Carnival of the Mobilists #221

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists #221. It’s my first time hosting, and I’m glad to have this opportunity to showcase the best and brightest bloggers covering the mobile space. Thank you to all of the dedicated people who not only blog, but connect with one another to share ideas and introduce their readers to the work of our esteemed colleagues. Without further ado, here we go…

A new Mobile OS from Japan? It looks like it, according to Ajit Jaokar of Open Gardens. Read more at Good news for Japan but bad news for LiMo? Japanese phone makers to develop new operating system AND open it to the world.

Readers are given a cultural lesson on Chinese New Year gift-giving customs as the backdrop for the ‘missing million’ in iPhone sales. Tomi Ahonen explains, “Forecasters predicted over 1 million less iPhone sales (some even 2 million below) what actually happened. I was also wrong obviously as nobody saw the increase in sales for the after-Christmas quarter.” The mystery is solved, along with a lively debate in the comments section in Apple to thank Year of Tiger for China Surprise in iPhone strong quarterly sales on Communities Dominate Brands.

Payment via mobile phone are headed to countries that don’t already have it, and Simon Judge gives his top observations of the Mobile Monday London’s treatment of the subject in Mobile Money on MobilePhoneDevelopment.com. It looks like operators are concerned about liability while third party developers lead the way.

It’s clear from a number of posts this week that many mobile developers and mobile marketers are still coming to grips with mobile, especially when it comes to deciding whether to create apps for particular smartphones vs. mobile websites that can be viewed regardless of which phone or mobile device the audience is likely to have.

A shattered iPhone graces Mobsessed.co.uk’s Carl Martin’s post Evidence against the iPhone Mobsession. He argues that since there is a scant 4% iPhone ownership in the UK, money spent marketing iPhone apps would be put to better use on a mobile website. He backs up his rationale with a presentation by Ewan MacLeod of Mobile Industry Review. Elsewhere on his site this week, he marvels at a University student’s use of an iPhone adapted via WiFi to run a remote controlled car. Perhaps that iPhone money should go to R&D then, Carl? iPhone + Virtual Reality Headset + Wifi + REMOTE CONTROLLED CAR = WIN

The Carnival welcomes newcomer Helen Lynch of with a pair of articles with a corporate perspective from Amdocs. Are service providers ready for the smartphone revolution? and So Many Devices, So Little Time by Mike Couture. The articles are two sides of the same issue: people who buy smartphones and don’t know how to use them, and the difficulty companies have in supporting smartphone users in their call centers.

When considering mobile design, “accessible” needs to mean more than just accomodations for physical handicaps. Economic and technological differences must also figure into the equation. Belen Pena reminds us that most people accessing the internet – as much as 87% globally – are not using smartphones. There is a distinction between inclusive design and accessible design in Narrow mobile strategies are a terrible form of exclusive design.

James Coop details the difficulty of apps marketing in an ever-changing environment in Mobile marketing for the online casino industry – iphone, ipad or i dont know?. The article is focused on the casino industry, but the struggle to keep up with technology upgrades will be familiar to all.

Andy Favell of mobiThinking.com gives us the numbers on mobile this week, and ought to be required reading for all mobile marketers and decision-makers: Global mobile stats: all latest quality research on mobile Web and marketing in one place. Andy, too, reminds us that the mobile web is not just for smartphones:

Beware: there is a lot of misinformation about the market share of smartphones and some handsets in particular. This doesn’t matter if your mobile strategy targets all phone users equally, but if you are prioritizing one handset, you must know the facts.

Here’s the thumbnail version of this in-depth report:

Mobile subscribers will surpass 5 billion in 2010
Half a billion people accessed mobile Internet worldwide in 2009
By 2011, over 85 percent of new handsets will be able to access the mobile Web
The number of 3G handsets is growing fast
Mobile devices sales fell slightly in 2009, while smartphone sales showed strong growth albeit from a small base
Estimates for expenditure on mobile advertising and marketing worldwide ranged from US$1.4 billion to $7.5 billion in 2009, all analysts forecast rapid growth
How will consumers use their mobiles?
The top five mobile network operators worldwide that derive more of their revenue from data than other operators are all Asian

I throw my hat into the ring with Social Media: Playtime is Officially Over. Since social media is mobile, and concerns mobile marketers, brands and developers, the YouTube video is a very enlightening two minutes for people who think Twitter is just to tell people what you had for lunch. (It’s a little loud, you might like it better with the sound off.)

Finally, this week’s Carnival post of the week is awarded to a post with heart, announcing an initiative that will undoubtably change many lives for the better. Carnival of the Mobilists’ very own Peggy Anne Salz of MSearchGroove.com presents THE MOBILE MOVEMENT Launches, Brings Mobile To Non-Profits; MSG Joins Advisory Board. Here’s what the new initiative will do:

Our mission is to support non-profits by bringing mobile capabilities to non-profits, helping them to reach millions more people in need by leveraging mobile devices, networks and innovative applications they will create in partnership with social entrepreneurs.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to visit the links of our contributors to expand your knowledge of what’s going on in mobile today. To see a complete list of archives, or to submit your site in the future, please visit Mobili.st (not .com).

All the Best,
Holly Kolman

Founder, Editor & Publisher,
mobiEnthusiast.mobi

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