CraigDalton.com

Friday, May 9, 2008

My Social Times Podcast

Check out my podcast on the Social Times with Nick O'Niell
http://www.socialtimes.com/2008/05/interview-with-craig-dalton-of-hook-mobile/

Interview With Craig Dalton of Hook Mobile
Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 9th, 2008 11:19 AM

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with Craig Dalton of Hook Mobile. Hook Mobile has developed a platform which helps integrate MMS technology with social applications. They’ve already launched one application on Facebook called PicToPhone. The application enables users to view their friends photos on a daily basis through MMS technology.

The application has been used as a demo so that developers can see how to integrate MMS technology into their own applications. Throughout the podcast, Craig and I discussed the various challenges facing the convergence of social and mobile technology. We also discussed the various ways that businesses are trying to monetize applications in the space.

Just yesterday, Nielsen released statistics that in the first quarter of 2008, 1.6 percent of all mobile users in the United States had accessed a social network via their mobile device. While it is only 1.6 percent, this space is growing rapidly and could become one of the most dominant areas for social technology to expand into. Listen to my interview with Craig Dalton below to hear more about how the social web can leverage mobile technologies.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Why MMS? Just some thoughts I had documented for a client

MMS is an evolved form of SMS. It is a technology that enables the creation and sharing of messages with rich content. MMS-compatible devices can send and receive multimedia messages, such as graphics, video and audio clips, etc. MMS messages can convey content up to 250 KB today on a cross carrier basis with those thresholds improving quickly.

MMS has several significant advantages over WAP-Push/SMS delivery.

- MMS is the most efficient way to deliver multimedia content as the content is encapsulated in the message itself. Users simply need to know how to hit a single soft key button to open a message. Once the message is opened, the multimedia content can be viewed / played.
- MMS’ can be single images, multi-image slideshow or full motion video today.
- MMS is a better user experience. Users can watch video, scroll through slideshows and read inputted text within the standard MMS client on their handset.
- Pricing. MMS is typically subscribed to within a message bucket or can be used on a per use basis. Unlike WAP-Push which requires both a messaging and data plan, MMS only requires a capable device as users can make single use purchase decisions.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Back to blogging

Its been a long time since I've actually written anything on the blog and even then you could barely call it writing...more posting. I been getting into microblogging via Twitter which has renewed my interest in the whole concept. I'm going to start sharing some more verbose thoughts on this blog to cover some of my interests in mobile and social media along side a bit about my racing activities.