Your Life Is Fully Mobile

MOBILE TECH SPECIAL
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We walk, talk and sleep with our phones. But are we more—or less—connected?
By NANCY GIBBS | August 16, 2012 |

Just as remarkable as the power of mobility, over everything from love to learning to global development, is how fast it all happened. It is hard to think of any tool, any instrument, any object in history with which so many developed so close a relationship so quickly as we have with our phones. Not the knife or match, the pen or page. Only money comes close—always at hand, don’t leave home without it. But most of us don’t take a wallet to bed with us, don’t reach for it and check it every few minutes, and however useful money is in pursuit of fame, romance, revolution, it is inert compared with a smart phone—which can replace your wallet now anyway.

Whatever people thought the first time they held a portable phone the size of a shoe in their hands, it was nothing like where we are now, accustomed to having all knowledge at our fingertips. A typical smart phone has more computing power than Apollo 11 when it landed a man on the moon. In many parts of the world, more people have access to a mobile device than to a toilet or running water; for millions, this is the first phone they’ve ever had. In the U.S., close to 9 in 10 adults carry a mobile, leaving its marks on body, mind, spirit. There’s a smart-phone gait: the slow sidewalk weave that comes from being lost in conversation rather than looking where you’re going. Thumbs are stronger, attention shorter, temptation everywhere: we can always be, mentally, digitally, someplace other than where we are.

So how do we feel about this? To better understand attitudes about mass mobility, Time, in cooperation with Qualcomm, launched the Time Mobility Poll, a survey of close to 5,000 people of all age groups and income levels in eight countries: the U.S., the U.K., China, India, South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia and Brazil. Even the best survey can be only a snapshot in time, but this is a crisp and textured one—­revealing a lot about both where we are now and where the mobile wave is taking us next.

A tool our parents could not have imagined has become a lifeline we can’t do without. Not for a day—in most cases not even for an hour. In Time’s poll, 1 in 4 people check it every 30 minutes, 1 in 5 every 10 minutes. A third of respondents admitted that being without their mobile for even short periods leaves them feeling anxious. It is a form of sustenance, that constant feed of news and notes and nonsense, to the point that twice as many people would pick their phone over their lunch if forced to choose. Three-quarters of 25-to-29-year-olds sleep with their phones.

If Americans have developed surprisingly intimate relationships with their gadgets, they are still modest compared with people in other ­countries. The Time Mobility Poll found that 1 in 5 Americans has asked someone on a date by text, compared with three times as many Brazilians and four times as many Chinese. Fewer than 1 in 10 married U.S. respondents admitted to using texting to coordinate adultery, vs. one-third of Indians and a majority of Chinese. It may be shocking that nearly a quarter of all U.S. respondents—­including a majority of 18-to-35-year-old men—have sent a sexually provocative picture to a partner or loved one. But that trails South Africans’ 45% and Indians’ 54%. Brazilians are especially exuberant, with 64% baring and ­sharing all.

In most respects, overseas mobile users value their devices the same way Americans do but with a few revealing exceptions. Americans are grateful for the connection and convenience their phones provide, helping them search for a lower price, navigate a strange city, expand a customer base or track their health and finances, their family and friends. But in some ways Americans are still ambivalent; more than 9 in 10 Brazilians and Indians agreed that being constantly connected is mostly a good thing. America’s 76% was actually the lowest score.

Carve up the U.S. population into the general public vs. high-income, highly educated elites and some contrasts come into focus. Elites are more likely to say that they work longer hours and have less time to think but also that mobile has made them more efficient and productive, able to manage more, be away from the office, stay informed about the news and be a better parent. Four in 10 Americans think mobility has helped them achieve a better work-life balance, vs. three-quarters or more of Indians, Indonesians, Chinese and South Africans.

Like any romance moving from infatuation to commitment, the connection between people and their mobile devices reflects what they brought into the relationship in the first place. In countries where connection and convenience were difficult, these mobiles offer a kind of time travel, delivering in the push of a button or touch of a screen the kind of progress other countries built over decades. Which makes you wonder: Just how much smaller and smarter and faster and better might our devices be a decade from now? And how much about our lives and work and relationships is left to be completely transformed as a result?

Read the rest of the wireless issue here.

See the findings of the TIME Mobility Poll here.

See the full poll results here.



Read more: http://techland.time.com/2012/08/16/your-life-is-fully-mobile/#ixzz26qpzp9Yf

Travelers Want More Tech and Mobile Services From Airports, Airlines

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September 12, 2012 by Anita Li6

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Complaints about limited, expensive and choppy Wi-Fi are widespread among frequent flyers, but what about other mobile and tech services on planes and at airports?

FlightView, the company behind mobile apps that track real-time flight information, polled 2,600 travelers on what they want on-the-go while in-the-air.

Unsurprisingly, the survey revealed that 69% were unsatisfied with in-flight Wi-Fi, while 58% felt that wireless was sub-par at airports.

Along with better access to the web, travelers polled wanted updates on their flight statuses while waiting to board and after the first leg of a connecting flight.

For more results, check out the infographic below.

What mobile- or tech-related services do you want most on a plane or at the airport? Tell us in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, egmTacahopeful

Next gen blurs lines of corporate, leisure

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30 July 2012
By Patrick Mayock
News Editor-International
patrick@hotelnewsnow.com

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Story Highlights

• Millennials raised on intuitive, leisure-oriented travel experiences have come to expect more from corporate travel.
• Hoteliers must tailor their offerings to enhance the experience—and efficiency—of corporate travel.
• High areas of demand include: mobility, flexibility and context.

GLOBAL REPORT—The lines between leisure travel and business travel are blurring, leaving hoteliers and travel managers alike scrambling to meet the expectations of the next generation of corporate travelers.


Millennials raised on intuitive search and booking platforms are finding themselves forced into outdated hotel experiences that fail to meet expectations and antiquated travel-management platforms dictated by corporate travel policies.


Hoteliers and travel managers need to embrace the leisure experience and put it in a context that’s congruent with managed travel, said Nick Vournakis, senior VP and GM for Carlson Wagonlit Travel Canada.
Vournakis was one of six panelists who discussed the next generation of corporate travelers, among other topics, during a session titled “Travel Industry Leadership: Managing through Constant Change” last week at the Global Business Travel Association Convention in Boston.


The key is identifying with this customer segment and understanding what they want from the travel experience, said Don Jones, VP of corporate and travel sales for the Americas at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Often that varies by destination, he said.
Often that means intuitive platforms that allow for easy-to-use search and booking. The proliferation of innovative distribution channels emerging in the leisure space is case in point.


Beyond that, it might be a matter of producing a hotel experience or product that complements the niche’s expectations, Jones said.
“It’s really rethinking ‘What does check-in look like in Palo Alto versus what check-in might look like in Santa Barbara,’” he said. Each property has unique business draws that attract various clienteles. The hotel experience should reflect that with more personalized approaches to service.


At the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, for example, managers witnessed a notable drop off in the usage of the property’s concierge desk because corporate travelers were using online tools to research the destination before and upon arrival. The desk has since been converted to a coffee bar, which has generated a significant uptick in traffic.


The next generation also might have different expectations about the hotel product in general, said Phillip Pena, senior VP, global head of hotel and ground transportation at Citigroup.


As a travel buyer, the group surveys its travelers annually to discern their needs and wants. He said the younger generation is asking for a diversity of hotels, such as more Andaz- and W-type properties, to be included in corporate programs.


“Our travelers, 35% said they wanted more boutique-style, more social-type hotels for their travel experience,” he said.

Give them what they wantThe way Vournakis sees it, there are three things that really matter to the next generation of business travelers: context, flexibility and mobility.
Context is all about orientation. Corporate travelers want information to help them navigate their surroundings. Location-based push notifications, constant feedback from peer networks and the ability to seamlessly navigate are all key, he said.


That involves a lot of crossover with social media, Jones added.
Flexibility is a facet of control, Vournakis said.


“We know what they will expect in the future is flexibility,” he said. That will push the boundaries that govern traditional travel policies. “We need to start thinking about the traditional travel policy very differently,” he said.


Mobility might be the most important, the panelists agreed.
Millennial business travelers want to be connected at all times, said Vournakis of Carlson Wagonlit Travel Canada. He cited a study the company did in Australia that found 41% of business travelers would refuse to go to a location where they were not connected.


The next generation of corporate travelers assumes a reasonable amount of safety and security, comfort and the ability to be productive and stay connected, said Lane Dubin, VP/GM and head of sales for American Express Business Travel. “Mobile is the platform that will allow them to do all those things.”


Hoteliers who respond with key mobile initiatives to meet those needs have a leg up, he said. Dubin pointed to research conducted by American Express Business Travel that found out of 100 travel policies the group studied none addressed mobile interaction.


Four Seasons is one of many hotel chains trying to push innovation in the mobile space. Jones said the company is making efforts to expedite some of the more tedious aspects of travel on behalf of its next-gen road warriors.


He cited advances in check-in technology as one example. A technologically savvy traveler might receive a notification on his iPhone upon landing in New York. “We would like to check you in,” Jones said. Upon confirming the check in, the hotel would send him a key code so the traveler could bypass the front desk and go straight to his room.
The next generation of corporate travelers is beginning to expect that level of digital interaction during a hotel stay, Jones said. Hoteliers have to make sure the technology corporate travelers have in their personal lives also exists in hotels.


Online reviews are another good example, Jones said, pointing to Four Seasons’ inclusion of TripAdvisor reviews on its websites. “It’s such an honest … and immediate dialogue,” he said.

Ahead of the Curve: Technology Trends and the Human Experience

I think this article is a great example of why we should be trying to figure out what our customers want and need before THEY even know what they want/need. That's where the magic is.

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By Demetrius Madrigal and Bryan McClain

Published: March 5, 2012

 

“Sometimes, even more important than what type of technology is being developed is what people are doing with that technology….”

 

With the arrival of the new year, we’ve been paying attention to some new trends that are coming to fruition. Many of them are technological trends, but some are interesting social trends. Research focuses on the intersection of human and technology. Sometimes, even more important than what type of technology is being developed is what people are doing with that technology and the implications that has for product development. We’re going to take a look at some of these social trends and explore what they mean for the technology industry as a whole.

Technology As Fashion

“Apple products have achieved their level of popularity as much for their visual impact as for their technological capabilities, attaining the status of fashion icons.”

 

For quite some time now, people have been decorating their notebook computers with stickers and using amazing photographs or graphics for their desktop wallpaper. Apple products have achieved their level of popularity as much for their visual impact as for their technological capabilities, attaining the status of fashion icons. More recently, HP has followed suit, developing its ENVY line of notebook computers, shown in Figure 1, which take some fairly obvious styling inspirations from Apple’s aluminum counterparts.

Figure 1—HP ENVY

Tablets and smartphones have also become fashion statements as much as they are technological tools. The fashion case market has exploded in the past few years, with thousands of artistic designs now available. People are paying hundreds of dollars for fashionable aluminum phone cases like the iPhone case from Element Case that is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2—Element Case for iPhone

Because fashion is ultimately a matter of personal expression, people value new and innovative products that let them express their own sense of the aesthetic. Custom smartphone and tablet cases and skins let people cover their devices with just about anything they might want. Custom messenger and computer bags like those available through Rickshaw Bags—Figure 3 shows an example—let people choose any fabric or design for the construction of their bag. People can even avail themselves of custom etching services for personal electronics. Figure 4 shows an etching on an iPad. With so many companies offering products and services that provide fashion outlets for technology, the next step may be customizing technology itself for people.

Figure 3—A custom bag from Rickshaw Bags

Figure 4—Etching of a cherry tree on an iPad

Recently, we’ve seen the release of a wide variety of new over-ear headphones, all sporting the same basic technology. The popularity of headphones from companies like Skullcandy, shown in Figure 5, and Urbanears, shown in Figure 6, is as much about their visual style as their sound quality. With so many similar headphones on the market, these companies needed some means of differentiation to avoid being lost in the noise.

Figure 5—Skullcandy headphones


Figure 6—Urbanears headphones

Many manufacturers have aligned with popular artists for help developing and marketing their products—like Dr Dre and Beats headphones or Rza and WESC. Skullcandy has differentiated its products by providing advanced features like the ability to daisy-chain headphones together using detachable connectors. In contrast, Monster gained significant advantage by developing and releasing Beats headphones years ahead of the competition—successfully predicting that high-quality, fashionable headphones would become a significant market trend over time.

With quality over-ear headphones becoming a new fashion trend, other important factors are emerging—such as using fashion as well as features to differentiate products that are fundamentally similar to one another, building customization into the product design and purchasing process, and predicting what future technology might become a fashion trend over the next few years.

Technology Is Social

“A major technology trend that we are seeing emerge is that of being social. … For example, … music has become social in entirely new ways through Web applications like Turntable.fm.”

 

A major technology trend that we are seeing emerge is that of being social. While social technology has been a developing trend for many years, the trend is re-emerging in new ways, with new devices and connectivity. For example, over the past year or so, music has become social in entirely new ways through Web applications like Turntable.fm. By providing a social aspect to music rather than just access to a library of songs like the popular applications Spotify and Pandora, Turntable.fm has provided a uniquely sticky music experience. The social aspect of Turntable.fm helps people to leverage the social experience of sharing, discovering, and discussing music in a compelling, new way.

For the past few years, Zynga has been leading the charge in social gaming. Recently, one of their most viral games has been the wildly popular Words With Friends. Rather than just allowing people to play a game online in which involving friends is something of an afterthought, Words With Friends is an inherently social, person-to-person game that requires people to play with their friends—and even includes a chat function that enables trash-talking. Through Words With Friends, Zynga has found a way of connecting people directly—sometimes across vast distances—through a competitive and fun activity.

Breathing new life into an old activity by using new technology and leveraging a social experience, Hasbro has updated the game of Lazer Tag for smartphones, releasing Lazer Tag guns that operate with mobile phones. People can shoot their real-life friends with electronic signals that register on their friends’ smartphones. Rather than connecting people across distances through the Web or mobile networks, these new smartphone Lazer Tag guns connect people through technology much closer to home. It’s the kind of game that helps people make new friends.

Each of these technologies establishes new ways of connecting people, whether across great distances or right next door. They do so through established recreational activities that companies have repackaged for electronic delivery. Expect to see new social technologies over the next few years, leveraging the inherently social aspects of newer devices like tablets and connected televisions. Also, think about social activities in which we currently engage that are ripe for an electronic makeover.

Increasing Device Connectivity

“We are dealing with more and more data-housing devices and risk our data becoming increasingly fragmented.”

 

Just a few short years ago, the only device users were likely to own was a computer of some sort, likely a desktop computer. However, as the years progressed, desktop computers became notebook computers; then smartphones gained widespread adoption. Right away, transferring data between smartphones and computers became a pain point for users, and easy ways of syncing contacts, calendars, and email were in high demand.

Now, with the introduction of tablets, ultrabooks, connected televisions, game consoles, and cars, we are dealing with more and more data-housing devices and risk our data becoming increasingly fragmented. In response, services like mint.com have sought to consolidate information from multiple sources into a single location and cloud solutions like Dropbox have begun to blur the file-location barrier and provide access from any location or device. However, cloud storage limitations, as well as reliability and connectivity questions are preventing a wholesale migration to the cloud.

Amazon seems to be setting itself up to tackle this problem through their advanced cloud solutions, growing out of Amazon Web Services. Through Whispersync, Amazon provides an excellent model of how to tear down barriers between different devices, having already accomplished it beautifully for ebooks. With Amazon’s forays into music, movies, and now tablets with the Kindle Fire, they seem to be positioning themselves to own content delivery across platforms.

Apple, Microsoft, and Google may have something to say about that, but they are behind when it comes to device connectivity. Apple just recently released iCloud, but their history with connectivity between devices has been mixed—with iTunes providing clunky interactions between smartphones and computers. Microsoft has provided significant device connectivity between computers and TVs using Windows 7 and the Xbox 360, and Windows 8 promises to do even more. Google has made significant moves with their Google Apps line, providing useful quick calendar syncing across platforms, as well as shared access to documents, spreadsheets, and calendar events.

Over the next few years, look for each of these companies to jockey for position in the market by creating a seamless flow between devices and users. Content delivery will be key, especially with the storage landscape changing rapidly, becoming cheaper and cheaper, and connectivity becoming faster and more omnipresent. The ultimate solution will likely be a cross-device platform that is similar to the latest versions of Android—for smartphones and tablets, Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich—and Windows 8 for PCs and tablets. Both are optimized for multiple devices. These large companies will likely be looking to acquire companies that excel at solving data fragmentation issues and establishing the seamless flow of data that they all hope to create.

Conclusion

“By understanding patterns in people’s current and past behavior, we can do more than recognize their current needs; we can anticipate their future needs.”

 

User experience is about more than just developing new technology and perfecting it. It’s also about paying attention to what users do and want to do with existing technology. Steve Jobs was not a visionary because he created new technology; he excelled at seeing how new technology fit into the lives of consumers.

By understanding users, trends that are emerging in user behavior, and future technology directions, we can set ourselves up to be at the forefront of innovation. By understanding patterns in people’s current and past behavior, we can do more than recognize their current needs; we can anticipate their future needs. Identifying recent trends has led to fashionable products that bring people together and operate seamlessly across devices.