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Posted: 07/27/10 by Mobile Future Team
Birthdays and anniversaries are inherently times of reflection and celebration. Which is most likely why Mashable, a news site celebrating its 5th birthday this year, decided to take a quick jaunt down memory lane to show us just how far mobile technology has come over the last half-decade.
Suffice it to say that if the majority of human relationships were as successful as that of consumers and the wireless industry, the markets for chick-flicks and online dating may cease to exist-- because this romance is nothing short of a fairy tale.
The expansive and swift proliferation of mobile broadband. The shift from feature-based flip phones to smart mobile devices operated over user-friendly interfaces like the touchscreen. The real-time social capabilities offered through new media sites like Facebook and Twitter. The emergence of apps for, well, just about everything.
And thankfully, there is no end in sight for this climate of consumer-driven innovation. We appreciate Mashable for highlighting how wireless continues to serve as a true American success story, and, as always, we look forward to exploring new unchartered horizons in our mobile future.
Posted: 06/03/10 by Mobile Future Team
As a general rule, summer spells long days and warm temperatures, providing increased opportunities for sunning, socializing, and of course: summer love. Catering to the seemingly insatiable demands of consumers year-round, players across the wireless industry continue to launch an impressive slew of new and/ or improved smart phones and feature phones that consumers are sure to adore just in time for the season of love. A majority of the new devices are profiled here, with a link to an informative slideshow with pictures and descriptions of the new technologies.
Go ahead and fall in love all over again.
Posted: 02/12/10 by Mobile Future Team
CNN has an interesting commentary from Larry Rosen, Cal-State psychology professor and author of a new book which explores how Americans of different generations approach new technology.
Rosen cites a recent Neilsen Mobile survey showing that from 2007 to 2009, the number of texts sent by the average teen increased by more than 600 percent. “If you have a teenager (or even a preteen),” he writes, “You must learn how to text, or you two will never ‘connect.’”
More generally, he says, America’s youngest two generations “are defined not by a letter or by their birth year but by their use of technology and media, their need and ability to multitask, their rapid acceptance of anything new and their view of the meaning of technology.” Any way you look at this, it means more texts, more social networking, more streaming videos – increasingly on a mobile network.
For more of Rosen's CNN commentary, click here.
Posted: 01/21/10 by Allison Remsen
The outpouring of mobile donations in support of disaster relief in Haiti has been phenomenal and unprecedented. Immediately following the earthquake, Americans began reaching for their cell phones to make donations via text message. In the first day of a mobile call to action done solely through text messages, and made viral on networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, more than $5 million was raised for the Red Cross's relief work in Haiti.
Seven days after the earthquake hit, a record $22 million had been raised by the American Red Cross for relief efforts in Haiti, a groundbreaking statistic. Within hours after reports first emerged of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, all major wireless carriers agreed to utilize the mGive software application to allow users to text SMS short code 90999 and type "Haiti." A user's account would be charged $10 for the donation on their next bill and a user could text up to two times. Cell phone carriers chose not to charge users to send the texts and some carriers fronted the donations to the Red Cross to speed up delivery of money that is typically held up until a user is billed and money from customers is received.
The post-earthquake, text-to-give campaign reflects the growth trends in mobile use and texting -- not just in the younger demographic but in the over-35 group. Text messaging has grown exponentially -- with texting volume increasing 600% in just the past two years; mobile internet traffic is expected to grow 100 times faster than wireless voice traffic over the next decade; and 1 in 5 Americans already connect to the Internet daily over their mobile device. The ubiquity, power and reach of mobile phones make mobile giving a convenient and secure way to donate. In fact, cell phone campaigns may be reaching people who might not otherwise have made the effort to get involved.
This historical milestone in goodwill contribution is a hallmark of 21st century innovation and technology. For more information on how you can join the relief efforts please visit www.redcross.org
Posted: 11/10/09 by Mobile Future Team
In recent years, we've grown accustomed to using our phones to make dinner reservations, buy movie tickets, find our way around town and stay connected to our friends on our favorite social networking sites.
Sending a text, downloading a new app or playing a game are ways that we use our phones everyday to improve our lives, and the U.S. State Department has taken notice. The State Department is now using this technology as a tool to promote its mission of fostering diplomacy around the globe.
A recent article on the Washington Post's Post Tech details the efforts being taken by the State Department:
In Congo, e-mails and text messages are being used to warn women and children of attacking rebels nearby. In sub-Saharan Africa, text messages are instructing people how to take HIV medications. In Iran, an online video from President Obama to Iranians on their new year went viral.
The State Department is taking the technology we use to stay connected to discourage violence, promote mobile banking and build bridges among nations. And though this is an innovative approach, they've also had help.
Ali Reza Manouchehri's company Metro Star Systems was contracted by the State Department to craft mobile phone programs to better inform citizens around the world about America.
Manouchehri said the choice of the mobile phone was only natural thanks to its ubiquity, which includes less-developed countries. Even in a poor household, a family might share a common mobile phone for family use, he said. The hope, Manouchehri says, is to form "spontaneous communities" of people having fun and learning about America, connected around the world via a cellular network.
By using simple technologies like games and text messages, Manouchehri and other creative minds are helping connect cultures and promote better understanding among nations.
Everyday our phones make our lives better - it's exciting to see how they can make our world better.
Posted: 10/21/09 by Mobile Future Team
Today marks the beginning of SuperComm 2009, and the Mobile Future Team is excited to participate in this year's conference.
Every year, SuperComm brings together industry leaders in broadband equipment, converged networks and digital content. This year's show features industry leaders sharing their views on broadband expansion and innovation, along with hundreds of suppliers showcasing their products and services.
We are looking forward to seeing some of the exciting new innovations in wireless technology, and hearing panel discussions on the National Broadband Strategy and its impact on green broadband, digital content, service-oriented networks and social media.
We hope you can make it to the show, and that you'll visit the Mobile Future Booth (#3229) in the West Building of McCormick Place!
Posted: 08/19/09 by Molly Kocour
The FCC is taking a progressive step
and embracing a few 21st century mediums of the masses - the
blogosphere and Twitter. As the FCC works on crafting a National Broadband Plan, the agency has decided to document its efforts for the public.
The blog, "Blogband" will detail the agency's efforts to design
a broadband strategy, as well as offer citizens a way to submit feedback,
comments and concerns regarding the developments. The plan is due to Congress
in February.
In the inaugural post, Chairman
Julius Genachowski wrote:
the Internet is changing and
expanding the way Americans communicate, providing them with unparalleled access
to information. Our goal is to create a National Broadband Plan that charts a
path toward bringing the benefits of robust broadband to all Americans. So visit
Blogband often to keep up with the latest news and - more importantly - get
involved.
At Mobile Future, we applaud
Chairman Genachowski and the FCC's efforts to heed Obama's call for government
to be more open and transparent, and we look forward to
following along on the journey. You can follow the FCC on its blog and on Twitter.
Posted: 08/07/09 by Chris Parandian
Thursday
morning started out like every other weekday morning. Big cup of coffee,
BlackBerry blinking, and reading the latest from my favorite tech blogs.
However, something wasn't quite right. Something was missing --- my communities
on Facebook and Twitter!
As many
social media enthusiasts know, Facebook and Twitter
were hit with denial of service attacks yesterday. In Twitter's case, the
website was down and millions of people were unable to communicate. Some folks
might be scratching their heads thinking this is irrelevant. However, Twitter
is now THE network.
Like millions of others, I rely on an awesome community of users to stay plugged
into mobile, marketing, technology, and policy.
Two years
ago many would question the relevance of using the mobile internet to "tweet."
In fact, many in this industry laughed at me when I was twittering over two
years ago. I knew then what now is evident to millions around the world: our
mobile and online spaces are intertwined.
Social
networking is a primary driver for the mobile internet. We want to know where
our friends are and what's on their minds at all times. The mobile platform
provides this information and allows us to be "in the know." Comscore's Mark
Donovan, in
a recent study earlier this year hammered that point home stating "over the
course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an
occasional activity to being a daily part of people's lives" and that "social
networking and blogging have emerged as very popular daily uses of the mobile
web."
Mashable
writer Josh Steinberg recently pondered - "are Twitter and other social
networks destined to niche status or are they so embedded in our lives that they
are now an indespensible part of society?" The answer is obvious and yesterday
proved it.
Posted: 07/17/09 by Chris Parandian
Facebook's meteoric growth continues as the social networking site celebrated their 250 millionth user this week. Wireless is playing a key role in this revolution and will continue to be a significant source of growth as the mobile platform becomes the primary way folks access the internet. Accordingly, if you're Mark Zuckerberg, continuing to provide more functionality via mobile will only increase our addiction to Facebook.
On that note, I no longer have to constantly check for my friends' status profile updates or stalk my friends' profile pages (the old way to get updates before status feeds). With Facebook SMS capability, I can now receive instant status updates about my pals 24/7, directly to my phone! Although this is a new feature for Facebook, Twitter has had this functionality for some time.
In addition to simple status updates, the new service also allows you to "comment on your friends' status updates directly from your
phone by replying to the text messages you receive" as well as enabling folks to receive "mobile updates from the Facebook Pages of your favorite
celebrities, public figures, businesses and organizations." With regard to fan pages, I believe this functionality will stimulate more interactions in those spaces, too.
Please consider joining Mobile Future on Facebook!
Additional note - Standard text messaging rates apply on Facebook and Twitter updates.
Posted: 06/18/09 by Chris Parandian
There are some nice mobile events in the District next week. As always, we wanted to make sure you knew the 411!
dcMOMO - Monday, June 22
Mobile Monday DC has a new name and they will be holding an event on Monday evening at Qorvis Communications. The event will focus on mobile advertising and whether it is recession-proof. The speakers for the evening are:
- Robert Samuels, Director of Mobile Products, New York Times
- Anurag Mehta, SVP, Sales and Business Development, Mobile Posse
- Marcus Startzel, Senior Vice President of Sales, Millennial Media
You can rsvp for Monday's dcMoMo event here or on Facebook.
mHealth on the Hill - Wednesday, June 24
With major health care reform on the horizon, CTIA is holding an event on Wednesday that will further examine the opportunities for wireless in the health care sector. Dr. Eric Topol, who was a keynote at CTIA's Spring show, will get the conversation started with Congressman Adam Smith. Dr. Topol captivated the audience with his presentation in Las Vegas that demonstrated the great potential for mHealth. I expect he will do it again next week!
The mHealth event runs all morning and has quite a dynamic agenda. You can find all the details right here.
We hope to see you there!
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