iCow - A Brilliant Example Of How SMS Is Still Relevant In Emerging Markets

iCow is an agricultural application available via mobile phone to small scale farmers in Kenya. Interaction with the application is via SMS and it allows farmers access to services such as:

• a gestation calendar for their cows,
• access to details about a farmers nearest vet and
• access to best dairy practices

amongst other things. As the iCow website says it's "The worlds first mobile phone cow calendar!"

I love innovative uses for SMS. In emerging markets, where smart phones simply don't have market share, this is a great example of an app that provides a service needed by a market segment that would probably have been overlooked by the smart phone developer market! Performing a search in the App Store for 'Cow Calendar' and 'Cow Gestation' doesn't return any relevant app results! In fact 'Cow Gestation' doesn't return any results! So in fact There ISN'T an App for that! At least not on iOS ;-)

More detail about iCow can be seen in this YouTube video.

This innovative idea shows off that SMS still has legs as an application delivery mechanism in markets where smart phone penetration isn't all that! Again it highlights, that to reach all market segments in mobile SMS (and/or voice ;-) ), is required as a content delivery and access mechanism.

Cheers

M

SMS Is Not Dead! Well It Might Be - The Developers Fight Back

IS DYING!

Due to a complete lack of innovation with SMS, since it was created, mobile carriers are now being bypassed when it comes to consumer messaging solutions. As I have highlighted, with much repetition, there are group messaging solutions appearing left right and centre, that are allowing Consumers to take control of how they communicate, and more importantly how that communication hits their hip pockets! Yes that's right, if there is a cost friendly alternative to SMS consumers are flocking to it.

Have a look at the success of the WhatsApp Messenger App on iOS globally. I knew it was a popular application but in almost every App Store market globally it is in the Top 5 of paid downloads. Wow! That's right WOW!



This is more than a ground swell. Looks like WhatsApp Messenger has become the default standard messaging app to bypass the carrier SMS network?

That being said I still firmly believe the carrier, should they choose to innovate, can have a place in consumer messaging. There are several relativly simple things that a carrier can do to open up there messaging networks to allow them to stay in the game.

1. Firstly stop complaining about the OTT market, and start embracing it. A classic example of this is Telefonica Digital's Wayra. A great initiative that instead of expecting OTT players to pay for mobile network access, Telefonica Digital hopes to encourage their growth and prosperity.
2. Secondly open up their SMS networks to developers. Why are companies like Twilio, who provide access to voice and SMS services for developers, exploding? Because they provide trivially simple access to their services with complete transparency of costs. It couldn't be simpler. Mobile carriers are being bypassed again by developers, and why not, when the alternatives are so easy. Mobile carriers must provide simple, and cost transparent access to their networks. Here's a thought - offer access to developers for network services at the same costs that Consumers have access! Provide SIM only deals with bundles of voice minutes and text messages for flat monthly rates to developers who can then access them from mobile app frameworks. Guess what, you have just undercut the Twilio market and vastly expanded your consumer base as you have just completely opened your networks by enabling developers to use them. Stop whining about falling voice and SMS revenue by allowing people to engage with it differently. It's called innovation. Have a think about it.

Cheers

m

SMS Is Not Dead! A couple of interesting SMS Snippets

According to Andrew Bud, from MBlox, SMS is far from dead (and I agree ;-) ). In this interview at MWC 2012 he says -

"You hear a lot at MWC that SMS is dying, but it is very far from the truth – except maybe for consumer-to-consumer. But for B2C, SMS is alive and well; our SMS business even grew by 19% year-on-year between 2011 and 2012. Even in Europe, which is supposed to be a low-growth market hit by the financial crisis, it increased by 29%."

So all good news there then. If you provide the enablers, there is still room for growth in a SMS market that everyone claims to be slowly dying!

On a second SMS note, I am always a sucker for a great SMS idea. If it's not the Danes allowing people to pay for postage stamps via SMS it just might be local reviews via SMS! TxtRoo, created from a hack at MWC 2012, is going to try to do just that. Provide a SMS based reviews service for feature phones. The underlying SMS enabler used is Twilio.

TxtRoo  highlight the world has 6 billion mobiles, most of which (5 out of 6) are still feature phones. I.e. phones that make and receive calls and make and receive texts! TxtRoo is going to try and chase the 5 out of 6 phones that are still feature phones, that most people in the app world are currently ignoring!

TxtRoo will allow businesses to register, and will then provide them a Mobile number that Customers can text to find reviews about the business. By texting the same number a Customer can also leave a review. It is up to the business to promote their TxtRoo number and they might do this via a store window promotion. A very simple way to engage with a feature phone market that is now largely neglected. Let's see if they can make a go of it!

Cheers

m

zeebox - TV as it should be!

I am a huge fan of zeebox. A social TV app that allows groups of people to engage about the show they are watching, with other people who are also sharing the experience - should they choose to. It's the core piece that is completly missing from the Virgin Tivo Experience. In this blog entry I said:

• What I would like is an integration with the EPG such that you can share program details with friends and also an integration with twitter hash tags for specific shows. 

Well this is exactly what zeebox provides. But it goes much further:

• The EPG layout is great giving you a clear overview of what is available currently on TV. It lacks a little with respect to what's coming up next - sure you can see on a per channel basis, but most of the time I want to see across the entire guide what is coming on next. It's a small gripe
• The iPad App can actually be used as as your remote on Virgin Tivo and various other TV's - Very cool although as yet I have not set up.
• You can immediatly  see from the EPG what people (zeebox community members) are watching, so you can actually identify TV shows that the crowd think are interesting. Sure the show might not be to your taste but it promotes discoverability in my view. It shows me whats popular and where there might be some banter to follow.
• When you click through to a particular channel it shows you a twitter feed with tweets about the show you are watching. This is one of my favourite dual screen TV watching use cases. Seeing what the masses think about a show and joining in the banter. Watching X-Factor or Strictly with your twitter feed going mental with feedback about the current show, in real time, is huge amounts of fun!
• when you want to join in the fun, you can. There is a simple integration with twitter and facebook to allow you to cross post.
• There is also a load of other information made available about the show you are watching on the channel detail page. Things such as cast information, Zeetags which are simply tags to other content on the internet that provide further detail about what is currently being discussed on the show, details about app downloads related to the current program you are watching etc...

In the past few years I have become a huge fan of the social aspect of TV that has evolved on the internet. Dual screening with my iPad in front of the TV adds a real fun factor to programming that in most cases, unintentionally, has evolved. Zeebox is a great example of creating a dual screen social TV experience which I lamented was missing from Tivo in my review. It's filling a gap that both Virgin and Sky have really missed thus far. Zeebox an acquisition target for both Sky and Virgin? It should be! zeebox really is TV as it should be.

Keep up the great work zeebox.

cheers

m 

Scrum It! The Augmented Reality Scrum Application - Testing

So last year we revealed the Scrum It! App for smart phones. It's the Augmented Reality app for all good Scrum practitioners! If you use Scrum It! you are so Scrummily Agile, you may even well cross over, unknowingly, into the realms of Kanban!

Well in ongoing Scrum It! announcements the photo above shows off the latest test results for the new updates to Scrum It! You can see in the picture above how seamlessly Scrum It! portrays post it notes on any surface you want to. In this surface the window appears to be covered in Post-It notes. Rest assured, it's all an illusion!

Can you even remember how you practised Scrum prior to the release of Scrum It?

Cheers

m