FCC makes U.S. ruling on marketing text messages
Mobile marketers in the US sighed a collective breath of relief last week when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a ruling in favour of SoundBite Communications, a company that runs SMS marketing programs. The FCC ruled that sending an opt-out confirmation text messages does not violate the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act.
Several companies, including AT&T and Twitter, have been threatened with lawsuits for sending this type of text message. Last year Barclays paid $8 million in an out of court settlement over a confirmatory text message. Mobile Marketing Association manager Michael Becker said the ruling is good news for marketers. “This isn’t spam, it isn’t robo dialing. It’s a permission-based marketing model. The FCC’s ruling recognized that,” he said.
India’s app market is booming
India’s mobile app industry grew 22.6% last year, making it the third-fastest growing market in the world, according to a new report by Research2Guidance. There are now 9,000 app development companies in India, most of which were launched in the last three years.
Subho Ray, president of the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of India, said the new research confirms the fast paced development those watching the Indian market have seen in recent years. “This is no surprise and rather amplifies the fact that the prerequisites of the Indian market to become one of the leading app markets are improving rapidly,” he said.
[Read more via Business-Standard]
Google Play store growing in Asia
Apple’s App store still makes four times the money the Google Play store does, but rapid growth in app revenue in Asia may soon even the playing field. According to App Annie, which provides analytics on the global app market, Google Play revenues grew 311% between January and October, while App Store revenues grew only 13%. Much of the growth can be attributed to Asia and specifically Japan where revenues for Google Play exceed those in the US for the first time in October.
Ollie Lo, vice-president of marketing for App Annie, said the Google Play store is also growing in South Korea and India, two major mobile markets. “Google Play is catching up with Apple’s App Store,” Lo said. “The Android platform is doing a good job at getting more publishers of apps.”
[Read more via Computer World]
Smartphones help TB patients in Africa
As more Africans purchase smartphones, local governments are exploring ways they can improve the health of its citizens using mobile technology. In Nigeria, the National TB and Leprosy Training Centre partnered with Abt Associates, a US company, to create a checklist for TB patients.
The program is one of several that use smartphones to solve health care problems and delivered positive results in a test period between 2010 and 2012. A study of the initiative stated, “By using smartphones on these visits to collect data on tuberculosis, the supervisors have eliminated the need for printed forms, minimized human error in data entry, reduced the lag time for getting data to policymakers and managers, and helped pinpoint ways to improve quality of care.”
