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iPad aka iSlate aka Apple Tablet - Finally released!

Apple's iPad

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs has finally announced their much anticipated device and ‘latest creation’ - The iPad.  The iPod looks like a large iPhone with a enhanced OS X like interface.  Some of it’s specs includes:

  • 0.5 inches thin
  • 1.5 pounds
  • 9.7 inch IPS display
  • full capacitive multi-touch
  • 1 GHz Apple A4 Chip
  • 16 GB - 64 GB Flash storage
  • Wifi 802.11 N
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
  • Speaker, Mic, 30 Pin connector
  • Accelerometer
  • Compass
  • 10 hour battery (1 month in standby)

Other interesting points:

  • It is fully capable of running iPhone applications straight out of the box (normal and stretched modes) and iPad apps that take advantage of it’s full large screen and much more
  • To compete with e-book readers that have become pretty popular, Apple has created an iPad app that fully implements an e-book reader on the iPad
  • Includes iWork for the iPad - which is Apple’s version of Microsoft Office that has been redesigned for the iPad  ($10 for each iWork app - Keynote, Pages, etc.)
  • Easily connects to projectors
  • WiFi and 3G
  • 3G Models are contract-free (US only)
  • $500

This is DEFINITELY a game changer when it comes to mobile marketing and the entire mobile industry.  We are now definitely going to see greater, more interactive, and enjoyable experiences while on the go.

Plastic Mobile will be fully supporting bringing mobile experiences to life on the iPad by developing iPad apps for our clients.  Please contact us for further information.

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Enjoy some pictures of the new iPad courtesy of Engadget:








Posted on January 27th 2010 in Announcement, Apple, Apple Tablet, Mobile Innovation, Mobile Marketing News, Mobile technology, iPhone | No Comments »

It really is the mobile decade when a UK church has a mobile blessing ceremony

Just last night I posted an entry where I claimed that it is definitely the mobile decade and just as morning hits, my words are being validated.  How you ask? Just take a look at the top headlines on Yahoo news and you will see.

A church in the UK has held a ceremony in which about 80 participants brought their mobile phones to get blessed in a formal ceremony.   The idea came from a historic tradition where workers would bring the tools of their trade such as ploughs to be blessed on the first Monday after people return to work following Christmas.  And that is exactly what they did on this Monday January 11th, 2010 ceremony.  They brought their work tools and parishioners took out cell phones as Rev. Canon David Parrott recited a blessing over them and their electronic devices. A few held their phones up in the air as he ran through the prayer and blessed their most sacred devices.

My point proven! It really is the mobile decade when mobile devices find a formal place in the religious institutions.

Posted on January 11th 2010 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

Is it the year of the mobile yet?

I am always pleased when I hear people say it is the year of the mobile.

See when you have been in the mobile industry for several years, you come to hear the phrase “it is the year of the mobile” year after year and each time with more conviction.  The first time I heard it, a big smirk came across my face and I thought to myself that I must be brilliant because I am at the centre of one of the most exciting technological eras and like a ticking time bomb we are all waiting to see and enjoy its benefits.   Upon hearing this phrase several time not only did the novelty wear off so did my belief in whether “this really was the year of the mobile” .  I mean how many years can we claim as the year of the mobile and when do we know that it has come and gone.

Here is how I look at it.  The year of the mobile is not 2009, nor was it 2008 or 2007.  I don’t even think it will be 2010.  I don’t say this because I am a pessimist and don’t believe in mobile technology but rather I am a true believer that mobile technology is an integral part of our  lives moving forward.  What do I mean by this?  Well here is how I see it-Mobile technology is not the next Hotmail or Yahoo, its not Facebook or  Youtube and its definitely not Twitter.  Its not a fad and it wont go away, its here to stay and become deeply embedded  in our everyday routines.  To me its like saying this is the year of the “AUTOMOBILE”….doesn’t that sounds absurd….every year is the year of the automobile. Moving forward, every year will be the year of the mobile, but we will have new makes and models, accessories and such  to keep the industry afloat.

Posted on April 24th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

Sports embrace mobile, sometimes before other industries

MLB’s New York Yankees have expanded their reach to their consumers and is not running ad-supported SMS alerts.  Users can get news and scores and be updated about their favourite teams on their mobile phones and advertisers get to be right  there to reap the benefits.

Michael Spirito, vice president of business development & digital.  has quoted that “SMS alerts are something that we started doing as a way to provide enhanced value to our customers so that our viewers can get up-to-date scores and news from the Yes Network,”  “It’s an opportunity to extend our brand into the mobile universe, and we’ve seen it grow in popularity over time.

Although this is truly mobile, users need to first sign up online to both opt-in and also select their desired categories.   More and more we are seeing brands and companies bridging web and mobile to get a fully integrated campaign.
What is even more impressive is that as soon as updates are seen on the website, there is a great effort to get them onto SMS and to the subscribers.

Its speaks great deals when we see companies making great efforts to mobilize their contents. It speaks about the future of the mobile industry.

Plastic Mobile Agency is  based out of Toronto, Ontario and we offer brands and companies assistance in developing mobile strategies that suit their target goals.

Posted on March 28th 2009 in Mobile Innovation, Mobile Marketing News, Mobile and advertising trends, Mobile technology | No Comments »

BlackBerry App World might launch at CTIA 09

According to BusinessWeek, it looks BlackBerry App World might be launching at the CTIA 09 next week on April 1st. Plastic will be at CTIA 09 in Vegas and it’s going to be very interesting to see what RIM will be bringing forth for both developers and consumers.  As a consumer, we hope to see apps that are rich with functionality and have a well-designed mobile user experiences - things that we’ve become used to thanks to the iPhone.

As a developer, we hope to see a better development arena (IDEs, debugging tools, frameworks, etc.). At Plastic, we develop mobile applications for many platforms (iPhone, Andriod, Windows Mobile, …) and by-far we put the most effort (man-power) on our BlackBerry projects. For instance, comparing development for the BlackBerry vs. iPhone… we see a multiple of 3-4 times the effort needed. I hope RIM is listening and catch up to Apple and other developer-friendlier platforms.

Posted on March 28th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

Apple iPhone 3.0–Today was big day for the mobile world

Apple made their announcements today regarding the anticipated release of their iPhone 3.0 and Mobile enthusiasts can’t wait for what is about to come.  Some really great and exciting new features, over a hundred new added in the new release (I will not go through them all), but here are some of the big ones below:

  1. The long anticipated Cut & Paste is here and in a good way.  You can double tap over your selection and a prompt will pop up asking whether you want to cut, copy or paste. You can expand your selection area using your thumb and if you make a mistake when you are pasting, just shake it away…I love it..like eraser dust!
  2. The famous spotlight on a mac is now going to also be available on the iPhone and you would be able to search your entire device.  That is handy!  Search will also be available in Mail and Calendar.
  3. 3G tethering– this is available so you can use the internet on your phone through your computer….no word on whether the carriers are supporting this.
  4. Landscape keyboard has been added to some of the applications, most notably Mail.
  5. MMS now available for the iPhone (this should have been available on the 1.0 but I guess better late than never)
  6. Shake to shuffle music in iTunes
  7. Safety features such as anti-phishing and parental control
  8. Voice Memo application- allows for voice recording
  9. PUSH NOTIFICATION– this is a big one and it is long overdue

There are more features where that came from but and I am sure we will hear all about them in the coming weeks. Come back and I will keep you posted.

Posted on March 17th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

Mobile controlled Mercedes

Check out these guys control an RC car (and later a McLaren Mercedes) with a BlackBerry Storm:

Posted on March 11th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

Mobile web apps will take over Mobile native apps

With all the hype and popularity around mobile (native) apps across smartphones and their respective app stores it’s important to remember that the web browser capabilities on most of these smartphones is quite robust and a lot of the mobile native apps out there can be achieved as a mobile web app as well.

For example let’s take a look at the Webkit browser which is being used on the iPhone, Android, and S60-based phones. It allows for mobile web apps to take advantage of the following capabilities:

  • Advanced Javascript and AJAX
  • Complex animations and graphics support (CSS3 + Canvas)
  • Embed and use a local database
  • Multi-touch navigation
  • Linking to phone and mapping capabilities
  • and more

What does this mean? With these browser capabilities the user experience seen in most native apps can be equally brought forth as a web apps - of course 3D immersive games are not included. Also, as browsers evolve and adopt other W3C standards such as the GeoLocation API, the gap becomes narrower between their native relatives. Furthermore, as smartphones get shipped with these robust mobile web browsers, the web applications can support a wide variety of devices. This is currently not the case with native applications when dealing with cross-devices

Of course, there is an obvious benefit to mobile native apps over mobile web apps - App Stores. App stores can help companies and brands easily distribute (and monetize) their application(s). Looking to how the (desktop) web exploded and is currently being monetized - I am sure similar paths will be taken.

 

A great example is the latest version of GMail for mobile web browsers. Google introduced a new version of GMail for mobile web browsers at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. It exposes a lot of the rich capabilities on smartphone (iPhone and Android only for now) web browsers and allows for GMail to be used offline much like a native app. Below is a demo of it (priovided by iPhone Buzz).

Posted on February 19th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

iPhone Copycats

Is it just me, or are all new mobile phones being released these days all look + feel exactly like the Apple iPhone? By coincidence they all seem to have very similar feature-sets as well and they all claim that they have just come up with an innovative new product. Are they really to blame? Apple may have just created the perfect mobile phone. For example, take a look at the new Palm Pre and the LG Arena KM900 that are releasing soon.

As if making their phones look and feel like the iPhone wasn’t enough, they’re also knocking off Apple’s monetizing approach with their App Store. Here’s a a list of all the App Stores announced post-iPhone:

  1. Google Android’s Market store
  2. BlackBerry’s App Center
  3. Microsoft Windows Mobile’s SkyMarket store
  4. Nokia’s Ovi store
  5. Palm App Catalog

Apple’s competitors really need to work at innovating and not just ripping off their product and strategy. At least if you do so, please do not pretend that you’ve come up with something revolutionary.

Posted on February 18th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »