Author: Julie Campbell

Twitter buys out mobile marketing company from India

| January 26, 2015

ZipDial has now become the social network’s first acquisition from that country, in a sizeable purchase.

Twitter has now made its first acquisition of an Indian company, in the form of a mobile marketing firm called ZipDial, which was purchased for what was reported to be in the area of $30 to $40 million.

This considerably boosts the investment that Twitter has made in India, which has massive growth potential.

ZipDial is a mobile marketing and analytics startup that is based in Bangalore. A the time that this article was written, no terms for this acquisition had been released. However, TechCrunch, the technology website, had been displaying a report that had suggested that anonymous sources had quoted the aforementioned amount for the purchase. The acquisition greatly enhances the investment that Twitter has in India, which is one of the nations in which the social network is currently experiencing sizeable growth.

The mobile marketing acquisition also establishes a new engineering office for Twitter, in Bangalore.

Mobile Marketing Company Purchased by TwitterZipDial was originally founded in 2010. It provides its customers with phone numbers that can be incorporated into marketing campaigns. It works when consumers phone these numbers, but hang up (as a missed call) before they are actually connected, thereby avoiding any charges or minutes usage. In return, they receive a mobile ads via text message, which contain promotions from which they can benefit.

This type of mobile advertising communication functions especially well in areas where cell phone connections aren’t all that reliable, or where they don’t necessarily have access to data connections.

According to the Twitter VP of product, Christian Oestlien, it won’t be long before there will be billions of additional internet users who have come online for their very first time, in countries such as India, Indonesia, and Brazil. He added that “For many, their first online experience will be on a mobile device – but the cost of data may prevent them from experiencing the true power of the Internet. Twitter, in partnership with ZipDial, can make great content more accessible to everyone.”

ZipDial’s mobile marketing platform has engaged almost 60 million users, to date, and boasts hundreds of marketer and brand clients.

Augmented reality enhances the stick-on manicure experience

| January 23, 2015

Selfies of decorated nails have become popular and AR technology has now been added to improve them.

The applications of augmented reality have been everything from useful to clever and from quirky to gimmicky, and a new form of this technology has been incorporated into press-on nails to help to enhance selfies taken of the people who wear them…and to add some fun to the style.

A company with several global locations has now embedded AR holograms into their stick on nails.

The company is called Metaverse Makeovers, and it has locations in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Melbourne. It offers stick-on nail decals that have holograms embedded into them. Those decals not only display interesting three dimensional designs, but they also work with a mobile device to display images through augmented reality. The nails work with the company’s custom mobile app and allow wearers to create different AR tech based experiences to display through the nail art in real time.

The video for the company’s augmented reality nails is Sailor Moon inspired, making their target market clear.

The teen market is the primary focus, and there is no mystery why, as that demographic is the most connected with their smartphones and is the most comfortable and interested in trying out new ways to incorporate digital experiences into their lives, through mobile devices.

It looks as though the AR technology nails are not yet available for purchase, but the company has recently received an investment from donors in Melbourne, for $750,000, and it intends to feature this beauty product on February 15 at the Australian Center for Moving Image.

Additionally, there will be a live stream demo of the product on that same day. The intention os to show “performance installations” from various nail bars that are located in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Melbourne. This suggests that it may not be long after that, that the product will become available for purchase.

These augmented reality nail decals are going to be sold through the Chinese retailer, Taobao, in an experience that is somewhat comparable to the marketplace shopping at Amazon or eBay.