Posted: 09/14/11
A new app is helping connect customers with customer service in a simple and time-efficient manner. FastCustomer waits on hold for the customer, and then notifies the user when a customer service representative is available to talk.
To learn more, go here.
Posted: 09/07/11 by Mobile Future Team
As NPR recently reported, a new project is helping drivers in San Francisco locate parking spaces with their smartphones. SFpark shows users the exact location of nearby open parking spots and explains when spaces will become available. Also, the app tells users the price of particular parking locations.
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 08/24/11 by Mobile Future Team
Today, Mobile Future and Roger Entner of Recon Analytics, released a new report, What’s It Worth To You? Comparing Wireless Pricing in 14 Countries. The analysis finds that Americans consume more than five times the wireless services at more affordable rates than those in key countries around the world.
“Never has it been cheaper and more affordable for Americans to take full advantage of all that mobile connectivity has to offer,” Entner said. “Putting both voice and data spending together, Americans pay more than $4 less per month on mobile communications than they did three years ago, all while enjoying faster speeds and increased utility through more applications and tools. That is a remarkable value given the exponential growth in recent years in U.S. mobile Internet use.”
Among the key findings of the report, the United States is:
“American consumers are leading the world in embracing the mobile future, and the value they receive for their hard-earned dollar is the envy of the world,” said Mobile Future Chair Jonathan Spalter. “This is a testament to the intensely competitive nature of the U.S. mobile marketplace and the untapped potential that still exists to create jobs and move our innovation economy forward if we take the right policy steps today, particularly in the spectrum arena, to continue the rapid expansion of the mobile Internet here in the United States.”
To read the full statement, go here.
Posted: 08/18/11 by Mobile Future Team
With the help of a smartphone, sending personal postcards to friends and family members has never been easier. As reported in Mashable, several apps let users choose pictures from their devices photo album, add unique text, and then email the finished product to loved ones. Postino even allows users to sign their postcard by writing their name with a finger.
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 08/16/11 by Mobile Future Team
The Pew Internet and American Life Project’s recent report explores Americans use of mobile devices and some of the key findings include:
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 08/12/11 by Mobile Future Team
A new app is using food truck’s twitter feeds to track the vehicles location. According to Mashable, the Gastrodamus Food Truck App is currently covering seven major cities across the US and is available on both the Android and Apple platform.
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 07/28/11 by Mobile Future Team
New data released this week captures the frenetic growth in the mobile landscape. As reported by GigaOm, smartphones now make up more than half of all phones sold in the U.S. and data consumption by wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets has skyrocketed. Compared to Q1 of 2010, the first quarter of 2011 saw a 130% increase in mobile data usage.
What is contributing to this huge jump? As Mashable points out, a report by Allot Communications finds that video streaming has become the largest user of data on wireless devices and soaks up 39% of mobile bandwidth. The report also shows that social media is a very popular mobile activity, and in the first half of 2011 Twitter grew 297% and Facebook grew 166%.
For more information, click here.
Posted: 07/26/11 by Mobile Future Team
Today, we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark legislation that made equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities the law of the land. Since its passage over twenty years ago, the increased accessibility wireless innovations have afforded those with disabilities is truly transformational. With the help of wireless devices, the disability community is experiencing quality of life advances and new independence in their everyday lives.
The awe-inspiring progress and profound innovation we’ve seen in the mobile applications market has opened up a new world of possibilities for the 54 million Americans living with disabilities. These innovations are allowing kids with disabilities to bring the technology they need to school on the coolest new smartphones and tablets, and with 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 each day this year, wireless advances will allow them to live their lives the way they always have.
These transformative technologies include:
Having a modern speech synthesizer in the palm of your hand. Instead of relying on computers and cumbersome devices to convert text-to-speech, those with visual impairments can now employ ZoomReader to hear what’s written on everything from menus to medications and e-mails. Using the iPhone’s built-in camera, users are able to convert writing into text which the app can read aloud or magnify so those users with low vision can more easily read. The camera’s LED flash can also be used as a flashlight to make reading in dark places easier with LED Torch Flashlight.
Even US currency can now easily be identified and read aloud with the help of your smartphone and LookTel Money Reader .
Touring local museums. Keen Guides has revolutionized the way those with hearing impairments tour local venues. By combining video tours with closed captioning, Keen Guides lets users experience a variety of locations including cultural sites, colleges and parks all around the country via their mobile device.
Communicating with others. iConverse helps individuals with communicative disabilities express their thoughts and feelings by providing images and icons of various everyday occurrences for the users to select. Not only does the app allow users to develop their own custom images, but users can add text to the pictures which the app reads aloud.
Placing a call with minimal steps. For those with visual and dexterity impairments, navigating an address book and dialing a number can be a hurdle. A Special Phone has eliminated many of these challenges and allows users to place a call by simply shaking the smartphone.
Our mobile device has quickly become one of the most important gadgets we own. For the one in five Americans that has a disability, smartphones have moved far beyond being just a communication tool- they are revolutionizing the way people with disabilities interact with the world around them. As we continue down this road of exciting innovation and jaw-dropping developments, the future advancements in accessibility are endless.
Posted: 07/15/11 by Jonathan Spalter
Official Washington already is slugging-it out in the inside-baseball of the next presidential election. But tech policy circles are pouring over the details of another closely watched horserace--the Federal Communications Commission's annual analysis of the competitive nature of the U.S. wireless market. With every manner of mobile device now bursting from our pockets and the airwaves awash in ads from a range of companies competing for our wireless dollars, the answer is fairly obvious. Nevertheless, the Commission this year provided a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of the many yardsticks that combine to deliver a thriving, innovative and competitive mobile marketplace.
The report comes not a moment too soon as both Congress and the White House take up the urgent need to make more spectrum available to support U.S. consumers' fast-expanding appetite for wireless connectivity. With spectrum legislation circulating in both the House and Senate, tomorrow in the latest in a series of hearings, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will examine long-term spectrum solutions for our nation.
As it does so, the 300-plus page FCC report makes a powerful case for continuing the rapid progress of the mobile Internet--and the perils for policymakers who don't keep pace with their connected constituents.
Among the highlights:
Competition, choice, innovation and growth all rely on the same thing--more spectrum and more infrastructure. As Washington seeks to close the budget gap, the public revenues that would be generated by making more spectrum available to support mobile Internet expansion are a win-win for consumers and our economy, and for America's competitive position in the world. While consumers vote in the marketplace today--soon they will vote for the policymakers who have a big say in what the next chapter of mobile innovation will look like for our nation. Rest assured that connected consumers--90% of whom reportedly sleep with their mobile device--will vote early and vote often.
This article was originally published on Huffington Post.
Posted: 07/13/11 by Mobile Future Team
The continued growth in the wireless ecosystem is highlighted in the recent influx of research released this week. The Pew Internet & American Life Project unveiled data on smartphone ownership and some of the key findings include:
Nokia Siemens Networks forecasts that there will be 1 billion machine-to-machine (M2M) connections globally by 2015 and Forrester Research estimates that users will spend over $8 billion via their mobile device this year.
To learn more, click here.
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Tags: Applications, Consumer Awareness, Consumer Benefits, Innovation, News, Smartphone, Wireless Innovation