Textopoly Mobile Blog » Textopoly

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.

Mobile: The Ultimate Social Network

Karla — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:05:32 +0000

As a passionate global issue devotee, when I came across CNN’s article about Jumo, a nonprofit organization that hopes to unite people under a common platform to help fight local and global issues, I was sincerely intrigued by their upcoming efforts and joined Jumo that week. I appreciated an array of issues being addressed by both big and small organizations, and waited to hear more about Jumo while assuming that popular organizations and big name brands would gladly hop on the Jumo band-wagon to participate in this tax-deductible long-term campaign for humanity. (In all seriousness, if Jumo is only appealing to companies because it enables them to deduct robust amounts of money, also known as donations, from their taxes, then so be it. At least this money is going towards helping resolve issues that are past due.)

Allyson Kapin’s article ‘Jumo: A Social Network #Win or #Fail?’ summarized a few perspectives a handful of people expressed about Jumo. From statements like “Jumo needs to question what makes them different” to “I don’t see Jumo filling the gap” and “the space is already crowded”, I was surprised by the lack of encouragement. After the earthquake in Haiti, mobile made news about the numerous amounts of donations it accumulated in just a matter of hours. mGive alone passed along $37 million in mobile donations to Haiti Relief funds.

So what are non-profits waiting for? Why is another addition to the nonprofit family a crowd? Well, because mobile is not being utilized as a mediator, a tool almost 5 billion people in the world hold in their pocket. Mobile is the ultimate social network.

Who are the top ten global brands?

Coca Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google, General Electric, McDonalds, Intel, Nokia, Disney, and HP.

What do all top ten global brands of 2010 have in common?

Besides 90% of these brands originating in the US and having an extremely high monetary value, they all have a mobile component.

So what do Jumo, mobile, and successful brands have in common?

Jumo, make yourself a competing brand name for nonprofit organizations seeking to change the world, one global issue at a time. Create a presence with your brand and connect users around the world via mobile and utilize all of its components. That is how you reach the masses effectively and efficiently, and this is how (like Haiti) you will see passionate global issue devotees not only follow and support Jumo, but have them use mobile to help their favorite organization make positive and recognizable change. But before you do all that, you need a multi-award winning agency that has experience with branding. Well, here we are and we already have ideas for you. I look forward to seeing your brand flourish.

Read Full Article at http://leep.it/sJ.

Fruit Ninjas…Now Available at Ralph’s

Taj — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:09:36 +0000

So, I must admit – my mobile app addiction has transferred from Angry Birds to this game called Fruit Ninjas.

How appropriate, as I have been analyzing commodity food prices, especially general staple foods including milk, eggs and fruit. I noticed that on a wholesale examination, prices have risen nearly 27% within 16 months with economic indicators pointing upwards. A majority of those price increases reside in our produce, mainly because of the fact that we can have formerly seasonal fruits year round thanks to our good friends down in Chile.

However, with anything global, there are unintended consequences in regards to food tracking and the resurgence of the “locally grown” movement.

So like everything in our lives, technology comes to the rescue.

There is a new technology that allows smartphone users (that are able to scan barcodes via their camera) an opportunity to get additional information directly in store about the produce they consume — including where the product came from, shipment date and such. Additionally, consumers would be to immediately share that information (as well as how delicious, or not, the produce was) over social media via mobile.

January 25th’s show on Larry Mantle’s Airtalk Show delves deep into this idea on the following link:

http://leep.it/su

Now, if grocery stores would realize that they can stop sending me circulars in the mail and push coupons to me on my mobile…

Apple vs. Android vs. RIM vs. Palm

Asif — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:50:04 +0000

Fans rejoice! Your favorite blogger is back! It’s been awhile since my last blog post, I’ve been a busy man. Happy New Year to all of you!

So, what’s been going on in these past few months? Well, Textopoly is now one of the fastest growing companies in Orange County, we won the 2010 Interactive Marketing Award, our mobile lab has been running on all cylinders with projects for Yamaha, Google, Scanbuy and others, and on top of all that, my brother just got married! Needless to say, it’s been a busy few months. And yes, for those who are wondering, the bachelor party was awesome!

Now that we got that out of the way, what’s going on in mobile!? Well, as always, A LOT! With the high success of the iPad, and the app store in all its glory, rival companies have been trying to get a piece of the action! Samsung’s Galaxy seems to be OK, its running off the popular android system which leaves an open market for applications. However, the more anticipated Blackberry Playbook seems to be a more comparable rival. As of now, we don’t know much about it, except for the fact that it’s going to have the fastest processor available, a video chat function, true multitasking (although it just so happens to be very reminiscent of Palms’ multifunction technology), and a much needed USB drive.

My personal opinion is that this Blackberry product will finally give the developers a reason to improve their app store! Because really, besides downloading the Facebook and Pandora application, what other application would you ever download from the blackberry app store? I’ve always loved blackberry, I think they have a high quality product, but it just needs to be attractive! I’m hoping that with the playbook (great name) they can finally start getting the high recognition that will eventually lead to more app development.

The other highly anticipated product is Palms Topaz Tablet. As many of you know, HP acquired Palm, and initially had not intention of continuing the mobile side of Palm! However that’s changed (thank god) and we’re all awaiting the big announcements of the tablet, as well as the new mobile handsets rumored to be show cased on February 9, 2011.

I for one can’t wait for all of these new products to come out! I’m definitely going to purchase one of the personal tablets, just not sure which one yet!

- Want to chat more about the iPad, Playbook, and Topaz!? Contact me at asif[at]Textopoly[dot]com. You can help me pick one! Till next time friends!

Social Media: Are You In or Are You Out?

Guest — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:05:03 +0000

As I think back to the ancient days of MySpace and how far social media and social networking have come since then, I realize that the future only holds greater and more advanced outlets for communicating, advertising, and relaying information. The most popular form of social media at this moment continues to be Facebook but it is followed closely behind by a vast number of social media sites including Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Renren, and Flickr.

Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, put it best when he said that, “we don’t have a choice of whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.” This is why companies such as our very own Textopoly are exploding into the social media world with full force. Facebook users, bloggers, and video downloaders have the ability to control how the world thinks about brands and their products. “Do you like what they are saying about your brand?”

Because brands are asking this question, companies such as Textopoly are leading the industry with their ability to use these social networks and other forms of social media to capture consumers and promote products. This industry is growing faster than seems possible yet the innovative minds that are powering these companies continue to challenge its speed. Can it be possible that social media is just a fad? Only time with tell. However, until the day that MySpace, Facebook, and upcoming social networks no longer exist, I highly recommend that brands take the leap into the social media world.

To see more about just how influential social media has become, check out the video below. (From where else but the social media site, YouTube)

Social Media Revolution

Getting Easier and Easier

Naushad — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 07:32:44 +0000

Now we’re even easier to remember! We’ve updated our Facebook with our username! http:///www.facebook.com/textopoly – Check us out, become a fan, and recommend us to all of your friends!

Text Messaging Software: A Must Have

Karla — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:38:48 +0000

With each passing day mobile receives a brighter spotlight as more brands realize how effective its engagement is.

iVision Mobile, a text messaging software solution company, recently issued a press release about their iMessenger platform. As an full-service agency it behooves us to keep up to date on, and provide our clients with the best mobile technology available – especially those technologies that won’t put us in a creative box – we’re not a in-the-box agency!

We’ve used the iMessenger platform and give it high marks for its beautiful interface and its flexibilty. We’re big fans of the text to screen function! We’ve found other platform technologies have their high-points as well, such as a tech-focused, “if / then” programmable technology by MX Telecom called CMX2, a nicely put together platform by GoMoText and the robust platform by 3C Interactive.

When we built mo:base, our customizable web SMS widget tool platform (http://bit.ly/3AcWBR) and our Facebook SMS application (SuperTextMobile http://bit.ly/DazZ1) we incorporated the best parts of the various platforms out there. As we continue to build tools that compliment various platforms the focus for us will always be on the creative, original technology – such as those we used for the Oregon State Lottery, Nieva and Beck’s.

With mobile usage on the rise, and soon to reach full penetration, there seems to be no end in site to innovation and possibilities for mobile and its reach. Indeed we live in exciting times!

Read the iVision press release here. (NOTE: I must warn you that there is a quote in there by Naushad!)

Are we just a “Mobile Marketing Agency”? (nope!)

Naushad — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:23:50 +0000

Textopoly does not fit into a neat box in the mobile world. Over the years I’ve tried to find the most accurate way to describe what it is that we do. And over theses same years mobile has grown dramatically in regulations, technology, creativity, etc. – and we’ve grown with it. We’ve stayed fluid and well educated in mobile while keeping a focus on mobile. I think our business can be broken down into 2 large categories, Sexy and Unsexy – stay with me now!

The Unsexy: We’re not an aggregator, yet we service and manage both standard rate and premium dedicated short codes. We maintain relationships with Aggregators, Carriers, complete all required applications, provide strategies on how to efficiently get short codes certified and provide extra services such as giving guidance on, and hosting Terms and Conditions. On an ongoing basis we review advertising material for Carrier compliancy, manage audits and provide insight on various detailed areas of the business such as: refund policies; continuously changing Carrier requirements for standard and premium messaging; opt outs requirements by Carrier; AT&T subscription renewals process; and much more fun stuff!

The Sexy: For our agency and brand clients we provide strategy and innovative concepts that use mobile tactics such as SMS, WAP and mobile Applications to achieve a set of goals that insure maximum return on investment (ROI). This side of the business also includes advertising the marketing campaign through various mobile media opportunities such as banner ads on mobile publisher sites and Carrier decks. We create the banner ads using our in-house designers and then purchase media on WAP sites through relationships we have with various Carriers directly. We have strong relationships with agencies who controls Carrier advertising decks, so are able to purchase media directly from them in addition to media directly from publisher sites.

Mobile marketing and mobile advertising are best executed through integration with traditional marketing channels such as Online (including Social Networking) and TV. Our Digital Services create applications that use these traditional marketing channels in conjunction with mobile. For example, Super Text Mobile which is our Facebook application and mo:base which our web-to-mobile widget that easily captures mobile numbers from any website, web banner ad (!) or email and rapidly delivers branded content to handsets.

So given all this is it fair to call Textopoly just a mobile marketing agency? No, it’s not. We’re a Mobile Engagement Agency, we enable mobile communication.

Welcome to Textopoly’s Mobile Blog

Naushad — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:54:42 +0000

Welcome to our Textopoly Blog! We made this so clients, mobile groupies, and curious passer byers can not only get caught up on mobile news but be enlightened by our thoughts and interests. So take a look around and feel free to share your thoughts as well. And remember, text like no one is watching.