Verizon: If You Want To...

Verizon CFO Fran Shammo ruffled a few feathers yesterday when he mentioned at an investor conference that every one of their customers would be on one of the carrier’s new data share plans . In an effort to clarify his meaning, Verizon sent a statement to a handful of news outlets today that shines a bit more light on how they plan to make this situation work. First thing’s first — Verizon still intends to make those pesky (for them, anyway) unlimited data plans a thing of the past, they’ll just be doing it more gradually than originally anticipated. That said, subscribers currently clinging to their unlimited data plans can actually keep them in certain cases. If you’re a customer who just upgraded from a 3G to a 4G device with that older data plan intact, congratulations — you’ll be able to hang on to it until the next time you waltz into a Verizon store to upgrade your smartphone. Furthermore, customers who pay the full outright price for their handsets will be able to keep their unlimited plans as well, though that’s hardly anything new for them — by buying the device outright, you’re able to dodge another multi-year contract extension. As far as Verizon seems to be concerned, you’re fine unless you take them up on the offer of a discounted device (and the contract that goes with it): “When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.” That little “discounted pricing” proviso is an interesting one — does that mean customers would be able to hold onto those unlimited plans if they opted to pay full price for devices from now on? It certainly seems that way, though I can’t imagine too many people would be eager to take them up on that deal considering how damned expensive smartphones are without that nifty little subsidy to help out. Still, the option seems to be there for anyone who doesn’t mind spending gobs of money to prove a point.

Mobile Payments Startup...

Mobile payments and identity verification company  Jumio  is introducing its Netswipe Mobile SDK today, which allows developers to add credit card scanning functionality to their mobile applications. The SDK (software development kit), is available now for iOS, but an Android version is coming soon, the company says. To jump-start usage, Jumio is also waiving transaction fees for the SDK’s first users for a temporary period of time. The company is calling this a “$5 million fund,” but it’s not really a fund – it’s a just a discount to developers who choose to implement the solution. They’ll be able to try out the Jumio SDK in their apps before committing to paying the extra cost of doing so. Jumio says it will cover the cost of the first 1,000 scans every month, but did not announce an end date for this promotion just yet. (Until the $5M runs out, it seems). The SDK allows developers to integrate the card-scanning technology into their app, which means users can hold up a credit card to their smartphone’s camera in order to have the card “read” by the app and the numbers automatically entered into the correct fields. To confirm the purchase, the 3-digit CVV still has to be entered, however. The technology is similar to what a lesser-funded competitor Card.io already has in place. In fact, while both companies have operated in the same space – “computer vision” for speeding up mobile payments – they’ve been coming at it from different angles. While Card.io started with SDKs for iOS and Android, then moved into web support for e-commerce sites, Jumio has been going the opposite direction. As of March , Card.io already had some 200 developers using its SDK. The Jumio SDK for iOS is available for download here .

Three-Quarters of Smart...

An app would like to use your current location — is that okay? 74% of smartphone owners said “yes” to that question, up from 55% just a year ago. Seems like the tool that gave many people the willies at the start, is now becoming part of their everyday routine. Need directions? Want to find the bank branch closest to you or find the most popular coffee house in a new city? You can do it all, as long as you say yes. Now don’t confuse the use of location-based services with location check-in services like Foursquare. A new report from Pew shows that only 18% of smartphone users participate in geosocial activities. That’s up from 12% last year, but it’s hardly a boom. The Pew report breaks down the users by demographics and right off the bat there’s an interesting fact. Though men are notorious for refusing driving directions from humans, they don’t mind getting them from their phone. The use of location-services was almost equal between men and women and only slightly higher in the 18-39 group. Usage rose with income and education but even there the difference was negligible. Of course, the results of this study were already skewed by the smartphone demographic. The person who plunks down cash for a smartphone is a person who is interested in all it has to offer, right? Why buy a smartphone if all you’re going to do is make calls? What’s amazing is that 41% of all adults are using location-based service. That’s not smartphone owners, that ALL adults in the US. Smartphone ownership has risen to 46%. A year from now, we should easily crack the 50% mark. And while half isn’t good if someone offers you a dollar bill, it’s great for anyone in the mobile biz. Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

Google Maps For Android...

Google does one thing better than anyone else (in my opinion, of course, so feel free to disagree in the comments) and that thing is maps. There are always improvements happening and it’s one of the few times that I don’t feel like a second class citizen in the smartphone era since they roll updates out to us Android folks first! The latest update integrates Google Offers into the map experience for Android. From the Google Lat Long blog we get Today, in the U.S. only, we’re launching a way to discover nearby Google Offers in Google Maps for Android. To see great deals near you, tap on “Maps” to open the dropdown menu and then tap on “Offers.” If you see something you like you can click on it to learn more. Some Google Offers can be purchased and saved for later while others are immediately available for free. With free Google Offers, press “Use now” to redeem instantly or “Save for later” for future use. You can also opt-in to receive notifications in the app when there are offers near you. I honestly don’t get much of a chance to take advantage of this type of service since my suburban existence differs very much from the city dwellers who walk from neighborhood to neighborhood and can literally bump into new things to do and experience. Not to say it can’t be used at all but this type of offering certainly favors the urbanite, which is totally cool. Here is the usual Google video treatment of this maps option Does this kind of integration creep you out or is it exciting? If you are a business owner do you see this being a help to your business? Does your business fit the criteria for a walk or drive-by offer?

Nearly 75% of Tablet Us...

A recent study by Viacom states that tablet users are most comfortable using their tablets in their homes. In fact, the number is 74% of the time. Why do you suppose that is? Well, most tablets are Wifi only devices so it’s portability is somewhat limited. Of course, if you want to go to any room in a home with a Wifi connection that’s no problem. Of the most common rooms the study showed we see from eMarketer Notice how the use goes down as you reach rooms where it is less likely to have a TV. No science there just an observation. Now, what about the 25% of the time that the tablet leaves the property? Well, no real surprises here. I want to meet those who bring it to a sporting event. Have you done that? If so let us know why. Tablets are becoming more and more ubiquitous for sure. As a result, marketers have to give serious consideration as to how their online efforts render on a tablet. Right now (and, let’s just say it, for the foreseeable future) the iPad is going to be the tablet of choice. Android tablets have had a very hard time getting traction. The roughly 50 / 50 split that occurs in the smartphone market does not occur in the tablet market at all. Remember how hot the Kindle Fire was when it rolled out? The numbers for it have cooled off considerably while iPad sales continue to soar. Have you fine tuned your marketing to meet the needs of this growing market segment? Are you making any specific tweaks to your offerings that are aimed specifically at the tablet crowd? If so tell us in the comments. Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community