News | Phunware

Open Letter to Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and Facebook Mobile

Kyle Hall May 09

Dear Mark and Sheryl,

We have not had the opportunity to meet in person, but I would be interested in doing so if your schedules permit. Right now I know that you and your team are busy kicking off a road show that will soon result in the largest Internet IPO in the history of the world. As part of that road show, I know that one of the largest and most important topics of the institutional dialogues will center on Facebook’s market position and strategy for mobile, including its advertising centric mobile monetization initiatives. You have recently suggested that mobile is a key area of growth for Facebook and also that you intend to invest heavily in mobile rolling forward now that half of your global audience already consists of mobile users.

(more…)

It’s Time to Treat the Mobile Device as the ‘Prime’ Screen”

Kyle Hall May 09

Post from : Fierce Developer

Common sense holds that a first-rate mobile application will give the consumer an optimum user experience. That experience is influenced not only by a product’s technical features but also by the general context in which the application and the device are used.

Developers need to eliminate the PC or the TV as a reference point and instead dream up truly original, mobile ways of engaging with information and services.

Alan Knitowski, CEO and chairman of Phunware, gave FierceDeveloper a startling example of why this is important now. He said that recently a major TV brand found that 50 percent of its core demographic had never seen one of its leading TV shows on the TV and that half of the target audience was watching the show on mobile devices.

(more…)

Hola & Welcome to the Party

Gabriela Cocco-Sanchez April 10

Trending now: traditional and digital media start-ups targeting Hispanics – in English. It’s all the rage these days with YouTube launching 5 Latin channels as part of its new line up of original programming, Comcast announcing two new Latin channels in the works, NuvoTV describing itself as America’s Nu Voice, and Disney, Huffington Post and even Fox News saying “Look at me!” instead of “Mirame!”. (more…)

One Stop

Alan Knitowski March 26

Accountability is everything. Never confuse activity with results. If more than one person is in charge, then nobody is in charge. We’ve heard all of these phrases before at different points in our careers. But in the glorious world of anytime, anywhere audiences and communities, never have these phrases meant so much to those running mobile P&Ls and attempting to manage mobile businesses at the high value touch points between their corporate brands and the consumers that engage them. (more…)

Mobile Islands

Alan Knitowski February 13

As most of us have experienced first-hand, 2011 brought about a sea change migration of user traffic from online to mobile. This sea change was evident in the fourth quarter numbers recently announced by Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung amongst others in terms of both the unit shipments of smart phones and tablets and the unit downloads of applications accompanying the devices. In parallel, we are also witnessing a massive global ecosystem being built around all things mobile from accessories for the devices to content for consumption across the devices to data plans and service bundles to access the networks and clouds supporting the underlying user engagement on the devices. (more…)

The Convergence Network

Gabriela Cocco-Sanchez January 20

If the past 12 months have shown us anything, it is that we cannot overstate the importance of mobile innovation at this point. We are no longer at risk of exaggerating what a transformative, integral, powerful, world-altering agent it truly is. 2011 proved that Mobile is here to fuel every aspect of our current generation with perhaps the most rapidly-evolving technology the world has ever seen. The fruits of our collective imaginations have led to this point, where we are able to stand back for the first time – as an industry and as consumers – to envision a future with products that will both redefine and improve the way we conduct our daily lives. (more…)

CES 2012 – Multi-Screen Engagement

Eric Moujaes January 10

Phunware Demonstrates Fully Synchronized Companion Viewing Using Qualcomm Innovation Center’s AllJoyn Peer-to-Peer Technology on Snapdragon-Based Smart TV Platform

The Future of Multi-Screen, Multi-Device Engagement Now on Display

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, JANUARY 10, 2012 –Phunware, Inc., the leader in enterprise branded mobile application infrastructure and experiences, announced today that they will showcase a unique multi-screen television and tablet experience that leverages Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. (QuIC)’s AllJoyn™ peer-to-peer, proximity-based, device-to-device, communications technology running on a Snapdragon™-powered smart TV platform, along with Phunware’s Hip Hop Official original programming content and brandME™ branded mobile experience framework, during the 2012 International CES from January 10 – 13. (more…)

Always Leave Them Wanting More

Andy Greff November 29

Apple CEO Steve Jobs talks about the iCloud service at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco

The quote, “Always leave them wanting more,” is sometimes attributed to Walt Disney and other times to P.T. Barnum. Either way, the quote speaks to the showman in both. This quote is also a perfect description of how to create mobile application experiences that address the insatiable appetite of the anytime, anywhere mobile generation. Software product release methodologies in the past have tried to bundle everything up into a single release and let the user sort through the mess. Product releases were few and far between. Current data about the usage habit of mobile users suggests people are going to initially download the application because of the core utility the application provides, but they are going to continue to engage with the application based on the new features subsequently introduced. This “engagement reinforcement” can be achieved through the careful and judicious release of features every 2-3 weeks throughout the life-cycle of the Application.

Apple has perfected the “Always leave them wanting more” product methodology by incrementally rolling out new software and/or hardware features. This methodology typically results in one large hardware/software release per year and incremental releases sprinkled strategically throughout the year (e.g. White iPhone) that keep the buzz going and force users to consider their own upgrade strategy. I have my own little conundrum in trying to figure out if I should adopt the instant gratification upgrade strategy and get the 4GS for my wife or leave her on an earlier model. The core utility of why she uses the phone is for talking, texting and email. However, with the new camera and associated camera software on the Apple iPhone 4GS, the core utility has now expanded to include picture taking and video capture. Core utility is critical when trying to determine why a user might download your application and critical when deciding release schedule. (more…)

Mobile Content & Advertising

Gabriela Cocco-Sanchez November 29

The quest to create a perfect system for video content integration and interactivity on mobile is well under way. Developers, mobile operators, advertisers, media companies, content providers and small independent publishers are all taking part. Everyone is pushing each other, demanding more from one another, forming what many companies who specialize in mobile hope will resemble a unified (dare I say it?) “standard” for video content consumption. Furthermore, the hope is that this standard will look very much like what broadcast television standards are today – complete with proper encoding and formatting processes that deliver a certain level of quality, targeted advertisements and a wide range of channels that will soon emerge as full-fledged mobile television networks all vying for users’ attention to the latest “primetime” mobile series. Who knows? There may even be a mobile “sweeps” month in the works as we speak.

(more…)

PRAISE™ Mobile SDK Beta

Eric Moujaes November 17

Beta Enrollment Now Available for Carrier Class Mobile Application Development Solutions and Tools

AUSTIN, TEXAS, OCTOBER 27, 2011 – Phunware, the leader in enterprise branded mobile application infrastructure and experiences, announces the Phunware Private Beta Program for carriers, enterprises and application developers worldwide. PRAISE™ by Phunware currently powers tens of millions of mobile application downloads consuming billions of minutes of usage globally for the anytime, anywhere audiences of many of the largest and most recognizable brands in the world. PRAISE™ mobile infrastructure solutions and tools help carriers, enterprises and application developers manage and monetize their content, digital assets, audiences and communities worldwide.

“Whether your headaches are operational in nature or monetization in nature, we will assist you with increasing your return on investment in mobile and the engagement underlying your users’ experiences by leveraging the infrastructure solutions and tools that we have built and used heavily across hundreds of our own original and branded mobile applications at transactional scale,” said Luan Dang, President and CTO of Phunware. (more…)