Each week the MEF team curates mobile stories from around the world. Essential news you may have missed, the latest market insight & data nuggets, the Global Mobile News Round-up offers an instant international mobile content and commerce snapshot.
Global News Stories
Bogotá Is Becoming South America’s Premier Tech Hub
Mashable
Colombia has the third biggest economy in South America and is sitting on significant deposits of minerals such as oil, gold and natural gas. Moreover, Bogotá is already a major transport hub on the continent with direct flights to almost everywhere. “With more than 115 higher education institutions, Bogota graduates 100,400 professionals and technicians each year. This abundance of young and highly skilled workers makes its capital city, Bogotá, extremely attractive to technology and innovation investment,”
The iPhone 5C was never meant for China, or any other emerging market
Memeburn
So here we are, in the aftermath of the announcement of Apple’s new iPhones, and as usual the entire world has exploded. This time the story is that Apple has failed in China by offering what everyone thought was going to be its “inexpensive” phone at a price point that borders on offensive in the Middle Kingdom. If you google “iPhone China” right now, you get a lot of headlines like this, suggesting that Apple has failed in its attempt to appeal to China’s market with a cheap smartphone.
M-commerce to pass $10bn for the first time in Q4
Mobile Money Revolution
In the summer comScore confirmed that m-commerce spend was averaging around $5bn a quarter, with outlay in Q2 2013 hitting $4.7bn. But clearly the Christmas/holiday period will spike this number. And now osh Chasin, chief research officer at comScore, has told MediaPost that he m-commerce will hit $10 billion in the fourth quarter.
Mobile Ad Spend Sees 80 Per Cent Growth in 2013
Mobile Marketing Magazine
The amount spent on advertising worldwide is slowing, according to eMarketer, with total global ad spend growing by 2.8 per cent in 2013 – to more than half a trillion dollars – compared to 4.4 per cent growth in 2012.
Mobile ad spend meanwhile will grow 79.7 per cent this year, although it still only makes up 2.6 per cent of total ad spend, or $15.81bn. It now represents 11.9 per cent of digital spend, compared to just 2.1 per cent five years ago.
Inside Facebook’s Mobile Strategy
Mashable
Eighteen months ago, Mark Zuckerberg was not happy with Facebook’s mobile strategy. The world’s largest social network was offering up a weak product — a hybrid app running on HTML5 instead of native apps for iOS and Android — essentially ignoring the platform (mobile) that it now deems most important. A change needed to be made, and Zuckerberg now openly admits it.
Security Concerns Abound Over Unofficial Android iMessage App That Uses Chinese Servers To Process Data
TechCrunch
An unauthorised app that lets Android users chat on Apple’s closed iMessage network is causing a big stir. It’s had viral downloads in the tens of thousands amid claims that it could be spreading malware; but the Chinese developer who developed the app tells us everything is cool.
New York Creates ‘Texting Zones’ to Stop Car Accidents
Mashable
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced “texting zones” to the state’s highways this week in order to prevent accidents caused by motorists who send text messages while driving. In recent years, local governments across the U.S. have worked hard to curb the growing trend of texting-related accidents, but the arrival of new and more feature-rich mobile devices have posed a challenge to their efforts.
Singapore clarifies personal data handling rules
Telecomasia
Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) has issued guidelines that elaborate and provide interpretations on specific requirements and obligations under on the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA).
The guidelines incorporated public feedback submitted from February to April 2013. The Advisory Guidelines cover Key Concepts and Selected Topics to illustrate how the PDPA applies to specific issues.
Carriers Increasingly Open To Working With Mobile Messaging Startups, Research Finds
TechCrunch
Carriers haven’t typically been friendly with startups, especially over-the-top messaging players that circumvent native phone comms — viewing them as thieves of traditional voice and SMS revenues, as indeed (from the carrier perspective) they are. But the bad old days of telcos barring and blocking OTT services are slowly giving way to a greater willingness to partner with messaging rivals.
The Mobile Payments Rush Is On, And The Winners Will Shape The Future Of Transactions And Commerce
PayPal is close to a deal to acquire Braintree, a company that specializes in powering mobile transactions. Meanwhile, Facebook announced that it’s pairing up with payment companies to roll out “Autofill,” which makes it easier for its users to buy things straight from their phones.
Global News Round-up – These articles are not written by MEF and do not represent any views of individuals, members or the organisation.
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