Monday, February 14, 2011
Tablets Displacing PCs at Hot Spots
The introduction of the iPad in 2010 has not only taken market share away from other top mobile devices, including the iPhone and iPod Touch, but is also starting to become the primary device for people on the go. From the second quarter to the fourth quarter, laptops decreased 26 percent as the primary device used to connect to public Wi-Fi, while the iPad, along with other tablets, increased 10 percent and gaming devices (including the iPod Touch) grew seven percent.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Smartphone Survey Misleading? The Limits of Market Research
A new survey by In-Stat contains some perhaps-surprising findings. “Users 55 and older are largely not at all interested in phones with a gaming-oriented form factor,” says Greg Potter, research analyst. But the results, a snapshot in time, might be misleading. Many observers might note that, over time, as has been the case for many new technology innovations, though "heavy" use might more often characterize younger users, behaviors typically spread quite broadly through all age demographics.
Out of 16,810 smartphone owners surveyed for SixthSense on behalf of marketing consultancy Lady Geek, around 10 percent (1,639) were older than 55, and around a third (510) of these were women older than 55, for example. Gaming was second most-popular within the age demographic, with one in five stating a game was their favourite app, showing that casual gaming is as popular with the older gaming market as it is across the board.
Belinda Parmar, founder of Lady Geek, says of that study that "a revolution is going on within this older group, but no one seems to notice or pay any attention to these women."
According to the report, 39% of female smartphone owners over 55 have downloaded one or more apps, highlighting a gap in the market for apps aimed at an older audience.
Broken down, 15.2 percent of women aged over 55 had downloaded one app to their smartphone, 9.4 percent between three and five apps, and 14.3 percent have downloaded more.
The most downloaded app for women over 55 is Facebook, highlighting an emphasis on social interaction.
The In-Stat report also contains some other findings that seemingly do not resonate. “Those who are 55 and older prefer, by a significant margin, the use of a numbered keypad over a QWERTY keyboard, which was unexpected," says Potter.
Out of 16,810 smartphone owners surveyed for SixthSense on behalf of marketing consultancy Lady Geek, around 10 percent (1,639) were older than 55, and around a third (510) of these were women older than 55, for example. Gaming was second most-popular within the age demographic, with one in five stating a game was their favourite app, showing that casual gaming is as popular with the older gaming market as it is across the board.
Belinda Parmar, founder of Lady Geek, says of that study that "a revolution is going on within this older group, but no one seems to notice or pay any attention to these women."
According to the report, 39% of female smartphone owners over 55 have downloaded one or more apps, highlighting a gap in the market for apps aimed at an older audience.
Broken down, 15.2 percent of women aged over 55 had downloaded one app to their smartphone, 9.4 percent between three and five apps, and 14.3 percent have downloaded more.
The most downloaded app for women over 55 is Facebook, highlighting an emphasis on social interaction.
The In-Stat report also contains some other findings that seemingly do not resonate. “Those who are 55 and older prefer, by a significant margin, the use of a numbered keypad over a QWERTY keyboard, which was unexpected," says Potter.
But consider the users of the BlackBerry, which by definition incorporate physical or virtual QWERTY keyboards. About 80 percent of BlackBerry users report using email on their smartphones, 70 percent send email, and it is hard to believe that those users do not use the keyboard. In fact, 47 percent of feature phone owners also report sending emails from their mobiles.
The study also suggests users 55 and over are not interested in expanding how they use their cellphones, are less likely to have memory card slots, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and email on their phones, suggesting they use less advanced cellphones. The issue is not whether there are demographic differences. It would be hard to find any metric of technology usage that does not have a significant demographic difference in usage or demand, based on age.
The larger point is that such differences decline over time. The study also suggests cellphone users 55 and over are less likely to be using Wi-Fi hotspots for increased reception. Again, the point is not that there are differences by demographic cohort. The point is that the differences will narrow over time, and relatively quickly, if smartphones are like any other technologies people have been exposed to, and which have value.
That isn't to say there are no differences, or that the differences can be significant for relatively brief amounts of time. http://www.creatingresults.com/knowledge/tag/millennials/.
According to Pew, 70 percent of Boomers now access the Internet everyday for work or personal reasons, up from 25 percent ten years ago. Social media use among Boomers has grown by 88 percent in a year. According to Deloitte, almost two thirds of Boomers now send text messages and 37 percent access the internet on their phones. At this rate, in less than five years, the differences between Boomers, especially younger Boomers (born between 1955 and 1964), and younger generations will be negligible.
According to Pew, 70 percent of Boomers now access the Internet everyday for work or personal reasons, up from 25 percent ten years ago. Social media use among Boomers has grown by 88 percent in a year. According to Deloitte, almost two thirds of Boomers now send text messages and 37 percent access the internet on their phones. At this rate, in less than five years, the differences between Boomers, especially younger Boomers (born between 1955 and 1964), and younger generations will be negligible.
In-Stat argues that designers should build and sell simple devices for those 55 and above. That might be the wrong move, if the direction is convergence of use modes across demographics.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Payment One Introduces Android Payment Method
Payment One, has announced a new payment service specifically for Android called the "Pay One Android" solution. With Pay One Android, Android users can simply click and use any of their phone numbers to securely pay for applications, in-game extras and related digital services. Android users don’t have to leave the application to bill to their Android device and it doesn’t need a credit card, pre-registration or account sign up.
PaymentOne also has partnered with BilltoMobile to offer PaymentOne merchants and customers more competitive payouts and advanced security compared to premium SMS through the BilltoMobile Direct Mobile Billing (DMB) payment service which is directly connected into the carrier billing system.
PaymentOne also has partnered with BilltoMobile to offer PaymentOne merchants and customers more competitive payouts and advanced security compared to premium SMS through the BilltoMobile Direct Mobile Billing (DMB) payment service which is directly connected into the carrier billing system.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Netflix Set to Come to Android Devices
Future Android-powered devices will have the ability to instantly stream TV shows and movies from Netflix, based on the new Qualcomm "Snapdragon" chips, which run fast enough that Netflix videos can be processed with no delay.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Blurring Lines Across Media Space
Buddy Media is a firm that specializes in building Facebook applications. In some ways, that makes Buddy Media something like an ad agency or a public relations firm. It's not, but that blurring simply shows how the media ecosystem is changing.
"We're not an agency," Buddy Media CEO Mike Lazerow said. "We don't strategize; we don't service clients or anything like that." It is a an entity engaged by brands to create media campaigns.
"We're not an agency," Buddy Media CEO Mike Lazerow said. "We don't strategize; we don't service clients or anything like that." It is a an entity engaged by brands to create media campaigns.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Gemalto Brings Facebook to All Mobiles, Without a Data Plan
Gemalto has developed "Facebook for SIM," which enables any user of a SIM-capable handset to get Facebook updates on without a data connection or data subscription, using the text messaging function only. With this announcement, Gemalto brings Facebook to millions of mobile phone users regardless of their handset type.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Multiscreen Viewing Habits on the Rise
Television screens and programming still command the lion’s share of Americans’ media day, but the internet is having a profound effect on consumers’ viewing habits and the proliferation of devices is altering their viewing behavior.
eMarketer estimates that in 2011, 68 percent of U.S. Internet users, or 158 million people, will be watching video content online each month. By 2015, that figure will increase to 76 percent of internet users, or 195.5 million people. In the same period, online video advertising spending will surge from $1.97 billion to $5.71 billion.
eMarketer estimates that in 2011, 68 percent of U.S. Internet users, or 158 million people, will be watching video content online each month. By 2015, that figure will increase to 76 percent of internet users, or 195.5 million people. In the same period, online video advertising spending will surge from $1.97 billion to $5.71 billion.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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