use iPhone optimized website.

6. People have a strong affinity to their iPhone. Throughout many apps are “share it” or “tell-a-friend” links to let others know about the app you like or recommend.

7. It’s viral. The Obama campaign successfully used an iPhone app to have peopled identify where they are to target supporters and drive them to local campaign offices and events. They even tied into the iPhone contact list (address book) so people can quickly call their friends from within the app.

iPhone Apps for the iPhone & iPod Touch are taking off.

Bottom line:

1) Optimize your website for the iPhone, iPod Touch and other mobile devices (if you haven’t already).
2) Create an iPhone App finding key services to tie into making the customer experience rich.
3) Start advertising targeting iPhone users because they use their mobile phone to access mobile sites more than any other user.
AND contract with companies that can provide mobile strategy and mobile consulting. But just do it (as they say).

Follow Up:

Others are not completely SOLD on the iPhone and have other reasons you SHOULDN’T target iPhone users. Some include:
1. The iPhone is still not the world leading device. Nokia still leads with 39% market share around the globe.

2. The iPhone cannot multi-task (meaning you cannot run the app in the background) – a negative for some. It also cannot copy & paste, a common frustration for many users.

3. The iPhone App is tough for many to generate sign-ups or sales. Many small shops are trying to enter the iPhone App business with little to any success. As with anything, if you build it, they may not come. Make sure it’s desirable and has good functionality before trying to start your next venture into the iPhone App Store.

4. Look at building Apps on other platforms including the Blackberry, Google’s G1 phone – the Android, and the new Palm PRE (soon to be released Feb/March 2009).

Mobile Marketing for Real Estate & Publishers

More than three-quarters (77%) of wireless subscribers in the U.S. subscribe to or purchase text-message capability.

Texting has finally surpassed the number of monthly phone calls made every month. Text has become the new mainstream vehicle to market everything from TV Shows, Cars, Products, Services and Customer Communication. Once Brands and Marketers full understand the value proposition Texting offers how they can use short-code marketing, they will begin to tap into pure one-to-one marketing where the customer is in the drivers seat.

In the U.S. today, about 200 million of the 259 million wireless subscriber lines subscribe to or purchase text-message capability. Of these, 138 million (or 53% of all mobile subscribers) use text-messaging on a regular basis. In fact, text-messaging has become so pervasive that U.S. mobile subscribers now send and receive more text-messages in a month than they do phone calls. Text-messages sent or received has increased 351%.

Text Messaging More Popular Than Voice

Nielsen recently reported (September 2008) that as of Q2 2008, mobile subscribers sent or received an average of 357 text-messages per month, compared with 204 phone calls. And while the average number of text-messages sent or received has increased 351% (from 79 text-messages sent or received last year), good old fashioned phone calls have not become less popular—that average has stayed fairly consistent over the past two years (from 216, on average, in Q2 2006). Not surprisingly, teenagers average the greatest number of text-messages sent or received, at 1,742 messages per month in Q2 2008.

Add text to your marketing campaigns and customer communication. Looking for a US Short Code(CSC) or want to use one of ours, then contact QWASI today @ 877-747-9274 and GET MOBILE.

Customers can now purchase products from QVC by sending a text message with the item number to QVC’s shortcode – QVCGO (78246). The on-air item can be bought with a quick text message. Consumers receive information on the item and can easily reply-to-buy the item as well as receive confirmation on their cell phone.

QWASI provides retailers of all sizes the means of driving in-store traffic, increasing order size, building customer loyalty, improving communication and reaching new customers through an interactive mobile ordering solution. The CataMo mCommerce platform makes it easy for catalogers, ecommerce, retailers and brick-and-mortar companies to quickly realize the benefits of mobile through measurable mobile marketing campaigns.

“We’re excited to announce our addition of QVC to the QWASI CataMo mCommerce platform. With world-class customer service and expansive breadth of product, QVC will use CataMo to reach their mobile consumers,” says David Geipel, COO and Co-Founder of QWASI, Inc.

“It’s an honor to be working with QVC and their team. QWASI brings a fresh approach to mobile marketing uncovering the benefits of mobile technology for our clients so they can maximize revenue using the mobile channel.”

“With the launch of QVC’s mobile services, we’re continuing to deliver our customers an enhanced shopping experience. They can now virtually shop QVC anywhere, at any time,” said QVC’s Senior Vice President of Platforms and Broadcast Technology Bob Myers. “Once registered with the service, our customers can purchase an item in just two text messages, making shopping even more fast and convenient than ever.”

“Our focus on assisting clients rapidly master emerging technologies that lead to additional markets, revenue and efficiencies, helps to maintain our clients competitive advantage in a quickly changing fluid economy, and this expertise adds real dollars to our clients bottom line, which of course is good for everyone,” adds Leon Samuel President of the QWASI Group of companies.

Since 2004, QWASI has been providing mobile solutions including mobile marketing, mobile search, chat and other interactive mobile platforms to Fortune 1000 clients in industries such as eCommerce, Financial Services, Real Estate and Enterprise Communications. The company has received multiple awards for its CellSigns services from Inman News and the NAA (Newspaper Association of America).

ABOUT QVC
QVC, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group (Nasdaq: LINTA – News), is one of the largest multimedia retailers in the world, with annual revenue of more than $7 billion. QVC is committed to providing its customers with thousands of the most innovative and contemporary beauty, fashion, jewelry and home products. Its programming is distributed to more than 166 million homes worldwide. The company’s Web site, QVC.com, is ranked among the top general merchant Internet sites. With subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, West Chester, Pa.-based QVC has shipped more than a billion packages in its 22-year history.

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading mobile solutions provider of interactive applications for over 10,000 clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP and iPhone applications, QWASI makes complexity to simple with mobile marketing, mCommerce (mobile commerce), private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and interactive property marketing services for Fortune 1000 business. QWASI powers over 1.3 million real estate listings, 1.5 million mobile ads and mobile alerts each day.

PHILADELPHIA, July 24, 2008 – CellSigns, Inc., the premier provider of mobile tools and services for real estate and newspapers, announced today that they have released version 2.0 of their mobile search tool, Mobile Agent. Now a home buyer can drive around their local market, see any home for sale and get property information on that home, including photos and detailed descriptions, in just seconds. Any Broker or Agent can easily deploy an SMS (text message) mobile access tool for home buyers and agents alike. The buyer can quickly search by property address, street name, MLS number and more, all on-the-go, from any cell phone and get information by SMS (text messaging), MMS (multimedia messaging) and WAP (mobile internet).

Watch the Video – click here: Mobile Agent Video: Bob & Sally

Mobile Agent provides such features as:

• Mobile Search by Property Address, Street Name, MLS#, Agent Name…
• Photos on a cell phone with detailed property description & information.
• Comparable properties to view all similar homes.
• Text-to-Client lets listing information be sent immediately to clients or other agents.
• Click-to-Call empowers consumers to instantly connect to their agent or broker.
• Works on all cell phones without any downloads or special training.

“This is a powerful mobile access tool. In addition to being able to retrieve property information on the go, it has the benefit of empowering buyers by giving them access in real time to the listing information using any standard cell phone,” says Mark Ford , CEO CellSigns, Inc. “MobileAgent allows agents and consumers to pull out their cell phones and access all homes on the market. Buyers can connect with their agent immediately to schedule a showing. In addition the buyer and agent can logon to the Mobile Agent website to view the full history of properties accessed.”

Dave Geipel, President of CellSigns, adds, “We’ve created our mobile service to empower the agent and home buyer while they are out driving around neighborhoods, visiting properties. Our updates to Mobile Agent let the industry know we have finally fulfilled what the internet always promised – to connect the buyer and agent with the information everyone seeks. Agents can be more productive and finally be in more places at the same time through the service.” CellSigns has the only complete mobile product suite in the industry, servicing buyers, sellers, agents, brokers and MLS boards.

Mobile Agent has been launched market by market to thousands of real estate agents. The service currently covers 20 major metro areas and more are being added daily. Agents and Brokers can sign up today at www.MyMobileAgent.com. The CellSigns real estate text messaging service and mobile search tools were awarded the “Most Innovative Technology of the Year” award in real estate from Inman News.

ABOUT CELLSIGNS
CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com), a QWASI (www.qwasi.com) company, is a leading mobile applications company providing interactive solutions for businesses via text messaging, SMS, MMS and WAP. Supported by every major wireless carrier and working on over 99% of all cell phones, the company offers Mobile Agent real estate search, private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and the only interactive property marketing service for real estate. CellSigns powers over 1.1 million real estate listings, 1.5 million mobile ads and mobile alerts.

By LaShell Stratton

At The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fla., taking a good idea and making it even better is a strategy for success. Since 2004, the Post has built on previous award-winning online products to create even more innovative digital media systems.

This year was no exception. The Post adapted a classified advertising technology, Classifieds on the Go, that it developed with mobile vendor CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com) and created an on-demand mobile alert system to notify users about hurricane and tropical storm activity in the Atlantic Ocean during hurricane season from June through November.

“One of the responsibilities of newspapers is to help protect people and their property,” says Dan Shorter, former general manager of PalmBeachPost.com.

In January, Shorter was named president of digital media at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.

Classifieds on the Go, which won a 2007 Innovative Operations Award, allows readers to access classified ads on demand by typing a text message code in their cell phones (“Good Ideas,” April 2007, p. 52).

Last year wasn’t the first time the Post was recognized for its mobile technology. The newspaper earned recognition as a NAA Best Practices Award winner in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The Post brainstormed other practical uses for the Classifieds on the Go technology, says Gina C. Wilcox, digital operations director. The Post also wanted to build a system that advertisers could sponsor, which led Shorter and his award-winning team to the mobile alerts.

The Post development team realized that many residents rely on their cell phones to communicate and find information during storms so, in May 2007, it began working on the alert system.

Technical Manager Dale Swain wrote a PHP automated script for the newspaper’s server that monitors the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (www.noaa.gov) every five minutes for updates about hurricanes near South Florida. The script pulls key information, such as the hurricane’s wind speed, category, direction and speed of movement, and translates it into XML before sending it to CellSigns.

The files are then dropped into CellSigns’ database, and the hurricane data are placed into fields. When mobile device users dial the word STORM to the Post’s mobile short code, they receive a text message about the hurricane’s progression. Mobile users also can view the newspaper’s STORM WAP site, which contains breaking news, live radar images and more. Users can access the alert system and the WAP site even if they don’t subscribe to the newspaper.

As an added precaution against failure during hurricanes, CellSigns placed the alert system on corporate servers outside Florida.

The final product took about three months to develop, Wilcox says, and a few weeks later, the newspaper sold a sizable sponsorship package to Publix Super Markets Inc. As part of the package, Publix could include its brand as well as a link to its Web site with alert text messages, says Wilcox. The package also includes promotions in other STORM services such as subscriber-based mobile alerts, the newspaper’s weekly HTML newsletter containing preparedness tips and advisory e-mails that are automatically generated every time the National Hurricane Center issues an update on active tropical activity.

The on-demand alert system can be easily adapted by other newspapers, whether they are in the Midwest and want to alert residents about tornadoes, or are on the West Coast and want to send updates about earthquakes, says Bill Bolger, vice president of production at The Indianapolis Star and a member of NAA’s Printing Technology Committee, which helped to judge the I.O. Awards.

“It probably didn’t hurt that we had tornadoes around here about two weeks before I reviewed the entries,” Bolger says. “I looked at this and thought, ‘We could use something like that here.’ ”

This year was no exception. The Post adapted a classified advertising technology, Classifieds on the Go, that it developed with mobile vendor CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com) and created an on-demand mobile alert system to notify users about hurricane and tropical storm activity in the Atlantic Ocean during hurricane season from June through November.

“One of the responsibilities of newspapers is to help protect people and their property,” says Dan Shorter, former general manager of PalmBeachPost.com. In January, Shorter was named president of digital media at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.

Classifieds on the Go, which won a 2007 Innovative Operations Award, allows readers to access classified ads on demand by typing a text message code in their cell phones (“Good Ideas,” April 2007, p. 52). Last year wasn’t the first time the Post was recognized for its mobile technology. The newspaper earned recognition as a NAA Best Practices Award winner in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The Post brainstormed other practical uses for the Classifieds on the Go technology, says Gina C. Wilcox, digital operations director. The Post also wanted to build a system that advertisers could sponsor, which led Shorter and his award-winning team to the mobile alerts.

The Post development team realized that many residents rely on their cell phones to communicate and find information during storms so, in May 2007, it began working on the alert system.

Technical Manager Dale Swain wrote a PHP automated script for the newspaper’s server that monitors the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (www.noaa.gov) every five minutes for updates about hurricanes near South Florida. The script pulls key information, such as the hurricane’s wind speed, category, direction and speed of movement, and translates it into XML before sending it to CellSigns.

The files are then dropped into CellSigns’ database, and the hurricane data are placed into fields. When mobile device users dial the word STORM to the Post’s mobile short code, they receive a text message about the hurricane’s progression. Mobile users also can view the newspaper’s STORM WAP site, which contains breaking news, live radar images and more. Users can access the alert system and the WAP site even if they don’t subscribe to the newspaper.

As an added precaution against failure during hurricanes, CellSigns placed the alert system on corporate servers outside Florida.

The final product took about three months to develop, Wilcox says, and a few weeks later, the newspaper sold a sizable sponsorship package to Publix Super Markets Inc. As part of the package, Publix could include its brand as well as a link to its Web site with alert text messages, says Wilcox. The package also includes promotions in other STORM services such as subscriber-based mobile alerts, the newspaper’s weekly HTML newsletter containing preparedness tips and advisory e-mails that are automatically generated every time the National Hurricane Center issues an update on active tropical activity.

The on-demand alert system can be easily adapted by other newspapers, whether they are in the Midwest and want to alert residents about tornadoes, or are on the West Coast and want to send updates about earthquakes, says Bill Bolger, vice president of production at The Indianapolis Star and a member of NAA’s Printing Technology Committee, which helped to judge the I.O. Awards.

“It probably didn’t hurt that we had tornadoes around here about two weeks before I reviewed the entries,” Bolger says. “I looked at this and thought, ‘We could use something like that here.’ ”

NAA Digital Edge Awards – February 2008

The newspaper industry can’t let Google and Yahoo! and a slew of other international companies come into our local markets and take away mobile advertising revenue. Many of these dot-coms already are offering business directories via mobile, which list area hotels, restaurants and the such. We can’t give up this on-the-go audience. We need to own this local market as we do print and online.

To fight back, the staff of PalmBeachPost.com decided to offer every element of every display ad plus our classifieds via a mobile site and text messaging. Revenue for the first year is close to $750,000 with the largest sale being $40,000 to a grocery store.

Gina Wilcox, the digital development director, along with technical manager Dale Swain, mobile coordinator Shaun Flagg and online GM Dan Shorter created our site at shop.pbpost.com. “You can search about 25,000 goods and services that have appeared in Post ads in the past week. You can search for homes, pizza, cars, jobs or anything else that appeared in the paper. These items are also available on our Shopping channel. We even offer photos,” says Wilcox.

Some are images taken from display ads and then associated with the part of the print ad that was searched for. An example would be searching for a plasma TV and getting all the details in the display ad plus the color photo that ran with it.

We are already seeing people not just searching for plasma TVs but putting in specific UPC codes. It appears they are standing in one electronics store with their cell phone checking out inventories on our mobile site for competitors across town.

We also allow mobile device users without Web services to search via text messaging. They text shop to 72727 and then select a category. It takes a few more steps but they see the same items as on our mobile site.

We think mobile has a tremendous upside, since we know that more people in our market have cell phones and PDAs than have Internet connections.

Our vendor partner is CellSigns.

• What are some of the issues facing newspapers when it comes to implementing mobile phone technology?
  Mobile isn’t new for many newspapers that have deployed WAP (wireless access protocol) sites with news, weather and sports content. They have been out for several years but most of those investments have not paid off. That’s because “mobile” encompasses a wider range of services to create an experience. It’s not a single technology. The cornerstone of today’s successful mobile strategy is SMS (text messaging) and WAP. When you consider that a mobile phone can be a Web browser, an e-mail client, a telephone and an instant messenger, you really need to look for a strategy for each of these modes of communication. It also needs to reach consumers across various cell phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint/Nextel.

  Video will be the next big thing in the mobile space. Newer technologies like location-based services are still generating a lot of buzz right now.

• How has the mobile technology industry changed over the past few years?
  Over the last five years, the fastest growing form of wireless communication in the U.S. has been SMS/text messaging.In just five years, text messaging has grown from over 18 million text messages a month to over 18.5 billion text messages sent each month in the U.S. It’s been growing 250 percent year over year. In other countries, there are more text messages sent than calls placed.

  The mobile Internet will also revolutionize communication and entertainment in the near future as bandwidth increases on mobile networks. New services such as mobile video, photo sharing and music downloading will be all the rage over the next few years as the cell phone morphs into the next-generation communication device. Can anyone say iPhone?

• Do you think mobile phone technology will help newspapers attract the young readership demographic?
  Absolutely. According to Forrester Research, 78 percent of cell phone subscribers aged 18 to 26 use data services. Whether it’s teens, tweens or Generation X, Y or Z, they can all be lumped in as the mobile generation, or the consumer on the go.The only way to reach this demographic is to talk their talk and create services that are useful and are of interest. They may not be picking up the paper, but their phone is with them and they know how to use it.

  SMS is to Gen-Y as e-mail was to Gen-X.

• What Web 2.0 technology trends should newspapers pay attention to?
  The newsroom has changed. Breaking news is now being reported as it happens through text message posts, mobile e-mail, camera phone photos and mobile video taken from cell phones. Some reporters are being equipped to report from the street and are now being called mojos, or mobile journalists.Publisher Web sites will soon morph into places where collective intelligence resides. Blogs from actual editors and reporters will become the norm and garner greater readership across the Internet.

  The move toward hyper-local puts the spotlight back on the street-by-street news. It also puts the spotlight on social networking applications, microsites and mash-ups — blending technologies.

  Mobile technologies will allow advertisers to publish mobile special offers and specials to an opt-in list managed by the publisher. The customer will get the offer immediately on their phone, which reiterates the value of the subscriber relationship.

  In the end, mobile is the universal connector between the customer and others with similar interests across all of the newspaper franchises, including news, weather, sports, promotions, and classifieds. — OT

PHILADELPHIA, April 26, 2007 – Newspapers are the number one local media brand in spite of eroding circulation over the last decade. To remain the leading local destination, newspapers are investing in mobile technology to expand their reach and footprint. CellSigns, Inc. announced the industry’s first mobile platform, Cellifieds multi-medium mobile solution for Newspapers at NEXPO, the Newspaper Association of America annual trade show in Orlando.

Cellifieds bridges the offline, online and mobile channels. With a cell phone, users can shop the local classifieds for a car, browse pictures and information on homes for sale, or even sign up for alerts and breaking news. The customer can also click on the newspaper website and send a news story, coupon or ad to their cell phone with send-to-phone. “Timing is critical for newspapers when delivering mobile content to consumers,” said David Geipel, President CellSigns, Inc. “Our platform mobilizes content and puts it in the hands of consumers – while they are on the go, when and how they want it.”

CellSigns has been powering mobile solutions in other industries including real estate for over three years, but isn’t new to newspapers. “It’s been exciting working with newspapers for the last two years building their mobile strategy. Our company has quickly responded with a multi-modal approach that delivers the consumer experience across various mobile phones and technologies including SMS (text messaging) and WAP (mobile internet),” says Mark Ford, CEO CellSigns, Inc. The newspaper industry is in the midst of change as Google and Yahoo attempt to own the local mobile market place. Newspapers are reacting by developing a mobile strategy to build their mobile brand. “The papers are quickly learning they need to secure their branded short code for their market and start building an audience,” adds Ford.

The newspaper industry is in the midst of rebranding themselves as the complete local media source. In the fall of 2006 the Palm Beach Post launched Cellifieds mobile classifieds and made their ads and classifieds available via a cell phone using their short code (72727). They recently announced a mobile search that allows customers to search the paper via SMS/text messaging and WAP. With the Cellifieds mobile newspaper platform, the Post won the coveted NAA PRESSTIME magazine 2007 Innovative Operations Award for Mobile Ads on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at the NAA NEXPO conference. “Newspapers today see mobile as the next channel, but it needs to be stressed that timing is critical for them to get their content into the hands of their consumer before someone else does,” add Geipel.

ABOUT CELLSIGNS
CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com) is a leading mobile applications company providing interactive solutions for businesses via text messaging, SMS, MMS and WAP. Supported by every major wireless carrier and working on over 98% of all cell phones, the company offers Cellifieds (mobile classifieds), private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat/live chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and the only interactive property marketing service for real estate. The company has won numerous awards including Most Innovative Technology by Inman News and two Newspaper Association of America awards for its client: a NAA Edgie and PRESSTIME technology award for Innovative Operations.

BY GINA ROLLINS

Dan Shorter has spent the last three years finding ways to make palmbeachpost.com’s classifieds easier to use.

That search has led him to his latest project, Classifieds on the Go, a technology that makes all classified ads available on cell phones and personal digital assistants that use Sprint, Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile and Alltel networks. Users can look for a specific classified ad or do keyword searches of all classifieds and display ads, currently about 10,000 items.

The venture, which began last November, is part of a broader media strategy to reposition the Post in a rapidly evolving market.

“We have to capture our rightful share of the mobile audience or we’ll be left out in the cold,” says Shorter, general manager of palmbeachpost.com, adding he hopes Classifieds on the Go will attract people not currently reading the newspaper. “We’re using mobile technology to create new value so we won’t be just a print company with a Web site, but really a multimedia business.”

This focus on mobile technology follows investments in the Post’s online portal for enhanced ad placement, search and display features, as well as a network of ATM-like kiosks in malls and shopping centers (“Convenient Classifieds,“ April 2006, p. 58). Shorter and colleagues Gina Wilcox, online development director; Robb Olsen, vice president of advertising; and Michelle Licudine, Internet marketing manager, have worked closely on all these ventures, which earned the paper recognition as a Best Practices Award winner in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Classifieds to Go also won a 2007 Digital Edge Award for Best Advertising Program in the 75,000 to 250,000 circulation category.

The Post’s pursuit of cutting-edge technology caught the eye of Chuck Peters, president and chief executive officer of The Gazette Co. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and chairman of NAA’s Newspaper Systems Committee, which helped judge the I.O. Awards. “They’re moving along the right path, are very innovative, and [moving] in the direction we all should be going,” he says.

Mobile users access Classifieds to Go by entering an identification number for a specific ad or a phrase, such as “three-bedroom house,” then text-messaging it to the Post’s mobile short code. Searchers will then receive a text message of up to 160 characters with information about their request.

Those with Web-enabled cell phones have the option of linking to Web sites and images. When a search returns too many results, the user is asked to refine it. A house search, for instance, could be narrowed with an additional term, such as “fireplace.”

The Post partnered with CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com), Shorter says, and paid the company “a few tens of thousands” of dollars to develop the technology. The product is on track to generate $1 million in revenue during its first year, Shorter adds. Advertisers pay a small premium for mobile access.

Traffic for the service is “thin” at present, but Shorter believes it will only blossom. “There’s as much, if not more, potential audience and revenue as on the Internet,” he says.

CELLSIGNS CONTACT
Visit CellSigns or call 877-747-9274.

This new mobile service launched in November on PalmBeachPost.com. Users are able to request information on classified ads such as homes, autos and other advertising content simply by texting specific codes or using a natural language search to access the information on their mobile device. They will then receive a message via SMS with the classified ad information including pictures when available or contact the seller directly with a click to call. “Mobile devices are the perfect way to quickly connect buyers and sellers,” said Robb R Olsen, Vice President of Advertising, The Palm Beach Post. “And, you don’t have to be in front of your computer or reading the newspaper to find what you need.”

CellSigns patent-pending interactive mobile applications suite is built on powerful 2-way SMS and includes mobile search via text messaging, click-to-text, mobile chat and other applications. The company recently won the “Most Innovative Technology” Award from Inman News for their mobile search and property marketing system.

“CellSigns is very pleased to have been chosen by Cox Newspapers to provide a very powerful mobile tool for consumers on the go” said Mark Ford, CEO of CellSigns. “Our mobile search application, Cellifieds, allows newspapers to reach their local market through the mobile channel with interactive text messaging features for classified ads and extends the newspapers reach into a new channel. It also extends the message of the advertiser into mobile ads.” “More local residents have mobile devices than have Internet connections,” said PalmBeachPost.com General Manager Dan E. Shorter. “With our mobile and Internet services, kiosks and the newspaper we now offer the largest possible reach for any advertiser in our area.”

ABOUT COX NEWSPAPERS
As one of the nation’s largest newspaper publishing enterprises, Cox Newspapers now produces 17 daily and 25 non-dailies. The company also operates direct mail businesses, distributes classified advertising publications, customized newsletters and owns one-third of a newsprint manufacturing business. Total circulation for the company’s newspapers reaches 1.2 million each weekday and more than 1.6 million on Sundays. For more information about Cox Newspapers, Inc, please visit www.coxnews.com.

Readers can now get real estate, auto, job and other info-on-the-go. With either a cell phone or pda with text messaging or web access, readers can now get details on the spot for classified listings in the Palm Beach Post. Interested in what the home looks like? The new service brings print to life with photos and other detailed information. “More local residents have mobile devices than have Internet connections,” said PalmBeachPost.com General Manager Dan E. Shorter. “With our mobile and Internet services, kiosks and the newspaper we now offer the largest possible reach for any advertiser in our area.”

The new service from CellSigns is called Cellifieds. The technology platform empowers classified advertising publishers, providers and aggregators to monetize Classified Ad content via the cell phone. “We are very pleased to power the new Palm Beach Post Mobile service. It’s a unique offering that reaches customers any time and any place,” said Mark Ford, CEO of CellSigns. “The landscape for newspapers changes when they can reach a new customer through the mobile channel with interactive text messaging features for mobile classifieds. It also extends the advertiser’s message into mobile ads.” Cellifieds enable users to request and receive information on classified ads by texting specific codes to the service or with a mobile search using targeted keywords and search criteria. The user receives the results and can then get additional information on an ad including pictures, or contact the seller directly with a click-to-call.

“We believe that in the future, success in the newspaper industry is going to rely on our ability to quickly adapt our core products to the on-the-go lifestyle of our customers,” said Gina C. Wilcox, director of online development. “The introduction of Mobile IDs in our Classified ads is just one step in that direction. Unlike traditional distribution models, the implementation of Mobile Classifieds empowers our customers to access the information they need — when and how they need it.”

ABOUT CELLSIGNS
CellSigns (cellsigns.) interactive solutions for businesses via text messaging, MS, MMS and WAP. Supported by every major wireless carrier and working on over 98% of all cell phones, the company offers private labeled mobile search tools, click-to-text, mobile chat applications and the only interactive property marketing service for real estate. The company recently won the “Most Innovative Technology of the Year” award by Inman News.

CELLSIGNS CONTACT
Visit CellSigns or call 877-747-9274.

Mobile Connect is an enterprise level application that allows website/domain owners and operators to create mobile notification systems on existing inquiry forms across their website. The click-to-text application can deliver a question, message or other form submitted information and send it to a selected customer service representative, sales contact, agent, etc. The new IM Connect application is an interactive live chat tool that allows a website user to instantly start a chat with a representative or sales professional from either their computer or cell phone via text messaging. IM Connect’s click-to-chat application is compatible with instant messaging services: Yahoo IM, AOL IM, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, and over 97% of all cell phones. In a recent Forrester survey, website chat users said that it was both faster (44%) and easier (34%) than using the phone. It also cited more time to formulate thoughts (33%) and improved personal feel over email (33%).

“Currently the small to middle size market is underserved when it comes to online chat and mobile applications. The addition of this product suite opens markets for CellSigns. These new products allow individual practitioners and large companies alike to stay connected with users on their website. “We are excited to release these new products that empower consumers and enable companies and practitioners to stay connected with their customers,” said David Geipel, President of CellSigns.

CellSigns’ patent-pending interactive application platform has now been made accessible via an open API for the new enterprise applications. Our customers and partners can now easily integrate our applications into their existing web and application infrastructure. The company recently won the “Most Innovative Technology of the Year” award in Real Estate from Inman News for their mobile search and property marketing system.

ABOUT CELLSIGNS
CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com) is a leading mobile applications company providing interactive solutions  for businesses via text messaging, SMS, MMS and WAP. Supported by every major wireless carrier and  working on over 98% of all cell phones, the company offers private label mobile search tools, click-tochat,  click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and the only interactive property  marketing service for real estate. The company was recently named the Most Innovative Technology of  the year by Inman News.

“In today’s economy, innovation determines success,” said Bradley Inman, founder and publisher of Inman News. “In the view of myself and my editorial board, CellSigns has earned this award by finding new ways to succeed.”

“We are both excited and humbled to receive this coveted award. We’ve built a product suite of solutions for brokers and agents focused on taking the customer experience mobile. This is just the beginning of the revolution in real estate and we’re leading the charge,” say Dave Geipel and Mark Ford, co-founders of CellSigns. Launched in 1997, the Inman News Innovator Awards recognizes enterprises that have demonstrated extraordinary levels of innovation in technology and enhance real estate transactions for consumers, positively impact the real estate industry, and redefine key business models within the market. Additionally, one individual who embodies the spirit of innovation in real estate is honored each year.

Winners from prior years include Google Earth, Century21 ClickIt, RealLiving, Curbed.com, ApartmentRating.com, NY Times Real Estate, Metrocities Mortgage, Cendant LeadRouter, Fidelity PHD, E*TRADE, E-LOAN, Lending Tree, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation, and many more.

About Real Estate Connect

Real Estate Connect (www.inman.com/connectsf) is the premier real estate technology conference and attracts the industry’s most influential decision makers, opinion leaders and technology experts into an active forum for discussion and debate.

About Inman News
Real Estate Connect is organized and produced by Inman News,the nation’s leading independent real estate news service and content provider. Inman’s clients and partners include 50,000+ Web sites and 250+ U.S. newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Washington Post, Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google, The Wall Street Journal Online, CBS MarketWatch, and many more.

Inman News Media Contact: Dave Platter, Publitas, New York, 212-757-7506

About CellSigns
CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com) is the leading real estate sms/text messaging company providing information on property listings via cell phone. Supported by every major wireless carrier and working on over 95% of all cell phones, the company offers the only interactive property marketing service, a robust mobile search for real estate MobileAgent, and sms/txt-enabled trade show/conference system.

CellSigns Contact: For more information, call CellSigns @ 877-747-9274.

Competitive agents are embracing text messaging and podcasts to reach buyers.

By T.J. Sullivan

Special to The Times April 9, 2006

CAN txt msgs make it EZer 2 shop 4 real est8?

Home sellers like Peter Maurer are hoping they will. When the founding partner of a Santa Monica architecture firm put his five-bedroom house in Sherman Oaks on the market in mid-March, his real estate agent, Craig Paul, put more than just a phone number on the sign out front. Paul, who subscribes to a service called CellSigns, also posted a string of numbers known as a “short code” to which prospective buyers can send a text message to request more information.

After the query is sent, several brief text messages are automatically transmitted in response from the text messaging service, giving information such as the number of bedrooms, the square footage and the asking price. One message lists the agent’s website address and explains how to request a call or brochure by e-mail. Some services, such as Phoenix-based House4Cell, send messages with photos of the inside of the home.

“This is one of the best inventions in the real estate market that I have seen,” Maurer said.

For buyers, it eliminates the frustration of an empty flier box and playing phone tag with an agent just to determine a price. For sellers, it lets them know who, besides the neighbors, have passed by and snagged the listing information. And for real estate professionals, it’s a chance to connect with customers on the fly.

It also offers a new option for homes that are for sale by owner. If sellers don’t want their home phone numbers posted out front, they can communicate through a text-message service.

Agents, being agents, are continually looking for new ways to acquire listings and communicate with prospective buyers. Text messaging has joined other innovations, including podcasts, which allow real estate agents to produce audio and video commercials for their listings and zap them to people who request them on the Internet.

Several companies have begun offering high-tech services in the last year. House4Cell launched its text-messaging service in 2005, as did one of its competitors, CellSigns, based near Philadelphia. Likewise, companies focused on real estate podcasts rolled out their products last year too, including RealEstateShows.com, based in Marina del Rey, and the Xsites Network by A la mode Inc., based in Oklahoma City.

The timing appears to be right. “Realtors that were in the hot market didn’t need to do anything,” said Jeff Turner, president of RealEstateShows.com. “But we are now back in selling mode in Southern California.”

Alexander Villa, an agent with Century 21 Prestige Properties in Claremont, said he’s trying to adjust to the needs of a more tech-savvy clientele.

“The demographic is changing, and the focus is on the younger crowd,” said Villa, the bulk of whose recent business has been with young families buying in San Bernardino County. Villa uses House4Cell on his listings and said he intends to jump into podcasting next.

“Less than a minute from them requesting something I know it, and I call them back,” he said. “If I waited until that night, or later in the day, they’d say, ‘Oh gosh, that was yesterday.’ “

About 134 million American adults have cellphones and about 27% of them have used text messages, according to a study released last year by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, an initiative of the Pew Research Center.

CTIA-the Wireless Assn. reported that 7.3 billion text messages were sent in the month of June 2005, up 154% from June 2004. Five years ago, only 33.5 million text messages were sent in June, said John Walls, vice president of public affairs for the association.

Although still relatively new on the West Coast, using text messages to sell homes is more common in the East. Homeowner Jon Thies, who recently completed construction of a new home in Pennsylvania, said he used CellSigns to help market his prior residence this winter in Wilmington, Del. Although the eventual buyer didn’t use the textmessaging feature, Thies said the response to it was “awesome.”

“We’d be home, and we’d see cars drive by and stop, and we’d look at the CellSigns website and we’d see that they requested the information we put up there,” Thies said.

The area codes of the people requesting the information, which are logged in a secure area of the website, told Thies that many of the prospective buyers came from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.

But in the age of do-not-call lists, the matter of sharing a cell number with a real estate agent is bound to concern some would-be buyers. Federal law prohibits cellphone numbers from being placed in a telemarketer’s auto-dialer. However, when a prospective buyer sends a text message to the code number on a sign, he is voluntarily sharing his phone number with both the company that runs the service and the real estate agent paying for it.

How that information is treated depends on the agent and the company offering the service.

David Wachs, president of Cellit Mobile Marketing, which operates the House4Cell service, said company policy states it will “never, under any circumstances, sell or otherwise distribute your cellphone numbers to third parties.” House4Cell agents receive a text message immediately after a request for information is made on a listing. The message tells the agent both the identity of the listing and the cellphone number of the person who requested the information. That agent can then call the person back or send a text message.

“Say the Realtor happens to be in the area,” Wachs said. ” ‘I’m right around the corner. Would you like me to show it to you?’ “

CellSigns co-founder David Geipel takes a different approach. He said anyone who sends a text message through his service is considered to be requesting only information. They have to send a second text message to authorize a call back.

“To start a conversation with someone … who does not give them permission is just hounding them,” Geipel said.

Agents are well aware of how protective people can be about contact information. It’s part of the reason sign-in sheets at open houses have become ineffective tools.

“An individual walking into an open house has a red target on their back as a hot prospect…. I find they’re very reluctant to sign in,” said agent Paul, with Re/Max on the Boulevard in Encino. “They either give partial or incorrect information.”

Information obtained from text messages, however, is accurate and can help both the agent and seller, Paul said, regardless of whether they walk away or seek contact.

“If 20 people have requested information and not one of them has asked for a showing, then something is wrong,” Paul said. “Then we have to take a look and see how much we’re asking.”

Another gadget changing home selling and buying is the iPod and the podcasts it has inspired.

A podcast is content created for iPods and distributed via the Internet. Podcasts can contain simple audio, or a combination of audio, photographs and video. The content can even be played on desktop and laptop computers, which makes them an attractive way for agents to communicate with buyers. A prospective buyer visiting an agent’s website can download podcasts about listings and subscribe to future podcasts, which means they will be automatically downloaded whenever the agent produces new ones.

Brent Humpherys, an agent with Re/Max Associates in San Diego who uses the Xsites Network, said Internet statistics prompted him to embrace the technology.

The Home Buyer and Seller Survey released in January by the National Assn. of Realtors said 24% of buyers in 2005 identified the Internet as their first connection to the home they purchased, up from 15% in 2004.

“Calling a salesperson who stands to make a large commission and saying, ‘Hi, I’m John Jones and I want to talk about buying a house’ is a little intimidating to some people,” Humpherys said. “And that’s where podcasting comes in. It’s kind of the best of both worlds. ‘Leave me alone, but I want to hear more.’ I think that’s what their attitude is.”

Turner of RealEstateShows.com thinks podcasts are a concept that will take off once technological advances make it possible for the iPod and other media players to connect wirelessly to the Internet. Although some existing handhelds, like BlackBerries, already connect wirelessly, they don’t handle slide shows and movies well, which makes them impractical for this purpose, Turner said.

That’s bound to change though, he said, and those who embrace progress will benefit.

“I can fear the technology,” he said, “but I can also understand that I need it.”

Groundbreaking Text Messaging Application Creates New Information and Communication Options for the Real Estate Market

Chantilly, VA, 27.10.2005 – Mobile 365, the global leader in mobile messaging and data services, today announced that it has signed an agreement with mobile marketing company QWASI to provide mobile messaging network services for CellSigns, the only interactive text message marketing system designed specifically for real estate.

Prompted by a CellSign, a potential homebuyer uses a mobile phone to text message the property’s identification number to shortcode 79274 (“QWASI”). Within seconds, a text message is returned to the buyer’s phone with information regarding specifics about the home and agent. “QWASI’s CellSigns is a revolutionary concept for the real estate industry,” said Gregory Dunn, vice president, Americas for Mobile 365. “CellSigns further validates the growing adoption and impact of mobile marketing in all
aspects of business and life. The advent of this mobile system for agents and buyers will create new efficiencies for both parties, which is critical in today’s competitive housing market.”

CellSigns empowers buyers to receive property information via text messages, and qualifies leads for agents in real-time. This interactive system enables buyers and agents to rapidly exchange integral information such as property description, asking price, and agent contact information. Buyers are able to respond to the initial text message with requests to schedule a showing, speak to the agent directly, or get a property brochure via email.

“CellSigns creates the opportunity for real-time connectivity between agents and buyers, and Mobile 365 is the clear choice as a service partner who can ensure our customers have an optimal experience with our system,” said David Geipel, Co-founder, QWASI.

About Mobile 365
Delivering two billion messages per month, Mobile 365 leads the world in the global delivery and settlement of mobile messaging and data services, including SMS, MMS, and WAP content and services. With reach to more than 500 mobile operators around the world, Mobile 365′s global connectivity and network reliability inspire confidence that your interoperator messages and interactive services are successfully delivered, and that your revenue is always processed quickly. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, USA, Mobile 365 has offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New Delhi, Paris, San Mateo (California, USA), São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, and Taipei. Major operator customers include Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, Cingular Wireless, T-Mobile, Telcel, Telefonica, O2, China Mobile, China Unicom, Hutchison, and Airtel. Major brand customers include Volvo, Sony Pictures, MSN, Citibank, Siemens, Ogilvy, Dunkin’ Donuts, Vodafone, and more.

About CellSigns
CellSigns, by QWASI, Inc., is the industry’s only wireless interactive real estate text messaging lead generation system. The property marketingsystem empowers buyers to receive property information via text messaging and qualifies leads for agents. Developed by real estate agents for agents, CellSigns utilizes the latest technology in SMS text messaging to deliver information to customers on various wireless carriers including Cingular, Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon and others. Powered by QWASI, its patent pending mobile application and marketing platform now makes text messaging interactive. Visit http://www.cellsigns.com or http://www.qwasi.com for more information.

Prospective home buyers out shopping for homes can receive property information via text messaging on their cell phones through a new service called CellSigns.

The service offers buyers a property description, the asking price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and the real estate agent’s contact information. Buyers can reply to the initial text message with requests to schedule a showing, get more info, or speak to the agent directly. Agents and brokers can use the service to automate, manage and nurture the buyer/broker relationship. CellSigns is powered by mobile marketing company QWASI, based in Exton, Pa. The service delivers information via various wireless carriers including Cingular, Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon.