Textopoly Mobile Blog

HTML5 – Making the Mobile Web Sexy!

Naushad — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:54:47 +0000

Mobile media is hot – we get it.It’ll hit $1 billion in the U.S. by 2012 – dope. HTML5 and Rich Media are the talk of the mobile town – ok cool. But how many marketers and media folks actually understand what HTML5 is?!

I asked a good friend of mine, a veteran in the mobile space (@james_monaghan http://twitter.com/james_monaghan) to tell me in how to best describe HTML5. James, being the clever Englishman that he is replies that HTML5 is a “Significant milestone in the maturation of mobile web application delivery.” One of our own top developers (Keivan!) had a similar sentiment and was kind enough to share with me an awesome presentation he found – the presentation itself is in HTML5 (!) so please view it on Firefox, Safari or Chrome – our good friends at Microsoft are a bit behind. http://slides.html5rocks.com/

Also, to see some HTML5 hotness in action check out some Textopoly work in HTML5 that will blow your mind:

http://bit.ly/iDPOQj

http://leep.me/v2

Enjoy – and give us a ring to talk about Rich Media & HTML5 – we’re on it!

Mobile’s Bright Future: Mobile Advertising

tyler@textopoly.com — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:09:38 +0000

The winds of change are aggressively sweeping through the mobile ecosystem with no signs of slowing down. Mobile advertising dollars are set to break the $1 billion mark in the U.S. by the end of 2012. Even better, mobile growth is higher than expected with forecasts placing mobile advertising at $4.4 billion by the year 2015. The success and growth of mobile advertising can be attributed to messaging-based, search-based, video based, and rich media banner ads. Currently messaging based ads still account for the largest revenue income in the mobile world at $442.6 million. However, that may change as the mobile movement skyrockets. Future projections place banner/rich media ads, ahead of messaging ads in the coming years. Textopoly is deep into the mobile media game by creating and developing highly interactive rich media mobile ads for Paramount summer hits Thor and Transformers. Want a taste of what we did for Thor and Transformers?! Schedule a TOK Session today!

All data, stats, and charts credited eMarketer.com

Adults Embrace Mobile Applications

tyler@textopoly.com — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:29:14 +0000

Adults age 30-49, lead mobile app usage in growth. That’s right, we are in 2nd place. The High school/College demographic no longer leads mobile app usage growth. No gold medal for us young folks this year, we’re taking home the silver. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2009 and then again in late 2010 to track growth of mobile app usage among age demographics. The results show, among many other findings, that while younger demographics lead the charge in usage rates, older demographics such as 30-49 year olds continue to grow the fastest year to year thus making them the “new” generation to keep an eye on!

You may be wondering, what exactly do those old folk use mobile phones for? Thanks to the Pew Research Center’s dedicated research we have all the answers.

Go ahead and take a look at the chart below, enjoy!

“Turning Japanese I think I’m turning Japanese I really think so.”

corey@textopoly.com — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:25:05 +0000

In doing some research on mobile web usage it was interesting to discover that the people of Japan love being able to access the web while on the go. According to Forrester research, in June 2011 Japan had 121,246,700 mobile subscribers, which translates to 95% of the population. Those that accessed the mobile web on a monthly basis was measured at 47%, this is more than double the United States at 22%. These numbers are a bit surprising seeing as how smartphone users in Japan account for only 7% of mobile subscribers.

The most common uses for mobile internet in Japan are accessing email, weather information and using search functionality. As the adoption of Android and the Apple iOS continues to grow exponentially year over year it will be interesting to see what the Japanese mobile internet trends occur. Can anyone say Angry Birds in Japanese?

9/11 Remembered via Mobile App

Naushad — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:33:01 +0000

Today as I stumbled around mashable.com in hopes of learning more about the mobile world and Apps I came across this article. After watching the video I was blown away by the impact mobile apps not only have on our economy but also on our emotions. So if you have 5 mins to spare take a look at this. It is truly a mind blowing way to remember those who died in the 9/11 attacks as we approach the 10 year anniversary.

(Post by Tyler Woodward, our crackerjack Intern: tyler[at]textopoly[dot]com, thanks buddy!)

PRESS: Santa Ana College + Mobile

Naushad — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 06:56:46 +0000

Santa Ana College Launches New Mobile Website

(Santa Ana)—Santa Ana College (SAC) has launched a new mobile website that offers easy access from any smartphone. When a student or prospective student accesses www.sac.edu from his or her smartphone, the site automatically redirects the browser to the new mobile site.

“We are excited to embrace this new technology,” said Norm Fujimoto, vice president of academic affairs at Santa Ana College. “Our students and would be students are constantly accessing information through their mobile devices and we want to satisfy their needs for quick and simply navigated information about the college.”

The SAC mobile site was developed through a partnership with Santa Ana College, Textopoly, Inc., and its higher education innovation group—Republic of Digital. The mobile site evolved through the collaborative efforts of the Republic of Digital team, student intern Andrew O’Melia and the SAC Web Committee.

Since 2007, O’Melia has been enrolled part-time in the college’s digital media program. With 12 years experience as a graphic designer, he is working on his associate degree with plans to transfer to a four-year university.

During his three-month internship, O’Melia helped design the mobile site’s user interface elements and the graphics for the header bar. Textopoly and Republic of Digital’s, internship program helped incorporate a real-world project into an invaluable experience for O’Melia. He was front and center when the final designs were presented by the Republic of Digital team to the clients—members of the SAC Web Committee.

“Since working on the SAC mobile site, I’ve really fallen in love with the process of designing and developing interactive media,” said O’Melia. “It’s not something I could have learned in the classroom and I’m now working as creative director with two application development companies.”

The mobile site features quick access to many of the most popular links on www.sac.edu,

including a campus map Google API, phone directory, class schedules, Webadvisor, library information, safety and security guidelines, continuing education information, counseling scheduling, help and frequently asked questions, plus ‘click to call’ phone numbers and links to the college’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

“It’s vital to think about a mobile site as not a simple shrunken version of the desktop site, but instead to wrap strategy and genuine insight around the build of the mobile site from the perspective of the user,” said Naushad Huda, CEO of Textopoly.

The site is compatible with mobile browsers found on a range of devices, including Android, iPhone, iPod, iPad, and BlackBerry. Since the mobile site has gone live, Android devices and iPhones top the list of devices accessing the new site.

According to Morgan Stanley, the volume of mobile users will outstrip the number of desktop Internet users by 2014. According to a report by Gomez, 52 percent of consumers are unlikely to return to a website they had trouble accessing by phone. What is even worse—40 percent said they would likely visit a competitor’s website instead.

About the Rancho Santiago Community College District

The mission of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) is to respond to the educational needs of an ever-changing community and to provide programs and services that reflect academic excellence. Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College are public community colleges of RSCCD, which serve the residents of Anaheim Hills, East Garden Grove, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Villa Park. Both colleges provide education for academic transfer and careers, courses for personal and professional development, customized training for business and industry, and programs to train nurses, firefighters and law enforcement personnel.

About Republic of Digital & Textopoly, Inc.

Textopoly is a multi-award winning mobile marketing and advertising agency that concepts and executes customized campaigns for brands and agencies. Whether it is through SMS, the mobile Internet, Mobile Media or Apps, they bring the brand straight to the users. Textopoly has worked with brands including Yamaha, Google/Admob, Microsoft Advertising, Paramount Studios, Bluefly, Rutgers University, Kikkoman, NBC, Sports Club of LA and many more.

Republic of Digital is a higher education focused innovation group within Textopoly whose focus is to partner with educational institutions and bring next generation mobile strategies & solutions to better interact and communicate with their constituents. Visit ROD at www.republicofdigital.com.

Santa Ana College Mobile Site

Angry Bird Phenomena

Naushad — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:47:27 +0000

Not sure if you all know, but the amount of time spent playing the very popular mobile game Angry Birds (globally) is about 200 million minutes a day! Anyhow, the phoenomna is getting absurd with plush toys, a movie deal and now this:

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/08/02/no-comment-angry-birds-in-convenient-bra-form/

So if a man sees this item in an intimate moment does that mean a ‘red light’!?

Coming to Screens (Very) Near You!

Asif — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:44:06 +0000

In October of 2010, Disney signed a deal with Apalya TV in India to bring Disney Channel shows to mobile phones. With an estimated 150 million TV sets and 700-800 million cell phones, it’s not hard to understand why Disney decided to bring their shows to the hands of their viewers. Literally. A couple months before, Netflix began streaming on iPhones and iPod touches.

Television has long ago left our Plasma screens and creeped into laptops, desktops, and different media players. And now, it is making the transition to mobile. Of course, sinking into your favorite chair with an ice cold beer and leaning back to watch your favorite shows on a huge screen is a luxury to be treasured. But being able to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother while waiting in a doctor’s office instead of flipping through a 5 year old copy of Home Living might just be the next best thing.

If TV comes to mobile on a wider spectrum, making mobile an even more prevalent part of our everyday lives, what do you think the impact will be on the mobile advertising industry? Let us know!

Android Apps Free-For-All

Shehzad — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:30:33 +0000

The Android app market is steadily increasing. And if you are an owner of an Android phone, it is time to rejoice. Why? Because you can download all of the apps on the Android market. For free. Whether the app is free or not.

How? The basic process is:

1. Download an application called Astro File (or similar apps);

2. Download an application called 4shared (or going to 4shared website);

3. Search/download android apps from 4shared;

4. Use Astro File to database the files;

5. The phone installs the downloaded files.

(Visual tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8u5slHSSfU.)

Anyone who can download an application can hack the entire Android market place. This is clearly a red flag that the marketplace is too open. If these applications gain popularity (which, they are bound to), there will be no incentive for developers to develop paid applications for the Android OS. Beyond free apps, an open marketplace is a great marketplace for viruses. So, Android, where’s the regulation?

Michael here: Just thought I’d chime in with another viewpoint. The iPhone, with all it’s restrictions and walled gardens, isn’t much different. A jailbroken phone can easily download any app in the App Store, free of charge, at the touch of a button. iOS developers are also reporting extremely high piracy rates. Some have seen rates as high as 90%. Clearly a closed and regulated store isn’t the solution. I think at some point we’re going to have to accept that as long as copyright laws exist, pirates will find ways to break them.

Michael has a great point. So what do you guys think – should developers focus on restrictions or accept that rules are meant to be hacked?

HTML5, It’s Cool Cause Apple Says So

Kang — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:03:33 +0000

Years ago, there was a program developed that has since penetrated the hearts and jobs of graphic designers worldwide. Adobe Flash. As Flash was being adopted, upgraded and loved, a new platform for advertising was growing exponentially: mobile. With such an immense platform, the world wasn’t sure that Flash could succeed. The world may not have been, but Apple was. Intro: HTML5.

If Apple refuses to support something (Flash) and then fully backs another product (HTML5), the world will usually follow. Recalling Conan’s recent review of the iPad 2: “You’ll buy it no matter what we say.” Yes, it was a jab at Apple. Yes, it was a hilarious video. But does the message change? Not really. Apple is a giant in the industry and with the magnitude of iProducts alone, any developer would be remiss not to develop HTML5 advertisements.

But aside from the Jobs endorsement, there are numerous new things that HTML5 brings to the table. Alex Linde, Yahoo’s director of mobile advertising, summed it up perfectly: “With iPhone, Android and others now adopting HTML5 we have, No. 1, a standard that allows us to ‘write almost once, run almost everywhere,’ No. 2, an installed base to do it at scale and No. 3, enough bandwidth and screen real estate to do something really interesting for the consumer.”

But, can HTML5 do what Flash did? Yes, and more. Users can swipe products across the screen, drag and drop, spin, flip, and generally control their experience with the advertisement. The glory of HTML5 is summed up by Apple. [Cool HTML5 examples.]

So far, HTML5 is dominating the mobile and tablet market, while Flash is holding its dominance in the computer world. Whether HTML5 expands its reach or Flash steps up its technology for mobile (or both) time will soon tell. Regardless of the channel, we are bound to be impressed by the innovative ways companies try to get their consumers to interact with the brand.