Innovative Mobile Applications from SingTel

SingTel, the leading mobile operator in Singapore, has launched three innovative mobile applications to simplify the task of shopping and make it a lot more enjoyable experience for its subscribers.

Go! Shopping is a location based application that lets people find their way through the busy shopping malls of Singapore. It gives people access to indoor maps of various shopping malls in the country. With this app, people can find the details of particular stores at the click of a button. They can even save the details for future references.

Price Pal is a barcode based application that lets people find and compare the prices of various products easily. All a customer needs to do is scan the product barcode using his cell phone camera. The app will immediately display the prices of the product sold in various retail stores. This helps people compare the offers of various retailers and make an informed purchase decision.

Property Buddy is an application that gives valuable real estate information for people. If a customer needs to get a list of properties for sale or rent, all he needs to do is point his mobile phone camera towards the direction of the properties he wants to search. The app will display a list of for sale/for rent properties available in the area and their transacted prices.

SingTel has stated that these applications will be available free of cost for its subscribers. It, however, adds that it plans to generate revenue with the help of advertising. It says that the apps will come with standard in-app mobile ads that people will not find too intrusive. It also gives its customers the option of receiving targeted ads based on their preferences. These ads, however, are meant only for people who are interested in disclosing their preferences. The rest, who are not interested in the offer, can continue to enjoy these apps with limited ads.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Applications.

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Get ready for mobile coupons

A recent survey from Juniper Research says that mobile coupons will become very popular in a few years and retailers would send around 3 billion mobile coupons by 2011.

Mobile coupons, in my opinion, are a brilliant way for a retailer to connect to his customers directly. It is way more effective than the coupons you find in newspapers and magazines. Most people, including yours truly, often forget to make use of the coupon clips within the required timescale. I, for one, collect various coupons from newspapers and magazines but hardly make use of them because most of the times I forget to take them when I go shopping. With mobile coupons, there is no such problem. You get a coupon in your text message and all you have to do is show it to the retailer/shop owner the next time you shop for something. Since we always have our mobile phone with us, it becomes easier.

QR codes can be a good idea, but then you can’t expect everyone to have a mobile phone with camera facility to scan the ads. But still, it’s a very good technology that can be used effectively.

We’ve already seen some examples where mobile coupon campaigns have been quite successful and I think it will continue to be so. Like I’ve always said, the most important thing is to provide value to people. If you do so, you’ll always find takers.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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The future is mobile

A recent Harris Interactive Study comes up with some interesting statistics.

1. Around 25% of mobile users like to access mobile internet and purchase things using their credit card.

2. Around 20% of users expressed interest in the concept of mobile wallet – in which charges will be billed to their mobile accounts.

3. Around 10% expressed their interest for stock trading and wire transfers via their mobile phone.

4. Around 16% make use of mobile banking facilities.

While these statistics show that mobile users are becoming comfortable using their mobile phones for banking and shopping, a significant number of mobile users are still worried about security encryption of their data and the possibility of financial scams.

Actually, when services like banking and shopping went online, people raised similar concerns. It took a while for people to understand that doing things online can be much easier and safer. Look at the scenario now. People use internet banking and online shopping regularly. Similarly, I think it’s the duty of network carriers and the concerned parties that offer these facilities to address mobile users’ concerns and reassure them. Once they do, people will embrace this technology and mobile based services and facilities will become enormously popular.

Categories: All things mobile phones.

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