We’ve got another huge Mobile Monday lined up for you next week.  The theme is iPhone applications and we’re getting presentations from a couple of different perspectives:

1. From the client side: The infamous Chris Winter is coming to talk about why the ABC decided to build an iPhone application and how it fits into their mobile strategy.

2. From the smaller mobile developers (& the amazing TigerSpike): We’re going to have quick 2 minute interviews with some local iPhone developers who have native apps on the App Store.  These include: iceTV, Check My Tubes, Optus Mobile Usage Meter, VFest, Xiao CiDian and Pocket Weather AU (Download them all from iTunes App Store before the night

3. From the iPhone/Mobile 2.0 specific developers: Keith Ahern from MoGeneration (see post below for more details)

Look forward to seeing you Monday night!

> RSVP NOW!

:: 6.30pm for 7pm, Mon 4th May 2009
:: Level 3 @ The Blacket Hotel
:: Entry on King Street via the Blacket Hotel. (Here’s a map)

App-Tastic!

Apple recently announced 1 billion iPhone apps had been downloaded from their App Store. How can your app get discovered amongst the 25,000 already there !?

To answer this question, we’re very happy to welcome Keith Ahern of mogeneration who will show us  what it takes to get a viable presence on the App Store and get noticed. Keith will also talk about when to do a mobile web site, when to do an app and when to take a hybrid approach.

Keith Ahern (Founder and CEO, mogeneration)

Keith has over 13 years of innovative software and service development, five of which has been in mobile. Keith was previously Mobile Technology Manager for News Digital Media (online division of News Ltd), where he helped grow NDM’s mobile channel from simple SMS services to engaging mobile websites with millions of page views each month. Keith’s career began  with web pioneer Netscape in Silicon Valley working on the Navigator browser and later worked for Philips Research and Development Palo Alto where he was granted two US patents. Keith has a BInfTech & Telecom (Hons) from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

MoGeneration has the following web apps and native apps for iPhone:

• Lingopal - Chat, flirt and insult in 42 languages on your iPhone
• Xumii - One iPhone Social Networking app - all social networks: Facebook, MySpace, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Flickr etc.
• OzWeather - the best weather app for Australian iPhone users - #1 in the Australian App Store (co-dev with OzPDA)
• Moo Shake! - a fun educational iPhone game for kids - #2 Kids game in the Australian & US App Store
• The Australian Business Edition for iPhone - The Australian on iPhone
• TrueLocal - Find, Plan and Share Australian businesses while on the go.

As ever, promises to be a fun + entertaining night. Bring your mobiles and business cards, and RSVP now to secure your place. Mobile Monday Sydney is a free event.

DON’T FORGET - It’s at LEVEL 3 upstairs at the Blacket Hotel

> RSVP NOW!

:: 6.30pm for 7pm, Mon 6th April 2009
:: Sky Room @ The Blacket Hotel
:: Entry on King Street via the Blacket Hotel. (Here’s a map)

Mobile : Its all about location, location, location!

With most new smartphone devices - and even websites - offering a combination of GPS- and cell-strength-based Location Based Services (LBS), and with serious carrier support for LBS-based value added services too, many feel that all the components are in place to allow the commercial potential of LBS to finally begin to be realised. Navigation is an obvious application, but increasingly sophisticated service location, social and marketing services are blossoming with a plethora of location-aware web and smartphone apps already released and out there.

[There's even a service for the Blackberry called Citysense that goes the other way - combining realtime and historical GPS and WiFi access data to give you a real-time map of social activity in San Francisco - very useful for finding the latest hotspots.]

In this Mobile Monday Sydney LBS + WEB 2.0 special, we ask

• Are location based services finally growing up? What are the leading business models ?
• What are mobile operators doing to seed the opportunities provided through LBS-enabled mobile marketing and services?
• How important will mobile social networking be to the growth of LBS? And vice versa ?
• What is happening in the LBS & Mobile Marketing space in other markets ?

To answer these questions and more, we’ve got

• Vodafone’s Pocket Life trial team - www.pocketlife.com
• Adam Dunne reviewing the latest location-based campaigns around the world, and
• Our speakers in a panel discuss developments and directions.

More on Vodafone’s Pocket Life Trial

A major international carrier closely collaborating with a team of much smaller, local developers to innovate on a new product ? Wow sounds fantastic ! We’re very excited to have the cross-disciplinary / cross-functional team behind Pocket Life :

• Hanno Blankenstein, Head of Innovation at Vodafone Australia and team lead of Pocket Life, together with his colleagues
• Alexander Koeppen, CMO of Pocketweb and cross platform coordinator for Pocket Life, and
  
• Aaron Hoye, CTO of Mokoki and head of the mobile development team behind Pocket Life

to discuss their innovation strategy, approach and experiences developing the new Pocket Life LBS-aware Web and Mobile Social Networking service - and the opportunities and challenges of collaborating together to drive a commercial outcome.

More about Adam Dunne and Aura Interactive

Adam Dunne from Aura Interactive is one of Australia’s most awarded mobile marketers and a renowned expert on proximity and location-based marketing. He’s been on the road in the US and South-East Asia and is going to share some of the LBS + Mobile Web 2.0 work going on in these markets with us.

LBS & Web 2.0 Panel

These presentations will be followed by an LBS panel where you’ll get your chance to debate the questions above - and examine the Web 2.0 / LBS mashups we’re currently seeing sprining up online and via the latest smartphone devices.

DON’T FORGET - It’s at the SKY ROOM upstairs at the Blacket Hotel

As ever, promises to be a fun + entertaining night. Bring your mobiles and business cards, and RSVP now to secure your place. Mobile Monday Sydney is a free event.

:: 6.30pm for 7pm start, Mon 2nd March 2009
:: @ The Privilege Bar (part of the Blacket Hotel)
:: Entry on King Street via the Blacket Hotel. Map here.

Its a 3G Mobile World

This month, we’re going to cover a lot of ground - as befits a country now boasting over 8 million 3G subscribers with growth rates on track to hit 10 million+ this year.

Mobile TV & Video :-

• Carriers continue to heavily promote on-deck video content services instore,
• So-called smartphone devices like the iPhone and Android now boast deep integration with internet video giant Youtube,
• End-customers are increasingly savvy about off- and on-deck data charge regimes - and more of them are equipped with data plans
• and mobile video and marketing specialists like Gravity, Hyperfactory, TigerSpike, Streamezzo, and QMCodes continue to drive advertisers and publishers to take the plunge.

With mobile video becoming increasingly mainstreamed in this way, what does this year hold !?

• Hear from Ben Haylock, Manager of Mobile TV and Video at Telstra Media who will be focusing on Mobile Experience,

followed by our panellists

• Tamzin Taylor, Category Manager, Mobile TV & Entertainment at Hutchison 3G
• Geoffrey Handley, Co-Founder & New Business Director Asia-Pacific, The Hyperfactory
• Manny Christophidis, APAC Sales Manager for Streamezzo,
• Ben Rolleston, Manager Optus Mobile TV, and of course
• Ben Haylock, Manager Mobile TV and Video at Telstra Media.

Also, Medicine :-

• Philip May from Wave Medical who’ll be talking about Mobile Applications in Medicine. What’s that got to do with Mobile TV ? Nothing. But we like to keep you on your toes here at Mobile Monday Sydney!

PLUS a Great lucky door prize

… from Web Directions South - one FREE PASS worth $550 to their Creating Mobile 2.0 Web Apps workshop, valid in either of their Sydney (April 24th) or Melbourne (Tues 21st) legs of their 2009 Roadshow, (thanks Maxine!).

RSVP here to secure your place.
Come along and find out more with your peers in the Sydney Mobile and Wireless industry.

Mobile Monday Sydney is a free Monthly networking event organised by Shane Williamson, Oliver Weidlich, Gia Villondo and Tim Parsons, part of the global Mobile Monday family. E-mail <firstname> @ mobilemondaysydney.com to get in touch with project presentation requests, sponsorship offers and speaking engagements.

:: 6.30pm for 7pm, Mon 1st December 2008
:: Sky Room @ The Blacket Hotel
:: Entry on King Street via the Blacket Hotel.

FREE DRINKS : For the first 100
CHRISTMAS FOOD : for the hungriest mobilist
NO AGENDA, NO POWERPOINTS : hey its a party!

with support from s2m - thanks guys !

DON’T FORGET - It’s at the SKY ROOM

Entry via the Blacket Hotel Lobby on 70 King Street, Sydney : Map here.

As ever, promises to be a fun + entertaining night. RSVP now to secure your place. Mobile Monday Sydney is a free event.

Mobile Monday Sydney is proud to promote this extremely timely Web 2.0 / Marketing 2.0 / IT 2.0 event encompassing Social media for marketing, business and government.

“Unravel the mysteries of web 2.0 as leading executives from enterprise marketing and government demonstrate the opportunities and challenges awaiting you in the second generation of web based communities.

“With the explosion of interest in the business models driving the internet economy, this event will establish the commercial offerings social media can bring to enterprise, marketers and government.

“Offering Keynote insight from the industry’s leading experts, social media campaign studies from corporate marketers and collaboration case studies from enterprise and government, this 2 day streamed event will promote your understanding of how all areas of the traditional economy are benefiting from the revolution in social participation and collaboration.

“How will you use the power of web 2.0?”

International Keynote Speakers

• Richard B. Kimber, Global CEO, Friendster
• Paul Slakey, Director Asia Pac. & Latin America, Google
• Rebekah Horne, Managing Director, UK & Europe, MySpace
• Ian Stewart, Senior VP, MTV International

Keynote Speakers

• Ross Ackland, Deputy Director, World Wide Web Consortium
• John Reynaldo, Brand Manager, Smirnoff
• Tony Thomas, Founder, The Population
• Gary Hayes, Director LAMP and Head of Virtual Worlds, The Project Factory
• Kasia Wallis, Online Communications Manager, Earth Hour
• Chris Knowles, Web Manager, Heinz Australia
• Rob Doughty, National Manager, Application, Infrastructure and Middleware Branch, Centrelink
• Dheeraj Chowdhury, Assistant Director, CLI, Department of Education NSW
• Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research
• Leigh Kostiainen, Founder, Grandparents Network & Hire My Mum

Mobile Monday Member’s Discount !

Mention Mobile Monday when you book to receive a AU$200 discount ! Visit the conference site to find out more.

:: 6.30pm for 7pm, Mon 3rd November 2008
:: The Privilege Bar (part of the Blacket Hotel)
:: Entry on George St., (corner George and King.) Map here.

Sponsored By Windows Mobile
Despite the Global Financial Crisis, its exciting times in the world of mobile - and Windows Mobile’s strategy and plans are no exception. They’re “Innovating from Enterprise to Consumer apps… Online to Mobile apps…” and have details about what their partnership with Samsung means for Australian businesses and consumers.

Monday’s Event will Feature

• Industry Keynote from our Sponsor Windows Mobile and Samsung: “From Enterprise to consumer, partnering for success in the smartphone market.”

:: 6.30pm for 7pm, Mon 13th October 2008
:: The Privilege Bar (part of the Blacket Hotel
:: Entry on George St., (corner George and King.) Map here.

iPhone App Development - sponsored by SMSPoll
The final part of our series on Mobile Futures has us taking a close look at an exciting explosion in innovation and opportunity : the iPhone Mobile App Store phenomenon.

With event sponsorship by recent Pitch NSW ‘08 winners SMSPoll - thanks guys !

Mobile App Stores - Critical to Device Success?
Arguably pioneered by Nokia under a different (albeit clumsier guise), the App Store Concept has been a stellar overnight success for Apple via its iPhone+iTunes platform.

“In its first month, Apple’s App Store sold more than 60 million programs, pulling in an average of $1 million per day…” source: WSJ, Mon Aug 11, 2008,

The iPhone App Store let’s you buy everything from humble widget-style services to full-3D haptic-controlled computer games direct from an icon on the iPhone touchscreen (and also lets you pay using your iTunes account details). You can then manage and backup your purchases the next time you sync your music and photos via iTunes. We’ve tried it - its seamless. No wonder its been a roaring success.

Some grumbles have been heard from developers about Apple’s ‘mysterious black box app approvals process’ of course - something Google is already noting is an out-of-the-box advantage of Android and their much anticipated App store. You gotta love competition.

iPhone Web Apps - Design, Code, & Profit
We thought the best way to get up-close to this ‘phenomenon’ is to get some pals from MoMo to share their journey in this exciting space - so to that end we’re excited to welcome the experienced iPhone dev team from Key Options Development, consisting of

Marcus Schappi – Sweeper
Tim Chandler – Coder

who’ll be talking about their experiences with developing iPhone Apps, including the Qantas app available in the iTunes store now, via these themes :
Design
• The Three Rules of Designing iPhone Web Apps

Code (Tim)
• Taking advantage of the iPhone

and Profit (Marcus)
• App Store Top 100 Calculations.

Presentations and discussions will be ably compered by Mobile Monday Sydney’s own Oliver Weidlich, himself something of an iPhone app design guru.

Bring your mobiles & business cards
Should be a fascinating night with demos, stories from the cutting-edge, and fascinating personalities and people to meet. Come along and meet your peers in the Sydney mobile and wireless industry! Entry is free, but to guarantee your place click here to RSVP.

:: 6.30pm for 7pm, Mon 4th August 2008
:: The Privilege Bar (part of the Blacket Hotel
:: Entry on George St., (corner George and King.) Map here.

What’s coming up next !?
Okay so by now we’re all over the iPhone 3G right ? Hmm maybe not. Looks like we’re at the beginning of something big – and we’re not just talking about the fight brewing over mobile data charges.

This month and over the next few Mobile Monday Sydney events, we’re going to be taking a look at where things are heading in the mobile world - with some of Australia and the World’s best thinkers about connected, mobile digital society.

Introducing Xumii
Founded in San Francisco by Australian entrepreneur Jennifer Zanich, Xumii was an award-winning mobile internet application before it’s beta version was even launched.

One of this year’s VentureBeat DigitalMedia “Mobile Beat” Top 30 picks (along with another early MoMo Sydney guest Mig33), Xumii “gives you a centralized way to aggregate contacts and feeds from your social networks and IM, and stay connected by sharing messages, widgets and photos via IM, threaded chat, groups and mobile walls.”

Come along and hear all about one hottest new mobile apps out there, and hear Jennifer’s story about what its like to get venture funding for a mobile app company in Silicon Valley!

And of course, Google
We’re delighted to have the company of senior product manager Justin Baird from Google Australia, to tell us more about Google’s vision for the mobile internet – and of course remind us of how an Australian team gave birth to the technology that became Google Maps.

He’s promised to “pull some rabbits out of the hat” so we’re guessing there’ll be a fair bit about Google’s ideas for the future mobile web experience. Are you holding onto your seats out there !?

Bring your mobiles and business cards
Should be a fun night with lots of opportunities to meet new people, make personal and professional contacts, and be inspired. Come along and meet your peers in the Sydney mobile and wireless industry. Entry is free, but to guarantee your place click here to RSVP.

:: 6.30pm for 7pm, Mon 7th July 2008
:: The Privilege Bar (part of the Blacket Hotel
:: Entry on George St., (corner George and King.) Map here.

The Road to Damascus
Its been a long, slow road moving beyond the ‘on pack promotion’ or ‘tv-voting’ style thinking typical of the last 10 years of Mobile marketing, but if entries in last year’s ADMA Awards and the frenzy (hype?) around the release of the iPhone are anything to go buy, smart marketers will soon be moving many new “direct, targeted and personal engagement via mobile” ideas out of the ‘experimental’ budget and into the ‘prime channel’ budget.

Or will they ?

Joining us to discuss

• Cliff Rosenberg, Mobile Marketing Awards Chairman
• Adam Dunne, MD of MMA ADMA awards winner Aura Interactive
• Melissa Adameitis, Client Services Director from another MMA ADMA awards winner Tigerspike
• David Hayes, Head of Sales & Marketing at mobile marketing pioneer, IDS.

Exploring these topics
We’ll be covering recent case-studies in successful mobile and mobile-integrated campaigns, recent industry and consumer developments (think iPhone!), and new sponsorship and marketing opportunities opened up by the rapid mobilisation of internet services.

• Is it still an uphill battle getting clients to mainstream mobile in their campaign thinking?
• Are data charges still a barrier to consumer acceptance of creative?
• Global ad agencies talk about being integrated across digital and mobile, is it true ?
• Are new pathways like code readers and Bluetooth transforming customer expectations ?
• What impact would mobile full web browsing have on the types of campaigns digital and mobile marketers can run ?

Asking the questions and sparking debate will be MoMo’s own Tim Parsons.

Bring your mobiles and business cards
Should be an interesting night with some great networking opportunities alongside your peers in the mobile industry. Entry is free, but to guarantee your place click here to RSVP.