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Category Archives: mobile
About time—Apple now experimenting with a watch-like device
Little is known, but NYT, WSJ both report using anonymous sources.
Apple is experimenting internally with the development of a watch-like device with smartphone capabilities, according to separate reports from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal today.
Details beyond that fact remain murky. The NYT report indicates the watch may “operate on Apple’s iOS platform” and be built with a curved glass surface, leveraging “the company’s understanding of how such glass can curve around the human body.” WSJ reports Apple has already talked with manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (aka Foxconn) about the idea, and this initiative could be the centerpiece of Apple’s next large product group beyond smartphones and tablets.
Both pieces relied entirely on anonymous sourcing from Apple—”according to people briefed on the effort” for WSJ and “according to people familiar with the company’s explorations, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they are not allowed to publicly discuss unreleased products” for NYT.
If all this pans out, Apple would be primed to break into the emerging wearable computing market. It’s an area focused mostly on fitness today, but Apple has shown public interest. The company partnered with Nike on devices like the FuelBand or those iPod-connecting shoes. Apple has also previously partnered with Corning Glass, using the company’s Gorilla Glass, so it’s not a reach to say finding a use for the stretchable, new Willow Glass could be on Cupertino’s agenda.
The lack of on-the-record info didn’t stop NYT from speculated on some logical future uses for such a device—mobile payments using Passbook, GPS functionality, Dick Tracy-like communications.
Strum app turns a status update into music video
USA TODAY11:20a.m. EST December 13, 2012
Smule’s new Strum app turns status updates into music videos.
That’s what the folks at Smule, which makes popular music-oriented apps, have done this week with Strum.The free app for Apple iOS devices lets you shoot a 15-second status update and use their tools to vocalize your musings with a backing track, and add Instagram-like photo filters to pretty up the image.
The app “turns your life into a music video,” says Prerna Gupta, the general manager of Smule, which is best known for its Magic Piano app, with over 20 million installs.
“A really fun app. that friends and family can enjoy”
Stephen Cataldo
Smule has virtual instrument apps for flute, trombone and violin as well. It also used auto-tune technology on the Songify app, which was developed by Gupta’s then-Atlanta-based Khush before it was acquired by Smule in 2011.
Gupta and the Khush staff moved to California. Strum is the first collaboration between the two teams, she says.
Smule has reaped nearly 80 million downloads since first formed by Stanford University professor Ge Wang in 2007 as a side project, and now has 60 staffers.
Strum is the company’s first video app, and has 22 visual filters to enhance the image.
While the app is free, the company plans to make money by selling add-on filters.
Status updates have a limit of 15 seconds, and can be produced within the app.
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Email Is Still Huge, And That’s Where People Want To Be Marketed To
By Chris Crum
Email is thirty years old, and it’s arguably bigger than ever, despite other technological advancements in computing and communication. The number of emails sent per day continues to increase, and there are way more accounts than even Facebook has.
What has been more successful for you in your marketing efforts? Email or social media?
This week, ReadWriteWeb interviewed “father of email,” Ray Tomlinson, who implemented an email system in 1971 on the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). The piece cites some stats from the Radicati Group, saying that 144.8 billion emails are sent per day, and the number projected to hit 192.2 billion in 2016. Another stat from the same source: there are currently 3.4 billion email accounts worldwide, and somewhere around 75% of them are actually individual people.
That works out to be over 2.5 billion accounts of individual users. Facebook recently announced that it had hit the 955 million active user milestone, with just 552 million of them accessing it daily.
In the interview, Tomlinson is quoted as saying, “Email has the time difference – that is, you send it now, you read it later – you don’t have to have someone sitting there and ready to respond like you do with instant messaging to make it work and make it effective. You can use instant messaging that way, but if they’re not there, nothing happens, and you gotta remember that there may be a message coming back to you and go back to the IM client and look for the response.”
He also said he expects email to be around for “a good long time,” adding that “We may find that these other forms of communication may be merged with email.”
We are indeed still seeing the merge of other online communication channels with email. For example, earlier this summer, Facebook started listing Facebook email addresses as the default email address for users, as even the world’s largest social network recognizes email’s importance to the communication landscape. Google+ and Twitter have both recently made moves indicating that they are relying more on email for user engagement.
Email is even making its way to Google searches. Last month, Google introduced a new way for you to search your Gmail account right from the Google search box, perhaps enabling users to access old emails when they’re at their most relevant. It’s only in limited trial mode right now, but this could become an important Google feature sometime soon.
In this article, I talked about why this could make email marketing even better for conversions. The point I was trying to make is that it can make marketing messages available perhaps when they’re more relevant to the audience, when they’re actually searching for something that you’re selling. Basically, it adds some search marketing advantage to your email marketing efforts, though perhaps not in a way that’s as visible as straight paid search. But hey, it’s free.
ExactTarget’s Jeff Rohrs said in a piece about email’s 30th anniversary, “In fact, an overwhelming 77 percent of all consumers surveyed prefer to receive promotional messages from companies via email compared to five percent who prefer text messages and four percent who prefer Facebook. Email is also one of the most utilized apps on every smartphone — right up there with the phone, text messaging and the browser itself.”
Emphasis is mine, because those numbers are quite interesting, given how much we see about Facebook marketing these days.
According to a recent study from Experian, email volume rose 10% in the second quarter, compared to the second quarter of last year. This is only a continuation in a trend the firm says it has seen each quarter for the past three years. Open rates were similar to those in Q2 2011. While click rates declined from last year, the pace of that decline slowed. Revenue per email fro multi-channel retailers increased from $0.13 to $0.14.
According to that study, the average click rate rose for business products and services in Q2.
Kelsey Media Productions announces iPad web development services.
Kelsey Media Productions is excited to announce the web development services for iPad. The incredible growth of mobile technology makes this an area that Business Owners CANNOT ignore any longer.
iPad has penetrated greatly in the market and its users are increasing in numbers. iPads dominated among tablets in driving digital traffic. The iPad is often used for web browsing and online ordering. iPads delivered 97.2 percent of all tablet traffic in the U.S. iPads have also begun to account for a higherm share of Internet traffic than iPhones (46.8 percent vs. 42.6 percent of all iOS device traffic).
If you have a website and are looking to increase web traffic then you will need to have a website that will target the iPad user. Your website may be compatible with mobile smart phones but it will not give the results needed for the iPad. Flash along with video that is not rendered for HTML5 will not work. At Kelsey Media Productions our mobile sites utilize the enhanced capabilities of HTML5. Developed to bring ecommerce, animation, custom slide shows, integrating audio and video to popular mobile devices and the iPad.
Kelsey Media Productions can create a custom iPad site or take your existing web design and format it for mobile using no generic templates. Our mobile services are a one-time cost. Your iPad website can be placed within a folder of your server having no additional monthly fees. Call us at 781.365.4800 or take the time to visit our iPad site to see samples along with other services we offer. http://www.kelseypro.com/ipad
About Kelsey Media Productions
Kelsey Media Productions specializes in a wide range of creative marketing opportunities and digital media. Services include web design formatted for mobile devices, website development, online animation, social media strategies, video and audio production, print advertisement, e-commerce storefront solutions, and portfolio presentations. The company also has experience with organizing marketing and promotional events in which they provide all entertainment and décor. Kelsey Media Productions also conducts in-store demonstrations and unique attractions that draw crowds to your storefront to increase your clientele base! Their digital media skills and marketing expertise help their clients to develop creative marketing campaigns, delivering results in highly competitive markets.
The founder and president of Kelsey Media Productions, Stephen Cataldo, has over two decades of experience working in the online media and creative marketing arena. He has collaborated with over 300 clients to provide marketing solutions, product design, videos, demos, and major events marketing.
Kelsey Media Productions also offers full-service website design, online shopping carts, and management. Each client receives a consultation to determine the best design and marketing solutions. Some of the most popular web services include video spokesperson and presentations, photography, logo design, themed slide shows, motion graphics and animated video banners.
For more information, contact the following:
Stephen Cataldo
Founder/President
781.365.4800
http://www.kelseypro.com
Using QR Codes – The Complete Guide!
By Linda Mentzer (c) 2012
Kelsey Media Productions found this article to be very useful. We have clients who have had great success using QR codes for product brochures, business cards and at Trade Shows.
Scan this code to be directed to our mobile site:
Although many marketing gurus disagree on the efficacy and efficiency of QR (quick response) codes, consumer data from Europe and Japan prove otherwise. QR codes are quick to implement and cost virtually nothing, especially to the seasoned marketer. In fact, all they demand are a few design changes and a dedicated mobile webpage or site. And they have the potential to deliver some great returns.
While QR codes may not have caught on like wild fire in North America, it’s only a matter of time. In this article, we’ll help you understand and adapt your marketing campaign to the vagaries and many benefits of QR codes.
Defining Your Objective
The idea behind a QR code is to deliver additional value with a product or an advertisement. That makes it necessary to be highly relevant with the information that you decide to link to. So the first step in QR code marketing is to define the purpose behind your campaign. Some methods to use QR technology include,
Drive visitors to your mobile site or towards your social marketing pages. Boost brand awareness and add value by giving users information or tips via multimedia. Deliver discounts or coupons or implement brand loyalty and reward point programs. Organically grow a mailing list by asking users to opt-ín.
Whatever your objective, make sure to state it clearly and concisely next to your QR code. A code without any information next to it is going to look like a bland pattern and can even be mistaken for a part of the overall material design by customers who aren’t very tech-savvy. Try using a single sentence to describe the value your QR code offers and the action that needs to be taken. “Scan this code to like us on FB” or “Scan to receive a discount” are great calls to action because they ensure that the technology is clearly mentioned while the link destination comes up in the form a kicker.
Sourcing Your Code!
If you’re going to use a free QR code generator, do a little research and find quality software that has the least number of error rates. Code generators are only as good as the programmers that develop them, so be wary of new programs and test extensively.
Placing Your Codes
One of the greatest things about QR codes is that they can be placed anywhere! On advertising billboards, signage, printed material, websites, the sidewalk, buildings, vehicles and virtually any conceivable public space. There’s even a QR code that’s been embedded into a gravestone that leads to a memorial site! You are only limited by your imagination, so try to think up novel ways to leverage QR technology in the interests of your brand.
Understand that a QR code is a form of physical hyper-linking and that means in order for it to deliver results it must be scanned in an area that offers wireless connectivity, i.e. mobile sígnal reception. Underground mass rapid transit systems, some auditoriums and halls and airplanes do not have this prerequisite and should be added to the list of places that DO NOT support a QR code campaign.
Metrics!
QR codes are dynamic and you can redirect them. This makes a single permanent QR code in a prominent location, a constant source of customer interaction. That’s why metrics are important.
Keep measuring the success (or failure) or your campaign. The key thing to worry about is how long people are spending on the landing page that your QR code leads to and the number of visitors to the page. If you find that results are unsatisfactory, tweak you materials accordingly.
Design Vs. Scannability: A Fine Line
A huge challenge with QR codes is to balance out design with scannability. Here are some tips to help keep your code on the level.
Building Design
We’ve covered quite a distance from the time when QR codes needed to be monochrome with a distinctly checker box look. Today’s QR codes can be designed to fit the theme of virtually every marketing campaign. This is made possible by the fact that modern codes can have up to 30% of their pattern obstructed and still be scanned successfully.
To take advantage of this, you’ll want to find a reliable code generator that creates codes with a 30%, 20% or 10% error correction rate. This will allow you to integrate your graphics into your code or even to superimpose an image over part of the code box.
The higher the level of superfluous graphics (from the scanner’s point of view) the higher your error correction percentages will have to be. Keep in mind that adding graphics to a QR code with 0% error correction rates will result in a completely unscannable code.
However, remember that a high level of graphical addition and improper placement can reduce the readability of your code. To solve this problem, keep testing your code and move the graphics around it until you achieve optimum scannabilty while retaining a great looking QR code.
Scan Testing!
Test your QR codes with multiple readers and devices. QR codes are still a relatively emerging technology and, before you start printing them on everything conceivable make sure you test the scannability of your code on multiple mobile operating systems, most importantly (Apple, Android and Blackberry). In fact, test out several different code scanning apps as well. This is especially important when using highly stylized custom codes.
Contrast Matters!
While designer codes can look great on your brand materials make sure to use colors that create an effective contrast. Too little contrast can make the code indistinguishable from the background and will lead to poor scannability and reduced scan rates.
Be Size-Wise
QR codes need to be large enough to be registered by mobile scanners and a code that’s too small can have a serious impact on your campaign. If you’re using Microsoft Tags try to ensure that your code is at least 1 sq. inch in size, although 1.5 sq. inches is a far more readable option when using standard codes.
The Quiet Zone
When it comes to brand packaging, every available space tends to be filled with marketing material or general information. In order to make sure that your codes are scannable, you’re going to have to leave a margin of uncluttered space around it that’s devoid of text or graphics.
For mobile web design services or to setup a mobile page contact: Kelsey Media Productions 781.365.4800 or visit us at http://www.kelseypro.com