It was at the April 2010 launch of iAd, Apple’s mobile advertising platform, that Steve Jobs, prowling the stage in his customary black turtleneck, uttered the words: “We think most [of this] mobile advertising really sucks.” As he himself conceded at the time, it wasn’t the most elegant of phrases. But his words certainly struck a chord: three years ago, the platform was considered niche at best. It was crude, interruptive and, above all, at the time Jobs was speaking, smartphone penetration in the U.S. mobile market was below 20%.Read more

With their beanbags, primary-color decor and the obligatory table-football areas, tech start-up workplaces have long become something of a self-parody. Nevertheless Wayra’s London incubator for “digital talent” is particularly impressive. It’s located in an expansive open-plan warehouse three stories above Tottenham Court Road in central London. Yes, there are beanbags and a table-football (plus a bright red replica London phone box), but this is no school for slackers.Read more

To identify the most promising global mobile start-ups Informilo asked some of the most active investors around the globe to nominate and evaluate companies outside their own portfolios. Some are well-known, others are below the radar but unlikely to stay that way for long.Read more

With some two-thirds of adults using the Internet to access personal and business information on the go, cyber criminals are finding mobile devices an increasingly attractive target.As more people store things of value – whether it be passwords, corporate secrets, or money — on their mobile devices, the darker side of cyberspace is finding its way onto phones. The viruses, trojan horses, botnets and phishing that plague the PC world are now becoming commonplace on mobile devices.Read more

One mobile app getting a lot of buzz is Snapchat, a social media message service that is transferring some 60 million messages and videos per day. Part of the platform’s draw is that the user determines how long friends can view messages before they disappear.The app's popularity underscores peoples’ desire to have more control over their personal data. Shielding compromising pictures or drunk texting from the prying eyes of a future employer, parent or stranger is just one concern.Read more

When Stephen Elop took the helm of the struggling mobile handset giant Nokia on the last day of summer in 2010, his to-do list was short but daunting: revamp the corporate culture of a Finnish institution and reinvent the business for a new age. Quickly.  Less than five months later, he would appear in front of investors at a swanky London hotel to announce a bold shift in strategy. In the lead-up to the event, a memo was leaked in which Elop likened Nokia’s predicament to being aboard a burning platform.Read more

“Open your wallet,” Blackberry’s Frank Maduri says and recalls how, not long ago, people carried around physical photos of their spouse and their children.Read more

It won’t be long before you could be anywhere — in either a private or public setting — and could scan everything in sight. The phone will ask you if you are buying or selling, superimpose a price tag on each item, and ask you if you want to complete the transaction virtually or in a store.An app like this could come in handy when you spot someone in the airport wearing a coat that you covet or when you fall in love with an antique clock at a friend’s place.Read more

When it comes to mobile operating systems attention usually centers on the highly popular Apple iOS and Google’s Android. But over the next two years, say analysts, innovation in user experiences is likely to come from new software platforms.Read more

When news leaked in January that Facebook was allowing iPhone users in the U.S. and Canada to make free phone calls through its Messenger App the technorati speculated the service could become a Skype killer.Read more