November 24, 2009 (11:23 AM) by Raff Viton
Last week, we talked about the mobile whitespace, the power of the app and consumer consideration. And as we know, brands are utilizing the mobile space to not only commercialize products and services, but also to assist the consumer. The Mobile Magic app, for instance, by Disney and Verizon Wireless is replete with relevant content: wait times for rides, restaurant information and where and when Disney characters will make appearances are all included in a data dispensing, real-time, GPS enabled mobile guide. Now, Walt Disney World patrons can make decisions based on helpful information—effectively creating a richer, more realized theme park experience. Disney and Verizon Wireless are ultimately creating an entity beyond the app. Instead of filling the mobile whitespace solely with entertaining content or just charts and data, Mobile Magic finds the cross hairs. In this case, it becomes more than an application— it becomes a resource—maybe even a necessity to fully experience the World of Walt Disney. But what happens when 4G hits mobile commercialization? How does an app like Mobile Magic hold up? Yes, you guessed it: faster. The technology moving the message is ramping up—in fact two weeks ago, Clearwire launched WiMax, (also known as 4G) in Chicago, facilitating the beginning of an ultramobile enabled market. With higher speeds come the ability to view richer media, and since streaming audio and video from sites like youtube.com accounts for roughly 27% of global internet traffic, it’s not difficult to see where brands are looking next. Hulu is already doing it. If you want to watch a free movie, you have to sit through a mini 15 second spot. But if 4G speeds things up and consumers watch more, shorter length videos on their mobile phones, what does this mean? One second spots for every thirty second video? This sounds like either subliminal messaging or completely ineffective, but most likely both. (And an aside: Hulu recently announced they will be charging for their content.) So now what? Next week I'll highlight some of the companies that are creating innovative products, services, and business models to take advantage of the coming developments in mobile bandwidth and technologies.
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