“Apps [Native] really aren’t necessary at a UI level. Good software engineering plus offerings like Sencha are making it clearer and clearer. Let’s pick away at the rest of the app process until it’s gone, and we’re back to the web.”
Create Your Own QR Codes with Delivr.
In our last post, “QR Code Tracking for Everyone” we mentioned how easy it is to generate a QR Code using Delivr. This video produced for Ketchum (by an intern) shows how simple it is. Thank you unknown intern.
Delivr. Effortless sharing with a tricked-out, mobile-friendly URL.
QR Code Tracking for Everyone
PercentMobile now offers a tracking solution for QR Codes that allows everyone to launch and analyze real-world QR Code campaigns. Tracking for QR Codes is also available for integration into 3rd party QR Code and other 2D Barcode platforms. This service is currently available by request.
The 3 Steps of our QR Code Tracking Process Explained.
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Create, Distribute, & Scan
- QR Code is created by PercentMobile with a short URL that redirects to the campaign landing page/media URL. This URL contains tracking code that posts the visit to PercentMobile before the 301 redirect. You can also generate QR Codes elsewhere and add our tracking code to 301 redirect pages that you host.
- QR Code is distributed via ad, sticker, packaging, poster, publication, billboard, or wherever else you would include a URL.
- Consumer sees and scans QR Code using their phone and any 2D barcode reader capable of reading a QR Code.
- The QR Code reader decodes the embedded short URL, launches the phone’s mobile Web browser, and sends the consumer to the embedded URL.
- Track & Deliver
- Behind the scenes: Data about the scan and visit is posted to PercentMobile’s Tracking Server.
- Consumer experience: The embedded URL immediately redirects to the campaign landing page/media URL for the consumer to consume and enjoy.
- Process & Report
- PercentMobile processes and reports the results of the QR Code campaign.
What are QR Codes?
QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are 2D Barcodes readable by mobile phones with a camera and QR Code Reader. The code consists of black (or other color) modules arranged in a square pattern on a white or high contrast background. The information encoded can be text, a URL, or other data.
Create a QR Code.
To see how easy it is to create a QR Code visit the free QR Code Generator at Delivr.
QR Codes Are Available Under Your Own Domain Name.
Build additional trust around the QR Codes you create, share, and track. Custom Domains by PercentMobile let you host your QR Codes at a domain of your own like “myurl.com/XXXXX” or “qr.myurl.com/XXXXX”. You can also roll your own solution and maintain everything on your own server with PercentMobile handling tracking and reporting only.
Get QR Code Reader.
Scanning QR Codes requires the installation of a QR Code Reader on your phone. To find and download a QR Code Reader search your device’s App Store or visit http://percentmobile.com/getqr with your mobile phone. PercentMobile will identify your make/model device and provide you with a handpicked list of 3rd party QR Code Readers.
How to Get Started.
Learn more about how PercentMobile can provide rich mobile analytics for your QR Code Campaigns.
QR Code® is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated in Japan and other countries. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Install applications at your own risk.
Are Mobile Apps Derailing Your Social Media Strategy?
“Jessica is on her phone and sees an interesting tweet from a friend with a link to MTV. But when she clicks on it, she’s taken to a generic, unoptimized mobile Web site, not the shiny app MTV she just installed.”
Social media giants Twitter and Facebook are deeply embedded in today’s mobile ecosystem through SMS, Mobile Sites, Apps/Widgets and OS level integration such as on the INQ1. They are imperative for marketing efforts of big brands. Messages in the stream often consist of a text message accompanied by a short URL linking to media on the web. URLs are always opened in the device’s main browser or an embedded browser in some twitter apps. URLs cannot be used to open applications, even if an application with the content is installed on the device. As such, the mobile browser is central to consume information pushed through social networks on mobile devices.
Neglecting the Mobile Web for a native App can thwart your Social Media Strategy.
Mobile Web and Social Media form a synergistic relationship. A brand that understands this will direct efforts to appear as best as possible on all major mobile web browsers. The contradiction we have been noticing is that there are brands with a large social network following, but no mobile compatible URLs, due to their efforts going solely towards mobile application development. Take MTV for example, with close to 900,000 followers on Twitter and close to 10,000 tweets. They also have a popular application on the Apple App Store. The trouble is that none of their links are mobilized. Any URL in their tweets brings you to a Web site solely designed for the desktop Web with a high reliance on Adobe Flash which is not compatible or does not work well on many mobile devices.
MTV is just one example that illustrates the need for brands to support their social efforts with an excellent, connected mobile Web experience.
Android OS - The First 100 Devices
Since the first appearance of an Android OS Device in October 2008, PercentMobile has recorded mobile web activity for more than 100 different Android OS devices. This is roughly one new device per week over the past 2 years. Considering that it took almost 6 months for the second Android OS device to appear, the growth rate is nothing short of astonishing. Not everything that Google does such as Wave, Latitude, and Buzz is granted success and acceptance, but those were toys for the fringe. Globally dominating the future of Web with its open source operating system is what you call a good long term strategy. The first versions of the operating system weren’t as polished and perfect as its iOS counterpart, but the Google Android team is fast and agile as a lean startup. Android went through more iterations of its OS then any other competitor and is quickly approaching maturity. We don’t believe that they will simply out-muscle everyone else. Apple iOS and BlackBerry OS are formidable modern Operating Systems that run on amazing devices. Nokia, however, with its ancient Symbian OS running on mainly old-fashioned devices, will have an even harder time while they make it more difficult for future impostures such as Windows Phone to reach significant market share. It will still take time for Android to level with Apple and BlackBerry, but when they do, duck for cover. Here is to the first 100!!
All watched over by machines of loving grace…and Steve Jobs?
This post has been sitting in our draft folder since April but with Apple and Google preparing for a mobile advertising battle we figured we would update it a bit and publish.
All watched over by machines of loving grace.
Several years ago Adam Greenfield wrote an article titled, “All watched over by machines of loving grace: Some ethical guidelines for user experience in ubiquitous-computing settings”. Adam provided some general principles for us to observe as designers and developers. We always keep these guidelines nearby. Here they are.
- Principle 0, Is, of course, first, do no harm.
- Principle 1. Default to harmlessness. Ubiquitous systems must default to a mode that ensures their users’ (physical, psychic and financial) safety.
- Principle 2. Be self-disclosing. Ubiquitous systems must contain provisions for immediate and transparent querying of their ownership, use, capabilities, etc., such that human beings encountering them are empowered to make informed decisions regarding exposure to same.
- Principle 3. Be conservative of face. Ubiquitous systems are always already social systems, and must contain provisions such that wherever possible they not unnecessarily embarrass, humiliate, or shame their users.
- Principle 4. Be conservative of time. Ubiquitous systems must not introduce undue complications into ordinary operations.
- Principle 5. Be deniable. Ubiquitous systems must offer users the ability to opt out, always and at any point.
What do these ethical guidelines have to do with Steve Jobs and Apple?
Along with Apple’s announcement of iPhone OS 4 in March the iPhone Developer Agreement was updated to restrict how device data is shared between applications and 3rd parties so to improve consumer privacy. Some have argued that Apple really doesn’t care about consumer privacy and that the intention of this update was to cripple competition to iAds, specifically Google. While that may be an outcome, the agreement changes could also be interpreted to represent a step by Apple to watch over their carefully crafted user experience and coveted, insanely loyal consumer base.
Our mapping of the ethical guidelines above and the updated iPhone Developer Agreement.
Updated Section 3.3.9 of the iPhone Developer Agreement.
3.3.9 The following requirements apply to You and Your Application’s use, collection, processing, maintenance, uploading, syncing, storage, transmission, sharing and disclosure of User Data:
- All use of User Data collected or obtained through an Application must be limited to the same purpose as necessary to provide services or functionality for such Application. For example, the use of User Data collected on and used in a social networking Application could be used for the same purpose on the website version of that Application; however, the use of location-based User Data for enabling targeted advertising in an Application is prohibited unless targeted advertising is the purpose of such Application (e.g., a geo-location coupon application). - See Principle 4 above.
- You may only provide or disclose User Data to third parties as necessary for providing services or functionality for the Application that collected the User Data, and then only if You receive express user consent. For example, if Your Application would like to post a message from a user to a third party social networking site, then You may only share the message if the user has explicitly indicated an intention to share it by clicking or selecting a button or checking a box that clearly explains how the message will be shared. - See Principle 3 above.
- Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, Device Data may not be provided or disclosed to a third party without Apple’s prior written consent. Accordingly, the use of third party software in Your Application to collect and send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis is expressly prohibited. - See Principle 1 above.
- You must provide information to users regarding Your use and/or Transmission of User Data and explain how Your Application will use User Data, e.g., by providing information in the App Store marketing text that accompanies Your Application on the App Store, by adding an About box within Your Application, or by adding a link to Your privacy policy on Your website. - See Principle 2 above.
- You and the Application must take appropriate steps to protect any User Data from unauthorized disclosure or access. If a user ceases to consent to Your use and/or Transmission of User Data, You must promptly cease all such use and/or Transmission and destroy any such information from Your records (except to the limited extent necessary for Your Application back- ups and record-keeping or as otherwise prohibited by law). - See Principle 5 above.
Note: PercentMobile provides mobile analytics for Desktop/Mobile Sites and Web Apps delivered via a phone’s Web Browser and have chosen not to be distracted by Mobile Application Tracking. The availability of hundreds of thousands of apps is great, but our interest is currently focused on helping people understand the mobile ecosystem and behavior/actions of the mobile audience to billions of desktop and mobile Web pages.
Mobile Internet in Emerging Markets
The recent Economist contained an article on the expected rise in the mobile Internet usage in the so called BRICI countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Indonesia).
http://www.economist.com/node/16944020
What is their current mobile Internet ecosystem?
Nokia holds the lion’s share of close to 50%, followed by Samsung, SonyEricsson and BlackBerry with 13%, 8% and 7%. The rest splinters off into a lot of small segments. Apple surprisingly reaches already a 2.8% share. Android OS is virtually non existent with a mere 0.3%. What is interesting is that while close to 60% of the devices were purchased in the last 2 years only 15% are Smartphones or Experience Phones. This is en par with Europe, but lower then North America.
Unsurprisingly, WiFi usage is only 15% (North America and Europe reach 30%), this makes sense according to the Economist article which states that broadband access is either not readily available everywhere or expensive. It is however very interesting to see that the rate of WiFi usage for devices that support WiFi is over 60%, in Europe and North America this ratio is 30%.
PercentMobile Takes a Look at Which Countries are the Most “QR Code Ready.”
The map below depicts the percentage of mobile Web traffic from devices that have the ability to install a QR Code Reader.
It’s Apple in the Air
In their most lucid dreams the Wright Brothers may have thought of flying to the Moon or having an entire city floating in the sky, but the thought of having instant access to all of the world’s knowledge probably never crossed their minds. This implausible power belonged in the realm of gods. Now with the Hertzian space expanding upwards we find ourselves with this power. What mobile devices are used for these flights of networked fancy?
It appears Apple has done an even better job in the air than it has done on the ground. Over 90% of in-flight mobile web usage that PercentMobile has measured in the last 3 months has come from Apple Devices. The newly released iPad ranked first with a solid 41% — no surprise considering its extra long battery life. The iPhone ranked second with 38%, with the iPod adding an additional 15%. It also hasn’t hurt that Apple has made it drop dead simple to toggle on Airplane Mode and WiFi from each of these devices.
