Common Mobile App Mistakes Many Brands Make

Some day we probably will look back on the early days of mobile apps and have something of the same sense we did early in the development of the World Wide Web, when companies did things such as posting electronic versions of their brochures online, and basically left it at that.

So what are some common issues that Macroview Labs encounters when engaging with big brands that want to create mobile apps?

Common mistakes include duplicating a web site on the mobile screen. That does not take advantage of the capabilities a mobile has, such as cameras, bar code scanning, accelerometers and GPS, for example.

Companies design for the wrong users, the wrong devices or for use cases where mobile signal coverage is going to be an issue. Brands tend to want to recreate an ad experience, when the key thing is to engage users.

Aron Ezra, MacroView Labs CEO, has quite a lot of experience engaging with, and creating applications for, large organizations and brands ranging from major Las Vegas casinos to NASCAR, Elitch Gardens and the city of Arlington, Texas.

“Artwork is really important,” says Ezra, something you can verify yourself at http://www.macroviewlabs.com/work/sample. “Fresh content also is important, because you have to give people reasons to come back.”

Mobile Marketing and Technology

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Apple has launched its new Mac App Store with more than 1,000 free and paid apps in the catalog. Apps can be bought them using an iTunes account.

The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews.

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It's fast. It might be pricey, not in terms of formal price ($50a  month for PC dongle service, with a 5 Gbyte cap, $80 for a 10-Gbyte cap), but if it encourages people to watch lots of video on their PCs, using the air cards, that they might not have in the past, it could get expensive.

International long-distance slumps, while Skype soars

Growth in international call traffic has slumped while international traffic routed using Skype continues to accelerate, says TeleGeography Research.

International phone traffic grew an estimated four percent in 2010, to 413 billion minutes, down from five-percent growth in 2009, and a far cry from the 15 percent average growth rate achieved during the previous two decades.

Of course, traffic is only part of the story. International long distance, as well as most other forms of long distance service, also have been affected by lower per-minute pricing as well.

International long-distance slumps, while Skype soars: CommsUpdate : TeleGeography Research

Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.1 Percent in 2011

The telecom equipment market is poised for strong growth in 2011, with worldwide telecom equipment spending forecast to grow 9.1 percent, according to Gartner. Strong sales of mobile devices are largely responsible.

In absolute terms the most significant change occurred in the mobile services forecast. A combination of updated connection data, increased average revenue per unit in certain countries and stronger local currencies resulted in an upward revision of our mobile service forecast across 2010 through 2014. The CAGR for global mobile services revenue from 2009 through 2014 has been increased to 7 percent, up from 5.3 percent.

Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.1 Percent in 2011