Whilst everyone talks about the iPad, little known manufacturers in China are taking full advantage of Google’s gratis operating system and are starting to knock out some really cheap Android-based tablets.
Caught this one on Deal Extreme for just $108.76 including shipping, thought it was interesting because it seems inevitable that the prices of these Android tablets and phones will drop into a price range which makes them affordable in emerging markets. How will that change the mobile web, applications and consumer services in those places?
First the Android car, now this.
Swedish company People Of Lava (awesome name) will be the first manufacturer to sell an internet-connected, Android TV.
Chinese car company SAIC is launching the worlds first Google Android equipped vehicle on April 23rd at the Beijing Auto Show. The luxury car is called the Roewe 350 and will cost $10,000 – $19,000.
This is pretty crazy seeing as it will use the same version of the operating system on the Nexus One and Motorola Droid, meaning all that great functionality of Google Maps like directions, search the web by voice, local search, business reviews and streetview will be integrated.
I wonder what Navteq thinks of this, those guys sell in-car navigation units which accept location based advertising and things like coupons. I’m sure Google is well aware of the opportunity to serve ads into the car version of Android.
No sooner than my post about location about to become interesting for consumers, Techcrunch posted an article about a concept by AT&T for ‘on-the-go’ mobile coupons.
Ever since the dawn of time mobile marketers have been using the ‘Starbucks coupon’ example to sell the idea of location based coupons into brands and businesses. I’ve used it a few times because it’s the easiest way to explain to someone who’s ‘non-mobile’ about location and the possibilities.
The scenario goes like this, you sign up for a mobile coupon service, fill out your profile, ticking coffee and various other things as your interests. You walk past Starbucks one day and BAM, your mobile beeps and it’s a 20% discount SMS coupon for a cup of coffee. Then you stroll in, extremely happy and redeem your coupon. Win for you and a win for Starbucks.
This basically applies to the concept by operator AT&T, the idea is simple, as consumers walk around a city, they get mobile alerts whenever their favourite nearby stores and restaurants have a deal. It works by the mobile operator constantly monitoring the customers location (opt-in of course), then matching that info to available retailers to push coupons/info.
Sounds great, apart from one problem….it uses SMS.
Firstly you will never escape the fact that SMS advertising messages are intrusive. They arrive into your inbox just like personal messages, they don’t have a separate folder, they don’t arrive silently, they don’t generate a different on-screen alert or icon. Oh and if it’s a coupon, you can’t sort by expiry date.
Just like any consumer, I’m interested in around 100+ different brands, everything from clothing, electronics, all the way to peanut butter. Do I want discounts on these brands? Hell yes (I love those printed vouchers), gimme as much as possible. Do I want my phone beeping several times a day and my inbox filling up? Hell no.
No matter how targeted the coupon is, there is no way a location based SMS service can remain useful and scale to cover the amount of brands an average consumer likes without severely pissing them off, regardless of opting-in. Read More
