They say time flies when you’re having fun. That said, garden variety “fun” doesn’t hold a candle to being the #1 mobile social networking developer for the top two carriers in the US. 2009 didn’t just “fly” - it broke the sound barrier.
Let’s dial the clock back: In January of last year, we were roughly two days into a soft launch of our “Notifier” product, a mobile application that combines access to social networks and live news feeds, with AT&T Wireless. To the casual onlooker, it was a low-key affair; but for iSkoot it marked a major milestone - our first foray out of “mobile Skype” territory and into the uncharted domain of integrated mobile social networking.
In the spring, Notifier found an invaluable home in AT&T’s new initiative, the AT&T Apps Beta program. Notifier was made available to a growing group of AT&T Beta testers, and we were able to tweak the application to carrier-grade quality based on candid, detailed feedback from actual AT&T customers.
In July, our new, improved and freshly re-branded app became ready for prime time, and our fine partners at AT&T introduced AT&T Social Net, the first-ever AT&T-branded Facebook + MySpace + Twitter application, to the world for the low, low price of, well, free. A big day for “firsts,” if we do say so ourselves.
AT&T Social Net launched for AT&T’s coolest devices, like the LG Neon and the Samsung Impression. Since then we’ve had been adding more and more devices to the supported handsets list, and even got AT&T Social Net preloaded on the Samsung Mythic and the Samsung Flight!
Along the way, we’ve been continually grateful for and humbled by the tremendous level of support AT&T has shown AT&T Social Net, from cameos on the AT&T Wireless homepage…
…to uber-slick window displays….
…to prime-time TV spots featuring college basketball star-gone-pro Tyler Hansbrough:
Fairly awesome stuff.
The launch with AT&T was one of iSkoot’s biggest achievements to date. So when the opportunity to work with Verizon popped up right on its heels, we were warmed up and ready to swing for the fence. iSkoot partnered with Verizon to launch Social Beat, a mobile application featuring Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and news plus Gmail and Google Talk, in mid November. Like AT&T, Verizon also made the bold move of making the application available for free, and Verizon customers appeared to be pretty enthused with the offering, if word on Twitter is an indication:
After offering Social Beat for top Verizon devices like the LG EnV and the LG Chocolate 3, Verizon followed up with a little holiday treat for Verizon’s “Prosumer” contingent: Social Beat was offered as a virtual preload on the Verizon BlackBerry Curve 2.
And then, wouldn’t you know it? It’s 2010: a brand new year, and what seems like an awfully long way out from the days the company known for mobile VoIP had a two-day old soft launch on their hands. We’d like to personally thank every single person at AT&T and Verizon who made 2009 such a groundbreaking year for iSkoot - we’re immensely excited about products, the partnerships and the momentum we’ve built.
We look forward with great anticipation and equal motivation to an exciting new year ahead. Stay tuned: more exiting news is coming down the pike all the time.
It’s been just under 5 months since AT&T first introduced AT&T Social Net to the world. We aren’t at liberty to divulge details, but let’s just say…the world noticed. As we here at iSkoot suspected, there was a heck of a lot of demand for mobile Facebook, Twitter and MySpace from people who didn’t want to pay boatloads for a top dollar space-age mobile handset. To the fearless users of the inaugural AT&T Social Net: We thank you. AND…we’ve got a little something new for ya.
Meet…the new version.
Veteran ATTSN users: You came, you talked, we listened. And now, a better-than-ever new build of AT&T Social Net is available for grabs at the AT&T MEdia Mall! We added some extra zip to make it faster, and threw in a few new bells and whistles based specifically on your feedback to enhance the entire mobile social experience. In no particular order, and in this blogger’s humble opinion, here are a handful of AT&T Social Net’s coolest new adds:
1. Retweeting
Spotted a shareworthy update in your Twitter feed? Now you can retweet posts from your Twitter feed directly from AT&T Social Net. It’s a one-click maneuver, and it’s awesome.
2. Read your @replies
Now there’s a whole tab in the Twitter section devoted exclusively to @replies. If anyone’s talking at you or about you on Twitter, now you’ll be the first to know.
3. Poke ‘em, like em, messege ‘em and more
Now ALL the stuff you wanna do on Facebook is done completely within the app. Like, all of it. Want to send your friend a message? Do it in the app. Want to “like” or comment on a post? Do that in the app too. Basically, you’ll never go out to the browser again, unless you want to look at something old or obscure. Jackpot!
4. See who’s commenting, and who likes what
When a post shows up in your feed or on your wall, you can not only read the update, now you can read what other people comment on it and see who gives it the ole Facebook thumbs up.
5. More News feeds
Now you can choose from over 50 different news sources! We’ve added Huffington Post, The Economist, Rotten Tomatoes, TMZ, Dictionary.com and a bunch of others. Get your news on.
6. Tie: MySpace Comments or MySpace Inbox
Now you can view both within AT&T Social Net. Which is cooler? I’m still on the fence. But I’m also glad they’re both in there. Now I can tell people to start sending me messages on MySpace again (which, as you can see from the video, hadnt been happening lately.) Amen.
Seeing is believing folks, so make for the AT&T MEdia Mall now and treat yourself to the new and improved AT&T Social Net. We think you’ll like what you see!
Attention holiday shoppers: Black Friday draws near, and Verizon’s new BlackBerry Curve 2 just hit shelves nationwide. This new phone has quite the sell. It’s slick, it’s speedy, and it’s got iSkoot’s Social Beat preloaded on the device!
That’s right folks - the social media app known for promoting an “all phones created equal” world just made the leap to BlackBerry. Don’t worry, we’re still holding true to our smarter-phone philosophy. But we’re also betting that Social Beat’s integrated, all-in-one social media experience has plenty to offer a BlackBerry contingent that values simplicity, efficiency and of course, connectivity.
That’s why Social Beat is now exclusively Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 2 users with the “Prosumer” package. Prosumers can find Social Beat preloaded in the BlackBerry’s Applications folder. Just click on the Social Beat icon to fire up installation and launch the app.
The new BlackBerry Curve 2 flavor of Social Beat comes with most of the usual bells and whistles, including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Google Talk and News feeds. Plus (because BlackBerry is swanky) you can move the Social Beat icon to your BlackBerry home screen for easier-than-ever access to all your favorite stuff.
More Verizon BlackBerrys will come equipped with Social Beat in the coming months, so be sure to check back here or tune in to the Social Beat Facebook fan page to stay on top of the latest news.
In the meantime, for you Black Friday veterans in search of the essential one-stop shopping solution, look no further than Social Beat on the new Verizon BlackBerry Curve 2.
We here at iSkoot are VERY pleased to introduce Social Beat, our latest product now available exclusively for Verizon customers in the Verizon Media Store.
In iSkoot’s latest charge to bring internet goodies and social media magic to all mobile phones, Social Beat delivers the top social networks - Facebook, Twitter and MySpace - plus Gmail, Google Talk and RSS feeds from over 50 leading sources on the web. It’s our most advanced feature set to date: users can check their email, IM with friends, comment on, “like,” retweet and @reply to the latest updates in their social networks, view messages on Facebook & MySpace, read @replies on Twitter and get feeds from New York Times, Huffington Post, TMZ, Rotten Tomatoes and Dictionary.com - all within the Social Beat application.
Want to see for yourself? Let us show you around:
Social Beat has launched on 15 top devices at Verizon, with many more coming down the pipeline. For the current list of supported handsets, click here.
Social Beat is iSkoot’s latest foray into the world of integrated social media on mobile, but it isn’t our first. This launch follows the launch of AT&T Social Net, a mobile application that iSkoot developed for AT&T that because available to AT&T’s customers last July.
What’s next on the iSkoot agenda? Only time (and perhaps the occasional blog post) will tell…
In the meantime, check out the newest addition to the iSkoot product family. We’re all very proud of Social Beat and would love to hear what users have to say.
The GSMA’s Mobile Innovation Grand Prix competition aims to spotlight promising entrepreneurs from small and medium-sized companies that bring innovative new products and services to market. GSMA teamed up with US-based investment bank Rutberg & Company to host the competition’s Americas leg (Rutberg does mergers & acquisitions advisory and private capital raising services for companies in wireless and digital media), and the next round is coming up fast!
On iSkoot’s Grand Prix to-do list:
1. Shine up our presentation skills (after a nonstop Fall tour ’round the trade show circuit, I think Mark’s still good and loose.)
2. Head to Redwood City on Dec 1st
3. Go toe-to-toe with 9 other Americas finalists in a round of presentations to a panel of industry experts!
Two of the ten finalists will go on to compete in the final round of the tourney at GSMA’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next February. Only one company will bring home the title! Can iSkoot go the distance? There’s only one way to find out. On to Redwood City!
Wrapping up the iSkoot Fall Trade Show Tour, Jake sets his sights on SoCal this week for a Thursday, Oct 22 speaking gig at Digital Hollywood Fall in Santa Monica. (We know - first South Beach and now Santa Monica? Jake sure can pick ‘em.)
Now there is a new world of mobile and broadband interaction, familiar to almost everyone — Mini-Apps, Social Apps and Widgets. For the uninitiated, the Mini-App is miniature application or website that resides as a component element on a user’s desktop, social media page or mobile device. A button on a user desktop may open multiple Apps, so that in a flash, mini-apps open to reveal up-to-the minute stocks, the weather, airline arrivals, a dictionary, your photo album — virtually anything, any data type — can be formatted into a Mini-App. Once the user gets the hang of it, life without mini-apps is impossible. Mini-apps are as addictive as email. Mini-Apps are your mini-obsessions managed and delivered as desired. Add in a layer of commerce and you have a fully featured digital ecosystem. Watch out! Mini-Apps are Here!
If you’re an iSkoot fan you’ve probably advanced beyond beginner-level familiarity with the world of mobile social media, but all the more reason to get down there to see what’s coming up next. You’ll get the insider scoop from our esteemed Senior Director of Marketing, plus execs from RadioTime, Juice Wireless, Last Legion Games, PointAbout.com, and TuneWiki. The panel will be moderated by Gary Yentin, a Consultant at Global Media and Entertainment.
This is the last opportunity to see Jake Martin in the wild (for now), so make sure to stop by, tune in and say hi. The panel runs about 75 minutes and starts at 9:30am sharp on Thursday morning. See you there!
It’s Round 3 of the trade show tour: This week, Mark Jacobstein heads to San Diego to join a panel at CTIA Wireless 2009. His panel, part of CTIA’s Mobile Applications track, is assembling for a discussion called “APIs - Enabling the Future of Mobile Development.”
Mark’s participating alongside execs from CloudMade, Mashery, NewBay Software and Global IP Solutions, and each panelist will be showcasing their company’s latest and greatest application to be launched via API. The panel will be moderated by O8 advisor Hank Scorny. Things are scheduled to get started tomorrow, October 7 at 4pm PST.
The official word about the panel:
“Application Program Interface (API) is changing the speed at which applications for mobile become available. What works and what doesn’t? The common denominator is the role that APIs are facilitating a modularity that handset openness brings to the consumer choices. Panelists will talk about their newest applications being launched via APIs, the brands and products using APIs to speed up their launches and the process to work via APIs to get the apps up and running, fast.”
If you’re heading to San Diego this week, make sure you don’t miss it!
As we signposted a few weeks back, trade show season in the wireless biz is really starting to crank; here at iSkoot, we’re prepping to pack up and ship out yet another iSkoot executive to get in the mix and spread iSkoot’s unique brand of wireless wisdom.
iSkoot Senior Director of Marketing Jake Martin heads to the VON Conference and Expo in South Beach, Florida this Wednesday to participate in a panel entitled Smartphones on Steroids: Netbooks and the Next Device Wave. The panel kicks off at 10am EST (that’s this Wednesday, Sept 23) and promises to deliver a full 50 minutes of industry expertise on smartphones, laptops and how the marriage of the two is changing consumer/provider experience.
The official blurb from VON:
“As mobile phones get smarter — with multicore processors, larger screens and improved graphics — laptops are getting thinner, becoming hyper-connected “netbooks.” This convergence is shifting the way people compute and connect - and the way service providers relate to their customers and generate revenue. This session will explore the effects of the smartphone/netbook convergence on service providers’ business models, network planning and marketing.”
The discussion promises to be an interesting one, and if Jake’s past speaking record is any indication, audiences can look forward to a pretty rollicking good time.
It’s a common tale. You’re standing on the subway, juggling the coffee and the morning paper en route to work when, suddenly, he appears - the iPhone guy. Swiping his e-copy of today’s New York Times, smirking at his coworker’s latest Facebook status update. You eye your humble flip phone. Feeling a little inadequate? Fret not, frugal phone user - When iSkoot CEO Mark Jacobstein sees your inexpensive feature phone, he sees big potential.
Mark’s shared his thoughts on the subject this week as a guest blogger in Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech blog. His post “Every Phone A Smartphone” points out that while the high-end smartphone market share might be growing, advances in mobile computing - the magic that happens remotely to power cool functionality on everyday phones - are getting more and more sophisticated by the day.
According to Mark:
“Remote data centers can better manage the applications, information, and rote data crunching that smart devices require. All we’ll need is a basic Internet connection and data can be passed back and forth from the phone to the data center in near real-time, without having to bog our devices down with heavy applications and software.”
Think about the way you use your computer these days, Mark suggests to illustrate the shift. Much in the way PCs have become “terminals for accessing to Internet-based content and applications, mobile handsets will need less and less onboard capability to do the things that make them ’smart.’”
He concludes that with remote mobile computing evolving to power slimmer, smarter mobile apps, nearly any phone that can connect to the Internet can “deliver an experience that rivals today’s smart phones at a fraction of the build and materials cost.”
To read Mark’s full blog post, click here - and say goodbye to your iPhone envy.
