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Dx3 a hit! And Plastic Mobile’s Candy Shop was a sweet treat for all attendees

by Sarah Plummer on 27th January 2012

The inaugural Dx3 was a huge success! A pat on the back to the team that worked so hard to bring this digital forum together for the very  first time.

Also a resounding success at Dx3 was our Plastic Mobile Candy Shop, a creative exhibit illustrating the growing relationship between mobile and retail and the future of m-commerce. Our candy shop was the talk of the show (not to brag) and so much fun for our whole team – possibly because they sailed through the whole forum on a serious sugar high!

As well, a shout out to bNotions, who’s team of developers stayed corralled in a boxing ring for 48 hours until they completed a program. Whoa. That’s digital determination. We like to think our candy helped them get through the crunch, but whatever stimulants they  used to complete the job, amazing work!

Plastic Mobile’s CEO and COO, Sep Seyedi and Melody Adhami, had a great time speaking and being interviewed about their thoughts on the future of mobile and commerce and their team’s awesome booth. Plastic Mobile can’t wait for next year’s Dx3 – who knows what we’ll come up with next?!

Shame on you if you missed the first-ever Dx3, but check out this video of our slightly silly, totally interactive and undeniably adorable mobile candy buying experience.

Plastic Mobile in the News: Melody Adhami Talks Pizza and Mobile

by Sarah Plummer on 19th January 2012
The news of Pizza Pizza’s 111 111th order resonated far and wide…and when we say far, we mean FAR. Radu Tysrina in Romania interviewed Plastic Mobile’s President and COO, Melody Adhami, about the success of the award-winning app. Radu praises the Pizza Pizza app for it’s core functionality – marvelling at the ease and convenience of ordering pizza through an app. He then turns to Melody to detail more about the experience in creating and using the app.
Visit his site to read the full interview and learn more about the creation and development of Canada’s first-ever pizza ordering app.

Plastic Mobile Has Breakfast with Deloitte’s Duncan Stewart

by Sarah Plummer on 17th January 2012

…as well as about 750 other execs, media personnel and tech enthusiasts, but, whatever.

At 7:30 this morning, this odd pastiche of professionals piled into the SONY Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, ON, to hear Duncan Stewart, Director of Technology, Media and Telecommunications, entertain and educate about Deloitt’e annual #TMTPredictions.

The tech arm of the professional services giant put together some very interesting facts and advice on what’s in store for our evolving industry in 2012. Among the most interesting prophecies were:

  • continued growth of the ever-surprising TV
  • the advent of data caps in many leading countries (i.e. the death of unlimited ISP deals. Le sigh.)
  • the metamorphosis of our smartphones and tablets to “little PVRs”; and
  • the immediate future of NFCs (hint: it’s not what you think).

One mobile prediction that really stood out was the hypothesis that the purchase of tablets would continue to increase, but that it would be less by new buyers and more concentrated by a secondary tablet in the home – apparently we’re not very good at sharing with our families.

Likewise, while the creation of apps continues to surge, Duncan Stewart pointed out that a great number of them are not unique - meaning that, while a number of new apps are being developed, so are existing apps being expanded to cover other operating systems. So, an app that was made last year for iOS, may this year be added to the Android and Microsoft markets.

According to Duncan Stewart, developing a mandate (like we have here at Plastic, not to brag, but we’re just saying) to develop cross-platform apps as often as possible, or as often as makes sense for our partners, will be crucial to increasing efficiencies in the future, and staying competitive in the mobile game.

Watch Plastic Mobile’s Friday Video Blog: 60 Mobile Seconds With Melody Adhami

by Sarah Plummer on 13th January 2012

Every Friday, Plastic Mobile brings you a video blog that answers some of the burning questions surrounding mobile, e-commerce, the future of retail and other exciting mobile topics. Watch the “Queen of Apps,” Melody Adhami, and other industry experts, squeeze their answers into “60 Mobile Seconds” (or, close enough, anyway).

Lexus & American Airlines Get Mobile Right!

by Alireza Ghorbani on 3rd January 2012

2011 was a big year for mobile and it seems 2012 is set to maintain the same momentum and push mobile even further. Let’s start 2012 by looking at two companies that are finding unique ways to provide added value and convenience to their customers. First we have Lexus – the luxury division of automotive giant Toyota – who has introduced myLFS, an iPhone and iPod touch application that allows Lexus customers to pay their bills online.

Building on the personal nature of mobile devices, Lexus has also found a great way for its brand to constantly stay in direct contact with its end consumers, providing them with company news and current specials. Although mobile payments are still some time from mass adoption, and there have been studies showing consumers are mainly hesitant due to security reasons, this hasn’t deterred Lexus. Instead, they have paid attention to consumer needs and tackled the problem head on by enhancing security measures incorporated in the app, and promising their customers that their personal information will be safe and sound.

Next, we have American Airlines. This organization is utilizing the mobile platform in their new ad campaign to allow consumers book and change flights. The ads run on TV Guide’s mobile app, and upon clicking the ad the consumer is redirected to a mobile landing page where they can enter their account credentials in order to book flights, change dates, check in or simply view their mobile boarding pass. With traditional media advertising costs so high, and the financial turmoil most airlines face these days, mobile advertising can be a great economical way to reach consumers, especially since more and more consumers are using their mobiles and their primary means of going online.

Both these companies have found different ways to harness the power of mobile and strive toward essentially the same goal. By providing their consumers with great service they are incubating brand affinity and increasing loyalty, allowing them to get closer to their customer’s true lifetime value.

Mobile Snippet: The Mobile Invasion Continues!

by Sarah Plummer on 21st December 2011

The mobile space has set the wheels in motion for its world domination…well, maybe not quite. But we’re getting there according to research firm Berg Insight, which reported this week that mobile is expected to grow from $3.4 billion in 2010 (at a compound annual growth rate of 37 percent) to $22.5 billion in 2016. Yikes! The report suggests that by 2016, mobile will account for 15.2 per cent of all global online advertising and marketing spending.

While mobile has been a bit of a nouveux trend until now, with some savvy and innovative agencies testing the waters, Berg Insight suggests that companies have begun changing their strategies to incorporate mobile into their annual ad plans as a key media component. Rickard Andersson, telecom analyst for Berg Insight, stated in the article from GIGAOM: “The popularity of smartphones and the increasing availability of mobile media that can include mobile advertising are the main game changers. Brands are now progressively embracing the mobile channel, including the entire range of apps from games and entertainment to utility applications.” He suspects that, while in-app ads have been the leaders in mobile marketing thus far, the advent of HTML5 brings traditional channels such as SMS as well as mobile web advertising, back on the table. He thinks that location-based advertising has the potential to unleash the full power of mobile advertising.

Location-based advertising is certainly having a hay-day in the world of mobile commerce, and should continue to be a driver of the mobile ad world. We second the emotion that it would be to a brand’s benefit to find new and innovative ways to employ mobile campaigns to enhance other advertising channels, and vice versa.

Advancing Mobile Investing One ETF App at a Time

by Sarah Plummer on 8th December 2011

Today was a big day at Plastic. The Marketing Intern brought in homemade chocolate chips cookies so we were all on a major sugar high for the launch of “ETF Central,” our latest app that was created in partnership with Claymore Investments, a subsidiary of Guggenheim Funds Services Group, Inc.

Because a part of our mandate is to pioneer innovative products and solutions that allow the financial industry to expand into the mobile space, we wanted to be sure that ETF (Exchange-traded Funds) Central met all of the user needs, in an engaging and easy-to-use format.

So, employing both tech and creative wizardry (our magical formula for super apps) we created a sophisticated tool that sets the bar for excellence in the financial space. Voila! ETF Central. A new, free, customized, dual-purpose mobile app available on BlackBerry, PlayBook, iPhone and iPad.

ETF Central satisfies both the need to better educate users unfamiliar with the relatively new exchange-traded funds, as well as allows them to manage their ETF investments easily and conveniently. The app puts all Canadian-listed ETFs into the user’s palm, allowing them to view market prices of all TSX listed ETFs, create and track their ETF portfolio, view ETF educational resources, link to all online brokerages to trade ETFs, track upcoming ETF events and more. Ultimately, it’s a pretty outstanding financial gadget.

The leading force behind the app creation, and our very own “Queen of Apps,” Melody Adhami was excited to launch ETF Central as ETFs represent a sizable industry, but public awareness about them has been limited. She and our team here at Plastic Mobile set out to create a tool that would both educate and manage ETFs for the average user/investor. To read the full media release, click here.

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Android vs. iOS: Who Will Reign Supreme?

by Sarah Plummer on 5th December 2011

The battle continues over which is the superior platform – Android or iOS. Everyone from users to marketers have weighed in with their future predictions, past musings and current praises and complaints. From a developer’s perspective, things remain uncertain and, at times, contradictory. Here’s the low down based on the latest research.

A couple of months back, the general opinion was that app developers were turning their attention to Android over iOS, because of its rapidly increasing market share. A survey from Appcelerator indicated that the momentum was shifting in favour of Android, closing the gap on current app development that traditionally favoured iOS. The idea behind the supposed shift was that the Android platform is considered to have the best long-term outlook.

The latest news, however, turns that theory upside down. It appears that Android continues to take a back seat to iOS, in part because, well, it’s not as mainstream cool (those Mac commercials still make us chuckle). While Android operating system is still the big winner on the charts (46.3% of US smartphone owners running the mobile operating system) according to the Strategy Analytics’ survey, “App Developer Attitudes and Behaviours,” it seems that Apple’s iOS platform remains near and dear to developers’ hearts, with 51% saying they plan to write for the “iTeam” (iPod, iPad and iTouch) platforms in 2012. Yes, Android is fast approaching a majority share in smartphones among US customers, but it now seems that the platform is suffering among its app builders, with interest rising only 30% from 23% in 2011. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

That being said, it seems that Apple’s status among the people writing app code comes from the multiple device types now using the operating system, with the iPhone down 26%. In fact, the real growth for iOS comes from the iPad, which attracted only 8% of developers last year, but will get 19% in 2012 (+138%). With more than half a million apps now cataloged in the Apple App Store, over 150,000 are compatible with or written specifically for the iPad.

Experts such as Strategy Analytics report author and Director of Apps Research, Josh Martin, expect that money will talk and developers will continue to favour platforms that offer the most diverse ways of generating revenue.

Piper Jaffrey recently estimated that Apple’s App Store substantially outperforms the Android marketplace for developers, with Apple responsible for about 80% to 90% of revenue generated by the app market.

What do you think? Will iOS continue to corner the market in app developers despite Android’s appetite for market share? Or will the interest in the iTeam fizzle out and watch Android steal their fan base?

A Surge in Smartphone Adoption Rates in Canada

by Alireza Ghorbani on 2nd December 2011

This week, the Internet marketing research giant and data specialist, comScore, released its MobiLens service data, revealing key trends in the Canadian smartphone industry. As of September 2011, eight million Canadians owned smartphones – a figure representing 40% of the total mobile market in Canada. The highly anticipated data reveals that the Canadian smartphone adoption rates are increasing aggressively; with a seven per cent increase in just the past six months! One surprising fact to come out of the comScore data was that RIM still leads the pack with a 35.8% market share, albeit, followed closely by Apple’s 30.1%. Also, although Google’s Android is sitting in the number three spot with only 25%, it is important to note that Android has doubled its market share during the last six months; corresponding fluidly with the global surge in Android device purchases within the past few months. (FYI: Android gobbled up more than half of all global smartphones sales in Q3 alone!) The dying fossil Symbian is ranked at the fourth spot, with 4.2%, followed by the new kid on the block, Microsoft (at 3.2%).

Top Smartphone Platforms in Canada (As of September 2011) Source: comScore MobiLens
% of Smartphone Subscribers
RIM 35.8%
Apple 30.1%
Google 25.0%
Symbian 4.2%
Microsoft 3.2%
Total 100.0%

In terms of content use, it seems Canadians are using the phones to consume a very wide and diverse range of content and information, and of course to no surprise, the smartphone users are outdoing the feature-phone users in every form and aspect of mobile content consumption, as shown in the chart below.  With such a fast pace of smartphone adoption and such diverse and broad range of smartphone use, the Canadian market is shaping to be the perfect place for businesses to embrace mobile technology and provide the added comfort and value that the Canadian consumers are soon going to automatically expect.  Instead of waiting for mobile access to become a mainstream consumer service before you invest the necessary resources, which you will inevitably have to do, we suggest hopping on the mobile train in its relative infancy, and taking advantage of its current indie and avant-garde profile to garner some serious respect and up your street cred, or as we say in the marketing world “gain some competitive advantage by becoming and early adopter.”  For being so forward thinking.

Mobile Content Usage (As of September 2011) Source: comScore MobiLens
% of Mobile Subscribers % of Smartphone Subscribers
Sent text messages 67.4% 88.1%
Used downloaded application 40.9% 84.2%
Accessed news and information 39.5 % 79.3%
Used browser 36.9% 74.8%
Used email (work or personal) 32.7% 69.3%
Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog 29.2% 60.7%
Played games 28.0% 53.2%
Accessed weather 27.5% 60.2%
Accessed search 24.2% 51.2%
Listened to music on mobile phone 20.8% 40.7%
Accessed maps 20.1% 44.4%
Accessed sports information 14.8% 31.5%
Accessed entertainment news 14.2% 29.5%
Accessed bank accounts 13.5% 28.8%
Scanned QR/bar code with mobile phone 8.1% 18.1%
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100%

Pizza Pizza iPhone Ordering App hits 111,111 orders!

by Sarah Plummer on 30th November 2011
The outstanding mobile application, launched  last April, continues to hit major milestones, set records and win awards – most notably our Ripple Award (from the CMA) and our coveted Webby.
Recently, Pizza Pizza’s ordering app marked it’s 111, 111th order – a testament to the app’s easy-to-use design and high-quality imagery, as well as the extreme customer convenience of the ever-growing mobile market. Watch a demo or download the app here.
Click PM_iPhone Milestone_Press Release_FINAL to read the press release, or reach out on Twitter @plasticmobile or email at press@plasticmobile.com to learn more or arrange an interview with our COO, President and very own “Queen of Apps”, Melody Adhami.

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