A great panel session, led by Ewen MacLeod of Mobile Industry Review (don’t forget their Xmas Charity Prize Draw!). Lively, energetic and containing actual useful information. The first panel made Future of Mobile start with a whimper — this session made it end on a bang!
Panel:
- Dan Appelquist: Vodafone
- Mark Curtis: Flirtomatic
- Alfie Dennen: Moblog
- Justin Davies: social media consulting + Budyping
- Carl Uminski: Trutap
- James Body: Direct of Research @ Truphone
- Sam Machin: a UK Mobile Operator
Q&A:
- Mark: First Flirtomatic ad on operator portal — got 3,500 new visitors in 3hrs
- Is downloading apps still a dark art?
- Justin: still problems even though a little more standardized
- VC firm about a year ago just wanted them to have a mobile site
- Getting better — people understanding benefits
- Justin: still problems even though a little more standardized
- How do emerging markets cope with apps?
- Carl: network isn’t 3G: wait wait wait
- Once they get it down, it’s really cheap to use (optimised protocols)
- Carl: network isn’t 3G: wait wait wait
- Has the iPhone store changed things for truphone?
- James: yes, for everybody in this room
- we were first VOIP app in app store, and only one for a long time
- did really well out of that
- expect to see something similar from Android, Symbian & Vodafone stores
- Apple system not perfect, but fair chance that app will work if comes from store
- James: yes, for everybody in this room
- Will app store model work?
- Justin: Yes. It already does. It’s so easy. Payment system built-in.
- James: we make more money off Apple iPhone than off Symbian
- Dan: urbanspoon — shows you restaurants nearby
- television ad showing you how to download and install an app
- I challenge you to see any television ad showing you how to download & install a Java app!
- Sam: you can make instant decisions on seeing other people’s stuff
- What about O2 Litmus app store?
- Dan: Betavine different — aimed at long tail rather than monetization
- Gives developers a route to market in Germany & Spain — they appear on the portal
- Betavine is an animal of Vodafone R&D — we have just as much trouble as anyone else getting onto the portal
- Sam: operators have identity, location & billing location
- location advantage being rapidly eroded (see Google, etc)
- Visa take 1-2% of enabling an economy — operators could use billing mechanism to do something similar
- Dan: Betavine different — aimed at long tail rather than monetization
- Do you use external agencies?
- Mark: used for useability — repaid many times over
- Carl: some design in house but also use FuturePlatforms
- Do you see movement to web-based apps?
- James: going to be a mixture
- How does a company approach Voda to get on portal or devices?
- Dan: working towards a future where you don’t have to ask that question
- If there’s a funnel and a person you have to talk to, that’s a broken system
- The answer is the web — distribution, development & deployment medium
- App stores are a part of that
- Voda talking to Softbank Mobile & China Mobile about widget store
- Dan: working towards a future where you don’t have to ask that question
- iPhone or Android?
- Mark: iPhone — it’s already out there
- Alfie: depends on your business. Aim for web unless you need more
- Dan: aim for web, include Gears + PhoneGAP & you’ve got all you want
- James: Symbian — quantity has a quality all of its own
- iPhone — you’ll make more money
- Blackberry
- Android
- We’re even getting on SIM cards
- Sam: want to get all platforms if your business is based on usage
- otherwise, if you want to sell the app, then iPhone
- Carl: J2ME and getjar download store for non-western world
- Are iPhone users normobs?
- Justin: most are, though not this panel
- I gave my mother-in-law my iPhone and she just knew how to use it
- Alfie: it’s broken in so many ways, but it’s so much better than the rest
- Justin: most are, though not this panel
- What user numbers are mobile ad servers looking for to place ads?
- Mark:
- CPM — need upwards of 20-30K per day
- Cost per click — 1000 a day will probably do
- operators lack understanding of how to sell advertising
- “Have to evolve very different techniques to milk a pig, a cow and a chicken”
- James: anybody who uses a fixed price for an ad will have to sharpen their act
- Mark:
- Network location-based services. Are they dead?
- Justin: people want to use location, but if operators charge too much then their services will wither
- Alfie: INQ1 unified messaging with location starting to be useful
- Sam: two strands to location — tracking vs checking in
- passive tracking still requires operator
- enterprise tracking services will still use operator services, but client-side
- Mark: 40% of mobile users had voluntarily filled in postcode in their profiles
- then launched location as a search option
- added 20% to revenues that night
- What’s the best way to get new users?
- Justin: get them on the mobile web — pre-qualifies data services, phone ability
- admob: can ask for specific phone characteristics
- Justin: get them on the mobile web — pre-qualifies data services, phone ability
- Most exciting mobile apps from Silicon Valley or Europe?
- Europe (apart from Dan: India)
- Future of Mobile is:
- Justin: complexity — but that’s good
- Carl: please cheap data
- James: freedom
- Sam: one web
- iPhone or Android?
- Dan: PC will be Android to iPhone Mac
- Justin: Android ‘cos more in emerging markets
- Carl: iPhone or Symbian. We’ll see Android without even knowing it’s Android
- James: today
- Sam: Android on an iPhone :-)
- Favourite mobile app?
- Sam: twitter
- James: mobile facebook
- Carl: google maps
- Justin: gmail
- Dan: koi pond — it keeps my kids quiet for the longest time
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