DisAPPointing: The world of mobile apps can be a time waster

Photoshop received approval this week for their own official iPhone app, which allows users to rotate, crop, use filter effects, adjust exposure, tint and saturation. Not exactly groundbreaking, but regular users and the tech savvy should expect a heavy hitter to have a presence in the app market.

The concept of an app store for mobile phones is doggone appealing for 21st century cell phone users. Apple's campaign "There's an app for that" has become synonymous with the utility of mobile communication and convenience. Although BlackBerry maker RIM released it's own version of the app store earlier this year, Apple has touted the availability of thousands of programs in its own store and even surpassed two billion downloads at the end of September.

Many companies have hitched a ride on the app wave with useful components, such as remote ordering for Chipotle and Starbucks (they actually have two) and pop culture icons such rapper T. Pain's auto voice tuner. Others have shown to be timelessly useful, such as Google Maps and weather alert applications like WeatherBug.

Despite the usefulness of some applications, the app market at large has reached a point beyond saturation. As is true with social media usage, some tools are simply time wasters. For those who remember the infamous pre-installed Snake game on old Nokia phones, this was enough a to satisfy the urge to procrastinate for most people.

The bottom line is that smartphone users and application developers must seriously consider the ultimate goal of time and money spent developing, searching, downloading and "playing." As technology history teaches us, this too shall pass.

• Brands: This means determining the PR and financial investment and ROI developing an app would take. In the case of Photoshop, the justification is clear.
• Consumers: The app store could largely be procrastination 2.0 and another drain on your bank account.

A brilliant video advertisement from WorldMate illustrates my point:

Mobile Media: Wherever I go, you come too

A key component of successful social media networking, marketing and sharing is the ability to access the social web at critical times. The technological advancement of smartphones and wireless providers have enabled consumers to get on the Internet virtually anywhere at any time. I am not suggesting that one stays constantly connected. Instead, mobile accessibility has unchained us from our computers. Everyone is now able to explore the world while utilizing critical elements of the social web.

Flipcams, cell phones and mobile-optimized web sites are now available in the mainstream market. In many ways, this has helped exponentially increase the amount of up-to-the-moment information available. We can now upload text to our blogs, pictures to Flickr, and videos to YouTube while remaining copmletely wireless. For businesses seeking to engage their target audience, this is an opportunity to get real-time feedback on anything from product reviews to onsite experiences.

Below is a picture re-cap of a recent bike ride I took through downtown Columbus. Most of these were taken with a cell phone, which I was able to upload to Flickr as I rode. By the time I arrived home after two hours of riding, there were only a few photos left to finish posting. Without this capability, it is unlikely that I would have shared this experience at the rate that it became available.

Sex APPeal: BlackBerry vs. Apple

Unbeknown to many, the commercialized availability of smartphone applications is barely a year old. Since the inception of the Apple App Store on July 11 last year, global activity has topped 1.5 billion downloads. Not to mention, of course, the 10 million downloads the first weekend the App Store was available. While the launch of the App Store pre-empted the release of the BlackBerry Storm, RIM's first touch-screen smartphone, BlackBerry was quick to catch up introducing it's own App World in March of 2009.

Both the Apple and BlackBerry app stores provide wireless download capability, with several new applications being added each day. In my own experience, I have owned an iPod Touch since September 2007 and a BlackBerry Storm since November 2008. After countless downloads, trials and erasing most apps from both devices, there are a few conclusions that can be reached for the current state of each app store:

BlackBerry App World

Pros

• Coverage: With Verizon's 3G network, applications that require streaming capability or constant connection fare much better than an iPhone or Palm Pre any day. If you are an Apple fanatic, I am sorry. This is a verifiable fact.
• Productivity: BlackBerry continues to dominate the business world, and the App World naturally reflects the business landscape. If you are a frequent traveler, salesman, productivity manager or receive hundreds of messages a day, there is a guaranteed app or two to make your life easier.
• Compatability: With very few exceptions, virtually all downloads available in App World will function on any recent BlackBerry model. There is little concern about whether you will have to upgrade your mobile OS or purchase an entirely new phone.

Cons

• Quantity: If you want to spend hours browsing App World, your joy ride will end relatively quickly. While there are several hundred apps from which to choose, you are unlikely to find niche apps, such as a one developed for Dairy Queen or obsessed CSI fans.
• Price: There are several apps available that are 100% free of charge, but some will set you back as much as $30 for each download. Despite this apparent drawback, many of the more expensive options are used for business-related functions that serve specific purposes. In some cases, an app purchase could be paid for by one's company.
  
• Support: The App World is still in it's infancy, and third party developers have only had a few months to begin creating BlackBerry-compatible app syntax. It is still early to judge whether or not RIM has dropped the ball on opening up it's API. In the mean time, technical support and "buggy" symptoms still plague many available applications.

Apple App Store

Pros

• Availability: In spite of the App World, Apple currently boasts more than 65,000 applications available for download.
  
• Speed: One clear advantage that Apple products maintain is the access to Wi-fi when it is available. While the AT&T network may lag, an iPhone or iPod Touch can pick up wireless signals and operate at normal speeds in some areas.
  
• Usability: The touch interface is very fluid and responsive on new Apple models, which minimizes frustration while learning new applications. Ironically, the iPhone and iPod Touch's inability to run multiple programs at once give them an advantage while operating downloaded software.
  
• Price: While thousands of apps are free, many more popular downloads are a mere $.99 - a price that will not break the bank when you are disappointed with a download.
  

Cons

• Navigation: With so many new apps available on a near daily basis, it has become a daunting task to keep up the latest updates on each program. While Apple is working on redesigning the aesthetics of the App Store, relief from navigation frustrations is a light very far from the end tunnel.
• Time: Aside from the time it takes to navigate through the entirety of the App Store, many applications are simply for novelty use. This begs the quesion whether Apple has a reputable place in the business market, or if it serves as a distraction rather than a tool for efficiency.

The ultimate decision is yours, of course, but I hope this insight helps. Feedback welcomed and appreciated.

For the PR pro: New Media tech tips

The New Media realm is rapidly evolving, and I have begun to realize that it is extremely helpful to have knowledge of both how to use new tools AND how they work. The beauty of effective online public relations (utilizing a variety of social media) is the ability to gain wide exposure at basically no expense.

Staying on the edge of what is possible with new media, here is a list of 8 tips that can help a PR pro stay on top of digital brand building:

1. Blog searching. As simple as it may sound, the search engine used to troll industry blogs can be a critical part of evaluating a company's reputation online. Google Blog Search and Technorati are usually good places to start.

2. URL rewriting. People pass along links constantly, using anything from emails, SMS, social bookmarking, etc. However, word of mouth is still the most potent form. Rewriting a web URL to an easy-to-remember format is key to maximize a web page's mobility.

3. Cloud Computing. Simply put, cloud computing is a technology in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. The network of servers and connections is collectively known as "the cloud." Using an access point, such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or laptop, users can "reach" into the cloud for resources as they need them. Extremely handy for tech PR. A good example is Google Applications.

4. Traffic Monitoring. There are a variety of ways to track unique visitors and visitation time of web sites. Keeping track of these statistics is an essential way to continually redesign a page to a format that is most effective for the target audience it is intended to reach.

5. Social Media Applications. The most common example for Gen Y is the use of Facebook applications (coundowns, bumper stickers... basically little additions for a users profile). There are plenty of ways to develop these applications for free, then brand them with a company's message. Almost 90% of Facebook's applications are made by third party developers. It's the same story for applications used in conjunction with the iPod Touch and iPhone.

6. HTML blog and web utilities. The development of simple HTML or XML code can made into handy utilities for people's blogs or websites. By distributing the code for free, users can add them to their personal sites. Again, free exposure. The only catch for these tools (as well as SM apps) is to make the utility actually useful. The more unique, the better.

7. Keeping tabs on new content aggregators. RSS readers, feed readers, and search readers are just a few examples. With the explosion of SM getting larger every day, these tools are undoubtedly going to play a vital role in the consolidation of a user's multiple profiles and feeds.

8. Not SEO... SMO. Social media optimatization can be an enormous benefit to a brand entering the new media market. As most regular users are familiar with the idea, by allowing a web site's visitors to "join" and create a personal profile, loyatly and frequency increase while the bounce rate decreases. Additionally, it makes it much easier for common users to interact with one another. Facebook Chat is a great example of optimization.

And there you have it. If you have a question or would like to leave a comment, please feel free to leave it here or send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. Thanks!

The Future of Social Media

If you consider yourself even to be mildly Internet savvy, most people would be shocked if you haven't investigated at least one social media website. By the end of 2008, it is expected that there will be more than 230 million members of social media sites worldwide.

Social media is still a relatively infantile service, but there are literally thousands to choose from for any purpose under the sun, including professional, political, social, special interest, dating, and so on. But with boom of social media, where new sites are launched almost daily around the world, what is the main hype? What about 10 years from now?

One hotly contested topic is how to generate revenue from these sites. There are plenty of business models available (even some that work), but speculation is still widespread since the key characteristic to many popular sites is a free membership policy. Advertising is the largest profit contributor (by a wide margin), which made the social media industry worth more than 970 million dollars in 2007.

Furthermore, thousands of companies have slowly begun to realize the benefit of reaching their target demographics through social media outlets, which has sparked a slow revolution in cyberspace interactivity. Here are some predictions for the future of the social media madness:

1. Content aggregation will take the spotlight. Most companies or groups with a message are mostly interested in using "sexy" marketing campaigns. Viral video contests, build your own site or profile, etc. Content, however, will always trump other features. Searching for content can be a little inefficient for most sites, even for the monsters such Facebook, MySpace and Blogger. Therefore, finding what you're looking for can take some valuable time.

More and more businesses are literally spending millions of dollars creating mediocre widgets and "stuff" simply to throw their name and brand messaging on it. At a fraction of the cost, the same companies could aggregate the most important content in their brand, provide a utility that matters to the site's users, and get tremendous brand equity in return.

2. Mobility and utility equal survival. Within the next decade, it is likely that most online services will have some form of mobile access. Facebook Mobile and Twitter are common examples, but thousands of websites have developed a mini-screen format for their sites as well. While most new designs are made for the iPhone, Blackberry, or Treo, there are text-based versions for almost any phone with a screen and web access.

Because this technology is already available and improving exponentially, it is inevitable that it will be commonplace in the already saturated market of social media.

3. Out with the old, in with the new. Twitter's problems and debugging efforts are well known, but it certainly isn't the only service to only get it half right. With the emergence of newer companies with more sound software and API, it is possible that Twitter will become the Friendster of microblogging. As developers begin to interact in open sourcing (watch the Google Campfire One lecture if you don't believe me), it is a matter of time until popular sites and services are obsolete and new sites take their place.

Love or hate what you have read, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. New site design will be up soon!