Customized Mobile App for Windows Mobile Users from the Associated Press

The Associated Press has developed a mobile application for Windows Marketplace for Mobile. The application, aptly named AP Mobile, gives Windows Mobile users access to the global news network of the Associated Press. If you download this application onto your mobile phone, you will be able to get all the information you want right on your mobile phone.

If you remember, the Associated Press launched its own mobile news portal some time back. The response, as expected, has been very good so far. With more than 1.5 million registered users, AP’s mobile application is one of the most popular apps in the marketplace today. Still, AP wants to extend the reach of its mobile news network further. So, the company thinks that developing a customized application for Windows Mobile users is the first step in the right direction.

The introduction of this application will help AP in two ways. One – it will make its mobile news portal very popular. Two – it will create new revenue streams for its members. It will be beneficial for Microsoft as well as it gives Windows Mobile users access to a wide range of information, tools, games, and more. If you are a Windows phone user, this app will bring you stock market news, weather news, sports updates, local news and international news, lifestyle tips, travel tips, and entertainment news right to your mobile phone screen.

The app also includes plenty of social networking features which allow you to share a news story with your friends instantly on Twitter or Facebook. You also have the option of bookmarking it in your Delicious account. If you want to share something privately with your friends, you can email the story as well.

So, how have Windows Mobile users reacted to this new app? A cursory look at the comments section on Windows Marketplace for Mobile gives a good idea. It is full of positive comments like ‘great app’, ‘user friendly app’, ‘nice social networking features’, and so on. So, we can expect a lot more users to download this app. AP has plenty of reasons to smile. If you are a Windows Mobile user, make sure you check out this application and let me know your thoughts.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Microsoft.

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Huge Slump in Smartphone Market Share - Can Microsoft Reinvent Itself?

When you take a close look at the smartphone market, you will notice something strange. Experts often talk about what is possibly the most popular smartphone available today – the Apple iPhone. They talk about how Google Android could give Apple a tough competition. They talk about Symbian and they talk about Blackberry. They even talk about recently released smartphones like Motorola Cliq and Droid. One name that is conspicuously missing from this list is Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.

It is really surprising. After all, Microsoft entered the smartphone market long back – Pocket PC 2002, the predecessor of Windows Mobile OS, was released in 2002. Soon, Windows Mobile was released in 2003. What has Microsoft managed to achieve in the past six years? The answer is – nothing worthwhile.

Windows Mobile, as of now, is the fourth most used mobile operating system in the world. Nokia with its Symbian OS is the market leader – followed by Blackberry and the iPhone. Experts, however, predict that it might not be able to stay at that spot for long. When you take a good look at the numbers, you get the feeling that what they predict might actually come true.

In the first quarter of 2004, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile had an envious 23% share in the smartphone market. In the first quarter of 2005, there was a steady decline and its market share was somewhere around 18%. In the first quarter of 2006, it further slumped and remained with a market share of 12%. In 2008, its market share dropped to 14%. At the start of 2009, it slumped further and remained at 7.9%. If we go by the recent report from AdMob, Microsoft’s market share, as of now, is only somewhere around 4%.

It is quite a slide – from 23% market share to 4% market share in a span of just five years. In the mean time, Apple, Nokia, RIM, and even Google have made their presence felt in the market big time.

It is really hard to believe. After all, Microsoft has got everything - all the money in the world, some of the brightest minds in the world, and plenty of goodwill. Yet, it has not been able to conquer the mobile market like it conquered the PC market. While late entrants like Apple and Google have been able to generate a big buzz, Microsoft has not been able to do anything that is worth taking notice.

Apple iPhone continues to climb the ladder and even new entrants like Motorola Droid have managed to create a big buzz. With this being the case, Microsoft’s only bet is Windows Mobile 7 OS – which incorporates the elements of Windows Mobile 6.5 and Zune – which is slated for release in 2010.

The mobile phone industry, the smartphone market in particular, is expected to grow bigger by the day. Mobile advertising, as we all know, is set to grow big as well. The time is ripe and the competition is intense. The question is – can Microsoft pull it off?

Categories: All things mobile phones, Microsoft.

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Will Microsoft Tag Change the Landscape of Mobile Marketing?

Using 2D barcodes in mobile marketing is something that we are aware of. However, when Microsoft decides to do it, it definitely deserves a special mention. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it will introduce a new barcode technology which will bring the print medium, internet medium, and the mobile phone together successfully.

At CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2009, Microsoft released the beta version of what they call Microsoft Tag – a barcode technology which can help to store data in the form of graphical bitmaps.

Microsoft Tag differs from QR codes or any other type of 2D barcode available today because of an important reason – It is based on a brand new technology called HCCB (High Capacity Color Barcodes) which uses triangle shaped color pixels to store data instead of the usual black and white square pixels. Moreover, these tags do not store any information. Instead, they store a unique ID which is used to retrieve information from Microsoft servers. So, it is now possible to store a lot more information than what can be usually stored in conventional 2D barcodes.

Here is how it works.

Microsoft Tag contains HCCB data which is nothing but a unique ID for the information stored in a Microsoft server. When the tag is read, the HCCB data is sent to the server and the publisher’s URL is returned to the mobile phone and the user is able to open the appropriate website in his mobile browser. All this takes place in a span of few seconds.

What you need

What you need is an internet enabled smart phone with a camera, a reasonably good data plan, Microsoft Tag application, and a Microsoft Tag account. This application works on phones which run on Symbian, Blackberry, Android, J2ME-MMP, Palm, Java 2 Micro Edition, iPhone, and any Windows OS.

You can open an account on Microsoft Tag webpage in a matter of few seconds and download the application on to your mobile phone for free.

How you use it?

When you see a print ad with a Microsoft Tag, all you need to do is activate the tag application on your mobile phone and take a picture of the barcode using your mobile phone camera. Immediately, you will be able to see the publisher’s website, which contains information about the product or service mentioned in the ad, on your mobile browser.

Why is it good for businesses?

It is a very simple yet effective way to reach the end user. It makes advertising a lot easier. When people find a product or service mentioned in a print ad appealing, they usually try to get more information about it. If the business owner can give them the information they want immediately, the chances of a sale increase significantly. This is now possible with Microsoft Tag. It is reliable, easy to use, and, most importantly, free. So, a lot people, small business owners in particular, can benefit immensely from this technology. I think this technology will make a big impact in the near future and will increase the scope of mobile marketing tremendously. Let us wait and see if I am proven right or not.

PS - You can read more about 2D barcodes and their role in mobile marketing here,here, and here.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Microsoft, Mobile Web.

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Microsoft Bing goes Mobile

As you know, Microsoft has been promoting its new search engine Bing aggressively for the past few weeks. As an important part of that promotion campaign, it has made Bing the official search engine of Verizon Wireless phones.

Microsoft signed a five-year deal with Verizon a few months back in an attempt to promote its new search engine to mobile users. According to the deal, Bing will be the default search engine of Verizon phones. Users will be able to check out the search engine from Verizon’s portal or through browsers like Opera. Also, it has been announced that a lot of high end phones from Verizon will come preloaded with Bing later this year.

So far, the response for this move has been quite good. According to the mobile media division of Microsoft, Bing handled nearly 19 million queries in the first 20 days which is a pretty good figure.

Interestingly, Microsoft has signed a deal with Hyatt as well. According to this deal, Microsoft will put ads on Verizon phones, upon clicking which the users will be directed to the hotel chain’s website. Verizon users will be able to book rooms, sign up for the hotel’s loyalty program, and check in through their mobile phones.

Rumor has it that Microsoft paid nearly $600 million for the deal with Verizon. Considering how hard Microsoft has been trying to compete with Yahoo and Google, two companies that have a very strong presence in the mobile industry, this comes as no surprise to me. It will be interesting to see how Bing copes with Yahoo Search and Google.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Microsoft, Mobile Web.

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Steve Ballmer takes a dig at Google Android

You’ve got to give it to Steve Ballmer. He has the knack to say something which makes the whole world sit up and take notice. Speaking at the Telstra annual investor briefing in Sydney yesterday, Ballmer said that Google is not a major mobile competitor for Microsoft at all.

Ballmer said that Google is not very high on the list of Microsoft’s mobile competitors and it will not pose a threat to Microsoft’s dominance in the mobile market anywhere in the near future. Speaking of Google’s mobile division, he had these exact words to say – “They’ve got some smart guys and hire a lot of people — blah-di-blah-di-blah.”

Ballmer said that since Google has made Android free for everyone, they will not invest a lot to improve the product. He also stated that he couldn’t see how Google plans to make money from Android, since the product has no viable revenue model at all.

While I cannot disagree with most of the things he has said about Google, I have to disagree with one thing – the revenue model. Let me explain why.

Google never planned to make money from Android by charging people to use it. It was, is, and always will remain a free mobile platform. What Google thought of was a stronghold in the mobile OS market through Android, which I don’t think will be unachievable if Google continues to improve its product. Though it will not be possible in the near future thanks to the immense competition from Symbian, Blackberry, and Apple, you cannot rule out that possibility.

Most importantly, Google is not a mobile OS manufacturer. Its strength is advertising and by pushing more and more people around the world to use Android, Google can easily show a lot more ads and generate a lot of revenue – a fact that Ballmer seems to have forgotten.

As someone who has always wanted to ‘bury’ Google, Ballmer has made his intentions clear. Though he clearly said “I’m not giving them a hard time”, it is exactly what he has tried to do. It will be interesting to see Google’s response, if at all Larry and Sergey bother to respond. What do you think?

Categories: Google, Microsoft.

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