Ten mobile trends to look out for in 2011
It's that time of year again when I feel compelled to nail my colours to the mast in a Top 10 to Watch list!
By the way if you want to see my picks from last year and how they went, they're here, if you'd like to receive mkodo's monthly newsletter click here or follow us on Twitter.
So, here are the 10 things that mkodo expects to make some noise in 2011.
1. The smartphone will continue to dominate and fire customers' appetites for new web and app services. Retail transactional volumes, especially, to grow substantially in 2011.
2. Brands will continue to develop Apps as a tool for awareness. iPhone and Android will be the commonplace variants. But will Symbian or Windows 7 break into that club ... I doubt it for this year.
3. Tap don't type. The smartphones obsession with touchscreen will continue and it will lead customer adoption of, and comfort with, the touch nav mechanic.
4. Tablet devices and App will expand their reach. The tablet prices need to fall for this to reach mass market.
5. HTC and Samsung to expand market share notably and, in the UK, to eat into Nokia rather than Apple's or Blackberry's market share.
6. HTML5 to create viable mobile web alternative to native apps in producing high-quality mobile web experiences for many product and service types (ie ones that require server updates to data, eg sports info services).
7. NFC (Near Field Communications) to be pushed hard by manufacturers and to be embedded in more devices. From a dev perspective NFC will grow in 2011, from a consumer perspective it may take a further year or two.
8. Services using location-based optimisations and check-in services to continue to do well and to combine providing added-value for users - and brands.
9. In-app mobile billing to continue to grow with non-Apple platforms embracing this as a competitive advantage. Clarity of price communication in freemium apps may become an issue.
10. Mobile services combining mobile social media and in-app billing to generate significant volumes of activity.
Drop me a line with what you think’s going to make it big, or tell me why I’m utterly wrong ... mark.gibson@mkodo.com
