What The New TCPA Guidelines Mean For Your Business

If you haven’t heard of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), it’s the legislation that keeps mobile marketers up at night. Chances are you have heard of the “Do Not Call” registry. That falls under the TCPA. But it’s the new addition to the TCPA guidelines that’s really got mobile marketers worried. Though amended back in early 2012, the new guidelines only took effect on October 16 of this year. If you own a business that has a mobile marketing strategy, it’s important that you are up to date with the TCPA’s new guidelines and that you know how they affect your business and your customers.

What Are The Changes?

Most likely the first question that’s on your mind is what changed. Until recently, text messages didn’t fall under the category of automated calls. Now they do. As a result, there are new regulations in place to protect consumers from receiving excessive and unwanted text messages. The most important change to the TCPA guidelines is that any business that sends out automated texts needs to first obtain and maintain a record of written consent. It’s no longer sufficient to have consumers text in a keyword to a short code. A request for consent has to be sent and it must specify that the consumer’s “consent is not a condition of purchase.” In other words, it needs to be clear to consumers that they do not have to consent to receive a business’s messages in order to purchase from that business.

Businesses should have already been obtaining consent before the new guidelines took effect and as a result, many businesses already have a business relationship with many consumers. This does not override the written consent requirement however. Even consumers who have given prior consent need to receive the new request for written consent that contains the specific language.

How These Changes Affect You And Your Customers

The most important implication of the new guidelines is that you’ve got some work to do in regard to your texting list. You’ll need to contact everyone on your subscriber list to obtain written consent. For all those who do not respond, you can no longer continue to send texts. If you’re not sure if your prior consent was valid according to the new regulations, it’s best to play it safe and send out the new request. Currently, the Mobile Marketing Association is working on a petition asking the FCC for clarification about the new TCPA guidelines

The only real effect the new guidelines are having on customers is that they are being asked to consent for the second time and in some cases it is causing some confusion. Also, because text messages are limited to a certain number of characters, the new legal language that must be included in text correspondence may cause texts to be sent as a two-part message.

Short term, the new guidelines are causing some confusion and fear of legal action. In the long term however, the new guidelines will serve to strengthen the relationship between brands and consumers.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  marketingland.com/new-tcpa-guidelines-what-is-all-the-fuss-about-64491

Mobile Marketing In The Air: Europe Following US Lead

Just a couple of weeks ago, the FAA decided that all electronic devices except for phones were probably okay for use during the entire flight. People were excited because this means they no longer have to turn off electronics for the 30 minutes going up or the 30 minutes going down. It may be the only thing keeping kids from crying or noticing the pain in their ears as the elevation changes. But the US isn’t the only country making changes to flight requirements.

Europe Changes Rules Too

Europe may be the jealous older brother of America trying desperately to prove itself by following the US lead. Soon after the announcement that electronic devices would now be allowed during the flight in the US, Europe had to come up with an announcement of its own. According to CNET, the European Aviation Safety Agency is actually allowing mobile devices to be used throughout the entire flight now. You can use your phone, read on a Kindle, play games with an iPad or do anything else you like without being disturbed by flight attendants telling you to shut it down. The only requirement is that the devices must be in airplane mode.

Why The Change?

Many people say this move is specifically associated with allowing people the right to have their own personal electronic devices and use them whenever they want. However, it is more likely that either Europe was following America’s lead after assessments showed there was no danger associated with it or Europe has been doing tests of its own to make this decision. Since there haven’t been a lot of reports of European tests being done, it is easy to assume Europe is following the US lead on this one.

Good For Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing, especially with texts, is the best way to reach your customers all the time. This is why news like this is big. It means you really can reach your customers no matter where they are by using a mobile phone. It isn’t dangerous, so you don’t have to worry about that, and they have nothing better to do than to check your product at that point anyway. With the ability to market on the ground or in the air, you really are getting the most when you market on mobile.

Location Based Marketing

Some people have felt stuck in a small market with no ability to grow their business. That doesn’t have to be you. As you can see, you can advertise to anyone all around the world through mobile marketing. If you are on mobile, expanding that market is a lot easier. Start by creating a website that works well with mobile, so your customers can make purchases anywhere around the world without having to go to your store or get on a computer. Then, start your text marketing. You will end up with more customers than you ever thought possible, and you may be able to expand into a much larger market all around the world.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:

news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57612334-94/europe-to-allow-mobile-device-use-during-entire-flight/

Convenience of Mobile: Good For Text Marketing

This year on Black Friday, there may be fewer crowds in the stores, and it may be easier to get around. Between stores offering sales at different times of the day and online shopping, you may run into a few less people. It will still be plenty crowded, but people have found a way to make shopping for Christmas deals much easier. Part of this has to do with cell phones. Text marketing makes it easier for people to find the sales they want and easily plan where they are going to shop.

It’s About Knowing Where You Want To Go

Forbes points out that holiday shopping is a lot easier and takes much less time when you know exactly what you want and where you are going to go to get it. No more waiting for ads to come out the day before Black Friday. In fact, most of the ads have already been released. The planning has already begun for most people. Then, with smartphones, it is way easier to keep track of where you are going and when sales start at the different stores. With the easiest planning possible, shopping has become much more streamlined.

Much Calmer Atmosphere

Have you noticed how the holiday season doesn’t seem nearly as stressful this year? People don’t seem to be freaking out about the deals quite as much. In fact, everyone is fairly calm about the whole ordeal. According to Forbes, this feeling is due to the fact that people aren’t feeling pressured into “buy it now” marketing this year. In fact, text marketing and other mobile marketing techniques let people relax, compare, and then make a decision.

A Note To All Businesses

When working on your text marketing techniques for Christmas, try to keep in line with what other retailers are doing. Don’t make your customers feel stressed out with a fifteen minute shopping timeline or by only having a few sale items in stock. Try and give everyone something to buy at a discount. If everyone feels like they can get something good, they are more likely to come in for the day and buy a lot of things. You will make much more money. Then give them some time to get it.

Text Marketing Perfect Example

Start by deciding what kind of deal you want to offer. Maybe send a coupon for 50% off one item, even items already on sale. There’s nothing that makes a customer angrier than getting a coupon, going to use it, and finding out it really only applies to a few things in the store. Since everyone gets it, nobody feels left out. Then, tell them the coupon is good through the weekend. You are giving them enough of a limit to feel like they need to come in but not so small that they feel rushed. This is the perfect way to start your holiday season marketing, and you had better get started today!

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:

forbes.com/sites/robertpassikoff/2013/11/14/mobile-shortens-holiday-shopping-schedule-and-spend-so-you-have-more-time-to-be-thankful/

Mobile Marketing Facts That Amaze

In the marketing world, mobile marketing is dominating the scene. Marketers will tell you just how important it is for businesses to get into mobile marketing. If you still have doubts however, look at the statistics and let the numbers speak for themselves.

Mobile Marketing Stats

Here’s a few statistics about mobile marketing:

• 91% of smartphone owners keep their phones within arm’s reach

• 90% of mobile searches lead to some form of action. More than 50% of the time, a mobile search leads to a purchase

• 4 Billion people own mobile phones. In comparison, only 3.5 million use a toothbrush

• 25% of Americans access the internet through their mobile devices only

• Cellphones outnumber PCs five to one

• 82% of US adults own a mobile phone

• Currently, there are 271 mobile subscribers in the United States

• 49% of mobile subscribers in America own a smartphone

• Brands that use text message marketing reach 95% of their target audience

• 90% of text messages are read within three minutes of being received

• Mobile ads are 4-5% more effective than online ads when it comes to brand favorability and purchase intent

• Of those who “check in” on their smartphones, 37% do so on an Android and 34% do so from an iPhone

• 70% of mobile searches lead to some form of action within an hour. In comparison, 70% of desktop searches lead to action within a month

• 40% of mobile users report using their phones to look up additional information while watching TV

• 74% of people use their mobile phone to assist in shopping. 79% of those make a purchase as a result

• Data usage is predicted to grow by 1,800% between 2011 and 2016

• Mobile coupons are 10 times more likely to be redeemed than print coupons

• 16.7 mobile subscribers use the “check in” feature

• 81% of smartphone owners have conducted product research from a phone. 50% have made a purchase via phone

• 33% of mobile users prefer offers via text

• 30 million people watch TV content on their mobile phones

• Men are more likely to click on mobile ads than women

• 73% of smartphone owners say they make purchases over the mobile web as opposed to using a mobile app

• 73% of marketers use mobile compared to just 43% two years ago

• 40% of smartphone owners say they’ve scanned a QR code and made a purchase as a result

• 49% of time spent on mobile devices is spent playing games. 30% is spent on social media

• Mobile devices surpassed PCs as the most common internet access device in 2013

• 95% of smartphone owners have searched for local information on their mobile device. 61% then called and 59% visited

• Mobile accounts for 10.1% of adults’ media time but only .9% of ad spending

• In June 2011, there were more mobile subscribers in America than there were people in America

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/11/12/fifty-essential-mobile-marketing-facts/

Texting customers: The Unexpected Adrenaline

Our society has a serious problem with distracted driving. Though drunk driving may not be as bad as it used to, texting and driving has become really bad. It is so bad, in fact, that New Jersey is planning to ban the use of texting while stopped at red lights. What causes people to feel the need to text and drive despite the fact they know it is dangerous for them?

What’s Going On In New Jersey?

In New Jersey, a bill may soon be passed to ban texting while at stop lights. It is actually much safer if people are texting at stop lights instead of while driving, so maybe it should be encouraged, but the State Senate may not quite a agree. According to NJ.com, they said it was about discouraging distracted driving just like you would discourage drunk driving. If a person is at a stop light while drunk, they can still be ticketed. The same should apply to texting. The only real problem with that argument is that a drunk person at a stop light will still be drunk when the light turns green whereas a person who is texting will not still be texting when the car is moving, in theory. Some people will always feel the need to text and drive. Maybe it is because of the Opening Effect.

The Opening Effect

When you get something unexpected, it is exciting. In fact, it releases adrenaline to your brain and pumps you full of energy. I like to call this the Opening Effect. This is why it is so much fun to open presents at Christmas or get a letter in the mail. Then, you have to open it right away to see what it is (or at least you want to). The same concept applies to texting. Every time you get a text, unless you have been texting someone specific someone, it is exciting and gives you a little energy. Then, as a reaction to that energy, you want to do something about it. Businesses need to find a better way to take advantage of the unexpected, which is easy to do with texting.

One Great Example of How To Text

Say you decide to text a half off coupon to your customers. Why does it work to bring in a lot of business? First, the customer checks their text right away because it is unexpected and they need to know what it is right away, even if this causes danger to others (hence the reason for texting and driving or texting while walking across the street). Then, they will see a coupon. While they still have a small burst of energy and are feeling a crunch to use the coupon right away, they will head over to your shop and start buying.

Business Texting Can Work

Though you don’t want any customers in dangerous situations because of your texts, you do want to reach them as soon as possible. Sending a text means they will get it right away and is more likely to bring in your customers. Just use the Opening Effect, and your texting will work perfectly.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source: nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/11/texting_at_a_stoplight_nj_bill_would_ban_it.html

Get Your Personalized Moto X Anywhere

When the news came out that the new Moto X was going to be customizable, people got really excited. The idea what you can build your own phone out of whatever components you want is really appealing because it means you can get everything you want. But what if that phone was only offered by one cell phone carrier? That would really put a damper on things, just like when Apple only offered the iPhone on AT&T. People on other carriers were left out. Luckily, the Moto X is now available for almost all US carriers.

All About The Moto X
The idea behind the Moto X is that you don’t have to have the same phone as anyone else. If there is something you like but nobody else likes, you can still build it. To get all the features you love in one phone is rare, but now it is possible with the customizable Moto X phone. The phone is expected to change the industry. App developers may start creating things to put in the Moto X and will give more opportunity for entrepreneurs to succeed. Developers don’t have to sell their ideas to manufacturers anymore. They can sell their real product to the consumer.

Personal Style
With the Moto X, you get to express yourself. You don’t have to be just like everyone else, now. There are limitations since the technology is new, but if enough people join in to build a better product, the limitations will quickly disappear. This holiday season, you can get someone you love a Moto X with anything they want. Pick a new caller, add your accessories, and play with it until you have the perfect phone. You can get the phone on Verizon, Sprint, T Mobile, AT&T and more. Check your carrier to see if you can get it this Christmas for a loved one.

Cost And Specs
You can get the Moto X for about $199, according to PC Magazine. The phone will have Android 4.2.2 with a 1280 by 720 display. The camera will be 2-megapixel front-facing and 10-megapixel rear, both with 1080p. The new Kit Kat system from Android will be available soon but not quite yet. If you sign a contract, you are sure to be able to purchase the phone for even less than $199. Signing a 2-year contract is almost always a requirement, and you can always save money by doing it.

Celebrating The Holidays With A New Phone To Text With
With your new phone, you can bet texting will be the first thing you use. Sending everyone messages to let them know you got a new phone and making sure they message you back will be important. Even with all the new technology, a simple text will never be erased. Businesses can easily tap into that and send text message advertising. Not even the Moto X will come without texting, so you know you can always use it as an effective marketing tool.


Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com
Source: pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2426966,00.asp

Email Marketing And Social Media Make A Great Team

Once upon a time, people had to check their email and Facebook on a computer. That was many years ago. Today, thanks to mobile technology, people are signing into their email and social media accounts from everywhere. When a person gets a new phone, one of the first things they do is setup their email app and download their favorite social media apps. And they use them all the time. They take it with them to bed and they take it with them in the bathroom. The majority of smartphone owners keep their mobile device within arm’s reach 24/7.

Now it’s no secret that all forms of digital marketing are interconnected. One combo however that is especially powerful is email and social media because the two are so often used in conjunction with each other. Here’s a look at six ways you can powerfully combine these two forms of digital marketing.

Link Social Profiles With Email Messages

This is a really simple step that will cost you almost no time but will reward your business big time. Just make sure that all your email correspondence with consumers includes a link to your business’s social profiles. It allows people to find you on social media with the click of the button instead of having to perform a search.

Use The “Share” Button In Your Email Campaign

It’s much easier to click one “share button” that to forward an email to everyone on your contact list. If you want your customers to do a lot of your advertising for you, make it easy for them to share your email campaign with their friends by including a “share” button in all your email messages.

Use Email To Promote Social Profiles

Much of a business’s email activity consists of automatically generated confirmation emails and appointment reminders. Usually these emails are generic and are deleted immediately without a second thought. You can take advantage of these necessary but bland emails by including a plug for your business’s social media profiles. By simply encouraging your customers to connect with you through social media, you can build up your online presence.

Use Social Media To Promote Email Campaigns

Ideally, you’re social media audience and your email campaign audience overlap considerably, but chances are there will be many who use one and not the other. By offering the same content in both places you reach more people. Don’t simply copy and paste the body of your email into a Facebook post or Tweet however. Your audience that does overlap doesn’t want to get the exact same message twice.

Use Social Media To Obtain Email Subscribers

If you use social media correctly, you should never have to resort to purchasing email lists. Build your email list starting with the people you already know are interested in your company. Invite your social media followers to sign up for your email list. An easy way to do this is with a Facebook app.

Offer Incentives

People who are already following you on one channel will want a good reason when asked to follow you on another. Each channel needs to offer your customers something they can’t get from the other. Make sure you are offering exclusive incentives both with email and with social media.

Mobile Technology News brought to you be: http://www.businesstexter.com/

Source:  http://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/email-marketing-social-media-winning-combination-0676745

Optimizing Your Company For Mobile Marketing

Advertising has become almost entirely technological in recent years, which means you need to adapt. There is no use in putting an ad in the newspaper if nobody reads it anymore. Your best bet is to focus on mobile marketing. It is the more important part of advertising now. Most of your customers carry a cell phone with them everywhere they go and are constantly using phones while waiting in line, at work, at home, and even in the bathroom. By using this device that people always have with them, you are guaranteed to get more customers.

Get Your Company Ready For The Phone World

It may not be easy, and you may have to pay some cash, but getting your company to use mobile advertising seamlessly will pay off in the end. Though Forbes offers 10 ways you can optimize your company for mobile, here are a few we recommend:

Embrace Mobile-First As The New Mindset

You cannot be successful with mobile marketing if it is just another thing you are doing instead of making it your first focus. Everyone is on their phone, which means you can get the most coverage with mobile marketing. Stop making it a back-up plan and start making it the first plan. Print marketing, email marketing, and everything else should be the extra add-on marketing techniques.

Understand Your Audience’s Mobile Habits

If you don’t know how your audience uses their phones, you will have no idea how to market to them. For example, if your audience is on social media all the time, you would want to focus your energies there. If your audience uses mostly texting and less social media, you would want to use more texting. Without understanding what your audience does with the phone, you cannot possibly meet their mobile marketing needs.

Mix Up Your Content Lengths

Though some people say there is a “perfect length” for content somewhere out there, the truth is that customers don’t want to see the same thing over and over. You will be much more successful if you have some long posts and some short posts. The more variety, the more people you reach, and the more people need to come back to see what is new.

Don’t Overlook The Power of Formatting

Some people think formatting is just a formality, but you cannot get away with sloppy work. People will take one look at your page, see the unformatted text, and turn away. They have no need to waste their precious time reading what you have to say if you can’t even format it correctly, one of the most basic parts of mobile.

Work Into Texting

Texting is a powerful mobile marketing tool you can use to reach more of your customers. With the ability to talk with them, you start to build a relationship. A relationship leads to trust, and the more trust you have, the more your products or services you will sell. Maybe mobile marketing doesn’t have to be so hard afterall.

Mobile technology news brought to you by www.businesstexter.com

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/11/07/10-steps-to-creating-a-mobile-optimized-content-marketing-strategy/

Text Marketing For The Holidays

Christmas decorations have been in stores since September, and people are going crazy waiting for the holiday to arrive. Every year, it gets earlier and earlier. Though some people may have their Christmas shopping done already, most people are still looking around. In fact, it could be said that the Christmas shopping season doesn’t even really begin until Black Friday. That means you still have time to put a text marketing strategy together for the holidays.
 
Why Use Text Marketing?
Because it is the holiday season, people are going to be going crazy with their shopping habits. Most people will spend more than they should while trying to please their friends and family with the best gifts. And because everyone is spending more than they should, they will all be looking for a deal, especially during Black Friday weekend. Luckily, you have the power of text advertising. It can quickly bring customers to your store and distract them from the competition. It also gives you an opportunity to interact with your customers on a more personal level, according to Business News Daily.
 
How It Works
When you are trying to get people to your store, you just have to follow a few easy steps:
 
1. Make a discount: People want discounts, so if you offer a deal, it will bring a lot of people in. They will have no problem buying a few extra things while they are there as long as they get the great deal too. That is why Black Friday works so well. Yes, there are a few things that are deeply discounted, but people will pick up and buy things they see while they are there. It is worth a loss on some items if you can get more customers in the store.
 
2. Text the deal: If your customers don’t know about it, they won’t have any reason to come to your store. If the deal is one-day only, it will give a sense of urgency and will get all the customers to your door.
 
3. Position items appropriately: Customers are willing to race to the back of the store for the best deals, so put it as far away from the cash registers as possible. But the truth is, they will probably be waiting in line a long time to buy their stuff. Make sure you have a lot of small items near the registers for customers to look at and consider purchasing. This will get a lot more items purchased.
 
4. Survey text: Ask your customers if they were satisfied with their service through a text. If they aren’t, it is something you want to know about, but if they got the deal they wanted and are excited about it, they will probably text back yes. Keeping up with your customers means you need to make sure they are happy, and what better way to do that than with a text?
 
Interaction
The key is interaction. Though you may find it annoying at first, staying connected with your customers will keep them happy and bring in more business. The best customer service starts with a simple text.


Mobile technology news brought to you by www.businesstexter.com
Source: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5416-text-message-marketing-boost-sales.html

Important Communication Through Text Marketing

Communicating is key to running a business, whether that be your communication within the workplace or communication to your clients. It used to be that most workplace communication came through business meetings, phone calls, and emails if you were just sharing dates and times but not for important conversations. Now, all that seems to have changed as texting has become a much more important part of our work environment and constant communication.

Communication In The Office

In the office, things won’t get done unless everyone is communicating. It is definitely too much work for one person to do everything, which means all the employees need to communicate as if they were one person. This is especially true in small businesses. Being able to quickly communicate information through text is important. Most people don’t even check their voicemail anymore, so it isn’t worth trying to leave a message if you can’t reach someone. If you need to get a message read immediately, sending it by text is the fastest way to ensure the message is read. According to Mashable, texting is the future of businesses, and you can expect your communication to change to more texting in the future.

Communication With Customers

 When your customers need help with something, they are willing to wait on the phone for 30 minutes in line for the “next available customer service rep,” but they usually aren’t happy anymore when the 30 minutes is up. It would be much easier for them to send a text, and it would even be easier for you to respond. Though more in-depth conversations will still need to take place on the phone, but it would be easier to respond with “a rep will call you shortly to discuss your situation” than make them wait in line on the phone for hours.

Another reason it is important to communicate with customers is to give them a sense of trust with your business. The more they trust you and feel a connection with you, the more likely they are to come in and spend their money with you. Developing trust can be difficult, but it is much easier if you have open forms of communication with your customers. One of these is texting, and it is more popular than you could imagine.

Mobile Advertising Is Big

According to Mashable, mobile advertising is the next best thing, but it isn’t through banners and ads as you may think. In fact, many large companies have already jumped on board with SMS advertising. Think about it: if a person checks their phone multiple times a day for notifications and even gets notified through new smartwatches of updates, then what are the chances that person will see your text right away and respond to it? The worst thing that could possibly happen is that they get sick of your messages once a week and unsubscribe from it. The best thing is that you will remind your customers to come in, and they will make another purchase. Try it out for a while and see how it helps you.

Mobile technology news brought to you by www.businesstexter.com

Source:

http://mashable.com/2013/10/06/texting-cotap/

http://mashable.com/2013/10/27/mms-mobile-marketing/

Getting Exactly What You Want: Project Ara

Google is trying to stay on top. It is already forcing all business owners to get Google Plus accounts and doing everything it can to get a monopoly in the search engine business, but the technology company wouldn’t mind having a monopoly on everything. Unfortunately, the smartphone competition is fierce keeping them on their toes. Smartphone manufacturers had better watch out. Google may end up on top after all.

Motorola Project Ara
Motorola, a smartphone manufacturer owned by Google, announced a project called Project Ara, according to BBC News. The project, which has been in the making for over a year, would allow you to pick any hardware you want for a new phone. More or less, it is a way to build your own smartphone. You pick the exact components you want in the phone, and Motorola will sell it to you. Instead of wishing you had all the features that come in all the phones, you can literally piece together all the best things of the phones you love. Maybe it won’t give Google a monopoly, but it will definitely give them an edge on the competition.
 
How It Works
The project works by allowing you to start with a skeleton of a phone. Motorola will be letting developers create their own gadgets to piece with the phones in just a few months. More or less, you can put together any kind of phone you want, almost like legos, according to Chris Green of Davies Murphy Group. No more do you have to wait for the perfect phone for you to come out. Instead, you can make the perfect phone.
 
Opportunity For Developers
This isn’t just a great opportunity for customers to build their phones but also for developers to create different gadgets and pieces for phones. If you have a great idea of something you wish your smartphone could do, try and make it happen. Soon, the days of developers selling their ideas to manufacturers will be gone. The days of everyday inventions will soon arrive.

No Apples To Add Here
The only real problem people have with it is that you can’t add Apple components into the phone. It would be really convenient if you could create an android phone with access to iPhone music and apps but without all the heavy restrictions Apple puts in all its products. Unfortunately, Apple would never agree to partner up to create the ultimate smartphone. If you want an Apple phone without restrictions, you’ll just have to jailbreak it.

Get Ready Businesses
As a business, you should be preparing right now for what might come from this change. People building their own phones could mean many more opportunities for marketing. Try and stay ahead of the curve, so you are always hitting the right markets for your audience. If you are on your game, then you will be able to monopolize off the change almost just as much as all the developers out there.



Mobile technology news brought to you by www.businesstexter.com
Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24726071

Smartwatches: Is This Goodbye To The Smartphone?

Do you remember all those sci-fi movies showing you cool technology that would never really exist? You thought it was just cool to imagine. But now, the future is here, and so is all the technology. Now we have smartphones and laptops and the world at our fingertips. Now, we have the world at our wrists with the new smartwatch fad. The Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch was the first one released, but it will certainly not be the last.

It All Started With Samsung

Samsung released its Galaxy Gear Smartwatch recently, and it has been a hit. It is pretty expensive and can only be paired with the Galaxy Note, making it unavailable to most people, but it has still done fairly well. The Samsung smartwatch allows you to receive text and email alerts to your wrist instead of having to check your phone. It is much easier for the busy person to decide whether or not the message is worth checking right now or if it can wait a while. It also doesn’t look quite as rude if you are checking your watch while in a meeting as it is when you pull out your phone and start looking through it.

Google Playing Catch Up Again 

Google, the company that tries so desperately to be on the front of new technology but can never manage to get in first, is now playing catch-up again. In fact, it is nearing the end of development of its own smartwatch. According to Information Week, Google’s smartwatch will be voice-activated and have a long battery life. Many people are hoping Google carries over new technology into the smartwatch to allow for easy access and quick processing in the watch.

So, Is This Goodbye?

So far, smartwatches aren’t to the point where we would be able to give up cell phones completely, and we may never get there completely. Though smartwatches are convenient for texting or alerts, they aren’t as easy to use for emailing or phone calls. With such a small screen, it may be nearly impossible to get to that point. Maybe in a few years, the technology will put us in a place where we can open up our phones into bigger screens, but for now, it is too complicated to make the switch.

What About Your Text Marketing

If you are worried that smartwatches will make text marketing more difficult, you should think again. One of the only things a smartwatch could do with such a small screen is send and receive text messages. That means you are safe as a business if you have been working hard on text marketing strategies. It seems no matter where our technology goes, something as simple as a quick message will never disappear. It will always be a safe method of communicating news from your business. If you don’t have a text marketing campaign started, you should get started. Why not take advantage of such a basic form of communication in our society?

Mobile technology news brought to you by www.businesstexter.com

Source:

http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/handheld/google-smartwatch-nears-production/240163240

G Flex vs Galaxy Round: Who Really Won?

The fight to the top has been tough for smartphone manufacturers, but it isn’t over yet. It will never be over. The fight to always be on top will continue until we have some other great device that can be used to make phone calls and give us access to everything on the internet. The most recent race has been creating curvy and flexible smartphones. In the race to provide the most flexible smartphone, it seems Samsung may have won. Well, at the very least, it won the battle.

New Smartphone From LG Can Heal - G Flex
LG has just released a curvy smartphone, according to ABC News. It isn’t your average smartphone though. LG created the phone to curve with your face. Instead of having a flat phone that makes it either hard to hear, speak, or both, the phone curves to give you optimal hearing and talking room. In fact, LG promises the sound of the phone increases making it twice as loud. Though it would be nice if it were completely flexible, this feature hasn’t quite been perfected in the market yet. This smartphone has many other cool features though.

There are all the standard upgrades expected with any new smartphone, but this one has a self-healing coating to repair scratches and dents in the phone. That is great news for people who drop their phones regularly! Unfortunately, this doesn’t work on the screen, the part most people are worried about breaking when they drop their phones. So, I guess your phone won’t look damaged on the outside, even if the screen is completely broken.

Or You Can Get The Galaxy Round
The other option, and the first curved phone to get released, is the Samsung Galaxy Round. Rather than curving from top to bottom, this phone curves side to side. In order to get it to turn on to check for notifications, you would just need to push on the side for the phone to rock back and forth. This is much easier than picking up the phone and pressing a button to check for messages. Really, all the other new features are similar to the G Flex.

Which One Should You Get?
If you are trying to decide between these two phones, you should start by considering whether or not you care about scratches and dents. If you do, then you better try out the self-healing G Flex. It is also better for talking on the phone if you do a lot of that. Otherwise, the Galaxy might be better because it is easier to put in your pocket. Pricing hasn’t been released on the G Flex yet, according to NBC News, but the Galaxy Round will be selling in Korea for around a thousand bucks. That’s a lot of money for a cell phone, especially if you aren’t sure whether or not you like the bent concept. By being the first released, Samsung has won the battle. As to who has won the war, you’ll have to decide that on your own.


Mobile technology news brought to you by www.businesstexter.com
Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/lg-flex-curved-healing-smartphone-made-calls/story?id=20702435
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/lg-g-flex-vs-samsung-galaxy-round-how-specs-features-8C11480427

The Smell of Success: Smartphone Gadgets

Your smartphone can do practically anything now and days. With one small device, you have all the knowledge in the world. It can talk back to you, show you beautiful things, teach you stuff, send messages for you, update you on emails, and even more. What can’t it do? Well, until recently, it couldn’t give you the best of smells, but that will all change with a recent app development.

An Accessory of Course

You may be asking yourself how a smartphone could possibly release different smells without the technology being already built in to the device. The truth is, it is actually an accessory. It is a white gadget that goes into the headphone socket and uses an app to determine when the smell is released. It blends in with the phone, more or less, making it almost like it is part of the phone instead of an add-on gadget. With this extra feature, you can smell anytime you get a notification on your phone. The gadget was developed in Japan and is being distributed there currently. It seems the Japanese are always ahead of the curve when it comes to innovative technology.

The Different Smells

According to NY Daily News, there are a ton of different smells anywhere from the smell of roses to the smell of cinnamon rolls. You are encouraged to try them all. You can smell corn soup, apples, jasmine, coconut, mint, and much, much more. Though you have to purchase each of the fragrance cartridges individually for $5 each and the machine doesn’t allow you to hold multiple smells at once, you still get bursts of fragrance to tell you that you have a new message. Each of the cartridges hold 100 puffs of smell.

Cost of New Technology

One might think this kind of technology is going to be really expensive because a lot of technology has to be stored in a small device. the truth is, the device only costs about $35 on Amazon. It isn’t available to Americans yet, but the product (called Scentee) will likely be released in the nation very soon. Many small products developed in Japan, such as this one, don’t make it to the US, so it must be doing really well in Japan.

What This Means For Text Marketing

If you are texting a customer news from your business, there is always the chance they have silenced their phone or don’t hear the quick vibration indicating a message. With new technology like this, assuming it expands and becomes an everyday product for smartphone consumers, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Even if they don’t hear the notification, they are bound to smell the scent of news. It means you will get your message to the customer right away, and it may even smell like bananas, popsicles, or roses. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Mobile technology news brought to you by www.businesstexter.com

Source:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/smartphone-gadget-releases-scented-notifications-article-1.1497542