Great iPhone demo

For Commbank's new iphone app.

Really liking this ...

http://webpromos.com.au/commsec/iphone/demo.html

iPhone finally in my hands - early impressions

Got my iPhone today and have been test driving it ever since. I like it - I always was going to like it ... and I like the experience.

As a phone it's good. I had a 1 hour phone call from London and the sound was good - crisp, clear.

Camera is okay - good enough for a phone. I took a few pics of the dogs - cute. Photo album is good as well.

Applications - installed a few. Facebook - solid. Myspace - not bad. NY Times - sloooow. Remote - very cool. Google - awkward ... not as good as I thought. I actually prefer G Talk on the Blackberry. More to come tomorrow. Google Maps - awesome ... far superior to Blackberry Google Maps.

Safari - the browser is nice. Most sites look okay - those designed for mobile look amazing. Really wanted to check out the ninemsn iphone site but it defaulted to the normal one. The age looked great on mobile, as did twitter and blogger.

WiFi - very good. Works fantastic at home ... work also has Wi Fi so enabled it there as well. Handy feature - will save data.

Email. I use Lotus Notes at work and we don't have iPhone support as yet ... so I am using a gmail account with auto forward. It's not push and it doesn't sync with my calender/diary but it is good enough. Soon enough we will have iPhone support for Domino/Blackberry exchange. The keyboard isn't as easy to use as the Blackberry but good enough for quick 5-6 word responses.

iPod - easy sync.

Battery - a little sluggish but not bad considering I have caned it this evening.

Bragging rights - huge. Making the most of being a smug wanker whilst I can.

How will it alter media consumption? I am not sure but will get around to thinking about it after I've given it a good flogging.

Get excited: last.fm iphone app

Whoa! It's an exciting time right now with some white hot iphone apps becoming available.

This is my fave so far - http://blog.last.fm/2008/07/13/lastfm-for-iphone-and-ipod-touch - despite some reports of initial bugs.

Downside - not available in AU right now. I'm sure this will change.

What I would love to see is one of the local carriers getting behind an app like this, because this app (as well as the pandora iphone app) and the facebook app are already showing us the great potential the iphone has to truly blur the lines of media and devices. A portable device makes last.fm all the more powerful - this isn't just another iteration of the website, it brings the brand into a new dimension and it provides more value to the user.

According to Nielsen Netview, Last.fm is currently at 191k users in AU, with YOY growth of 138%. I will chase site side data from the last.fm guys.

The iphone isn't just the 'jesus phone'

..it is BIGGER than Jesus!

Check the data - http://www.google.com.au/trends?q=iphone%2C+jesus&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

Since mid 2007 there has consistently been more searches on Google for the iphone than Jesus, indicating that Google users may have perhaps found a new god in their music player/phone handset.

However both can't hold a candle to the almighty 'porn', which smashes both Jesus and the Jesus Phone. Good old porn, the backbone(r) of the Internet.

http://www.google.com.au/trends?q=iphone%2C+porn&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

Interestingly, porn traffic (via search volume index) is rising (pun intended) each year.

Balls up: Vodafone iPhone pre-registration

So I pre-registered for the new iPhone 3G on June 17 through Vodafone, my carrier.

On June 20 I received the following ...

"Hi Ben,

Here at Vodafone, we’re eagerly counting down the days until the launch of the new iPhone 3G - and we bet you are too!

We are keen to make sure that we can give you the very best deals on your new iPhone 3G and we are putting the finishing touches to these offers.So, what next? Since you have taken the time to pre-register, you are now at the front of the line.

We will be rolling out these exciting offers very soon, so make sure to keep an eye on your inbox to stay ahead of the game.

Stocks will be limited so you will need to be quick.

Regards

The Vodafone Direct Deals Team"

Soooo ... the iPhone comes out tomorrow and since June 20 I have received NOTHING from Vodafone.

Maybe they're so busy "eagerly counting down the days until the launch" they have forgotten about the people who have pre-registered.

I have kept"an eye on (my) inbox to stay ahead of the game" to no avail. iPhone launches tomorrow and right now I have no idea whether I can get one.

I don't think Vodafone realises the magnitude of the situation. I work in advertising - to remain smug and self important I need to throw down on the table a 3G iPhone in every meeting, brainstorm, public event and interaction to show that I am, indeed, well versed in the digital space.

Quips aside - I think Vodafone could have handled it all a little better. Why ask people to pre-register and sell the dream of getting special treatment when in reality, you haven't been able to execute anything. I get that the iPhone launch is a big deal and there's probably 20,000 other smug, self important people who may or may not work in advertising that want to be able to strap it next to their belt buckle so catering for demand may be troubling logistically ... but cmon.

Or maybe I take along to my local Vodafone store the above email and demand that I go straight to the front of the line. According to that "you are now at the front of the line."

Bang!

Qik.com and kyte.tv - a TV studio in your pocket

Minimal murmurings locally about these two services - but boy are they exciting

Both http://www.qik.com and http://www.kyte.tv allow you to stream cell phone video live to the Internet.

Bloggers such as Robert Scoble have integrated the service into his filmed content - conducting ad hoc interviews with VCs and tech big names, as well as streaming footage live from tours of places such as the early HP offices.

For advertisers, it means they have an option for instant web casting. Someone like Ford could conduct live video chats with engineers, Motorola could demo their brand new phone via live stream, a film company could livecast a tour with a big name talent.

Content providers could also use Kyte - to live stream breaking news on scene, events etc ... the platform is so nimble it allows publishers to create streaming content without as much resource and planning.

Sure, the quality isn't HD - but it's good enough to offer something compelling.

It's a really interesting space. Both Qik and Kyte are working on iphone too. The numbers are low now but the technology is worth following

The next 12 months in mobile ...

We've had some exciting developments this year within the mobile space in terms of advertising and marketing opportunities that look like the first steps in moving the device from the much maligned too hard basket (or spam tool) to being a device that offers exciting ways to meet marketing challenges.

Namely Telstra offering their content free to browse for their subscribers - which, whilst not ideal (reasonably priced datacaps would be the utopia - which allow users to use their mobile to access all content with no danger of bill shock) as well as the iPhone launching on July 11 and a stack of similar, multimedia devices entering the market in the next 6 months.

As an agency guy I have used mobile for about half a dozen campaigns this year and the results have been appealing. I liken it to the web 10 years ago - lots of users, minimal clutter, high response rates (all positives) but combined with carrier obstacles, slow connection speeds, inexperienced sales and no real standard o/s (all negatives). On a really positive side, clients are open and often proactive about the space and are willing to experiment on the medium ... this is great as it means ad dollars will arrive, and these ad dollars can fuel more refinement and innovation and investment.

I'm no mobile expert, but I do have an understanding of wider media, especially digital ... and I don't believe the device is a specialty area.

So, what are 5 key areas that I think will be a focus

1. Opening up the mobile Internet

The net didn't really tip in terms of becoming a mainstream channel until connection speeds increased and users could access these speeds at a reasonable price. Right now this isn't the case with the mobile Internet. Secondly, the concept of a walled garden Internet seems ludicrous (imagine iinet subscribers only being able to access iinet content with their connection, and if they wanted to look at myspace or facebook or espn they'd incur extra charges) ... however this is how the mobile Internet is forming. It needs to open up and the carriers need to focus on being carriers and not content providers.

2. Understanding the device is a utility

I really hope that the mobile Internet isn't sold as a spots and dots display medium. yes, this plays a part ... but the real value for brands is getting into the branded utility/content space - becoming the media. Given the space is such a blank canvas now, there is room for brands to develop wap sites/apps etc that offer real value to people. Cue cliche on moving from interuption to immersion.

3. Location based services

Imagine something like yelp.com ... but on mobile ... that utilised location based services. It would be cool if you'd just seen a movie at the Kino, and a service could recommend you bars/places to eat nearby that were rated by a community you respect. The dominant voice when talking about location based services has been around ad spam - not utility - this needs to change

4. Maintaining web like functionality and feel on mobile web

How can we replicate or adapt the current web experience to the mobile? How can we make a site like afl.com.au as strong as an off deck wap site? Ditto for Hotmail etc. Google has done a great job with this already - maps, gtalk and gmail are pretty slick web apps. For mobile web to work the experience the user gets when they visit site x can't be a z-grade version of the web version.

5. Filtering through the mess

There are already 1865 apps that have been built by third parties for the iphone - http://www.apple.com/webapps/index_abc.html - and loads seem kinda irrelevant. Filtering through the mess of apps, widgets etc will be something users will have to endure - just like with Facebook and all those Slide and Rockyou useless widgets ... iPhoners will be bomarded with an equal amount of inane things to add. Advertisers need to make sure they are not just creating more junk, but creating something of use.

A few other areas worth mentioning is the mobile as a DR channel - I believe it has great strength in this area in numerous ways. Add CRM to this as well - which some companies are already using in a limited capacity.

iPhone 3G: In AU July 11

iPhone 3G hits AU on Friday 11 July.

http://www.apple.com/au/iphone/

No word on pricing as yet. Right now in the US you can get the 3G iphone for $199 upfront on a 24 month contract.

Jobs keynote - http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/wwdc08/