Improve Your Mobile Electronics Business by Connecting With Other Likeminded Companies

Mobile electronics is a high-end, specialized industry, and so it can sometimes be difficult to find the same networking and business opportunities that are available in other sectors. However, organizations exist that bring together mobile electronics companies to provide resources and information that can improve both business practices and performance.

Membership organizations for car audio video and vehicle security manufacturers, vendors, and installers provide crucial services to these mobile electronics businesses. Unlike other industries that have long-established industry structures, businesses specializing in mobile electronics have been in a somewhat isolated position because the industry is fairly new and serves a niche market. With the advent of unifying groups, though, these specialist companies are able to engage in the same networking and business opportunities as their counterparts in other fields. If your company is part of the aftermarket car audio, video, or security customization scene, it is well worth your while to research what membership organizations are out there and to take advantage of the many services offered through joining them.

First and foremost, a membership organization for mobile electronics specialists is an indispensable networking tool. From giving you a way to simply know who else is out there in your industry, to providing opportunities to share knowledge, experiences, and stories, these organizations facilitate the networking process in a way that's simply impossible without their help. Networking is a specific term for building relationships, and that's exactly what these groups encourage. Through in-person events, online forums, and regular conference calls, they allow manufacturers, vendors, retailers, and installers to all connect to each other, often for the first time. At minimum, these practices generate excitement about the industry and create a sense of solidarity among the different members. And, in the best cases, new business opportunities can grow out of such connections, which strengthen the individual companies and also the industry as a whole.

In addition to the networking angle, membership groups in the mobile audio, visual, and security field offer specific business tools and opportunities to participating members. These include professional development programs, such as the training of new members in sales and marketing tactics, and business analysis of past and current company performance. Because these membership organizations have a vision of the field as a whole, they're able to synthesize the best business practices, choices, and models, out there and share the resulting knowledge and information with their members. Individual companies have neither the resources nor the perspective to do this, so it is up to the membership organization to make these training and informational services available to the respective mobile electronics companies in the group.

Businesses that are in the same industry need to know each other and to have a place to pool their common knowledge. Mobile electronics membership organizations provide the framework in which to do both of these things, and thus serve to strengthen and advance this sector as a whole. If your business is involved in car audio, video, or security systems, joining a membership organization can help make your business more visible, more informed, and more connected.

The Mobile Goldmine?

The predictions are that mobile content - pictures, audio, video and games - will be a massive market within the next few years. What are the opportunities and threats for developers of that content? Mark Brill from Ping Corporation Ltd looks at the issues for mobile content, and what the future may hold.

The Opportunities

All of the research shows that mobile content is going to be massive in the next five years. Screen digest estimated the value of this content to be £5.46bn a year by 2011. A 2006 Gartner Survey estimated that mobile content would be worth a less conservative $78 billion within the next 5 years.

We have already seen a 'first wave' of mobile content, largely dominated by ringtones and backgrounds. However the predicted 'second wave' of mobile content is almost upon us and it is expected to generate greater revenues, with a longer lifespan than the first wave.

What will bring about this second wave?

The growth in mobile content will be driven by improvements in technology such as higher resolution screens, better software and improved data connections, such as 3G. Handset technology is converging with internet technologies through the introduction of devices such as the I-phone and the impending Google Phone. The line between phone, music or video player and PDA is becoming seamless.

At the same time the mobile phone operators are reviewing their pricing policies for data. Until recently, the cost of downloading was a few pounds per megabyte. This was a major barrier to downloading content. Most of the operators in the UK are now offering a flat rate for data, following a similar model to home broadband.

Premium SMS offers a simple revenue model allowing micro payments to be taken quickly. Identifying a phone number through SMS also allows for easy user and age verification with content restriction to unregistered phones. The growth of 3rd party developers will continue. Many industry observers regard D2C (direct to consumer) as the most likely area to succeed with the most engaging content and the best user experience.

With over 3 billion phones worldwide, mobile technology is in wider use than PC-based internet access or television. As such it has the potential to become an enormously powerful tool for selling and distributing content. A goldmine for mobile content providers.

Selling onto mobile

Typically the route to market is as follows:

* Content is created - pictures, video or audio

* The content provider sells through a distributor - such as Player-X or direct to the consumer via a platform such as immedia24.

Distributors will generally work with operator portals, such as Vodafone Live or T-Mobile's T-Zones. This is always operated on a revenue share - the content is not bought outright, but the revenue from Premium SMS is shared between the portal, distributor and content developer.

A D2C platform, such as immedia24 offers considerably more control over the content and a larger revenue share. Potentially it has a higher audience than the operator portal simply because many operators insist on exclusivity for content. The disadvantage is that there is no existing mobile customer base. D2C works well where there is already an audience through the web or other media, or where there is an advertising budget to see the content.

The Threats

In spite of some great opportunities, there are still many problems with creating and delivering mobile content.

Mobile Internet is accessed by only 23% of mobile users in the UK. Although at over 15m people that is still a considerable market, it is not as ubiquitous as SMS.

Whilst there are many people who can create great mobile content, the route to delivery is problematic. The mobile operators have generally regarded themselves as the key providers of mobile content, assuming that most people will want to download through their portals. However, it has been shown that the mobile users do not regard their operator as a trustworthy content provider. Operator Interference The operators have tried to restrict 3rd party content in many ways. Unlike an internet service provider, the mobile operators' online connections are made via their portals. Not only do they restrict which sites can be accessed, but they often alter the content itself. Ostensibly this has been under the guise of formatting the content for mobile, however there are examples of operators altering the display of 3rd party sites to remove much of the functionality and ruin the user experience.

Poor User Experience

The problems with poor user experience also relates to both the handsets themselves and the route to delivery. Whilst screen resolution, memory and functionality have improved on many handsets, usability can still be poor. The I-phone for example has been plagued with problems - everything from the battery life to high data charges. In the UK the I-phone will be locked to the O2 network. So if you want to change networks you will simply be left with a £400 brick!

At the point of download user experience has been equally poor. For example 3g in the UK is not as fast as broadband and is not always available. Poor pricing policies have compounded these problems. High profile Premium Rate rip-offs combined with confusing charges has resulted in many mobile users steering well clear of anything that may involve a premium rate SMS for downloading. Although flat rate data pricing is common place in the UK, the charges for accessing data abroad are still over £7 per megabyte.

Compatibility

A variety of operating systems, screen sizes and screen ratios make delivery of pictures, video and audio somewhat problematic. This is largely a technical issue for developers rather than the content creator. However the fact that there are few standards in mobile operating systems means that in the end the user will suffer. One poor experience with mobile content can put a user off for a very long time.

Low Premium Rate SMS Payouts

Whilst Premium SMS (PSMS) offers some great opportunities for both micro billing and non-credit card billing systems, the payouts offered by the networks are very low. For a £1.50 PSMS that the user pays (£1.26 after VAT), the operator and aggregator will take over 30p. This figure can be much higher on some networks. This leaves little over 90p for the content provider, creator or developer.

It means that the content provider can be forced into a position of charging considerably more for mobile content than when it is delivered though credit card billing on a web-site.

The Possibilities

With all these draw backs you may be thinking that there is little point in pursuing the Mobile Goldmine. However the potential of the mobile content market clearly exists. The issue, as with any new information technology, is to ensure that the needs of the user are understood and clearly met.

The convergence argument suggests that as we adopt more I-phone style handsets the line between mobile and web will disappear. Simply put, there is no need for developers to worry about mobile content specifically as we will all have the web on our phones.

Looking at the threats outlined above, it is clear that a division will remain between the internet and mobile. Inevitably small screen sizes and keypads will always create a different experience for the user. If I look at my own usage of mobile internet, I will acknowledge an email, but not write a lengthy reply. Whilst I may search for a film showing time or check an address on my web connected phone, I would not use it to book a flight or make a bank transfer. That is, as much as anything else a practical consideration of what it is possible to do with a small keyboard or screen.

Understanding the Technology

The key to accessing the Mobile Goldmine is to understand the relationship between a user and the technology. For example, we relate to our TV quite differently to our PC and the web, even though these days the technologies are similar.

What is the relationship between a user and their phone?

* Primarily it is for SMS (over 4 billion are sent each month in the UK) and phone calls

* It is a means of storing phone numbers - over 60% of people use their mobile as their main, often their only address book

* It is a means of killing time - playing games or sending messages while waiting for a bus, train or friend

* The phone is linked to personal identity

This last point is significant. For many people, the phone that they own, the ringtone or the background are all statements about how they see themselves. It is a highly personal item that is with them almost of the time. We have seen this in our studies with teenage mobile users, where their phone is now more significant to their peers than the clothes or the trainers they wear. Two years ago the Motorola Razor was the best selling phone, even though it performed the worst in usability tests. It was sleek, flat and came in bright pink. These factors were more important than the practical considerations.

Thus the key to successful mobile content is to develop specific content that meets the needs of the user. The first key to success is good usability. It is estimated that for each additional click required to access content, the provider will loose 30% of it's potential audience.

It should then engage the user in a way that supports their identity. In some areas, such as music or sport it is quite straight forward to engage at this level. In sectors such as the film or television, it may prove to be harder requiring more creative skills and ideas. It is also important to view mobile content not as an end in itself, but as a tool to enhance the user's experience across many platforms, such as the web, television or cinema. There are numerous examples where the web has successfully been used to enhance and support more traditional media and mobile may be used in the same way.

Ultimately the best approach to developing mobile content is not to be driven by the capabilities of the technology, but rather to understand the user's relationship with their phone and produce clever and engaging content.

© Mark Brill, Ping Corporation Ltd, 2007.

This article was written to accompany the Own-IT seminar, The Mobile Goldmine?, in October 2007.

Ping Corporation is an independent company providing solutions for mobile messaging and content delivery. Mark has worked in the sector for five years, having previously developed web applications since 1994.

How to Choose Mobile Electronics for Your Car: Add Convenience, Safety, or Entertainment

Interested in upgrading your car or truck with mobile electronics but aren't sure where to start? From car GPS to car alarms, there are lots of great options out there, but it's easy to get overwhelmed when you're considering the full array of aftermarket electronics for your vehicle. Should you get the remote starter first or opt for the car audio system? Would it be better to install a car alarm before or after the car DVD player? Here are some of the most popular aftermarket car audio and electronics selections broken down to help make your tough choice a bit easier.

Convenience

Installing mobile electronics on your car or truck can help make your life a little simpler. Two favorite options for adding a bit more convenience to your daily routine are:

GPS navigation systems. Providing directional guidance and point-of-interest mapping, car GPS systems help keep you from getting lost no matter where you're headed. GPS navigation systems are a great investment if you frequently drive in unfamiliar areas, have a knack for making wrong turns, or even if you just need to minimize travel times between errands or appointments.

Remote starters. Enabling you to turn on your vehicle from a distance, remote car starters allow you to preheat the engine and warm or cool the passenger compartment (depending on the season) for optimal comfort from the moment you get in the driver's seat. You may want to consider installing an automatic car starter if you hate the extreme temperatures of chilly January mornings or steamy July afternoons or if you're concerned about the wear and tear of driving without preheating your engine.

Safety

Every little bit counts when it comes to safety and your vehicle. Among the more popular options for increasing the safety of your car or truck are:

Car alarms. Car alarm installation is a practical choice for any driver who wants to safeguard their car or truck by preventing theft. And remember, if you're planning on installing other mobile electronics, you may want to put in the car alarm first so that your vehicle security system will be in place to protect your other components once they are installed.

Bluetooth integration. Helping you keep both hands on the wheel by making calling hands-free, installing a Bluetooth system in your vehicle adds both convenience and improved safety. Bluetooth installation is practical whether you make business or personal calls, and with this hands-free technology, you can also get additional features like voice texting and on-screen caller ID that make driving and chatting a breeze.

Entertainment

Of course, when people think about mobile electronics, what comes to mind most often is entertainment. Leading choices for improving your entertainment experience when you're behind the wheel include:

Car audio. From speakers and amps to new head units, you have virtually limitless options when it comes to upgrading your vehicle's car audio system. If your current car stereo is seriously lacking or you spend a lot of time on the road, installing a new car audio setup can help you make your driving experience a whole lot more enjoyable.

Car DVD players. Bringing the enjoyment of movies to your car or truck, in-car video is a favorite way to provide optimal entertainment for children and adults alike. Ideal for everything from long road trips to errands, choosing to install a car DVD player makes sense if you're looking to diversify your mobile entertainment options beyond car audio.

No matter which car electronics choices you select, you're certain to love the convenience, safety, or entertainment they provide. So happy driving! Contact your area car audio video shop to learn more or to get started on your installation.

Entertain the Kids on Your Next Road Trip With Car Audio and Video Players

Do long road trips have your children bored to tears? The latest mobile entertainment technology will have your kids happily planted in their seats. Contact your local car audio video expert for car DVD player installation today!

Long drives in the car can be excruciating for passengers of all ages. For youngsters especially, sitting still for more than an hour is a nearly impossible feat. If your youthful passengers tend to get a little restless when traveling, then your next trip should be a visit to your local mobile electronics provider. Your local specialist will be able to outfit your vehicle with the latest in car video and car audio technology. You'll never have to provide an answer to the age-old question, "Are we there yet?" because your kids won't even be concerned about the passage of time--their attention will be glued to the in-car entertainment instead.

Mobile entertainment is available in a variety of forms, and your local car audio video specialist will work with you to determine the best option for you and your family. If you're more concerned about having quality music without having to flip through stations during commercials, then a top-of-the-line car stereo system is right up your alley. You'll be able to install sleek car audio electronics with capabilities ranging from satellite radio, iPod docking, auxiliary inputs, and more. Your local team of experts will even be able to hook you up with brand-new speakers, subwoofers, amps, tweeters, and enclosures if you want a more comprehensive sound system with a custom look. Whether you use your car stereo to placate your antsy children with their favorite songs by The Wiggles or expose them to the requisite canon of Journey hits, your new audio components will be a godsend.

If your children need something a little more visually stimulating, not to worry: car video technology is perfect for keeping kids wholly entertained. With car DVD and video game compatibility, your entertainment options will be virtually limitless. Just pop in a Hannah Montana DVD or hook up controllers for the newest Super Mario installment and let technology do the rest. Your local car audio video specialist will be able to install video screens on the headrests so the backseat passengers will have a completely unobstructed view. If you want to join in the fun from the front seat, it's also possible to install screens on the sun visors or dashboard. With all the latest mobile video advancements, your kids will actually look forward to the next car trip!

The next time you find yourself dreading the two-hour road trip to your in-laws, which will surely include endless games of "I Spy" and bubblegum blowing contests, don't fret: call your local automotive professionals for mobile electronics instead! From installing brand-new mobile video equipment to repairing car stereos, your nearby experts will have your vehicle fully armed to take on the next highway adventure.

Car Customization For the 21st Century - Mobile Electronics Dealers Offer Much More Than Just Audio

If mobile electronics stores make you think of bass-blasting subwoofers and car stereos, you're still stuck in the last century! Today many mobile electronics specialists have branched out well past audio and into the realm of complete car customization. From aesthetic personalization like rims and decals to electronic upgrades like remote starters and seat heaters, mobile electronics dealers are bringing customers the best in 21st-century vehicle customization.

Customize Your Car

When you're tired of driving an ordinary, boring vehicle, it's time to visit your local mobile electronics dealer to personalize your car and give it some real character! Today's car electronics shops also feature rims and tires, vinyl body graphics and decals, sunroof installation, and window tinting to create truly one-of-a-kind masterpieces. Stop blending in with the crowd: make your car stand out with some serious customization.

Enhance Your Driving Experience

Mobile electronics stores are the best place to go if you're looking to enhance your driving experience. They now offer sales and installation of the little luxuries that make driving a comfortable, relaxing experience. Have Bluetooth hands-free cell phone technology put in your car to make talking on your cell safe and easy. Hate cold seats: invest in seat heaters to gently wrap you in warmth as you drive. Or choose GPS navigation installation so you'll never get lost again.

Add-on Hot Electronics

Whether you're looking to beat the temperature extremes of summer and winter with a remote car starter or safeguard your vehicle with a car alarm system, mobile electronics companies now feature a wide range of hot electronic products. In fact, the latest trend in vehicle electronics today is in-car DVD and video screens. While drivers have to miss out on the excitement (and keep their eyes on the road!), passengers can watch movies and play video games all from the comfort of their car. Drop by your mobile electronics specialist to find a car DVD add-on, a complete car audio video system, or any other mobile entertainment set-up.

Of course, if you're looking to upgrade your car stereo system, your car audio/video showroom [http://ultimate-car-audio.oswego-biz.com] is still the best place to go. You'll be able to find the latest in high-quality audio components and qualified audio/video technicians to competently install them. But if you're looking for more than just a car audio system, your vehicle electronics specialist is still the one for the job: with a huge range of car customization services ranging from aesthetic work to electronic upgrades, you're sure to find what you're looking for!

The March of Mobile Video - The Payers and Players

One single mobile phone can access the entire World Wide Web and at the same time video continues to proliferate the Internet. Do you see a connection here? After conquering cyberspace, video as entertainment and advertising continues its media march into mobile technology. Faster broadband, larger and more colorful cell phone screens, and an increase in wireless Web, video, and text messaging are all factors contributing to a mobile video surge. With 25 mobile phones created every second and 2 billion mobile phones currently in use worldwide, the opportunities for mobile video, and hence artistic and work opportunities for video/audio content creators, staggers the mind. The money tells all: advertisers spent $45 million on mobile advertising in 2005, $871 million in 2006, and are projected to spend $1.3 billion by 2010. Advertisers plan to spend this "mobile money" on, you guessed it, advertisements, and in particular video advertisements. Mobile video ads are an area of growing interest and the tiniest fraction of this re-routed advertising money in the pockets of video/audio producers and editors would be, at the risk of being mundane, rather nice, no?

Who's Playing and Paying?

A plethora of companies which include cell-phone carriers such as Verizon and Sprint, internet portals such as Google and Yahoo, TV networks such as MTV Networks and Comedy Central, and start-ups such as AdMob and Third Screen Media are scrambling to develop and provide mobile video for entertainment as well as advertising. Specific examples include; Verizon's mobile pact with YouTube to offer mobile video, MTVN's formation of MTV Mobile Media, a new unit dedicated to growing the company's mobile entertainment business, Fox Entertainment's release last summer of two- minute spinoff "mobidsodes" of its popular show "24," Anheuser-Busch's and American Express's release of their standard TV ads on cellphone video services, and Comedy Central's recent announcement to begin airing episodes of "Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States," an animated parody series and first show originally produced for cell phones by a US TV network.

Types of Mobile Programming being Produced:

Both original made-for-mobile programs and extensions of existing TV shows are being produced for mobile video. Made-for-mobile programs include MTV's popular "Sway's Hip Hop Owner's Manual", CMT's "Road Hammers", Comedy Central's "ClipJoint", and VH1's "Celebhead." Extensions from television programming, such as short clips for mobile use include Comedy Central' Peabody and Emmy Award-winning "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"; MTV's "Laguna Beach"; Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants"; VH1's "Best Week Ever, "The Sopranos" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." MTVN also offers original animation, music video premieres, and content highlighting socially significant issues such as AIDs/HIV awareness (MTV Networks 12/18/06). The list of available video content for mobile phones grows exponentially and daily.

Opportunities in Mobile Video/Audio Production:

The opportunities for video/audio content production for mobile technology are very real. Contacting any production company now producing mobile content could very easily produce gigs for video/audio producers and editors as demand for mobile content increases. Start-up GoTV Networks Inc., for example, now produces 303 shows and more than 60 hours of programming each month for Sprint Nextel Corp, Verizon Wireless and Cingular, and 300,000 cell phone users pay $6 a month for its music, sports and comedy programming. (Source: NY Times 12/26/06) Another example is GoTV Mobile Television at which offers different "stations" that feed subscribers a daily digest of hip-hop culture, college sports, weather, or soaps. For a very real opportunity, visit iThentic on the web, a mobile distribution company actively seeking content. While their monetary offer for content may be deemed a bit low, one can still gain a sense of the ins and outs of the mobile content production and distribution. A thorough search and listing of mobile content buyers and distributors needs to be done ASAP for gig hungry video/ audio producers or production companies looking to expand their clientele. Please contact me if you'd like to participate or if you have such a list.

Tips for Mobile Video Production

There are several tips to keep in mind when producing and editing content for mobile video. Clips should be short, generally under three minutes, to accommodate viewing "on the go." Cell phone shows also contain more close-ups, tight shots, and limited movement to provide for the small screen and slower frame speed available The audio should be crisper than "normal" due to the absence of bass on mobile phones. Text and subtitles should be minimal because of difficulty reading on the smaller cell phone screen. One suggestion to actually take shots on a video-phone before filming to check whether the scene is actually a viable option for mobile use. Delivery formats to mobile content providers in general include the following: File sizes 15 MB or less as Windows Media (.wmv); Audio Video Interleave (.avi); QuickTime (.mov); MPEG 1/2/4 (.mpg, .mpeg); 3rd Generation Partnership Project (.3GPP); Flash; DVD; Digital Video. All formats should be encoded at 320 x 240 (Source: Wall Street Journal 12/04/06)

Mobile Video Systems I Have Known

Our webmaster has requested certain articles so this article is his fault. His request was as follows: Mobile-Audio-Video - Articles on automotive video and sound systems belong here, including suggestions and tips as well as system reviews.

In 1977 rather than repair the air conditioning system in my VW bus, I purchased a late 1996 GM conversion van. It had sat on the dealer's lot for several months and he wanted to unload it. A beautiful critter that would not fit in my garage it had in additional to the mood lighting a VCR player and a television set.

The first thing we noticed when we brought the van home was that our dog, Zipper, just loved it. He jumped right in and would not get out. He knew that something was up with the moving company hauling our furniture out the front door. He was not going to be left behind.

Zipper was a member of No Dog Left Behind. That's probably where the young Mrs. Bush got her idea for No Child Left Behind, a program that educator's and parents seem to hate. Personally, I have not objection to leaving certain kids behind.

Zipper was one of the reasons we had to have a van. He was a big Labrador retriever. The other reason was that my wife enjoys plants. She started the program No Plant Left Behind.

We filled the van with Zipper and the plants and off we went for Arizona, the "Land of the Sun" and "Allergy Hell." (We didn't know about the Juniper problem then.)

Our son, Jimmy, immediately slapped a tape in the VCR player and sat in the back watching Tobruk. To read some of the details of this movie go to: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062377/. Arthur Heller directed the movie and it starred Rock Hudson. Here is the plot: "September 1942 - With Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps on the march through Egypt, a British special forces unit, composed of German Jews who serve with the British despite the mutual resentment between both, kidnap a Canadian officer who is an expert topographer and who is held prisoner by the Vichy French in Algeria. The officer, Donald Craig, must negotiate a company of British and German-Jewish commandos through 800 miles of the Sahara to aide a pending amphibious landing against Tobruk's massive fuel storage base - a mission that sees one impediment after another, and which discovers an undetected German armored force ready to win the battle of Egypt."

Sounds exciting, right? Well, Doris Day was missing.

Listening to he sound track I realized that Jimmy had been driving for about five years and had a valid New Jersey driving license. After some persuasion Jimmy was driving and I was back watching Tobruk.

When we got to Arizona, I bought Jimmy a Nissan pickup and my wife a Toyota Corolla. He took off for Utah to go to college. For that reason, since then, I've never sat in the back of my van and watched a movie.

Jimmie came back once and traded his pickup for my wife's Corolla. We still have the pickup and Jimmie still has the Corolla. He didn't stay long enough so that we could take a trip and I could watch a movie in the back of my van.

I'm not saying that my van's video system is not used. When we go fishing, my grandkids pile in the back, pull down the sun shades, and turn on the VCR player and the television. I have heard the soundtrack of a dozen movies that I have not seen. My usual comment is, "TURN THAT DOWN!"

When the kids get out of the car, they leave everything on and the sun shades down. I tell them, "IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO LEAVE THE VAN THE WAY YOU FOUND IT, YOU WILL NEVER GO FISHING AGAIN!"

I mean it. I'm tired of them catching all the fish while I operate my "pole and reel repair shop" and bait the hooks for the girls.

So my suggestion for selection of a video system is this: Don't buy one if you have grandkids. It's cheaper to give them a coloring book and a box of crayons.