I think everyone should take a look at a recent Mashable post on mobile trends. Many of our clients come to us to help them conceptualize what technologies would be best for them and what is working for others. This article I believe validates much of our current thinking. For those of you not willing to actually read the post I have recapped the cheat sheet here.

[1] SMS - Everyone is texting. If you are not, you might just be one of the only ones. Don't think just because it is low-tech that it is outdated. It still works.

[2] Advertising on the platforms is still being worked out - There are some interesting things happening in the field but nothing is a clear winner yet and everyone is largely still figuring out what works for them. My guess is that this will continue into the indefinite future butafter content ...

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As with all denizens of the digital age I am often left scratching my head when a large company comes out with a measure that somehow limits what I can do with their device. Aside from the frustration felt by not being able to actually use a device as I see fit, there is the almost embarrassed-for-you feeling I get when I look at the company like I looked at my grandparents trying to emulate my speech patterns. It is just painful.

Such is the case with Apple almost as a habit now. We first saw this when Apple didn't like Adobe's concept of self-publishing iPhone apps out of CS5. Solution? Change the terms of use and insert a very small paragraph effectively putting the stomp on that. When in doubt send in legal. It would seem now that Apple's crack legal team is up to it again with the latestafter content ...

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Since the dawn of time, er, well, since the dawn of the iPhone anyway, there have been rumors circulating about another carrier picking up the iPhone. Always Verizon, always "near" and, to date, always a rumor. However, now we appear to have either aggrandized the rumor or we have truly moved one step closer to this finally coming true. There are several news outlets around the web reporting this, here is one, and here is another. Let's assume this is true for a moment shall we?

First you have the sheer excitement of a new carrier. The concept of tethering a device to a single carrier in today's marketplace seems Draconian. Why punish the consumer, not to mention the platform, because of a company's desire to monopolize a market. If your service is truly better, then it will float to the top. If it is not (AT&Tafter content ...

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As we previously mentioned here, the writing has been on the wall for Blackberry for quite some time. Anytime the king of the hill stops protecting the peak, someone is bound to sneak up, whack them on the head, and unceremoniously push them down the mountain. Such is the case now as Android has officially passed RIM in US sales. According to the latest posts, the second quarter of this year has Android holding 33 percent of the market. Trailing behind is Blackberry at 28 and iPhones at 22 percent. This would be the first time since the fourth quarter in 2007 according to TechnologyExpert.com that Blackberry could not be seen in the top spot.

This brings up a few points I think worth mentioning. First, barring a stellar product out of nowhere, Blackberry is going to rapidly become an antique. To date we have seen no compelling reasonafter content ...

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As much as I love the iPad I have to say I have been a bit frustrated by the case. Sure, it is nice and it is functional but it was always a bit off in my opinion. Recently though we ran across this guy who has a very cool, very functional case that I think addresses most of my issues. To make this story better, this guy actually has an interesting story as well.

Essentially he recognized the need in the market, sold his entire life to pay for a trip to China, sourced a product he invented for production, and is now selling it. This is the kind of story we love to hear about over here. I still would like to see a business card holder inside the flap as that would really make this thing do everything I need it toafter content ...

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I am certainly not picking on Apple because, of late, it has come to light that Apple is clearly not the only pony in the show with this problem; just the one getting the most attention. I do find it

What I do find somewhat comical is that Apple has spent a bloody fortune to only end up where everyone else has ended up in this department. Take a look here at their incredible multi-million dollar antenna lab. It would seem to me that while we can all recognize the inherent problem here (there are only so many places one can place an antenna), spending this kind of money to not go anywhere is, well, disappointing.

Perhaps we are all jaded that Apple regularly thinks around a problem and comes up with a superb solution. Perhaps we don't want to admin that Apple is human after all. Perhaps we justafter content ...

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Many people have asked us about the iPhone antenna issue. To be clear, we are not engineers so a scientific perspective we could not provide. However, we have some useful information on the bigger issue in the industry that we thought would be useful for our clients to read about. Here are a few things we found that you might also like to know.

[1] Apple published a fantastic photo essay on a broad range of phones currently on the market with similar, or the same, issues. You can read that here. They very clearly outline the various phones, circle where the antennas are, show a person gripping the phone, and show signal attenuation. (the loss of reception). Great read if you are a visual type for sure.

[2] Not everyone agrees with Steve on this point and one article actually quotes RIM, Motorola, and Nokia execs. Interestinglyafter content ...

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As the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices continue their evolution forward we are now starting to what that means to a variety of folks. As we recently saw mobile traffic is taking off. This is no longer in question. More and more of our clients are reporting large spikes in iPad traffic to their web sites. While not enough yet to make everyone take action, the smart ones have moved past head scratching and onto planning. Why? Metrics. ABI Research has posted recently that an estimated $2.2 billion in hard goods will be purchased from a mobile device by year's end. To compare, that is >$1 billion more than last year and a colossal leap of >5 times from 2008. If this isn't enough to make you hear cash register sounds then perhaps it is time to consider a new career.

The simple fact of the matter is thatafter content ...

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So the internet is ablaze with videos (some funny, some just irate) of folks lending their opinion on the Apple antenna issue. Everything from pots and pans on their heads, to exaggerated hand maneuvering to make a simple phone call. To be perfectly honest these videos are not only accurate but there should be more. In fact, the complaint department over at Apple should be lit up like a Christmas tree and rightfully so.

We have spoken about this theme in the past but it is always especially irritating when a brand you know and love so blatantly drops the ball on you. For a company that produces a product that a) they know a ton of people are going to line up and purchase starting day one, b) knew they were ultimately going to make a fortune on this product to suggest that holding the phone different would be anafter content ...

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AdMob recently released a report that everyone should take a look at. It is a break down of the mobile market world wide that paints a very interesting picture of where we stand currently. Two points of interest here. One of the more interesting tidbits is that mobile devices accounted for 48% of the traffic this year as opposed to a mere 22% 2 years ago. Second, iOS and Android users spent an average of 79 minutes a day using their apps and downloaded an average of 9 per month. If these are compelling numbers you are simply not paying attention.

I recently had a client comment that with over 200k apps on the market, how can we possibly compete? The response is simple; marketing 101. Apps have clearly evolved and are rapidly becoming tools used daily by folks everywhere. In many cases we have seen apps supplant websiteafter content ...

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In a world where we have to constantly decide paper or plastic, soup or salad, and which platform to bet the farm on (for the time being anyway) it is nice to know some things just take care of themselves. Such is the case with the platforms for mobile. While all of us have our favorites it is nice to know we now have proof.

Mashable did not give me permission to use these images but since I am a) giving them credit and b) linking to their site's article, I am hoping they take pity on me should they read this. However, I have to say these graphics are pretty strong evidence that the world is a' changin'.

Let's quickly recap. 19% of the overall mobile device marketplace is ruled by RIM and the perennial favorite Blackberry yet a mere 4% of developers saddled upafter content ...

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So the 2010 version of an omnipresent rumor has officially surfaced. There are apparently two, yes two, Verizon folks out there who are "close to source" that state Verizon will start selling iPhones in January of 2011. Putting aside momentarily the fact that we have heard this rumor countless times in the past, I must say, if it is in fact a reality, this is good news all around.

Let's assume for argument's sake that it is real. This would open up an almost unimaginable market for Apple as well as, and this is my personal favorite, provide us iPhone folks with an alternative to the current atrocity that is AT&T. To be fair, this would be the best/worst thing to happen to AT&T. The mass exodus likely to happen would probably alleviate the 3G network problems they just can't seem to shake. Who knows, AT&T users may begin to actuallyafter content ...

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Well some things are just too funny. Funny for everyone who is not affected that is. If we had this problem this post would likely have a different tone to it. As it turns out the new iPhone is having a few difficulties it would seem. A few are minor like screen discoloration, etc. However, a few are not. For those of you reading this who are not familiar with the new phone there is a metal antenna band around the phone that saves space by making the case an antenna. I suppose the QC team at Apple is all right handed because it would appear that if you grip it with your left hand, there is an almost immediate signal drop. (just what we all want, a trick to make my already abhorrent AT&T signal even worse). Dozens of videos are posted everywhere but for the lazy we justafter content ...

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While it is duly noted that this blog is expressly about iPhone and iPad, well, I just don't care on this one. As with every rule, rules must occasionally be broken for the benefit of all involved. This is one of those times. In my humble opinion there have been a handful of times in my life that left me with only one thought, "this changes everything". Yes, the day I first saw an iPhone was one of those but this, dare I say it, may just be bigger.

IBM has traversed the convoluted seas of artificial intelligence and emerged on the other side with a device they call Watson (read full NY Times article here). The rest of us upon seeing this may just call it the single most unbelievable thing we have ever seen. Simply put it is a machine that ingests human speech, calculates a response,after content ...

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I will leave it at this... Was it a surprise that the iPhone was coming out when it did? Was it unexpected that an unusual amount of people might say be on their server for the day? Is this the first time we have rolled out a new phone? Guys, come on. Seriously, let's get it together after content ...

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