Youku is using the smartphone barcodes to promote the use of its website by device users.
The leading video website in China, called Youku, has just added QR codes into every one of the videos on its desktop website in order to promote the use of smartphones and tablets in order to view them.
Though this may be quite a small and simple mobile marketing step, it is one that is quite creative.
The result is that each of the video pages on the Youku website – including those for its licensed movie and television show content – now features small icons that can be clicked in order to display larger QR codes. By using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet to scan the quick response barcodes, the same video on the desktop or laptop screen will then launch in the smaller device’s browser. If the Youku app is already present on the Android or iOS device, it will launch the video in that, instead.
The QR codes lead to videos that don’t require flash, as the site is based on an HTML5 version.
Many users have already reported that scanning the QR codes have brought about successful video playing on their devices, including on Chrome for Android. They have also noted that the videos will play both vertically and horizontally. These barcodes can be scanned using any scanning app, including any of the dozens that are available for free for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry devices.
The newly merged company that is officially called Youku Tudou has recently made note of the fact that 15 percent of the traffic to its Youku website in September was from mobile devices. Liu Dele, the president of the company, has said that it is expected that this trend will experience growth “very quickly”. As the usage of the internet over mobile has now surpassed that over desktop and laptop computers as of August of last year in China, it looks as though the tipping point has already been reached and the new online focus will be on the smaller screens of smartphone and tablet devices.
Samsung Ventures announces backing of Fixmo
Samsung Ventures, the investment branch of the massive South Korean Samsung Group, has thrown its support behind Fixmo, a developer of mobile software. Fixmo has a very acute focus on the realm of mobile security. The company typically caters to enterprises and government clients, offering a variety of risk management and security tools for mobile devices. Samsung Ventures believes that the company holds a great deal of promise, especially as the world becomes more reliant on mobile technology.
Mobile security continues to attract attention of large companies
Mobile security has become a very serious issue across a variety of industries and channels. Consumers are becoming more reliant on their smart phones and tablets to function in their daily lives. Phenomena like mobile commerce are great examples as to how mobile technology is beginning to play a more important role throughout the world. Because consumers have a tendency to share or store very valuable information on their smart phones and tablets, these devices have also become prime targets for hackers and anyone interested in exploiting this information for some form of gain.
Investments will help Fixmo with research and development
Fixmo notes that the investments coming from Samsung Ventures will help the company continue its research and development projects. Samsung has been working to get more involved in the mobile security space recently, especially where it concerns enterprise. The company is not the only one showing interest in Fixmo, however. Last year, Motorola also partnered with Fixmo in order to get more involved with mobile security and help make progress in this particular field.
Samsung may be looking to compete with RIM for enterprises
Samsung may be strategically positioning itself to compete with one of the largest companies that has made several breakthroughs in the field of mobile security: Research In Motion (RIM). RIM is gearing up for the release of the BlackBerry 10, which is expected to be one of the most popular mobile devices for enterprises around the world. The BlackBerry platform has long catered to enterprise clients and offers a variety of security features that make it more viable than mobile devices coming from other companies.
