5 Must-have Android Apps

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So there’s no surprise that I’m a huge Android fan. I love my DroidX. So much so that I cradle it as I lay sleeping at night. No kidding.

I keep receiving requests for favorite Android apps, so here it goes!

1. TweetCaster by Handmark
I love this Twitter app! I have tried to use TweetDeck, but it constantly crashes or hangs. And it’s sloooow. I just haven’t been able to get used to HootSuite. I’ve tried since it first came out for the desktop and we just don’t jive. UberTwitter is great for the Blackberry, but you don’t have lists. Well, not easily. But TweetCaster… TweetCaster is awesome. Plus I love the cute little birdie sitting on top of the microphone when it launches!
Seriously, here’s why I love TweetCaster:
– Integrated Twitter Lists
– Facebook Integration
– Multi-account management
– RT with comments as an option
– Awesome graphical interface that makes it easy to tweet, read @replies and DMs, view lists, and quickly review favorites.
– Easy to view tweeter profiles
– Ability to share a tweet with other networks. (!!!)

2. Advanced Task Killer
The debate is out whether you need a task killer or not for Android.. My experience is yes, download a task killer to save your battery from some unnecessary stress. This app allows you to quickly disable specific applications running at any given time, or better yet, disable all apps directly from the Home screen.
Why I love this app:
– Easy to use
– I can choose the apps and services to stop
– I can turn off all apps with one tap of the Android dude on the Home screen
– The ignore list let’s me choose which apps to never turn off
– Ability to choose the auto kill level
– Security controls

3. Dolphin Browser
It’s a browser for Android. Yes, I’m a Firefox die hard, but even this foxy lady couldn’t pass up the uber coolness of Dolphin. It’s choc full of addons that will make your browsing experience on your Android device so much fun, that you won’t want to log on to your computer.
Why I love this app:
– The addons, especially the download page to PDF addon and read me later addon.
– Multi-tabbed browsing
– Easy to use & stable

4. Google Goggles
No, this isn’t a word twist, it’s a real application. A cool one at that.
Leave it to Google to come up this amazing technology. Simply take a picture of something and immediately search the internet based on what’s in the picture. Want to know more about a landmark you are strolling by? Take a snapshot, and Google Goggles goes to work, bringing back querries of webpages about the landmark.
Totally cool.
Why I love this app:
– It’s the lazy mans tour guide
– It’s a new way of searching the internet
– Take photos of landmarks, text in books, a label on a shirt or pair of shoes, artwork, wine… the possibilities are endless.

5. Barcode Scanner
Aside from the silly graphic affiliated with this app, it’s a pretty cool little free app. Simply aim your Android phones’ camera at a barcode or QR Code and bring up information about the product. Cool, yes?
Why I love this app:
– quickly search product reviews (barcodes)
– Find the lowest price of a product (barcodes)
– Use it to read QR Codes for URLs, contact info, and calendar events. Um, awesome!

There you have it. My top 5 Android Apps that you need right now.
Stay tuned for my favorite Android games.

What are your favorite Android apps?

Android: Full Steam Ahead

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But of course there's an android lego dude!

Today, Mashable.com released unofficial numbers around Android apps. According to the article, the Android app market has now surpassed 200,000 apps. This is astounding, given that it took 2 years to get to 100,000 apps, and a mere 2 months to reach the 200,000 mark.

This is interesting, especially since Apple’s app store has over 300,000 apps. It’s also an interesting stat given the tight requirements the Android market has. An app can only appear in the Android market after it has reached a specific download quantity and satisfaction rating. This is not necessarily the case with all apps in the Apple app store.

This has everyone asking, “How did Android get here so fast?”

Well, I have a few opinions…

1. Look back roughly 2 years ago and there was a Blackberry boom, along with the iPhone boom.
Within the past two years, Blackberry has done little to development its platform, other than coming out with a clugy touchscreen model. iPhone is riddled with instability complaints of customers being forced to manage phone calls on the well-known problematic AT&T network.
The average contract runs roughly 2 years, but most can opt out of a contract or upgrade the phone after 16-18 months. Do you see the correlation?

2. Android is compatible with a plethora of phone carriers, the primary one being Verizon.
When we buy a phone, we want to be able to use the phone to talk to people. Yes, we want apps and texting, but we want to talk on the phone! The Android does this well, on all of the phone carrier networks. It’s stable.

3. Android has had a wicked smart marketing campaign this year.
Unlike iPhone’s, most Android phones were offered at a discount with a 2-year contract. I paid about $200 and change for my Droid at Best Buy.
The advertising on tv, in print publications, and online has been nothing short of awesome. From the robot fingers crawling across the touch screen to the little green widget dude that reminds me of a lego guy are incredibly creative.

4. Android was diversified out of the gate.
It wasn’t just one Android phone at the selection counter. Buyers had many different types of phones to choose from based on their smart phone habits. So smart.
And, like I’ve already mentioned, multiple phones compatible with many different phone carrier networks.

The momentum of Android isn’t slowing any day soon, either. As more people switch from standard cell phones to smart phones, and as iPhone’s stay stuck on AT&T and Blackberry’s remain boring, Android is taking advantage of the market and is headed for smart phone domination.
Muahawhahahaaaaa.

Out of curiosity, why do you think Android is taking off so fast?

BOOM! Mobile Marketing Just Blew Up

Six months ago, if you had said that mobile marketing would be exploding by the end of the year, I probably would have raised an eyebrow, gone into some sort of debate, and ultimately said, “You are crazy. It needs another 12 months..”

WRONG.
(Yes, I admitted I was wrong. It doesn’t happen often, so take it while I am offering it..)

Over the past few years, mobile marketing has been limited to the iTunes app market for iphone users. Blackberry dabbled in this space fairly well in 2009 & 2010, and I thought for sure Blackberry was going to be the force to contend with iphones, especially when they came out with the touch screen devices. Last Christmas my mom bought a Droid and I saw that it had potential, but no where near the realized potential it has landed in the past 6 months alone.

Yes, I had Droid envy. When I lost my job, and thus my blackberry, I went through withdrawal. Like cocaine addicts, shaking.. trembling.. feeling guilt for not checking in on Foursquare… not knowing what was happening on Facebook .. without access to Pandora…unable to upload photos to Flickr… It was bad. I finally marched into the Best Buy store and bought the Droid X. No 12-step program was needed, just one single, expensive (for the unemployed) step.

This life changing moment made me realize how powerful mobile devices have become and how integral they are in our world, especially for the connected folks. Like a child on Christmas Day, I tore into the package, immediately found the Android Market and furiously began download app after app. (Check back later for my list of favorite Android Apps!) I was caught up in the whirlwind of being connected again. Not only that though, but being exposed to the whole new world of mobile marketing. Sorry Blackberry, but you lost the game to get you a ticket to the playoffs. Having been a Blackberry user, I was mostly accessing work-related stuff – email, documents, texts, phone calls, Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook.

QR Code for this blog

That all leads me to where the mobile world is today. Over the past 2 months, I’ve been diving into a 500′ deep ocean of possibilities. I’ve learned about QR Codes, SnapTag, Coupon Finders, real time survey tools, Angry Birds and so much more. The way that we buy as consumers has changed, just about overnight. Our whole shopping experience is defined by a coupon we can find on our phones, compare prices of a specific product just by taking a picture of a bar code, enter sweepstakes without having to fill out a single form or having to buy a product. We don’t even need to carry all of those “VIP Discount Cards” with us since there’s an app that stores all of them for you – all you have to do is scan your phone. This is incredible to me.

Game Changer. A PHONE has become a game changer, instantly.

My favorite mobile thingy is QR Codes. This long overdue technology is going to bring new life back into print advertising and finally bring a bi-directional communication to the reader. YES! Advertising is not yet dead, folks. I can flip through a magazine, get an email, or receive a flyer or sell-sheet that has a QR Code on it. With a quick photo snap of the code with my camera, I’m taken to a website or landing page about that product.. and hopefully the page has a coupon or sweepstakes for me to engage with the company instantly. COOL.

A flavor of QR Codes is SnapTags, and Coors Light is bringing it mainstream. Their new packaging as a ramp up to Super Bowl commercials offers a SnapTag of which you can snap a photo and enter a contest. Can you see it now? Mobilites going through the cases of Coors Light in a liquor store near you to try and win the grand prize… Genius!

Imagine standing in a store, looking at a shiny new big screen TV, then looking at the price tag. You think to yourself, “Gee, I wonder if that’s the cheapest price out there for this model TV…” Then you set off for the next store, and the next, and the next… trying to find the best price. You may even check a few websites to see if they have a cheaper price, or you may stalk your inbox to see if the next email from a store has a coupon for the TV you want to buy. That’s a lot of work to buy a product. Marketers haven’t made it easy for we price-conscious shoppers. Hey, guess what… there’s an app for that! There are dozens of apps that do this, but they all essentially do the same thing. You find the bar code on the TV box, whip out your phone, launch the app, then snap a photo of the bar code. The little elves inside search frantically far and wide to find the cheapest price for the exact same model TV. Within nanoseconds, you will know whether you are looking at the cheapest price, shipping/delivery included, for your new TV, Super Bowl ready. That’s amazing to me.

I don’t see this runaway train stopping any day soon. Mobile marketing is a force to be reckoned with, especially if you haven’t found a way to make it fit into your 2011 plan yet. If you aren’t ready to take the leap with QR codes (By the way, they are great for business cards to link to your Linkedin page, a landing page on the website for networking events, and so much more!), or an app isn’t right for your business, start with mobile messaging. I’m using Mobile Scoops to run the AMA Baltimore mobile marketing initiatives. We send out notices of upcoming events, coupons for future events, Trivia Tuesday’s, surveys, and sweepstakes at events. That’s pretty daggone cool. Our engagement quotient is rapidly rising, and I can’t wait until we have more users interacting. It’s going to be so much fun!

I want to know… What’s your favorite flavor of mobile marketing? How are you using it now, or plan to in the new year?

Marketing 2011: Predictions from the Field

So we just read about my takes on 2010…. onto 2011.

No doubt that 2011 will be a game changing year, again. It will be interesting to see how the trends in marketing evolve, how the new technologies still to come will play the game, and how businesses will respond to the constant change in the industry.

Here’s what I predict:

1. Technology is going to fuel innovation
Duh. It’s going to challenge marketers to stay on their toes and adapt to everything that is still to come in social media, mobile marketing, print publications, advertising and more. I can’t wait!
If you aren’t integrated, you are going to fall behind next year.

2. Social Media will stay right where it is.
I don’t think social media will play any bigger role in the marketing plan than it did in 2010… except for those companies who have yet to jump on the bandwagon.
It will however, give new rise to the power of the customer. More customers will turn to social media for support, engagement, involvement, information, and more.

3. Mobile Marketing
This is on the cusp of being something big and cool. I think.
We have to work a few things out so it’s less of a nuisance, and we probably need some spam rules put in place.. but I see cool things happening.

PLUG: The American Marketing Association, Baltimore Chapter has just started mobile marketing. You can jump on the bandwagon to receive alerts about upcoming events, coupons to events, trivia, sweepstakes, and more!
Text AMA Baltimore to 34681 to join in the fun!

4. Sharing is caring.
Geo-location check ins were big in 2010, and expect this to expand in 2011. Check ins for televisions, hobbies, books, etc..Think of Oprah’s book club… but online, as an online community aggregator. We will read a book on our iPad, Kindle, Nook, Droid, or whatever, and we’ll be able to interact with others reading the same book or chapter. People will unite on what is familiar and alike among each other, online. It will evolve to offline shindigs, meetups, tweetups, and whatever else you call them.
And you can bet there will be an app for that.

5. Integrated marketing will remain popular. And necessary.
Yes, we will still have print advertising, only it will become bidirectional with QR codes, iPad, and other electronic reading devices. (See #4 above.)
Yes, we will still use email marketing. It’s cost effective and we can measure ROI. Oh, and we have most customers’ email addresses from our online content development and communication strategy, right?
Yes, SEO will still rule, but paid search will die. It’s sort of like paying for a product review. Dead.
Yes, social media will have it’s place.
Yes, events will make it in the plan too. Tradeshows, not so much. Think micro tradeshows… as tweetups/meetups.

6. The control remains in the hands of the customer.
There is no way around this, and for good reason. Marketers will need to be wherever the customer expects us to be, and we don’t have a whole lot of control over the message. Customers will be like walking billboards. Word-of-mouth marketing becomes king (despite many people still thinking that content is king).

There you have it.

What do you think about 2011?

What’s in your 2011 plan?

What was in your 2010 plan that isn’t in your 2011 plan?

Inuring minds want to know!