MobileMonday Austria

Google @ MobileMonday #12: Talk less, do more! 

The twelfth MobileMonday, taking place on October 17th, made us recall times where gadgets such as Walkman, pagers and co were just popular. The experts on the panel made clear how those devices were replaced by mobile phones within an extremely short period of time.

„Make sure you’ve got a phone booth around the corner’, was the advice to journaslists attempting to report about a bank robbery 20 years ago”, said host of the evening Marcus Herbein, director of APA-MultiMedia and, about the times before phones became our constant companions.

Children know to use smartphones, but can´t tie their shoes

“Worldwide there are more Android mobile devices activated per day (about 550.000) than babies born.”, said Stefan Hentschel, Head of Mobile Advertising Google, thus confirming the fast spreading of smartphones. This distribution has also consequences, because, as Hentschel quoted from a recent AVG study: "Only 9 percent of children can tie their shoes, but 19 percent know how to use a smartphone."

From Walkman to Simfy: Record labels missed their chances

Simfy users carry 13 million songs in their pocket. The new way to approach music is revolutionary, described Tobias Schiwek, Co-Founder of the music platform simfy: "We are moving away from the old way of downloading music and storing them on our hard drives. Instead, with simfy, you can listen to 13 million songs at any time." Of course there is some natural fear of now “owning” music anymore since you do not download it and store it physically, but users seem to to adapt: Already 60 percent of digital music sales are made ??through streaming services, only 40 percent through downloads.

Social Games: Snake is out, hunting squirrels is in!

Mobile phones are perfect for games. Entertainment whenever you want, anywhere. Surprisingly the majority of itsmy games users, with 60%, are females. Smartphones were the trigger for many to start playing games on mobile phones, said Antonio Vince Staybl, CEO and co-founder of the game maufacturer itsmy games: “34 percent of male and female players have discovered the world of gaming with their first smartphone.” Games are not only played for pure pleasure but also to stay in touch with friends or to get to know others. "With a 33 percent share, this group is growing fastest," said Vince Staybl. Board games like the good old quartet have not lost their appeal, but simply found a new channel. Another interesting fact is the time of the day when people purchase new cards within itsmy games. "We recorded about six percent in-game buyers," said Staybl, "most likely early in the afternoon, less at night or in the morning."

ÖAMTC: 56 percent want to know gas prices

The smartphone application by ÖAMTC counts 350.000 installations already. It is widely used to find the cheapest gas stations, to prevent traffic jams or to call help in case your care broke down. According to Harald Kalleitner, product manager Web/mobile ÖAMTC, hte highest use of the service is in the morning from 8 to 9 and later in the afternoon from 4pm to 6pm. “About 56 percent of all queries are gas price updates.”, said Kalleitner. In case the car of one of the 1.8 million members breaks down the owner can make use of the smartphone application. The advantage is clear: using GPS the driver can be located more easily and all details about the car are linked to the account as well.

Google: Companies two years behind

The common smartphone user is doing pretty well in using most of its servies already. According to Stefan Hentschel, Head of Mobile Advertising Google, the usage of mobile web will be surpassing requests from desktops in 2013. Unlike ÖAMTC, simfy and itsmy games many companies are in danger of missing the mobile web train. Only 8 percent of all Austrian companies have a mobile version of their website. The reasons are often insufficient resources and lack of budget: “The companies lag behind the users about two years.”, said Stefan Hentschel. Therefore he would like to see people talk less and do more instead..

Event-Video

Can you remember what your daily life was like before you had a mobile phone?
You always needed a dime in your pocket so you could call from a pay phone in case of emergency, you needed to be punctual because there was no chance to call when you were late and when you wanted to listen to music on the go you needed one of these guys with cassettes and 12 songs max. on it:

Even though we all take smartphones for granted, MobileMonday will take a closer look at mobile services that constantly keep us connected and influence our daily lifes. So join us for our next MobileMonday along with:

• Stefan Hentschel, Head Mobile Advertising @ Google (Keynote)
• Martin Paweletz, Head of Media @ ÖAMTC (tbc)
• Tobias Schiwek, VP New Business @ simfy
• Antonio Vince Staybl, CEO & Co-Founder @ ItsMy game world

What? MoMo#12: Always connected - a day in the mobile life
Where? Museum of Natural History, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna
When? 17.10.2011, Doors open 18.30, Event starts 19.00

Registration is required, so save your seat.

Hope to see you there!