I found a very interesing momile marketing product I want to share with you.
Check SnapTags presentation below.
Turns out the secret to successful mobile marketing is no secret at all. It’s your logo. As a SnapTag.
Thinking of using QR codes for business? Imagine you had something that worked like a QR Code, or a 2D mobile barcode, but gave you so much more. Instead of using an indecipherable Rorschach blot, it used your logo. And instead of just taking people to a link, these designer QR codes opened up whole new lines of interactive communication. Ones that you could track, use and reuse to build relationships.
You’d have a better way to build your mobile marketing. You’d have a SnapTag.
Posted in Mobile Marketing by .
Απρ 12
2
Useful MySQL dump file splitter
Everyone working with MySQL and phpMyAdmin has come accross this issue «How can I import a file larger that 100mb into my database?»
After some googling I found the following article http://www.rusiczki.net/2007/01/24/sql-dump-file-splitter/ .I found it very userful and I want to share it with you.
Posted in Web Development by .
International parking payment systems provider PayByPhone has started one of the world’s largest deployments of NFC (Near Field Communications) payment systems.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is currently adding NFC-enabled stickers to the city’s 30,800 parking spaces in order to give drivers the option to pay for parking with NFC-enabled mobile phones, in addition to mobile apps and mobile web for regular phones.
All parking meters will, however, continue to accept payment with coins. The PayByPhone system – already deployed in the Castro district – will be extended citywide as installation of the stickers is completed. The PayByPhone NFC sticker has a passive electronic chip that doesn’t require a battery and stores information such as the parking space number, which can be read wirelessly by any NFC-enabled phone.
Users will be able to wave their NFC-enabled phone over the NFC sticker on the meter to automatically launch the parking application.
The mobile payment system recognizes the user, identifies the individual parking location, and the driver enters the desired parking time to complete the transaction. The system then sends a text message reminder before the parking period expires and if needed allows additional time to be purchased by phone from any location.
“This is one of the largest deployments of NFC technology in the USA and shows the practical benefits this technology can deliver in terms of ease of use and convenience,” suggests Neil Podmore, VP of business development at PayByPhone. “There has been a lot of hype around NFC recently and we are pleased to now put the technology in the field for real-world applications. We expect this to help kickstart the more widespread adoption an understanding of the practical benefits of NFC in 2012.”
16 December 2011
A came across this yahoo toolkit while searching for stencils to prototype an iPhone application.
Yahoo! Design Stencil Kit version 1.0 is available for OmniGraffle, Visio (XML), Adobe Illustrator (PDF and SVG), and Adobe Photoshop (PNG), and covers the following topics:
- Ad Units
- Calendars
- Carousels
- Charts and Tables
- UI Controls
- Form Elements
- Grids
- Menus and Buttons
- Mobile – General
- Mobile – iPhone
- Navigation and Pagination
- OS Elements
- Placeholder Text
- Screen Resolutions
- Tabs
- Windows and Containers
Posted in Mobile development Web Development by .
Groupon is getting killed in the Middle East
by DYLAN on JUNE 16, 2011
The Middle East is probably the most underrated growth market on the planet right now: Over 350M people with 70% under the age of 30. Groupon recently established an operation in the region but according to data for the last month they’re being crushed by Cobone.com, the local competitor. Can Groupon execute outside of their core territories?
The graphs below are based on data scraped from the Groupon and Cobone sites (UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt) between May 14th-June 14th.
At first glance, Cobone is really hammering Groupon just in terms of coupons sold by about two to one.
But taking a closer look at the deals themselves and you see where Cobone is really killing them. Over the same period, Cobone turned over almost three times Groupon’s revenue. Clearly Groupon are having trouble getting to the higher quality merchants in the region.
What’s particularly interesting is how the two companies are leveraging social media in the region. Although the overall user numbers for Facebook and Twitter in the Middle East are still low (but growing rapidly), clearly Cobone understands a) how to engage them and b) how to monetize them. Groupon, on the other hand, appear to be either ignoring social completely (which seems odd) or simply don’t have a handle on it in that particular market.
With problems allegedly being suffered by their Chinese operation, it looks as if Andrew Mason wasn’t joking when he said Groupon shareholders were going to be in for a bumpy ride.
Posted in e-business by .
Μάι 11
11
Sitting is Killing You
French telecom operators and IT services company Atos Origin (ATO.FR) Thursday announced the launch of a new electronic payment platform called Buyster, which will allow them to compete with eBay Inc.’s (EBAY) PayPal in France.
In a joint statement, France Telecom (FTE), Vivendi SA’s (VIV.FR) SFR, Bouygues SA’s (EN.FR) telecom unit and Atos Origin said the new system, which allows for payments via the internet and mobile phones, will be available in France from mid-2011.
The three telecom operators will offer the payment service to their mobile clients, thus potentially reaching over 50 million consumers. It will also be sold to e-commerce businesses in partnership with Atos Worldline, a unit of Atos Origin.
The jointly formed company is currently awaiting for approval to be recognized as an official payment company by the Bank of France, the companies said.
From: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110203-702340.html
Posted in Mobile development Mobile Marketing by .
Δεκ 10
13
Tastydeals.gr
Me and My friend Nikos are working on a new group buying website that focuses on restaurant and dine-in deals. You are invited to join the new tastydeals.gr community at tastydeals.gr or at our Facebook tastydeals.gr page
Best Buy is readying 257 of its U.S. stores for a digital loyalty program that rewards customers who walk in and automatically check in via the Shopkick iPhone app and future Andriod app.
The Best Buy Shopkick initiative was announced earlier this month and will award offline shoppers with “kickbucks” — the Shopkick virtual currency — that can be redeemed in-store or converted to Best Buy gift certificates online. Shopkick has been integrated into Best Buy’s point of sale system, allowing customers to give their mobile phone number to the cashier to redeem discounts.
The program is set to go live tomorrow in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, New York City and Chicago markets, with 70 additional stores in Dallas, Miami and Minneapolis set to support the digital rewards program by October 1.
Shopkick’s iPhone app (which also goes live tomorrow) is designed to automatically check shoppers in to retail venues; no manual entry or GPS required. The automatic checkin is powered by small, physical speakers that emit inaudible sound near the entrances of participating stores. Mobile phone microphones are designed to pick up the signal, which will contain a store-specific code, if the Shopkick app is installed and running.
Shopkick’s launch partnerships extend beyond Best Buy and include Macy’s and two additional yet-to-be-disclosed retailers. Shopkick also has a partnership with U.S. mall operator Simon Property Group, owner of 370 shopping centers nationwide. Twenty-five malls in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago are said to be launching with the Shopkick program by the end of the month.
[img credit: Ron Dauphin]
From: Best Buy Launches Shopkick Automatic Checkins and Rewards at 257 Stores.
Posted in Mobile Marketing by .
Apple hires NFC expert as mobile commerce product manager
By Sarah Clark | NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com | August 13th, 2010
Benjamin Vigier has been involved in the development of near field communication technology since 2004 and most recently was product manager for mobile wallet, payment and NFC at mobile payments specialists mFoundry.
EDGING CLOSER TO NFC? Apple’s new product manager for mobile commerce has worked with NFC since 2004
Apple has hired an expert in near field communication technology as its new product manager for mobile commerce.
Benjamin Vigier has been working on NFC technology since 2004 and has been responsible for NFC activities at both French mobile network operator Bouygues Telecom and flash memory manufacturer Sandisk.
Most recently Vigier was product manager for mobile wallet, payment and NFC at US mobile payments specialist mFoundry. There he conceived and managed both the PayPal Mobile service and Starbucks’ barcode-based mobile payments service and was also responsible for the development of mobile wallet applications for two top US mobile network operators and an NFC wallet application for a top three US bank.
A barrage of NFC-related Apple patent applications have been published over the last few months. They cover a wide range of potential NFC application areas and include:
- An NFC-based mobile payments service that lets consumers make payments to merchants and other consumers via a credit or debit card, directly from their bank account or using credit stored in their iTunes account.
- The ‘iPay, iBuy and iCoupons‘ patents, describing a comprehensive mobile payments, mobile commerce and mobile marketing business based around an NFC-enabled iPhone.
- Products+, an NFC-based product marketing and promotions application.
- An airline ticketing and boarding pass application that describes an unmanned, automated airport ticketing and baggage counter kiosk and introduces the concept of an automated security checking process where users of the iTravel app could process themselves through the security clearance system and check themselves in at the boarding gate.
- The Grab & Go patent, designed to make it easy for customers to transfer files between devices such as the Mac, iPhone and Apple TV.
- An NFC-enabled iPod, games controller, TV and iPhone.
- An NFC-based concert, entertainment and sports venue ticketing application that includes exclusive bonus features for users of Apple’s service.
Exactly what mobile commerce products Vigier will be working on at Apple are, of course, not yet in the public domain — and Vigier declined to comment about his new role when NFC World contacted him today. Given that he has had so much experience with mobile money applications, however, the choice of Vigier to product manage mobile commerce does, at least, point towards a continued interest at Apple in taking at least some of these patent applications from concept to commercial reality.
μέσω Apple hires NFC expert as mobile commerce product manager • NFC World.
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