In the past, many federal offices handed out smart phones, like the BlackBerry or devices running Windows Mobile software, only to their top executives. Rank -and-file employees either were tethered to office based computers running on private networks or, if they were in the military or other critical field operations, used expensive, specialized wireless devices.

This year the U.S. government will spend $70 billion on IT. This will include wireless devices, service contracts, and applications. The purpose of this overhaul is to make government workers more effective and efficient  by giving them access to important information irregardless of their location.

It looks like the main beneficiaries of this upgrade however are Research In Motion (BlackBerry manufacturer) and AT&T. Applications are being made for the BlackBerry phones to service the needs of government officials.

Officers can use online programs to direct them to a parolee’s house or set a calendar application to remind them to administer a drug test. They can also tap a secure Federal Bureau of Investigation database for mug shots and other information on people with criminal records.

Furthermore, AT&T gets a big boost from this because they will become the provider for the government.

In the past year alone, AT&T has announced contracts for $292 million to build a data network for the Department of Homeland Security, for $120 million to provide data networking services for the 1,300 offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs, for $80 million to supply a backup data network for the Social Security Administration, and $50 million to supply BlackBerrys and wireless data cards for field workers at FEMA.

While we don’t know the totals of all the contractual spending, it can easily be assumed that it is a multi-billion dollar account.

Man, wouldn’t you love to be the sales person who landed that account?!

• In 2008, a total of 1.19 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide, according to IDC, of which some 155 billion were smartphones, or 13%.
• In 2013, IDC predicts that 20% of the 1.4 billion phones sold will be smartphones, or 280 million.
• As of Q1 2009, Nokia owned 41% of the global smartphone market, RIM owned 20%, Apple owned 11% and 28% was owned by others.
• Apple boasts some 65,000 apps, Android has 5,000+, and BlackBerry has about 2,000.
• Juniper Research estimates sales of mobile phone apps could hit $25 billion in 2014, up from $7 billion last year.

How do you cut costs and still get personalization? Mobile surveys. These things have been around since the early 2000s but has never really amounted to anything because of lack of adoption. Now, with the growth of smart phones, people are using their phones for everything BUT phone calls. A recent study released by JFK/NOP Research found that 60.6% of phone users text and 82.5% of iphone users text. Furthermore, the study found that more than 20% use mobile internet and have played a game on their phone.

An easy way to gain personalization and the survey data that you are looking for is to create a mobile survey. People can text in to start the survey and instead of talking over the phone, 3-5 question surveys would be texted to the phone user. Convenient? Yes. Likelihood of being adopted? High. As the study revealed, people use their phones for more than just talking. Furthermore, studies have shown that people now text more than they make phone calls.

The key however is to keep their interest while taking the survey. One company in England gives surveyers instant cash after they take a survey. The company that offers the survey is linked to hundreds of retailers so as soon as a survey is taken, a monetary credit is put on your cell phone. Of course you could always just do the same $5,000 sweepstake drawing that everyone else does.

I digress. Along with the electric car release, there will also be an iPhone application that controls your car. The application will be able to tell you how much battery is left in your car and if it needs charging. The application will also display the current temperature in your car and will be able to control your A/C. Pretty cool. Now all I need to do is to create a car remote converter that will allow all cars to be able to interact with the iPhone.

The Sharp 912SH for Softbank, for example, comes with an LCD screen that swivels 90 degrees, GPS tracking, a bar-code reader, digital TV, credit card functions, video conferencing and a camera and is unlocked by face recognition.

Pretty cool stuff. Why isn’t that technology already here? Well in the past there were three defining reasons (according to a post written by
Kent German, CNET’s cell phone guru) : 1.) Competing networks, 2.) Carrier Control, and 3.) Cultural differences.

1.) Competing networks

In the past there were several different networks that a cell phone could get signal from. There was GSM (used strictly throughout Europe) which was used by T-Mobile and AT&T; and there was CDMA, which was used by Sprint, Verizon, and a lot of smaller companies. By having two different network types it slowed down the process of making phones because manufacturers had to make them for the different networks. Furthermore, this is the reason whey you can get signal in some places but then not others.

Furthermore, a unified network allows development for faster services like 3G. This is why Europe has had 3G waaaayyy longer than we have in the US. They have a GSM network that spans the continent.

2.) Carrier Control

In other countries, buying a phone is independent of choosing a carrier. One simply goes to the store, buys a phone and then chooses the carrier they want. In the US it is the opposite. The phone is already tied to a carrier. Notice that all the carriers give you a limited range of phones to choose from. Also, buying a phone that is GSM enabled overseas, doesn’t necessarily means that it is compatible over here. Carriers have choice control.

3.) Cultural Differences

Mobile advancement and development in places like Japan are advantageous for several reasons. One, the culture there is one of public transportation and dense city life. For these reasons, people are on the move a lot while having extra time. Furthermore,  there are less network access points to create since the population is dense. In the US, we are more prone to using the land line because people are not on the move as much and when they are they are driving most of the time because our land developments tend to be spread out (for the most part). This culture however is quickly changing because of the possibilities that are capable on a phone. No longer is it just used for calling people. If that was the only function, it would definitely not be as popular today.

Today, Zappos.com and Amazon.com reached an agreement to make Amazon the sole owner of Zappos. Earlier today, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos released this letter to his employees via the zappos blog.

What is cool about this buyout is the video that Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, made that addresses the buyout. It details his mentality on business and his vast knowledge of it as well. Check it out and see how he addresses Zappos employees.

Jeff Bezos talks about Zappos and Amazon

Below are some excerpts from the Alligator (University of Florida’s independent student newspaper).

“These are the instruments at the forefront that are developing applications for medical uses by the hundreds,” said College of Pharmacy Dean William Riffee, an iPhone user. “We want our students to become adept at using these mobile devices early on because we see this as the future in pharmacy practice.” Pharmacists in the future will rely on these devices to access patient medical records and verify prescriptions, he said.

“…Students will use iPod touches or iPhones to participate in interactive quizzes during class and download free applications that will help first-year pharmacy students learn the names of various drugs, Munyer said.

He also said the college is developing a simulated patient that students will be introduced to at the beginning of class. Students will receive updates and messages about the status of the patient and its therapy throughout the semester.

“The primary learning objective here is to help our students learn the process of caring for and monitoring patients over different periods of time,” Munyer said.”

Full article here.

The good news is that mobile polling and voting used to be limited to specific carriers (i.e. the American Idol and Dancing with the Stars examples). Now, there are mobile platforms out there that enable even small companies or event management companies to set up their own mobile polling and voting systems. It is a great way to interact with you clients and consumers. The thing that would be of most concern to someone wanting to start up their own mobile voting campaign during an event is, “how hard would it be to set up?”

Good companies that provide this service allow you to set up the questions and mobile text numbers via a web-enabled platform. This means that you can just go online and set up a mobile question in less than five minutes. Additionally, you will want to take a look at the cost for each time a person texts in to vote. What you really want to stay away from is a situation where the third party text company charges voters to vote (ie. the example for DJ Metro below). No one will want to give you their opinion if they have to pay for it.

Lastly, you will want to think about charges to set up the software or have access to the platform. These sometimes can get expensive.

Here are the three things to look for again:

1.) Cost of set-up/platform access

2.) Cost to send and receive text messages (anything over 7 cents is a rip-off)

3.) Difficulty level of setting up a mobile voting question (this should take under 10 minutes, anything more is too complicated of a system)

Also, remember to check out the text to vote examples below:

Frequently Asked Questions - American Idol

Additionally, if you text vote using AT&T Mobility Text Messaging, … For American Idol, only AT&T Mobility customers can vote by text message using their …
www.americanidol.com/faq/

Dancing With The Stars - About Text Voting - ABC.com

AT&T subscribers may text the word VOTE to the text messaging 4 digit short … If you are sending your text vote from a wireless phone with an area code …
abc.go.com/primetime/…/index?pn=textvotingfaq

Text Your Vote to Help Determine ELLEgirl Nationwide Model Search …

NEW YORK, March 6 /PRNewswire/ — All of the submissions are in, and all of the finalists have been chosen. Now you can help ELLEgirl, Clairol, …
www.reuters.com/…/idUS108158+06-Mar-2009+PRN20090306

DJ METRO (Text 73997 and Vote 85) best midwest!! on MySpace Music …

Download DJ METRO (Text 73997 and Vote 85) best midwest!! Hip Hop / / music singles, watch music videos, listen to free streaming mp3s, & read DJ METRO …
www.myspace.com/djmetro18 -

Nashville Star TV Show | Online Contestant Voting, Rules & How to …

Inside Buy More is a social networking game for fans of the TV show Chuck. …. Unlimited Text Voting! Vote for your favorite Stars as much as you want each …
www.nbc.com/Nashville_Star/vote/register.shtml -

That being said, mobile components have been added to things such as billboards and magazines because the traditional media has the reach, but mobile gives it an interactive push. That got me thinking about other things or places that have a strong consumer base and I came up with one in particular that I wanted to break down; the Shopping Center/Mall.

Malls or shopping centers are based on one single principle: people like the idea of an all you can shop stop. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in the 15th century and is still one of the largest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 streets and 4000 shops. The  Grand Bazaar extended 10 kilometers worth of shopping and vendors.

This is the idea that Sam Walton had when he started to think about Wal-Mart; one  place for almost everything. Now, auto malls, outlet malls and even online vendors have sprung up doing the same thing.

The reason why I am talking about malls is because they are a great place to implement some kind of mobile marketing. Although numbers are down due to the recession, malls are still one of the most popular places to catch people’s eye and are still the number one destination for after thanksgiving and after Christmas sales.

With that many people going to these locations, a mobile marketing plan would be beneficial to not only the mall itself, but the vendors within the mall.

Last month, General Growth Properties (the second largest Mall Management Company), released a mobile marketing platform to the malls that they manage. Club Mobile is a mall subscription service that notifies opt-in customers of mall sales and events. The Club Mobile extends the value of The Club (GGP’s email campaign) by delivering discounts and offers to on-the-go consumers through text messages.

“This type of marketing innovation is a great example of how we are meeting the needs of today’s consumer,” says Keith Maladra, vice president of Consumer Intelligence at General Growth. “We believe this provides a unique tool for our retailers and gives value to our consumers by allowing them control of what type of offers they receive and how they receive them. The bottom line: we want to help our retail tenants drive store traffic, and this is a great way to accomplish that.”

Imagine walking through the mall and being sent text or picture message coupons for stores that you plan on going to. Imagine a mall where you didn’t have to use a single credit card or where you didn’t have to worry about paper money because if you wanted to buy something, you simply just use your phone to scan the bar code on the item and BAM! it is yours.

Now at this point you could be thinking that it is cool but what about the security of it all. For those of you who are thinking that, I just want to say that all of this would not be implemented if security was not taken into account.

GGP is taking the first step into a mobile world by paving the way for mobile commerce and mobile transactions. Though we are still a couple years away from this actually being adopted, the reality is, is that it is coming.

Additionally, for other mall and shopping center management companies, I would suggest looking into a mobile system for your shoppers. Not only can it provide for convenience but it also allows shoppers to interact with your stores on a more personal level. The key here is operating on a personal yet unobtrusive fashion. No one wants to be sold on anything. People want to make active, non-pressuring decisions.

Homegrown: Contest participants are asked to opt-in for future promotions and information, and segmentation is conducted through recorded behavior.

Farmed-Out: Carriers can provide lists of consumers who have provided information about themselves and the types of promotions they are amenable to receiving; once the consumer responds to a promotion sent out to that list, the marketer can begin building aggregated profiles.

It is important to remember that if you are using a homegrown list, let the subscribers know EXACTLY what you will be using their numbers for. Also, allow them the opportunity to easily opt out if they so choose.

Furthermore, if you are using a farmed-out list, make sure you get a copy of what their subscribers saw when the originally signed on to the list. The vendor’s terms and conditions can ultimately come back to bite you.