Mobile+Media+Page+4

__ Galaxy Nexus Unveiled __ [|Article] By: Daniel Iglesias Castillo



Samsung and Google announced the Galaxy Nexus, a smartphone designed to compete against Apple is the booming tablet and smartphone industry. The Galaxy Nexus is expected to arrive the shelves in November. This phone will use the new Android 4.0 system used in Honeycomb tablets. Much like the iPhone 4S is using technology of the iPad 2. Samsung used to create Apple's microchips and now they are in legal disputes in 10 countries over smartphone and tablets issues. The race to be the leading brand in this booming industry will only intensify with the Galaxy Nexus which promises to bring cutting-edge technology like the face recognition to unlock the phone.

Free Text Pose Threat to Carriers Article  **Posted By:** Josh Noble

As we all may know, texting has come a big part of how we communicate. With that it servers as a crucial factor for generating revenue for cell phone companies as more than $20 billion is brought in. But with the new ways to bypass it, such is iMessage, which will send messages over the internet like emails, people will no longer need to pay for the highly priced texting plans. This will effect many of the cell phone businesses as some rely heavily on this texting revenue. The article goes on to explain how new business models may be built because of this as we shift into the smart phone era.

Vox is the Latest Android-cum-ereader, & It's Selling for $200 Right Now [|Article] Is it just me or does it seem like we are starting to hear about the introduction of new mobile technologies on a daily basis? “Kobo recently (October 19th) launched Vox, a new priced-to-sell Android tablet, or is it an e-reader? Does anyone know the difference these days?” But, seriously, what is the difference between the e-reader and these tablets?

This product directly competes with the Amazon Kindle Fire being that it is another color, 7-inch touchscreen, Android-running gadget that features music, video and social widgets and apps (1,500 free ones to be exact).

It seems like everyone is wondering why this gadget is running on Gingerbread, aka. Android 2.3, instead of Honeycomb, aka Android 4.0, the newest version of Android that’s supposed to work on all devices. It is still unclear why this is and according to the article, they’re waiting to hear back from the company for an update.

Vox is available immediately on Kobo's website and is selling for $200 - orders start shipping next Friday. Who's interested? I'd like to know why it's necessary to have 100 different tablets all doing the exact same thing, it's time to save up and get the iPad folks. ** Posted by: Megan Vaughn **

** ALERT : People Look in Stores; Buy Online!**  **Study Finds Retailers Are Not Providing Smartphone-Equipped Shoppers What They Need;** BGR ArticleRetrevo Study Posted by: **Alex Garcia** Retrevo, a shopping website dedicated to consumer electronics conducted a survey to find out how many people check out items in stores, yet purchase said items online later. The results, displayed above, show that while a good chunk of people buy online despite first seeing the item in store, smartphone owners do this the most. What does this mean? The fact by itself isn't amazing, however it is useful to know that 58% of people who don't buy products in stores //own smartphones//. The majority of people who prefer to buy online, have the resources to do so at the time of an in-store visit. For example, **Best Buy loses business to online retailers- this is a fact.** How can Best Buy use the information above to change that? Consumers are no newbies to mobile shopping tools, but are retailers really making the effort, judging by the results from the survey? How can retailers make shopping a more interactive experience and actually utilize the tools shoppers come into the stores with? Will forcing sales associates to educate technology-illiterate people sell more electronics? Doubtful. How about NFC making an actual impact on retailer-customer relationships by bringing the information of internet research to the palms of smartphone owners? This seems more likely. While the study provides insights to customer tendencies and opinions it comes down to businesses actually listening if they want the business. I know, that for myself, I first want to know what product I want to buy (enter online research). I then want to hold and try a product before I shell out hundreds of dollars for it. In the end though, if it comes down to it being cheaper online, (COUGH, AMAZON, FREE SHIPPING, COUGH) I can wait the 10 minutes or so for the online checkout on my DroidX. Help me spend the money I'm already willing to spend, __//insert retailer here//__.
 * Traditional Retailers Losing Business to Online Retailers**

Washington Post expands mobile offerings via Android app [|Article] The Washington Post is joining the mobile media playing field by adding an Android application to its mobile repertoire. This app joins one of many other mobile offerings including, an SMS program and apps for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.“We’re focused on creating a suite of innovative products that feature The Post’s content and take advantage of the functionality and features of mobile platforms, especially ones with growing market share, such as Android,” said Ken Babby, chief revenue officer and general manager of digital at The Washington Post, Washington. Due to the major decline of the newspaper industry, The Washington Post follows in the footsteps of other newspaper corporations that are turning to Mobile media to get their content delivered instantly to users, whenever they want it. With society and technology on a fast track to access information, industries such as radio, television and magazines are all taking the mobile route realizing how economically successful beneficial the mobile media platform is. ** Posted by: Julia Gurgel ** Hand-Held Nostalgia?!?! [|Article] Although we might not all have children of our own, there is no denying that we were all kids at one point in time. Who could ever forget being familiar with the little, easy to read books that had the gold trim on the side? Random House, the publisher of these simple story books, has decided to bring back the Little Golden Book series. However, this time they will come in the form of an application for your mobile phone, becoming more interactive than a child in the 1940's could have ever imagined. This application allows a user to read the book in 3 different ways. First, children can choose to listen to the story and follow along as the words are highlighted. Next, the child may opt to read the story on his or her own while having the option to tap on words to hear narration. Lastly, consumers can record their own voice when reading the story. At the end of each page, children can play a reading comprehension game that enables them to unlock and collect stickers. Eventually, the kids will be able to put the stickers together, creating what looks like their very own book cover. I have a nephew who is always asking to play with my phone, so why not give him something thats educational and fun for him at the same time? (Or I guess he can keep playing Angry Birds...) Posted by: **David Garcia**