Where Is Mobile Going? (Part 1 of 2)

Posted by: Jessica Richmond, Director of Client Services Feb 16, 2010 0 Comments

As companies and organizations continue to go mobile (and as we’d talked about in an earlier blog post), Rock Creek has been watching the trends and working closely with our mobile partner, PointAbout, to make sure we are on the cutting edge of new solutions. I recently sat down with PointAbout’s CEO Scott Suhy to discuss the trends for mobile technologies and ask the questions our clients are most interested in. Here’s part one of our interview:

What is happening in mobile search and how is that impacting your work?

The main activity happening in the world of mobile apps are the devices—the Android device with Verizon is taking off like crazy and the iPhone is still very popular.

In terms of changes in technology, people want to deploy social networking along with their brands—even if it’s just something as simple as a content share via Twitter or a Facebook connector, all the way to much deeper integration. I think we’ll see this level of interest and integration only get bigger as developers start introducing location-based services.

There’s also augmented reality, one of the latest development interests. Using a combination of your phone’s camera and a built-in compass, you can use your phone as a virtual viewfinder. This kind of development has the potential to do everything from helping you find a good Chinese restaurant in your new neighborhood to helping you locate your Humvee in the streets of Afghanistan. You can see the far-reaching evolutions of mobile… and the sky is the limit with how far we can go.

What are the major barriers when it comes to adoption of mobile within private industry and government agencies?

One major barrier is cost. For larger companies or government agencies that have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people on one platform, the thought of switching to a different platform is hard to imagine.

Right now among government agencies, RIM/Blackberry really has the monopoly because of their reputation for security, but outside of the government arena RIM is in catch-up mode. I think you’ll see the race coming down to Apple, Google, and Blackberry when everything is said and done.

How is the world of mobile changing right now? How are things shifting between the key players?

Apple has changed the game, because for the first time, a cellular provider (AT&T) allowed another company to manage its applications and approvals. Before then, the providers were the only ones responsible for and profiting from applications and outside development.

iTunes was instrumental in the adoption of not only the iPhone, but also apps for other devices. iTunes already enjoyed such a huge market share, that when they put the apps into their app store, the audience was already built in. It also had a built-in system for helping the application developers make revenue. In a sense, they created this whole new ecosystem where app buyers and app innovators can get together, and it’s this ecosystem that changed the game.

Then Google came in and said, let’s leverage this thing and make it more open, more like how Microsoft lets anyone develop code for their hardware and other companies like IBM intentionally make that more difficult. So there is really no limit when it comes to applications available for the Android.

Blackberry’s app store, on the other hand, doesn’t have as broad of the market share and certainly doesn’t have as many users accessing their online store. They do, however, have a loyal fan base that should be considered by potential users as well as potential competitors. These Blackberry users are likely to be the kinds that have a Blackberry for work and a more app-friendly phone for personal use.

Stay tuned for part two, when Scott talks about the ways his company is staying on top of changes in mobile media and outlines what government agencies need to know when it comes to mobile.

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Jessica Richmond

Director of Client Services

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