In 2004, only 45% of all teens 18 and under owned a mobile phone (1). Today, nearly 60% of U.S. parents of “tweens” (kids 8 to 12) have provided their children with mobile phones (2). By comparison, in the UK, 75% of 10-year-olds own a mobile phone. In Poland, the figure is 83%. Needless to say, the average mobile phone age in the U.S. has been dropping steadily. As of July 2011, the average age stood at 11.6 years (3).
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Posted in Applications, Flash, Games, HTML 5, Mobile, Silverlight | No Comments »
YouTube users upload 72 hours of content every minute. That’s 4,320 years of content uploaded per year, a 70% increase over 2011. If recent trends of views and unique visitors is any indication (which it is), then YouTube will continue its torrid pace of new user-generated content for 2013.
A small but significant change in 2012 was the ‘blip’ in new content from phones. Only 180 years of video were uploaded from smartphones.
Why was this so small? What can we do about this travesty? Don’t you worry. The times, they are a-changin’. Read the rest of this entry »
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Recently, a small tax firm approached us about doing some AdWords marketing in the months prior to this year’s tax deadline. The campaign, as originally intended, was to focus on low-cost tax services and would run from Jan through the April 15 filing deadline. The value proposition was that this firm could offer standard tax filing services at approximately 50% the cost of H&R Block or some of the other “Block-head” tax services. (Of course, due to AdWords policies, we didn’t mention these fine tax service firms by name.)
We knew instinctively that trying to compete with these global brands and public companies in the tax services sector without spending a fortune was going to be, well, excruciatingly difficult, if not downright impossible. We therefore devised a scheme whereby we would target the specific niches that this client has traditionally has had success serving, and then try to own those slivers. Read the rest of this entry »
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Effective communication, one of the most important aspects of all successful interactions, is often elusive and difficult to achieve in our personal relationships. I think most people would say that ‘communication is key’ in any relationship, but it has to be mutual to be effective. Like our personal relationships, websites and software applications are interactive and often “engage in a type of communication with their users” (“Designing for the Digital Age”, Goodwin p. 425).
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AVANT has partnered with Brain Resource, Inc., a developer of innovative tools to improve brain health, on the Health 2.0 launch of MyBrainSolutions for Parents and its companion site for children, PoweringUp –an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) management tool for the home.
MyBrainSolutions for Parents empowers families to work together to improve skills needed for the classroom, the playground, at home and in life. A key feature of the site is a scientifically validated assessment and report that provides a better understanding of their child’s unique pattern of strengths and relative limitations. The system uses insights gathered from the assessment combined with parent settings to customize the games and activities on the PoweringUp site for children.
“Collaborating with our partners to invent new technology products that improve health and wellness has become a primary objective for AVANT. Contributing to Identifying and managing ADHD in children is an exciting opportunity to impact millions of families in a positive way. We are thrilled about the potential this product will have in the marketplace!” – Michael Kemper, Founder & Principal, AVANT, LLC.
“As both a clinician and a parent, I know firsthand the challenges that come with ADHD and understand how many feel powerless in the face of this condition. Like many parents, I often wished there was more I could do to help my child,” said Gregory A. Bayer, Ph.D., CEO of Brain Resource, Inc. “Our approach is unlike any other as we recognize that the one who knows the child best is already in the home. By helping parents better understand their child’s specific needs, we can provide a clear pathway to tackle the areas that require attention from the comfort of their own home. This site empowers both parent and child to work together in a goal-oriented, fun and rewarding way.”
Watch a video of the Health 2.0 launch here. Read more here.
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