Mobile Photo Sharing and Printing Service via QWASI’s MMS CLOUD

QWASI launches new “appnostic” MMS cloud photo service, allowing users to Snap, Send & Print photos from their cell phones.

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.

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

March 6, 2012 in Press Releases

Smartphone Users account for 50% of US Adults in 2012 – up 11% over 2011.

iPhone and Android now account for 85% of Smartphones in the US.

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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OR you can always use your smartphone to give us a call @ 877-747-9274

March 2, 2012 in Blog

75% of Worldwide Cellphone Users Texting

Social networking most popular in Israel (53%) and the U.S. (50%)

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.

December 22, 2011 in Blog

QWASI launches real-time UPS mobile delivery alerts for Retail

QWASI powers innovative mobile package alert service for Retail

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

December 21, 2011 in Press Releases

Mobile & TV see increase in Viewership & Usage Time

US adults spend more time with mobile than print magazines and newspapers combined

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.

December 12, 2011 in Blog