Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

Want a passive-aggressive way to curb cell phone use? Take down your "no cell phone" signs and put up a painting... from Chinavision. The  company is offering remote-controlled signal-jamming technology stealthily disguised as a wall-mounted work of art.

Powerful and effective, this cell phone jammer effectively disables any cell phone and will stop all signals on the GSM, CDMA, DCS, PHS, and 3G bands without interrupting any other electronic device. With the included remote control, users can turn the device on and off for instant jamming and unjamming. Also included is sensitivity control for partial and selective blocking of any mobile phone signal.

A few months ago we covered government tests of cell phone jamming in Maryland prisons. Cellphone jamming is illegal in the United States, but the law varies from country to country. Wireless technology weakens the control certain organizations once had; devices like this are attempts at restoration (for only $150!).

[via dvice]

For Chinese New Year, those residing in the Middle Kingdom sent a total of 23 billion text messages over the course of a week. Over half of those being sent in the first two days.

According to Engadget, these were sent by just the 747 million phone users in China.

Imagine what would've happened if all 1.3 billion people in the country had a phone during Chinese New Year. Throughout the same period, China also produced 1.33 billion MMS messages -- a staggering 40 percent increase from last year -- while China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom operated 127.6 percent, 19.5 percent and 15.7 percent more voice calls respectively.

Clearly, by observing the provided numbers, we are able to get a good sense of the level of social activity within a country by way of mobile technology.

BMO Capital Markets Introduces 2D Barcode Ads [Daily DOOH]
The first advertisements sporting the 2D bar codes have begun running in The Wall Street Journal. Using the camera on their mobile phone, readers can use a special free application to photograph an ad’s barcode which links directly to a customized page.

Can Mobile Preserve Soc Networks As Gen Y’s Virtual Rolodex? [Ypulse]
In spite of the waning interest we've seen in social networking as a virtual hangout, Meredith believes their contact management function will hold up, perhaps in the form of a killer mobile app.

Why Handset Makers and Social Networks Need Each Other, Take Two [GigaOm]
On that note... This article talks about how cell phone makers and social networks need to partner to design devices tailored for social networking, from the camera to the address book.

What Do Cellphone Users Want Most? Cheap Service [NYTimes]
Nielsen reports that call quality and network availability are slipping down in terms of what consumers look for in a carrier. Top 3? Price, family plan, and payment options.

Facebook Takes FriendFeed To Take On Twitter [TechCrunch]
Media analysts are seeing the acquisition of Friendfeed by Facebook as an attempt to silence Twitter's rise. Facebook has also added live status search capabilities and is rolling out its new iPhone app soon.

SMS PhD: 'Pointless' Text Messages Analysed [Telegraph]
Caroline Tagg, awarded a PhD in text messaging, discovered that people text in the same way as if they were talking, using unnecessary words such as 'oh', 'erm' and often use grammatical abbreviations like 'dunno'.

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, To Stage First Twitter Opera Made Up Of Tweets [Sky News]
The Royal Opera House is set to create the first opera entirely created by Twitter fans. Once the fans have created the story line via Twitter, the opera house will compose the music and stage the performance.

Penalties Ordered for Dirty Texting [China Daily]
The Henan province in China is banning erotic, insulting, or threatening messages. The SMS ban carries a fine of $73 and up to five days imprisonment. So much for sexting...

Mobile Marketers Must Look Past The iPhone [Silicon Alley Insider]
Thinking of the iPhone as the end-all be-all of mobile devices is a short-term play for marketers that might hurt their long-term competitiveness.

Will Smartphones Help Crack the Economy's Secrets? [Fast Company]
Flurry suggests that observing the mobile market (e.g., app creations, mobile social networking updates, SMS interactions, data plans) is similar to looking at the real estate market to get a sense of the economy.

Why Cloud Computing is the Future of Mobile [ReadWriteWeb]
Based on the ABI research paper that inspired our post the other week on "cloud computing" and what it means for mobile, this piece from RWW gives a great overview of why cloud computing will become a disruptive force in the mobile world.

Wireless Solutions for Census 2010 [CScout]
The U.S. Census Bureau is using wireless for the first time -- automating the address canvassing portion of the census--to make the 2010 Census more accurate and efficient.

Metaio's Augmented Reality Trick Lets You Metatag the Real World [Technomix]
Metaio is offering the ultimate metatagging service. Through a dedicated AR browser, users can leave tweets, images, 3D animations and even AR notes for others to see.

Fast Food Goes Mobile With GoMobo [Fast Company]
GoMobo, which partnered with Subway back in January, is now bringing their "Fandango for food" service to  franchises like Starbucks and Burger King. Read The New York magazine interview with founder Noah Glass here.

Despite Banning Twitter, 92% of China Uses Social Media [ReadWriteWeb]
Chinese netizens are twice as likely to use chat and three times more likely to micro-blog, blog and use video conference than American users.

Deaf-Blind Communication Goes Portable [BBC News]
A new portable device for deaf-blind people allows them to have face-to-face conversations, make phone calls using a text relay service, and communicate by SMS.

Stop Calling Young People Tech Addicts! [Ypulse]
Young people use the internet, their mobile, and social networks as a normal means of communication. YPulse argues that calling them "tech savvy" just illustrates how older people are clueless (were you tech savvy for using a landline in 1972?).

Making the Case for a More Open U.S. Wireless Industry [RCR Wireless]
Breaking phone exclusivity is the final step to letting consumers fully take control of their mobile experience. From the iPhone to branded phones, the model is proving archaic.

EA Mobile Holds Lead [Wirelles Week]
The mobile gaming industry is thriving with EA announcing revenue is up 14%, and Gameloft up 20%.

An Increasing Number of Teenagers Are Enlisting the Help of Image Consultants [WashingtonPost]
As lifestreaming becomes a mainstream activity of teens with their photos and updates flooding the web, some are turning to professional image consultants to get a handle on their identities.

Life Is But A Stream [Ypulse]
New research out of the UK confirms what we've been noticing, that teens are moving away from downloading music in favor of streaming.  In this study, only 26% admitted to downloading at least once a month (down from 42% in 2008).

New York Nearest Subway AR App [Amit Gupta Likes You!]
The team that created the Nearest Tube augmented reality iPhone app we reported on the other week has now created on for New Yorkers called Nearest Subway (thanks!)

Mobile Ads Perform Better than Ads Online. For Now [Econsultancy]
can you make this one more of a list of the stats she mentions with a short lead in?

LG Kicks Off Mobile Worldcup 2009 for Fastest Texter [SlashPhone]
After launching their app store in Asia, LG is now hosting the World Cup of texters to debut in August.

India's Rural Mobile Phone Users Hit 100 Million [PC World]
India and China are poised to be the biggest cell phone markets in the near future, thanks largely to people in rural areas. India had 109.7 million rural mobile subscribers at the end of the first quarter, up by 18 percent from the previous year,

Facebook Driving Mobile Net Usage [BBC News]
According to CCS Insight, 1/3 of 16-35 year olds regularly access Twitter and Facebook on their mobile and social networking sites are driving data usage on mobile.

Students Hit With $15 Fine For Using Cells in School [ABC News]
From ringing in class, to spreading unflattering pictures on campus, the cell phone has raised red flags across U.S. schools. Now in Texas, by state law, administrators are now allowed to confiscate cell phones no matter how they are used, and students can be fined $15 to get it back.

The Evolution of Facebook's Mission Statement [The New York Observer]
From a Harvard-only network back in 2004 to over 60 million users today across the world, Facebook's mission statements reflect the brands growth. Michael Galpert does a good job tracing their taglines.

Why Teens Aren’t Using Twitter: It Doesn’t Feel Safe [TechCrunch]
We seem to really want teens to be on Twitter, it's always coming up in conversation: Are they or aren't they? If not, why?? This post hypothesizes that teens don't tweet due to the inability to control your network.

RIM Launching A BlackBerry Social Network For Venting [TechCrunch]
RIM is launching MyBlackBerry.com to help the launch of its application store. The site will act as a social networking tool where users can post their tips, favorite apps, or just any info about their BlackBerry.

The Razorfish Social Influence Marketing Report [Hard Knox Life]
New report from Razorfish reiterates what smart marketers know already: Brands need to interact in a credible way with consumers and engage in an ongoing, two-way dialogue.

Twitter Outsources Ad Model Development [BrandWeek]
Built on Twitter: Ad models? Indeed, as the company looks to make money, it's looking for some help. Twitter Sparq will embed advertising in Twitter streams (Think AdWords for Twitter). Meanwhile, Federated Media Publishing has rolled out its third sponsored Twitter aggregation site Cinematweets.

5 New Twitter Games to Make Tweeting Fun [Mashable]
Branded games are a good way to get face time with consumers, but there's the issue of discovery. To solve this, some brands are building games on Twitter, where there is already a large community. Now with push on the iPhone, Twitter is even more mobile friendly and that leaves a lot of opportunity for a location-based real-time mobile twitter game.

iPhone Incoming! [Shanghaiist]
Watch out HiPhone, the real version is coming to China. Unfortunately (like Google) Apple is taking some features out of the device (e.g. Wi-Fi) and will probably change whatever the government asks them to.

Kenya: Stock Exchange Makes Sales via SMS [AfricaNews]
The Nairobi Stock Exchange is launching buy and sell orders through SMS. A simple idea, the innovation allows the market to move even faster and enables stock holders to react to news in a quicker way than phone calls.

Siri: Virtual Personal Assistant Prepares For Debut [ReadWriteWeb]
This new app will take a "person-centric" approach to search by offering conversation-type interactions for finding location-relevant  information. For example, ask  "What is a good movie about to start near my current location?" and the product would deliver a textual and graphical answer

GM’s Chevrolet Breaks Bluetooth Marketing Campaign in Mall [Mobile Marketer]
Deployed in Bangalore, India, the Bluetooth campaign for the Chevrolet Spark generated 11,000 downloads over the weekend.  The success of the campaign is largely attributed to the novelty of that type of promotion and the fact that users spread the info via their peer groups.

Addicts of the Information Age [WSJ]
Can't put your smartphone down? Some may call you rude, the Wall Street Journal call you a "Smartphoniac". This "condition" crosses demographics and goes way beyond bad manners, stemming from “a deeper disconnect anxiety, an irrepressible fear that you will miss something if you put it away." Look for the University of Florida's study on the subject, currently being conducted.

GeoMe Launches World’s First Mood Based Search Engine on Mobile [IntoMobile]
The search engine offers location-based searching with updates for your friends. Available on any Java based phone, users can even indicate their mood (from "Cheap" to "Sexy") for filtering results. The search engine battle continues, will niche dominate mass?

Facebook Debuts 'Fan Box' Tool [CNET News]
The social network is opening up even more with a widget for brands, products, celebrities, or anyone that has a fan page to embed their presence on their own sites.  People can now become fans, get live updates, even browse other fans' pictures without going to Facebook at all.

YAPPA Rolls MagaStore iPhone App [Wireless Watch Japan]
YAPPA and Dentsu have launched an iPhone app for browsing or buying Japanese magazines.  The project is going to be launched on a multitude of mobile platforms, and promises to be huge and probably imitated elsewhere (CondeNast, are you reading this?).

Africa texts Obama Before Visit [BBC News]
Obama is once again using mobile technology to connect with the people, soliciting questions via text prior to his trip to Africa. The best questions will be selected by African journalists and asked to the Prez. Who needs the red phone anymore? Just text the guy.

Google's AdSense for iPhone Trips up Advertisers [Advertising Age]
Fresh from its launch two weeks ago, Google AdSense for iPhone is still facing some issues, mainly that ads look formatted for the desktop and not mobile. This is by design; Google thinks that HTML-enabled smartphones are just like little desktops. However this fails to consider the unique relationship that people have with their phones.

Youth Lifestyle Trends | Youth Marketing Mobile Culture Research [mobileYouth]
A look at how teens in China use their mobile, how entrepreneurship might save unemployed youth, and a general roundup of what is happening to young people everywhere.

Coldwell Banker Uses Billboard to Interact with Mobile Consumers [Mobile Marketer]
A huge billboard display on Times Square lets you text any zipcode to 30241 and see sample prices for homes in that area...on the billboard. The interactive DOOH campaign is a smart idea for the real estate powerhouse, especially since the real estate market's integration into the mobile universe is sill lagging.