BII MOBILE INSIGHTS: Is It Time To Stop Building Mobile Websites?

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Stop Designing Mobile Websites! (3.7 Designs)
Wait... what? Ross Johnson at 3.7 Designs says it’s time to stop designing mobile websites. Despite the popularity of mobile, we can no longer say "mobile browsing is on the rise." Really? Instead, he says we must realize that the way people use the web as a whole is changing. Two major shifts have occurred in a short period of time. First, users have become accustom to browsing the web on a mobile device. Second, the number of browser enabled devices has exploded. You can’t accommodate users who access a site from a spectrum of devices in infinite contexts by simply thinking "design for mobile." It’s too narrow with a the landscape this big. We need to think about universal websites. The idea behind universal web design is simple. Design a site such that the largest amount of people can access it and have a positive experience. This means the site should be easy to use regardless of device, technology, context and situation. This idea is nothing new.

Four Steps To A Better Mobile Web Experience (Savage Brands)
Mobile web browsing accounts for over 10% of all Internet usage worldwide, and this number will continue to increase as tablet and smartphone prices drop and adoption rises. Here are four critical steps to create a better mobile web experience:

It has to work.
Mobile sites must load quickly.
Design with mobile users in mind.
Make it easy to interact with the mobile site.

Mobile is quickly becoming the channel of choice, regardless of industry. Now it’s up to businesses to deliver a quality mobile experience that meets users' expectations.

The Rise Of The Mobile Shopper (BI Intelligence)
In this report, we'll first gauge the size of the mobile commerce opportunity in dollar terms, and then look at some of the top mobile commerce trends.

Mobile payments
Tablet consumers
SoLoMo and gamiifcation
Tagging and pinning

Shoppers carry mobile devices everywhere they go, and they're already using their phones to redeem coupons, research products, and pay for things online and offline. With mobile it's now feasible to track an individual from the beginning to the end of the consumer lifecycle, from the very first intention to shop for an item, to the actual purchase at point-of-sale.

Three-Fourths Of M-Commerce Solutions Use Mobile Web (DazeInfo)
M-commerce has become a major threat to traditional retail. Worldwide, 32 % of smartphone users spend $1-20 per month on m-commerce, followed by 12% those spend $21-40 per month on m-commerce. Mobile retail revenue is expected to hit $11.6 billion this year, up 73% from last year. According to a recent report from research2 guidance, 76% of m-commerce solutions are using mobile optimized web page for their business in comparison to 61% of native applications.

mobile web strategy

And importantly, 55% of companies believe that m-commerce is going to be one of the most important sales channels for specific target group down the road.

The Future Of Advertising Is Pretty Awesome (Forbes)
Forbes contributor Rob Schwartz (TBWA\Chiat\Day) was tasked with scouting and celebrating the best ideas in the future of communication in terms of advertising. Here are some ideas that captured his imagination in terms of storytelling through technology.

Google Glass Project
Nike Social Response Lab
Mobile Medic
TShirtOS

This is just a small sample of the innovative ideas. Check out the article for videos on each.

Countries With The Highest Mobile Internet Penetration (PwC via Yahoo!)
Over the next five years, PwC forecasts that aggregate entertainment and media global spending will rise from $1.4 trillion in 2010 to $1.9 trillion in 2015, a 5.7% growth. That figure masks the accelerating shift of spending from traditional to digital platforms. So who is leading when it comes to mobile internet penetration?

Japan leads with 88%
Australia is next with 45%
U.K. with 44%
U.S. with 36%
Germany with 35%
China with 26%
Last in the list is India with a meager mobile internet penetration of 4%

Mobile broadband is also expected to drive the usage of content services such as music, video and games.

Casting A Ballot By Smartphone (The New York Times)
As a follow up to our recent post, When Will We Be Able To Vote From Our Smartphones?, The New York Times asks, at a time when we can see video shot by a robot on Mars, when there are cars that can drive themselves, and when we can deposit checks on our smartphones without going to a bank, why do most people still have to go to a polling place to vote? Security experts say, letting people vote through their phones or computers could have disastrous consequences. "I think it’s a terrible idea," said Barbara Simons, a former IBM researcher and co-author of the book Broken Ballots: Will Your Vote Count? "It’s a national security issue," Ms. Simons said. "We really don’t want our enemies to be able to determine our government for us — or even our friends for that matter." Good point. But other countries allow citizens to vote via the Internet, why not the U.S. the land of the free and home of the smartphone?

iPad App Downloads Beats All Android Tablets Combined (Tom's Guide)
Consumers who own an iPad download five times as many apps as all of the applications downloaded on Android tablets combined, according to ABI Research. Of course, this study was conducted before Google's Nexus 7 tablet arrived. Apple claims that there are currently 250,000 apps developed specifically for the iPad, with Google urging developers to consider its own tablets rather than creating fully-fledged apps for Android-powered smartphones. The search engine giant recently matched Apple's iOS store by boasting over 700,000 apps for its Play Store. Google's Nexus 7 tablet is proving to be a worthy iPad competitor with sales nearing one million last month. That said, Apple launched its iPad Mini and iPad 4 devices last week, with the tablets managing to sell three million units in three days.

Threat Level Mobile (Fixmo via makeuseof)
That innocent looking phone in your hand is a weapon if handed to the wrong person. Here are some threats, vulnerabilities and risks with mobile devices in the enterprise.

mobile threat level