Mobile Groove

Regular readers will know that a high point of my year is collaborating with the Netsize team to collect the information, ideas and insights from industry authorities and +25 c-level execs that make the Netsize Guide the industry’s number one reference work. This year is no exception. To the contrary, I’m proud to report the Netsize Guide 2010 – the 9th Edition of the Netsize almanac– is widely regarded as the best edition ever (!).

One reason for the heightened interest could be the sharp focus on the future of mobile and mobility. The Netsize Guide, aptly titled Mobile Renaissance, pushes the boundaries and examines the

Just two days till the industry gathers at the fist Mobile World Congress (MWC) of the new decade. To get us in the mindset to think about the companies, developments and trends that matter most, MSG presents part 2 of the three-part series dissecting the mobile developments impacting the mobile industry and our society at all levels, as documented in the Netsize Guide.

Today we look at mobile engagement (which we defined to include mobile advertising, mobile marketing, mobile commerce and all the ways companies/brands connect with people on the move. What advertising approaches will people accept? What role do mobile operators play? What are the campaigns that set the bar? What is the future of NFC? And where does mobile fit in an effective CRM strategy?

As promised in my earlier post, I’m back with a sneak peek at the controversial findings of the Mobile Trends Survey 2010, conducted by Netsize, a Gemalto company and leading mobile communications and commerce enabler. Drawing from an online survey of over 1,000+ mobile professionals and practitioners, the survey found that the vast majority (87 percent) of respondents believe the Apple App Store will be the most successful app store in the mobile space.

Google’s Android Market is a distant second (60 percent), followed by Nokia’s Ovi Store (30 percent) and RIM’s BlackBerry App World (27 percent). Respondents could choose more than one answer – which is why the total exceeds 100 percent.

It’s that time of the year again! This year marks the third consecutive year that I have been commissioned by Netsize, a global mobile commerce and communications enabler, to write the Netsize Guide. This comprehensive mobile industry almanac recounts the year’s milestones in mobile and looks ahead to the future of mobile. A special focus this year is the impact of mobile on verticals such as healthcare and retails and the outlook (supplemented by interviews with GeoVector CEO John Ellenby and Layar Co-Founder Maarten Lens-FitzGerald).

I’m thrilled with the variety and caliber of this year’s interviews.

Read more »

Are you a company in a vertical industry (banking healthcare, retail etc…) that has implemented mobile in a new way to improve processes and achieve positive results? Or are you a vendor company with a compelling customer case study to share? If your answer to either is “yes,” then reach out to me directly. For the third consecutive year I have been commissioned to research and write the Netsize Guide, a comprehensive mobile industry almanac published by Netsize, a mobile commerce and communications enabler. Following on from the phenomenally popular future-focused chapter that wrapped up last year’s Netsize guide (a chapter I was proud to co-create with Stan Chesnais, Netsize CEO), this year’s publication will continue to explore the personal experiences and business opportunities emerging as our virtual and physical worlds converge supported by 25+ interviews with C-Level executives and influencers.

In brief: A summary of October thought leadership events and a preview of the cool companies (AmbiSense & GeoVector, to name a few) you can look for soon on MSearchGroove.

While MSG prepares to unveil a string of new projects and media solutions for our growing roster of clients, I am wrapping up my own presentations for two exciting industry events. First on the agenda: a half-day session on Tuesday (September 29th) with Deutsche Telekom executives to discuss the challenges and opportunities of converged services and the implications this has for the consumer portal experience.

My contribution to this exclusive thought leadership event, organized by Amdocs Interactive, will look at the trend to hyper-connectedness and our increasing requirements for personalized and relevant content experiences.

I will be joined by esteemed friend and colleague Andreas Constantinou, Research Director of VisionMobile, a market analysis and strategic advisory firm. Andreas’ thoughts on the new mobile services and applications value chain – and the impact of the likes of Google, Nokia and Apple – is beyond thought-provoking.

I look forward to capturing his ideas in the opening chapter of the Netsize Guide 2010, the must-read mobile industry almanac I write (for the third consecutive year!) on behalf of Netsize, a mobile commerce and communications enabler. More details on the Guide in future posts. In the meantime, I encourage companies across the ecosystems to contact me directly with case studies and great ideas.

After that it’s off to Edinburgh to speak at the 2009 118tracker Information Innovation Conference & Awards aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. Where is the value in location? My presentation — the outcome of a new collaboration with Matthew Snyder, Founder & CEO of ADObjects, a strategic cross-media consultancy – offers some surprising answers.

We also draw from some exciting new services (such as AmbiSense’s innovative destination guide solutions for mobile phones, GeoVector’s new directional search and pointing app and Colibria’s Network Address Book, an offer that builds on our increasing interest in context-aware social address books – a requirement that sits at the core of Vodafone’s path-breaking 360 offer.