China's Top 10 Fastest Developing Cities - 2009

The cities were evaluated on what China.org.cn calls “a comprehensive assessment basis,” that took into account the size of the economy in each city, the number of employees, fixed assets investment, gross output of industrial enterprises, per capita GDP, population urbanization, added value of the first, second and third industries, disposable income of the urban population, eco-environment, location and infrastructure, endowment insurance engagement, new job opportunities, dwelling space per capita and the amount of scientific research taking place.

Source: China.org.cn [via Marketing Charts]

IBM : Five Innovations that Will Change Cities in the Next Five Years

Today, IBM unveiled a list of innovations that have the potential to change how people live, work and play in cities around the globe over the next five to ten years: Cities will have healthier immune systems. City buildings will sense and respond like living organisms. Cars and city buses will run on empty. Smarter systems will quench cities’ thirst for water and save energy. Cities will respond to a crisis even before receiving an emergency phone call.

Source : IBM

Cool Xmas Mobile Phone Video

Experience Mobile Mobile from James Théophane Jnr on Vimeo.

Merry Xmas - This best Xmas gift

Michael Bay who directed Transformers had recently directed a spot for Victoria Secret (One Gift. A Thousand Fantasies). Its a big online hit, both AdAge and Visible Measures list the ad as number two on their weekly top 10 viral video ad chart. In fact, the spot pulled in nearly one million views online — 985,329 to be exact last week.

Watch the racy top spot below and i m sure you this will give you some gift ideas. Merry Xmas to everybody and have a fantastic celebration.

Morgan Stanley: Mobile Internet to overtake desktop in five years

The mobile web is experiencing faster growth than its desktop predecessor ever did according to a new study by investment firm Morgan Stanley, which forecasts more consumers will access the Internet by mobile devices than PCs within five years.

Morgan Stanley's 424-page Mobile Internet Report contends the mobile web cycle is just beginning, with material wealth creation and destruction expected to surpass previous computing cycles, galvanized by the growth and convergence of 3G adoption, social networking, video content, VoIP and advanced hardware (including but not limited to smartphones, tablets, ereaders and wireless home appliances). Another significant catalyst: Opportunities in emerging markets.

It's notable that, after years in the backwaters of global mobile development, American companies (led by the likes of Apple, Facebook, Amazon.com and Google) are becoming mobile Internet innovation pacesetters. Wwhile Apple currently leads in mobile innovation and impact, long-term winners will be determined by the depth of individual application ecosystems, the user experience and pricing.

The report firmly believed Facebook has the potential to serve as a communications platform/engine of one-to-one, one-to-some and one-to-many (and visa versa) for the mobile Internet. Facebook has already become a primary way for millions of people to stay connected and Facebook's lead is likely to be extended as more consumers use increasingly powerful mobile devices (with photo/video + high-speed access) and the communications options on Facebook (like voice/video chat and other services) continue to rise.

Additional platform companies that appear to be well positioned for the rapid changes related to the evolution of the mobile Internet include Tencent and Skype, companies that appear to be at the most risk from rapid changes related to the evolution of the mobile Internet include Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

For the full report on Mobile Internet, you can download it here.

Where on earth are all the iPhones?

By the end of December, according to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, Apple's (AAPL) will have sold 78 million iPhones and iPod touches worldwide.

So where on earth are the devices located?

A report issued Friday by AdMob, the world's leading supplier of mobile ads, tries to map the location of Apple's handsets country by country based on the number of users who requested at least one of its ads in November — a number that increased 150% in 2009.

Here are the findings:

• In November, 50% of unique Apple visitors were located in the United States. The next four biggest markets were the U.K., France, Canada and Germany.
• In total, 23 countries had more than 100,000 unique Apple visitors.
• 50% of unique Apple users were located outside of the US, up from 39% in January 2009.
• The iPhone accounted for 71% and the iPod touch 29% of the total unique Apple users in November. In raw numbers: 18.0 million iPhones; 7.3 million iPod touches; 25.2 million total.
• The fastest growing countries between January 2009 and November 2009 were Japan, France, Australia and China. See the bar graph below.

You can download their November report as a pdf from metrics.admob.com.

How to access Facebook or Twitter in China? Try the latest Skyfire on your mobile broswer!

The alpha version of the Skyfire web browser for Symbian S60 touch devices have been released. Browse your favorite websites on Skyfire exactly like you do on your PC. The skyfire mobile browser is the only browser to support all major Web 2.0 standards – Ajax, Javascript, Flash 10 – it just works. Follow your friends’ Facebook and Twitter updates, watch tv on phone plus keep track of news, sports, video and other content in your own customizable activity feed.

Download the app from Skyfire's website.

Please note that this is the alpha version so expect a few bugs!

Sms safely while walking with The Type N Walk iPhone App

The Type n Walk app allows you to type while viewing your surroundings courtesy of your iPhone’s camera. When you are done with your message simply cut and paste it, and you can send it however you want: via text, email or tweet.

Apple's New '12 APPS OF CHRISTMAS' TVC

From YouTube to Hollywood

Panic Attack 2009! is a 5-minute short directed and animated by Uruguayan producer Fede Alvarez with a total budget of $300. And thanks to this video, Mr. Alvarez was apparently able to secure a $30 million deal with Hollywood.

Top 100 Youtube Hits of All Time

How many of them have you seen?

Steaming Bus Shelter McDonald’s Ads

A steam machine was built to fit inside a transit shelter and periodic bursts revealed a message during a free coffee promotion at McDonald’s. Certainly an ingenious way to capture people's attention.

New Google Chrome Promo Video

The folks at Google have just released an awesome new video promoting the Chrome browser with its many features. You will love it.

Snap and Search with Google Goggles

Browsing information from your mobile phone just got easier and cooler with Google’s newest search tool Google Goggles. Designed for handheld mobile devices, the application lets you search the net using visuals rather than text.

Want to know the name of a painting? Snap its photo and Google Goggles will find it. Visiting a historic landmark? Grab a quick photo of the attraction and Google Goggles will provide you with info as well as the GPS location. Google Goggles also has a text reader, so it’s fast and easy to save your info by shooting a quick picture.

Though Google Goggles is currently only available for those using Android on their mobile device, visual recognition technology like Google Goggles stands to change the way we search the Internet.

Google's Branded Phone?

According to Techcrunch, Google had confirmed that they are testing internally a HTC-made-for Google branded mobile phone. The phone will be called the Google Phone and will launch in early January, 2010. It won’t be sold by any one carrier, but instead will be an unlocked GSM phone.

The phone is “really, really fast,” says someone who has seen one in action. It runs on a Snapdragon chip, has a super high-resolution OLED touchscreen, is thinner than the iPhone, has no keyboard.

So for those of you who is thinking of buying a mobile phone or Android based device, you may want to hold on to your cash until January. I m sure its going to rock the device market.

Source : Techcrunch

Move over iPhone, check out the new xPhone!

Check out the promo video below, you’ll understand why what I mean right away. haha...

This is what i call a Creative Retail Windows

This holiday season, passersby on the 5th Avenue might be getting a little more of an eyeful than usual. Fashion retailer XOXO has soared to new heights of seasonal marketing with their naughty XOXO peep window which, instead of displaying traditional holiday sale items, features fashion models changing their wardrobes in front of mass crowds on the street.

This would be great way to attract passersby for sure. Happy Holidays!

The new 30-second ad for the Google/Verizon/Motorola-built Droid phone

The ad is a must see though i m clueless what Motorola is trying to position the product. It has a good beginning but the follow through was poorly executed.

Cheap & simple credit card processing thanks to the team at Square

An entrepreneur may have the best product in the world, but if he or she doesn't accept credit cards, it can be a problem. That's something St. Louis glass artist Jim McKelvey learned the hard way, and it's also why he was inspired to create Square.

Cofounded with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Square lets small business owners begin accepting payment cards immediately without the contracts, expensive hardware, monthly fees or hidden costs that are typically required. Using Square's intuitive app and a small plastic device that plugs into a mobile phone's audio input jack, payment cards can be swiped and read anywhere.

Customers can have receipts sent to them via email or mobile phone and then access them securely online; they can also use text messaging to authorize every payment in real-time. For those who create a Square account, meanwhile, there's faster transaction processing and the option of photo verification. Now in limited beta, Square will donate a penny from every transaction to the cause of the user's choice. It will be widely available in early 2010. The reader devices will likely be free, while the app will cost about USD 1, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Square promises to open up a whole new world of opportunity for minipreneurs.

Square had closed a hyper-competitive venture round. Valued at a massive $40 million or more after raising $10 million in funding, and the service is yet to launch publicly for anyone to use.

Check out below for the interview with Jack Dorsey, one of the 2 founders of Square.

Knocking Live Allows Mobile Users to Share Videos in Real-Time

The iPhone applications just keep getting better and better. They’ve now introduced a live video-sharing app called Knocking Live. The software allows iPhone users to instantly share live videos with friends who also have installed the app. This cool video sharing system will come in handy allowing users to share those unforgettable experiences as they happen, from wherever they happen.

The Knocking Live application can be purchased for $2.99 but if you’re one of the first 50,000 users you will get it on iTunes for free.

Couple Says I Do on Altar with Facebook and Twitter updates

Status updates are a big deal in the world of social networking. Everyone has to know what you are doing right when you are doing it. This couple decided to let the world know they were married during the middle of the ceremony. You will love this one.

Be sure to check out the video featuring the newly married Dana Hanna and Tracy Page changing their status updates. I love weddings.

Good health - You may want to try this formula for drinking water at the right time

Two (02) glass of water - After waking up - Helps activate internal organs

One (01) glasses of water - 30 minutes before meal - Help digestion

One (01) glass of water - Before taking a bath - Helps lower blood pressure

One (01) glass of water - Before sleep - To avoid stroke or heart attack

Correct timing to take water, will maximize its effectiveness to Human body .

Do you know all Men are blessed with auto-focus capabilities?

Find your beer hangout with The Stella Artois Le Bar Guide app

The Stella Artois Le Bar Guide app—the first “3D augmented reality iPhone application for beer,” according to The Digital Buzz Blog was developed by Stella Artois to lead beer-lovers to bars that serve Stella Artois beer. Users can search for the nearest bars via location, rating, or by using their phone’s GPS.

Lenovo back in Mobile

PC firm Lenovo is buying back its handset unit for approximately $200 million, twice what it sold the business for less than two years ago.

China’s largest PC-maker said Friday the deal was aimed at “gearing up its efforts” in China’s mobile internet market.

It will buy Lenovo Mobile Communication Technology from a group of investors led by Hony Capital, the private equity arm of parent Legend Holdings, for $200 million in cash and shares.

Lenovo sold off what was then a loss-making business for $100 million in January 2008, saying it would focus on its core PC business and allow the mobile group to operate independently.

It is now following rival PC-makers Dell, Acer and Apple into the mobile device market.

Since it was sold, Lenovo Mobile has maintained its position as China’s biggest domestic mobile brand, and no. 3 behind Nokia and Motorola, with around 6% market share.

It has also gone comfortably into the black. It recorded a 235 million yuan ($34.4m) pre-tax loss in 2007 and has since posted a pre-tax profit of 34 million yuan in 2008 and 40 million yuan in the first half of 2009.

Tobi.com's Augmented Reality Dressing Room

Tobi.com has launched their Augmented Reality Dressing Room, the FIRST virtual fitting room that actually delivers an adequate fitting room experience.

Tobi.com’s Augmented Reality Dressing Room is completely integrated into their online store. After watching a quick tutorial, customers print a ‘marker’ which they hold up to their webcam in order to activate the application’s sensors. Watch the video below to see how it works!

China Mobile launches first Android's device

Electronics manufacturer Dell will make its official foray into the mobile handset space this month with the launch of its Android-based Mini 3i device, developed in conjunction with China Mobile.

The Mini 3i is the result of a year-long collaboration with China Mobile, the world’s biggest operator by subscribers, and will go on sale in China by the end of November.

The device runs China Mobile’s own OPhone open source platform, which is a branch of the Android operating system. The OPhone SDK 1.5 is compatible with Android SDK 1.5, so developers can use both OPhone APIs and Android APIs to develop OPhone applications.

Dell’s handset is a touchscreen device with a 3.5” nHD, 640×360, display, three megapixel camera, microSD card slot, GPS and Bluetooth. It has quadband GSM/EDGE connectivity and typical to devices launched in China, no wifi.

Early demonstrations of the OPhone platform, which first appeared on Lenovo hardware, seem to have been well received, largely due to a slick user interface overhaul.

While its a great strategy taken by China Mobile but i m not too sure how much traction China Mobile and Dell will make out from this partnership.

A Funny Short Story about the Creative Agency by Yahoo! Adbuzz

Included in this clever mockery is a vicious butt-kissing account executive who switches sides before you can blink, and a couple of pretentious clients. A must see point in the video shows the creatives scrambling to prepare for the client.

2010 - Top 20 Consumer Trends Forecast by TrendHunter

AdMob metrics - Android rising fast

Android is on the charge when it comes to mobile internet and application usage, judging by AdMob’s just-released October Mobile Metrics Report.

Google’s OS took an 11% share of worldwide smartphone ad requests on AdMob’s network in October – up from 3% in April. In the US, it’s risen from 7% of requests to 20% in the same time period.

What’s more, Motorola’s Droid looks set to continue that growth. Just two weeks after its launch on 6th November, AdMob says it accounted for 24% of all its Android ad requests.

Globally, iPhone also increased its share of ad requests on AdMob’s network in the last six months, moving from 43% in April to 50% in October. The big loser was Symbian, which went from 36% to 25% in the same time period.

However, Research In Motion may have cause for concern. Its global market share of AdMob requests declined from 9% to 7% between April and October – but in its biggest market, the US, that share went from 17% to 12%.

Windows Mobile is also on the slide, with its global share shrinking from 5% in April to just 3% in October. Meanwhile, Palm’s webOS – represented in October by the recently-launched Palm Pre smartphone – took a 2% share that month.

The full report can be downloaded from AdMob’s Mobile Metrics blog.

A Living Book using QR Code

In an attempt to draw offline interest to their online store, Editoras (equivalent of Amazon.com) incorporated a “guerrilla” marketing strategy that included the use of 4,000 QR code stickers that were placed at various locations around Sao Paulo. Mobile users who participated quickly discovered that each QR code redirected them to select Twitter messages- and here’s where it gets interesting.

Each Twitter message related to either “love” or “hate,” and refreshed every seven days throughout the campaign. The result of this strategy was that Editoras was able to produce a 200+ page so-called “living book” that was made up entirely of QR codes and messages from Twitter feeds. To bring it all together, each message also included a call-to-action that ultimately drove users to the Editoras website. Beyond driving an insane amount of traffic to their Online store, Editoras generated so much buzz with its unique guerrilla marketing campaign that copies of their “living book” sold out in less than a week.

The ROI experienced on behalf of Editoras was off the charts, and they fully deserve to reap the benefits of creating such a unique and innovative campaign. This just proves further that thinking outside the box, even using a marketing medium that’s still in its infancy, can pay off big time.

Toyoto Prius's iPhone Campaign

Toyota has released The Prius Experience App, a free iPhone app that uses the unique features of the iPhone to engage with individual consumers, and also connects the consumer to a large billboard display in New York’s Times Square.

The Prius Experience App gives the user a choice of 4 activities: Tour, Interact, Draw, and Play.

The Tour gives a really interesting way to view the interior of the car. By just tilting the iPhone, it changes the view. The app uses the accelerometer to adjust what section of the 3-D interior image you see. So as you tilt back, the view goes up, as you tilt to the right, the view pans right, etc.

It is sort of hard to explain, so here is a video.

The iPhone app also provides closely integrated links to the Prius mobile website at m.toyota.com/prius.

The site provides full information and prices about the Prius models, plus gives you 3D views of each model in selectable colors.

But the nicest feature - and one that takes advantage of today’s handset quality and network speeds - is a series of short videos that explain various special features of the Prius. These include the solar powered roof, hybrid power modes, parking assistance, etc.

Here is the video for the solar powered roof, showing how you can use energy from sunlight to keep your car cool while it is parked.

95% of digital budgets now include spend on mobile in the UK

New research conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), reveals that 95% of digital budgets now include spend on mobile. The research also finds that 73% of marketers believe mobile will be the medium to see most growth over the next five years.

The survey, conducted amongst a panel of over 100 senior-level UK agency representatives, investigated their knowledge and understanding of mobile advertising, as well as general attitudes towards the medium.

The results show that familiarity with many areas of mobile activity has grown significantly over the past 12 months, requiring respondents to ‘score’ their knowledge and understanding of the mobile medium.

Awareness and understanding of areas such as MMS, voice and video Shortcodes has grown, with just 20% of marketers having no experience in this area in 2009, compared to 66% in 2008. Knowledge of mobile search is on the rise, with the amount of marketers with no experience of the discipline declining from 57% to 29% over the last 12 months. Similarly, familiarity of ads in and around mobile gaming has increased from 62% having no experience in 2008 to only 35% in 2009.

The research also finds that, compared to 2008, the majority of employees responsible for planning a mobile campaign within the agencies surveyed are mobile specialists, with the number of dedicated mobile experts increasing year-on-year. In 2008, around 37% of those responsible for planning mobile campaigns within agencies were dedicated specialists, with this figure rising to 52% in 2009.

Agencies that took part in the survey were also asked what percentage of their digital spend is for mobile, and the results reveal that some 95% of respondents included mobile in their overall digital budget. Within this, 30% spent between 0 - 1%, 46% spent 1 - 5%, 13% spent 6 - 10% and 6% spent more than 11%.

Looking to the future, some 40% of agency respondents predicted they would be spending between 1 and 5% of their digital budgets on mobile in 2011. A further 29% believed they would be spending 6 – 10% and 13% stated they would be spending 11 - 20%. Only 1% of agencies stated that they will not be allocating any budget to mobile in the next two years.

73% of those surveyed agreed that mobile will be the fastest growing media for the next five years, with 73% also believing that most media agencies will have a mobile specialist by 2010. In terms of using the medium to communicate with specific audiences, some 55% of respondents agreed that in the future, mobile will be the primary medium for communicating with 12 – 24 age group.

With the industry putting education at the very top of its agenda and driving growth more than ever this year, mobile advertising is becoming more of a necessity to reach today’s consumer. It’s extremely encouraging to see that agencies in the UK are adapting to the changing landscape, allocating bigger budgets to mobile and hiring more specialists to plan mobile campaigns and this will surely be the trend in most emerging markets. Japan has certainly proven that there is money in mobile advertising surpassing $700 million in ad spend in 2008.

Free Mobile Marketing White Paper - The Time is Now for Mobile Marketing and Outreach

Mobile phones represent the most personal way to communicate with individuals. In a recently released report, Nielsen highlights how brands can reach practically every mobile consumer in the U.S. by adding a mobile address, a Common Short Code to their marketing mix.

Download a FREE copy of NIELSEN'S WHITE PAPER on adding mobile to your campaigns.

AdMob kickstarts interactive video advertising on iPhone

AdMob, the mobile advertising child of Google announced that it’s supporting a new kind of iPhone ad — interactive video.

This is the first interactive video ad unit for iPhones, AdMob says. Mainly, the new feature allows application developers to run a video ad while the application is loading, the way video sometimes plays when you load a website. Advertisers can also introduce interactions into the video, such as the ability to tap a button to see more video or jump to a website.

AdMob’s network reaches more than 20 million iPhones and iPod Touches, the company says. The interactive video ads will start to run this week.

Asian consumers prefer to access social media on mobile

Young Asians prefer to access social networking sites via the handset rather than the PC, says IDC. More than 50% of Chinese, Indian, Korean and Thai users go onto social media sites via the mobile phone at least once a week, it found in a survey.

In China and Thailand markets, 62% and 65% of users respectively use their handsets for alerts, messages, status updates or to upload photos. The survey covered 1400 SNS users aged 18-35 in Australia, India, China, Korea, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. By contrast, Australia and Singapore see the lowest percentage of mobile SNS access, with 19% and 25% respectively.

The reasons for the differing approaches vary across the region, said Debbie Swee, market analyst for IDC Asia-Pacific emerging technologies research.

In emerging markets, the dominance of cellphones over PCs is the major factor. In Korea, however, the market is technologically advanced and has already seen mass adoption of mobile internet. In Australia and Singapore, the dominance of the PC for broadband access meant “strong inertia” against adopting regular mobile access of SNSs.

The survey found that the biggest push towards mobile adoption was cheaper and affordable mobile data pricing. Most users who had never logged in to SNSs through a mobile phone cited hefty mobile internet, SMS or MMS tariffs as the main obstacle.

For mobile operators in China, India and Thailand, IDC believes a low flat-rate internet access fee would complement and increase mobile SNS adoption. In Australia, Korea and Singapore, where data tariffs were already relatively low, operators needed to correct users’ misconceptions about high pricing.

China's Huawei is No. 2

China’s Huawei has underlined its status as a top tier vendor by becoming the world’s second-largest mobile network manufacturer in the third-quarter, according to research group Dell’Oro. The Chinese vendor almost doubled its market share from a year ago to 20 percent, surpassing Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). Ericsson’s market share of 32 percent remained flat year-on-year. Huawei has been on the rise for several quarters, with the firm enjoying a 17 percent market share in the second quarter.

Huawei and NSN are experiencing contrasting fortunes at present. Huawei is establishing itself as a major contender for next-generation LTE network deals, earlier this month scoring a hugely significant win at Telenor. Meanwhile, NSN has struggled with falling market share for several quarters as its owners Nokia and Siemens have looked for profits from the ailing business unit.

ZTE, another Chinese equipment vendor is also hot on the heel of NSN and if business dont improve for NSN, they will falter and fall further.

Verizon Wireless Misfit Ad Shows the iPhone as an Outcast

The Verizon Wireless misfit iPhone ad certainly knocks their competitor, AT&T.

The commercial takes place in the land of the misfits, where all the rejected toys of the North Pole hang out, and this year among them is an iPhone on the AT&T network. Why? Because Verizon offers five times more 3G coverage.

India on track to hit 500 million mobile subscribers mark by year end

Indian telecom regulator Trai revealed that the number of fixed and mobile subscribers had crossed the 500 million mark in September, a year ahead of schedule. Total phone subscribers reached 509 million, with wireless subscribers growing 3.28% to 471.7 million, Trai said.

With 15 million new mobile subs in September, Indian cellcos are on track to hit 500 million wireless subs around the end of November.

Tata Indicom maintained its market lead, with a 26.7% share. Three operators battled closely for second place – Bharti, with 16.7% market share, Reliance with 13.4% and Vodafone with 13.1%.

By contrast, the wireline customer base fell to 37.31 million from 33.33 million, with state-owned operators BSNL and MTNL feeling the brunt of the subscriber exodus.

Overall teledensity reached 43.5%. Broadband subscribers increased 3.3% to 7.2 million.

RIM and Apple in driving position to dominate the Smartphone segment

Analyst Canalys has released figures for global smartphone shipments in the third quarter of this year, and it's good news for RIM and Apple.

Nokia remains No 1 in terms of market share, shipping 16.4 million smartphones in Q3, 39.7% of the market. That's up from 38.9% in the same quarter last year. I wonder how much longer can Nokia maintain its leadership in this segment at the rapid pace RIM and Apple is eating into its market share not forgetting the release of more Android smartphones in the coming months.

However, Research In Motion is on the charge with BlackBerry, whose 8.5 million Q3 shipments bagged it a smartphone market share of 20.6% - up from 15.2% in Q3 2008. That means it's overtaken third-placed Apple, which shipped 7.4 million iPhones in Q3 for a 17.8% market share, up from 17.3% in the same quarter last year. Fourth-placed HTC shipped 2.2 million smartphones in Q3, giving it a market share of 5.3%.

Overall, smartphone shipments rose just 4% year-on-year to 41.4 million. While growth has undoubtedly slowed, it is still outperforming the overall mobile phone market by some margin, as well as driving data revenue for operators.

Microsoft is the big loser in that chart, with WinMo shipments down 33.1% year-on-year. The full stats can be seen here.

Google acquiring Admob for $750 million

Google is paying over $750 million for mobile advertising firm AdMob, one of the Web giant's largest acquisitions to date after Double Click and YouTube, reports CNet.

As AdMob itself has described, the volume and effectiveness of mobile advertising has been skyrocketing over the last several years as more advanced smartphones have caught on, making it easier to deliver more kinds of graphical and text-based advertising to phone-toting consumers.

AdMob said that the number of mobile ads it served had increased nearly 540% from September 2007, to 10.2 billion per month from 1.6 billion.

Congrats to the team at Admob.

Video: Motorola Droid Vs. iPhone 3GS

Technobuffalo puts the Motorola Droid & Android 2.0 head to head against the iPhone 3GS.In this video they cover stuff like the web browser, speed, GPS, scrolling speed, text entry etc. Guess who is the winner.... Its a pretty long video but i m sure you will find it quite useful if you are thinking of buying either one of the device.

Opera Mobile 10 beta released for S60 devices and its Free for now

Opera Mobile gives you a full web browser with support for proxy to speed things up using the Opera Turbo toggle. Opera Mobile 10 supports tabbed browsing, speed dial, password manager, and much more. Opera Mobile is optimized for both touchscreen and keypad-style devices and is available now for FREE.

Xperia X10 – The Android Device from Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson had just released the official specifications and photos of the final product and judging from those, it might be the Android device that’ll give the other device manufacturers a run for their money.

Specs :

- 4-inch capacitive touch display

- 480×854 pixels wide

- 8.1 megapixel camera with LED flash

- 1GHz Snapdragon CPU

- 8 GB microSD memory card included, with the possibility of extending that with larger memory cards

– WiFi, Bluetooth, Micro USB, A-GPS, HSPA

Check out the promo video below :

Verizon DROID Teaser TVC

Pizza Hut's iPhone Mobile Commerce App generated $1 Million in new Revenue

More and more mobile apps are being created for the purposes of branding, increasing new customers and gaining new revenue stream. The Pizza Hut app for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch has surpassed $1 million in new revenue having only been live for 3 months in the US!

The application uses iPhone and iPod touch features such as the multi-touch user interface and accelerometer with the goal of making the ordering process for each individual menu item a customized experience.

When ordering pizzas, users virtually build their own pizza by choosing a type of crust in the scroll wheel, pinching to select size and dragging-and-dropping toppings onto the pizza, all with visual confirmation.

Although Pizza Hut had a WAP enabled mobile site before launching the iPhone app, the level of growth on iPhone is explosive according to Bernard Acoca, senior director of digital marketing at Pizza Hut.

LTE 4G Network in Action

Imagine having our cars fully connected to the 4G network, it would be like almost having a giant smartphone built-in to our car's dashboard. Today the ng Connect Program has released a new concept car, the LTE Connected Car, which promises the technology to make our automotive dreams come true. Check out the video below.

Android accounts for 17% of US smartphone traffic in September

Mobile advertising firm AdMob has released its September Mobile Metrics report, which outlines trends based on ad requests from the company's network of apps and sites.

Globally, iPhone was the top handset in terms of requests, accounting for 16.9% of the traffic on AdMob's network. It's followed by iPod touch in second spot with 8.4%.

Focusing on smartphones specifically, the iPhone OS accounted for 43% of requests, followed by Symbian with 29%. Android is third with 10%.

However, in the US, Android is in second spot with 17% of ad requests in September - up from 13% in August thanks to growth fuelled by the HTC Dream and HTC Magic handsets.

Five of the top ten handsets in the US have touchscreens, six have Wi-Fi, and six come with embedded app stores, according to AdMob's data. The full report can be downloaded here.

Classical Music on Mobile Phones

Vodafone New Zealand has a successful viral video on their hands, after they spent who knows how many hours recreated Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’ using 1,000 mobile phones and 2,000 text messages.

The ‘1812 Overture’ is quite the project to take on, but Vodafone NZ more or less succeeds. The geniuses behind this used 53 different ringtones in order to match the complexity of the 1812 overture. Check out this cool and well executed video.

How big is Online Advertising in Asia?

The table above reveals the forecast expenditure on online advertising across each of the Southeast Asia markets. The study shows that the online advertising industry in the region is expected to grow more than 60% between 2008 and 2010, across all the included markets. Display advertising will continue to take the lion’s share of the online advertising pie although Search advertising is expected to close the gap in Singapore and Malaysia by 2010. Strong growth is also expected in Search Advertising, particularly between 2008 and 2009 and for the less mature online advertising markets such as Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam

Google releases Android 2.0

Google announced the release of its Android 2.0 software development kit, touting a series of enhancements for users and developers. Major additions to Android 2.0 include Quick Contact, which provides instant access to a contact's information and communication modes eg, users can tap a photo and select whether to call, text or email the individual in question. Other applications like Email, Messaging and Calendar can also reveal the Quick Contact widget upon touching a contact photo or status icon.

Android 2.0 additionally boasts support for Exchange, a combined inbox to browse email from multiple accounts in one page and search functionality for all saved SMS and MMS messages.

Android 2.0 also boosts camera functionality, introducing built-in flash support, digital zoom, scene mode and related visual effects. An improved keyboard promises to simplify text input and improve typing speed, while the framework's multi-touch support guarantees key presses aren't missed during two-finger typing sessions--in addition, an improved dictionary learns from word usage, and automatically includes contact names as suggestions.

Perhaps the most significant browser enhancement in Android 2.0 arrives via support for HTML5, which enables browser-based applications to behave more like native apps. The update also adds a refreshed UI with actionable browser URL bar, enabling users to directly tap the address bar for instant searches and navigation, as well as bookmarks with web page thumbnails and support for double-tap zoom.

For developers, Android 2.0 introduces new APIs for sync and Bluetooth. Using the new sync, account manager and contacts APIs, you can write applications to enable users to sync their devices to various contact sources. You can also give users a faster way to communicate with others by embedding Quick Contact within your application. With the new Bluetooth API, you can now easily add peer-to-peer connectivity or gaming to your applications.

The updated Android SDK is available for download here.

This video shows you the highlights from the latest Android platform release.

Apple's App Store launches 2010 Volkswagen GTI

With its launch of the Real Racing GTI App for the 2010 VW GTI, Volkswagen is the first automaker to launch a car in the Apple App Store. The game is free to download, and features tie-ins to Twitter so that gamers can upload screenshots of their progress to their followers.

What’s more, playing the Real Racing GTI App could get you an actual 2010 VW GTI for free. Volkswagen has launched a contest to go along with the iPhone and iPod Touch game; one limited-edition fully-customized 2010 GTI will be given away each week to the top user.

Brilliant mobile marketing execution.

Thoora - New Media Reporting

Thoora news is an unconventional reporting website that uses non-mainstream sources to decide what is hot.

Thoora news uses a complicated, real-time algorithm to filter, rank and post content from different blogs, Twitter posts, as well as comments and which websites/stories are garnering the most traffic.

Thoora news is an easy to use media site that foists little known blogs and websites into the front and center for all to see.

The reality of shopping on Nokia Ovi Store

The talented Mr Ben Smith over at The Really Mobile Project has used one of those super flash cartoon animation services to script his experience of shopping at the Ovi Store.

At the end of the video Ben points out that the Really Mobile team have spent over £40 on applications at the Ovi Store. But they’ve only managed to download 1 application successfully.
The team had collectively submitted 4 support requests asking for help and guess what they got ONE response! The other three were apparently IGNORED! oh God....

The reality is shopping and making a purchase on the Ovi store is a real pain. The worst part about it is that if you read the fine print it says that once you buy an app you own it and the only way to get your money back is if the app is defectifve or not advertised correctly in terms of its features. If you want your money back you have to provide proof of purchase and it could take 30 days or more to see your money back!!

If Nokia wants to compete in this space, they seriously need to simplify the buying experience and even more important improving its customer support. Enjoy the clip.

We go shopping in Nokia's OVI Store from The Really Mobile Project on Vimeo.

Beauty Contest in China?

What do you reckon the above is? Beauty contest? Almost, its really the Chinese way of selecting their best of the best to become a "Train Attendant in China!"



You got to look pretty regardless of whether you are serving on a plane or train or even joining the cadet. It pays to be pretty in China!

Pixar Intro Parody

CollegeHumor.com has done it again, this time with their original Pixar Intro Parody. Pixar Intro Parody is a must-see animation short. Take out a minute and a half out of your day for some much deserved laughter and enjoy the show.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

U.S. Leading the Global Mobile Data Boom

China and India may be well on their way to dominating the voice world with billions of users, but when it comes to mobile data, U.S. companies are leading the charge, showing strong growth both in terms of overall traffic and revenue, according to data collected by our friend Chetan Sharma, who is a member of the GigaOM Pro Analyst Network. A lot of the growth in the U.S. is coming as a result of the availability of 3G services, flat-rate data plans and of course, mobile devices such as the iPhone. Here are some interesting findings from Sharma’s report for the first half of 2009:

• Mobile data now accounts for 25 percent of total global service revenue.
• Verizon is the second-largest carrier in terms of mobile data, edging past China Mobile and closing in on NTT DoCoMo, which had revenues of $8 billion.
• U.S. data revenues were $20.6 billion vs. $16 billion for Japan and $8.6 billion for China during the first six months of this year.
• Top 10 global wireless carriers now account for 63 percent of global mobile data revenue.
• Biggest mobile growth was registered by Verizon, AT&T and Softbank. Two out of those three companies sell iPhones.
• Data revenue for the overall industry was up 10 percent from the second half of 2008, showing that the current craze for smartphones is helping to boost mobile Internet usage.

This wireless data boom, while creating many bottlenecks, also spells opportunity for companies big and small. From backhaul service providers to little app developers, the entire mobile ecosystem has been re-energized.

In related news, market research firm Telegeography notes that China Mobile not only has the largest number of mobile subscribers — 503 million – it also leads the world in terms of wireless revenue. And it’s pushed Vodafone to the No. 2 two spot.

Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker - Mobile Internet is BIG

If you ever had doubts about how big mobile internet is going to be, check out this presentation by Morgan Stanley’s Mary Meeker. It’s one of those presentations that you just want to tell everyone about.

Mary's mobile internet take away :

1. Mobile internet is bigger than you think.
2. iPhone is becoming THE mobile platform.
3. Social media, mobile devices are changing communications and commerce.
4. Mobile internet trends in Japan show how the future will be.
5. Carriers will be crushed by demand.
6. The Walled Gardens collapse.
7. Apple wins, Google maybe wins, Research In Motion withers

Mary Meeker's Internet Presentation 2009

Mary Meeker emphasized how Facebook has been the “largest share gainer of online usage over the past 3 years” and is now serving as the new communications platform for a large percentage of internet users while Twitter is gaining some ground.

What is driving the phenomena growth is mobile and the attention is shifting in a big way to mobile devices. To highlight this shift, Meeker referenced Mixi, Japan’s largest social network. Mixi has seen desktop usage shrink and mobile usage explode as overall usage across the site increased since 2006. Facebook has also experienced tremendous mobile growth over the past year with over 65 million mobile users according to the company. This trend is expected to continue and if the U.S. mimics Japan’s trends, we’ll most likely see Facebook usage shift from desktop to mobile.

In short, mobile will be BIG. Be prepared for the evolution.

Check out below the video summary of Mary's presentation via The Business Insider.

Free Best Practices and Tips for Twitter in PDF

Mark O’Neill, publishing editor of MakeUseOf.com tackles every Twitter feature, tip and trick you can think of. Learn to work the interface, to Tweet from your desktop, cool Twitter bots and funniest people to follow. With this free manual, Mark will make sure you get your black belt in Twitter.

Download The Complete Guide to Twitter now in PDF, or read it online on Scribd.com, no price and no strings attached.