Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - How McDonald's Views Choice As The Killer App

For 43 years, the slogan from McDonald’s said,  “You deserve a break today.” These days, when it comes to patrons accessing product information and offers, the quick service restaurant believes that we deserve choice. Despite an impressive 10 million mobile app downloads, McDonalds has installed kiosks in its restaurants, too, giving options to its customers beyond cellphones and the traditional information found on boards behind the cashiers.

An example of my Apple Watch frustration? A gate change that doesn't come with tap when that’s exactly what's needed. Now, you have to notice. And often don't.

Mobile captures 2 out of every 3 digital media minutes in the U.S., per comScore.

One in five U.S. households have bought groceries online in the past month, according to eMarketer.

Apple will likely sell its one billionth iPhone later this year.

This is permission-based, but still raised more than one eyebrow - when you open the Domino’s app, it automatically sends you a pizza unless you cancel within 10 seconds.

78% of food shoppers say they want to save as much money as possible via mobile, according to Gfk. This is one constant in wireless era – pre-recession, during recession, post-recession, people want deals.

75% of consumers say relevancy matters when it comes to the rewards that businesses provide: Colloquy. The others didn't understand the question?

British mobile phone users’ movements could be sold for profit, as reported in The Guardian. That brings worries that location data will be used by criminals.

10 million did their taxes on mobile last year with Intuit.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that the secret to a harmonious life is to stop obsessing over your smartphone. Many of us know this but won't/can't/don't believe that we can do anything about it.

Native ads will make up 63% of mobile display ad spend by 2020, a Facebook & IHS study finds.

52% of users view push messages as annoying, according to Localytics. Better practices, more value and education are keys to improving that number.

My eye doctor was appalled when I told him that his vendor was sending appointment text reminders at 4 a.m. to people who haven’t opted in. We will see if anything changes.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Facebook Drives Mobile Video Growth

Robots and virtual reality advances aside, my SXSW experience was heavy on results and opportunities around mobile video.

On the live streaming side, we now know that last year’s SXSW darling Meerkat was forced to change its business model with the appearance of Facebook Live and the adoption of Periscope.

It was Facebook’s moves and associated metrics that especially caught my attention over the last few days:

As shared by a company executive, 100 million hours of video are viewed every day on Facebook. Mobile is a large driver.

Ninety percent of the views on Facebook for the Straight Outta Compton trailer were on mobile.

The trailer for Furious 7 had 100 million views on Facebook, with an undisclosed but high number on mobile devices.

Approximately 2.2 million people watched the Facebook Live stream of Peyton Manning’s retirement announcement. This came despite the fact that the event was shown on a variety of television and online outlets.

Facebook has long viewed mobile as its biggest growth opportunity. Clearly video is key to the company’s aspirations.

Elsewhere:

Of the gazillion people at SXSW, no one brought a better in-flight Wi-Fi solution. Damn.

In a panel on beacons, Clorox's Sarah Ortman said that a brand’s mobile outreach in store should solve a problem or delight a consumer.  Or both.

Despite the hype, I didn’t see many robots at SXSW unless you count those who stayed out until 4 a.m. and were forced to attend early morning panels.

The majority of McDonald’s U.S. business is via the drive thru, making mobile solutions more important. The company had a large presence in Austin.

In the UK this year, mobile ad spending will surpass TV spending as well as desktop spending, according to eMarketer

Half of all debit card holders don't believe it's safe to use their card for online purchases, Kantar reported. I wonder what these people would say about using a smartphone to make a purchase. Likely, no, thanks.

In 2015, Apple sold 441 iPhones per minute.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Could Brick and Mortar Retailers Be That Slow To Adapt?

83% more retailers plan to identify customers when they walk in the store within five years, according to Boston Retail Partners' 2015 CRM/Unified Commerce Survey. My immediate take and one that I still have days after first seeing this? They don't have five years.

Have these entities not seen the latest mCommerce trends ($76.79 billion projected to be purchased from mobile phones in 2015) or talked to their customers?

Already with 11 million users of Magicbands, Disney is expand the use of its breakthrough mobile tech to more parks.

As you may know, I have struggled to find significant benefits of Apple Watch. Apparently I’m not thinking hard enough. Someone wrote that a by-product of Apple Watch use is not spilling hand lotion when fumbling for an iPhone. Oh.

Four more weeks and it will be 25 years of marriage. I know, you'll have to ask my wife. eHarmony, you can stop sending the “find love” promos via Twitter and email.

Trending the other day: Lady Gaga documenting "the long process" of going blonde for the summer. And you questioned the value of Twitter.

Borrell Associates surveyed more than 7,000 SMBs and found that they spend 5.6% of their revenue on advertising with 22% of their ad budget going to digital.

Shop-by-text message has come to Nordstrom. Wonderful. My wife doesn’t have enough ways to spend there.

Mobile's importance according to marketer and influencer Gary Vaynerchuk: "I truly think my only competitor in business is your index finger."

Nearly two-thirds of parents and caregivers in a University of Washington survey spent less than 5 percent of their time at the park using a phone, including 41 percent did not use a phone at all. The data came from researcher observations, not from self-reported behavior that might be inaccurate or fudged.

Ten years ago this month, Wireless Amber Alert was created to use mobile to help law enforcement find abducted kids.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - How Marketing Indiscriminately To A List Is A Turn Off

I received another cheeseburger offer via a mobile loyalty club. The problem is that I haven't had a burger in about 15 years and this quick-service restaurant should know that from previous purchases. That's not 1-to-1 marketing. It's 1-to-1 list. And it’s cause to seriously consider an opt-out.

Two men were arrested in a supposed bloody beer-bottle battle over whether Android is better than iPhone. No, they weren’t named Eric and Tim.

Smartphones can now detect earthquakes and give you time to run, per Fast Company. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Caltech, the University of Houston, and others, are establishing a crowdsourced GPS-based earthquake warning system that would send out a message when it detects an initial rumbling.

Amazon has shut down TestDrive, an Appstore feature that lets you try some apps before downloading. Only 16,000 apps participated and limited availability likely caused some to shy away.

For 2016, the question isn't whether presidential candidates will use mobile. Rather, it’s will they effectively personalize communications.

Nearly half of smartphone-toting travelers use map apps during vacation, per eMarketer. When's the last time you saw someone unfurl a paper map?

I told my wife of all the features of my coming Apple Watch. A Mickey Mouse face was the most compelling to her.

This week, I saw a headline that said mobile payments are retail's new frontier. Yup, same headline that I saw in 2013, 2014, and probably early than that.

Global mobile-ad spending on Android grew 539% in Q1, according to PapayaMobile.

U.S. adults spend 5.5 hours with video content each day, over an hour of which is digital – eMarketer.

15 million Americans say they'll buy an Apple Watch, a Reuters poll found.

CookBrite is  an app that recommends meals based on ingredients in your kitchen. That’s personalization.

44% of consumers worry that apps are collecting personal info without consent – Forrester. 33% have cancelled a transaction due to privacy concerns.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Ikea Brings New Meaning To "Charge It"

While the idea is noble, I have two problems with Ikea’s furniture that wirelessly charges devices. First, there is more than one charging standard and many phones will stay dead. Second, would there not be an electrical socket (or two or three) near the furniture? Isn’t the need more outside the home and office?

Selfie sticks are no longer welcome at the Smithsonian. From a new policy edict: “We encourage museum visitors to take selfies and share their experiences — and leave the selfie sticks in their bags.”

Do you want more battery life for your Apple Watch? The Reserve Strap is like a Mophie but it runs $249.

A security firm said that it found pre-installed malware on the Xiaomi Mi 4 smartphone.

A thousand new smartphones are shipped every 21.8 seconds, according to The Economist.

Google's wireless service will only work with the Nexus 6, per the Wall Street Journal.

Samsung has lost its “Next Big Thing” marketing chief. He had a humongous budget, but certainly got his company's products noticed.

77% of millennials have mobile-banked within the past month. 52% have done so at least four times: Lightspeed FSG.

More than 40% of all time spent on TV properties is on mobile, per comScore.

Target says that mobile accounts for 40% of its digital orders.

The most valuable users are acquired via mobile ads between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.: Fetch.

Mobile video ads will account for 26% of the U.S. video ad spend by end of the year, per eMarketer.

That Samsung Pay will be widely available is only part of the story of adoption. Consumers need education and assurance of security.

Almost 2 billion mobile phones were sold in 2014: Gartner. Google’s operating system was included on about 80% of all devices sold.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Keeping "Modern Family" Modern

ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ shot an episode using only an iPhone and iPad. The attention for the Feb. 25 airing has been significant and, as the Associated Press wrote, keeps “Modern Family” modern.

Mobile now accounts for more than 60% of all digital media time spent: comScore.

Swatch is reportedly working on a smartwatch you'll never need to charge.

90% of YouTube mobile views are less than 5 minutes.

Nearly 50 percent of consumers used a mobile phone to make a purchase in 2014, up from 30 percent two years earlier, per PwC.

By 2016, Deloitte says, mobile will be responsible for as much as 21 percent of in-store spending, or $752 billion.

Seeing someone use the "word" phygital on Twitter is grounds for an unfollow.

Staples reports that 30% of iOS sales are now driven through Apple Pay.

I’ve needed 50 shades to block eyes of 50 Shades tweets and headlines.

Is it too much to expect a conference that focuses on personalization to stop sending you invites to register weeks after you've done so?

New York Times C.E.O. Mark Thompson said the following at the Code/Media conference: “The battle will be won on the smartphone”.

The U.S. Treasury will now accept PayPal.

The NBC iPhone and iPad app has been updated to include live streaming in some markets.

There have been lots of “mobile malware on the rise” headlines. Can you name one person who did something because of it? Nor can I.

Flip phones are selling again– in Japan.

Decades after "hold the pickles, hold the lettuce”, Burger King is delivering on personalization through mobile.

46% of mobile device owners will shop elsewhere if a mobile site or app fails to load within 3 seconds, according to 451 Research.

REI’s Jeff Klonkowsi is one of the thought-leaders I interviewed for my upcoming book. Smart guy. Here’s what the director of digital retail, mobile and business development said last week at eTail West 2015:  “If we’re standing still, someone is going to eat our lunch, and we need to be aware of that.” 

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Why A One-Channel Marketing Strategy Will Fail You

Here are words of caution to those marketers who live in a one-channel world. Consumers aren’t anything like you.

The latest evidence comes from the automotive industry. While smartphones and tablets accounted for 40% of total Web traffic for the car space in October (Dealertrack), a large portion of consumers migrated to a computer to fill out a form. This led to a 32% increase in lead captures.

Meanwhile, 1-800 Contacts has advanced in mobile due to the simplification of the form fill, as well as the ability for a consumer to take a picture of a prescription, according to Google’s mobile lead Jason Spero (@speroman).

Stride Rite has introduced an iPad app that measures a kid’s shoe size. It’s a smart and efficient way to solve a parent’s problem.

Nearly 50% of consumers believe their personal mobile devices are more efficient than store associates in helping them make buying decisions, Motorola reports.

Approximately 456 million Facebook members only access the network via mobile.

U.S. online adults are three times more likely to visit your website than engage with your brand on Facebook, per Forrester.

35% of holiday email click-throughs will happen on mobile, IBM forecasts.

Wal-Mart will match Amazon's prices in stores this holiday season.

The lack of smartphones held back Shazam pre-iPhone, according to a company executive appearing at the M1 Summit. You used to request and get an SMS with the name of a song.

75% of Pandora listening is on mobile, the company says.

The gap increases between mobile leaders and laggards in 2015, Forrester forecasts.

A new Usher song is available via download with info at the bottom of a box of Cheerios.

Folks with incomes lower than $100,000 a year plan to do more in-store shopping, according to Deloitte.

75% of HR managers say mobile HR can build satisfaction, per ADP.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: Wanna Pay To Experience My Life? Didn't Think So

An app on Google Glass will let people pay to watch a livestream of everything that you do. Name one person who would do that. In my case, neither my mom, wife, nor anyone else would.

I recommend that we get the basics right – location, device type, personalization and attribution - before we consider scented mobile ads.  This one smells like a gimmick.

Notifications via twitter.com rarely are accurate. When you look , nothing was retweeted and there is no new follower. What am I missing? Probably nothing.

Consumers choose brands that engage their passions 1.5 times more than those that just urge them to buy, Google says. That sounds low to me.

Another one that appears to be lacking? 62% of customers looking for a company on their smartphone expect a mobile-friendly website, according to Forrester.

In related news, 79 percent of mobile users who find a site difficult to use will leave and never return.

Kobe Bryant is reportedly among those pro athletes testing the capabilities of Apple’s  iWatch. Do you think that he put in a request to slow Father Time?

To those who believe all mobile rumors, remember that speculation about Amazon Fire pricing and supposed customer access to free data was dead wrong.

More evidence of convergence - SportsCenter now has a social media producer within ESPN’s control room for each show.

Too many pings or consumer value created? iBeacon has rolled out in 100 stores on one street in Europe.

What planet does this tweeter live on? “Can Facebook retool itself and dominate mobile or will it run its course?”

Gartner: 75% of mobile security breaches will be the result of mobile application misconfiguration.

Globally, the number of people who own use smartphones monthly is expected to increase more than 25% this year.

Sizing Up Amazon's Fire

My first takes on the Amazon Fire phone:

Online pre-orders for version one of a product from a company that hasn't made a mobile phone before? That tests the brand trust notion that Jeff Bezos played hard during his presentation today.

Through Firefly, Amazon’s Fire aims to be the quickest way to buy stuff – of course, from Amazon. That’s like the mall sending a car for you and speeding you to stores. Only much more efficient.

My TiVo always underdelivered so I’m wondering about the promise that Amazon can predict videos that I’m likely to stream, leading to the video beginning instantly.

Google’s Jason Spero, long one of the savviest in the industry, tweeted: “Amazon just built a phone designed for showrooming. Not clear to me that they will sell many. This is a feature.” Except showrooming often leads to Amazon and customers know that.

Consumers have lots of choices at $199 with a contract. Smartphone prices are dramatically lower than just six months ago. Value for the price is the big question here.

A July 25 ship date gets the Fire out long before the new iPhones. You don’t think there was pressure on Amazon employees to hit this timeline, do you?

Recognition - voice, face, product, person - is the next huge innovation in mobile. Will Amazon further deliver on a relevant, personalized advertising product that brands will spend against?

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: Picturing A Chief Instragram Officer Position

Picture this: a C-level job for taking photographs and uploading them. The Hillside Beach Club Resort in Turkey, which is a Hilton location, is hiring a "Chief Instagram Officer". I’m guessing that the only dough tied to this will come from the pastry chef readying the CIO for the day.

Via WatchESPN, 2 million devices watched the World Cup, NBA Finals and/or U.S. Open last Thursday. It’s a new record for a day.

Two of five Hispanic Millennials are mobile-only Internet users, comScore says.

Here’s a stat that I don’t believe - 85 percent of consumers expect to turn to a mobile app first for customer service over the next year. It came from Portio Research.

I enjoyed this tweet from respected mobile analyst Ross Rubin  - “Though I must say the colors on the Galaxy Tab S are more saturated than the fats in Cheesecake Factory menu items.”

There are smartphones as cheap as $25 in India and Indonesia, powered by Mozilla's Firefox. One quarter of the population worldwide will use a smartphone this year. Nine countries will surpass 50% smartphone penetration this year, eMarketer says. 

I believe that this is a great point from a Google executive speaking at SMX - asking a user on your mobile site to install your app is like asking a girl to be your girlfriend right after you introduce yourself.

There's an app to find where 1 or more of the 6 Oscar Mayer Weinermobiles are. You're welcome.

One in 5 mobile apps is run just once, according to Localytics. That’s low, but better than it used to be.

There is a smart hoodie sweatshirt that can post to Facebook and send text messages. Help us.

I have carried an iPhone since v1 in 2007.  I have not woken up one day hoping for a larger version. Have you?

I know that there are other "solutions" coming, but I’m shocked we're at this place with consistently inadequate and expensive in-flight WiFi via Gogo.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer -- Are Two-Year-Old Smartphones Useless or Good Enough?

I read on Business Insider where "80% or more of current iPhone users are due for a new phone because they're using old iPhones that are near the end of their useful lives." Says who? Two-year-old or more devices are “useless” for those with limited budgets?

Pew reports that 47% of those mobile users with a household income under $30,000 own a smartphone. Who says that they will put the next purchase of one before anything else?

Techcrunch took the same stance as I did. "The next two years will be the era of good-enough smartphones."

Integrated cross-platform ads are not driving reach, ROI: Nielsen. It’s the early days. The study doesn’t say that they won’t. It’s says that they aren’t.

That study aside, the obvious question from Mary Meeker's new Internet Trends report - with mobile adoption and usage so broad, why are brands slow to use the channel? Mobile now gets 11% of all the digital advertising spend.

Mobile advertising was up 47% year over year, Meeker noted.

The death of the tablet, eh? Tablet units are growing faster than PCs ever did -- +52% in 2013 , Meeker reported.

The U.S. market in on track to exceed $100 billion in mobile data revenues in 2014, analyst Chetan Sharma says.

As compelling as possible products that we'll see, I'm most intrigued by how ultra-strong personalities from Beats play within the Apple world.

A memorable tweet from Southwest Airlines: “You are now free to skip the printer: Mobile boarding passes land at all domestic Southwest airports!”

A new study says that 70% of retail marketers say personalization represents the future of marketing. Do the others think “one to all” will get it done?

Are these tons of World Cup apps meaningful or just for kicks?

Nearly a quarter of digital ad spending by U.S. healthcare and pharma firms will go toward mobile this year, eMarketer says.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "A Speedy Teenager Masters A Smartphone" Edition

A Brazilian teenager set the world record for input on a smartphone. In 18.19 seconds, he typed, “The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.” My reaction in 0.6 seconds? OMG.

A new app called The Boyfriend Log intends to be scorecard by which to judge a relationship. The guy gets scores for all things he does or doesn’t do. Boys, think of it as training camp for marriage. Treat it as seriously as football two-a-days.

Adidas plans shoes that look like your Instagram pictures. Finally. The wait has been unbearable.

ESPN has had eight consecutive months with more unique visitors on mobile devices than on computers.

Walking directions in Google Maps now include a "Get an Uber" option.

Google also is providing cyclists with elevation data to Maps bike routes.

Combined mobile and tablet commerce sales are expected to top $293 billion by 2018, Forrester says.

A Motorola executive says that every smartwatch released so far has been “pretty crappy”.  My experience with Fitbit pretty much fit that description.

26% of U.S. online adults using tablets and mobile phones say would be less productive without their phones. Isn’t that number really 100%?

Through Square, you can now order food and drinks from your phone and get a notification when it's ready to pick up.

An HP study states that 22% of customers say mobile increases the number of trips they make to brick and mortar stores.

Nearly one out of every three 18-24 year-olds is a mobile-only shopper, comScore reports.

Minnesota signed the nation's first "kill switch" law to thwart smartphone theft.

While several mobile advertising companies are showing slow growth, the medium is growing six times faster than the desktop Internet.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "BlackBerry Find" Edition

Nothing says that there are differences in mobile phone usage better than a photo that shows a teenager in England stuck in a storm drain trying to retrieve her BlackBerry. In America, a teenager would head down there and find hundreds of the less-than-popular device. Actually, he or she would never make the effort.

Eighty-five percent of time Twitter users spend on Twitter happens on a mobile device, comScore says. Also, mobile Twitter usage in big cities primarily comes from iPhones, according to a separate report.

Within days, there were 12 million downloads of Microsoft Office on iOS devices. As industry analyst Chetan Sharma points out, it was the most success Microsoft has had with mobile.

Forty-one years ago this month, the first cell phone call was made. The first mobile phones cost $3,300 each and had a battery life of about 20 minutes.

An Apple touchscreen patent shows the company supposedly has figured out when we’re mad at our iPhone. But what if we are mad at something else?

Are you marketing to older folks? Pew is out with a new report – 59 percent of senior citizens use the Internet; 77 percent have cell phones; 47 percent have broadband at home.

One third of wearable device wearers are ditching them, a new stat from Endeavor Partners says.

By the end of the year, there will be more active mobile devices than the population -- 7.3 billion.

The majority of global mobile video viewing in Q4 2013 was content more than 30 minutes.

Do you think March Madness took mobile users away from their devices? Hardly. Over half of U.S. smartphone and tablet users were using mobile to stay current.

In Nigeria, over 500 facilities are using mobile to diagnose and treat tuberculosis.

SMB mobile website adoption in America is now 23 percent, Hibu says.

YouTube gets 50 percent of time spent on mobile entertainment apps.

I wonder if my wife will be OK if I opt in for Hooters offers via SMS in the name of research.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Swiping at NFC Hype

7-Eleven and Best Buy stopped Near-Field communications (NFC) initiatives, delivering a blow to those who have hyped the heck out of the concept for years.

The White House is testing Samsung and LG phones. BlackBerry may be thrown out of Washington like an under-producing congressman.

Twitter is experimenting showing how many people saw your tweets. My guess is we overestimate how much of our content is seen in such a noisy digital world.

Apple may improve your iPhone's battery life by understanding your habits. Personalization rocks in mobile.

PayPal is working with mobile location tracking firm Placed to connect mobile ads to in-store visits.

I’m betting that you’ve seen many recently recount their first Tweet. I feel like it’s akin to sharing my lunch from today. Neither my mom nor wife cares. And neither do you.

Now you can tip in Starbucks mobile app through an iOS update.

Tribune's Newsbeat app lets robots read you the news in the car. As opposed to the human robots who read the news from your local station.

People in the U.S. are now spending almost an hour more per day on mobile devices than watching traditional TV, according to a Millward Brown survey.

Nielsen says most people have heard of wearables, and that one in six use one. That seems very high to me although it surprised me that Pebble sold 400,000 smartwatches in 2013.

Facebook will grow its share of worldwide mobile internet ad dollars to more than one in five this year--behind only Google, eMarketer says.

Amazon will soon begin shipping a video-streaming device.

Apple's iPhone 5c, described by many as a failure, outsold Blackberry and Windows Phone last quarter.

The mobile health market will top $49 billion by 2020, SAP forecasts.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: The "Invasion of the Wacky Insurance Woman" Edition

My tweet stream has been commandeered by marketers when I see the "consciousness" from Flo of Progressive Insurance.

Still wondering if there has been a meaningful migration of marketing dollars to mobile? Google will lose $1.4 billion in PC revenue this year as search shifts to mobile, according to eMarketer.

iOS bounced back in the U.S. to go past Android with 49 percent share, industry analyst Chetan Sharma says.

Google plans to open its first U.S. retail location in New York City.

Twitter is beta testing a “click-to-call” direct response button.

60 percent of the most-shared Super Bowl ads are the ones that are pre-released. Times have changed in this area, but not when it comes to mobile calls to action in spots.

The first headline I saw the other day - The end of advertising. There likely was one saying the same thing about television. Neither was based in reality.

Ads now beat porn as source for mobile malware.

The other day, I was having my fourth cup of coffee while deciding if I wanted to look at an app that will surely tell me not to drink so much. I didn’t look.

Headline on Mashable: It's Time to Ditch Your Wallet For Mobile Payments. My response? Ridiculous.

Oscar Mayer has created a device to turn your iPhone into a bacon-scented alarm clock. I doubt sales will sizzle.

No change with new numbers: Hispanics over-index on mobile devices, under-index on time spent with desktop PCs.

As a former journalist, it pains me each time I see purported pictures of coming iPhones. That's not reporting - that's link bait.

74 percent of executives say they have a digital strategy, but only 16 percent feel they have the ability to execute. Are you in that camp?

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "There's a Text For That" Edition

25 percent of married or partnered adults who text have texted their partner when they were both home together, according to Pew. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll pick up the dog poop soon” fits easily in the allotted character limit.

One more – 25 percent of cell phone owners in a marriage or partnership have felt their spouse or partner was distracted by their cell phone when they were together. I would’ve guessed this one is about 80 percent.

An app to help you write like Hemingway? Ernest or Seymour?

Office for iPad is reportedly coming before July. Nudge me if you’ve heard this in previous years.

Study: 78 percent of iPhone owners have ‘blind loyalty’ and will buy anything Apple makes.

Prices are going up for Gogo. Speeds? Not so much or at least so fast.

More than one billion Android devices have been activated and more than 700 million iOS devices sold: Forrester.

HTC is looking to low-end phones as a solution for dramatically fallen sales.

61 percent of shoppers use a smartphone before shopping, spend more on average than those who don't, according to Econsultancy.

Apple is said to have gathered an All-Star team of medical experts, scientists, and designers to build the iWatch. Another report says it may gauge signs of impending heart attack. I wonder how doctors will view this innovation.

An Android tablet for $30 not worth the money? True, according to revered tech reviewer Walt Mossberg, who said the Optik 2 is product that doesn’t even do core functions properly.

American Express has added a new live video chat feature to its iPad app.

New to the Sears ShopYourWay app is the ability to buy via mobile, then pick up the item at the nearest retail outlet within five minutes of parking outside the store.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Monkeys Flying" Edition

NBC received the highest Opening Ceremony ratings in 20 years. I’ve loudly complained that we should be able to see it live on mobile, online, or elsewhere. Given the numbers, that will happen when monkeys fly out of our “you know whats”.

NBC not-withstanding, we live in a real-time world. Imagine if Twitter delayed tweets the way NBC delayed coverage.

Samsung reportedly gave Olympians phones because it didn’t want to see the Apple logo at the Opening Ceremony.

Amazon has updated its iPhone app to enable users detect and buy products using the camera.

In Starbucks, I observed a woman in her 70's sitting with girl under 10. Both were on iPhones. What generational technology divide?

Despite the hype, doctors still turn to desktops for most work purposes, ahead of smartphones or tablets, according to eMarketer.

Mobile advertising was more than 75 percent of Twitter’s total advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013.

60 percent of mobile users expect a website to load in less than 3 seconds.

14 percent of people captured “naughty” content on a mobile device, according to McAfee. That depends on what your definition of “is” is.

Worldwide mobile data traffic will grow almost 11 times the next 4 years, Cisco says. Also, monthly mobile data traffic jumped 80 percent year-over-year in 2013.

25 years ago, half of the world's population had never made a telephone call, much less played Angry Birds.

70 percent of mining executives believe mobile devices have prevented accidents, according to SAP.

iPhone and iPad thefts alone accounted for 18 percent of all grand larcenies in New York City last year, according to the New York Police Department.

One billion people have tried Twitter and three quarters of them have stopped using it, according to multiple reports.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Leaky" Apps Edition

There’s a new term - "leaky” mobile apps, meaning ones that could compromise privacy. Reminds me of the joke of the guy who calls downstairs in the motel – “I have a leak in my sink.” The response: “You gotta do what you gotta do.”

Headline: Swallowing This Tiny Pill Will Let You Unlock All Your Password-Protected Devices. Reaction: gulp.

The Super Bowl live stream via Fox's app & Web site averaged 528,000 viewers without counting Verizon phone streams.

Microsoft’s Super Bowl ad on the empowerment from technology was powerful, but it was a surprise that the company didn’t push its mobile products and call for the same experience across all Microsoft devices.

55 percent of U.S. ebook readers have used a tablet to read digital books in the past year--up from 23 percent in Dec 2011.

Another “smartphone caught fire in the pocket” story. They almost always are hoaxes. News organizations are the ones burned.

CNN expects to see half its online traffic come from mobile this year.

In general, do marketers not ask consumers for permission because they are lazy or because they believe people aren't interested?

T-Mobile's attempts are admirable, but it was always going to get to carriers needing to be competitive on pricing when phones are similar.

Headline: New Payments Startups Face An Uphill Battle To Disrupt The Credit Card Processing Industry. So do old payments startups.

There’s a big boost in global smartphone shipments, but that metric has always been unsatisfactory. It’s about sales, not units sent from factories.

1,539 hours of NBC programming from Sochi and we can't see the Opening Ceremonies live on any platform, including mobile. What is this, 1964?

Facebook has passed 1.23 billion monthly active users with 945 million mobile users and 757 million daily users.

Also, Facebook’s mobile revenue is up four times year over year.

App downloads will double in the next four years, according to eMarketer.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Ramifications of High Expectations" Edition

There was an interesting Gigaom take on the delivery problems encountered by UPS during the holidays: "The internet has turned us into slaves of instant gratification." I see it a different way – businesses, even owners of small shops, can respond on demand. That’s key to selling, surviving and even thriving. And it’s not a bad thing.

More evidence that consumers want stuff fast. During the holidays, Amazon gained one million more subscribers to speedy Prime. Amazon sold a record 426 items per second before Christmas.

Google-acquired Bump is shutting down this month, ending the efforts by users to transfer data just by touching devices. That’s more than a bump in the road.

73 percent of U.S. adults ended 2013 being part of social networks. Pinterest passed Twitter in popularity.

Internet enabled TV didn’t even exist in 2011, but it’s already in 11 percent of U.S. homes, according to Nielsen.

One would think Gogo would improve its bandwidth before working with airlines on providing free content – the latest being weather information.

Sales from mobile devices reached 14.4 percent on Christmas Day vs. 5.3 percent on Christmas Day 2010—an increase of 172.9 percent, IBM reported.

40 percent of U.S. ad dollars are still being spent on TV ads.

I'm not in the camp looking for a larger iPhone screen. You?

When mobile isn't "mobile" - Over 60% of mobile shopping happens from the sofa.

Going into the gift season, nearly 1 in 5 kids under age 8 used a mobile device every day. The numbers have to be higher today.

Mobile makes up 51 percent of the email opens.

Lauded by pundits, Apple's holiday ad was surely a hit as families came together. It played well in my kitchen.

87 percent of moms use mobile, up 34% And they were the buying decision-makers before. It’s even easier now.

The Moto X print ad in the January issue of Wired changes colors on command to show customization.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: Aspirin Tablets To Handle Tablet Ad Blitz

 With a tablet advertising blitz coming between now and Christmas, we will need aspirin tablets. Microsoft is said to be coming big with Surface ads, but not quite to the Samsung spending level.

Despite those who want to convince you otherwise, Twitter is gaining in popularity among teens.  So is Instagram.

HTC will donate $1 for every Movember HairstoChange picture posted to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

T-Mobile's “free” tablet data plan costs $10 a month.

As my friend and keen industry analyst Ross Rubin says about early holiday sales, “If every day is Black Friday, no day is Black Friday.”

The strength of the Apple brand? I bought two iPad Airs for holiday giving sight unseen.

Almost half of Facebook's daily users are mobile-only. Please tell those who still view mobile and social in silos.

Facebook's mobile ad revenue was 49 percent of total ad revenue during third quarter (up from 14 percent in Q3 2012).

Home Depot approaches 100,000 mobile point of sale transactions per week.

For the first time ever, ESPN mobile properties saw more unique visitors than http://ESPN.com in September.

Yet another rumor of larger iPhone has me wondering whether I'm in small group that doesn't want size changed to bigger or smaller.

Heard about a tanning salon that had its best-ever Monday after sending out its first mobile blast. Mobile success doesn’t necessarily need scale – it needs customers.

How do you feel about this one? 38 percent of children under 2 use mobile media, a new study says.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google’s smartwatch will launch in the next few months. Marketers, please take a measured approach to wearables. It’s very early days of adoption.

Free registration for the Nov. 14 webinar with the Mobile Marketing Association, Mobivity, and Valley Yellow Pages - enabling local business to thrive with mobile https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/851664870.