Yay! We just received our invitation to Google Wave and have (of course) activated it.

HOT OFFER! We now have 20 [UPDATED: NOW 16 9 DOWN TO OUR LAST 3! ALL GONE, SORRY] Google Wave nominations to share, so we’ll invite (FREE) that number of new subscribers to our Marketing Rag newsletter. If you want to be a Google Wave early adopter, subscribe today.

So what exactly is Google Wave?

If you’re like most people, you may not know much about Google Wave. The video below (clocking in at 1 hour 20 minutes) is from the launch of the product back in May. It’s a very comprehensive overview (if you can spare the time and have a real interest in a new product offering that has real game-changing potential).

We’ll be talking about the marketing implications of Google Wave in our next newsletter. We think it’s a must-read.

GOOGLE WAVE APPS FOR THE IPHONE

It was always inevitable that the hottest technologies on the planet would converge. We just weren’t expecting it quite so soon.

The UK’s Revolution Magazine tells us that the race is on to be the first Google Wave app approved for the iPhone, with at least two contenders currently being reviewed by the Apple AppStore.

One of them, Waveboard, serves as client software for Google Wave for both Mac OS X 10.5+ and iPhone OS 3.0+; the Mac version is already operational.

Here’s a (rather basic) video demonstrating Waveboard functionality:

The other potential candidate is an Adobe AIR application called Waver, which has been developed as “your tiny Google Wave client”.

Google Wave is going to be big. Better learn about it as soon as you can.

PS One way to do so is by signing up for our newsletter (and if you’re one of the first few to sign up while this offer is still valid you’ll receive a free invitation as well).

PPS We’ll update this blog entry as the numbers decrease. Of course, if this was posted via Google Wave, you’d see the numbers dropping, in real time. Anyway, more on that in the newsletter.

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Being only slightly tech-obsessed (though our wives might agree to differ), we haven’t paid too much attention so far to Google’s Android mobile phone offering. To be honest, we hadn’t even felt compelled to invest in the ubiquitous iPhone. Our excuse: a stated preference for style over substance. Actually, we probably weren’t cool enough.

Anyway now, courtesy AdMob, we’ve come across some fascinating/frightening statistics that suggest:

1. Android is becoming a serious contender
2. Smartphones are taking off faster than earlier data had led us to believe
3. Mobile apps are ‘the next big thing’ on the very small screen

First, take a look at this chart, comparing mobile data usage worldwide for the various operating systems.

Clearly Android has a long way to go to pick off Apple — but look at the tripling in Android’s worldwide operating system usage in just six months.

Secondly, some mobile application download numbers from a month earlier:

AdMob surveyed over 1,000 iPhone, iPod touch and Android users to find out more about their interaction and download behavior with apps.  Some highlights:

• Android and iPhone users download approximately 10 new apps a month, while iPod touch owners download an average of 18 per month
• More than 90 percent of Android and iPhone OS users browse and search for apps directly on their mobile device instead of their computer
• Upgrading from the lite version was the top reason given when users were asked what drives them to purchase a paid app
• iPhone and iPod touch users are twice as likely to purchase paid apps than Android users.
• Users who regularly download paid apps spend approximately $9 on an average of five paid downloads per month

In a separate post at BrandRepublic, AdMob’s Russell Buckley notes that:

We serve about 10 billion ads every month to mobile web publishers and app developers globally. This means that we can’t measure market share, but we can track handsets that are used more than they should be, to view mobile web pages and download and use apps.  We noticed very early on that iPhone was getting a disproportionate amount of share when measured like this and history is being repeated with Android.

What’s also great for mobile advertisers is that Android and iPhone both offer much more creative advertising formats and that their ease of use generally mean more interaction and higher click-through-rates. Consumers are engaging with marketers via the mobile channel in very large numbers and that trend is going to speed up with more Android handsets in the market.

Even allowing for the fact that Russell is in the mobile marketing business, the enthusiasm is contagious.

Which leads us to ask the question: how prepared are you for mobile marketing? [Forecaster/analyst Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley has already outed the Mobile Internet as one of The Big Trends of the next twelve months!]

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At the end of last month Openwave Systems published a report highlighting key mobile internet usage trends in North America, based on findings derived from its Openwave Mobile Analytics product. Key themes that Mobile Analytics uncovered included upticks in social networking site usage suggestive of a new preferred method of communication with the potential to unseat traditional forms of messaging such as email for a particular segment of subscribers; an analysis of mobile advertising click-through rates (CTR) that showed clear advantages of targeted promotions; and the growing trend in accessing mobile classifieds via the mobile device.

Amongst the key findings:

Social Networking Usurping Traditional Messaging as Communications Tool
Social networking remains the number one area of interest to mobile internet users with Facebook and MySpace being the top two search terms on both Google and Yahoo! OneSearch. In terms of average hits per session, MySpace leads Facebook by nearly 46 percent, suggesting that MySpace could become the preferred choice of mobile communication for a particular segment of an operator subscriber base and displace some of the most frequently used email offerings. The social networking trend presents a unique opportunity for operators to partner with these leading social networking sites through co-branding efforts with a view to generating incremental revenues from messaging generated from the social networking sites.

Mobile Advertising – Targeting Improves Click-Through Rate
Regarding mobile advertising, Openwave found that while AdMob served the most ads (nearly 7 times more than the nearest competitor), it also had the lower click through rate in comparison to BuzzCity and Microsoft. AdMob’s lower CTR could be the result of generic ads that are not targeted or relevant to the subscriber. Operators can play a vital role in the mobile advertising value chain by providing aggregated data on subscriber behaviour and preferences to ad networks, which could result in better targeting of subscribers that could lead to high eCPM rates and better results for publishers, advertisers, operators and ultimately the subscribers.

Mobile Access to Classified Advertising is a Key Growth Area
Openwave Mobile Analytics also uncovered that Craigslist ranked number 7 within the top 10 search terms on Google, suggesting a trend towards mobile classifieds for jobs, housing, bargain priced goods and services during the current economic downturn.

It would be a useful exercise comparing these results to data from European mobile usage research. Who knows, we might even do the comparisons ourselves when we have a few minutes spare …

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Nokia have recently released their conclusions from a research project intriguingly entitled “Entertainment: A Glimpse Of The Next Episode” based on research from 9000 consumers aged 16-35 from 17 countries. Some outtakes:

“Even today, entertainment is still fundamentally transactional and linear. Content is provided for a viewer to watch, whether that be on the sofa, on the PC or the mobile device. Nokia believe that the next episode in entertainment will be neither linear nor transactional. The next episode will see entertainment created by consumers and dynamically shared within their communities – family, friends, peer group. The next episode will see that entertainment added to/ remixed/ mashed up/ passed on. The next episode sees entertainment become circular.

“Nokia predict that this phenomenon, called ‘Circular Entertainment’, will account for up to a quarter of the entertainment consumed by people in five years’ time.

“Over the last few years, as mobile devices have become more capable, we have witnessed the downsizing of entertainment into snack-sized chunks. It’s better suited to the portable devices we spend most time with. We’ve seen Twitter start to replace MySpace as the pitstop destination and the globe is littered with examples of growing media from Britain’s BeBo site launching the mini-drama KateModern to the launch of the Nokia N92 in India offering newspaper highlights on the move.

“As the shrink-to-fit capital of the world, Japan is set to drive this trend globally with its E-comics ‘Keitai’ for mobile phones. ‘E-comics are all about the reader experience – using technical capabilities of the mobile phone for effect, zooms, vibrations and even sound effects,’ says Nicky Fall, trendspotter from Japan.”

And some fascinating/frightful facts about media usage in this 2.0 world:

What do respondents use the internet for?

• 46% have IM conversations
• 39% watch TV
• 37% browse music online
• 29% regularly write, comment and blog
• 27% share free music
• 28% access social networking sites
• 11% attend events in virtual worlds
• 10% showcase personal creative work
• 9% contribute to story lines on internet TV programs
• 8% present their own podcasts
• 7% get paid for uploading film/music content
• 6% set up own pirate radio channels

What do they use mobile devices for?

• 53% send emails
• 50% search for information
• 46% take pictures
• 46% read the news
• 37% send IM
• 26% shoot video
• 25% download music
• 25% watch music videos
• 24% watch films
• 23% watch TV
• 22% play video games
• 19% store music
• 17% use navigation & maps
• 10% access TV to record

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The island kingdom has been diagnosed with MAIDS (Mobile And Internet Dependency Syndrome) according to new UK research from Lloyds TSB. Two thirds of those surveyed (63 per cent) admitted that they feel concerned if they leave their mobile phone at home and three quarters (72 per cent) worried if they are unable to check their emails for a day.

At the extreme end, three per cent admitted to feeling completely freaked out and panicky if they leave their mobile phone at home with a further one per cent suffering physical symptoms of panic – such as sweaty palms and a racing heart.

When asked what they would do if they were half an hour from home before realising they’d forgotten their phone, 15 per cent said they’d make time to go back and collect it, would get a partner, friend or family member to bring it to them or would send a courier to pick it up.

Dependency on e-mail access is just as great, with five per cent admitting that they become very stressed when deprived of checking their inbox.

Those aged between 16 and 24 are the most dependent on their mobile phone. A third (33 per cent) stated that they would take action to get their phone back if they left it at home compared to just one in 10 (nine per cent) of over 55s.

The younger generation are also the most dependent on email with those aged between 16 and 24 being the most worried if they cannot check their messages. Nearly a fifth (19 per cent) said they’d be concerned or stressed compared to just 13 per cent of over 55s.

Reasons respondents gave for feeling concerned when they don’t have their mobile phone or can’t read their email:

• Fear that people won’t be able to get hold of them and will be worried (34%)
• Worry that they’ll be missing out on important business calls and correspondence (18%)
• Concern that plans will change and they’ll be out of the loop (12%)
• Afraid of missing out on important social calls and invitations - did the palace phone?(11%)

To quote William Shatner (aka Captain Kirk), joking about obsessive Star Trek fans: “get a life”.

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