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
Holly Kolman on LinkedIn
@mobiEnthusiast on Twitter
mobiEnthusiast’s Facebook Page
DUBLIN and WASHINGTON – Oct.13, 2009 – dotMobi, the company behind the .mobi top-level Internet domain, today announced the availability of its one-of-a-kind mobile keyword and .mobi domain bundle for Chinese brands and businesses, offered in partnership with China-based mobile keyword vendor Huarui.
Currently, more than 50% of China’s 1.3 billion citizens are estimated to be mobile subscribers – a figure that will quickly grow with the advent of 3G networks, which are just now arriving in China. And as with other countries, 3G mobile network speeds will drive the growth of mobile Web use. dotMobi’s unique mobile keyword and .mobi domain bundle is designed to meet the needs of businesses in that burgeoning mobile Web environment.
Trey Harvin, CEO of dotMobi, said, “The packaging of mobile keywords and .mobi domains is a global first. This gives Chinese site owners the flexibility of using the .mobi domain to help ensure successful discovery by search engines, while using both the .mobi domain and matching keyword in advertising efforts.”
Keywords – memorable words that a user can type into a mobile phone instead of a number – are very popular in China. And specific to the Chinese market, dotMobi will offer Web addresses in Chinese characters. These addresses in non-standard language characters are known as Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). The use of Chinese-character IDNs will allow Chinese-language mobile Web sites to be found more easily by search engines. According to Analysys International, more than 270 million Web searches were performed on mobile phones in China in the second quarter of 2009 – double the figure from a year earlier, which highlights the importance of search for the Chinese mobile Web.
“Huarai is pleased to work closely with dotMobi in bringing a unique solution to market for local businesses as well as global brands doing business in China. With 700 million Chinese mobile subscribers, a rising number are using the Web on their phones as carriers in China roll out 3G services. Being able to find content that works on mobile phones is extremely important, given the ongoing rise in mobile Web users, and that is why Huarui is happy to be collaborating with dotMobi,” said Mr. Ma Yanli, CEO of Huarui.
Availability
The dotMobi / Huarui bundle of keywords and Chinese-language .mobi domains will be available in a special sunrise period beginning at 4 a.m. UTC on October 29, 2009, and will finish at 4 a.m. UTC on November 28, 2009. Immediately after on November 28, 2009, general registration will commence, and the keyword / Chinese-language .mobi domain bundle will be available at standard prices.
More information for registrars is available by sending an email to IDNCHINA@dotmobi.mobi.
About dotMobi
Headquartered in Dublin, dotMobi is a worldwide leader in enabling the development & discovery of quality mobile content through innovative services, helping businesses and individuals reach the world’s billions of mobile phone users. dotMobi spurs mobile industry innovation by giving content providers the tools they need to ensure the Web will work on mobile phones with speed, accuracy and relevant content.
dotMobi is backed by leading mobile operators, network & device manufacturers, and Internet content providers, including Ericsson, GSM Association, Hutchison 3, Microsoft, Nokia, Orascom Telecom, Samsung Electronics, Syniverse, T-Mobile, Telefónica Móviles, Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), Visa and Vodafone.
For information on .mobi domains and all dotMobi services, visit http://mobiDomain.com, and on mobile devices, visit http://mobiDomain.mobi.
For more information, please contact:
Vance Hedderel
dotMobi
+1-703-485-5563
vhedderel@dotmobi.mobi
Gareth Davies
Edelman for dotMobi (Europe)
+44-20-7344-1216
gareth.davies@edelman.com
Danielle Siemon
Edelman for dotMobi (US)
+1-650-762-2947
danielle.siemon@edelman.com
Note from mobiEnthusiast: Thank you to Mobility.mobi forum member ChineseDomain, who offers this additional clarification:
From the above link, you will know who is CATR, China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII).
HuaRui (北京华瑞网研科技有限公司), its English name is “Beijing RITT – Net Technology Development Co., Ltd”. There are few materials about it and only have Chinese Websites http://www.rntd.cn.
From the Chinese Introduction of HuaRui, it is an Join-venture company under CATR. The 12114 Chinese wireless keywords operation is under HuaRui. HuaRui manage the whole 12114 wireless keywords database. The China IDN.mobi and Wireless keywords bundle API/management is developed by HuaRui.
Note: there are several wireless keywords in China, 12114 is the one controlled by HuaRui. HuaRui and CATR are only company, not MII.
It is just like the “Name” of a domain, but it has no extension. It has to be used with SMS service number, i.e. 12114 here.
Wireless keyword is an addressing technology established on the quick access in wireless Internet by mobility equipment. This technology is the simplest method for acquiring wireless website address. Wireless keyword establishes the bridge of wireless information communication between the Internet and mobile terminals so as to fundamentally solve the basic problems of the development of mobile informatization. The extensive application of this technology will enable mobile terminal users to acquire rich information from the wireless Internet with Chinese input method.
For Chinese IDN and Wireless keywords bundling, it means the 12114 wireless keywords, not others
How it works?
Send the “Keywords” with “Operations” to 12114 by SMS, then you will get what you you want by SMS. For example:
1. get the WAP url: send keywords “当当” to 12114, you will get the WAP URL of “当当网”(dangdang.com) by SMS in your mobile
2. vote: send “some keywords” with “your prefer name”, then you vote it by SMS.
3. Get the bus route: send “some keywords” with “start station” and “end station”, you will get the route from “start” to “end” by SMS.
4. Any more you want? It can. Donate Money, buy books, buy tickets…
It require backend application to support complex wireless keyword features.
We’ve been holding out on you dear mobi Enthusiast readers… but the wait is over. With the Beijing Olympics almost here, it’s time to show what is arguably the most beautiful and cutting edge mobi site on the internet: WeiWei.mobi.
Written in both English and Chinese, the site is a shining example of what we should expect from a mobi site. If I seem like I am fawning, that’s because I am. While the dot mobi community was first trying to figure out how to fit into the ready.mobi standards, the developers behind WeiWei.mobi had figured out how to create excellent content with beautiful pictures and provide downloadable music on a phone.
Wei Wei herself has been a star in China for 20 years, according to her website. The Wei Wei mobile site includes a welcome, news, music, the Olympics, a blog, community, and an online mobile store. The “goodies” section contains links to learn English and Mandarin, as well as several sections under development. There is also a ringtone in English and Mandarin.
