Every new day is the birth of a
new invention in Technology. Everyday something new is created. What
Einstein quoted years ago still holds true that “It has become appallingly
obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” (Albert Einstein)
I think we have a great track
record on being relevant, on identifying consumer trends, needs and wants. The
year 2012 finished with some great inventions in the field of mobile, especially
the introduction of the iPhone 5 was a great success in the market.
Looking ahead at 2013, it seems
that more Tablets, Smartphone, Android versions, Apple IOS versions are ready
to hit the market with surprising new features. Especially there is a great
competition on bringing the compatibility of windows 8 on all windows phones. Similarly,
in the business field, Black Berry has already stepped up with its marvelous launch
of BB Z10 and another anticipated Q10. eMarketer predicts that the rapid
expansion of Smartphone and tablet user populations will cause marketers to
shift their ad spending from more traditional media to mobile at an increasing
pace.
The question is not, “what
Smartphones can do,” it’s “what can’t they do.” The strategic
imperative for organizations is to understand how they are going to meet the
challenge of that change.
Here
are few key mobile trends for marketers to grab opportunities in this year:
Quick Mobile Editing – The
reason that most of the Smartphones in past few days were still losing their
competition against the tablets was the need of editing real websites and the
ability to use software such as visual studio and programming or web development
applications. The reason was that these software weren’t 100% supported for
mobile interface. However, companies these days are trying hard to create
mobile interfaces for those applications whereby users will be able to create
and edit data right from their mobile devices. An excellent approach was the
entry of HTML5 web user interfaces which is predicted to be a mainstream in
2013. Why? HTML5 allows developers and designers to create one
"universal" app without coding for each individual operating system. Similarly,
their main hope is to create more real life applications, which will be
able to support any interface and work seamlessly with them.
Location Based Services –
A GPS function is located on most of the new devices to track current locations
or to track your friends or family location when online updates that being
shared among all social networks where to inform the location they are. GEO
tagging is one of the best features, which was introduced with GPS.
Mobile Commerce – eMarket
or eCommerce was what consumers were waiting for; to perform transaction on the
go. This has allowed companies and consumers to buy and sell right from
their mobile phones. This trend will further grow in 2013 with retailers
looking at new ways to attract and retain customers.
Mobile Apps – Tons of mobile applications are created
these days and distributed in the online market worldwide. These applications are
created for several different uses from gaming to entertainment to utility. The
application downloads are increasing day by day and so more developers are
getting on the bandwagon to create effect apps for every possible use.
Storage – Cloud storage is
another area that has gained momentum over the past few years. Storing important
data and creating backups so as to use them and restore them as need are some
of the most sought after uses for cloud. A use of cloud storage directly from
the mobile device is what consumers need. Cloud storage and cloud-based
services like Dropbox, Google drive, Evernote, Sugar Sync, etc., will be
important in the coming years, which will allow users to access and share
information anywhere anytime.
Object Recognition (OR) –
“High End” devices have an increased sensor and processing capability that
enables applications to recognize the user's surroundings, including specific
objects of interest. OR provides an easy-to-use interface hence it is
gaining popularity. The best feature launched last year was the QR Code functionality where users are
able to purchase or browse online by a simple capture of the QR code. Users will
need to rely on the camera, as well as other device sensors to communicate when
OR capabilities are combined with more-traditional app functions.
Mobile is a growing strategy for
many companies as technology becomes more and more advanced, marketing will
become more integrated and real-time where marketers will have to look forward
in 2013 and beyond.