4G is a myth

A new CNN Money article reinforces what we've all heard...4G is a myth.



Wireless carriers are using 4G as a club in their advertising wars, but can they deliver? Have they delivered? No. And no.

Let's look at what 4G actually is: "The International Telecommunication Union, the global wireless standards-setting organization, determined last month that 4G is defined as a network capable of download speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps). That's fast enough to download an average high-definition movie in about three minutes." NONE of the new networks meet this standard.

Sprint launched a network called 4G first, then T-Mobile. Verizon is poised to launch later this year and AT&T is said to launch next year. These networks have theoretical speeds of a fifth to a half that of the official 4G standard. The actual speeds the carriers say they'll achieve are just a tenth of "real" 4G.

The reason for calling the networks 4G? Undoubtedly advertising and PR. Once one network claims 4G the others cannot simple ignore it and must keep up in the eyes of the consumer. On the bright side, these new networks will be faster than existing, just not quite what they are being called.




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Music video shot exclusively on iPhone 4

This music video in Seoul, South Korea was shot entirely on the iPhone 4 using every day items as steadying devices. The song is about a trendy street in Seoul, which is actually the most technologically-advanced street in the world.

Click here to see the ABC video.

Runner's World double-dips with their app

A great app strategy for a magazine? Provide a genuine, valuable service to your readers and your advertisers. Runner's World has done just that.

The Runner's World app is called Shoe Shop. The app offers guides the user through choosing a shoe by helping select their foot type, what type of shoe needed, and then provides a list of shoes by photo. Sounds simple and it is! It's brilliantly simple while giving the user everything they want and nothing more.

The list of results is shown by plenty-large-enough, bright photos and more information about an individual shoe can be found by easily clicking on an arrow. The information pops up over the shoe photo and just as easily disappears without any need to navigate to another page, keeping the experience streaming and enjoyable.

After selecting a shoe the user is offered three buttons: "email," "find online," and "find nearby." The "email" button instantly puts a photo of the chosen shoe and email about the shoe into a newly-composed email the user can send to anyone. The "find online" button quickly reveals a list of online retailers where the chosen shoe can be found. Finally, the "find nearby" button swiftly calculates the location of the user and leverages the NearbyNow network to show local retailers that carry the chosen shoe.

There is not a lot of flashy design with this app, which is why I love it! It offers exactly what it promises with no fluff and nothing in the way. This provides a true tool for users/readers and this provides a great platform to help many of their shoe advertisers further the reach of their products. View the photo gallery below for iPhone screenshots.

Want to build an app? Email Ballyhoo Mobile. Our talented team will work hard to build a SOW exclusively for you at no cost.

Mobile payments probably closer

During yesterday's Web 2.0 Summit, Google's Eric Schmidt talked about a new "unannounced mobile device," which has also become known as the Nexus S (or Nexus 2) built by Samsung. While discussing the not-so-secretive phone, he did confirm the device would include a Near Field Communication chip. Google believes this will redefine how we think about location. As we all know, location has been the hottest mobile topic lately.

NFC (Near Field Communication) allows a device to be swiped to make a payment, such as this:



With this NFC chip and the Android Gingerbread Operating System, mobile device users will be able to tap into a location point (known as Google Places) and pay with their mobile device. This is Google's threat to banks since the payment made is in lieu of credit cards or cash.

Eric Schmidt and eBay CEO John Donahoe have both predicted that mobile phones will replace credit cards. As far as I'm concerned, I hope they do! They less I need to carry, the better.

At Ballyhoo Mobile Marketing, we've talked a lot about NFC. Questions about how it could work for you? Give us a call!

Android Gingerbread promotional video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vskBjYc745g&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Quick mobile payment discussion video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBsafnwlUxs&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Toys R Us Keeps the Fun Coming!

Toys R Us has joined the ranks of Starbucks and Target by launching mobile barcodes that can be scanned right off your phone. Target was the first in the US to launch this and Starbucks is still testing in specific locations. Starbucks has even released a location-limited mobile app that acts as a refillable Starbucks card.

Toys R Us, however, has produced some gold! For the iPad, they released a FREE Great Big Christmas Book application. For iPhone and iPod, they released a Toy Story 3 Memory Game.

Next, they produced a fully capable mobile version of their website and a mobile app that is essentially a version of their website.

Finally, they allow consumers to sign up for special deals and alerts via SMS.

What's nice is that Toys R Us didn't instantly produce all of their mobile offerings just to specifically enhance commerce. They produced fun things just like Toys R Us should.

Two Great Mobile Uses in Print Media

The team here is always big on sharing great uses of mobile, be it by one of our many clients or not. Since, well, 1999 print media (namely newspapers) have been the sluggish when it comes to keeping up with technology. So we always keep our eyes peeled to see which publications are doing anything with mobile. This week I encountered two that did a great job!

The first is Surfer magazine. On the insert there was a subscription offer, as there always is. This one was different because it instructed the reader to text in to subscribe. So I tried it. After texting in, I received a bounceback message asking me for my name, mailing address, and shoe size (a pair of sandals was gift with purchase). I did this and promptly received a message letting me know a bill would be sent to my address in six to eight weeks. Nicely done, Surfer! I actually subscribed on-the-go when I would not have otherwise remembered to visit them online when I got home or, worse yet, mailed something back in. (Graphics are the first three in the gallery below.)


The second is another great example in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I've seen this publication use 2D barcodes before; this time it was to promote the downloading of their new football iPhone app. The technical interaction was simple: snap a photo of the 2D barcode with a QR code reader and instantly be linked to the download page for the app in the iTunes store. (Graphics are the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th in the gallery below.)

[gallery]


For more quantified success stories, check out this blog at Mobile Marketing Case Studies.

Very Cool On-Star App - See Commercials Here

Mobile gets better every day!