This week in mobile, we are taking a look at Cisco’s latest mobile usage report, the advent of the MTD and what this could mean for online dating, and how Mattel is flexing its nostalgia muscles to deliver the most cost effective VR gadget yet.
Cisco VNI Reports Rampant Mobile Growth
Cisco recently released their latest Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Data Traffic Forecast Update, which offered some interesting insights on the growth of mobile from a data perspective. Some of the most interesting findings from include:
- 2014 mobile traffic was 30 times total 2000 internet traffic.
- Mobile video accounted for 55% of total mobile traffic in 2014.
- Mobile data traffic grew 69% in 2014.
Cisco projects that mobile usage will continue to grow, with the number of mobile devices in use exceeding the global population, and most mobile device data usage expected to quintuple by 2019.
Of course, this doesn’t include data usage over WiFi, which is also projected to grow exponentially, yet another indicator of our evermore connected mobile existence.
Mobile Dating and the MTD
Call it a MTD (mobile transmitted disease). . . or maybe don’t. Whatever you call it, the research from IBM on the lack of security in most dating apps was interesting (and kind of scary).
A roundup of 41 popular dating apps found that almost two-thirds of them “medium” or “high” security vulnerabilities. This presents a number of personal and professional challenges.
Professionally: In the age of BYOD (bring your own device), many people use their smartphones for both work and play. Those people that are looking for love on the company device may inadvertantly introduce hackers onto the internal network, or leak sensitive company data to the outside world. –
Personally: Data leakage from a compromised smartphone could lead to personal conversations being broadcast at the office (how horrifying!) or worse, even lead to the user being stalked by suitors. Worth noting is that all the study only included apps from the Google Play Store, and that the device’s microphone and/or camera were cited as one of the most vulnerable functions.
VR, Meet the New View-Master
Alas, if the news of MTDs is enough to keep your phone at a selfie-stick distance, Google and Mattel are teaming up to reimagine a childhood favorite that should make you and your phone ultra close again: a remake of the View-Master.
At a press event in New York, Mattel unveiled a new View-Master, a new $30 nostalgia-oozing mobile gadget powered by Google Cardboard. Instead of inserting a disc, kids (and kids at heart) will be able to download an app on their phone that syncs with the “experience wheel.” The phone is then placed in the View-Master, and the user becomes enveloped in photospheres. As Mattel describes it:
“The sample reel (when paired with app and smartphone) provides a glimpse of the full View-Master experience, including a gallery of classic View-Master images, a journey into space with a tour inside a space shuttle, and a chance to explore a unique destination in 360 degrees. Additional experience reel packs will be sold separately.”
While the initial excitement for this is merely nostalgia induced, it will be interesting to see where else Mattel takes this, if it will expand into other Mattel games and Apps, and if they will expand upon this to create a mobile-backed entry level VR genre that’s much more price friendly than the Occulus Rift.
About the Cisco Visual Networking Index
The Cisco® Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update is part of the comprehensive Cisco VNI Forecast, an ongoing initiative to track and forecast the impact of visual networking applications on global networks. Their paper presents some of Cisco’s major global mobile data traffic projections and growth trends.
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Mobile Monday examines the latest news, trends, and developments in mobile apps, tech, and advertising. Do you have a story to share? What are your thoughts? Comment below or tweet @AdColony. For the latest AdColony mobile news and updates, follow @AdColony on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or connect on Linkedin.
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- Mobile Monday: Mixed Reality Promotion, Seriously Connected Fans, & FCC Acceleration - March 26, 2018
- Mobile Monday: GDC 2018 - March 19, 2018
