Category Archives: Mobile Search
Brands ignoring mobile search at their peril says Mobileweb
Rating: A cross device mobile strategy is also key, apparently
According to the Mobileweb Company, mobile websites that it operates typically see uplift in mobile site traffic of more than 90 per cent. That’s because they are fully optimised for mobile search discovery, the company claims. Whilst Mobileweb’s own recently announced research shows that iPhone users grab the lion’s share of mobile web access (55.7 per cent), the company still urges brands to adopt a cross device mobile strategy. Less than 10 per cent of potential customers have an iPhone. Continue reading
Google under threat from EU over search
Rating: Even more dominance over mobile search
Recent reports are suggesting that Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s commissioner for competition, is only weeks away from launching legal action against internet search giant, Google. Almunia will have to decide whether the company has breached the European Union’s anti-trust laws. In Europe, nine out of ten internet searches is carried out via Google as opposed to two out of three in North America. This brings Google some very nice profits. Last year [2011], it made around £6 billion which provides it with a nice little war chest for fighting such actions. These monster corporation versus government battles can drag on for years – witness the EU’s battle with Microsoft over browsers. But Microsoft was fined £1.4 million in the end. In theory, this means that Google could be fined around ten per cent of its annual revenues – which could come in as high as 3.1 billion. In the mobile world, however, Google’s dominance is even higher. Continue reading
Switching from Bing to Google with a W7 Mango phone
Rating: It’s possible but not very elegant
yapf screenshot
We’re strong believers in using the right tool for the job here at GoMobile Towers. One of the niggling problems with using a W7 Mango handset such as the Nokia Lumia 800, is that the Bing search engine is integrated heavily into the mobile OS. There doesn’t [...]
comScore’s Wi-fi vs mobile data usage analysis open to question
Rating: Are differences down to Wi-fi hotspots; 4G or tariffs?
Leading mobile stats gatherer, comScore, has just released the results of its analysis of usage of Wi-fi versus mobile data. It covers smartphone running the two leading mobile OS – iOS and Android for users in the UK and the USA. Now this kind of information is extremely useful for individual mobile network operators. However, GoMobile News wouldn’t necessarily interpret it in the same way that comScore obviously does. We’d argued that a higher incidence of smartphones using Wi-fi represents a possible loss of income for operators because the browsing isn’t channel through their own data network. comScore also doesn’t equate higher Wi-fi usage with dissatisfaction with an operator’s mobile data network. Overall, a significantly higher percentage of iPhones rather than Android phones connect to the Internet via Wi-fi. Continue reading
All Top 5 Sites in Finland Use Leiki Recommendations
Leiki, a provider of targeted advertising and content delivery, is now offering its services on all of the Top 5 sites in Finland. Each of these sites has unique weekly visitors in the range of 1.5 to 2.8 million, with weekly page views from 30M to 100M per site.
Leiki’s Finnish customer base includes both of the national tabloids, the three biggest TV broadcasters and the largest morning newspaper in addition to several dozen smaller sites. Continue reading
RIM debuts BlackBerry OS 7.1 at CES
Rating: New BlackBerry Maps app supports coupons
BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion (RIM), took advantage of CES 2012, Las Vegas to showcase the latest version of its OS – 7.1. The biggest surprise will come for owners of Curve 9360 or 9380 models which will suddenly boast an FM radio. The radio circuitry was always there – but RIM hadn’t got around to implementing it. Unlike internet radio, FM radio doesn’t burn up your data allowance. 7.1 will also leverage the NFC capabilities of models which support it via the new BlackBerry Tag. The new OS also catches up with Android in allowing owners to turn their handsets into mobile hot spots – enabling device to take advantage of a 3G connexion via Wi-fi. An interesting development is the inclusion of coupons in the new BlackBerry Maps app. BBM has been improved, too. Continue reading
Personal assistant apps reach Singapore courtesy of Novauris
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Having sat through the monotony that was the launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S, GoMo News always thought the most significant announcement was the introduction of Siri. Part of iOS 5, Siri is a virtual personal assistant which acts as if it is your butler – like Jeeves. It responds to voice requests and performs all the usual tasks you’d expect to do with a mobile phone. Now Singaporeans have got one up on other countries around the world with a new app called Def!nd. Unlike Siri, Def!nd is able to search for businesses outside of the USA plus it can understand Asian accents. The app is supplied by local mobile operator SingTel, but Novauris has just received permission to say that its own technology powers this app. Continue reading
Aliyun mobile OS going global to spite Baidu
Rating: Expect English language version of Aliyun in Sept
This has got to take the biscuit as one of the worst news scoops ever. Following our piece on the all-new Aliyun mobile OS from AliCloud here , GoMo News received a hot tip from news blog Thetechnologyreview here. Sadly most of its story doesn’t make any sense at all but at least the site did get one thing right. The chairman of the Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, definitely confirmed last Friday [September 9th 2011] that an English language version of the company’s mobile OS – Aliyun -should appear this month [September 2001]. Ma also told Reuters that a tablet using the Aliyun OS should appear within two months – so let’s say November [2011]. GoMo News has always speculated that Alibaba wanted to turn its OS into a global challenger and producing a version in the world’s international language, English, is a big step in that direction. What we hadn’t appreciated is that Alibaba’s motivation in producing a mobile OS is probably mainly to irritate its arch rival, Baidu. Continue reading
Cortexica gives its API away for free
Rating: Visual search tech targets mobile app developers
Cortexica Vision Systems has decided to distribute its VisualSearch API to mobile app developers for free until 1st January 2012. The company is convinced this move will find favour with developers. Controversial former head of NeoMedia and now CEO with Cortexica, Iain McCready, commented,” We’re confident that after trialling the API for free, they [developers] will want to keep using our technology in their mobile applications.” Continue reading
Westfield mobile shopping mobile search
Westfield Shopping App……. Yikes. A simple mobile search app that I like. Its from Westfield and Google, the video explains it all and its every woman’s dream.
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British retailers cannot afford to ignore mobile
Rating: Mobile search volumes increased 216% says BRC
The Online Retail Monitor for Q2 2011 – put together by the British Retail Consortium and Google – found that total retail search volumes had grown by 27 per cent compared with Q2 2010. The increase was driven by a rise in mobile search volumes of 216 per cent year-on-year. Interestingly, London comprised 36 per cent of all retail search volumes in the UK. The findings have caused Simon Walker, director for product management with Stibo Systems to warn that this rise clearly demonstrate that retailers cannot afford to ignore the power of mobile. “A 216 per cent rise in the past year shows how customer habits are changing and should come as a warning call to retailers. Customers are increasingly turning to mobile and tablet devices as part of a general lifestyle shift towards digital,” Walker commented. Continue reading
T-Labs starts testing barcoo for a new mobile visual search service
T-Labs (Deutsche Telekom Labs) has announced that a four month test of barcoo mobile code services and its visual search has started today.
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Iain McCready CEO of Cortexica says mobile visual search is great as it avoids the use of dual tagging and codes
There is a flurry of information and excitement around mobile visual search at the moment. Companies such as Mobile Acuity, LTU and now Cortexica are coming out of the woodwork and showcasing modern, fun, better mobile visual search services.
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