The MEF Guide To… Virtual Reality

This week, MEF Minute kicks of a new series, The MEF Guide To... giving you an essential primer on the technologies set to make an impact on the mobile ecosystem. This week the subject is virtual reality. There’s no doubt about it: virtual reality is the technology of the year. And the year is 1991. Readers of a certain age may smile at the sudden wave of enthusiasm for VR. All the excitement about the potential of this extraordinary tech has been seen before, over 20 years ago. Back then, the coin-op arcades began creating headsets that enveloped users inside a virtual world. …

Future of TV? It’s the UI, stupid

Everyone’s trying to offer us new things to watch on TV. Great, but how about giving us a better way to find it, says Tim Green. And he thinks the mobile might be the answer... At home my TV offers me an array of special treats. Here’s what I can do: Browse the thousands of free TV and movie options bundled with my £5.99 Netflix sub. Browse the thousands of free TV and movie options .bundled with my annual Amazon Prime sub. Pay for a premium HD movie via Amazon Instant. Pay for a premium HD movie via Virgin broadband. Pay for a premium HD movie via Sony PlayStation. Watch again …

Smartphones in mobile-first markets: it’s complicated

It’s one of the great truisms of the mobile industry: smartphone ownership is rocketing in developing markets. But is it true? Well, kind of but not really. At least according to the operator panel convened at the MEF Global Forum for Mobile First Markets earlier this summer. The event in Bangalore brought together Vodafone India’s Prakash Sayini, Turkcell’s Tahsin Akar, Ooredoo’s Thomas Chevanne and Etiselat Nigeria’s Adia Sowho to debate this question: Are mobile first markets ready for the smartphone revolution? The panellists answers would surprise anyone who has only read …

Interview: how Ola is building an ‘Uber for India’

All over the world, ride-sharing apps are taking on powerful local taxi businesses. But in India, the situation is a little different: there are hardly any local firms to take on. So the challenge is more about establishing a market in the first place. Mumbai-based Ola Cabs is leading the charge. Anand Subramanian, director of marketing communications at Ola was interviewed by Shradha Sharma of YourStory Media during MEF Global Forum Mobile First Markets in Bangalore, and shared some of the company’s strategies and goals. In March of this year, Ola raised $400 million in Series E funding. It …

Global Consumer Insights Series: 2/3 mobile media consumers use a 2nd screen

This week saw the release of the second report in MEF's Global Consumer Insights Series, examining second screen trends across 13 global markets and the ways in which mobile devices are used in tandem with other forms of media. The report highlights how they complement, rather than replace, other channels. The second screen phenomenon has challenged the widespread belief that mobile obliterates other media. It indicates that the handset is not all consuming. Rather, it complements other activities. Like watching TV or browsing the desktop web. . Key Findings 65 per cent of mobile …

Mobile payments driving global m-commerce adoption

MEF this week released the first report in its Global Consumer Insights Series on Mobile Money, authored by editor in chief of Mobile Money Revolution, Tim Green and with Analytics partner, On Device Research. The report analyses data from 10,000 respondents in 13 countries, highlighting regional & global trends in mobile money uptake and how it is stimulating growth across the mobile value chain. In 2013, 15 per cent of mobile media users used some form of mobile money scheme to buy things at retail. They did so via a mobile wallet (NFC or otherwise), a mobile loyalty scheme or a …