By the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices than people on Earth. Smartphones are taking over the lives of consumers. They are being used to surf the web, shop, Instagram anything and everything, and to post on social networks (does anyone ever make calls on smartphones anymore?).

With that being said, it is no surprise that smartphones are now taking the place of our wallets. Mobile payments are estimated to become a $1 trillon business by 2015 in the United States. 

Shopping for products on your smartphone is nothing new. However, making mobile payments - in which mobile devices such as smartphones can either accept physical credit card payments or make such payments without a card in brick-and-mortar stores - has been steadily increasing.

Songwhale knew that mobile payments were going to be the next step. That is why we developed Paywhale, our text message payment system. Paywhale links your phone to a credit card so consumers do not have to worry about downloading or paying for a mobile payment app. Consumers are able to simple pay with a text message - sounds easy, right? It is. 

Paywhale makes product purchasing simple and accessible virtually anywhere. The moment you think of an item you need, you can text the product’s keyword to WHALE (94253) and make your purchase. Paywhale gives you ultimate purchasing power because it is instant and mobile.

Want to learn more? Head over to http://paywhale.com. You can also sign up for an account by texting “Paywhale” to 94253.

-Kim Bozick 

kim.bozick@songwhale.com

Merry Christmas!

There are 19 shopping days left until Christmas. Don’t panic, Songwhale has a list of the Top 15 gadgets and accessories for anyone on your list!

iPhone 5- We had to include this on the list. Since its release in September, it has been flying off the shelves. With a bigger screen and faster speed, it’s an improvement on the always-stellar iPhone line. It’s easily the hottest and most wanted gift.

Fitbit Zip Wireless Activity Tracker- The perfect gift for any fitness buff on your list. The wireless tracker counts your steps, the distance you travel, and the calories you burn throughout the day. It syncs to your computer or smartphone, so you can easily keep track of your progress. You can also compete against your friends and co-workers to see who is the most active. A fun way to get fit!

The Nest Learning Thermostat- Who would of thought a thermostat would be cool? Not us, but The Nest has made it happen. It’s a smart device that will learn your habits in order to help lower your heating and cooling bill by up to 20%.  It has a sleek design, and can be controlled from anywhere through your smartphone. It will remember the at what times of the day you like a certain temperature. A real innovator that would be an efficient gift for any homeowner on your list.

Galaxy SIII- One of the better performing smartphones on the market that isn’t an iPhone. For those that prefer the Android OS, this phone is the way to go as it provides outstanding hardware that others don’t. A techno-gift for any tech geek on your list.

Lytro Camera- If it seems like this is a camera from the future, it kind of is. With new technology that somehow captures the entire light field instead of a flat 2d image, the Lytro camera is changing the game. It will allow you to capture the image now and then focus it however you want it later. Crazy stuff and picture-perfect gift for the photography buff on your list.

Logitech Washable Keyboard- Who hasn’t spilled something on their keyboard and thought that it was a lost cause to save it? That’s no longer a problem - thanks to the new WASHABLE keyboard from Logitech. It comes with drainage holes for easy washing and drying, and can handle a nice wish with soap and water- for the spiller on your list.

Windows Phone 8- This phone runs on Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 8, and is a big competitor in the smartphone market. It’s deeply integrated with Windows 8 and is a cool upgrade for someone who a Windows user. Integrating the systems makes it operate at its highest capacity.

Logitech Harmony Touch Remote- This might be the ultimate universal remote out right now. You can control up to 15 devices with just the one remote, which comes with a very responsive touchscreen- for the person on your list who loves to be in control of all their electronics.

WiiU- The follow-up to the Wii is here! By combining handheld gaming, through the controller with a screen of its own, and normal gaming the WiiU is looking to lead the way in to the next generation of gaming. It’s perfect for the family of gamers, especially with younger children.

Livescribe Sky WiFi- This is the perfect pen for any student who has to take notes without a laptop. It uses the program Evernote, and WIFI will to actively sync your notes to the online program throughout your use. It records audio, sends it wirelessly to your computer, and it’s also recording what you write. This would’ve made college so much easier for us!

Happy Shopping!

Black Cyber Friday? 

I’m a big believer in shopping from home on Black Friday to avoid lines, bruises, and the disappointment in not getting exactly what I’m looking for. Over $1 billion in online sales prove that I wasn’t alone. This year was more of a Cyber Friday than it has been in years past.

Again, comScore reported that online retail sales on Black Friday this year exceeded $1 billion! Let’s take a look at the breakdown of online sales

• 24% of consumers used a mobile device (tablet or smartphone) to visit a retail site
•  Mobile purchases (from tablets and smartphones) this year reached 16.3%, up from 9.8% in 2011
• The iPad drove more online traffic than any other tablet, 88.3% of all tablet traffic compared to 3.1% from the Barnes & Noble Nook, 2.4% from the Amazon Kindle, and 1.8% from the Samsung Galaxy

Did you take advantage of online deals on Black Friday?

- Sammy Frankel

Pittsburgh Innovation. Global Inspiration.

For this year’s election, we’ve been noticing a new trend thanks to rapid changing technology - online donating. 

We discovered a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project of those who donated to campaigns that found Democrats were actually more likely to donate online than Republicans.

Now, this isn’t about who we think you should or shouldn’t vote for or which party we align with, but we agree with Pew that more people from both parties are using mobile resources in a more efficient way than previous campaigns.

When the opportunities are there, seize them!

The number of people donating online to causes in general is increasing as well, showing another activity that is becoming more mobile. Here at Songwhale, we love this trend and would be remiss if we didn’t mention our mobile payment service called Paywhale.

If you don’t know about Songwhale’s mobile payment platform then we must ask, “Have you been living under a rock?!”

Paywhale offers consumers the ability to order a product through text messaging and can also be set up to process donations.  Mobile payment technology is becoming more popular, and we plan to grow right along with it!

For more information on Paywhale, its expansion and what it can do for your company, please email jill.bf@songwhale.com or kim.bozick@songwhale.com.

And don’t forget to vote on November 6th!

-Chris Fanelli

For children, Halloween is one of the best nights of the year. They get to wear crazy costumes, spend the night trick-or-treating with friends and try to eat as much candy as possible in 3 hours time. However for parents, it’s one of the most frantic. If retractable child leashes and implanted tracking devices were socially acceptable when I was younger, my mom would have been first in line to purchase them for this night. Not only do parents spend their night worrying where there kids are every 5 minutes, but they then have to take their sugar high kids home and try to put them to bed. While we cant help with bedtime, here are some mobile apps to make trick-or-treating a little less stressful.

Tricks:

Life360 Family Locator- FREE- Lets you know where your family members are located and has a family group messaging function to chat on-the-go.

Trick Or Tracker- $4.99- Links parent’s and child’s phones and uses GPS to monitor each other’s locations. If parents change location, the compass on the child’s phone will point in the direction of the parents. Children must have Androids but parents can use an iPhone, Blackberry or Windows 7 phone.

Flashlight- FREE- Use the Flashlight App to guide your way while you trick-or-treat and find your favorite candy at the bottom of your loaded pillowcase/

Treats:

Free Halloween Sounds Pro- FREE- Scare your friends with these spooky sounds, and maybe even some trick-or-treaters!

Carve- a- Pumpkin from Parents magazine- FREE- The safest way for your child, and possibly even yourself, to carve a pumpkin (no knives involved!)

Jewel Adventures- Halloween Edition- FREE- Halloween-themed Jewel Adventures game.

More Treats (can’t have too many on Halloween):

Sammy Frankel

Do you use QR codes? Or have you tried them, but didn’t like them? We polled everyone in our office today and found out only 3 people (out of 10!) use QR codes daily.

So when we found this study on Mobile Marketer by Nellymoser that showed that QR codes in print advertisements are getting higher response rates than other direct response print marketing, we were definitely intrigued.

The study showed that QR codes were responded to “at an average rate of 6.4 percent”, which may seem like a small number but it’s higher than other tactics and drives about “18.9 million mobile page” views. I guess 30% of our office using QR codes showed that we’re a little ahead of the curve!

Songwhale uses QR codes to send customers to your customized short code, which can spread your brand to audiences far and wide through the use of SMS marketing. QR codes are on the rise, and as more people get smartphones their importance in your company’s marketing plan will become even greater. Now is the time to be as mobile as possible so that your brand can be successful.

For more information on how Songwhale can use QR codes and SMS marketing to grow your brand, contact jill.bf@songwhale.com or kim.bozick@songwhale.com.

-Chris Fanelli

A recent Nielsen study revealed that young adults (age 25-34) and teens (age 13-17) led the growth amongst smartphone owners in the United States. The young adult group reported a 74 percent rate of smart phone ownership, while the teen reported a rate of 58%.

If you’re trying to connect with customers through their smartphones, this information proves how crucial it is to understand your target audience. When you focus on the demographics that are more likely to have smartphones, you can make a bigger impact with your mobile campaigns.

The numbers also show that, believe it or not, a large number of consumers don’t have smartphones. This further cements our belief that the best way for you to reach consumers is a plan with a foundation in SMS marketing. No form of communication has the ability to reach as many people as SMS does because all cell phones, not just smart phones, have the capability.

With smart phone ownership growing each year, it’s obvious that eventually they will be the ‘norm.’ But, for now, it’s imperative for brands to focus on the specific demographics they seek to reach and improve their marketing plans.

If you want more information on how Songwhale can help grow your brand, contact jill.bf@songwhale.com or kim.bozick@songwhale.com.

-Chris Fanelli

Within the past year, the landscape of web design has changed drastically. More and more people are web browsing on tablet and mobile devices. Mobile browsing is expected to eclipse desktop browsing within the next three to five years. Everything from iPhones, iPads, Kindle, Galaxy Tablets and even gaming consoles contribute to this change. 

This change presents a very difficult challenge for web designers: screen resolution. Each device has a different screen resolution, and as a result the websites can look different depending on what device the user is viewing it on. A new technology called responsive web design has emerged to help tackle this ongoing problem. 

Responsive design is a foundation that combines two aspects of web design: fluid layouts and media queries. Fluid layouts go further than traditional fixed layouts. Rather than designing on a pixel-based layout, fluid layouts are based off percentages of the screen. Using a fluid layout you would divide the content area by the overall width. 

The second part of responsive design is media queries. In short, media queries automatically detect the screen size of the device you are using. For example, if you are viewing our site on an iPhone the content area would fill 31.25% of the screen.

For more information regarding responsive web design I suggest reading the following articles:

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/

http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2011/01/12/guidelines-for-responsive-web-design/

-Ben Bakos

Songwhale Design Intern