Author: Stephen

Neolane introduces updates to social media marketing platform

| December 26, 2012

Neolane Social Media MarketingNeolane enhances SoLoMo

Neolane, a provider of conversational marketing technology, has announced improvements to its Neolane Social Marketing platform, called SoLoMo. The enhancements include better functionality with social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, and provide users with more robust geolocation features. Geolocation has become a very important part of marketing, especially in the social media space, because geographic information can help marketers target specific demographics with campaigns that are suited for those groups.

Updates give marketers access to Facebook’s Open Graph

Updates to the SoLoMo platform will allow marketers using it to take advantage of Facebook’s Open Graph, which is designed to collect real time consumer information and integrate it directly into a marketing database. Neolan believes that the ability to use Open Graph will provide marketers with more capabilities to connect with consumers in a more meaningful way. Open Graph manages to avoid some of the privacy concerns that consumers have by informing these consumers that their information is being collected for marketing purposes. Facebook users have the ability to opt out of this process.

Geolocation continues to gain value with marketers

Geolocation marketing is very valuable to advertisers throughout the marketing industry. The advent of mobile technology made it easier for advertisers to acquire the geographic information from consumers that they crave. Sites like Foursquare and Facebook  provide users with the ability to “check in” to locations they visit. This information allows advertisers to develop marketing campaigns that are suited to a consumer’s geographic location and preferences. The Neolane marketing platform is being put on track to provide marketers with more robust capabilities to take advantage of this growing trend.

Mobile marketing presents opportunities for advertisers

Mobile marketing has become vitally important to businesses in the modern age. A huge number of consumers have access to mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. These consumers rely heavily on these devices in their daily lives, presenting an ideal opportunity for marketers to establish a constant connection with consumers.

Mobile security flaw discovered in Samsung devices

| December 23, 2012

Mobile Security Problems SamsungDevelopers find mobile security flaw with Samsung Android devices

Developers associated with XDA Developers, a mobile software development community with over 4 million users worldwide, have found a serious mobile security flaw in recent Samsung mobile devices. One developer, going by the username “Alephzain,” discovered that many Samsung devices that use Google’s Android operating system. The security flaw allowed Alephzain, as well as other developers, to access all of the physical memory contain within a Samsung device. Developers were able to access this memory because of an exploit that provided then with root level permissions.

Flaw could make information vulnerable to theft

Mobile security has been gaining serious attention lately, largely due to the types of information that are stored on mobile devices. A typical smart phone or tablet contains a user’s personal information, such as name, address, and birth date, all of which can be used in identity theft. Mobile devices are quickly becoming mobile payment platforms as well, which means they can store a user’s financial information, such as credit card and bank account numbers. This information is highly valuable to a hacker.

Galaxy S III among most vulnerable devices

According to XDA Developers, the Samsung devices that are most vulnerable are the Galaxy S III, the Galaxy S II, The Galaxy Note II, and Meizu MX. Devices that make use of the Exynos processor are also likely to have some degree of mobile security vulnerabilities. Several developers associated with the community have informed Samsung of the serious security flaw, with one going so far as to hack several mobile devices in order to prove that the flaw exists. There are no known Android malware applications that exploit this particular vulnerability.

Financial information could be at risk

Samsung’s Galaxy S III is one of the most popular smart phones in the world currently, having become a major competitor against the iPhone 5 shortly after its launch. Part of the reason the device is so popular is because of its use of NFC technology for data sharing and mobile commerce. When used to make payments, the device stores a consumer’s financial information. The glaring mobile security flaw that seems to have slipped past Samsung  may have put the financial information of millions of Galaxy S III owners at risk.