You arrive at the airport, look down at your ticket and it displays “delayed”. Shaking your fist at the gods of transportation you proceed through the gate witnessing people check their email across the wall and watching news reports in the New York Times. Continuing on, you stop at a bookstore. Glancing down at a book, you read hundreds of online reviews from Amazon, along with current prices. You find out it is way over priced, but you buy it anyway. Thanks to a new device called the “Sixth Sense”, this scenario may not be too far in your future.

The Sixth Sense is described as “a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information.” Translation anyone? Simply put, the internet will literally be at your finger tips. Consisting of a pocket project, a mirror, and a camera, it recognizes images and gestures you create with your hands then displays this information on almost any surface imaginable.

If you hold your hands as if you are taking a picture, Sixth Sense takes the picture! It can then provide available information on that image as if you Googled it. This function can also scan and open QR codes, giving instant access to the URL or the address linked to it. A QR code is a two-dimensional bar code which stores addresses and URLs that can be placed on virtually any form of print media (magazine, signs, etc.). But wait…There’s more! It can also stream videos and check email. (Simply draw a @ symbol on a surface.)

While the device is still in need of modifications, consumers can build their own for around $350. This groundbreaking mobile device will certainly change the way we interact with the web, but some skeptics are not convinced, which brings our planet to a new epic battle. The Sixth Sense vs. the smart phone… (for help with the latter see Mobile Web Design Services.)

Smartphone Demographics:

BlackBerry: The typical user is a “salt-and-pepper” businessman who uses the phone primarily for email and messaging. He doesn’t surf the web much and doesn’t use many apps, save a few utility programs.

iPhone: Tech-obsessed, wealthy (highest percentage of users rake in more than $100,000), less likely to have kids (62% don’t) and are an active bunch.

Android: It’s growing fast, so these stats can change, but for now, it’s a phone for geeks – 73% of its users are male and 33% are single.

Palm: Most popular with older users who advertisers assume were fans of the old Palm Pilot – but there are fewer and fewer of them. Its smartphone market fell from 8.3% to 6.1% from September to December 2009.

Smartphone technology is continuing to expand by the day, so it’s important to develop and implement your mobile strategy to reach your target audience, but remain flexible to meet the ever-changing technology.

Mobile Web Design

Every company should have a mobile website. People are beginning to expect information to be instantly at their fingertips, and having a mobile website can give your audience the information they want and help you gain the leading edge over your competition.

The Marion Group can provide your company with custom mobile web design that allows your new mobile website to have the same look and feel of your “regular” site. However, in certain ways, your new mobile website should be different than your regular website.

The most obvious difference between your regular site and your mobile site is that your mobile site should be “skinny” – minimal images, only necessary content, the quickest and easiest way to contact you and maybe a map of your location, if it will benefit the user. By keeping your mobile site “skinny” and pared down, you can decrease the load time of your site on the user’s mobile device, creating faster access to your information, and making the information easier to locate on a teeny-tiny screen.

Advantages to having a mobile website:*

1. Mobile websites can work on 100% of mobile devices that have browsers, allowing you to reach a broader audience
2. The user experience can be optimized to highlight your common denominator
3. You can publish content when you want – no approval is needed from the manufacturer app store
4. It doesn’t require your customer to download a new version every time you update the site (like a mobile app does)
5. It can be cheaper to develop because you don’t need to port it across different operating systems
6. Marion can gather metrics regarding visitors to your mobile site and determine your return on investment (ROI) on your mobile efforts

Mobile App Development

Mobile apps aren’t for every company, but under the right circumstances, a mobile app can be an excellent supplemental effort to your mobile strategy. A mobile app can give your customer a richer experience than your mobile web site could ever provide.

And that brings up an important fact: your mobile app should not be a repeat of your mobile site, but, again, it should have the same “look and feel” as your other marketing efforts.

Advantages to having a mobile app:*

1. Mobile apps allow you to build a richer experience for your customer without affecting data speeds
2. Mobile apps can take advantage of your phone’s features like GPS, camera and voice
3. When self-contained, mobile apps can work offline when the user is not connected to the mobile Web
4. Mobile apps are relatively inexpensive to build and maintain, given only one operating system is involved
5. Mobile apps can become an extension of your brand

For more information on how The Marion Group can assist your company in developing a mobile marketing strategy, building a mobile website or creating a mobile app, give us a call at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.

* MobileMarketer.com and Lenati.com

Mobile web design

When designing a website for mobile devices, you have to consider the user experience. With a regular site, you can have lots of text, images, links and Flash. When people surf the web via a mobile device, they typically want to quickly access information that is to-the-point and contact information that is easily located. So, accessing “regular” sites on a mobile device can sometimes be frustrating for the user because of long load times and lots and lots of scrolling to find what they are looking for.

To facilitate an easier user experience, the Marion mobile site is pared down to essential text and images to emphasize what new advertising, marketing and graphic design services and technologies are at Marion that can help your business prosper. The text is easy to read so you do not have to enlarge it, and the clickable buttons are spaced so that big fingers can click on links without accidently hitting the wrong one.

At the top of each page is a recent item of news from Marion, an easy navigation tool labeled “Select a Service,” and “Marion News,” which is an RSS feed from our blog. There is a lot happening at Marion, and we want to keep you up-to-date. We have included only our most popular pages and, we plan to add more over time.

At the bottom of each page, we have placed our contact information, and iPhone users can click on our phone number to have it automatically dialed for you.  Click on the email to send us an email. Want to find us? Click on “Map.” Want even more information than what is currently on our mobile site? Then, click “Regular Site” to be directed to our main site. You can also visit our FaceBook page and become a fan or visit our company page on LinkedIn.

Click on the Marion logo at the top of the page, and you are taken back to the Home page.

If you are ready for a mobile version of your website or interested in learning more, call Marion at 713.623.6444 or send us an email.