• Read more about Ken Fang presents at the HowTo.gov Mobile First Webinar

Federal agency mobile implementation is an important aspect of the Digital Government Strategy, so last week the Mobile Gov team and Digital Gov University partnered for a “Mobile First” Webinar. A “mobile first” approach is where new websites and applications are designed for mobile devices first, instead of designed for the traditional desktop.  Representatives from government and the private sector spoke about what it means to be “mobile first.” You can listen to the entire webinar, but here are some highlights:

Ken Fang from Mobomo Inc. talked about the importance of a mobile first approach, citing the increasing percent of traffic routing from mobile devices. Fang  proposed three steps to consider when choosing a device and platform to develop.

1. Consider your audience needs and remembering who and what you are making the app for.
2. Think about what kind of content will be sent out.
3. Think platform strategy —answering whether you develop for one device or choose a different route such as an API or responsive design.

• Read more about Save on Prescriptions: Medvana Launches (También en Español)

Medvana helps you find the nearest pharmacies willing to provide deep discounts on most branded and generic prescription drugs. Show your pharmacist the Medvana Savings Card in the appand save up to 76% on Prescription Drugs at over 50,000 participating pharmacies.

• Read more about Mobomo Talks Next Gen Federal Sites in April’s Tech Bisnow Newsletter

• Read more about Mobomo Releases Pill Finder

Pill Finder enables rapid identification of unknown solid-dosage medications (tablets/capsules) based on physical characteristics including: imprint (characters or number printed on a medication), shape, color, size, and scoring. Once a medication is identified, Pillbox provides high-resolution images of tablets and capsules (if available) as well as links to drug information and drug labels. Pillbox uses the National Library of Medicine's Pillbox API which is not intended for clinical use. Images contained within this resource are not part of the Structured Product Label and have not been verified by the sponsor/manufacturer.

• Read more about CogConnect - Mobile Rehab for Stroke Victims

Introducing SparkTime

A few months ago Intridea decided to splurge and upgrade our (already awesome) benefits package. In addition to the basic perks like amazing health insurance, hardware funds and an annual subscription to Amazon Prime, we started a new program called SparkTime. SparkTime is much like Google's 20% time – everyone spends a few hours a week working on something that they are passionate about. We record our ideas in SparkBin, team up if we want to collaborate, and then we get down to the business of impassioned creation.

The Spark

In addition to being a UI Designer here at Intridea, I’m also a grad student in the Human-Centered Computing program at UMBC. This semester, my professors Dr. Amy Hurst (co-creator of http://nickelforscale.com/) and Dr. Ravi Kuber (author of many great papers on computing and the visually impaired) suggested that I work on a mobile rehabilitation application for stroke patients. This sounded like the perfect opportunity to bridge my educational and professional worlds.

Research = Time Well Spent

I’ve been prepping for this project by taking Dr. Hurst’s course on Assistive Technology. Chris Selmer is my “internal client” and he sent me to an iOS crash course where I had gotten the basic fundamentals of iPhone MVC architecture and learned Obj-C syntax. These courses have been extremely helpful, but I also needed requirements from real doctors and nurses on how this mobile application should actually work.

Before I started wireframing and coming up with designs I needed to do some research. So I talked with nurses and physicians in the stroke unit at the Kernan Rehabilitation Center. I had the opportunity to communicate with stroke victims and in doing so, I observed the deficiencies caused by stroke trauma. The physicians described exercises that they would like to see in a mobile device. I visited with Dr. Mark Young (physician with a specialty in stroke trauma) and my friend Michelle Jones (occupational therapist at UMMC) who both helped me strengthen my idea and gave me insight into rehabilitation for those with physical and cognitive deficits.

Armed with some really useful information, I was able to approach the blueprints for the mobile app. Initially, I had imagined that I would be creating an application that focused solely on physical rehab using a smartphone; but, as it turns out, what stroke victims really need is an application that stimulates their coordination, cognitive abilities, and fine motor skills. I had planned on using an iPhone but I have since decided to start with an iPad, so the user will have more screen area to start with.

I saw firsthand why user interviews are so necessary and why design should rarely be an effort by the designer alone.

The Beginning of a Great App

I’ve named the project CogConnect, and plan to keep my entire process and code open-source. I’m in the design phase right now and I'm happy with the wireframes and the direction of the project. I'm looking forward to spending my SparkTime working on this application!

• Read more about Smart Phone Sales Growing Worldwide: Get Ready for Mobile Shoppers

The Gartner Group recently published a report that shows the increase in worldwide phone sales and it's significant. For all types of mobile phones, sales went up by 35% in Q3 2010 from Q3 2009. Of that, the smartphone segment had a whopping 96% increase in sales. But what do those figures mean? How can your business benefit from this?

Those numbers might be a bit deceptive, but they do point to an important increase in smartphone sales. That 96% quarterly increase in smartphone sales might only amount to 19% of overall mobile phone sales in Q3 2010, though that translates to nearly 80M new units of smartphones worldwide -- a huge new market for your mobile apps. According to the Gartner Group report, Apple especially benefited in Q3 2010, moving into the top five manufacturers, surpassing RIM. (Apple's iOS and Google's Android are still battling in the top two places for Mobile OS, though Apple's iPhone 4 is dominating in smartphone sales in the U.S.)

Now pair this smartphone sales information with the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) report, "October 2010 U.S. Mobile Consumer Briefing," whose survey results suggest that nearly 60% of mobile consumers will use their phone for holiday shopping and planning. This includes using their phone for planning holiday celebrations, finding holiday gifts, comparing their spending expectations between 2009 and 2010, making purchases and more. In fact, at least 13% of consumers surveyed also expect to use their phone for gift purchases.

Positive Impact on Your Business
It's true that countries in Europe and Asia have been using their mobile phones for product/ service payments for years, though this is a newer use for N. Americans. Consumers are obviously feeling increasingly comfortable in using mobile phones for shopping-related tasks in general, and with the ability of apps running on smartphones, the consumer shopping experience will continue to improve. As more consumers grow comfortable using smartphone apps for shopping, such apps will be commonplace for more than just holiday use -- especially as the use by retailers of barcode/ QR code-based mobile coupon offers grows.

Mobile apps allow shoppers the convenience of checking for both local and online bargains, comparing, saving details, receiving alerts about deals, and much more. If this convenience is something that you want to offer your mobilized customers, start planning a mobile strategy now, for 2011. Especially consider how your target market could benefit from a mobile app. Start with a fairly simple mobile app and be first in your niche or industry, to gain an advantage over competitors in coming years. Add new features to your app regularly, as its usage grows.

Want to learn more about how a mobile app can help your business? Feel free to contact us to discuss a strategy.

• Read more about Mobomo RaceMate App Featured on USAToday.com

Mobomo has been busy building mobile apps for numerous clients this year, and one of our latest, RaceMate, was just covered on USAToday.com. The app, available for both Apple iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) and Google Android-based mobile devices, was designed for the Marine Corps Marathon. It will let supporters track their favorite runner at the 35th annual race in Arlington, VA, on Sun Oct 31st, 2010. For further details, please see our earlier announcement of the RaceMate mobile app and the Marine Corps Marathon.

• Read more about Mobomo's RaceMate iPhone App for the 35th Annual Marine Corps Marathon

For those of you who enjoy marathon races, the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is one of the largest in the world. It is the eighth-largest in the world, fourth-largest in the U.S., and the largest such race with no prize money -- hence it's nickname, The People's Marathon. Past races have had participants from as many as 50 countries. At a course length of just over 26 miles, there's a lot for runners to prepare for and onlookers to track. Mobomo's new, first of its kind RaceMate(tm) mobile app is exactly what you need to enhance the MCM race-day experience. The app is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch,  iPad, and Android Phone.

RaceMate is packed with features, including a countdown timer, a course map, pre-viz animation, a pace calculator and more. The embedded marathon map not only shows landmarks such as aid stations, water & food spots and mile markers but actual GPS-based locations of race participants. Track your favorite runner in real-time.

Can't make it to the race? With an expected 30K runners and many more spectators, not everyone can or wants to be present. The Location-Based Services (LBS) mobile technology used in the RaceMate app means that you can cheer on and track your favorite runner on race day without being present. Both runners and spectators will need their smartphones; however, market research suggests nearly 85% of runners own a smart phone and that almost half of race participants will carry a smartphone will carry a smartphone during the marathon (MCM press release).

More info: The 35th Annual MCM takes place on Oct 31st, 2010, in Arlington, VA. The Marathon Tour starts Oct 20th and passes through several American cities on the way to Arlington. An associated free two-day Health and Fitness Expo starts Oct 29th and includes a Speaker Series as well as over 200 exhibitors. The marathon race itself is open to runners aged 14 and up. For more details, visit the following links:

• Marine Corps Marathon -- Official site. Will provide race split times and finisher data.
• Wikipedia -- MCM profile.
• Mobomo RaceMate mobile app for the iPhone. Only $1.99

The Android edition of RaceMate is now available at your favorite Android app marketplace.

Upcoming, Spring 2011: editions for other races in Los Angeles, London and Boston.

Need advice on how your business can leverage the mobile platform? Feel free to contact us to discuss your app idea or mobile campaign needs.

• Read more about Mobomo's Leadership and Values: Entrepreneurial Core Values iPhone App

The Leadership and Values iPhone app, created by Mobomo for Concordia University, helps you determine what your core values are, discover what makes a leader. Do you have the core values and skills of a leader?

Leadership and Values offers a fun game-style interface as well as visual help screens to help you navigate your way through the app. Choose from the stack of 52 cards listing possible core values and drag each card into one of three columns: "Definite core value", "Maybe core value", and "Not core value." After you've grouped all 52 cards into the three columns, you can browse each stack to verify your choices or move them to another stack.

The next step is to select your top 5 core values. Edit your Top 5 stack until your satisfied. The Leadership and Values app then displays a beautiful screen quoting one famous or semi-famous person for each of the five core values that you selected.

This iPhone app is designed to promote core leadership values and enable students, teachers, and alumni to interactively discover their top leadership values. Using a fun step-by-step process, the user is educated on Concordia’s core leadership values, and is ultimately presented with a personalized result. This project demonstrates how Mobomo can create engaging mobile applications to educate individuals. Similar interfaces can be developed, for example, for FTC consumers to learn “how to” file a complaint or order a truly free credit report.

Get the Leadership and Values iPhone app free from iTunes or the Apple App Store now.

Need advice on a mobile app for your business? Just want to know how you can leverage the mobile platform in general? Feel free to contact us to discuss your app idea or mobile campaign needs.

• Read more about Mobomo's QuickQ Music Player iPhone App

QuickQ, created by Mobomo for JARS Management, LLC. QuickQ gives you an alternative music player to manage the iPod on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Access your music without leaving the QuickQ. Build your own lists, see your playlist duration, and and re-order tracks visually on the fly by dragging a song to the top of the list.

QuickQ's unique selling proposition? Temporary music lists for those times you're waiting in airports, in line somewhere, impromptu parties or a quick playlist to help you get to sleep. QuickQ achieves this by letting music items disappear from your playlist as they finish playing.

Get QuickQ now from iTunes for only $0.99, and use the attractive help screen, with overlaid notations, to get up to speed with on your temporary playlists.

Need advice on a mobile app for your business? Just want to know how you can leverage the mobile platform in general? Feel free to contact us to discuss your app idea or mobile campaign needs.