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Carnival of the Mobilists # 270

Greetings, friends. Due to the English inability to have bank holidays on days other than a Monday, this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists is a day late but it is here nonetheless, and with verve! I have spent reading through a plethora of good stuff from the trenches of mobile:

Our friends from All About Symbian (yes, that name is still around!) have a bit of a prolific blogging streak and brings us two contributions this week looking at aspects of device and OS design respectively. Since both are intriguing, they get a double mention.

First, the function of home screens (note the plural) is queried and the question is as simple as it is compelling: if you have seven (or nine or eleven) “home” screens, do you then actually still have a home screen? Do you also have nine homes? Steve posits that simplicity should arguably win it, which of course is the opposite of what the iPhone’s all-app grid or Andoid’s army of home screens do today. Interesting!

Secondly, Steve looks at the burgeoning size of smartphones. He points out that the Nokia N95 screen size of a whopping 2.6” was huge by the standards then. It is dwarfed by the Samsung Galaxy S III’s 4.8” screen though. And the question is raised when is big too big. The answer is suggested to be at the end of people’s arms: Steve points out that hands are not growing as quickly as the screensizes (if indeed at all) and that therefore there should indeed be a perfect size for a phone – which 4.7” or bigger is, alas, not.

Moving on to even bigger things, and it doesn’t get any bigger than the Chinese market. Andy from Mobithinking has looked at recently released figures from some of the bigger analysists in the space and compacted this in a post that gives us numbers that make the mind of even the hardened mobilista boggle. China has now more smartphones than the US (22% vs 16% of the overall market). China has 3x more mobile subscribers than the US (1bn vs 330m). The country’s largest operator, China Mobile, alone has more than 2x as many mobile subscribers than the population of the US (which is itself the 3rd-largest mobile market in the world – India is a long way ahead of it on #2 though). China has more than 430m mobile Internet users, which is more than the population of either Europe or North America. For more, make sure to read thoroughly!

MobileGroove has a post from guest author Jeff Hasen on something that piqued my interest significantly when I heard about it, namely the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) attempt to regulate the disemination of content via social media (and mobile). Jeff’s background as a reporter and marketer of previous Olympic Games adds further insight. The long and short is that the IOC has set up a “hub” that will post content for more than 1,000 current and former athletes directly from their Facebook and Twitter accounts (which I would suggest is the antithesis of social media). Restrictions as to what you can share apply, however, also to ticket holders (so don’t you dare tweeting that photo of Usain Bolt using a Mac; Acer is a sponsor!). The predictable result? Uproar, mayhem and another big old body having to bow to the anarchic power of social (and mobile) media!

Lastly, something more (seemingly) mundane but (evidently) more practical: MobyAffiliates has a post on AppStore optimization, namely a guide what you need to do in order to make sure that your app doesn’t sink in between those other apps upon launch. This takes everything from app title, keywords, description, icons, imagery, etc, etc. An eminently useful post if I may say so!

As is good tradition on this blog, I will not choose a winner – I think all of them are good and important reads! So go ahead, get a coffee (or glass of wine) and do yourself some good! 🙂

Next week, the Carnival will be hosted by MobiThinking. If you want to submit something worthy, please e-mail us at mobilists [at] gmail [dot] com by the end of the week. And if you need more information on the Carnival (or to catch up on a wealth of information from all the previous Carnivals), make sure to visit the Carnival’s own site.

UPDATE: we have had a late bloomer to this week’s edition but I wouldn’t want to omit this, so here we go: The Mobile Payments Today blog brings a report on the jungle that mobile payments still are (using the example of Google Wallet) and highlighting the apparent complexities in connecting the various ecosystems (different POS systems, card providers, loyalty programs etc).

Carnival of the Mobilists # 260

As per usual, another week, another carnival (if things were only like this in real life, too…). This week’s edition of the Carnival of the Mobilists is being hosted by the formidable Antoine RJ Wright, and it is full of goodies. He is featuring:

  • Not one but two posts on BlackBerry (and I have no involvement in either; cf. my About Me page for disclaimers), one looking at its (apparently) impending death and offering advice on how to fix it and one looking at its (apparently) robust health despite recent dips.
  • A very interesting post on how handset UX affects testing.
  • A book review on HTML5 and the mobile web.
  • A report on mobile in the MENA (Middle-East and North Africa) region.
  • My own little piece on the mobile component of Facebook’s IPO (hint: there is none).
  • An interview with one of GigaOm’s mavens.
  • Plus about 10 or so more incredibly worthwhile reads including by singularity rockstar Ray Kurzweil, mobile influencer #1 Tomi Ahonen (not my but Forbes’ words) and, and, and…

Go, get a coffee (or green tea, or whatever you feel inclined towards) and allow yourself half an hour of good reading on all things mobile over here. And, if you would like to participate in the carnival yourself, you can: to submit a post, just e-mail mobilists@gmail.com. If you want to host, check out the Mobilists website for processes etc.

Carnival of the Mobilists # 257 (#COTM)

This week’s Carnival of the Mobilists comes to you from Kansas, more specifically from Steven Hoober, and here’s what he has in stock for you:

  • Will larger screens lead to poorer mobile web sites?
  • Do apps beat browsing?
  • What will be the best mobile advertising networks 2012?
  • Do QR codes work? Someone had a look at TfL’s (better known as the operator of the London Tube) numbers.
  • What can advertisers expect from the Kindle Fire?
  • Would you close your business for two days per week? A look at retailers and the benefits of mobile-optimized websites.
  • Will Windows Phone 7 be cutting it?
  • Android and Apple have not won the smartphone war.
  • Have you ever heard of a “wearable computing equation”? Check it out!
  • What is the spectrum/bandwith crunch in Boise, Idaho?
  • My little piece on the revolutionary (well, perhaps, “only” disruptive) French operator Free.
  • Image processing in Generation M

The carnival is live here. Go read! 🙂

Carnival of the Mobilists # 256

A new year, a new carnival (which will returned to weekly editions now, too). This week’s edition is hosted by Mark Bridges over at thefonecast.com, and he includes posts, such as:

  • Lots of reminiscing on the past year (on mobile marketing, the greater scope of the mobile landscape and – albeit in Spanish – a reminder of a joke from all the way back in 2004 when someone suggested in April Fools’ fashion that Apple – hold your breath – might launch a phone bypassing traditional network operators).
  • Of course some predictions (general ones as well as a look on where mobile development specifically might go) and Tomi Ahonen’s latest on why all roads lead to Mobile (as in tech, not as in Alabama).
  • A couple of posts on what might or might not happen to WebOS following HP’s open-sourcing announcement (comparisons to Symbian’s fate included).
  • More on dying platforms with a piece on mobile flash.
  • Ad performance benchmarking (Admob vs mobfox).
  • A call to prepare for the (presumed) ascent of the Kindle Fire.
  • And, finally, a nod to my two posts on Angry Birds and my take on the dubious assertion that “social lost its sizzle“.

The carnival is here! Go, read it! 🙂 And if you’re a blogger wanting to participate, head over to the Carnival’s revamped homepage where you will find everything you need to know about submitting entries and even hosting one on your own blog if you are so inclined.

Carnival of the Mobilists # 255 (#COTM)

In the frantic run-up to Christmas, I missed this (which is nearly unforgivable of course): the last Carnival of the Mobilists of the year, this time hosted by Peggy herself on Mobile Groove (something for you to read regularly anyway!).

This version (which you will find here) brings the wrap-up of the best and brightest in mobile-related blogging from the past month and it is well, well worth a read. You’ll get:

  • Chetan Sharma’s recount of his latest Mobile Breakfast event. Trends and predictions galore.
  • Martin Wilson’s guest blogger Tina de Souza on retail and mobile (one of the more exciting dichotomies to solve).
  • Tomi Ahonen has one of his usual brief (not) posts on Nokia.
  • WIP Connect’s Carlo Longino interviews Touchtype.
  • James Cameron of Camerjam fame interviews Daniel Appelquist from BlueVia (and many things before that…).
  • Antoine Wright casts a critical eye on UX for mobile services.
  • and, and, and…

Go read it! You know you need it after those few days offline. Perfect snacking.

And, if I don’t speak to you before: have a great 2012 and remember to live life to the fullest – if or if not it turns out to be the end of the world! 🙂

Carnival of the Mobilists # 249

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Remember one of the most wonderful resources for mobile bloggers? yes, it is the Carnival of the Mobilists and this month’s version is live now! It is a best of digest of May’s mobile-related blogs. This month, there are some real goodies! You will find:

  • GoSub60’s Sean Thompson musing the question of whether to “go free”;
  • James Coops from MobyAffiliates looking at the commercial opportunities of – you may have guessed – mobile affiliate marketing;
  • Mobile marketing veteran Russell Buckley looks at mobile couponing as the next billion dollar market (mobile Groupon anyone?);
  • Industry thinker and Futuretext founder Ajit Jaokar looking at whether the “two-sided market” model may not actually apply to carriers (and I tend to agree; here’s another blog post… ;-));
  • Our very own Peggy Anne Salz of MobileGroove (f/k/a MSearchGroove) focuses on marketing to digital natives;
  • The Fonecast’s James Rosewell makes a case for Microsoft to buy Nokia (the rumour of which has just been refuted by Mr Elop himself though);
  • Dennis Bournique of the WAP Review looks at where MeeGo is at these days;
  • Richard Monson-Haefel looks at “omni-mobility”; and
  • finally, my own bit on the evolving role of publishers also found a mention.

Go now and read it over here on Francisco Kattan’s blog and have a great time! 🙂

Oh, and if you want to be part of this, make sure to look up the Carnival online and follow them on Twitter (@COTMobilists).

Carnival of the Mobilists # 244

The Carnival of the Mobilists decided to go monthly. From now on, you will get your burst of the best of mobile blogging on a monthly basis, hopefully culminating in even juicier, fresher, more wholesome and all round fantastic contributions. I am honoured to make the start, so here goes:

  • MSearchGroove, one of the most influential blogs looks at the (true) power of personalization across digital platforms, which is the social twist on things (and couldn’t I agree more…!).
  • MobiThinking looks at what they call vanity apps, and how true this is: they point out that many companies still commission apps only because the CEO has an iPhone… Look at your target demographic before spending money, folks…
  • Deeper into the smart device space, Tam Hanna looks at the Galaxy Tablet and why it might be a trailblazer for devices to come;
  • Stat geek and Consultant Extraordinaire Chetan Sharma treats us with a write-up of his last 2010 iteration of his Breakfast series, sharing a wealth of outlooks to 2011;
  • Bending the rule of no double submissions, here’s MobiThinking’s report on three different opinions on, what the heck, exemplifies Mobile 2.0 (did we not all wonder? ;-));
  • The WAP Review offers their take on the (arguably) best eBook reader apps for the N8;
  • Finally, here’s a real goodie for you. They didn’t formally submit but I doubt they’ll oppose their inclusion: The formidable Tomi Ahonen wrote a post on Symbian goodness, which triggered a reply by the – no less formidable, if in different ways – Robert Scoble (to which Tomi of course duly replied). I have offered my own humble take on it here.

I hope you enjoy the reads.

If you would like to contribute to future iterations of the Carnival, please let us know by sending us a link to the Carnival e-mail centre of goodness. The Carnival (of course) also tweets. You can follow it under @COTMobilists.

Finally, let me point out two must-attend events for the new year:

On the Sunday before Mobile World Congress, Rudy de Waele runs his traditional Mobile Sunday Barcelona, which is – in his own words – an unofficial, informal and generally cool and funky gathering of mobile bloggers and their chums, and is thoroughly enjoyable!

And then, during MWC, there will be the annual Mobile Premier Awards, which again is something I would urge you to turn your attention to: it awards the best stuff on mobile from around the globe. Submissions are being sourced from a number of networks (Mobile Monday, the MMA, etc) and it is a fantastic showcase of the best of the best in mobile innovation today! Follow them on Twitter, too. The handle is @mobilepremier.

And, now, enjoy the festivities of the coming period (if you’re so inclined) and behave… 🙂

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