IDC SmartPhone Forecast Up 55%

The worldwide market for smartphones is expected to grow 55.4 percent this year compared to 2009, according to a report from International Data Corp.  The figure is 10 percent higher than Framingham, Mass.-based IDC’s previous forecast and is linked to greater than expected demand for the devices.

IDC now expects mobile phone vendors to ship 269.6 million converged mobile devices this year compared to the 173.5 million units shipped in 2009. The increased market forecast for smartphones comes amid the launch of several new models, such as the BlackBerry Torch, EVO 4G, and Apple Inc.’s iPhone 4.

Read more: Smartphone market to grow 55% this year – Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

Vail Resorts App Transforms the Ski Experience

A group of Vail Resorts have launched an App along with a website that is focused on transforming the Ski experience. Cooperative Associations and National Parks can leverage ideas from this solution.  One thing that is unique here is they are using RFID chips in the ski passess to track where folks are located. When folks pass through the lift gates the gates have RFID readers built into them. Keep in mind the Ski resorts also have mobile data access unlike most national parks so the infrastructure is different. What I find exciting are the following features:

1. Find your friends: the ability see where your kids/friends in the park or on the mountain is a great feature. Then the ability to coordinate meals or plans is fantastic.

2. Badges / Pins / Rewards: the  ability to have rewards or accomplishments built into the App such as if you finish a certain number of hikes or make it to certain places like Half Dome, etc. you get a pin / badge / reward is a great way to encourage repeat visits.

3. Integration with Facebook / Twitter: Sharing badges / pins / rewards with facebook / twitter is a great way to communicate your passion for the park / sking and your accomplishments.

The downside of these features is the loss of privacy. The idea that a ski resort has all this data about your ability to ski and where you have been can be unsettling to folks. Regardless you can see the video on the new iPhone / Andriod App for Vail here:

National Geographic Big Idea: Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality & GPS Visitor Guide Apps are cousins coming from the same roots. Using location determined by numerous technologies (GPS, WiFi, Bar Codes, Image Matching, accelerometer for Direction, Bluetooth, etc.) to determine what to display that is relevant. Relevant could be stories, facts, predictions, news, etc. relevant to the space you are moving through. The space could be hiking up Half Dome, inside a museum, or walking down the street to Starbucks. What makes augmented reality different is that the display uses the camera as the background and then overlays information on top. Layar is one of the early moves in this augmented Reality space. Today’s iPhone Apps Guides for Yosemite Falls, Zion, Acadia, and the Great Smoky Mountains are very similar to Augmented Reality.  

National Geographic has great vision / prediction about the future of Apps / how visitors will get information as they move through spaces. For Cooperative Associations and National Parks if you dipping your toe into Apps / Visitor Guides remember that you need to be flexible as platforms for your content evolve. If 10M people are using Layar or Every Trail you should assume that you want to offer your content inside multiple Apps and on multiple platforms (iPad, iPhone, Kindle, etc.)

Google Adwords and Hike Half Dome Videos

We have been testing Google AdWords for promoting Rick Deutsch’s onDemand Training Video Hike Half Dome: Anyone Can* and we thought we would share the results. Summary: Search engine advertising is not effective at connecting people interested in Half Dome with this 68 minute video training series.

We used keywords like Hike Half Dome, Half Dome, Half Dome Cables, Half Dome Permits, Half Dome Trails, etc. and while the 89,000 impressions and 100 click throughs were impressive. The final number of actual video purchases were not sufficient to make Google a cost effective promotion toolset. On a positive note, we did see that each person who clicked through watched between 3 and 8 of the video previews. There are 10 lessons in total lasting 68 min.   Folks watched on average about 5 min of the previews indicating a high level of both interest in the topic and that the quality of the videos meet visitor expectations.

Edison in his lightbulb experiments is quoted as saying it took 1,000 attempts to figure out how not to build a lightbulb. Lets hope we need fewer experiments to figuring out the marketing for onDemand Hiking videos.

Tom Tom Joining the App Fever!

Earlier this summer Tom Tom disclose they would be creating their own App Store for Tom Tom devices where consumers can purchase Apps for their in car navigation systems. This is a good example of why groups creating GPS walking tours or visitor guides should keep themselves separate from technology providers. Assume you need to be on multiple hardware platforms (Apple OS 4.0, Andriod, Tom Tom, Kindle, etc.)

Big Escapes is independant of technology providers and is able to get your content onto multiple devices. Also given the technology market is constantly changing you need to careful to not get locked in.

App Market to reach $15B by 2013

A Berlin based research group is forecasting the WW App market to reach $15B by 2013 and estimates for the first half of 2010 App sales were $2.2B Separately another research group is forecasting $17B by 2012 and to provide a perspective that is larger than the WW market for CD sales.

If you are a National Park or cooperative association and finding Apps and digital publishing is confusing contact Big Escapes. We have been working in the digital production and marketing of mobile content since 2005. We are happy to share our experiences and best practices. If you are short on staff or want to just get a pilot project going we can help.

FunFinder GPS Tour Guides

FunFinder GPS is another technology provider in the space offering GPS Tourism guides. Fun Finder completed early pilots with the Grand Canyon Association and the Phoenix Zoo using Magellan GPS devices and the FunFinder software application. Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan are the big three GPS providers. Since then FundFinder was purchased by Defi Inc.   which has cultivated strategic relationships with Royal Carribean lines. FunFinder is also focused on working with the Ski industry and has expanded their software base to include supporting Andriod and the iPhone platform. FunFinder is also providing the iPhone software platform for the Six Flags Great America parks. 

Groups with a need for a completely custom design and solution for GPS Visitor tourism should include Fun Finder GPS. One of the benefits in working with Big Escapes is that we have extensive knowledge of the GPS Visitor Guides marketplace and can match your needs with the best technology providers.

Disney Mobile Magic Visitor Guide

Disney Imagineers have been working on mobile GPS or location aware visitor guides for more than 6 years. Disney has done pilot tests using 5 different manufacturers products over the years starting with PDA devices back in 2004. In 2008 Disney developed a GPS visitor guide for the Nintendo DS. Currently Disney is beta testing their own device on the Andriod platform.

The interesting thing about this test is they are using obsolete HTC devices which makes their cost to deploy very affordable when compared to more custom devices.  Disney is a great example of a company that continues to pilot and test transitioning software and hardware platforms annually until the Imagineers  create a “Disney” visitor guide. One of the interesting features is the special discounts and exclusive offers (such as meeting characters) only available to folks with the devices. This is an excellent marketing tool to promote its use.  

Propreitary Devices for GPS Tourism

Big Escapes has experience using proprietary mobile devices for its GPS Tours. These are devices custom-built for repeat use by visitors at museums, visitor centers, etc. Companies that manufacturer these devices include Barz Adventures, Node Explore, Orpheo, etc. Big Escapes is one of the few companies that has preformed benchmark testing comparing many manufacturers products. The advantages of these custom devices are 3 – 8 hour battery life, sunlight readable screens, and ruggedized for repeat use. The companies that manufacturer them provide an integrated hardware and software platform for the configuration of the experience. However, the biggest downside of these devices include the high costs of $600 – $1,000 per unit.

These custom solutions require a significant capital investment ranging from $35K to $350K depending on the number of devices. On top of the technology investment, one must then invest in the production of compelling content and marketing to create awareness. We recommend groups interested in mobile visitor guides over invest in compelling content and marketing and keep their technology investments to the minimum.

Hello world!

Welcome to the Big Escapes Blog. We will share insights and tips on digital publishing and location based media.