We’re proud to have worked on the site with their team as well as 1000 Watt Consulting. To meet the specifications from the Michael Saunders’ team, we added new technology to our platform that really pushes the envelope for “app-like” solutions that runs in the phone’s browser across multiple platforms including iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry. This was a fun project for us as it challenged us technically and we got to work with a great team. Below is a copy of the official press release…

**********

Michael Saunders & Company
Launches New Mobile Web Site

Empowers Consumers To Browse For Properties
On The Go From Any Web-Enabled Phone

SARASOTA, Florida—(May 3, 2011)—With the official launch today of its new mobile web site Michael Saunders & Company just made it easier and more efficient for buyers to actively search for properties on the go throughout Southwest Florida.

People arriving at michaelsaunders.com using the latest generation of hand-held mobile devices— an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or almost any other current make or model of  web-enabled phone—will now enjoy an online experience that makes it easy to search for properties anywhere, at any time, right from the palm of their hand.  No downloads are necessary to begin using the new mobile version of the Gulf Coast’s most-frequented real estate web site.  Consequently, getting there is fast—and free.

Consumers need only go to michaelsaunders.com from their smart phone to preview any property in Southwest Florida, provided it is listed on the MLS.  Their phone will automatically convert the site into the hand-held mobile version.  The site is people friendly, specifically enhanced to be viewed on a small screen and is completely free of advertising.  Buyers can search for properties anywhere; or zero-in on properties nearest their location.  They can also find open houses by neighborhood, location; and save properties of interest for future reference.

“It’s no secret that mobile Internet usage is growing,” says company founder and CEO, Michael Saunders in announcing the new service.  “But what you may not be aware of is the breathtaking speed at which this is occurring.  Within 18 months, more people will access the Internet through hand-held mobile devices than more traditional desktop or laptop computers.  That’s a massive shift in how buyers search for properties; and why we are proud to offer this new technology tool as yet another service to our buyers and sellers.”

In creating the new mobile web site, Michael Saunders & Company partnered with 1000 Watt Consulting, the California-based interactive marketing communications and design agency whose dedicated focus on the real estate industry makes it one of the most sought-after firms of its kind in the business.  1000 Watt Consulting was also instrumental in creating the new michaelsaunders.com, which debuted in August, 2010.

Also partnering in the creation of the new mobile web site was Aumnia, one of the nation’s premier mobile web companies, also headquartered in California.  Aumnia’s software platform enables businesses to “go mobile” by extending their existing web presence onto web-enabled mobile phones and mobile internet devices.

“We invest in the most innovative web technologies as a duty to our buyers and sellers; and indeed to our agents,”  Ms. Saunders explained.  “As such, we studied mobile web sites produced by other real estate companies around the country throughout our research and development.  After carefully weighing the options, we decided that a mobile web site was the most practical way to deliver the best experience to the largest number of consumers in our market.  It is available to any web-enabled mobile phone, not just some of them, and we can update it instantly.  We are very proud of our collaboration with Aumnia and 1000 Watt Consulting and what it has yielded for our clients, customers and agents.”

###

About Michael Saunders & Company:

Now in its fourth decade of service to Southwest Florida, Michael Saunders & Company has grown from a single small office into a network of 24 full-service offices—with more than 500 professionally trained associates and 150 staff members.  Powerful world-wide affiliations—including Christie’s International Real Estate, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Portfolio International, Mayfair International Realty and the European Real Estate Network (EREN)—extend the company’s message to qualified buyers globally, ensuring the broadest possible exposure for our properties.   

Michael Saunders & Company is ranked as the 52^nd largest brokerage in dollar volume in the latest Real Trends 500 Survey of the 500 largest brokerages in the U.S. for 2011; and is included among the 35 most influential Realtors in luxury real estate.

For more information about Michael Saunders & Company, please call 1-888-552-5228 or visit us on the Web at MichaelSaunders.com.

###

All development projects should be evaluated based on ROI. With the unprecedented growth we’re seeing in the mobile market, I feel like many businesses skip this necessary due diligence to follow media hype. Building something will get results – that I believe. But the real question needs to be, how can a business maximize their results based on a fixed budget.

Here at Aumnia, our clients are consumer-facing businesses that want mobile solutions to drive either customer acquisition (marketing/branding) or customer satisfaction (service). These businesses typically don’t charge consumers for mobile services since the business really has one goal when it comes to mobile… reach as many consumers as possible. The rationale being that with increased exposure, consumer-facing businesses have better odds to engage their target customers. Now coming back to the Mashable article, the author goes through a basic analysis and calculates the number of potential people a given mobile solution can reach for every dollar invested. He finds that businesses with a mobile website have the potential to reach 5x more people per dollar invested:

• Mobile websites: 2839 people per $
• Mobile app (iPhone only): 527 people per $
• Mobile app (iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry): 599 people per $

The calculation assumes average development costs of $30K for a cross-platform mobile website and $30K per mobile application. To see the rest of the assumptions, read the article.

I’m really excited to see an article like this come out. I hope it encourages more businesses to take the time and really evaluate their mobile strategy.

Why did these catch my attention? Well, earlier this year, Opera created quite a stir when it released its Opera Mini browser for the iPhone and then goaded Apple into approving it. Tech punidits were certain that Apple would reject it, but they didn’t. In hindsight, I’m not surprised.

I’ve used the Opera Mini browser on Android and seen it on the iPhone, and while it’s capable, it is not a replacement for the built-in browser. Over the last year, the stock Android browser has come a long way, and Safari for the iPhone has always been a good browser. Opera Mini can’t compete with either of these, and neither will Fennec or Skyfire.

The opportunity for third party browsers has passed. Today’s problem is not compressing web content for the mobile environment. The issue is providing the user with a relevant user experience over the mobile web. What do I mean by a relevant user experience? I mean a mobile website that takes advantage of the features of a mobile phone, such as the touchscreen and location-based capabilities, to present information and content that a user cares about when they’re mobile. For a real estate mobilesite it is searching for properties, for retail it is nearest locations and coupons, for restaurants it is reservations, directions and special offers. The point I’m making is pretty obvious: it’s not about trying to cram a website designed for a 24″ screen onto a 3″ screen, it’s about presenting content relevant to the mobile consumer in a usable manner.

Put simply, it’s not about the browser, it’s about the presentation of the content.

So while I am sure that the mobile browser technology from Mozilla, Skyfire, and Opera is top notch, my advice would be to stick with the stock browsers on your smartphone with one caveat. If your using a BlackBerry other than the Torch, any one of these three browsers is a huge step up from the old BlackBerry browser. The old BlackBerry browser can be summed up in one word – AWEFUL!

OK, enough of the rant. On a lighter note, a new smartphone app caught my eye this week called Bartab. It allows you to send an actual drink to a friend for a $1. You spend $1 to send your friend a mobile coupon for a drink that they redeem at the participating bar you specify. Your friend then has to pay an additional $1 to redeem the coupon. It’s been launched in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but I’d love to hear from anyone who has. In particular, does it work as advertised?

The history of .mobi
Just as .gov indicates government sites, .edu indicates educational institutions, and .mil indicated military sites, .mobi was created to indicate sites that were optimized for viewing on mobile phones. The .mobi domain was approved as a top level domain in July, 2005, by ICANN, the official overseer and approver of top level domain names. Its inception was financed and backed by a number of major companies, including Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson, Vodafone, T-mobile and others. Registration of domain names using .mobi became available in September, 2006.

According to dotMobi, close to one million sites have been registered using the .mobi top level domain since its inception, but the .mobi domain has never really taken off amongst consumers. Most of the problem is timing related, as very few mobile consumers were accessing the web using their mobile devices in 2006. All of that changed with the release of the iPhone in 2007. The iPhone and subsequent smartphone platforms made the web usable on mobile devices. People bypassed .mobi sites because they were either not aware of a .mobi domain or not happy with the reduced functionality of the .mobi sites, which were built for the most basic mobile devices and did not take advantage of the improved functionality and touchscreen capabilities of the latest devices. 

The issues with .mobi
Using .mobi is not free and comes with many issues that you need to be aware of before jumping in.

1. Increased Cost
Costs for .mobi domains are usually more than 2x the cost of regular domains. A regular domain registration usually runs less than $10/mo. whereas a .mobi domain can run $20/mo. or more. Plus, while a standard domain can service both desktop and mobile clients, a .mobi domain exists only to serve mobile devices resulting in additional domain registration costs.

2. Maintenance Overhead
Since the .mobi domain is an additional domain on top of your regular site, you need to invest additional resources to maintain the content and site.

3. Lack of Awareness
The general public is not aware of the existence of the .mobi domain. In order to get the most out of a .mobi site, you need to spend additional resources and money marketing and promoting it.

4. Poor Functionality
.mobi sites need to be designed for the most basic web-enabled phones resulting in a sub-optimal experience for smartphone users. Since smartphone users are the overwhelming majority of mobile web traffic, your .mobi site ends up service an extremely small, if not non-existent, segment of the market.

A .mobi domain is unecessary
Given the tremendous advances in mobile over the last five years, there is no reason to secure a .mobi domain. When creating an on-line presence and mobile website, you are best advised to use a “OneURL” strategy. A OneURL strategy is easily implemented using device detection code on your existing web presence and allows you to simplify your marketing by promoting one domain for desktop and mobile and by saving money through reduced maintenance and domain registration costs.

So when considering your mobile presence, don’t  use a .mobi domain – you don’t need it. If you already have a .mobi domain, drop it and start using your existing url and device detection code to service mobile visitors.

By the way. if you’re considering mobile or have an existing .mobi site and would like help or advice on your mobile presence, feel free to contact us. We’d be more than happy to help.

The Good
Web Browsing: Awesome, especially on sites that are optimized for mobile. I won’t ever go back to a non-web enabled phone. It’s just too convenient when you are out and about to be able to access information in real-time. If you’re thinking about upgrading to a web-enabled phone, stop reading this and go get one, now!

Display: Incredible. The colors and sharpness are outstanding. I’ve been letting the phone automatically adjust the brightness based on lighting conditions, and I have had no issues under various lighting conditions.

Navigation rocks: For my use, the navigation works great. I’ve read the reviews of people who say it’s not perfect, but they forget that it’s free. For a free navigation app, it does everything I would expect and more. I particularly like the fact that when you get close to your destination, it brings up the street view – a nice touch.

Voice input: From my limited use thus far, I really like it. I’ve used it for inputing points of interest into the nav, and it hasn’t missed once. My next experiment is to try sending text messages and e-mails.

Camera: Very good. I might as well put my point-and-shoot on Craigslist. It’s also very easy to share pictures via e-mail once you take them.

Google apps: The integration with native Google apps – gmail, maps, voice, etc. is done really well. As I mentioned in my first impressions, if you use the Google tools, you need to get an Android phone.

Trackball: I like it. It’s probably because I’m used to the trackball on the BlackBerry, but it comes in handy, especially if you need to touch an area of the screen that is really small in a website or app.

The Bad
Keyboard: I miss a real keyboard. I’m getting used to the on screen board – turning on the “vibrate on keypress” under the Android keyboard settings helped alot.

Battery Life: It’s much better than I first thought. It only becomes a real problem if you’re using Bluetooth, doing a lot of navigation, or heavy web browsing, but even my BlackBerry Pearl’s battery drained rapidly under those conditions. Under normal use, you can go 2 days between charges. The reason I put this under bad is that the battery indicator is horrible. When the meter is at 75%, the battery is actually at 50%. And when the meter is at 50%, the battery is at about 20%. I’ve run out of battery a couple of times thinking I had more battery left than I did.

Don’t trust the battery indicator!

The Ugly
The Screen: It’s good, but it smudges easy. And as the smudges collect, the screen doesn’t respond as well. Based on my limited experience with the iPhone, the Nexus One screen is not as good. Don’t get me wrong, it’s serviceable, but it could be better.

Lack of multi-touch: Multi-touch pinch-and-zoom it’s so intuitive that I don’t understand why they insist on leaving it off of the Android browser. It’s a real hassle to have to double tap to zoom, and it just isn’t intuitive. If you hack the phone, or to use the proper term – “root” it, you can add multi-touch, but I’m not confident enough to take a chance on bricking the phone.

Careful! The screen smudges.

The verdict
After one week, it’s the best device I’ve ever used. It clearly holds its own with the iPhone and is a bit better in my opinion. The only things the iPhone has on the Nexus One is the touchscreen and number of apps available, but I think the apps are highly overrated as all the productivity apps I want are available on Android.

The Nexus One has the BlackBerry Pearl on the ropes

So, after round one, the Nexus One has delivered the goods and has my old BlackBerry Pearl on the ropes. I still need a bit more time before I officially declare a winner, but it has a huge lead that I don’t think my BlackBerry can overcome.

Stay tuned for a wrap-up review later next month.

The iPhone has created a lot of buzz around mobile. Since our business revolves around the mobile internet, I get a lot of requests for more specific growth rates and usage numbers. In other words, “show me data, not hype!”

Below is a list of reports that quantify just how rapidly the mobile internet is growing. I’ve included a little background about and a couple of highlights from each report.

• Quantcast Mobile Web Trends Report - Quantcast is an analytics firm that tracks traffic through websites. From its statistics, mobile web viewing now accounts for 1.26% of pageviews in North America. While not a large number, it represents an increase of 110% through 2009. It’s also interesting to note that iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices account for 85% of mobile web traffic in North America. The full report is worth downloading and reading, as well as this summary by Techcrunch.
• Net Applications - Net Applications is another web analytic firm similar to Quantcast. Their statistics indicate that mobile web viewing accounted for 1.35% of internet pageviews in December 2009, double the number from February 2009, and a 30% increase from November 2009. Interesting that two independent data sources have arrived at nearly the same set of numbers.
• Neilsen 2010 Fact Sheet - Neilsen provides market research to media companies. Their research shows that 60.7M people used the mobile internet in the US (33% increase over 2008), 25% of devices sold during Q3 2009 were smartphones, and 40-50% of the devices sold in 2010 will be smartphones.
• Opera mini Monthly Report - Every month Opera issues a report showing the amount of pageviews and data they have processed through their dedicated mobile web browser, Opera mini. For December 2009, the statistics show a 228% year-over-year growth in mobile page views and a 128% growth in unique users. These numbers are impressive, since they reflect people using the Opera mini browser, which leaves out nearly all iPhone and Android users.
• Morgan Stanley Mobile Internet Report - Morgan Stanley issued an absolute behemoth of a report last October that could arguably be called the definitive state of the mobile internet. Be warned – it’s a huge report. In it, Morgan Stanley asserts that mobile will be 10x bigger than the desktop and will be adopted much faster. They show comparison adoption graphs illustrating how mobile is being adopted 8x faster than equivalent desktop technologies. If you’re looking for a quick overview, Techcrunch did a great summary of the report.

Now that you know the numbers, have you checked a mobile device to see what your mobile presence looks like? If not, you need to, and fast. A market survey performed by Gomez, Inc. last October found that poor mobile web experiences impact consumers’ brand perceptions and traffic. Yes, I know it’s yet another report to read, but it’s worth checking out.

Now’s the time to get ahead of the curve and start optimizing your website and online content for the mobile environment. Otherwise, you risk losing customers and possible business to those that have.

Feel free to contact us for assistance planning and implementing your mobile strategy.

Overall, it’s been a fun year. We started blogging back in March, not knowing what to expect. Luckily, it was a busy year in mobile, so we were never short of material to discuss. Here’s a sampling of the more interesting stories of the year:

Mobile internet or app?
The App Store absolutley exploded over the past year, with well over 100,000 apps available by the end of the year. The popularity of the App Store had everyone wanting to create an app for their product or brand, but we feel differently. The emergence of the mobile internet over the past year has made web apps every bit as good as apps for promoting and marketing brands and products. I predict that 2010 will be the turning point for the mobile internet and that web apps will become the dominant theme in mobile entering 2011. (For more background, see our mobile internet vs app series from earlier this year)

The rise of Android
Handset manufacturers finally embraced the Google-sponsored platform in 2009, and the arrival of the T-mobile MyTouch, HTC Hero, and Motorola Droid demonstrated the capabilities of the platform. Be prepared for a lot more Android activity in 2010.

Palm excited with the Pre, but botched the execution
Palm tried to recapture the market mojo it had with the Treo, but development kit delays, a poorly arranged exclusivity with the nations’s 3rd largest carrier Sprint, and a losing battle with Apple over iTunes syncing all contributed to the Pre’s less than stellar sales. Palm will try again in 2010 by launching the Palm Pre with Verizon at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show.

Motorola excited with the Droid, and delivered
Motorola, all but written off for dead in the handset market, created a huge stir with all the ads leading up to the November launch of the Droid. With the help of Verizon, Motorola delivered the best Android, and possible best overall, phone of the year. Sales of the device have been brisk, and customers of the nation’s largest phone network finally got a device to rival the iPhone.

Microsoft continued to fade into oblivion
With a lackluster launch of WinMo 6.5, and further delays to WinMo 7, Microsoft saw further losses in market share. In the court of perception, WinMo is now a distant challenger to Apple, Android and BlackBerry in the smartphone OS battles. Rumor has it that Microsoft is going to link Xbox live to WinMo 7, but that may be too little too late for the much and often maligned Redmond giant.

Battle of the behomeths I: Google vs Apple
Google and Apple started the year on friendly terms, but didn’t finish it that way. It started with Apple’s rejection of the Google Voice app in the App Store, continued with Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s resignation from the Apple board in August, and then continued with a written sparring match with the FCC over the Google Voice rejection. It’s clear that companies once termed “frenemies” can officially drop the ‘fr’ from that title.

Battle of the behomeths II: Verizon vs AT&T
In preparation for its Droid launch, Verizon went straight after AT&T and Apple with a great set of commercials (“There’s a map for that”) and edgy Droid promotional ads. AT&T complained to the government about Verizon’s tactics, before finally relenting and striking back with an ad campaign of its own. The best AT&T could were a few not-so-funny Luke Wilson ads. So thankfully, Apple stepped in defended its most prized possession. I suspect that the end of 2009 was the only the beginning of this battle – I’m sure we’ll see a lot more AT&T/Verizon battles in 2010.

2009 was exciting, so what should we expect in 2010? Here’s a sampling:

• Android rises – Reports have it that 50 or more handsets will be released in 2010 with Android. I expect 2010 to be the year that Android makes a dent in smartphone OS market share and challenges the iPhone for market dominance.
• BlackBerry stagnates – RIM has been on a roll in 2009, but that will end in 2010. An aging product line and recent service woes are going to encourage people to start taking a serious look at Android and other alternatives.
• Google goes “all-in” – Expect Google to use its warchest to make significant moves in the mobile space. Mobile will be bigger than the desktop. Google knows it, and they are not going to sit around and watch someone else dominate it – especially Apple or Microsoft.
• Apple innovates, again – Let’s face it, the iPhone is great, but it is getting stale. A 3+ year old design is ancient in the mobile world. Apple will have something up its sleeve in 2010 – be it a new design, better software options, or a tablet of some sort.
• Nokia struggles to find itself – Nokia, the giant of the mobile industry, is going through an identity crisis. The largest, and most dominant, handset maker in the world is losing mindshare at the high end but still dominates the low end. Can Nokia dominate both ends of the market? I don’t think so, and the sooner Nokia picks which end to focus on, the better off they’ll be.
• Microsoft and Palm flounder – Neither will go away next year, but they’ll both continue bleeding. Microsoft has enough other business interests that it will continue to toil away and try to find an entry point in mobile. For Palm, an acquisition may be in the cards as it cannot continue to lose cash at its current rate and remain independent into 2011.
• Apps lose their luster – With too many app stores and platforms to support, the viability of the app model will erode. Developers will move back to the web and the smartphone app will become an area of specialty development focused on games – web apps and the mobile internet will fill the void.
• Expect the unexpected – In an explosive market like mobile, expect at least two or three things to happen that will be serious game changers that no one sees coming. Augmented reality, location-based services, and geo-targeted advertising come to mind, but I get the feeling there are a couple more ideas in mobile that will surprise us in 2010.

Thanks to everyone who followed and supported us in 2009. It’s been a great ride thus far, and we’re looking forward to a fun and exciting 2010.

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2010.

Given it is was the end of a calendar quarter this week, a number of interesting data reports were released. First up were two market share studies that provided some great insight into not only the handsets people are using, but also how the handsets are being used. In one, Comscore, who conducts monthly surveys of mobile subscribers over the age of 13, reported the following numbers for the 3-month period ending July, 2009:
     -32 million Americans own a smartphone, while 200 million own a “non-smartphone”
     -BlackBerry is the clear market leader with over 13 million users followed by Apple with over 6.5 million
     -Apple and Windows Mobile have nearly identical market share (although I suspect that Apple and Windows Mobile are on very different growth trajectories)
     -Symbian (Nokia) and Android are both around 1 million users each
In the second report, AdMob released their August 2009 Mobile Metrics Report. The iPhone leads with a 40% market share, followed by Symbian at 34%. BlackBerry has only an 8% share, Android 7%, and webOS (Palm Pre) and Windows at 4% each. Technically speaking, this report is not a handset market share report like Comscore’s but indicates the types of devices that are accessing AdMobs worldwide mobile advertising network, and therefore the mobile internet. In addition, it’s report is a worldwide study versus ComScore’s US-centric report. These reports indicate to me that iPhone users enjoy a much better mobile internet experience, amd more likely to use the mobile internet, given their smaller handset market share, and that Nokia, while seemingly forgotten in the US, is still a very important mobile player on the worldwide stage. It also shows that BlackBerry and WindowsMobile have some serious improvements to make in their mobile browsing experience.

To follow-up on the iPhone and marketshare, an analyst at Morgan Stanley expects that Apple could nearly double the number of iPhones sold once exclusivity arrangements that Apple has cut with carriers expire. From all the buzz on the internet, the quality (or lack thereof) of AT&T’s network is holding back sales or driving people away from the iPhone/AT&T to other carriers. With articles circulating on the internet that AT&T is dropping 30% of its calls in New York City (confirmed by the Apple Genius Store), you know the network has issues. The real question is will the iPhone effect last past AT&T’s exclusivity, or will another handset emerge that will kill the iPhone’s popularity and make the end of the AT&T exclusivity a moot point?

And for the last bit of data, Neilsen released a very interesting report this week on mobile internet usage. While stating the obvious year-over-year growth of the internet (which was 34% if you don’t check out the report), it shows that women, seniors and teens are the demographics that are driving the growth. Since these groups generally represent the late technology adopters, it indicates that mobile internet usage is hitting the mainstream. Combined with new features that link Google’s Local Seach desktop results to the mobile environment – see post from earlier this week - companies really need to start looking at their mobile presence to make sure users are getting the right mobile experience.

To finish off this week, I wanted to touch on an important safety issue – texting while driving. There have been numerous reports lately on the dangers of texting while driving, and I’m happy to see that the federal government has issued its own notice to its employees. Anything that furthers the awareness of the issue is a good thing in my opinion. The issue also hit close to home as my kids were first hand witnesses to an accident in front of my house earlier this week involving a cellphone distracted driver. Luckily, no one was hurt, except for some minor car damage. To prevent texting while driving (and accidents in front of my house), I noticed a new technology tool called TXTBlocker has been released. I can’t vouch for how effective it is, and I am sure it will be the first of many solutions that will come to market. Using tools like TxtBlocker feel a little too “Big Brother” for my taste, and it’s a shame we need to create and pay for technology to prevent stupidity. Please, whatever you do, DON’T text and drive. – end of public service announcement for the week -

As Devesh does, here is a list of other articles I found interesting this week:
-iPhone is not the end of innovation (puts some perspective into the iPhone’s seemingly insurmountable dominance of the mobile market)
-BlackBerry desktop released for the Mac
-Essential tips for making your mobile site work better

And some fun articles for this week:
-Man arrested for threatening to shoot iPhone
-A train map of Google’s investments (not mobile really mobile related, but too entertaining not to post)
-Steve Jobs gets a taste of his own medicine – a parody of the famous Apple Super Bowl ad from 1984 (has Apple become what it once despised?)

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week’s wrap-up and my attempt to match Devesh’s edge, although it looks as though I have to work on the brevity part. If there is anything that I missed, don’t be afraid to drop a comment below – we’d love to hear from you. If you missed Devesh this week, I expect that he’ll be back next week to put his usual, entertaining spin on the week’s mobile events.

Lately, I’ve found myself using more of their tools, because, well, they’re pretty damn good. The latest tool I could envision using is Google’s Local Search, especially now that they have added a way to link desktop search results to your mobile device. Check out this video by Google to see a usage scenario of the feature.

I love the power of being able to link the desktop and mobile browser. I see this as another application that will drive usage of the mobile web. In fact, imagine that after doing the search, the consumer wants to take a look at your website on their phone. Are you aware of what they will see? My guess is that it won’t be pretty.

Based on a recent report by Neilsen, mobile internet usage is on the rise. Is your website ready?

These numbers indicate how bloated and unusable the App Store has become for product marketers. It is so crowded that it has become impossible for companies to get their apps noticed, unless they have the resources for an expensive promotional campaign through traditional channels. In other words, if you release an app just “to have an app”, you’d be better off spending your resources elsewhere. In fact, the only thing this release tells me is that Apple will continue to build the hype because they get 30% of the proceeds from paid app downloads. They are highly motivated to promote the App Store.

So if you want your brand to go mobile, how do you do it?
Simple – develop for the mobile internet.

Our position on the mobile internet versus applications has been well documented. I would encourage you to take a look at some of our previous articles on the subject. And for companies, I would urge them to beware the hype. The siren song of Apple’s marketing machine is powerful, but the companies who resist it and embrace the mobile internet will be the ones whose brand will have the lead in the mobile environment going forward. According to Google, they believe “the mobile Web will be vital in future app development because it is becoming too expensive to support and create programs for a wide variety of mobile platforms.”

See these articles from Aumnia for related information:
The App Store model is broken
Mobile web or app? – The Great Mobile Debate (a 5-part series)
Are Smartphone applications technology progression or regression