mobile

Blog Post: Announce Your Refresh with Gusto

Releasing updates can be a pain sometimes. In the mobile space, it usually includes asking the user to download something again as well as refreshing their credentials in some way. Luke Wroblewski — who writes some tremendous material on mobile development — mentions in this post how you can announce your refresh with some panache and reward your users for continuing to use your product with some Easter eggs.

Don’t make the update a pain. It might mean some additional work will need to be done to include the artwork or new graphics. The UX team might need to rethink some of the work they thought was done. 

Regardless, it’s important to the process and allows users to enjoy and share in the hard work you are doing!

Blog Post: Announce Your Refresh with Gusto

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Blog Post: View Your Mobile Product Properly

I have no idea how old Jonathan Libov — one of the creators of the mobile app Snapix — is, or where he is from, but there is a lot of maturity from this young man’s post on Whoo.ps. It’s hard to see the forest from the trees with products you have had a hand in creating, even harder to understand when to make tough decisions.

The post talks about the genesis of his software, the reasons for creating it and how it rose in popularity very quickly. As with many apps in the mobile space, though, there reached a time when traffic slowed to a crawl. He argues it was because it was only a side project for the creators and as such it’s tough to keep the fires stoked part-time. 

As the community knows, mobile is tough to maintain momentum because of all the offerings and the rapid use cycle. If an app keeps a solid user base after only six months, it has accomplished something.

Re-read that last sentence and think about what that says for creators.

After much deliberation, they decided not to slowly watch their creation die in the wilderness and sunset the app. While it must have been tough to do, I think it shows maturity in the product development cycle. It also probably informed them for whatever they build next and can only make them better creators.

Many don’t even get the initial spike that Snapix enjoyed. Many fizzle before there was any shock and awe. Either way, if you are going to work in this space, you have to realistically know how your product is doing in the marketplace and prepare for the inevitable: your software will lose all it’s users eventually to something newer and shinier.

This also inspires someone like me to look at my own work and take an honest look at how it’s doing. Maybe there is something that needs a fresh coat of paint on it, or sent out to pasture. That idea in the back of my mind might need to be ushered to the front of the class for some attention. 

Don’t be afraid to look at the feedback on your product honestly. If there’s no feedback, that’s just the same (or worse) as bad feedback. You might need to ask for some more, or start asking yourself the tough questions. It can only lead to better offerings to the marketplace.

It will definitely lead to better creations.

Blog Post: View Your Mobile Product Properly

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Blog Post: A Mobile Workforce Isn’t Bad

I think the headline of this Ars Technica piece on the mobile workforce can be a bit misleading. When you read the nuts and bolts of the piece, a different message is sent. Compared to this headline, it’s clear an agenda was meant:

“How Mobile Technology Created A Workforce That Never Stops Working.”

Some vision-casting for the future of our workforce is necessary, and what better way to think of them than with a mobile device or two in their hands. It does beg the question of how connected we should be, though. 

As someone who can’t put their phone down, or manage to let it out of my sight, I see the conundrum  We should be able to disconnect and allow ourselves some space from everything that’s going on. There’s also some physiological issues that can stem from needing to be available at all times.

Instead of looking at it that way, I would like to focus on how being connected can help us manage our workdays a little better. 

For many of us, work used to be a time where you put your head down and cranked out as much as you could so that you could be home in time for dinner. There was no ability to take work home once. If you could, there was no way to collaborate or manage workflows correctly. As a result, our time in office was very stressful.

Now, I can go throughout my day knowing that work will get done by the talented people I collaborate with every day. If that means I respond to an email before bed or over the breakfast table, it means my time in the office can be used for tasks that are more important. Face-to-face interaction, building each other up, making the best products possible, and more. 

Instead of getting bogged down by all the electronic communication requirements we have, get them out of the way during off-peak hours and focus on enjoying the day with some great people. That’s how people build great things together.

The next time you feel bad for checking your email in bed, or answer a text from a colleague during your morning run, consider it one step further towards sanity from 9-5 (or whenever you work). Don’t overload yourself, but use the right boundaries for work and home.

Blog Post: A Mobile Workforce Isn’t Bad

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Blog Post: Twitter and Your TV

There have been rumblings of this coming for some time, but Twitter is making a major play to be the must-use companion of television watching. In this TechCrunch article, it is stated how the social media platform is “betting big” on television. I would argue there is no reason to state that television is a “bet” at this point, and it is even more clear when you look at the details of the new feature coming from Twitter.

The Silicon Valley giant is currently testing out a new trending aggregator for just television watching. Based on current traffic — mostly hashtags I would guess, but there could be other factors as well — it will list cards of popular shows complete with more information about the particular episode.

Genius of this feature is it can be used on live broadcasts, DVR, and streaming media systems. Regardless of your feelings on cord-cutting, you can have an impact on what is trending in TV on Twitter.

Can you imagine a world where Twitter could replace Nielsen in terms of how shows are rated? It’s coming. Maybe not from Twitter, but the data around what is popular to active, engaged viewers is available for the taking. I would take that over a journal sent to a few hundred thousand four times a year.

This also has mobile implications, because developers are already utilizing devices as “second screens” in unique ways. If the trending data from Twitter is made available, networks could integrate it into their apps for even more engagement with their entrenched fans.

Keep your eye on this, because this is how TV viewing will be changed for the next decade (along with some broadcasters finally sticking it to cable providers). 

Blog Post: Twitter and Your TV

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Blog Post: Get Your iPhone Jabs In Now

It’s still about a month away from the rumored iPhone (and other Apple product releases) announcement on September 10, and people are already ramping up their negative comments about it. We’re at the point where no matter what is announced, it won’t be good enough.

This article form The Next Web does it’s best to keep from spilling any condescension all over the story, although I’m sure a separate opinion piece by an expert will do so.

I’ve heard it already in a podcast and two other Internet posts: it’s not going to be revolutionary, but an iteration. It’s predecessor wasn’t that great either so don’t get your hopes up. Even the camera hardware and software, which were once thought unparalleled in the market, is being trashed by recent competitors.

Frankly, I don’t have any skin in the game other than the fact that my whole family uses Apple products. I would sure love it if Cupertino shut everyone up, but it won’t upset my day if the event is a dud. I am invested in the ecosystem and I don’t have any reason to change at the moment.

Which, of course, is the only thing that matters right now to many customers. If we are in the market for a phone right now, chances are it’s not our first. We probably bought an Android or iOS device already, and don’t want to have to pay for the apps and songs again. So, we’ll keep buying whatever we have for now.

I think Apple product work together very well, and there isn’t a single Windows machine in my house. When a company that provides software or media services would be worth the shift, my wife and I won’t have a problem. It won’t come from Microsoft for sure at this rate, and the other products are in the same boat. 

When you read comments from these cynics, just remember that they change their mind all the time and anyone who writes about this stuff is wrong a lot. If you want a new Apple product, September 10 will be a great day. If not, the announcements coming a week earlier will probably be of interest.

I’ll just be patient and remember that my experience holding the device is what matters, not someone else telling me what does.

Blog Post: Get Your iPhone Jabs In Now

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Blog Post: The Internet of Cities

The last five years of technological innovation have now resulted in more mobile devices in existence than people to use them. It has allowed users to interact with the world around them and redefine the meaning of the word “connected”. It has also created a culture where we can’t stay focused at work without checking our Twitter feed every so often.

As devices change and further integrate into our lives, there will be more innovation. I’m afraid, however, that we are reaching our saturation level of people being connected. So what’s next?

Connecting our cities to devices.

The article details how a company named Libelium is using sensors in Santander, Spain to help drivers find a parking spot sooner and reduce air pollution by cars. Waste water overflows are being reduced by 23 percent in South Bend, Indiana thanks to sensors installed by IBM. South Korea is installing sensors in the road to not only help funnel drivers during high-traffic times, but sense seismic activity as an early warning.

These are just a few of the many opportunities municipalities are using connectivity to their advantage. The article also states that in many cases, the upgrades pay for themselves.

While I don’t doubt that the new watch, glasses or other wearable technology will change mobile just as mobile changed the Internet, it’s the companies that can gather data effectively and use it to help improve our lives. These sensors must be cheap, easy to install and accessible to city networks.

Once we do that, we will worry less about finding our keys with mobile devices and more on saving time and the environment.

Blog Post: The Internet of Cities

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Blog Post: How Concerned Should Apple Be Over iPad Market Share?

This time last year, Apple’s share of the tablet market was still in a dominant position. Even though Android was technically higher in terms of tablet OS use — 51% to 47%, respectively — the split of Google’s platform among all the OEMs can help make iOS more appealing to developers.

Unfortunately, a lack of innovation and release of new products has changed that argument tremendously.

With a 14% decline in iPad shipments this past quarter, Apple now only owns 28% of the share of the tablet market.

2012 vs. 2013 Market Share

Many are pointing to the lack of a new version of both the 10-inch and 7-inch iPads as the main reason for such a steep decrease in sales. With more recent releases from Samsung and Google, in addition to the Windows offerings, the competition has more than caught up to Cupertino.

Earlier this year, I read projections by many industry experts reporting that Apple’s lead in the tablet market will remain for much longer. Of course, those reports weren’t counting on Apple standing pat for this long. Some are now opining there won’t be an update to the iPad Mini in 2013 period.

That sound you hear is the continued drop in Apple’s stock price.

I still have hope in the fall announcement that Tim Cook promises will be ground-breaking. Who knows what it will include, but if it’s anything like last September’s it should be a doozy.

One could argue that it may not be enough, in time. We shall see.

Blog Post: How Concerned Should Apple Be Over iPad Market Share?

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