JMango Blog
Back to the FutureJuly 01, 2010
It’s said if you can remember the ‘60s then you never lived through them. One day they’ll say the same thing about the pre-iPhone years. Without a doubt the iPhone, and new handsets that followed it, have forever changed the way we use a mobile phone. In a few short years we have come to expect not just the latest generation of the iPhone but all new handsets to be feature rich enabling us to live life on the run.
The mobile is becoming an extension of our person, and data usage is on the increase among Australian mobile phone users. The 2009 Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index revealed that 77 percent ofusers surveyed use their mobile for more making calls and texting. More than 70 per cent access mobile entertainment and information services and 21 per cent visit websites on the phone at least once a day.
More tellingly, the survey released last September, revealed 31 per cent of mobile users included data in their payment plans, with 18 percent claiming they purchased additional data.
We depend on our phones to do everything from checking emails to online purchases and updating social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. The mobile has become the noughties version of man’s best friend. It is the last thing we check we have on us before leaving the house, and the first thing we make sure we have on arriving home.
Yet, pre-iPhone the technology was much simpler and the mobile phone less central to our lifestyle.Most just used our mobiles to make a call, text a friend and for the really tech savvy occasionally check email. Accessing the internet on handset before the iPhone or even the BlackBerry, was less than a pleasurable experience.
Just how true this is, and how far mobile technology has come, was highlighted recently when I lost my iPhone. Rather than purchase a new handset I decided to use a Nokia E51 that was lying unused in the office.
The E51 is the classic style Nokia with a keypad and small colour screen. Though still a “current” model, using it made me realise just how dependent I had become on the latest technology and user friendly access to niche content.
I went from using a phone that allowed me to do my banking, check the weather and wind conditions for local surf, record TV programs and book a cab – all at the touch of the finger – to a cumbersome handset with minimal customisation and functionality.
True making a call and sending a text wasn’t a problem, but attempting to use the phone in the way I have become accustomed to often required me to access the internet, which was frustrating to say the least. Navigating the web on such a small screen ended with a severe case of RSI, and not an experience that I wished to repeat on a regular basis.
Yet using a mobile the ‘old way’ has made me think about the industry, where it’s heading and the pace at which technology changes. There is no question that the iPhone has revolutionised the industry and opened up the world to the ‘mainstream’ possibilities of the handset. However, not everyone has access to smartphones like the iPhone or its competitors. Industry analyst Gartner in its most recent report revealed that smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2010 grew by 49 per cent compared with the same period last year. While growth is booming smartphones still only accounted for 17.3 per cent of all mobiles sold in the first quarter – or 54.3 million out of 314.6 million.
This means a massive number of mobile users still use older phones like the Nokia E51, and as I’ve discovered these handsets aren’t the most user friendly if you want to do more than make a call. It is up to all sectors of the industry – handset manufacturers, networks and developers – to make applications, for example, more readily available bearing in mind the user experience. After all, content is just as relevant to the users of the older phones as an iPhone.
As for me, Im still a sucker for technology, so after a couple of months with the E51 and I’m heading back to the future, waiting for the Australian release of the new iPhone 4.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on non-smartphones? What have your experiences been outside of making a call and sending a text? Is data usage a big concern? What can vendors do to make the experience more user friendly.
Read more | View CommentsTo App or Not to App? This is NOT the Question.
May 26, 2010
The world of mobile apps is exploding and we here at JMango have certainly been busy making apps and taking part in the boom.
The mobile is now an effective tool for brands and corporations to create a meaningful relationship via the handset, with their customer base.
And while it is true that some organisations have realised benefits from having mobile apps as part of their communications toolset, it’s not about being cool and keeping up with your competitors.
Just because your competitor has an iPhone app, say, doesn’t mean your business should follow suit and throw resources into building one as well.
Using the mobile channel to interact effectively with customers is not just declaring I want an iPhone app or an Android one.
Thinking about the technology or the platform before the content or customer engagement is the modern day equivalent of putting the cart before the horse.
Mobile is a great medium and can deliver fantastic business results if organisations and marketers in particular treat it no different to any other channel used for brand promotion and sales. To do otherwise is to waste time and money.
To get the best results marketers or the decision maker should define what the business objectives for mobile are, and how the channel can be used to enhance the brand.
Forget the technology, the first questions marketers should ask themselves are:
- Who is my audience?
- What do I want to say/do/feature?
- How will the audience engage?
- How does mobile help me to do this?
Determining the business objectives first enables an organisation to select a strategy which will deliver the best outcomes, and this could be a mobile app, mobile website, SMS promotion, proximity campaign and/or everything in between.
If you want to implement a loyalty program and have customers interact with the brand every second of the day then putting resources into building a mobile app is the way to go. A mobile phone is one thing that consumers never leave home without.
On the other hand, if the object is to provide general information about the brand a mobile web site is perhaps a better option.
Mobile is a very simple medium that is wrapped up in a lot of confusing and intricate technologies. It’s best for marketers to focus on the content and brand engagement.
Once a business has determined its objectives and how the channel can best work for the organisation, it’s up to digital agencies or companies like ours to make recommendations about the technology and delivery platform.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on what should come first the technology or the content? Is it better to be cool or develop objectives that will deliver fantastic results to the business? Is it sometimes ‘Hip to be Square’?
Read more | View Comments730 days later
May 11, 2010
JMango ‘officially’ turned two on Thursday 22 April 2010.
I say ‘officially’ as this is the 730 days since incorporation as opposed to the time Duc spent at Deloitte developing the initial concept, which was approximately 18 months earlier.
One of the most quoted urban myths about starting a business is that “90% of them fail in the first year”. Now I’m not sure where this originated from or what the actual figure really is, but the fact remains that starting a business is never easy (which has been made even more difficult with the effects of the global financial crisis in the past two years).
Therefore, given that JMango opened its doors just prior to the world markets beginning their downward spiral, to be flourishing in its second year is a major achievement of which we are all proud.
Since April 2008, JMango has spread its message to all corners of the globe, including North and South America, Europe and Asia. It now has offices in Australia, Holland and The Philippines and has grown from 3 employees to over 15 with this set to triple in the next six months.
The platform itself is continuously involving, now offering developers unprecedented functionality and reduction in development times. In addition to the core JMango development platform, we have also developed several key turnkey products in the areas of mobile commerce, mobile bookings, tickets.
On the business front, JMango has partnered with some of the worlds biggest brands including DENSO and Associated Press, with many more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Outside of JMango (and perhaps most importantly), we have also started to see both the users and the business world open up to the possibility of mobile. Apple started the phenomena with its App Store, but slowly people are beginning to understand how powerful the medium can be.
It has been often described as the 4th screen, but it is much more than that. It is the most personable, interactive and available screen we have.
It will become the “remote control of our lives”. Given how far attitudes and technology has come in the last 2 years, I doubt it will take another 2 before this is realised.
Read more | View CommentsWelcome to the new JMango Blog
April 15, 2010
The world of mobile apps has exploded in the past few months, and the JMango team – in Australia, Europe and Asia – are busy making apps and taking part in the boom!
Mobile app stores are being launched by all sorts of companies, a plethora of new phones are being unveiled every week, consumers are now socially networking on their handsets, and corporations now realise they need to have mobile apps as part of their communications tool set.
Today we launch our new website, with a new look and feel, and we hope, a better explanation of what we can do for any company seeking to mobilise their brand and reach their customers, wherever they may be.
Our software development team is hard at work in Manila and we will reveal some significant mobile app content deals in the next few weeks. Our business development team is accelerating its efforts around the world, and the technical team, led by our visionary CTO Duc Ngo, is developing world-class mobile apps.
Our blogs will be spontaneous and also will aim to provide insightful commentary on the world of mobile content, web, apps, technical standards, trends, announcements, questions, and some crazy ideas too. We are a young company, and we are full of ideas. We hope you become regular readers and sign up to our social web as well – www.twitter.com/jmangotweets and yes we are on Facebook.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on the mobile app world. What do you think will be the biggest trends to emerge in 2010? We will be posting on all angles of the mobile app and web space on a regular basis and would love to hear your views.
