Texting + Driving = Uh Oh.
The New York Times has posted a driving game that measures how your reaction time is affected by external distraction (i.e., text messages on your mobile phone). After playing this game for a few minutes, I can definitely say that I have a new appreciation for states like California and New York, which have banned cell phone use while driving.
Think you can multitask while driving? Click here to prove it.
Very recently, Punchkick Interactive was asked to create a mobile marketing campaign by a client representing Motel 6. The goal of the campaign was to influence the buying behavior of Hispanics who are traveling on spontaneous road trips.
The SMS campaign integrates with traditional radio advertising, and offers travelers a way to sign up for alerts of fun events in their destination city. Travelers who sign up receive three days of event information. Mobile Marketer wrote a great article summarizing the details of this campaign.
Certain SMS Messages Fail on the Palm Treo
This is just a quick note for all you mobile marketers out there. A very specific text string in an SMS message will not work on the Palm Treo—regardless of wireless carrier.
The issue is as follows. Sending a link WITH “http://” but WITHOUT “www” will not work. For instance, “Visit http://groups.google.com” won’t be delivered. However, “Visit http://www.groups.google.com” will be delivered. Very strange, but very fixable.
Adriana Gil Miner created a great video for her blog, Digital Ecologist, outlining today’s issues with SMS spam, privacy, and how mobile marketing law in the United States may be influenced over the next several years by the CAN SPAM Act. This follows up on Pogue’s Post about The Worst Spam Ever.
Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile marketing capabilities.
SMS campaign demonstration. Feedback requested.
We are experimenting with sending phones SMS messages based on actions within a Flash Lite movie. To test this, we have implimented a way for our visitors to sample an SMS campaign—simply type your mobile number in the form located at the top right of our blog. Use the following format: 12165261544 (country code + area code + local number). Unfortunately, we have not been able to test this on all carriers or outside of the United States. If you do test this, please comment on the success or failure of the text message delivery by including your country and cell phone carrier.
Thanks for your help!
How To Cancel Verizon Wireless Without An Early Termination Fee
Verizon Wireless is increasing their text messaging rates by 50% and you can use that to get out of your contract. (Starting March 1 it will cost you 15 cents to send and receive instead of 10 cents.) A cancellation script was constructed on another blog for people to use during the call. They use scripts on us so why shouldn’t we have one too?
You can view the script here. It’s helping quite a few people cancel without a fee. Even if you don’t want to cancel your contract with them, you should still use it to get a credit on text messaging for the remaining life of your contract. Do it before March 1. Thirty minutes of your time can save you over fifty bucks.
Source: The Consumerist and Roosh
Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s custom mobile software development capabilities.
Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) February 1, 2007 — Mobile technology is the newest media channel of advertising, say market researchers. And with over 200 million mobile phone users in America, today’s mobile phones have become capable of much more than flashy ringtones. The possibilities for creative marketing and product branding are limitless — and innovative design firms are taking notice.
Cleveland-based design firm Punchkick Interactive recently made the leap to mobile when it shifted gears from Web design to working exclusively with mobile devices.
“We saw a potential for unbelievable growth,” said Punchkick Interactive co-founder Ryan Unger. “Mobile marketing is so new that we haven’t come close to seeing its full capabilities. It’s like the Internet of the early 90s — a sleeping giant.”
And he’s not alone in his belief. This year alone, billions will be spent on mobile phone based advertising, and an increasing number of companies are recognizing the value of non-traditional marketing strategies. The recent success of viral videos on YouTube® have proven that niche marketing can be a powerful way to stretch advertising dollars and produce impressive results.
Mobile marketing can take on a number of different forms, including product-branded games, text-message campaigns and customized mobile applications.
“Mobile development can be challenging because it requires a strong grasp of programming and interface design in order to develop content compatible with different mobile phones,” added Unger. “Every phone is unique and has its own screen size and memory specifications.”
“Nevertheless,” he said, “It’s a type of marketing that, when done correctly, can create an incredible impact.”
Jott.com :: Think it. Jott it. Do it.
Voice-powered, hands-free Messaging and To Do Lists
I just found a new site that offers a really great free messaging service (and I was not alone).
“Obscenely simple…incredibly clever”
– Christopher Null, Yahoo! Tech
Jott.com basically lets you call an 800 number to save a voice message. The innovative thing is that Jott.com takes your voicemail and transcribes it to text messages or e-mail and sends the message to a recipient of your choice. It’s pretty cool. Check out jott.com here.
A Jott is a thought, an idea, a task, an action item, a phone number, a gift, a check list for your move, a to-do for today, a request from a customer, a moment in time, a restaurant recommendation — it’s anything you want to offload to remember later. You can Jott yourself or you can Jott a contact.
How do I Jott?
No matter where you are – you can Jott instantly. If you’re out and about, just dial 877-568-8486 and say your Jott at the beep. Or send an email to jott@jott.com. Or click on the “New Jott” button at http://jott.com.
The Essential Mobile WAP and Web Site Development Tools and Resources
If anyone is interested in designing or developing WAP sites for mobile phones, I have found some very useful information and put together this list of 11 essential tools for mobile Web development. You can also learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile WAP and Web Site development capabilities.
Tools and Resources:
1. Mobi Ready score
Get your free page analysis and Mobi Ready score. This report tests the mobile-readiness of your site using industry best practices & standards
2. XHTML mobile phone emulator
Type in your .com / .net / .org / .biz, etc. site address and you can check how your site looks to a typical mobile phone user. Available handsets are the Nokia n70 and a Sony K750.
3. Submit Your Mobile Site to yahoo.com
This form lets you submit a mobile site to yahoo.com so that the mobile site will be included in search results when someone searches via their mobile handset at http://wap.yahoo.com.
4. The Mobile Domainatron
The Mobile Domainatron demonstrates a domain name’s mobile usability including: Calculating total keystrokes required to input the domain name on a typical i-mode mobile.
5. Mimic
Mimic (formerly i-Mimic) emulates either an N400i (European) or N505i (Japanese) i-mode mobile. Simply enter a URL and select the mobile you want to emulate.
6. YOSPACE.com phone emulators
You can either use the free online emulator for the 40+ handsets or you can use the standalone developer version on your PC. From here you can download the standalone version with a restriction of 5 minutes of use. Alternatively, you can buy a single user license is £299 + UK VAT.
7. WURFL – the Wireless Universal Resource File
The WURFL is an XML configuration file which contains information about capabilities and features of several wireless devices. The main scope of the file is to collect as much information as possible about all the existing wireless devices that access WAP pages so that developers will be able to build better applications and better services for the users.
8. Article :: The Mobile Web Top 10
Pukupi’s top 10 hints for building interoperable mobile web sites really spells out much of what has been questioned regarding mobile Web site development.
9. Article :: Making Small Devices Look Great
Opera has put together this wonderful resource that gives code examples, tips, and emulator advice for developing mobile XHTML pages.
10. Article :: Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web
This document gives general guidelines for web developers and content authors who are searching for directions to help create sites for the mobile web.
11. Blog :: http://www.handheldusability.com/
Handheld Usability is the first book to cover the emerging field of handheld product design. The book covers everything from product design cycles to optimum menu length and audicon (audio-icon) characteristics. Read the first chapter and preview other sections here.
Dodgeball.com – Using LBS, this tool finds friends and crushes near you
This may be old news but it is new news to me. One of Time Magazine’s 50 best sites is actually valid as a best site. http://www.dodgeball.com lets you join a community that uses location-based services (LBS) to find other community members via your mobile.
Basically, you log in via your cell and send an SMS message with your location—this gets broadcast to your friends. The other service dodgeball.com offers is notifying your crushes (that you define via dodgeball.com) that you are within 10 city blocks of them. It’s pretty cool. The homepage has an animated tutorial.
Learn more: http://www.dodgeball.com
