A lot has been publicized about the soon-to-be-released Apple iPad. This device will create a whole new category for books and magazines. Wired Magazine has developed a digital version of their magazine to take advantage of the iPad platform.
There were over 1 billion downloads of applications for the iPhone this week. iPhone ‘apps’, are the wildly successful extensions of the Apple mobile phone platform. Through iTunes, users can download free and low cost apps for business, entertainment and many other purposes. One of my favorite apps is UrbanSpoon. UrbanSpoon allows you to find restaurants through a slot machine device that displays location, type and price. It’s a great way to find new places to eat. iPhone apps are changing the landscape of mobile marketing.
If I told you that there was a device that over 2.7 billion people have worldwide, and they use that device every day to find information regarding products and services; would you want your business to be on that device? Or at the very least, make sure that your web site is compatible with the technology? Well that device is a cell phone. Worldwide the cell phone has grown larger and faster than the automobile (800 million); the telephone (1.3 billion); the computer (850 million); or even credit cards (1.2 billion). And mobile technology is continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate. The information supplied here is from a wonderful book that you can review at: Communities Dominate Brands.
When you also take into consideration that 17% of the Internet is browsed by cell phones, I believe that we are beyond the tipping point. Your business web site needs to be mobile-ready. The content that flows through your web site should be compatible with cell phone technology. This technology can also take advantage of another emerging market — Social Media. You know, 2.7 billion people can’t all be wrong.
This morning, I was watching an old James Bond movie titled: ‘View to a Kill”. And I couldn’t remember the name of the actor who played the villain. Out comes my trusty iPhone and with one click to the Internet browser, I found the answer; Christopher Walken. He’s also the actor who did the hilarious dance on SNL years ago. A little while later my family and I were trying to decide which church to attend and what time the Masses were. Again, within seconds I knew the Mass schedule for 4 churches.
I could go on about how I find Indian restaurants for lunch during the week, check email, Twitter, and do literally hundreds of Internet searches from my iPhone. Cell phones have come a long way from just talking and text messaging. In fact, 17% of all Internet browsing in the U.S. is accomplished through cell phones. Knowing that, I made sure that our blog (for Marcy Design) is mobile-ready. Our Web site now detects if a browser is coming from a computer or a cell phone and displays the appropriate screen.
Does your target audience use their phone to find products and services? It might be time to see how the mobile world views your business.
Is your website ready to be viewed on a mobile phone? The next generation Apple iPhone, scheduled for release this June, may replace some laptops used for mobile surfing. Through a new Software Development Kit (SDK), Apple is allowing 3rd party developers to write custom applications for the iPhone. The iPhone currently networks with many social networking websites such as Facebook and users can download music and movies from iTunes. Not only will many individuals want a new iPhone, they will want to be seen in coffee houses and shopping centers using them to surf the Internet. Apple expects to sell over 10 million phones by the end of this year. Over 280 million cell phones for all manufacturers shipped in the first quarter of 2008 alone.
