Archive for mobile social networking
by Imran Ali
March 25, 2008 at 4:36 pm · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, SMS, Usage + Usability, iPhone, Twitter, mobile social networking, Openmoko, Communication, Android
Late last year I wrote about the Mobility of Messages and how the tools for archiving our ‘emotional bits’ are crudely shortsighted, lacking the means for durable longevity and personal curation.
So I was recently very pleased to discover Treasuremytext, a startup - based in Liverpool and Amsterdam - that’s been helping users archive and preserve precious text messages for the best part of five years!
Treasuremytext’s founders - Katie Lips and Paul Stringer - were motivated by issues similar to those described in my earlier post; the very personal desire to treasure those evocative, poignant, sexy, cheeky and deeply personal messages at a time when handset inboxes were often limited to just 10-15 messages.
Katie and Paul very much saw their mission as one of liberating valuable messages from mobile handsets - presaging the currently in-vogue openness of Android, Openmoko and LiPS (no pun intended!) - and placing them in a web-based archive.
The web elements of the service came about due to the company’s frustrations at trying to work with mobile operators and technologies (SyncML, SIM readers etc.) - the web was simply the best medium for personalising and manipulating treasured messages. Treasuremytext’s strategy has enabled them to maneuver around cellcos, whilst still providing value to end users; a strategy that when multiplied across many service providers rightly deepeds the commoditisation of mobile operators.
Curiously, Treasuremytext has been a bigger hit with people in their 20s, 30s and 40s and messages largely focusing on relationships - indicating that SMS is a more disposable medium for younger users and romantic messages are likely to be the most treasured. Indeed, the service is almost inadvertently aggregating unique analytics and ethnographic data of the usage of SMS over time.
The service works well - with users simply needing to forward their messages to a specific number, via SMS; though it seems some meta information can be lost (original time, date stamp, sender name). This may simply be the vagaries of SMS infrastructure and handset software, but some simple tools to manually adjust metadata for each message (sender, time, date, tag) would be useful, particularly tags - with some users saving thousands of messages, folders will no longer be flexible enough tools for storage.
The more social features of the service are actually quite reminiscent of Twitter - but that’s no bad thing, Treasuremytext has a different emphasis and, as such, will be well positioned to evolve alongside other messaging services; indeed, they’re already experimenting with iPhone clients.
As my friend Ross notes, some operators are beginning to offer similar features as part of their suite of bundled services - notably O2’s Bluebook. However, operator services are notoriously, um, *crap* and generally closed like a nun’s knickers. By adopting open data principles, Treasuremytext could again maneuver around cellcos and deepen their claim on their philosophy of openness. New platforms such as Android and Openmoko could also help to provide wider distribution and I believe there’s a strong analytics and ethnographics opportunity for them too…
In the meantime, it’s worth spending a few minutes with co-founder Katie’s BarCamp session on 12 mistakes not to make when launching your startup!
by Russell Shaw
February 12, 2008 at 9:26 am · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, mobile social networking, Messaging, Games
That’s Trail Messenger, is a virtual dot-dropper that lets people expressive perform and discover messages by walking around and ‘connecting the dots.’
“Interaction designer” Junu Joseph Yang sends along a video of Trail Messenger, based on a ‘Mobile Plassages’ (Playful Mobile Messages) social game experience and platform he designed for a senior college project.
The concept uses turn-based messaging combined with simple sensors to create a social game experience. Junu feels it blurs the boundaries between play and communication which, as Junu tells us he thinks, has much to do with the success of SMS, and the future of mobile messaging.
Junu feels this “playful messaging enabled by cal part of why SMS has been so successful. I would love to have a chance to talk to someone about the project; and how ‘playful messaging’ will really be the future of mobile messaging.
You can find an example of the project here.
by Debi Jones
January 15, 2008 at 5:22 pm · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, News, mobile data statistics, mobile social networking, MMA, Mobile Marketing
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) today announces its first Mobile Attitude and Usage Study for five key Western European markets. Mobile subscribers from the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain were surveyed to uncover insights into the region’s consumer mobile usage by demographic group.
The expected results found significant SMS use across all age groups with the most active texters in the 13 to 24 year age group. Spain and Italy were reported as the most active geographies for text messaging. The MMA report seems a bit conflicted with itself as it reports that “2 way text messaging is the most important mobile feature across all age groups,” but at the same time reveals that among teens text messaging was second to having a camera. Having camera functionality is the most important mobile feature to teens in Western Europe.
The rising importance of camera functionality as the most important feature for the golden teen demographic is profound. First, it follows the evolution of consumer behavior in Japan and Korea the most active mobile consumers on the planet. And second, the finding has implications for the future of mobile social networks and other applications.
The study also focused on awareness and interest in mobile marketing. The age group with the most exposure and awareness of mobile marketing was the 18 to 34 year olds. In other words, those more likely to have jobs and income of which to dispose. Experience with marketing messages among this age group includes: interactive voting, ads, and product/service information.
Also, notable is that one in ten subscribers are said to be interested in receiving marketing messages on their mobile if those messages are relevant and have benefit to the recipient. Acceptable marketing messages of interest include coupons, status alerts, and special offers.
If the industry is to continue fast following the youth demographic, it’s time to look towards image messaging and MMS. That is: if we find the results from the MMA to be replicated and credible.
by Ewan Spence
December 17, 2007 at 9:36 am · Filed under Software, Usage + Usability, mobile social networking, GPS, WIMM
While we’ve all focused on messages that get to you while you are mobile, I thought I’d point out another sort of mobile message – the message that comes from a mobile, to a recipient. And with the flexibility of a computer in your pocket, Nokia’s Sports Tracker (currently in beta) is yet another signpost to the future and what Web 2.0 and mobile can do for messaging.
The application on the handset is very simple. It takes a record of your location using either a bluetooth GPS or (on phones such as Nokia’s N95) the built in GPS. From this lots of info can be derived… your speed, average pace, height and a bundle of other stats from your trips you make. The N95’s built in accelerometers even help with a pedometer coming into the mix. Just hit start and stop at the relevant times. This of course is great for people who perhaps are doing jogging for fitness, or taking long cycle rides (like myself) but it also has a bundle of other uses; two examples…
Vegas the Dog. He’s mentioned a lot in Nokia keynotes on this – his owner strapped an N95 to his dog collar and started to record the walks that Vegas made. Not just where he went as an owner, but where Vegas went when he was tearing round parks, in trees, and after chickens. Where once complicated machinery and gadgets were needed to analysis the habits of the canine, now a simple phone can manage it all.
The second use is when I travel abroad and my family wants to know where I am. Nokia’s Sports Tracker can upload your route to a social network website (http://sportstracker.nokia.com/) where you register as a user, invite your friends, and share where you’ve been with them through the mobile component. All very Web 2.0, but it clearly answers the question “Where’s Dad?†when he’s off bouncing around conferences on the west coast. If I’m feeling particularly ‘open source’ I can turn live tracking on and give a constant “Ewan is here†report.
(Hmm, that might be something to consider for running in the background come prom night….)
So let’s not be blinkered to straight text messages coming into a handset as being the vanguard of mobile messaging. Modern communication is two-way, and the data we can provide is but limited to the sensors we can add to a mobile device.
by Debi Jones
December 8, 2007 at 11:32 pm · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, Mobile Email, mobile social networking, Instant Messaging, Messaging, WIMM
A recent discussion between most of the bloggers of Mobile Messaging 2.0 resulted in a disagreement. We were turning over various topics in our collective mind that might be interesting to our readers and us. As we deconstructed these topics, a starting point of sorts emerged on which we could bring our different perspectives in the hope of providing insight into how some parts of the mobile ecosystem interpret the language of mobility. That starting point is logical and simple although we found the answer may not be so.
What is a Mobile Message? Going around the virtual room to gain agreement on a starting point for considering other topics, it became apparent that the defining characteristics of applying the label mobile to any message was not a point on which we agreed. Over the next week, MM2 will consider this question, share our own perspectives and views relative to our position within the mobile ecosystem and invite you, our readers, to join in the discussion.
The components of a mobile message include the network, the device, the transport (e.g., SMS, MMS, email). Is the mobile network required? Or is it enough to use a mobile device on some other network, for example, wi-fi? A purist might say that the SMS transport is required to qualify the distinction of a mobile message versus merely a message sent electronically. Given the spirited discussion that took place between us, readers can expect some considered opinions and lively disagreement.
The marketing language from operators to consumers specifies text messaging, email, picture messaging, video messaging, voicemail messages, and Voice SMS. What about the mobilizing of social networks and the associated messages? What about mobile IM, chat, etc.? What about social gestures such have been popularized by social networks like nudging, poking, smiling or following? Consider Vibetonz and sending emoticons…are those mobile messages? And finally, do the semantics matter?
Let us know what you like, dislike or were bored by in this process as we hope to do more conversations on shared topics in the coming months. And now, enjoy.
by Darla Mack
November 30, 2007 at 7:45 pm · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, mobile social networking, Facebook
Social media megaspot, Facebook has some limits that I’m just not happy with. Ironically it has to do with providers. I enjoy receiving text alerts to my mobile whenever someone pokes me or leaves me a message. But for some reason T-Mobile isn’t listed as one of the providers that this works with.
With social media being among the most popular channel of networking, why is my provider not listed?
Now the reason that I’m being choosy is this… I have unlimited messaging with T-Mobile and limited messaging with AT&T. Facebook users know that at some points alot of messages pop through, some to which are not of any importance. But I consider myself an avid Facebook user and I like to be in the know of what’s going on.
For AT&T users, you might have noticed that Facebook is listed in the MediaNet menu. I cannot speak for the other providers. But not having T-Mobile listed kind of bothers me.
And it isn’t just the US. The only UK provider is O2. No T-Mobile there either. Maybe its just a personal gripe on my part, but for something so advancing as social media, shouldn’t all avenues of providers be covered?
by Russell Shaw
November 27, 2007 at 12:37 pm · Filed under News, mobile social networking, Yahoo
We learn from Silicon Valley-based news and gossip site Valleywag that Yahoo has plans to launch a social messaging service it is calling MyM.
“From what we’ve heard, MyM sounds a lot like Meebo, the website which allows users to access multiple instant-messaging clients at once. MyM will actually hook into Meebo, as well as Friendster, MySpace, LiveJournal, AIM, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo’s own IM software,” Valleywag reports.
No reason that MyM can’t be mobile.
Yet befitting Valleywag’s strong gossip and debunking self-awareness, the site also quotes unidentified internal Yahoo! types as feeling MyM is “awkward,” and that competitors are likely to block the service.
If competitors try to block this thing, I can promise you there will be very loud rumblings in Commentstan (my term for blog Comment fields).
Right now, the service is in pre-beta invitation mode. Don’t you hate that? Now you know how those folks who were denied admittance to trendy discos in the late 1970s felt when the bouncers told them not to darken their doorways.
by Darla Mack
November 23, 2007 at 12:37 am · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, mobile social networking, Mobile Etiquette
Its weird to see just how far we’ve come when it comes to Mobile evolution, but mobile dating? I remember a few years back Match.com went mobile through Cingular and Sprint.
According to a report from Juniper Research, hich was released in September, revenues from mobile dating and chatroom services are expected to pass $1 billion US by 2010.
“Major brands such as Match.com and Webdate have recognized that customers are willing to pay a mobility premium for 24/7 access to these services and are increasing deploying mobile applications to complement and enhance their existing offerings. The increasing proliferation of 3G handsets and a mean that companies are increasing confident of introducing converged services at the outset. Furthermore, those companies which embrace such a strategy - such as Flirtomatic - are experiencing significantly higher levels of traffic from their WAP users than from their users on the fixed internet.” by report author Dr. Windsor Holden
With all this being said I wonder… is Mobile Dating really going to be the new thing?
Other findings from the report include:
* At the present time, the largest mobile dating markets by user numbers are Japan and India.
* The low level of fixed penetration in India, and the increasing tendency in the country to use mobile services directly as an aide not merely for dating, but for marriage, suggests that overall penetration here will be significantly higher than elsewhere in the world
* Many customers will use mobile dating as an adjunct to, rather than instead of, their fixed internet dating services
I have to be skeptical on this because I fancy the traditional method, then again my methods of traditional might not be the same as others. But there are certain issues involved that go a bit beyond just increasing data charges. What about safety and security? Inviting someone into your life via your mobile doesn’t quite seem traditional to me.
by Debi Jones
November 20, 2007 at 7:05 pm · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, Mobile Tech, Events + Conferences, Mobile Email, mobile social networking, Instant Messaging, FOMM, Venture Capital, Under the Radar, 3Jam
Venture capitalists Tim Chang, Norwest Venture Partners, and Veneet Buch, Blue Run Ventures, speak from an investors perspective on “The Future of Mobile Messaging.” While attending Under the Radar - Mobility last week at Microsoft’s Mountain View campus, I had the chance to ask Tim and Vineet about their predictions on the future of mobile messaging. They have different ideas about what will be the most critical aspects of messaging and the role of mobile network operators in those developments.
To toggle between the two interviews, click on the “Play Now” link associated with the interview you wish to listen to.
Tim Chang on FOMM [6:39m]:
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Vineet Buch on FOMM [6:23m]:
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by Ewan Spence
September 21, 2007 at 7:26 pm · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, Devices, SMS, Software, Events + Conferences, Podcasts, Mobile Applications, GSM, Mobile Email, Carriers, mobile social networking, Nokia, Ovi, Instant Messaging, Communication
As mentioned in our previous post from Tech Crunch 40, Debi and I sat down to talk about the five companies who won through to present on stage - namely Cubic Telecom (www.cubictelecom.com), Yap (www.yapinc.com), Trutap (www.trutap.com), Ceedo (www.ceedo.com) and Loudtalks (www.loudtalks.com).
There’s a lot to discuss, from business model, geographical challenges (both in distribution and acceptance), the might of the carriers and the handset manufacturers, and all the issues that a start-up in the mobile are going to have to deal with.
MM20 at Tech Crunch 40, pt 2:
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