Bluetooth Marketing News

Boy, are times changing in professional sports.

As MMW reported earlier today, not only are the Denver Broncos tossing their traditional 500-page printed paper playbooks in favor of using the iPad, other professional sports teams are embracing technology and social media to an unprecedented speed that almost boggles the mind.

Now we can add to the mix the Cleveland Indians – or, as they are also known, one of baseball’s “most Twitter-friendly teams.”

But as ESPN reported Monday, the Indians aren’t just big into social media in their own sport, they are, by all means, a giant in social media across all of professional sports today.

This much is clear by the organization’s latest development – a social media suit at Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland. From ESPN:

Billed as “the first social media-only space in professional sports,” the Indians Social Suite provides fans the opportunity to chat about the Tribe offline with other attendees, and online with friends and followers directly from a Wi-Fi-enabled suite at Progressive Field.

“We’re cognizant of the importance of

We’ve all seen the hefty, 500-page paper playbooks that players, coaches, and other staff lug around the sidelines and away from the field as they prepare for the next big game and the season ahead.

Well, according to a report today in the Denver Post, a good number of trees will be spared this season thanks to the efforts by the Denver Broncos to go high-tech in a big hurry.

This season, the team will hand out iPads that feature the week’s game plan, scouting reports, video clips and other relevant data.

To date, only two other NFL teams – the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — have tossed the traditional printed playbook in order to embrace the tablet revolution.

And the move could benefit the team substantially.

According to today’s report, now when Broncos head coach John Fox adds a play, “the update will be pushed automatically to the playbook app on each player’s iPad.”

“The advantage is that when they leave the building, they can take everything home with them very easily and watch tape at night and review the game plan installation,” said Broncos general manager Brian Xanders. “This is their full-time job — to prepare and do whatever they can to help us win each week.”

According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, mobile ad spending is estimated to grow substantially throughout the remainder of 2012, just as it has during the first four months of the year.

The new forecast suggests that mobile ad spending worldwide will grow 85% in 2012 from $6.3 billion to $11.6 billion.

But in the U.S. alone, ad spend for mobile advertising will balloon much, much faster – likely to the tune of 128%, or $4.2 billion.

These latest numbers largely coincide with last week’s report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which indicate that for full-year 2011, revenues soared to a landmark high of $31 billion.

“That milestone represents a 22 percent increase over 2010’s full-year number, which itself had been a record-breaker at $26 billion,” IAB finds.

“This historic moment, with an especially impressive achievement in mobile, is indicative of an increased awareness from advertisers that they need to reach consumers where they are spending their time—in digital media,” says Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “Pushing past the $30 billion barrier, the interactive advertising industry confirms its central place in media. Across search, display, digital video, digital provides a wealth of opportunity for brands and consumers. With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, it is likely that the tremendous growth in mobile will continue as these screens become

NQ Mobile Inc. has scored a major talent in the digital world.

The well-known provider of mobile Internet services confirmed Monday that it has hired Gavin Kim to the newly created position of Chief Product Officer.

According to details made available in an official press release, Gavin will lead NQ Mobile’s product, solutions and strategic partnerships.

Kim is a big get for the company given his most recent stint at Microsoft where he served as the General Manager for Windows Phone Product Marketing.

As General Manager, Gavin led Microsoft’s product marketing and platform planning teams as well as Windows Phone application and developer ecosystem efforts.

“As a true innovator in the mobile technology industry, Gavin’s proven track record of providing high level leadership to the biggest names in mobile technology makes him the perfect addition to our growing family of talented professionals,” said Omar Khan, Co-Chief Executive Officer at NQ Mobile.

And it sounds like Kim is excited for the opportunity as well.

“I am delighted to join the team as Chief Product Officer,” Kim said in his first public comments about the transition to NQ. “User privacy and mobile security are significant concerns for both businesses and consumers alike. NQ Mobile has the leadership and global distribution to be able to address these issues head on – protecting us and our loved

It’s a huge partnership between two of the biggest brands in the world.

On Monday, Microsoft and Facebook announced a definitive patent sharing agreement that some analysts believe could represent a major development for Facebook and its arsenal of services.

Microsoft will assign to Facebook the right to purchase a portion of the patent portfolio it recently agreed to acquire from AOL Inc. Facebook has agreed to purchase this portion for $550 million in cash.

In the initial AOL auction, Microsoft secured the ability to own or assign approximately 925 U.S. patents and patent applications plus a license to AOL’s remaining patent portfolio, which contains approximately 300 additional patents that were not for sale.

Through the freshly confirmed deal, Facebook will obtain ownership of approximately 650 AOL patents and patent applications, plus a license to the AOL patents and applications that Microsoft will purchase and own.

“Today’s agreement with Facebook enables us to recoup over half of our costs while achieving our goals from the AOL auction,” says Brad Smith, executive vice president and general counsel, Microsoft. “As we said earlier this month, we had submitted the winning AOL bid in order to obtain a durable license to the full AOL portfolio and ownership of certain patents that complement our existing portfolio.”

“Today’s agreement with Microsoft represents an

Do consumers really know how much mobile data they consumer? What’s more, do they really know how big of a data plan they need?

These are important questions that the folks at billmonitor.com are trying to answer.

The UK-based mobile price comparison site finds that most smartphone users are on a “data tariff far too large for their needs.”

The report found that consumers’ fear of ‘bill shock’ – the excessive charges incurred when people go over their data limits – is leading them to waste hundreds of megabytes each month with excessive allowances.

The findings are based on an analysis of 215,507 mobile phone bills from UK customers who used the free bill analysis service at billmonitor.com.

The report shows that while half (49%) of all smartphone owners are using less than 100MB per month, 88% of smartphone users opt for a much larger monthly data allowance of at least 500MB.

“The notion of bill shock has led to a fear of data charges,” the report reads, “as consumers opt for greater allowances than they need, rather than face unexpectedly high bills. However, with just 8% of smartphone users recently experiencing data charges, this fear is usually unfounded.”

To check out the complete billmonitor.com report on smartphone data usage,

On Monday, Deutsche Telekom announced a new strategic partnership with Lookout Inc.

If you’re unfamiliar, Lookout is a leading mobile security company that has quickly become one o the better known and more trusted of its industry.

The partnership aims to deliver the Lookout Mobile Security app to Deutsche Telekom’s many European customers.

“The partnership focuses on distribution and joint innovation,” both organizations said in a joint press release.

Worldwide, mobile devices have become an attractive target for malware, fraud, hackers and identity theft. In 2011, Lookout identified more than 1,000 instances of mobile malware, a significant increase since 2010.

“The mobile environment is increasingly led by downloadable mobile applications, often with people customizing their devices with mobile applications from different sources,” says Heikki Makijarvi, Senior Vice President Business Development at Deutsche Telekom. “This drives the importance of security and health on mobile. Lookout’s experience in developing leading-edge security applications for this new dynamic environment makes them the ideal partner for Telekom in this critical new category of device solution.”

“As mobile devices become the primary computing device for consumers, Deutsche Telekom is passionate in providing customers with the best security and privacy,” adds John Hering, CEO and

The iPad is, indeed, a unique creature across the mobile landscape, as it seems to heighten user interest in all things pertinent to the growth and monetization of the mobile marketing and advertising industries.

The latest evidence to that end comes from a freshly published report by Chitika.

“Mobile devices have emerged as one of the major means for consumers to access, share, and manipulate information on the web – and it shows no signs of slowing down,” Chitika says.

As of March 2012, mobile traffic has already seen a 35% increase in under a year, as stated in this previous Chitika Insights study. The Pew Center for Research reports that smartphones now make up a majority (53%) of mobile devices in the U.S., presenting a huge opportunity for advertisers.

“In terms of the iOS suite,” Chitika finds, “iPad (0.80%) users come out as the clear ‘winners’ in terms of CTR, while iPhone (0.67%) and iPod (0.62%) users claim second and third place, respectively.”

“With the number of mobile connections estimated to reach 10 billion by 2016, this is an opportunity they cannot afford to miss,” the report suggests. “Most advertisers are taking this in stride; however, mobile advertising as a market is still dwarfed by online advertising, which is projected to reach over $60 billion by 2015.”

To learn more about

Microsoft may be one of the biggest names in the history of technology, but the company’s efforts in the smartphone space have largely been overshadowed by the runaway growth of Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS platforms.

Still, the Windows Phone has made strides against aggressive competition. And Microsoft is continuing to forge ahead in hopes of leveling the playing field further.

To that end, Verizon Wireless is giving substantial backing to Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. The reason? Customers want diversity in their mobile phone selections.

Verizon’s CFO Fran Shammo tells Reuters today that the company “wants a third strong software competitor in the mobile market where operators pay hefty subsidies for smartphones like the iPhone.”

“We’re really looking at the Windows Phone 8.0 platform because that’s a differentiator. We’re working with Microsoft on it,” Shammo said this week.

Shammo says Verizon may aim to help get Microsoft off the ground in the smartphone space, just as it did with Google’s Android some years ago.

It’s almost hard to believe that video gaming is now a $62 billion dollar industry. And mobile plays a huge role in this lucrative business today.

It’s a trend that isn’t poised to change any time soon. In fact, many believe that mobile gaming may one day kill the tradition console based gaming experience as we presently know it.

The first battle in this aspect that mobile could win may be in the graphics department.

“For now,” writes Don Reisinger of CNET, “mobile devices still can’t match game consoles in graphics quality. Nvidia thinks that could change, and soon.”

Nvidia believes that by 2014, mobile system-on-a-chip (SoC) GPUs will offer better graphics performance than does the Xbox 360. In 2013, the mobile chips could match Microsoft’s console.

“Looking ahead,” Reisinger said Friday, “even if mobile chips can match the Xbox 360 in graphical prowess, there’s no telling how they might hold up against next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft… Still, while it might be an uphill battle for mobile processors to keep up, the gap appears to be closing quite rapidly.”

To read the full report from CNET, click

According to the latest published insights and projections from ABI Research, 4G subscriber adoption is poised to “take off” in 2012 as a range of 4G-enabled mobile devices will consume the masses.

From USB dongles, smartphones, tablets, 4G portable hotspots, and wireless broadband CPE modems, retail stores will soon be teeming with more 4G devices than ever.

“4G devices are expected to generate 87 million in unit sales in 2012, up 294% year-on-year,” says Jake Saunders, ABI’s vice president of forecasting.

“The lion’s share of the market is now backing LTE as service provider and vendor support has fallen away from WiMAX,” he says.

Observing the success of 3G cellular services, it is clear there is a natural evolutionary demand from end-users, both business and consumer, to jump onto the 4G data bandwagon. However, there are still some teething issues that will need to be worked through.

“As evidenced by the Australian iPad 3 promotion fiasco, when iPad 3s were being promoted as being ‘LTE-ready,’ even though the modem is unable to access the Australian LTE spectrum band, the number of LTE spectrum bands will hamper initial pricing and product roll-out,” adds Philip Solis, ABI’s research director for mobile devices. “Nevertheless, in addition to 61 million 4G handsets being shipped in 2012, we estimate 26 million 4G non-handset products will be shipped.

It’s only fitting that Velti and Ford – two titans in their respective industries – have found huge success together in the mobile world.

On Friday, the mobile marketing and advertising juggernaut and Ford Motor Company announced that their joint December 2011 campaign was named the 2012 Mobile Merit Award winner for the Best Brand or Agency in Mobile Marketing.

The Mobile Merit Awards recognize companies, individuals and technologies that have shaped the way in which the world communicates. They note the excellence achieved in the global mobile industry.

“This award is a testament to all the hard work and creativity of our joint teams—we’re thrilled to be given this honor,” says Velti CMO Krishna Subramanian. “Our goal every day is to work with the best brands, to build the best products that drive consumer adoption and loyalty, and we truly accomplished that with this campaign. We were excited to begin the relationship with Ford last year, and we look forward to the great work to come.”

“We partnered with Velti to take our mobile vehicle shopping experience to the next level,” offers Ford Motor Company Digital Marketing Manager Trisha Habucke. “Since launching our new mobile web optimized site, we have seen a nice increase in all key shopping indicators which reinforces our ‘right content on the right device at the right time philosophy.’”

Cricket Communications, Inc. – a growing wireless services provider – today confirmed the upcoming introduction of Muve Music and all-inclusive, nationwide Cricket monthly voice products into your friendly neighborhood Target store.

All told, the roll-out will cover approximately 1,600 Target stores across the United States.

Cricket said Friday that products will become available this Sunday, April 22, and will “further enable Cricket to bring its industry-leading value proposition to an expanded nationwide audience.”

The introduction into Target is another step in Cricket’s major retail expansion, begun in 2011, that will result in Cricket products and services being available to more consumers across the country.

With the Muve Music Smartphone rate plan, Target shoppers are told they can enjoy unlimited song downloads, ringtones, and ringback tones, as well as nationwide calling; unlimited text, picture, video messaging and 3G mobile data; mobile video; data back-up, and 411 assistance all for $55 per month.

Do you think the new partnership with Target will provide a big boost to Cricket?

Read more... [Cricket Hops On Over to Target]

On Friday, Strategy Analytics published a new report worth pondering over the weekend.

2011 was the first year that global consumer spending on media content, apps and services for mobile phones broke through the milestone level of $100 billion. And if you think that’s impressive, just wait for the 2012 tally.

Strategy Analytics predicts in the new Global Mobile Media Forecast that consumers will increase this spend on mobile media by a further 13.4 percent from $121.8 billion in 2011 to $138.2 billion in 2012.

In contrast, advertiser spend on mobile media is expected to almost double (85.4 percent) from $6.3 billion to $11.6 billion, resulting in the total mobile media economy reaching $149.8 billion in revenue in 2012 – a 17.0 percent increase on 2011.

“Advertisers chase eyeballs so the fact that brands spend more on in-app advertising than the mobile web is a clear sign that apps are what consumers are glued to for an increasing range of activities,” says David MacQueen, Strategy Analytics’ Director of Wireless Media Strategies. “In the eyes of many advertisers, web browsing on the smartphone is playing second fiddle to the app economy.”

Millennial Media’s freshly published April SMART Report has taken an interesting turn.

This month, the new report delves into the mobile activity around NCAA March Madness.

To provide the most insight and in-depth analysis, Millennial Media partnered with the IAB and discovered some fascinating details.

69% of consumers, for example, who watched games on TV were using their mobile phone at the same time.

Other findings include:

• Among passionate fans of the NCAA Tournament – 88 percent used their mobile devices for March Madness-related activity and 40 percent purchased an app related to the tournament.
• On the first day of the NCAA Tournament, impressions on sports apps increased 31 percent week-over-week and social media apps increased 42 percent. From 5-7pm ET on the first day, impressions on sports apps increased 158 percent.
• 16 percent of consumers used their smartphone as their primary device for following the NCAA tournament as compared to the 17 percent that claimed the PC as their primary device.

To check out the fascinating April Millennial Media SMART Report, click here.

Read more... [INFOGRAPHIC Millennial Media’s April SMART Report Probes Mobile’s Role in March Madness]

As Mobile Marketing Watch reported Thursday morning, the state of New York today filed a lawsuit against Sprint Nextel Corp. on the basis of claims that the company has committed “tax fraud” by not adequately collecting or paying millions of taxes for its cell phone service.

Minutes ago, MMW received a comment from John Taylor, a spokesman for Sprint regarding the New York State lawsuit.

“This complaint is without merit and Sprint categorically denies the complaint’s allegations,” Taylor says. “We have collected and paid over to New York every penny of sales taxes on mobile wireless services that we believe our customers owe under New York state law.”

“With this lawsuit,” he continues, “the Attorney General’s office is claiming New York consumers, who already pay some of the highest wireless taxes in the country, should pay even more. We intend to stand up for New York consumers’ rights and fight this suit.”

Mobile Marketing Watch will keep you informed of more details in this matter as they develop.