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Lots of interesting news and articles this week.  Check out some of the links below for a good read on your Friday morning coffee break.

Gartner have researched in to which smartphones will be dominating in 2015.  No surprises that they think Android will be the dominant platform, potentially controlling 50 percent of the market!  Controversially they think that Apple will lose the number 2 spot to Windows Phone 7. Read more here and let us know what you think.

Do you know enough about mobile payments yet?  Have a read of this article on Mashable to see how mobile payments are redefining commerce.

Read an excellent in depth look at embracing mobile web on Mobile Marketer Daily Loads of great info on what mobile web can do for your brand and the importance of making your site optimised for mobile devices.

Finally some news from a little closer to home.  Last week we announced that Norman Jay is bringing back his Giant 45 radio show in the form of Good Times Radio. Well we uploaded the first show a few days ago and its a cracker.  If you haven’t listened to it yet, why not? check it out here or on the iPhone app!

Yesterday Facebook upgraded their iPhone app to now include check ins for events.  This was the most interesting of the updates released yesterday including un-friending through the app and improvements to the news feed.

Previously you could only check in to ‘Places’ with the Facebook but now they have included events which opens up a large amount of possibilities.

To check in to an event you have to be invited and RSVP’d “yes” to attending.  Your location also has to match the location of the listed event venue, and it has to be the correct time of the event.  Assuming you’ve met all the above requirements, you’ll see a nice big “Check In” button on the event’s page. There’s also a new “Here Now” area on the event’s page to show you who is currently at the event and the “Recent Activity” includes check-ins as well as pictures, comments, etc.

So I think you’ll agree its a very clever feature that will help Facebook stand out above the other location services such as Foursquare and Gowalla.  We are in interested in how this can open up some interesting marketing opportunities for event brands.  This could create some cool check in contests and competitions.  Event brands could even start offering deals for specific events.  There are some further data capture opportunities as well.  Not only can you find out who is interested in your event but the facebook details of people who actually attended.

There is a big but though.  This is all reliant on check ins becoming a mainstream activity.  These services are only useful if people use them.  Will this convince people to start checking in more?  We will have to wait and see…

Good morning and welcome.  It is Friday again, so time to look back at the weeks news and highlights.

Norman Jay has announced the return of his legendary Giant 45 radio show this week!  Norman will be recording an all new 2hr show as part of Good Times Radio which will only be available to stream via his website and app.  The new show will be one a month but with plans to go weekly in the not to distant future.

You can already stream a vast archive of Norman’s mixes and broadcasts via his app.  If you haven’t downloaded it yet, what are you waiting for?  Download Here!

The big news in the world of apps is that Google has finally released in app billing for Android.  In-app billing gives developers another way to monetize their Android apps from virtual goods, in-game upgrades, content purchases and more.  Like Apple, Google will take a 30% cut from all in-app purchases.  This should finally give mobile developers a much-needed source of revenue for their Android apps.

What are the hottest mobile trends right now?  The hot-button issues in mobile generating the most buzz at the moment include location-based services and marketing, the rise of mobile commerce and payments, as well as applications for smartphones and tablets.  If you want to read up on what is going on in the world of mobile right now you can’t go wrong with reading this article on Mobile Marketer.

There is an interesting article on Mobile Commerce Daily today that reports on a survey about mobile transactions. The survey in question was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of a company called Tealeaf.

Reading over the article it highlighted some interesting statistics on mobile payments that are important to consider when delving in to the world of mobile commerce.

The survey found that more than four in five adults in the United States who have conducted an online transaction via a mobile device in the last year report experiencing a problem.  On the one hand this is not suprinsing as mobile commerce is still in its infancy but it also shows that a lot of companies and brands are getting it wrong at this stage.  According to the survey this can have some quite severe consequences.

If consumers experienced problems attempting to conduct mobile transactions, many of them would abandon their transactions and take their business elsewhere:

• 43 percent would abandon the mobile transaction and try later on a computer

• 16 percent would become more likely to buy from a competitor

• 14 percent would email or log a complaint with customer service

• 12 percent would abandon the transaction at the app/site and try a competitor’s app/site

Basically you need to deliver a very good mobile experience early on, because it can end up harming your brand if you don’t do it the right way.

So, what is the right way?  The right way is to make it as easy as possible for the consumer to make the transaction.  User experience is paramount.  Businesses looking to develop destinations for their smartphone users need to approach the space with high utility, good design and frequency of use in mind.

Scribble can help advise you on optimising your apps and mobile sites for easy transactions.  This can be from the design or choosing which payments systems to use because as you can see getting it wrong can drive consumers away

We have been wanting to get it on to peoples phone for ages but yesterday we got the green light from Norman to make his app live on the App Store!

The iPhone app, available to download for free via the Apple Store, gives fans access to all the latest activities in Norman’s world, direct from the palm of their hand.  Never again will a Good Times tour or festival appearance be missed as users can access Norman’s live DJ schedule, complete with Google Map directions, and the option to get your friends involved by sharing via Facebook and Twitter.

Immediately after launching the iPhone app, fans will see a real time feed of Norman’s latest blog, Twitter and Facebook updates.  These are all written by Norman himself and are the best way to keep track of what is going on in his world.

Norman is currently in the process of digitising his vast collection of mixes and broadcasts.  Stay tuned for a brand new Good Times radio show that will only be available through the app!

From within the app, users can load Norman’s You Tube channel to gain access to a whole archive of event coverage.  The image gallery will allow clubbers and fans alike to spot themselves in the many galleries taken from Norman’s recent gigs, previous Good Times Carnivals, plus Norman’s old flyers and album artwork.

So what are you waiting for download the app here NOW!