Newsletter - Issue 2
Welcome to this edition of the Embrace Mobile newsletter which is packed full of news and stories about mobile technology that we hope will be of interest to you. It is an exciting time for Embrace Mobile as last week saw the official launch of MSurvey at the Online Marketing Show. Later in the newsletter you will also find some interesting statistics from our mobile survey, carried out on behalf of exhibition organisers, Centaur Communications.
In this edition
MSurvey makes debut at Online Marketing Show
Last week saw the official launch of MSurvey, Embrace Mobile's new mobile survey application at the Online Marketing Show. MSurvey provides a method for collecting data instantaneously to more accurately capture how a respondent feels at the time of the experience. It was the interactive, two way communication capability that really sparked the imagination of visitors to our stand and the possibilities for a whole range of research and marketing campaigns. The type of organisations included:
- Banks
- E-Learning
- Local Government
- Media/Marketing Agencies
- Magazine Publishers
- Call Centre Providers
Opinions revealed by MSurvey at Online Marketing Show
Exhibition organisers, Centaur Communications used MSurvey, Embrace Mobile's research by mobile phone tool, at the recent Online Marketing Show to discover visitors opinions on using the new M-badge entry system during the two day event.
A short survey was prepared before the show which asked attendees questions such as, Was M-Badge easy to use? And Did you experience any problems? If the answer to this second question was 'yes' a drop down list of likely answers appeared including an 'other' to which the respondent could then add a free text reply.
Half the respondents were sent the SMS text version of the survey and the other half the WAP mobile internet version as Centaur wanted to see the difference in response rates. Interestingly the results showed that 3 times more people replied to the WAP mobile internet version than the SMS survey.
The data was received from the organisers during the final afternoon of the show to ensure everyone that had registered for M-Badge, even at the last minute, would receive a survey. Within a few hours the surveys were sent out. The data shows that 85.4% of the mobile internet responses were received within the first two hours with 53.7% returned in the first 10 minutes.
Alison Wynn, Senior Marketing Manager at Centaur commented, "We are delighted with how Embrace's MSurvey worked - it was user-friendly, reached visitors within hours of them attending the show and the response rate was far higher than sending surveys out by email."
Should you want to find out more these results please contact Simon Stevens.
MSurvey used for ongoing research project by Dipsticks Research
Dipsticks Research have been using MSurvey for an ongoing research project using the mobile channel. Angus Webb, Technical Director at Dipsticks Research comments;
"We have been using Mobile research for some time, and find that the rapidity of turnaround, strong respondent engagement and high response rates provide excellent quantitative and qualitative results. The team at Embrace Mobile have a solid understanding of our requirements and really go the extra mile to ensure prompt delivery of results. They also engage a refreshing approach to customer service which strengthens our partnership and long-term collaborative potential."
More MSurvey projects..
MSurvey has been used by a number of companies but at this point in time we are not able to tell you very much. These include SurveyShack.com, who now have a panel of mobile respondents, and Spring Research, who have a bespoke mobile research application that Embrace Mobile has been developing. Leapfrog Research & Planning have also carried out a pilot study for a major mobile telecoms provider. Discussions are well advanced with a number of market research software companies looking to incorporate mobile technology into their existing systems. Watch this space...
Appearances for MSurvey
Embrace Mobile has been selected to appear at Venturefest in July as part of the Technology Showcase. Here we will be able to demonstrate our innovative MSurvey product. Find out more about Venturefest.
We will also be appearing at Insight, the largest exhibition for the Market Research industry in the Europe. This takes place in November at Earls Court in London. Find out more about Insight.
Mobile News
Pupils get revision help by text
Pupils at a school in Buckinghamshire have been getting extra help with GCSE revision by texting their teachers. Far from banning mobile phones, Cottesloe School in Wing has decided to turn modern technology to its advantage in an attempt to improve results. Since Easter, Year 11 pupils have been able to message teachers from home with revision queries and get a text answer. The school said "text mentoring" had also seen teachers messaging pupils with revision prompts and exam tips. Full story....
Handsets look to eclipse cameras
Camera phones could replace digital cameras as the main gadgets people use to take pictures, a study suggests. It found that 44% of people already use their handset as their main camera. The days of the MP3 player also look to be numbered, as 67% of those questioned said they expected their phone to replace their portable music player. The survey, commissioned by handset maker Nokia, comes as the number of mobile phones in use around the world approaches 2.5 billion. Full story....
Cashing in on mobile-crazy Japan
Japan's biggest mobile phone provider is preparing to extend a new service which allows customers to use their handset as a credit card. DoCoMo already offers a limited version of this service, and using your mobile to pay for things is very common in Finland and other parts of Scandinavia. Full story....
Technology firms sign mobile alliance
Microsoft, NTT DoCoMo, Motorola, Nokia and Vodafone are among nearly 200 tech firms that have agreed to work together to develop universal standards for mobile devices. Handheld computers and mobile phones should all speak the same language, the firms that have signed on to the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) have agreed. Full story....
Embrace Mobile Comment:
This is great news. We already operate on open source principles but it has been difficult as their was really no standard with regard to mobiles. If the OMA can develop an open standard code that ensures mobile technologies are compatible it will overcome many of the difficulties we currently experience.
Meet the Team - John Merrells
Founder and Chairman, John Merrells, has been a software engineer, manager and consultant for companies such as Microsoft, Lucent, Netscape, AOL and Sun Microsystems. He has founded numerous projects both in the UK and USA, and moved on to founding companies and building teams. John is a technical innovator with an interest in business applications. He founded the Berkeley DB XML project at Sleepycat Software and at Netscape he made significant technical contributions to the Netscape Directory Server. His connections in Silicon Valley and the UK have rapidly promoted Embrace Mobile into a focal point for mobile technology. More about John.
Terminology Explained
What is a mobile download?
As phones have become more compact and yet more powerful, complete applications similar to those on desktop computers may now be written for handheld devices. These 'downloads' are actually stored in the memory of the phone so they can be used repeatedly. This is achieved by using mobile-specific development environments such as Java's J2ME platform or the .Net compact framework. Not only can ringtones and games be created for download but also business applications such as forms and surveys.
Gadget Corner - Top Tech Tip
In a change to our usual Top Tech Tip in Gadget Corner we just had to bring you the worst World Cup gadget we could find. We promise to only mention the World Cup once in this newsletter and we will not to brand it or offer you any cheesy world cup themed competitions.
England Voice Changer - a loudhailer with flashing LEDs featuring 10 different voice altering effects. Great! Find out more if you dare...
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Contact Us
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UK: +44.1865.770.851
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