Tag Archives: smartphones

Is you mobile phone germ free?

Mucky mobile: Your phone could carry 10 times as many bugs as a lavatory seat

Next time you use you mobile phone, you might want to give it a little clean.

Researchers have discovered there are more bacteria on the average mobile than you will find in a toilet seat! Experts said the reason is that phones are often passed between people which spreads the germs around – but they are never cleaned which means the diseases keep on building up.

So when did you last clean your mobile phone on your sleeves or on your skirt?

Previous research has found that other things we assume are clean are in reality rather disgusting.

Keep germs at bay this winter

Keep germs at bay this winter

British scientists discovered that cash machines have similar levels of pseudomonads and bacillus, bacterias which are known to cause sickness and diarrhoea, as they found in public toilets.

Computer keyboards are also five times dirtier than the average lavatory seat.

Researchers from Which? swabbed 33 keyboards for food poisoning bugs e.coli, coliforms, staphylococcus aureus and enterobacteria and found four were a potential health hazard.

One was even ‘condemned’ because it was so infectious.

Remote controllers have also long been known as the grubbiest item in hotel rooms as they are never wiped down.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2196365/Mobile-phones-ger…

Opportunity for Mobile Advertising & Coupons

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the smarter way to network

It has been interesting to read a new report from Juniper Research which has found that the mobile marketing and retail sector (comprising mobile advertising, coupons and smart posters) will exceed $8 billion by 2012 globally.

Retail Theraphy Bluetooth Style

The Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies report found that Retailers were already starting to exploit the mobile channel through advertising campaigns on the handset and by issuing money-off coupons.The market for these two activities alone is forecast to grow by half in the next two years.

According to report co-author Howard Wilcox, there research and interviews showed that location aware technologies will play a key part. Companies like Google and IBM are seeking to exploit the knowledge of where users are located to enable retailers to offer in store shoppers a rich set of capabilities such as personalised special offers. As a result forecasting the mobile coupons market to double to exceed $4 billion in 2012.

Retailers Migrating to Mobile

At a recent mobile industry event, CTIA Wireless 2010, more than 20 percent of the shows attendees were said to come from the retail space, showing that retailers were beginning to latch on to the potential of the mobile channel.

Whilst the mobile advertising and mobile coupons markets will reach similar sizes, Juniper believes that smart posters (which users can tap to obtain product information) will remain a niche sector within the overall market until NFC (Near Field Communications) capable devices are more widely used.

The report also warns however that failure to use targeted, location based advertising, particularly SMS advertising, may cause mobile users to regard such advertising as little better than spam. The report recommends that brands and retailers should consider geotagging their products and locations.

Further findings include:

a) Western Europe forecast to nearly treble in size between 2010 and 2014
b) Brands, retailers and merchants should use clever, engaging apps, which can be far more effective

To download a copy of the white paper click here.