Mobile Communities in South Africa: Mobile Growing Faster Than Kangaroos

The kangaroos in South Africa are wondering if they'll survive the onslaught of young people texting, talking and accessing the mobile Internet.

Could it be that mobile phones are taking over South Africa? That the tribe is no longer the animals, but two-legged creatures playing cell phone games, loading mobile apps and downloading ringtones.

Listen to Herman Heunis of MXit talk about the fastest growing mobile service in South Africa. Only on MobileBeyond.

Latest Mobile Phone Stat: 3.9 Billion People Talk on their Cell Phones

As smartphone fever envelops the “developed” world, the vast majority of cell phone users (all 4 billion) are primarily using their low-end handsets for…let me prepare you for shock..talking…to the dismay of cellular operators, mobile handset manufacturers and mobile marketing and advertising companies.

What’s going on? Here in the United States–and elsewhere in Asia, Europe and Great Britain–sophisticated handsets abound and they’re more on the way just in time for Christmas. (That’s assuming world economies don’t collapse before the stockings are hung and St. Nick has returned to the North Pole.)

See MobileBeyond for the rest of the story...


Cell Phones for Talking? A Revolutionary Thought

Apple Bans Import of All CD’s Listed in its iTunes Store

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Apple Bans Import of All CD’s Listed in its iTunes Store

Cupertino, CA (July 16, 2009) – Contact: Vera Tunes

Apple today announced it’s banning the import of all CD’s not found in its iTunes store into Apple’s iTunes software program. This immediately follows a new iTunes software release intended to block Palm Pre mobile phone users from syncing their devices using iTunes.

According to Scott Forstall, Senior Vice President of iPhone Software, “Apple feels that if you use iTunes which, after all, is OUR software, you don’t have the right to load your CD’s that may be purchased from the iTunes store. You should clearly buy a digital copy from us.”

Apple Bans Import of All CD’s Listed in its iTunes Store

IM-Mobile: Your Home for Mobile Marketing & Advertising

If you're a mobile marketer or advertiser, don't miss out on informative blog posts and podcast interviews with mobile experts.

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Is Advertising Necessary?

Mobile advertising continues its relentless growth, while Internet revenues are falling. As with print advertisers, especially newspapers, that continue losing revenue to online placement, the community of mobile advertisers, mobile ad networks and mobile publishers is dominating worldwide advertising. So much for mobile.

But this post goes beyond mobile ads. It’s about the necessity of any advertising. Periodically, we should expose our minds to opposing opinions and views that contradict–and even imperil–our business models.

Such is the case with Eric Clemons at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Clemons just posted an article (available in PDF form) on TechCrunch. His predictions about the demise of PC-based Internet advertising and his comments on social media and mobile ad personalization are controversial with a grain of truth and 100 grains of speculation and flabbergast.

Clemons generally opposes advertising “pushed” to potential customers who haven’t requested the ads. He believes that Internet and other advertising is similar to email spam and non-participatory, shatters the Internet experience and will ultimately fail. In Clemons view, pushing ad messages to people not seeking them is a grave sin.

Read the "rest of the story" on IM-Mobile

Dot Mobi Revolution Takes Hold: Follow Brian on Twitter

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IM-Mobile Marketing Site Launches

IM-Mobile is a mobile Internet marketing and advertising site. The world is quickly changing from desktop–even laptop–computers to mobile phones for information and entertainment.

Sophisticated applications written for smartphones are available now and the market for mobile applications is growing rapidly. Likewise, companies, large and small, are launching dot mobi websites that bring content-rich Internet experiences to smartphone users.

IM-Mobile focuses on these developments in mobile technology from a marketing and advertising perspective. How can mobile publishers monetize their websites and blogs? Which marketing strategies work best for advertisers to reach target audiences? How do marketers create conversations and connectedness among mobile users?

Whether you're a marketer or advertiser, you'll find a wealth of content-rich material, providing insightful ideas for your marketing campaigns.