Mobile ads drain your smartphone battery life

Whereas many blogs have been laying the focus on Free Apps that would be draining your smartphone battery life, the real culprit are the ads. Recent tests have shown that those the ads in those free apps spend more energy than actually running the app itself. Which is a major problem, not for the app builders but for the mobile ad agencies such as Google, to name just the most important one.

I for one will mostly buy apps, just because I want the full monty not just the freebie part of an app. If you like an app, why stick to a limited version anyhow. And for the cost you shouldn’t bother either, most of the time you only have to pay not even a dollar/euro to get the full package.

But this aside, what is actually draining the battery life? A research team at Purdue University has found that the energy used to produce those ads can account for as much as three-fourths of the total energy used to run the apps. Note that the survey (hosted on the Microsoft Research servers – let’s hope this did not influence their results) only counts for none-iPhone smartphones, but you can be pretty certain that the same applies there as well. The energy consumed goes into serving up ads or tracking and uploading user data. The 3G connection that downloads the ad stays open for around 10 seconds, even if it’s finished downloading. The Purdue University calls this the ‘tail energy’ and it consumes another 28 per cent of the app’s energy.

So who is to blame? According to the research team the error should be found in inefficiencies in the third-party code that developers use to generate profit on free apps. In other words, the Googles of this world criple your smartphone battery life because of inept coding.

You would have thought that a party like Google would have enough engineers around to take care of this problem, but so far, nothing seems to be moving there.

If you have a fast growing company like Groupon, communication is king. Not only to your clients but also to possible future shareholders. Enters the snarky Groupon the Cat. The company introduced its alter ego last year in June, not to answer questions from customers but to answer (or rather comment on) the negative reporting on Techcrunch via the Groupon blog.

Groupon the Cat - an example for B2B (and B2C) communication

Why? Being in the quiet period (that’s the time between a company’s filing for an IPO and the decision on whether the filing is deemed effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission) the company as such could not communicate. But it’s cat could. And the comment it gave was excellent.

Or what do you think about these two lines:

• Wait until the company is sleeping to smear scream-activated bees on its face. Lesson Learned: Don’t believe your company’s own “buzz.”
• Write disparaging articles about the company. Lesson Learned: That’s what they get for trying to be a company.

Since then Groupon the Cat has regularly posted something on the company’s blog – along posts by Groupon employees. All of the posts are written from the cat’s point of view and should not really be taken seriously. Read the one below which has the minutes on a meeting that took place early January 2012.

Continue reading “Groupon the Cat – an example for B2B (and B2C) communication” »

Yesterday Techcrunch’ writer Chris Velazco tried to make a big scandal out of the fact that the API of the “personal life-sharing service Path” (mind the ‘life-sharing’ adjectif Techrunch uses) calls to Path’s service to send a user’s entire address book (including full names, emails and phone numbers) as a plist.

Techblogs go berzerk on so-called privacy leak in Path. Here's why you shouldn't bother.

What is exactly the problem here? It’s a ‘life-sharing’ app – the words of Techcrunch – and as Path co-founder and CEO Dave Morin correctly stated, uploading the user’s address book is meant simply to connect users with each other. It’s not a secret either as the practice is pointed out in the company’s Wikipedia entry. Techcrunch writer Velazco however says that “it’s not exactly the easiest information to come across unless you’re actively looking for it“. Easy excuse for this unnecessary mayhem though. This practice is currently part of the mobile industry’s best practices and can only lead to a frictionless use of your apps. Look at the single sign-on features as developed by Facebook.

Does mister Velazco really think that Path will abuse that data to start spaming or ringing his contacts? Then think again.

Surprising that this very Path attack comes from the same writer who doesn’t hide his preference for Google’s Android OS. Google being the one who follows you around the net knowing exactly what sites you visit and when via its superb remarketing tool. So far for privacy there (but a goldmine for marketing – I recommend it).

Continue reading “Techblogs go berzerk on ‘privacy leak’ in Path – here’s why you shouldn’t bother” »

QR codes can be used effectively – we’ll get to that in a couple of articles which will be posted in the next few weeks – BUT most are just implemented in a very unthoughtful way. The result of all this clumsiness is that many people no longer bother to check out QR codes, at all. A pity because there is so much more you can do with them.

After the debacle of the recent BNP Paribas Fortis poster campaign with a QR code leading to a crippled landing page, Belgian Railways just provided a new low-point in Belgium’s already poor QR code knowledge.

This morning we got to see this major QR code failure, realized by Belgium’s NMBS Mobility design department, for a brochure with the new time schedule on Line 73 (De Panne – Ghent). No doubt that the other brochures were as bad as this one too, as far as QR code implementation is concerned.

How NOT to use QR codes - study case of Belgian Railways (SNCB / NMBS)

The target of the QR code was to get a brochure. However, instead of a low-weight PDF file, we got an url address (not even a mobile one) leading us to a page where you had to use a zoom to actually see what it was all about.

Continue reading “How NOT to use QR codes – study case of Belgian Railways (SNCB / NMBS)” »

Things are not looking splendid for Google+. The network is, despite the (forced) growth of users, bleeding in activity.  Except for a few hardcore anti-facebookers, nobody is actively using the service, and you can hardly build a community on that lot… Add to that a continuous outage problem: the very unresponsive share field when you actually try to share links, trouble finding the link’s meta data, disappearing profiles, etc…

You would almost believe that Google announced its G+ importance on SEO-level just to lure the SEO-people worldwide into posting on the network. Not that it would have any effect if nobody is actually using the service after all.

In a desperate attempt to get the service known (that doesn’t mean being used, mind you!) Google has now used David Beckham in an advert to promote Google+. Watch the advert above… find the hotspot!

We aren’t convinced this will be the trigger for G+ to gain momentum amidst its silent user database though.

A while ago, we advised one of our clients to use Foursquare for their company so their customers would be able to follow their grocery deliveries throughout the country. But it can go beyond just commercial use.

Toronto Police Constable Scott Mills, for instance, is encouraging officers everywhere to use Foursquare to connect with their communities or ‘neighborhoods’ as they call it over there. Scott checks in when he’s giving community talks, to let people know when and where he’s on patrol, or to keep them posted on breaking crime scenes.

The results? People love to comment on Scott’s check-ins, come say hi when he’s nearby, and even oust him as the Mayor of the police station headquarters.

Slideshare has a presentation on this subject which you should check out.

Several indie music aggregators have closed a deal with UK based Shazam, who for a number years has been the market leading mobile phone based identification service. In case you didn’t know, Shazam allows users to use their devices to tag and identify songs they hear anywhere. This deal makes lots more indie music recognizable by the service and will thus also be purchasable. Yep, the good thing about this service is that it provides buy links in order to purchase the track or to stream it using Spotify.

We’ve been using it a lot and got to know a load of artists which we had never heard of before, the Belgian radios really being utterly full of rubbish these days. As of mid 2011 Shazam had around 150 milion users and was live in over 200 countries. Talking of a widespread community that labels would like to tap into.

Shazam is not the only one on the market and in the face of new competition from the likes of Soundhound (featured app in Apple’s clunky 12 Days app) they are now broadening their business by tagging TV shows or commercials in order to link to mobile related content.

The app is available with LyricPlay, which brings you a full-screen visualization of lyrics that play in time to the music you’re tagging. Kinda like karaoke on the road.

Here are the basic features:

• Save & listen again (with 30 sec preview)
• Buy tracks easily on iTunes
• Watch music videos and concerts on YouTube
• Share music with friends on Facebook & Twitter
• Learn the lyrics you thought you knew
• Discover new music from your Shazam Friends and Shazam Charts
• Find out when an artist is on tour or has a new album available – via e-mail
• Use it when you don’t have a signal

The fact it keeps you updated on new releases is a feature I especially adore. You can easily imagine this service being linked to your database of stored music to learn when a new album will be released. Now that would be a power machine.

Anyone?

Rue des Bouchers, Brussels

Who would have thought that your online (visual) reputation can screw your offline reputation big time when you have a bar or restaurant? Wake up, because now that Google Street View is active, nothing is safe anymore. And that isn’t all that bad really. Since going to restaurants is something we really like doing at muztec, we also have gotten into the habit of checking out the ‘looks’ of the restaurants recommended to us before we go and visit them.

Imagine your picture on Google Street View giving a very lousy first impression of your business? That means an online reputation going to shreds, visually speaking. And since more and more people are doing what we do: checking out how things look like on the exterior BEFORE going in, you are probably also missing out on offline reputation credits.

Can you get your online reputation cleaned up?  Perhaps, but it depends very much on the location. Google’s Street View cars are driving all the time, but if your restaurant or bar is located in Belgium and looks like a real mess from the outside, then you’re in some trouble. As you can see on this list of locations where Google’s cars are driving around, none will be hitting Belgium again anytime soon.

New York has been updated a couple of times, but most non-US countries that have Street View still have the original images from the launch.

There’s always a good side to things, you can make sure that things look topnotch the next time a Google Street View car drives by. That clean-up of your establishment should start right now before you miss the 2nd round though.

A new Belgian agency is born: muztec !

muztec specialises in SEO, SMO and SEAconsulting to help businesses, great and small, boost their revenue, both on and offline.  Not only are we working for big corporations, but also smaller companies with limited budgets. The fields we have worked in (and are still working in) include: music, automotive, finances, EU-projects and more—a vast experience field which makes it possible for us to adapt swiftly.

Our core product: train people in YOUR company so that you don’t have to depend indefinitely on consultants like us :).

We don’t wear suits, love our iPhones, play Angry Birds and are true Twitter and Facebook fanatics. Oh, we just love Mac.

On this website you’ll also be able to read a blog on our opinion on changes in the markets that we observe.

The future is bright, the future is yours!

Join in the chant !