I saw where Polaroid eyes mobile for users to experience the "magic of instant in way that only Polaroid can deliver". That makes my spring hype award list.

Pew says that 18 percent of smartphone owners use a geosocial service to check in to certain locations or share their location with friends. That is a meaningful number (around 30 million), but far from the key element in a mobile “reach strategy”. That would be SMS or the mobile web. Preferably both.

I don't buy report that Siri is missing from the iPad because Apple can't make it look good on tablet. I bet that it’s more about an overloaded system just with iPhone 4Ss.

There were ads for pizza and for free obituary searches on Barnes and Noble page of Mobilized Marketing book.

Given the lack of news at CTIA Wireless 2012 (see previous post), do you think that companies are kicking themselves for missing the chance to be one to stand out?

The Angry Birds follow-up is dubbed ‘Amazing Alex’. The word amazing should be reserved for Angry Birds.

Urban Airship’s CEO says that we have years of education ahead of us when it comes to selling in mobile. Hopefully we’re on the other side of the mountain.

It may be that the loyalty play is more meaningful to Google than its new offers showing up on maps, including on mobile. There is lots of money in remarketing and remonetizing.

Blue Droid RAZRs are due in stores. Remember when pink RAZRs were the hot phone? No, I didn't have one, but I could have by accident (I’m colorblind).

Fast Company says that a company turns your Instagram pictures into canvas wall art that anyone can buy. Can buy or will buy?

We’ve all seen this - mobile devices are increasingly being used as a mother’s helper when her kids are bored, according to eMarketer.

Finally some reason - MasterCard says: "No single (mobile) wallet will rule them all".

An ad for the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx says it has the longest talk time of any 4G phone. Does talk time close the sale for you? I didn't think so.

A story says that a cellphone that sees through walls is closer to reality. Marketers: ignore. It's a shiny object that won't move your business.

Verizon’s CFO says the carrier’s data-sharing plan will come out mid-summer this year. You know that he has run the numbers.

Larry Page says that Android isn't critical and that it's a delivery vehicle for Google services. Don’t believe me? You can Google it.

There is an AP style change -- you can now start a sentence with “hopefully”. My wish is that the wire service says that you don't have to start every tweet with the words rumor and Apple.

During the Shopper Marketing Summit this week, I listened to a "mobile is an addiction like drugs" talk by longtime industry veteran Patrick Moorhead. Patrick, rather than an addiction, could it be that mobile brings the value to justify the cost?

Talking to marketers at the show, mobile is for selling more product and driving engagement and loyalty. Convince them and they are in.

My words to Digiday on the importance of digging deeper than just saying that you have to do mobile: “For marketers, it is essential to consider day part and device type. Plus, you should pick a newspaper partner that optimizes for the device and updates content throughout the day. No one wants to read yesterday’s news on a tablet at the dinner table. As for advertising, breakfast sandwiches are irrelevant to all but a few except in the morning. It’s about the right ad at the right time on the right device.”

An eMarketer forecast says that 15.8 million U.S. consumers will book travel via a smartphone this year. That is just 5 percent of the overall subscriber base, but it is significant.

Pew reports that 38 percent of Blacks and Hispanics use mobile as the primary avenue to Web. Marketers, this stat matters more than most.

 

The msnbc.com story said that the iPad is to tablets as Kleenex is to tissues. To me, this thinking is premature.

Speaking of tablets, will a two-month delay to July push Google's first one to $200? The need to be more efficient to move the price down has reportedly been deemed more important than time into the market.

I still believe that Philadelphia's walking lane for texting was a keeper. It was only in place around April Fools Day. While we’re at it, we need one for elevators and another in airports.

Approximately two billion Facebook posts per month include a geolocation tag. Of course, it’s not only about what you say but where you say it. 

Did you hear the NPR piece on phone tracking? The question was whether the carriers are selling private records to law enforcement. It seems to me that the answer is yes despite the fact that the mobile operators don’t want it called selling.

This from a memo from Yahoo’s CEO Scott Thompson – “Our users want fun, informative, engaging experiences on all screens.” Does this signal that the company will finally seriously integrate mobile?

I'm all about new media but Vin Scully took me back 45 years with his call on Opening Day. He was so good describing the baseball game that I barely picked my head up to watch the game in HDTV.

The latest proof that it’s not our grandparents' world? About 29% of those who read ebooks consume them on cellphones.

Consumers don’t engage with channels, they engage with the brand, said a Walmart executive at a conference. Further, make the experience as seamless as possible, he said. I couldn’t agree more.

For a peek into several sections of my nearly released Mobilized Marketing book, please see the Inside This Book section on my Amazon book page.

Assuming the rumor is true, I would like to know why Apple thinks a 7.85 inch iPad is the right size. I’m disappointed that it's not 7.97258 inches. Call it isanity.

I’m vain enough to wait for augmented reality contact lenses. I say no to Google glasses.

The Masters switched to a free iPad app this year. Surprising given the organizers live in another age on so many issues.

There are enough mixed reviews of the Nokia Lumia 900 that we'll have to see for ourselves. So much is riding on it for Nokia and Microsoft.

Nokia’s 41-megapixel camera has come to America, but you can't buy one. It’s ironic that the company’s show-stopping innovation can't be marketed.

You now can take a picture of junk mail with PaperKarma and an app unsubscribes you. I love mobile.

Shazam says its gets more activity during live TV than Facebook and Twitter. It attributes it to the availability of "bonus content". Isn’t that what we get from our social networks? Or should?

"Listening, invention and personalization" are essential to Amazon's mobile strategy, according to the company. It’s essential for everyone else, too.

On the first day of availability, there were 2,000 downloads a minute for Instagram for Android. Want another wow? Overall, there are 30 million users uploading more than five million photos each day.

Thirty-four percent of surveyed high school seniors own an iPhone, double the percentage of year ago, according to Piper Jaffrey. Even more intend to buy. Some believe the device isn't cool enough for teens. It’s time to rethink that. Also, the implications for other manufacturers are obvious.

Seventy-one percent of iPhone users employ Wi-Fi versus 32 percent for Android owners, comScore reports. The disparity supposedly had to do with overseas data plans that limit Android connections that way.

The only saving grace about the absurd speculation on the iPhone 5 is that it takes attention away from next iPad.

Save May 15 for the next Mobile Mixer, hosted by Hipcricket in our Kirkland, WA, offices. We’ll be talking about the learnings from my Mobilized Marketing book.

I’m amused that every mobile wallet announcement is judged as end-all or not. This is a long-term play, 4-6 years for the tipping point, according to American Express.

Back when I was a sports writer, I loved writing a column called Notes On A Scorecard. It was a somewhat mad dash around the sports world with some news and a lot of opinion. It’s time to kick that off here with the first in a series called Notes From A Mobilized Marketer.

Apple’s 25 billion app store downloads have brought $4 billion to developers. It’s interesting to know that Apple didn't introduce the app concept -- others did as far back as 10 years ago.

More than the number of downloads, I want to know how many apps are used and how often. Activity is lower than you think. I’ll post further on this and discuss the ramifications for marketers.

Approximately 69 percent of China's one billion mobile subscribers access the Web through their phones on a regular basis. China is the largest mobile market in the world. 

Lost in the discussion about smartphone adoption is the fact that more than 150 million in United States still have feature phones. We need to market to them, too.

Judging by the weekend crowd around the iPads in the Apple store, people either don't know about the impending iPad 3 or don't care to wait. Speaking of which, we’re one day closer to the start of iPad 4 rumors. It makes me want to pull the covers over my head.

If Apple was the first to announce 41 megapixels in a smartphone (like Nokia did), do you think folks would stand on chairs and applaud? I do. There is more on Nokia’s accomplishment in my latest MobileGroove column. http://www.mobilegroove.com/mwc-can-facebook-twitter-crack-the-code-on-releva...

Sprint reportedly will have 10 handsets with Google Wallet in 2012 bit.ly/xrKoMq. There is significant wallet discussion in my upcoming Mobilized Marketing book.

Google's supposed Siri-like offering is named "assistant" and being positioned as a "do engine" tcrn.ch/yMJDe9. I’m not a big Siri user. It's more of a gimmick. Do you use it?

I think more will buy photoshop tools if the world moves to 41-megapixel smartphones. Tools and eyelash enhancement services.

I feel the idea of the Air Force spending $9 million on iPads to replace flight manuals will be dissed by politicians. It doesn't matter that it makes sense.

Facebook and Twitter will accelerate mobile advertising's growth unless they screw it up – I discuss that as well in my MobileGroove column. http://www.mobilegroove.com/mwc-can-facebook-twitter-crack-the-code-on-releva...

Registration is open for the free webinar I'm doing May 3 with the Mobile Marketing Association on my new Mobilized Marketing book. bit.ly/A7GoXp. The official book launch is two days earlier but electronic versions will likely be available sooner.

Apple is imposing its will to set price and content for its coming TV subscription service, according to a report read.bi/y4jdgD me: Am I shocked? No.

Frustrated by others' efforts, Walmart and Target reportedly are in a new group chasing mobile payments. bit.ly/yJrhrs This will be a long race and there will be more than one winner.

It's early to gauge ROI, but Samsung has sold two million Note smartphone tablet hybrids (please don’t call them phablets) after its $10 million Super Bowl campaign. bit.ly/AtJMiH

Apple was named Fortune's most admired company on the same day that Verizon won the J.D. Power customer service award. I’m curious to know which has more sway with consumers.

Eight percent of cellphone owners don't know if their device is a smartphone, according to Pew. Should we call them dumb users?

Google’s practice of embedding cookies via Apple’s Safari browser is a violation that should be condemned. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-google-tracking-20120218,0,1621176.stor...>

Not only does it break the “contract” between Apple and its Safari users, it blows to pieces Google’s promises made to the Federal Trade Commission that "bars the company from future privacy misrepresentations."

How might the government entity punish Google? According to the Los Angeles Times, “if Google is found to have violated its agreement with the FTC, the company could face fines of up to $16,000 per day for each violation.”

Wow, $16,000 should get Google’s attention. It likely pays more than that daily for lunches in its cafeteria.

Now to the question of whether Web users care about their privacy.  I use Safari on multiple devices and do feel “violated”. But will I change browsers because of this or operate under the assumption that the next browser I use will invade my space as well?

That decision has yet to be made.

In my upcoming Mobilized Marketing book http://jeffhasen.com/pages/mobilized-marketing-book, Thom Kennon, senior vice president and director of strategy at Y&R, tells me that “privacy is delusional.”

More from Kennon in Mobilized Marketing:

“I don’t think for the last 70 or 80 years of consumerism have we enjoyed this Pollyannaish view of what privacy and data protection we were going to have. I don’t believe even aspirationally that it’s attainable.”

This privacy issue will go on long after you can read Kennon’s full comments May 1 when the book is released.