Tag: mobile technology

That ethnic community is using their devices for certain activities even more than the general American population.

According to recent data that has been released by PwC, Hispanic consumers are just as in love with their mobile technology – such as smartphones and tablets – as the rest of the American population, but this specific ethnic group uses these gadgets more often for downloading and streaming video.

The PwC study took a closer look at the use of these devices by the fastest growing U.S. ethnic community.

The research was specifically focused on the way in which people in the Hispanic community use mobile technology in order to consume media, obtain information about health care, and make m-commerce purchases online. The findings, according to the research firm, were quite surprising and could offer considerable insight into that section of the market.

Overall, Hispanic people were found to be high consumers of entertainment content over mobile technology.

This, according to the director of entertainment and media practice at PwC, Matt Lieberman. He said that he found the degree to which this group of people looks to their tablets and smartphones for entertainment was quite striking.

The data from the research showed, according to Lieberman, that 43 percent of Hispanic Americans use their smartphones and tablets for streaming video. Comparatively, when it comes to this same activity among the general population of the United States, this figure was only 25 percent. Moreover, Hispanics were also found to have a likelihood that is more than twice as high of downloading videos – an activity in which 37 percent take part. In the overall population, that only 17 percent did so.

Lieberman explained that “The Hispanic population are generally larger consumers of entertainment, and that trickles down to mobile.” He also added that “the variance between the general population and the Hispanic population did surprise us.”

The data stated by Lieberman was gleaned from a mobile technology survey that was conducted online with the participation of 1,000 people. There was an even divide of the respondents of this tech survey, between people who were and were not Hispanic.

Shomi has created a font-based substitute to the quick response code.

Shomi, an Australian startup, has developed Shomi codes, which are similar to QR codes in that they link to digital content, but what makes the Shomi variety different is that it is based on font, which makes them smaller and does not limit them to back and white, giving them greater flexibility.

The new codes are quick and easy to implement.

According to Tony Williams, the founder of the newly established Australian business, Shomi codes have been purposely designed to be placed in confined spaces in publishing, such as a line of text. Williams says that “because it’s a font, it’s a lot quicker and easier to implement than a QR code.’’ This gives it the advantage.

He also added that “QR codes were designed as a high density alternative to a barcode for tracking automotive parts. They are completely over engineered for use as mobile linking technology.”

Shomi is not the first QRcode competitor. Microsoft created Microsoft tag, but the company has decided that it will be eliminating this service next year. Williams believes the reason that Microsoft tag did not work was it did not overcome the quick response code’s format, which Williams says is one of the chief problems of the code because all of the additional data is not needed for a mobile link.

Shomi codes may be more effective than QR codes for providing useful data to companies about consumers.

Shomi intends to generate revenue by storing the data it collects from users of its code, analyzing this data and providing it to publishers who use the Shomi code. According to Williams, the free version of their platform with basic analytics is currently available.

He said that Shomi can “control the experience” and they capture all of the data which is a huge advantage to companies. A company can use the code to direct their reader and learn what they can about the consumer.

Williams stated that Shomi will make money with detailed analytics packages and they will charge on a tiered scale that will be based on scan usage. At present, the startup is seeking seed funding and is on the watch for businesses that may be interested in being among the first to adopt their code.

Only time will tell if Shomi code will be a true competitor of QR codes for mobile.