Research in a mobile world

Living with fragmentation in the mobile space

Thursday, March 4, 2010 by Mark Cameron

I really enjoyed a TechCrunch article by Richard Wong this morning that addresses the challenging realities of mobile platform fragmentation.

I think the article is spot-on, and as a so-called "battle-scarred mobile veteran" I especially like the following quote:

"the good news is that there are quite a few battle-scarred mobile veterans around that can help you with the Cliff Notes on the industry. Find one to help you."

Like every challenge, mobile fragmentation provides opportunity as well. The great thing about the current frenzy of mobile activity is that it presents consumers with a great deal of choice, reflecting the young and dynamic nature of this industry. It is difficult to stay on top of mobile trends, but not impossible with a little help from your friends.

Making sense of the mobile platform jungle

Monday, March 1, 2010 by Mark Cameron

I've been getting very close to most of the mobile platforms on the market today, and wanting to summarize my thoughts about their potential impact on mobile research. Seeing Samantha's February 25th post about smartphone market share, a brain-dump on the subject should dovetail nicely...

Looking back on key announcements over the past year, Google, Apple and more recently Microsoft have made the most significant splashes in terms of mobile innovation. However, when the dust settles we still see Nokia and Research in Motion (RIM) leading the charge with 47% and 20%, respectively, of the mobile OS market in 2009. Why is this the case, and what can we expect to see moving forward?

I believe the current mobile market is a race between 5 horses, but I will not count others out over the long term due to the still-early nature of this arena. The key players today are:

Apple: since its release, the iPhone has set the bar for smartphone usability; its slightly thinner sibling, the iPod touch, is the definition of a sleek, modern Personal Digital Assistant (PDA); and the forthcoming iPad is one of the most anticipated products of all time. Simply put, Apple has a lot of swagger and momentum in the mobile space. But Apple runs a very closed environment that people either love or hate, and this creates opportunities for other more open platforms to shine. Also, while Apple has done very well in the consumer space, it has made fewer inroads into the enterprise, where RIM and Microsoft thrive.

Research in Motion (RIM): the BlackBerry is one of the most impressive brands of our time. While RIM is often considered less marketing savvy than Apple, I would suggest that their marketing tactics have been every bit as effective as Apple's -- just different. Despite a barrage of criticism about the sexiness and usability of their products, RIM continues to grow and profit at an astounding rate. I personally questioned the usability of BlackBerry products compared to more elegant competitors like iPhone and Android, but I have come to appreciate them as solid, enterprise-worthy devices, and to see the company as a very savvy player in the mobile space. RIM has developed very deep roots with both wireless carriers and enterprise IT departments, as well as a powerful brand that is almost synonymous with thumb-typing on a mobile phone.

Nokia: the Nokia/Symbian world is complicated. Having personally handled dozens of Nokia phones, I would summarize that their strength is in their diversity of offerings to multiple levels of the marketplace. This is also their weakness. With countless products, three current operating systems, and a solid-but-aging feel on much of their hardware, it is hard to believe that Nokia still outsells its nearest smartphone competitor at more than a 2-to-1 ratio. But while they are not as strong in North America, Nokia is a major player in Europe and downright dominant in many other regions of the world. It is hard to discount a company that produces over 1 million phones per day (yes, you read that correctly). With the incredible depth of carrier relationships and distribution channels which they have developed, Nokia's challenge now is to fill those channels with products that compete with their ever-growing range of competitors.

Google: Google has garnered a lot of attention since announcing the open-source (and freely available) Android platform in 2007. By providing a smartphone operating system that is free and extensible, Android has garnered support from dozens of handset manufacturers including major players like Motorola and HTC. In contrast to Apple, Google's greatest strength (and weakness) is its openness. I am personally very impressed with most of the Android devices I have used, and as a consumer I have great optimism that Android will be a force to be reckoned with in mobile technology. But I also recognize that openness can lead to fragmentation, and I've heard a lot of grumbling from developers about the lack of standards on Android devices. As Microsoft learned when it allowed device manufacturers and wireless carriers to customize experiences based on its Windows Mobile platforms, I believe that the many emerging flavours of Android devices will make it difficult for developers to target. That said, I believe that Google's ability to integrate the mobile experience with all of their other web-based services will make it a formidable player in the mobile space, and I believe the fragmentation issue can be overcome as Google and other Android licensees learn to coexist.

Windows Mobile: I recently spoke about the forthcoming Windows 7 Phone Series, so I won't repeat myself on the details. Suffice to say that I think Microsoft has re-entered the mobile race, and demonstrated that they are not planning to turn away from this increasingly important battlefield. Microsoft has learned a lot of lessons over more than a decade in mobile computing, and I believe their enterprise roots will serve them well as they re-assert themselves with a brand new mobile platform. What remains to be seen is whether Microsoft can garner enough consumer interest to unseat competitors in the mass market, or whether it will continue to play a more niche role as an enterprise solution.

I have not even mentioned the likes of Palm (webOS), Samsung (bada), Linux Mobile (LiMo), or expanded on the now open-source Symbian OS (the Nokia-bred OS that was recently spun off as a freely available platform). And there are others... but the rabbit hole is simply too deep to cover here, so I will get back to the purpose of my post: to discuss the impact of mobile platform trends on market research.

There are fundamentally two ways to engage people on their mobile devices in a data-intensive way: (1) via their web browser; and (2) using a downloadable application.

Mobile web browsers are improving in capability and usability, and are finally emerging as a lowest-common-denominator approach to mobile engagement. If you need to reach a lot of people in a relatively shallow way, e.g. to conduct a brief mobile survey about a product or experience, then a mobile browser may well be the way to go. Although mobile browsers are still fragmented, the emergence of mobile web technologies such as HTML 5, JavaScript, CSS and Adobe Flash are making it more viable to reach a wide mobile audience.

Downloadable applications provide a richer user experience for applications such as diary studies and mobile panels, but they are typically harder to deploy to a broad range of users. Also dovetailing with Sean's recent post about quality over quantity, I would argue that in many cases a more select audience that is highly engaged is more valuable than a broad audience that is minimally engaged. It is these cases -- for example digital ethnography with alarms to trigger highly contextual questions at random times -- where mobile apps really shine.

Bear with me as I attempt to tie all of this information together...

The mobile jungle is in some ways becoming more wild every day, but I am also seeing signs that a handful of gorillas may be starting to establish some turf. While I don't believe that all five gorillas outlined here will win over the long term, each one represents sufficient market share and resources to be considered as key players for the foreseeable future. With that in mind, I think we will begin to see some stabilization of mobile platforms, resulting in more reliable ways to reach the masses via both web browsers and downloadable applications.

For the next while solutions focused on mobile research will have to choose between "wide and shallow" or "narrow and deep" -- i.e. either focus on reaching a broad range of people with a more basic level of engagement, or on providing a high level of engagement within a more narrow scope of users. I don't feel that one is inherently better than the other, and both represent significant opportunities within the burgeoning mobile research space.

Over the long term the two paths that I have identified will converge. In the meantime, having invested a lot of time and energy developing methods to engage people in a deep and meaningful way, I am a big believer in the power of rich mobile applications. With over 3 Billion application downloads in less than 18 months, Apple has more than proven the viability of downloadable apps, and all other major platforms have since poured significant resources into their own mobile app stores.

Over the next while it is prudent to focus on the five key players I have identified here: Apple, RIM, Nokia, Google and Microsoft. But peripheral vision is often what sets the great apart from the good, so I allow my eyes to wander a bit in search of innovative smaller players that might just have a thing or two to teach the gorillas.

What's Old is New: Wading in on Windows Phone 7 Series

Monday, February 15, 2010 by Mark Cameron

With the announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series today, Microsoft has re-entered the heavyweight category of the mobile space in a big way.

With a completely new "minimalist" interface that incorporates Xbox Live and Zune music, and a fresh approach to social media integration, this new Windows platform could be as significant for mobile computing as the introduction of the iPhone was three years ago.

The video below gives a quick hands-on look at this new Windows platform:

I believe the Windows Phone 7 Series will bring Microsoft back from the brink of irrelevance in consumer adoption of mobile phones. Microsoft has long been a leader in mobile business computing, but without sufficient buzz in the consumer space it has been increasingly difficult for Windows Mobile phones to assert themselves against the likes of iPhone, Blackberry and Android. Much like Palm did last year with its webOS launch, Microsoft has reinvented itself in an impressive and refreshing way.

I was really pleased to see that the user experience for new Windows phones will be far more controlled than it was for previous generations of Windows Mobile devices. Whereas Microsoft has long supported a great deal of flexibility in how its mobile operating systems were implemented by device manufacturers and wireless carriers, they have stated that Windows Phone 7 Series implementations will adhere to standards around screen size, memory requirements and user interface. This is great news for mobile developers and end-users, and for anyone looking to engage mobile users, as it will result in a more consistent user experience regardless of brand or network.

Mobile phone ecosystems range from the tightly controlled world of the Apple iPhone/iPod/iPad to the wide-open universe that Google has created for Android. Until today, I considered Microsoft to be near the "wide open" end of the spectrum, but with the arrival of Windows Phone 7 Series it appears that Microsoft has learned from its fragmented mobile past.

While we are seeing continued divergence in the mobile space with a frenzy of new platforms and manufacturers, I am optimistic that we are also seeing signs of consolidation and standardization. This will ultimately make it easier for businesses (and researchers) to engage people regardless of what mobile device they are carrying in their purse, pocket or briefcase.

Are we in for a wireless traffic jam?

Thursday, November 26, 2009 by Mark Cameron

I read a fascinating blog post from Michael Mace at mobileopportunity.blogspot.com, called "The mobile data apocalypse and what it means for you". I won't paraphrase Michael's comments, which were insightful as always, but I urge you to read the article if you are considering how to incorporate mobile technology into your business.

There is growing concern that wireless data usage is about to explode. The main culprits for this will be web browsing and multi-media streaming, which have grown by leaps and bounds since the launch of the iPhone.

Personally, I agree with Michael that the doomsayers' estimates of expansion to the point of implosion will turn out to be far-fetched (I look forward to his next article on that subject). Smart people will find ways to reduce data usage and to solve the bandwidth problem, and may even allow unlimited data plans to be viable over the long term. But there is also little doubt that we are heading for at least some uncomfortable congestion on the wireless super-highway, and possibly worse.

I am often asked why downloadable applications will matter in mobile computing when the wireless web provides an easier and more ubiquitous solution to many problems. I am a bit fan of the wireless web, and I believe that any serious mobile strategy has to recognize the web browser as a key channel for communicating with people on mobile devices. But you can't beat the responsiveness and performance of an application that is installed on a device, just as Windows applications are still more usable in most cases than their web counterparts.

Hybrid applications are an ideal solution for many business tasks. E-mail software is a good example. While mobile e-mail is highly dependent on a wireless network, it also leverages the power and usability of the device on which it runs. The e-mail client connects to the network as needed to send and receive e-mails, but it does not depend on a persistent connection or clog up wireless bandwidth unnecessarily.

The mobile web is getting better everyday, and that is turning out to be a double-edged sword. As web usage soars with the explosive growth of Smartphone and Netbook adoption, the very thing that is driving that growth -- anytime, anywhere access to information -- is likely to cause some major hiccups along the way. I'm betting on the mobile web long-term, but in the meantime I'll be quite content to keep my data safe and sound on a mobile device, and run applications that use the inherent power of the computer that I call my phone.

Hedging Mobile Platforms: A Lesson from Microsoft

Monday, August 17, 2009 by Mark Cameron

There has been a lot of discussion recently about Microsoft announcing that they will make Office applications available for Nokia phones.

I find myself asking: what took them so long, and who will they partner with next?

Microsoft has been running Office applications on Macintosh desktops for years, even though the Mac Operating System (OS) competes with Microsoft's own OS offerings. Revenue from Microsoft's business software, anchored by its Office suite, is slightly higher than revenue from its "client-side" OS installations. But more importantly, Office is where Microsoft really differentiates itself. While an Operating System is at the core of a computer, the applications are what make it useful.

In the mobile world, we are eager to see which Operating Systems will win out in the long run. There are at least seven mobile Operating Systems -- iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry, Android, Windows Mobile, webOS and Linux Mobile -- fighting for market dominance in the burgeoning smartphone market. For an application developer like Microsoft (or Techneos, for that matter), some form of hedging strategy is required to ensure that you don't tie yourself to the wrong horse(s).

In Microsoft's case, they appear to be acknowledging the need to hedge against even their own mobile Operating Systems. I don't see this as particularly surprising, or even as an indication that they are not committed to their own mobile OS vision. Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to give Microsoft marks for perseverance. I have heard rumours of Microsoft giving up on Windows Mobile for well over a decade, during which time I have also heard countless rumours about the demise (or sell-off) of Palm Inc., neither of which has happened. So while I would hesitate to predict the future of any mobile OS, I also don't put too much weight in any rumours that I hear.

The reality is that mobile computing is still in its infancy, and anyone who is in the smartphone market understands that the pie is going to get a lot bigger before the real champions are determined. What we are seeing now is a classic battle for early share of a market that is exploding before our eyes. For those of us developing applications, we need to stay one step ahead of the general population. We can't be living just in the present, nor can we look too far ahead. The value we provide is to navigate the ever-changing waters before us, acting as "domain experts" in fields that are not our customers' core competencies. For example, in the case of Techneos, we strive to be the most knowledgeable and well-equipped providers of mobile solutions for market and socio-economic researchers. We map our core competency (mobile) to that of our customers (research) to provide a unique and valuable offering.

So how does this all tie back to Microsoft? By decoupling its two greatest core competencies -- business productivity software and Operating Systems -- Microsoft frees itself up to fight the former battle irrespective of how the latter plays out. In the world of mobile computing, this sort of multi-platform application strategy seems a lot more sensible today than an all-eggs-in-one-basket strategy -- even if the basket is your own Operating System!

Eventually, we will see a small group of mobile platforms emerge as clear leaders in the space. In the meantime, multi-platform mobile applications provide businesses with a comforting buffer between the volatile landscape of underlying technology and the business needs which drive their adoption of mobile computing.

Is the future of research directly related to the past?

Sunday, August 2, 2009 by Mark Cameron

I've found myself pondering the effect of mobile technology on the future of research, and figured it warranted a blog post. I've been involved with both handheld surveys and wireless technology for most of my career, and throughout that time I've been amazed at both how quickly and how slowly things change.

Mobile technology itself moves incredibly quickly, but adoption of technology can range from lightning fast to incredibly slow. Market research professionals are analytical and pragmatic by nature, so it is understandable that researchers have been slower to embrace new technology than many other industries. Ironically, market research is often a key driver for decisions which drive technological advances, yet it can take years for those advances to be reflected back into the research process itself.

Methodology is central to any decision relating to survey research methods. When new techniques are introduced to "improve" tried-and-true processes, it is important for researchers to understand all of the implications of the potential change before implementing it en masse. So research about research, or more specifically about new techniques for conducting research, is very important. But this is easier said than done, as most researchers are so busy generating revenue through existing methods that they lack time to explore new ones. The academic community breaks a lot of ground in this regard, but it takes time for academic research to reach--and to be embraced by--the commercial market research sector.

Recently I have seen mobile research being embraced as a reasonably mainstream approach for survey data collection. It is still "leading edge", but it is no longer "bleeding edge" -- at least for face-to-face interviews and diary studies. While the application of mobile survey software is still a niche play today, we are about to see it extend beyond its traditional application to touch every other aspect of survey research -- including web surveys, phone surveys, mystery shopping and other methods.

What intrigues me more than anything is where this bottom-up thinking will really lead the research industry. While we are busy planning for the evolution of survey research to involve mobile technology, I believe it is equally important to see things from the top-down: i.e. to realize that researchers are losing control of people's attention, and consumers are increasingly recognizing the value of their opinions. Will the methodologies of today be effective in the future, or do we need to reshape our thinking to embrace emerging realities?

I believe the future of mobile survey research looks a lot different than the past. We will not simply see old methods enhanced by new technology; entirely new methods will emerge around the cultural phenomena that shape our societies around the globe. There is no limit to the opportunities that will be enabled by social networking and location-aware technology, which will be bundled into mobile technology that will make today's most impressive devices seem as archaic as early PCs appear today.

Those of us who wrap our arms around the cultural changes that emerge as a result of new technology, rather than just trying to shape new technology to meet old and tired methods, will realize amazing new opportunities for mining insight from consumer opinions. There will be many false starts and a lot of experimentation, but in a few years we will look back at the way we did things in 2009 and be amazed by how dramatically human communication -- and in turn market research -- have changed within a very short time.

I'll share some of my predictions on this blog over the coming months. Today I just wanted to get the thread started with some background thoughts...

Further thoughts on the meaning of "Techneos"

Friday, July 17, 2009 by Mark Cameron

Following up on my previous post about the name "Techneos"...

My colleague and co-founder, John Weisberg, recently stumbled upon a great blog post that discussed the origin of the term "techné".

The following line really struck me, and reminded me of the importance of elegance in software design:

Now understood as mere skill belonging to craft. techné has unfortunately lost its original meaning which integrated beauty, art, expertise, technical knowledge, skill and industry.

Starting with the iPhone, and followed by some beautiful models from Palm, Research in Motion, Samsung and others, we have come to equate modern mobile phones with the original definition of "techné".

I'm still wondering if the Palm "Eos" will carry that name if/when it is released later this year. I hope so, because we can have a lot of fun with that!!

A sum of parts: a quick review of what we've added since Entryware 6.0

Thursday, July 9, 2009 by Mark Cameron

Today marks the release of our latest mobile survey system, Entryware 6.4. While it carries the numbering of an "incremental" upgrade, it is a significant milestone in terms of the new capabilities that it provides. We chose to release it as v6.4 to focus on increasing capabilities rather than going through the onerous task of re-labelling this as a "major" release, but the impact is indeed major!

Entryware 6.4 brings diary research, including the rich photo diary capabilities enjoyed by some of our key customers on Palm devices today, to Windows Mobile users. It also provides some significant improvements to the look-and-feel of Entryware on both Palm and Windows Mobile devices, which improves usability for both face-to-face interviewing and self-completed surveys.

For those who are in the field every day working on a handheld device, using the 5-way navigator to page through long questions or proceed to the next question can significantly improve efficiency. And for those respondents who are just being introduced to mobile survey technology, automation to auto-start projects eliminates unnecessary steps for the user while providing added security for project managers.

I took a look at our release notes today and realized that since our last "major" upgrade, Entryware 6.0, we have added a number of key features in the various v6.x upgrades we have posted:

Sliding scale questions
Photo capture on Palm OS, Windows and Windows Mobile
Encrypted and compressed data transfer
SPSS v13+ export
Improved user-selectable missing
Ability to launch external Windows Mobile applications
Improved CSS formatting on Entryware Mobile for Windows
Improved string handling in scripting
Additional African language support
Support for Palm Pre devices
5-way navigation
Improved searching capabilities in Data View Report
Project automation to auto-start questionnaires
Improved graphics quality including hi-res Windows Mobile screens
Diary survey engine for Windows Mobile
Printing capability for Bluetooth printers
Ability to convert Multiple Response questions to a series of Single Response questions
Various other small enhancements

And that doesn't even touch on everything that was new in v6.0... this is just what has happened since then.

I thought is was worth sharing all of the key v6.x enhancements in one combined list, because many people are unaware of everything that can be done using Entryware today. We find that many of our clients are still happily using older versions of the software, which is great to hear... but in some cases significant efficiency gains could be made by adopting the latest and greatest.

More options for mobile surveys: PDAs, Smartphones, Netbooks and more...

Thursday, June 25, 2009 by Mark Cameron

Techneos clients have been using Entryware survey software on Windows Mobile devices for many years. The release of Entryware 6.4 on July 8th will take our Windows Mobile support to a whole new level. We have streamlined the licensing and installation process for Windows Mobile devices, improved the look-and-feel of the entire Entryware Mobile application, and added key functionality to enable diary studies on a wide range of Windows Mobile PDAs and Smartphones (including photo diaries on supported devices).

Entryware software now has four distinct mobile "engines", all of which run questionnaires from a common authoring tool, Entryware Designer, and produce data in a common structure that can be exported to SPSS, ASCII, Excel, and other formats. Today, Entryware Mobile can be deployed seamlessly to the following mobile platforms:

Smartphone and PDA surveys:

Palm OS / Garnet OS
Windows Mobile
webOS (Palm Pre)

Tablet PC, Ultra-Mobile PC and Netbook surveys:

Windows 98/XP/Vista

It is also possible to run Entryware software using emulators or "virtual machines" (available from StyleTap or Access) on Symbian devices, including many Nokia Smartphones and Internet Tablets. We have done limited testing on those platforms to date, so we do not consider them "officially supported" yet. Let us know if there is a particular Symbian device that you want to use for mobile surveys, and we'll work with you to see what is possible in this next frontier...

If you haven't checked out Entryware software recently, drop us a line to get a fresh look at the platform. You might be amazed to see the level of survey research that can be conducted using a mobile device!

Wireless surveys coming to a Palm Pre near you...

Monday, June 8, 2009 by Mark Cameron

With the release of the much anticipated Palm Pre this past weekend, Entryware software is now available on one of the hottest devices on the planet. The Pre, which is the first smartphone launched running Palm's new webOS Operating System, is receiving rave reviews from the likes of Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times.

Techneos worked with Motion Apps to ensure that Entryware Version 6.3 survey software was one of a handful of applications certified at launch for use on the Classic Emulator, which runs Palm OS applications on webOS devices. Mobile surveys have never looked so good!

Also watch this space for more news about Entryware software. We have been hard at work making Entryware look and feel better than ever on a wide variety of Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices.

Release date set for Palm Pre

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 by Mark Cameron

Exciting news on the Palm front. Together with Sprint, they have announced that the Pre Smartphone will be released in the US on June 5th. This amazing new webOS device will also be available through Best Buy, Radio Shack and Walmart. Starting price is US $199 with a 2 year wireless plan after mail-in rebate.

I can't wait to see mobile surveys running on these cool new cell phones. Stay tuned for more information on our plans to support webOS devices running Entryware software.

Techneos could have a whole new meaning...

Friday, May 1, 2009 by Mark Cameron

There was a lot of buzz yesterday about a new Palm device called the "Eos" being released in Q3. This device is rumoured to be Palm's replacement for the popular Centro line, which will run on the new webOS that we have blogged about previously.

The name Techneos was created from the Greek words "Techne" and "Eos". "Techne", which is the root of terms like "technology" and "technique", is often described as craftsmanship, craft or art. "Eos" is, in Greek mythology, the goddess of the dawn. The combined word, Techneos, was formed to denote the dawning of new techniques or processes.

We hope this rumour is true, because it would be really fun to see mobile surveys running on Techneos software using an Eos device.

Stay tuned for more on this topic. We are already hard at work making sure that Entryware software runs effectively on webOS devices, starting with the Pre, which is expected to be released within the next two months.

This image of the rumoured device was found on Engadget:

Excitement builds about running surveys on the Palm Pre Smartphone

Friday, April 17, 2009 by Mark Cameron

As a follow-up to my previous post about the Palm Pre Smartphone, we are increasingly excited about bringing mobile research to this exciting new hardware platform. More news is emerging about the ability to run Palm OS applications on Pre devices--such as this Youtube video showing some flashy gaming examples, or this FAQ that provides more technical information about exactly what features are supported.

Planned for release in the US later this quarter, Entryware software running on the Palm Pre should be a great solution for mobile surveys. A beautiful screen, slide-out keyboard and both WiFi and 3G wireless options make the Pre an ideal device for conducting surveys in the field. And its multi-tasking operating system will enable researchers to get very creative with third-party applications.

The Pre's interface operates like a deck of cards, so you can run a questionnaire on one "card" while running other applications (e.g. videos or location-based services) on different cards. Palm's new Synergy communication infrastructure and built-in GPS system also open up innovative new ways to manage your interviewers, respondents, mystery shoppers, etc.

We plan to turn this amazing new platform into an ideal solution for mobile market research. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Entryware on Palm Pre: mobile surveys never looked so sexy!

Thursday, April 2, 2009 by Mark Cameron

In January, Palm took the world by storm by announcing both its new webOS and the Pre smartphone, which have been touted by many as setting a new bar for mobile phone functionality. Planned for release sometime this quarter, the Pre has leapfrogged Palm from a once-prized but aging provider of PDAs and smartphones, to an innovative leader with the coolest mobile device to hit the market since the iPhone. With a new team of superstars at the helm (many of whom came from Apple), Palm's recent announcements have impressed techies and investors alike.

But the question we have all been asking for the past couple of months is... what is the future of Palm OS applications like Entryware?

Today we heard the news we've been waiting for... that Palm OS applications will be supported on Pre devices. We had reason to believe that some form of Palm OS support would be available on webOS devices, but we've been in a bit of a holding pattern awaiting confirmation.

Palm devices have always been ideal for survey research, because Palm OS offers a simple, elegant interface that is consistent and easy to use. Although Entryware software also runs very well on Windows devices, as long-time Palm fans we are thrilled to see that a whole new generation of Palm devices will continue to be turned into best-of-breed wireless survey systems.

Techneos is committed to ensuring customers a smooth transition from existing Palm devices to the next generation of webOS phones. In the meantime, existing Palm devices like the Centro, Treo and TX -- all of which are excellent tools for mobile research applications like face-to-face interviews, diary studies and mystery shopping -- should be available at bargain prices while Palm makes room for new inventory.

Good going Palm! We knew you had it in you...

The not-so-overnight phenomenon of mobile surveys

Friday, March 27, 2009 by Mark Cameron

Mobile surveys might be the hottest topic in market research today -- and I've been waiting a long time to say that!

Since I developed my first survey software for Mobile Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (MCAPI) in 1991, I've been waiting for mobile research to hit the mainstream. From bleeding edge to leading edge, mobile surveys have always been viewed as an "opportunity of the future". If PDA surveys generated a bit of a wave back in the late 1990's, then Internet surveys were surely a tsunami... and now it's the marriage of mobility and high-speed wireless Internet access that is opening a whole new word of possibilities.

I had an opportunity to speak at the Mobile Research Conference in London last month. It was billed as the first ever conference dedicated to mobile research, and it was a very promising sign for this niche that Techneos has been working to fill for more than a decade. (In fact, it was at least the second such conference, as I also presented at the Association for Survey Computing conference on Mobile Computing in 2005).

While Techneos has been proving for many years that you CAN do serious research on a handheld computer, a much bigger opportunity for mobile surveys is emerging -- at long last! Ranging from photo diaries to mystery shopping to funky new ways to conduct customer satisfaction questionnaires--and lest we forget the good old face-to-face interview--surveys on mobile phones, Netbooks and other mobile devices will no doubt play a major role in the future of market research.

Hold onto your hats and join us for the ride! We're looking forward to the future that we first envisioned almost 20 years ago. Yikes, how time flies!