native mobile monthly report - august 2012

MOBILE REPORT / AUGUST 2012

INSERT IMAGE IN BACKGROUND

MAKE SURE IT FILLS THE SCREEN 100%

A MONTHLY

SNAPSHOT OF

MOBILE NEWS,

VIEWS, EVENTS &

DEVELOPMENTS

LOCALLY AND

ABROAD

2 NATIVE MOBILE REPORT FOR AUGUST 2012

CONTENTS

3

» Section 1: Mobile Landscape

» Section 2: Mobile Handsets & Operating Systems

» Section 3: Samsung vs. Apple

» Section 4: Mobile Networks

» Section 5: Mobile Banking

» Section 6: Social Networks

» Section 7: Summary & Credits

NATIVE MOBILE REPORT FOR AUGUST 2012

SECTION 1

4

MOBILE LANDSCAPE

MOBILE IS A KEY TREND SHAPING

DIGITAL MARKETING

5

ITWeb Africa, 22 August 2012

» Speaking at the Google Think 2013 Summit, Google's director of government and local markets, Sam Sebastian said that “Going forward, the big question is on the mobile side – where will it all go?”, adding that mobility answers the question of how to connect the unconnected

» Speaking of monetisation concerns, Sebastian said the sheer pace of mobile growth is a concern for Google. “I believe the industry, as a whole, hasn't taken advantage enough of the utility of the mobile phone for advertising, so this is a top priority for Google.”

» Watch Google’s video titled “The Time for Mobile is Now”: http://youtu.be/9GalBu_cEkM


WORLD WIDE WEB CELEBRATES ITS

21ST

BIRTHDAY

6

» 21 years ago, a modest British scientist launched his new invention. At the time, almost no-one noticed, but it has since revolutionised our lives. Tim Berners-Lee called his invention the "world-wide-web”

» The web has evolved into something far more than Berners-Lee could have imagined, with the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Yahoo, Amazon etc. being created

» Our entire industry may not have existed if it not for the WWW, and for that we thank Tim Berners-Lee

» The world's first website can still be visited today, more than two decades after its creation:

http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

Memeburn, 6 August 2012 BBC, 6 August 2012


http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

GOOGLE UPGRADES MOBILE SEARCH

7

Memeburn, 10 August 2012

» Google has now made searching on mobile even better. The search giant has announced a host of new features to make Googling on your cellphone or tablet more visual and interactive to make sure you get the answers you’re looking for as easily on mobile as you do on a desktop computer

» Areas include finance, currency conversion, unit conversion, dictionary definitions, local time lookup, and holiday and sunrise times… the things you’d actually use the most on mobile devices

» Now you’ll see all the graphs and quick responses at the top of your search results page, just as you would on the desktop version


FLIPBOARD HITS 20 MILLION

USERS

8

» Flipboard’s efforts to increase availability on different mobile operating systems has contributed to its continued growth hitting 20 million users and reaching over 3 billion flips per month

» 1.5 million users log in daily, and they spend, on average, 86 minutes per month in the app

» 75% of readers connect their social networks in Flipboard, and perform a total of 14.5 million social actions (favouriting, liking, sharing, etc.) in the app per month.

» The top day for tablet reading is Sunday

» The top day for smartphone users is Thursday with top reading hours being from 10-11pm

TechCrunch, 28 August 2012


SONY TO ROLL OUT PLAYSTATION

MOBILE

9

MyBroadband, 15 August 2012

» Sony has pinned its long-term growth on mobile and gaming devices. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will roll out its PlayStation Mobile cross-platform gaming service in the coming months - offering application software and other content across devices like the handheld PlayStation Vita and Xperia smartphones and tablets

» Previously branded the PlayStation Suite, it will provide a platform for third-party software developers and publishers to create new content such as games for Sony’s portable devices


MCDONALD’S TESTS MOBILE

PAYMENTS APP

10

Mobile Commerce Daily, 21 August 2012

» Fast food giant McDonald’s is testing a new mobile payments service with PayPal that lets consumers order their favorite meals at participating restaurants in France

» Through the service, consumers can order food either online or through the McDonald’s mobile app and checkout via PayPal. From there, consumers can pick up their meal from a separate line

» McDonald’s is following in the footsteps of companies such as Burger King, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts who have all implemented their own mobile payments systems


QR CODES TO DETECT FAKE HP

PRODUCTS

11

» Multinational hardware and software company, Hewlett-Packard, plans to roll-out a verification code-technology that could help some African consumers detect fake ink, cartridges or toners

» The verification mechanism takes the form of a Quick Response (QR) code that consumers can use to verify if the equipment is genuine



TOP BRANDS IN THE SA TECH

SECTORS

12

» The Sunday Times published its annual 'Top Brands' supplement for 2012, dividing the winners up into consumer and business categories.

» Top cellphone brands-

– Consumer: Nokia(1), Blackberry (2), Samsung (3)

– Business: iPhone (1), Blackberry (2) Nokia (3)

» Top telecoms brands-

– Consumer: Vodacom (1), MTN (2), Cell C (3)

– Business: Vodacom (1), MTN (2), Nashua Mobile (3)

» The survey also revealed a new category for the computer tablet/e-reader with the iPad coming first, followed by Samsung’s Galaxy Tab

ITWeb, 13 August 2012


STUDY SHOWS SOUTH AFRICAN'S HAVE

CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR PHONES

13


» Time Magazine and global telecoms company Qualcomm, conducted a poll to determine how the global mobile industry is affecting the everyday lives of people

» The poll shows South African cellphone users are almost constantly connected to their devices, with 63% of checking their phone at least once every 30 minutes and 42% conceding they check it at least once every 10 minutes

» 61% say they browse the Internet on their wireless mobile device at least a few times a week, up from only 27%, five years ago

» Almost double the global figure, 43% of SA's motorists use their devices while driving (compared to 26% globally)


SYNOVATE RELEASES IPSOS

SOCIALOGUE

14

» The ebook is full of infographics and commentary on trends and behaviours that define peoples lives in todays social media age

» Some insights include:

– 57% of online South Africans have read an ad on their mobile phone

– 53% of South Africans have recommended a brand they “like” or follow on a social network

– 29% of people open emails from retailers on their mobile phones

» To see the full report go to:

http://www.synovate.co.za/IpsosEBook/

Synovate, 28 August 2012


EDCON LAUNCHES MOBILE

SHOPPING APP

15

Bizcommunity, 2 August 2012

» Edcon‚ owner of Edgars‚ Legit and Jet‚ launched its SmartShop mobile application‚ aimed at delivering a "multi-layered retail experience" for in-store shoppers

» The app allows customers to use their phone's camera to scan and read the barcode on a product, check the price and look up stock in real time to see what sizes are currently available in all stores‚ and view their account details, as well as Facebook integration - allowing users to upload details of specific items to the social network

» The Edcon SmartShop application is available for free download from the Apple‚ Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry app stores


SA’S NEW MUSIC STREAMING SERVICE

16

TechCentral, 20 August 2012

» Simfy, the R60/month music streaming service, with more than 16m tracks, 2m albums and 650 000 artists, was launched in SA on 27 August

» South Africa’s first homegrown music streaming operation is a partnership between the European streaming provider, Simfy, and local digital content company eXactmobile

» Simfy Africa has a Web version and mobile applications for Android, BlackBerry and iOS. Ryan Birkin, Simfy Africa’s chief business development officer, says these were viewed as the most important platforms for the SA market

» Users are able to pay by credit card or electronic funds transfer, or using their mobile airtime


IS ITUNES COMING TO SOUTH AFRICA?

17


» Speculation is rife that the Apple iTunes Store will become available for South African users in September 2012

» The announcement was made by Yoel Kenan, (founder and CEO of Africori, a licensing platfrom for African music) at the Mobile Entertainment Africa 2012 Conference

» Asked about the launch of iTunes in SA, Core Group, local distributor for Apple products said: “There has been no announcement from Apple and we have no further information”

» While the move will be welcomed by many it remains to be seen what quality of content will be available for South African Apple Fans



ROLLING STONE SA GETS AN

AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) COVER

18


» In the upcoming September issue of Rolling Stone South Africa, people will be able to scan the front cover to get a free music video

» The AR app Layar allows readers real-time access to watch former Springbok Nude Girls singer Arno Carsten’s new music video, “Two Dogs” as well as preview its interview with him. They’ll also be able to share the story with friends on Facebook and Twitter

» Although this is a first for Rolling Stone, it is far from the first AR magazine cover in the country. As early as April 2011, motoring magazine Car launched an AR issue, which included a track test video of a BMW M3


http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/39/58825.html

WI-FI IN GAUTENG HIGH COURTS

19


» LexisNexis SA and Law Credit have joined forces to furnish the Johannesburg and Pretoria High Courts with WiFi facilities

» “Visitors simply need to purchase data bundles and follow the step-by-step instructional material, visible throughout the corridors of the court, which explains the connectivity process to users,” says LexisNexis

» “Providing significant value to all visitors, the WiFi facility will, in particular, benefit legal professionals who can now access their My LexisNexis accounts, an online research platform for the legal industry, to view law reports and statutes while at court.”


BIZCOMMUNITY.COM TURNS 11

20

» August 2012 marks 11 years of Bizcommunity.com, and since its inception in 2001, Bizcommunity has expanded from a single marketing and media portal with a South Africa focus to a total of 35 industry-specific portals each with various categories of defined interest, including mobile

» The company has grown to become one of South Africa's best-loved online media brands by marketing and media industry professionals, companies and communities

We wish Bizcommunity a very happy 11th birthday!

Bizcommunity, 1 August 2012


SECTION 2

21

MOBILE HANDSETS &

OPERATING SYSTEMS

GLOBAL SMARTPHONE SALES UP

42.7% IN Q2

22

BusinessTech by MyBroadband, 17 August 2012

» Gartner says while worldwide sales of mobile phones declined 2.3% in the second quarter of 2012, smartphone sales surged 42.7%, led by demand for Samsung’s Galaxy S3

» Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419 million units in the second quarter of 2012, with smartphone sales accounting for 36.7% of total mobile phone sales.

» Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner said, “The challenging economic environment and users postponing upgrades to take advantage of high-profile device launches like the iPhone 5 and promotions available later in the year slowed demand across markets.”



CHINA PREDICTED TO SURPASS U.S. AS

SMARTPHONE LEADER

23


» The latest figures out from IDC confirm that this is the year that China will overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest smartphone market with its 25.5% share, a significant lead over the U.S.’s 17.8%

» The tipping point has been a long time coming with China the world’s most populated country, but the trend has accelerated in the last couple of years with the rise of cheap sub-$200 devices built for Android

» This trend will continue to drive growth at China, too, which will see its share expand at a rate of 26.2%


MICROSOFT GETS REBRANDED

24

CNET, 23 August 2012

» With a serious spate of major product releases coming up, including Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and the Surface Tablet, Microsoft has updated its logo. “It's been 25 years since we've updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change”

» There is a common look and feel across the new products providing a familiar and seamless experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs, “It represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning”

» Microsoft also created a YouTube video about the logo change titled “Microsoft unveils new look”: http://youtu.be/OzkZWvAJUr0


IPHONE WORTH MORE THAN ALL OF

MICROSOFT

25

Forbes, 19 August 2012

» One Apple product, something that didn’t exist five years ago, has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer

» More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has created since 1975

» In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion

» If we break down Apple’s performance as a whole we are able to see what Apple makes in a second, hour, day, month:


APPLE EDGING TOWARDS A GOOGLE

FREE IPHONE

26

» Apple confirmed that the latest version of its mobile software will not come with YouTube preloaded

» This comes after Apple also announced that Google Maps will be dropped

» The move follows Apple’s decision to launch its own mapping application this fall as the standard part of iOS 6

» There should be no doubt that this manoeuvre was all about Apple removing Google from a key part of its devices



GOOGLE’S PLANS FOR MOTOROLA

27

ReadWriteWeb, 13 August 2012

» Almost exactly a year ago, Google shocked the industry by buying Motorola for $12.5 billion

» Google appears to be remaking Motorola rather than burying it. It is getting Motorola out of the feature-phone market where margins are very low and it is already underperforming

» Motorola likely will be tasked with creating a series of high-end smartphones to challenge the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy series

» “Just like Nokia and RIM, Moto is being forced to concentrate on its core growth areas, and not try to compete for business at the low end where it can’t win," said industry analyst Jack Gold with J. Gold Associates


http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_to_acquire_motorola_mobility_android_ecosys.php

GOOGLE PLAY STORE ADDS PERSONALISED

APP RECOMMENDATIONS

28

Mashable, 30 August 2012

» One thing that Google has continued to work on since the launch of the then-Android-Market is app discovery. Even with thousands of great apps ready to download and install, they are useless if no-one can find them

» Google started making things personal last month with a “Recommended for You” section on the web-based Play Store. This feature is now coming to the Play Store app as well

» It takes into account factors like which apps your Google+ friends enjoy and the general geographical area in which you live


http://pocketnow.com/android/google-market-gets-new-app-discovery-tools-4gb-app-limit

ADOBE FLASH PLAYER EXITS

ANDROID GOOGLE PLAY STORE

29

BBC, 15 August 2012

» Adobe is pulling its Flash Player plug-in from Android's Google Play store, following a decision to halt development of the software for mobile devices

» Smartphone owners who had upgraded to the latest Android version, known as Jelly Bean, should uninstall the Flash Player if it was already on their device because it was likely to exhibit "unpredictable behaviour”

» Adobe will continue to develop the player for PCs. It will also support Air - a tool which lets developers turn web-based applications using Flash into standalone mobile apps


HUAWEI FOSTERS AFRICAN LTE

30

» LTE, commonly referred to as “4G”, provides download speeds of more than five times those of the incumbent 3G networks

» Global ICT solutions provider Huawei has been selected to provide its IP microwave solution for a number of early commercial long-term evolution (LTE) networks in Africa

» Huawei announced it would deploy its “advanced” IP microwave solution for the next-generation backhaul networks of Movicel, in Angola, and Mobile Telecommunications, in Namibia – the first two operators in Africa to provide commercial LTE



AFRICA’S BEST SELLING

MOBILE HANDSETS TO DATE

31

» Information on the best-selling devices in Africa is scarce, so IT News Africa reviewed a number of the top rated mobile handsets on the continent and found that while smartphones occupy a large portion, feature phones are just as important for everyday communication as they were years ago

» The list includes:

1. Nokia XpressMusic 5130

2. Samsung E250

3. Nokia 2700

4. Nokia 3310

5. Huawei Ideos U8150

6. BlackBerry Curve 8520

IT News Africa, 27 August 2012


SAMSUNG ANNOUNCES DUAL-SIM

PHONE FOR AFRICA

32

» Samsung is introducing the low-cost dual-SIM Samsung Chief Hero to the African market during September

» The Samsung Chief Hero will allow users to automatically switch between two SIM cards without having to carry an additional handset, or turn off the phone to swop out a SIM, addresses a critical need, Samsung said

» The Samsung Chief Hero has dual-band GPRS support and claims 11-hour talk time with 550 hours standby time on its 1000mAh battery



LENOVO ENTERS MOBILE HANDSET

MARKET IN SA

33


» The company is set to release a dual-SIM, low-cost, Android, smartphone in SA before the end of the year, a move that could annoy operators while delighting consumers

» Jack Lee, Lenovo’s vice-president and GM for the Middle East and Africa, says the company has decided to go “beyond the PC” and its strategy involves the “four screens” of smartphones, smart TVs, PCs and desktops, and laptops

» The Lenovo S880 — called “LePhone” in some markets — should be available in SA by the 4th quarter of this year. Lee says the dual-Sim, 5-inch “phablet” retails in China for the equivalent of R2 000 but the SA price has yet to be set


THE PHABLET IS A GROWING TREND

34

Phonedog, 16 August 2012

» One trend – some are calling it a fad – is the push for larger smartphone displays

» The average smartphone screen size has grown nearly an inch over the last two years, from roughly 3.8-inches to around 4.7-inches

» We have seen some phones breach the 5-inch barrier, like the Galaxy Note at 5.3-inches and the LG Optimus Vu at 5-inches even

» These phone-tablet hybrids were originally conceived as very niche devices

» These giant smartphones – appropriately dubbed phablets – overcame insurmountable adversity and have actually become relatively popular since the original launch of the Galaxy Note


http://www.phonedog.com/2012/03/15/will-the-5-3-inch-form-factor-become-the-new-4-3

SECTION 3

35

SAMSUNG VS. APPLE

THE TRIAL THAT HAS BEEN

SHAKING UP THE MOBILE HANDSET

INDUSTRY

36

» Apple and Samsung have been going at heads in a patents dispute, mirroring a struggle for industry supremacy between two rivals that control more than half of worldwide smartphone sales

» The U.S. company accused Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone, and was asking for a sales ban in addition to monetary damages. The Korean company, which is trying to expand in the U.S., said Apple infringed some of its key wireless technology patents

» The vast majority of patent disputes settle before trial, particularly between competitors. In this case though, the stakes were just too high – and the two companies ultimately had very different views

ITWeb, 13 August 2012 ITWeb, 27 August 2012


THE PRESENTATION THAT ULTIMATELY

LED TO SAMSUNG’S DEMISE

37

» It became very clear that Samsung had a case of iPhone envy when Apple released a 132 page evidence document to the court, which was then released to the public

» Titled “Relative Evaluation Report on S1, iPhone”, this document by Samsung’s Product Engineering Team in 2010 gave some pretty harsh criticism to the Galaxy S’s interface, and compares it step by step to the iPhone

» Was this simply part of a thorough product comparison procedure, which is pretty standard in any research and development environment, or did it prove Samsung copied the Apple look and feel?

Bandwidth Blog, 8 August 2012


APPLE WINS LANDMARK CASE

AGAINST SAMSUNG

38


» A U.S. court has ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05bn in damages for infringing intellectual property

» The jury decided several Samsung devices had infringed iPhone-maker Apple's software and design patents, the jury said, but rejected counter-claims by Samsung

» Whether damages will be tripled is a decision for the judge in the coming weeks

» Apple and Samsung are far from settling their differences and we could see the patent wars carry on indefinitely

» Apple will now seek import bans on several of its rival's products. Samsung has said it will appeal

» And no, Samsung did not pay its fine to Apple in nickels…



WHAT DOES THE RULING REALLY

MEAN?

39


» To competitors: Microsoft seems happy with the ruling with Microsoft senior director of Windows Phone marketing Bill Cox posting on Twitter: “Windows Phone is looking gooooood right now”

» To consumers: Now the consumers can decide if they want to pay a premium for Apple’s products or pay for the similar Samsung product which generally would cost less. However, consumers may have to now pay more for products that have to license Apple patents

» To Samsung: The $1bn that Samsung has to pay in damages could be seen as small change, only $1,5% of its annual revenue – not much to become the 2nd biggest smartphone player in the world


WHAT DOES THE COURT RULING

MEAN FOR GOOGLE?

40

BBC, 25 August 2012

» In response to the verdict, Google has already said the court of appeals would review both the infringement and the validity of the patent claims

» “Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being reexamined by the US Patent Office,” Google said

» This clearly indicates that Google is trying to distance itself from the ruling and is not, at this point, coming directly to the defense of manufacturers using Android.

» The statement also points out that the rulings in their current form do not directly affect Android. The company would probably have responded in a vastly different manner if this was the case


SECTION 4

41

MOBILE NETWORKS

DO SOUTH AFRICAN’S WANT DUAL-SIM

CARDS?

42


» While many emerging markets have seen sales of dual-SIM mobile phones flourishing, the market for dual SIMs in SA remains negligible

» The operators are often blamed for failing to offer dual-SIM devices on their networks, fearing that consumers will route their calls over the cheapest network at any given time, but it appears a lack of demand may be playing a larger role for the lack of take-up

» Liza De Wet, marketing director for Hauwei devices in SA thinks this may change when the feature is added to higher-end devices

» Zunaid Dinath, Vodacom’s managing executive for the consumer market, agrees saying “In SA, the market uptake has been slow due to the fact that these handsets have fewer features and are more expensive


STUDY SHOWS SOUTH AFRICAN’S ARE

UNHAPPY WITH CELLULAR PROVIDERS

43

» A new study commissioned by inMobi, has revealed that a massive 70% of South Africans are unhappy with their cellphone providers

» The majority of complaints are the following:

– 17% percent of cellphone consumers are unhappy about the price of the service

– 25% of people are not happy with only limited data coverage

– 8% are frustrated about hidden charges

– 7% are not happy with customer service

» The network that came out on top with users is Vodacom, scoring 57% for customer service, 60% for network coverage, and 42% for value

News24, 1 August 2012


CELL C LAUNCHES NEW CALLING PLANS

44


» Cell C has announced that it is cutting call rates to a further 177 countries after introducing a 99c/minute rate to 50 countries in recent months

» The operator has grouped countries into 5 different zones based on different call rates. The rates will be available to all Cell C customers, whether they are prepaid, hybrid or postpaid

» All calls will be billed on a per-second basis and the new rates will be applicable to fixed-line and mobile numbers in the respective countries


CELL C CHANGES HOW A2P SMS MESSAGES

ARE TERMINATED (SENT)

45


» A recent change in how Cell C is terminating application-to-person (A2P) SMS messaging is shaking up the local mobile messaging industry

» For years, all incumbent mobile network operators had a “gentleman’s agreement” not to compete on A2P SMS messaging traffic, which has resulted in higher SMS prices for A2P SMS messages, benefiting the network operators and the WASPs, but negatively impacting on the communication costs of businesses

» Recently, Cell C began allowing all WASPs to terminate A2P SMS messages onto other networks

» This could have a major impact on the revenue of Vodacom and MTN, and it may need to be an issue addressed by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)


ALAN KNOTT-CRAIG SENDS

WARNINGS

46


» Cell C CEO, Alan Knott-Craig sent a warning to his cellular rivals, saying that the cellular battle has not started yet and that “when we get into the ring, be careful. Someone is going to get hurt”

» Speaking to Business Times, Knott-Craig said that he has “not been taking jabs at his rivals yet, despite announcing new specials weekly”

» Knott-Craig seems to be preparing the company for a high volume, low margin environment where data will play an increasingly important role


VODACOM NOT SHOWING SIGNS OF

DEFEAT

47


» Vodacom’s new chief consumer officer, Phil Patel said that, despite the lower prices from Cell C and 8ta, they are not losing market share to these two companies

» Patel highlighted that, while pricing is important, it is not the only consideration. He said that issues like network quality and service availability are also important considerations to consumers

» Despite the fact that Vodacom is still showing strong growth in the data market, Patel said that they will continue to ensure that their pricing remains competitive, and may even go to 15c per MB like Cell C if they “have to”

» However, Patel said that there is currently no need for Vodacom to match Cell C’s 15c per MB to remain competitive


VIRGIN MOBILE SA TAKES FOCUS

OFF MASS MARKET

48


» Virgin Mobile SA is looking to build its brand and enhance the customer experience within a particular set of demographics, rather than chasing mass market share

» This is according to Jonathan Marchbank, the new CEO, who took the helm at the South African operation earlier this month

» In terms of market share, Marchbank says the MVNO is aiming for a humble 2%, or one million customers

» Marchbank says that “Whereas the incumbents are competing on tariff and handsets, he says, VMSA is targeting brand affinity and customer engagement


INCREASED SUBSCRIBER

BASE FOR MTN

49

» Africa's largest cellular operator, MTN, says it “delivered a satisfactory set of results” for the first 6 months of the year to June

» The group grew subscribers 6.9% to 176 million compared with its base at the end of December

» Data, excluding SMS, contributed 10% to revenue, increasing 69.6% to R6.7 million. “This was mainly attributable to strong data growth in South Africa and Nigeria, which contributed 46.8% and 28.4% respectively to total group data revenue,” it says



BOOSTING MOBILE BROADBAND IN

SA

50


» Cellular network operators in South Africa are ready for Long Term Evolution (LTE), a high speed mobile broadband technology, but they have all expressed a dire need for additional spectrum to roll out LTE

» The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) was to assign spectrum ideal for the use of LTE, but withdrew its invitation to apply (ITA) pending a “policy direction” from the Minister of Communications

» Forging ahead in spite of spectrum limitations, MTN recently revealed its plans to launch commercial LTE services on a refarmed spectrum during Q4 2012


RIM INTRODUCES BLACKBERRY

BUDDIES

51


» Research in Motion (RIM) has introduced a human element into the support structure for its BlackBerry devices with “BlackBerry Buddies”

» BlackBerry Buddies is a group of people based in shopping malls across SA, who are dedicated to helping BlackBerry users understand, manage and get the most out of their BlackBerry devices

» The BlackBerry Buddies are based at designated stands in the following shopping centres: Sandton City in Johannesburg, Menlyn Park in Pretoria, Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein, Canal Walk in Cape Town, and Gateway Shopping Centre in Durban


TELKOM FINED R499M

52

» The Competition Tribunal has fined Telkom R449m for abusing its dominance in the telecommunications industry over a five-year period between 1999 and 2004

» “The tribunal concluded that Telkom leveraged its upstream monopoly in the facilities market to advantage its own subsidiary in the competitive value-added network service (Vans) market,” the regulatory body says in a statement

» Half of the penalty is to be paid within six months of the tribunal’s decision while the balance is payable within 12 months thereafter. However, Telkom has the right to appeal against the decision

» Telkom has since filed a notice of appeal against the R449 million penalty



SECTION 5

53

MOBILE BANKING

MXIT AND STANDARD BANK PROVIDE

GATEWAY TO THE UNBANKED

54

» Standard Bank and Mxit have partnered to bring real money transactions through a new mobile commerce platform

» Mxit has long-served as a platform for transactions involving Moola – Mxit’s native currency – and has now extended the platform to facilitate online payments for real-world purchases

» The new mobile commerce platform makes use of Standard Bank’s Instant Money services, which is an electronic currency used between people (where one or both parties are unbanked) without the need for credit cards or bank accounts



NEDBANK RELEASES APP

SUITE FOR ANDROID

55

» Nedbank has released its banking app to the public but its only available on Android for the time being

» The bank says it intends rolling out apps for Android tablets, Apple’s iPhone and iPad, BlackBerry handsets and feature phones before the end of the year, with support for Windows Phone planned for the first quarter of next year

» “The Nedbank App Suite is unique in that it will be available on smartphones as well as a wide range of feature phones. It is our intention to provide an easy to use app that is safe, convenient and available to as many South Africans as possible,” says Nedbank CEO Mike Brown



CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS GO

MOBILE

56

Sainfo Reporter, 15 August 2012

» FNB has launched cross-border payments to Swaziland and Lesotho through its Pay2Cell service

» Pay2Cell was launched by FNB in September 2011, and allows the bank's mobile phone banking customers to make payments directly into FNB accounts using only the recipient's mobile number

» "Offering cross-border payments from a cellphone allows our customers to send and receive money instantly. In addition to this, the use of only the recipient's cellphone number makes the payment process extremely simple for our customers” said Chief Operating Officer for Cellphone Banking, Dione Sankar


CELL C, FNB PARTNER FOR

BUNDLES

57


» FNB Cellphone Banking customers are now able to buy Cell C SMS and data bundles via the bank's USSD channel and mobile application

» Until now, the only Cell C product that was offered via cellphone banking was prepaid airtime. Cell C says FNB is the first, and currently the only, bank to enter into a partnership with the operator to enable its customers to purchase bundles

» Karin Fourie, Cell C's executive head of communications, says the operator's aim is to leverage the current growth in the data market and form partnerships with relevant industry players


FRUSTRATED DEV MAKES OWN

ABSA APP

58


» Having read that Absa would not be making an official banking application available until the end of the year or early in 2013, Johannesburg-based developer and entrepreneur Tyler Reed, frustrated at the time it is taking the bank to develop the app, has opted to make his own

» Reed essentially built a “wrapper” for Absa’s mobile banking portal, and has no plans to release the app to the public

» Christo Vrey, Absa’s managing executive for digital channels, says the bank acknowledges that some of its customers are anxious for a full-fledged mobile app but suggests that the final product, when it is eventually released will be worth the wait


http://www.techcentral.co.za/tag/absa

http://www.techcentral.co.za/tag/christo-vrey

BARCLAYS TO LAUNCH MOBILE

BANKING APP IN KENYA

59


» The app, which was unveiled six months ago in the UK, has already achieved over one million downloads in that country

» And Kenya marks the first international rollout of the Pingit app, even ahead of a planned roll-out in European countries in 2013

» The app will allow Kenyans in the diaspora to send money to recipients via their mobile phones at no cost

» Barclays plans to unveil the service also in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Seychelles and Mauritius by the end of 2012


IS GOOGLE WALLET THE FUTURE OF

MOBILE PAYMENT?

60

Tech Talk Africa, 24 August 2012

» A new way to pay has emerged from search giant, Google, piggybacking on the growing availability of NFC

» Smartphones like the Google Nexus S or Samsung Galaxy Nexus, allow you to download the Google Wallet app and link it up to your accounts, subsequently using your phone to buy goods and services when you are out and about

» NFC terminals attached to tills of various shops and outlets let you tap your handset against them and your account is then charged the amount that is required to be covered in a given transaction


IS SA READY FOR A

CASHLESS SOCIETY

61

» A study conducted by Visa reveals that South Africans are the top cards-over-cash adopters in the world (along with the Koreans), with 61% preferring to use cards instead of cash

» SA has already had big developments in mobile payments, with a number of financial services and products available for use with mobile phones

» This year’s Oppikoppi, the South African music festival held in rural Limpopo, saw the introduction of a new cashless “tap-‘n-go” payment system from Standard Bank

MyBroadband, 16 August 2012 BusinessTech by MyBroadband, 28 August 2012


EXPECT SLOW ADOPTION

OF NFC

62

» According to Tim Walter, executive head of marketing at Nashua Mobile, South African banks and retailers are likely to be slow to adopt near-field communications (NFC) technology

» The reason for this, Walter told BusinessTech in April, is due to the high costs of installing point-of-sale terminals and other enabling infrastructure

» “Most of the major handset manufacturers are bringing NFC to market in the latest models of their mid to high-end smartphones,” Walter said. “Yet we are still a long way off from the critical mass that would really justify massive investment in the technology by banks and retailers.”



SECTION 6

63

SOCIAL MEDIA

FACEBOOK, TWITTER GROWTH

DRIVEN BY SMARTPHONES IN SA

64

» The number of Facebook users in South Africa grew by 500,000 people, or 11%, to 4.9 million users in 2012, with the rapid rise in smartphone ownership fueling most of that growth

» LinkedIn is the no. 2 social network in the country, with 1.8 million users (35.3%), narrowly ahead of 3rd place Twitter (1.2 million users, 17.1%), which has also seen rapid growth in the past 12 months

» Google+ has 460,000 users (6.54%)

» Some 20% of South Africans now own a smartphone, and more than 80% (4 million) have accessed Facebook from their mobile phones. Curiously, Nokia and Blackberry account for 87% of all smartphones in the country, with the iPhone controlling a share of just 3%

Media Bistro, 28 August 2012

Strategy Worx


LINKEDIN Q2 RESULTS BEATS

ANALYST PREDICTIONS

65

Marketing Land, 2 August 2012

» Revenue in Q2 was $228.2 million, which is up 89% from a year ago when LinkedIn announced $121 million in Q2 2011 revenue. Analysts were expecting revenue of $216 million for the quarter

» LinkedIn’s a user base now consists of 175 million people. That figure was 150 million 6 months ago when LinkedIn announced its Q4 2011 financials

» LinkedIn’s stock price has also jumped 48.5% since the beginning of the year



PINTEREST RELEASES APPS FOR ANDROID

SMARTPHONES / TABLETS AND IPAD

66

Redmond Pie, 15 August 2012

» Pinterest, a pinboard-style photo sharing website can now be used as mobile apps for Android smartphones and tablets, as well as the Apple iPad

» Pinterest’s mobile apps have the same set of features on all platforms such as browsing through other people’s profiles, re-pinning their items, creating new pins (with your camera, if you want to), and follow other people / brands

» The smartphone app uses a two-column layout whereas the tablet version makes use of all the extra space by giving you double the columns and more information upfront


FACEBOOK TAKES A “BIG STEP

FORWARD” FOR MOBILE

67


» Facebook has released a new native Facebook app for iOS

» According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the application was completely rewritten from the ground up in order to focus on speed

» Facebook engineer Jonathan Dann says: “The development of this new app signals a shift in how Facebook is building mobile products, with a focus on digging deep into individual platforms”..

» With the iOS app revamped, Facebook's next priority is its Android experience.


FACEBOOK UNVEILS MOBILE AD

UNIT TO PROMOTE APPS

68

» Facebook has launched another ad unit, this time designed to help mobile app developers market themselves

» The units drive users to new apps. If a user clicks on an ad and they don’t have the app already, they’ll be directed to the App Store or Google Play to download it

» This ad unit fully trackable as you can use Facebook’s analytics tools to assess its performance

» The introduction comes after Facebook introduced Sponsored Stories for the News Feed in June



https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2012/08/07/introducing-new-mobile-ads-for-apps/

INSTAGRAM PURCHASE IN THE

CLEAR FOR FACEBOOK

69


» The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared Facebook's acquisition of Instagram

» The move frees Facebook to complete its purchase of the mobile photo application maker, the biggest acquisition in its history.

» Under the terms of the deal, Facebook will acquire Instagram for $300 million in cash and roughly 23 million shares of Facebook common stock

» The deal also ensures the fast-growing mobile app, which said it had 80 million users in July, will not fall into the hands of a Facebook rival such as Twitter or Google


THE WORLD’S FIRST REAL-MONEY

FACEBOOK GAME LAUNCHES IN THE UK

70

» Bingo Friendzy is a new Facebook game from online gambling operator Gamesys, which gives users the opportunity to play with and win real money in 90 ball bingo games. No, not Facebook credits - actual money

» It may be the first of its kind, but other online gaming companies are reportedly working on real money versions of its own games too. According to the BBC, Zynga could roll out real cash games as early as next year

» It’s not a world-wide launch — different countries have different laws regarding online gambling (for example, it’s illegal in the United States), so the use of app is restricted



GOOGLE ACQUIRES WILDFIRE

71

» Wildfire, the social media startup that’s making huge strides in online marketing, has just been snapped up by Google for an undisclosed price

» Google wants to own (and eventually integrate) the online marketing experience. It wants to have a single destination where a brand marketing manager can go to create and control all online campaigns, from search marketing to Twitter CRM to Facebook campaigns

» Wildfire co-founder and CEO Victoria Ransom, said when it came to Google+, marketers weren’t as interested due to the (real or perceived) lack of richness in content and interaction on the newer social network

Venturebeat, 31 July 2012


MXIT WANTS TO BE A SOCIAL PLATFORM

72

TechLoy, 29 August 2012

» Mxit is planning on shifting from an instant messaging platform to a fully-fledged social platform

» Speaking at the Mobile Entertainment Africa 2012 conference, Mxit’s Head of Product Development, Peter Matthaei said that the instant messaging platform is working on improving discoverability through sharing, user recommendations and applying algorithms to social networking

» Despite increased competition from other mobile messaging services such as BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and WhatsApp Messenger, Mxit has become the largest mobile social network in Africa


http://techloy.com/topics/mxit

MXIT STORY AVAILABLE ON THE

SOCIAL NETWORK

73

She’s the Geek, x August 2012

» Mobinomics, the book by Alan Knott-Craig and Gus Silber on Mxit and Africa’s mobile revolution, has been published to the social network. This is the first time a printed book, available in national book stores, has been distributed via Mxit.

» The publishing of Mobinomics on the social media network is part of a bigger strategy to increase access to books by creating pricing and distribution models that make sense to the broader South African population and eventually the entire African continent

» To read Mobinomics please go onto

Mxit> Tradepost> Mxit Reach> Mobi books>

FunDza


SECTION 7

74

SUMMARY & CREDITS

Key trends in mobile for

August 2012

We are seeing more and more mobile products being rolled

out by brands globally and locally

The disconnect between marketers and consumers is

getting smaller

The rate and scale of change is accelerating all the

time. Mobile payment technologies like NFC are

however two or three years away from adoption in

South Africa

In the meantime, banks are looking for

alternative ways of bringing banking to the

people of South Africa

Growth of social networks in South Africa and

Africa is being driven mostly by mobile users

With the success of dual-SIM mobile handsets in the

rest of Africa, the jury is still out as to whether there is

enough demand in South Africa, and if network

operators will open up to the idea

We will soon witness, and even experience the

ripple effect of the Apple and Samsung trial

The uptake of smartphones is increasing with every

quarter, and we may reach a tipping point with

emerging overtaking emerged markets after the

month of September

The price wars between South Africa’s networks

are heating up with Cell C disrupting every area of

the business

75

CREDITS

76

» Altimeter Group

» BBC

» Bandwidth Blog

» Bizcommunity

» CNET

» Forbes

» IT News Africa

» ITWeb

» ITWeb Africa

» Sainfo Reporter

» She’s the Geek

» TechCentral

» TechCrunch

» TechLoy

» TechSmart

» Tech Talk Africa

» Today’s iPhone

» Marketing Land

» Mashable

» Media Bistro

» Memeburn

» Mobile Commerce Daily

» MyBroadband

» MyBroadband BusinessTech

» News24

» ReadWriteWeb

» Redmond Pie

» Venturebeat


INSERT VIDEO HERE

77

CONTACT US

Vuyisile Sisulu | Mobile Technologist [tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (82) 679 5415 [fax] 0867210884 [email] [email protected] [twitter] @Vuyisile_Sisulu

Tracy Aberman | Mobile Strategist [tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (82) 754 6111 [fax] 0867210884 [email] [email protected] [twitter] @TracyInSA

Angus Robinson | Director: Mobile, Content, Community & Media [tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (83) 635 4400 [fax] 0867210884 [email] [email protected] [twitter] @angusrobinson

Should you have any mobile insight, strategy, campaign or solutions requirements please contact any one of us.


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

native mobile monthly report - august 2012

Technology