12 Mobile Trends to Watch in 2012
12 Mobile Trends to Watch in 2012
The mobile world is growing by leaps and bounds with new
technologies, new apps, and new networks being built daily.
With so much going on, there's no telling what 2012 will bring us.
Here is Redengine's list of 12 Mobile Trends to Watch for in
2012 (based on our experience). Enjoy!
1) Cross platform app issues will drive mobile website
development
Apps are great, but they are not for everyone. The challenges
and hoops an app designer has to jump through for minimum monetary
gains (if any) will likely mean that businesses will start leaning
more toward the mobile website.
2) Mobile website search engine optimization will gain
ground
A search-engine is designed to produce the most relevant and
useful results for your search terms. The keyword here is "useful."
With the recent surge of mobile websites, search engines are
beginning to rank mobile-friendly websites better than non-friendly
ones within mobile searches. This means that if your mobile site is
not user-friendly or optimized for the mobile web, you'll likely
not be getting the search results you're hoping for.
3) Mobile advertising will continue to grow and
diversify
Mobile advertising is already diversifying at an incredible
rate. Advertising methods range from simple SMS and MMS messages,
to banner ads, full page video, in-app ads and even mobile coupons
through apps like Foursquare. There's no telling what's next for
mobile advertising. Mobile ad spending in USA is expected to hit
$1.24 Billion this year.
4) The evolution of the mobile website
Mobile websites were originally designed as scaled down versions
of traditional websites. Later on, designers started to build
simple, slimmed sites that fit the immediate needs of their mobile
customers. Lately, with the increasing number of providers offering
unlimited data plans, we're starting to see designers explore more
rich media and video based mobile websites. In the near future, we
expect to see the bare-bones mobile sites as a thing of the
past.
5) Location-based services & GPS
GPS based apps like Foursquare, SCVNGR, Facebook Places and Yelp
are all seeing significant increases in popularity. Businesses are
starting to take advantage by offering loyal customers discounts
and specials offers while consumers are taking advantage by sharing
store sales and deals with others. Expect to see continued growth
and new competition in these areas.
6) Video calling
The iPhone 4 features Face Time video calling. Skype already
offers video calling for Android smartphones. This cool technology
is already here, it's only a matter of time before it gains
widespread adoption.
7) Better business-to-consumer connections
Free Wi-Fi networks are expanding. More and more people are
connecting to the web on the go. Wi-Fi is bringing new customers to
businesses (i.e. Starbucks), encouraging picture sharing and social
media connections (i.e. Smithsonian Museums) and really helping
connect individuals to brands (i.e. Foursquare). This trend is
expected to continue and grow.
8) QR coding gaining ground
The biggest challenge facing QR codes is awareness. Their
ability to turn a static marketing piece into something engaging
and fun is unique and has a ton of potential. It won't be long
before QR codes will have the ability to integrate with other
applications on smartphones. For example, if you're advertising an
upcoming event, a person could simply scan your QR code to have the
event loaded into their iCalendar. We're on the brink of leveraging
the potential of QR codes, so hang on!
9) Mobile finances and e-commerce a focus
With mobile commerce or m-commerce already showing significant
success for retailers such as eBay and most financial institutions
already seeing great response rates to their mobile apps, it's
likely we'll be seeing simpler more user-friendly platforms in the
near future for these types of services.
Square is a cool new tool
that allows you to accept credit card payments through your
smartphone. Magento, an e-commerce technology service provider is
working on a technology that is basically a credit-card sticker
that you place on your smartphone allowing you to "Tap-n-Go"
your purchases. The free Google Wallet uses similar technology but
allows you to pay, collect points on your loyalty cards and even
take advantage of special offers. These cool new mobile
technologies are just the tip of the iceberg for mobile financing
linked to smartphones - more to come on this.
10) 4G adoption will take time
Much like the adoption of the 3G network, 4G will take time - a
recent Forrester report thinks 7 years. So, despite
all the marketing dollars pumped into selling the new platform, it
may be slow out of the gate.
11) BlueTooth 3 & 4
More powerful BlueTooth technologies are on the horizon
according to Gartner. The immediate need is for the health care
industry, say goodbye to cords and wires… your doctor's stethoscope
will send signals right to a nearby screen. Star Trek... here we
come!
12) Streaming Video
Taking GPS maps to the next level, we'll likely see traffic apps
on the horizon that link directly to traffic cameras. These apps
could send out updates and alternative routes to travelers to help
get them to their location safely and on time.
In summary, 2012 will be a year of new mobile technology and
convenience. There's so many cool technologies on the horizon and
others that will likely surprise us all. Hang on tight
because it's going to be a bumpy ride!
Sources:
1http://www.slideshare.net/Info_Smaato/smaato-mobile-advertising-trends-2011
http://www.focus.com/briefs/marketing/top-10-hot-mobile-trends-2011/
http://blog.appboy.com/2011/01/5-mobile-trends-to-expect-in-2011/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/01/2011-mobile-trends-a-look-ahead.php
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/10-Mobile-Tech-Trends-to-Watch-Into-2011-Gartner-493266/
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-Wallet-Mobile-Payments-Entice-Citigroup-MasterCard-Sprint-164866/
http://miniscreenweb.com/?p=1382
http://dc.about.com/od/internetaccess/a/CellWifiNatMall.htm