Tablet

Sprint announces HTC EVO View 4G tablet

Sprint is going to carry a 4G WiMAX version of the HTC Flyer tablet: 7” tablet running Gingerbread (2.3) version of Android and HTC Sense UI.

Wi-Fi HTC Flyer to be retail exclusive at Best Buy

“Best Buy and HTC today announced the exclusive launch of the highly-anticipated Wi-Fi only version of the HTC Flyer™ tablet. All Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile standalone stores, as well as BestBuy.com, will have the tablet when it launches this spring.”

Samsung unveils the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and new 10.1 with TouchWiz UX

The 10.1 model was to become the thinnest, large-screen tablet on the market with a profile that is 8.6 mm thin and weighs in at a mere 595 grams. To complement its Android 3.0 Honeycomb mobile operating system, Samsung also updated its TouchWiz UX which is optimized for Android tablets with live panels, a mini application tray, a social hub and more. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available in 16 GB and 32 GB capacity for $499 and $599 respectively, somewhere around June 8.

Apple Confirms Friday’s International Launch of iPad 2

It was thought that the launch would be delayed due to massive product shortages at home, however, Apple still plans to start selling the iPad 2 Friday at 1:00 am online.

BlackBerry PlayBook Price and Release Date Get Official: $499, April 19

Prices for the Wi-Fi-only model start at $499 for the 16 GB version, $599 for 32 GB, and $699 for 64 GB – more or less in line with what we were expecting. The April 19 launch date at Best Buy and Future Shop, however, is much later than the late March timeframe RIM had been forecasting. Preorders start today for both Canadian and U.S. locations, in any case.

AT&T to launch Acer Iconia Tab A501 this summer

AT&T announce it will launch the 4G-enabled Acer Android 3.0 tablet early this summer. They have yet to release a price or date but I’d look for it around June.

Phone Hardware

Sprint unveils HTC EVO 3D smartphone

Sprint’s (and the U.S.) first, 4G no glasses 3D phone.

Technology

New Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Hotspot Program to ease connectivity; Coming in H1 2012

Wi-Fi Alliance is working on an initiative to “transform the user experience in hotspots” to address authentication and provision of service for public Wi-Fi networks. As a result, at some point in the future, users would seamlessly connect on public hotspots without logging in with their SIM card automatically authenticating them. On the other side, carriers would benefit by offloading some of the traffic from their cellular networks.

Stats

40% Will Switch to Android for Next Phone, Says Survey

A survey commissioned by GetJar found that when asked what they would do when purchasing a new smartphone, 40% said they are going to switch to an Android versus 18% that said they are switching to an iPhone. Of course I also say that in the future I’m going to work out but my best intentions don’t always match my actual course of action. Also in the study, 58% of mobile app users are using apps at least once a day. A third of mobile app users spend an hour or more with apps on a daily basis.

Other survey results include:

• Almost 80% said that the quality of the brand’s app makes the brand more trustworthy, while 72% said they were more likely to engage with a brand if they had a good app.
• When it comes to in-app ads, users apparently don’t mind seeing them – 73% said they have downloaded an app with advertising in it, and almost 60% said they’d do it again. Almost 25% made a purchase after having clicked on a mobile ad.
• Only 25% of respondents discovered the apps they were looking for using actual app stores – 50% had discovered apps while browsing online and nearly 17% through friends or social media.
• Gaming apps are the most popular, followed closely by social networking apps.
• The cost of an app was the biggest deciding factor in whether to download an app or not.

NFC/Mobile Payments

Verifone sets out its NFC strategy

Future Verifone POS terminals will be able to support a huge array of NFC services, from traditional card payments to new payments services, couponing applications and more. All new Verifone terminals will have the ability to support NFC. They don’t expect the merchants to foot the bill for installing NFC capabilities at the point of sale. They will be reducing the cost of adding the POS terminal nearly 70%. The cost will be made up by the new payments and marketing players that are keen to get their services accepted at the point-of-sale. Although, the hardware is an obvious cost, the other component is the cost of software maintenance to ensure the systems are kept up-to-date with the latest security and service requirements.

First Data launches mobile marketing service for merchants

First Data has launched mVoucher, a mobile marketing service for merchants that builds on existing gift card systems and provides the potential for a full service NFC wallet to be offered in the future. mVouchers store a prepaid value that can be funded by either the merchant or by a consumer product goods company

Consumers can request or receive a mobile voucher through a banner ad, a short code, loyalty program or as a special promotion. When the customer visits the merchant location, the cashier either manually enters the mVoucher’s 16-digit code or scans the barcode at the point-of-sale.

The mVoucher platform enables consumers to opt-in to receive future offers via email or SMS and to manage their saved offers and accept more incentives from the merchant as well as reload funds onto their gift card, check the balance and transaction information, locate the nearest physical store location and purchase additional mVouchers to send to others.

The death of plastic: BGR talks NFC with MasterCard VP James Anderson

A nice fluff piece with the MasterCard VP. It really doesn’t give any new insight into NFC but if you’re cruising for a NFC article about the possible future of NFC, it’s worth a skim.

Marketing

UK Mobile Ad Spend Rises 116 Per Cent in a Year

UK mobile ad spending more than double in 2010 over 2009 figures. Mobile search spending almost tripled in the same time period. Spending on pre- and post-roll ads soared by 492%.

Top spenders

The report shows the top five display advertising categories in 2010:

• Entertainment & Media – 32.9% (61.5% in 2009)
• Finance – 18.6% (8.1% in 2009)
• Telecoms – 14.3% (14.7% in 2009)
• Consumer Goods – 11.8% (3.2% in 2009)
• Automotive – 6.5% (2.5% in 2009).

Expenditure on Mobile advertising formats

Search – £54.9 million, up from £20.2 million in 2009, a growth of 172%

Display advertising – £28.1 million, up from £17.4 million in 2009, a growth of 61%

This category is broken down into:

• Banners and text links were up 62% year-on-year to £23.7 million (£14.6m in 2009).
• Tenancies were up 18% year-on-year to £1.7m (£1.4m in 2009) and a market share of 2% (3.8% in 2009).
• Pre- and Post-roll advertising was up 492% year-on-year to £1.1 million, (£0.2m in 2009) and a market share of 1.3% (0.5% in 2009).
• Other formats – including display advertising within SMS / MMS – £1.6 million, up from £1.2 million in 2009, a growth of 32% year-on-year.

Market Shares

Search continues to dominate with a market share of 66% (54% in 2009)

Display advertising (banners and text) – market share of 29% (39% in 2009)

Other formats (tenancies, pre/post roll, SMS and other) – market share is 5% (7% in 2009).

KEY DRIVERS AND INSIGHTS

• In 2008, the year records began, mobile phone advertising accounted for £28.6 million.
• In 2009 mobile phone advertising increased 32% year on year to £37.6m.
• *UK Smartphone ownership in 2010 was up 58% year-on-year to 36% of the UK (Dec 2010, Comscore)
• There are 23.3m mobile users in the UK (Dec 2010) – up 21% year-on-year (3 month av. ending Dec 2010 Comscore)
• In December 2010, 6.3 billion minutes have been spent browsing the mobile internet (Comscore GSMA MMM, 2010)
• The number of minutes spent per user, per month went up 32% over 2010 to 301 minutes per person (Comscore GSMA MMM, 2010)
• Mobile media users pick up their phone 18 times a day to consume content via apps/browser. (Mobile in the Media Day, IAB Research Jan 2011)
• 40% of mobile media users agree they often use their mobile if they see an interesting ad (Mobile in the Media Day, IAB Research Jan 2011)
• 51% of the UK population has engaged in M-Commerce (IAB Consumer M-Commerce Study Oct 2010)

• Used mobile for research for purchasing (43%)
• Used mobile for enhancing a purchasing experience (35%)
• Paid for something on mobile straight to bill (37%)
• Paid for something on mobile via card/bank/PayPal (27%)

How To Track Mobile Visits To Your Site On Google Analytics

Heartland delivers wait management and SMS marketing tools to restaurants

Freshtxt is a new service that offers restaurateurs an efficient, customer-friendly solution for managing their wait lists and delivering instant promotions to patrons via text messaging.

This is another app designed to eliminate traditional restaurant pagers. It allows the restaurant to build a database of customers allowing them to send promotional specials and offers that are aimed at increasing repeat business and their profit. A complimentary online reservation module allows customers to make reservations directly on the restaurant’s website. To me, the reservation part is nice but I’d rather see them integrate it into the text messaging portion too.

‘Groupon Now’ to Offer Time and Location Specific Deals via Mobile

The launch is set for next month. The smartphone app begins with only two buttons: “I’m hungry” and “I’m bored.” This generates a range of choices depending on the time and location of the mobile user. Their aim is to bring more applicable offers than the random Groupon deals currently received via email.

MMA Unveils New Version of US Consumer Best Practices for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services

The new guidelines take effect April 1, 2011. The major updates and additions in version 6.0 include:

• Cross-carrier standards separated into standalone sections by billing type, specifically standard rate and premium SMS, in order to make the document easier to use.
• New standard-rate guidelines, which extend the automatic opt-out period due to inactivity from six to 18 months and the addition of terms on how to migrate an opt-in from one code to another.
• Updates to the Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile USA mobile marketing guidelines and codes of conduct known as carrier playbooks.

The new guidelines are available for download now at www.mmaglobal.com/bestpractices.pdf.

Other

Opera launches Opera Mini 6 and Opera Mobile 11 at CTIA [Smartphone and tablet owners rejoice!]

While the user interface hasn’t changed with Opera Mini, performance has gone up. Scrolling and panning speeds have improved considerably since version 5, and there’s also now a dedicated share button so you can send off a website you’re viewing to Twitter and Facebook. Opera Mobile now has pinch to zoom, a refreshed UI, and it even supports tablets. No update for the iPhone or Windows Mobile.

AT&T says T-Mobile will get to keep its pricing structure

Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility, told IntoMobile at CTIA 2011 that T-Mobile will get to keep its current pricing structure. This is a good move and it could mean that AT&T is aware that they are viewed as anti-consumer. How they are going to make this happen? Your guess is as good as mine.