Browsing: mobile

News
Road warriors, come out and play: Tower taps into Kiwis’ competitive streak with SmartDriver Battle
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Until the driverless car finally arrives to take over from us, we’re stuck with humans behind the wheel. But the robots are already here to a degree, with computers reacting to keep us safe on the road and data being collected from connected cars and smartphones that can tell us how we’re driving. Some (mostly liars) see that data collection as slightly concerning, others see it as potentially useful, and insurance is one sector that has started to embrace it by giving discounts to less risky clients. Tower Insurance launched its SmartDriver app last year and offered up to 20 percent off premiums for safer drivers. Now, via its new agency Barnes Catmur & Friends, it’s drawing attention to the app and its benefits by asking people to take part in a SmartDriver Battle.

News
Data dump: US study shows that 39 of top 50 digital news sites now receive more traffic from mobile than desktop
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The Pew Research Center in the United States has released its 12th edition of the annual State of the News Media report, which examines the landscape of American journalism and tracks trends related to readership, revenue and device usage. And while the publication doesn’t include a Kiwi perspective, it does provide an in-depth glimpse at many of the changes and challenges that the local media also faces due to digital disruption. One of the most telling findings from the study was that 39 of the top 50 news sites now receive more traffic to their sites on mobile phones than from desktops.

News
Postr continues its quest to own the phone with new content deals
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Smartphone app Postr, which puts brands and money into consumers’ pockets by serving ads on their smartphone lockscreens, added its name to the list of apps trying to own the mobile last year. It’s managed to attract 12,000 downloads so far, and it’s hoping some new features that will enable users to browse news, weather and deals from The New Zealand Herald, GrabOne and MetService without having to unlock their mobile phone will grow that number significantly.

News
Attack of the spinning phones: how Samsung’s new models are being spruiked
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Yup, it’s that time of year again (already?), when FOMO-suffering tech lovers get all wound up about another new gadget. And this time it’s Samsung’s turn, with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge released in New Zealand over the weekend. Here’s how Samsung and the main telcos are ensuring the upgrades continue. PLUS: the environmental perils of obsolescence and the idea of modular phones.

News
Nielsen multi-screen video consumption report shows Kiwis still favour TV
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Despite the rapid progression and expansion of all that is digital, with even five-year-olds owning iPads these days, television still remains the most dominant form of video consumption in New Zealand, according to a New Zealand multi-screen report issued by Nielsen. And, even more surprising, is that report shows television isn’t only the most popular video-viewing platform, but that its use is also increasing.

News
A very modern rescue dog
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As part of a SXSW stunt for American mobile battery case company ​Mophie, St Bernard rescue dogs have been given smartphone battery packs instead of brandy barrels, giving some of those who tweeted the company detailing their lack of juice a much-needed charge for its Stay Powerful campaign.

Opinion
Google’s mobile countdown: are you ready?
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Back in February, Google made an announcement that said, as of 21 April, a website’s mobile-friendliness will increase as a ranking signal. And with 23 percent of all web searches now conducted on mobile, moving down the rankings could lead to a very real impact on the number of leads or sales a website generates, says Richard Conway, so you’d better get your mobile house in order.

News
Spark hooks up with Putti, offers SMEs 24 months’ access to mobile-responsive website services
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According to Spark Home, Mobile and Business chief executive Chris Quin, fewer than 40 percent of small businesses have a website. And of those that do, only a quarter have a website that’s mobile responsive. So, in an effort to remedy this problem, Spark has released new promotion that offers business customers 24 months’ access to a Putti mobile-responsive website.

News
Gyro, slidey, selfie and trapdoor: 4th Screen Advertising unveils four interactive mobile formats
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Brands are constantly looking for innovative ways to reach their audiences, and one of the best ways appears to be through mobile-accessed websites and apps, seeing as many of us are linked to our phones almost constantly. Mobile advertising sales agency 4th Screen Advertising has released four new mobile ad formats, which aim to make the ad consumption experience a bit more enjoyable, requiring user-participation.

News
Samsung takes another swipe at Apple with tablet test
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After Apple announced the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Samsung came out firing (once again) with a comparative print ad that pointed out the next best thing was already here in the form of the Note 4. And its approach to promoting the Galaxy Tab S is similarly comparative.

News
Made Media joins the programmatic fray, trumpets local focus as a point of difference
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The programmatic bus rolls on, with Magna Global predicting a 31 percent annualised growth rate through to 2017. And with Google’s latest consumer barometer showing Kiwis use an average of 2.7 devices each, a new Kiwi agency called Made Media—a collaboration between sales manager and partner Michael Buhagiar and Latch Digital—believes it’s found a gap in the market for a locally owned and operated demand side platform that brings those two elements together.

Opinion
Taming the ‘first screen’: Tom Eslinger on making mobile magic
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Tom Eslinger, Saatchi & Saatchi’s global head of digital and social returned to the New Zealand stage last week (albeit virtually) at Ad:Tech’s inaugural Auckland conference. And, beaming in over Skype from his hotel room in Singapore, he shared a concentrated dose of the secrets to mobile marketing contained in his book Mobile Magic, which was released earlier this year.

News
MediaWorks launches MVOD offering, aims to extend its brands’ mobile reach
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Following on from the NZ Herald and Fairfax, MediaWorks has now improved its mobile video capabilities by launching MVOD, an offering billed as “a social, local, mobile-friendly video” service that is available across channels. This means that, in addition to the content available on 3Now, users can also easliy access the quirky videos produced on a daily basis for MediaWorks’ other media properties, including radio and news personalities.

News
Let your fingers do the giving
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Advances in technology have rapidly changed the way we pay for things. Whether it’s tap and go credit cards, in-app payments or mobile wallets, the benefits for consumers are endless. But on the other side of the coin, charities dependent on real currency and street collections fighting against a huge range of other organisations for the donated dollar are starting to suffer as cash carrying declines. So what are the options to prise open increasingly electronic wallets?

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