Torsion Mobile Release New Software to Make Websites Usable on Smartphones

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Torsion Mobile

DES MOINES, IA – (February 22, 2012) – Torsion Mobile announced today the public release of its web-based, Mojaba (pronounced Mo-jah-ba) that enables creative agencies, web designers, and other professionals to design and publish mobile-optimized websites for their clients.

In the very near future, users throughout the world will use smartphones as the first, and in many cases the only, method to access information. However, nearly 80 percent of today’s websites offer a hard-to-read and difficult-to-use experience when displayed on a mobile device’s small screen. Converting a desktop website to a mobile optimized site has historically been a very labor intensive, expensive task.

Mojaba changes that by presenting website content in a manner that allows users to quickly find the information they are seeking, to make a call, find hours of operation, contact the business or organization via email, or get directions with convenience and clarity.

“Mojaba is just the first step in providing more tools for mobile marketing for creative professionals,” said Christian Gurney, co-founder of Torsion Mobile. “The trend for people to use their smartphone as their primary tool for accessing the web is undeniable. Agencies are in the perfect position to help their clients get ready for this huge shift in how we consume web content.”

A major benefit of Mojaba is that all the heavy work has been taken out of creating mobile sites, which allows for easy-to-use, fully branded mobile sites to be created in less time with no coding or technical experience required. Mojaba assists “agencies” to use their creative staff to build mobile websites that are effective and affordable for their clients. Each mobile site comes with enhanced analytics that show exact GPS coordinates of users, which allows for site owners to track and record location data to reveal traffic patterns and location-based opportunities.

Mojaba produces sites for all mobile platforms with web browsing capabilities, including Apple iOS, Google Android, BlackBerry 5+, Windows Phone 7+ and feature phones that support XHTML-MP.

One of the unique aspects of Mojaba is that it’s been developed specifically for agencies, creative professionals, web developers and freelancers rather than the general public. With nothing to download or purchase, agencies can use the Mojaba software-as-a-service to create and preview mobile websites for themselves and their clients. Sites can then be purchased by paying an affordable, all-inclusive annual subscription fee. The agency then determines the costs to each client based on project scope, perceived value and additional services they may offer.

Where to Buy
Mojaba is available now. Creative agencies, web designers and other professionals may sign up for the product by visiting www.Mojaba.com.

About Torsion Mobile
Torsion Mobile is dedicated to producing tools to enable the creation of compelling and exciting mobile solutions by advertising agencies, marketing organizations, and other creative professionals. Based in Des Moines, Iowa, Torsion Mobile is the brainchild of business executives Christian Gurney and Richard Kirsner. To learn more about Torsion Mobile, please visit www.torsionmobile.com.

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Company Contact:
Richard Kirsner
Vice President & CFO
Torsion Mobile
515-724-7045
rkirsner@torsionmobile.com

Farm Service Agency Mobile Website: Nice Try, But…

Posted on February 22, 2012 by rmenardi

A few weeks ago, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency went mobile, and it made pretty big news, surprisingly (at least here in Iowa):

“Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse said as more farmers and ranchers are using mobile devices and high-tech tools, so the government must keep up.” —KCCI

Good reasoning. Good strategy. So we took a look. This is what we found:

Clockwise from top left: 1) FSA's mobile landing page. 2) An article headline page. 3) Article text. 4) News release page.

This is not the best of mobile websites. It may be more readable than a desktop website on a mobile device, but it still has some less-than-ideal qualities. Here’s what we didn’t like:

Hyperlinks: The bright blue hurts our eyes! And the links aren’t very thumb-friendly. We’d suggest buttons or wide text blocks to direct users to the articles. Also, we’d like to see shorter headlines that fit better on mobile.
No navigation bar or buttons: How do we get around this site? The navigation is not immediately clear, making for a clunky mobile experience.
Images: The images seem too small across the top. And the lack of images (and design elements) throughout the site make it seem a bit dry and text-heavy.
Text: Again, it’s just too small. Text on a mobile phone should be about 16-point size to minimize eye strain and improve readability.
Reader: You see the “Reader” button in the URL bar for the article page? That’s a nice feature to improve readability. Click on it and you’ll go to a page that’s better-formatted for mobile, but there are still some vertical spacing issues that detract from the content.
Other issues: Inconsistency with the article format. On some stories, the text isn’t too small — it’s too big, forcing you to scroll left-to-right to read it. Tipping your phone doesn’t help, and you can’t pinch to make it smaller.

But there is a bright spot in this mobile experience. The “AskFSA” button on the home page takes you to a new window with a beautiful mobile landing page. The text is big, there’s plenty of white space and easy-to-read buttons. And the buttons load up content that’s perfectly sized for mobile — complete with big buttons at the bottom asking if you thought this answer was helpful. There’s also a large (semi-transparent) dropdown menu navigation bar that leads you to the homepage or to the contact page. Overall, the AskFSA page is easy on the eyes (and thumbs), so we approve.

Have you seen a good (or bad) example of a mobile website lately? We’d like to know! Leave a comment below to get in touch with us.

If Google Says So, It Must Be True: Consumers Use Mobile During the Purchase Process

Posted on February 21, 2012 by rmenardi

Stats From the Google Mobile Ads Blog

Google just released some new numbers that show how important mobile commerce was during the 2011 holiday season. The Google Mobile Ads Blog says, ”The first key mobile insight every advertiser should know is that consumers use their smartphones at many different points in their purchase path.”

41% of those who used their mobile phones to help with shopping said they made a purchase directly on their smartphone.
46% said they researched an item on their smartphone then went to a store to make their purchase.
37% said they researched an item on their smartphone then made their purchase online.
42% contacted a retailer.

Sometimes we forget that the difference between phones and tablets is not only their screen size, but also the ability to make phone calls. So, naturally, more consumers will contact a retailer via smartphone than via tablet. Phone conversations offer immediate gratification for a consumer to get information — its more efficient than waiting for a retailer to respond via email.

People also use phones to see if a product is in stock, as well as locate the nearest place they can find that product. Directions and store hours are extremely important to smartphone-equipped consumers.

Not surprisingly, Google is calling this a “shift in consumer behavior.” A shift to mobile. And it’s true — nearly half of consumers with smartphones use smartphones to make purchases (see the numbers above).

Advertisers need to make sure they have a mobile optimized site, make it easy for customers to reach them with click-to-call and deliver a seamless experience between online and offline in-store. It’s the advertisers who engage with their customers across all three devices that will have a distinct advantage in 2012. —Google Mobile Ads Blog

Marketers must give their clients a home on the mobile web — especially if those clients are retailers. There’s no excuse not to. The numbers show that any type of mobile strategy will reach a large audience of consumers outside of the desktop environment.

See how Mojaba can help you mobilize your clients today!

The World of Mobile Phones: An Infographic

Posted on February 18, 2012 by rmenardi

Today’s post comes from Daily Infographic, a site dedicated to producing stunning visualizations. Here’s one from January 2012 about mobile trends around the world. Note that the USA is only third on the list — we have less than half the number of mobile phones as the #2 country, India. Next time you think about mobile, remember that it’s a global phenomenon. Read on for more interesting mobile facts and statistics:

[image via Daily Infographic]

Mojaba featured in the BIZ

Posted on February 17, 2012 by rmenardi

One of our first customers, the Business Innovation Zone, recently wrote a blog about Mojaba and how easy it was to go mobile: “Now when someone with a mobile surfs to the BIZ site, they get a clean menu with the items they most likely need at a single touch.” Read the full post here.

Smartphone? Tablet? Thoughts on Samsung’s New GALAXY Note

Posted on February 16, 2012 by rmenardi

Image from www.slashgear.com

There’s a new mobile device making waves in the mobile waters — it’s a 5-inch smartphone (the largest yet) from Samsung: the GALAXY Note. It’s either a really big smartphone or a really small tablet, and Samsung is calling it the “The ultimate on-the-go mobile device.”

Technically the Note is a phone, but the large screen makes it act like a tablet. The device even comes with a stylus (er, “S Pen”). Seemingly, you can use the S Pen to write notes, trace images from websites, draw things, and share photos, web sites, maps, etc., with custom text and drawings.

The folks at Mashable didn’t think it was particularly useful as a note-taking device, and they weren’t keen on the stylus. But the videos for the Note’s capabilities show that it provides unprecedented customization and sharing abilities, and the large screen/small pointer combo provides some fun new functions you can’t get on a small screen with a pair of thumbs.

But frankly, this phone is simply too big to be useful. The Note probably has exceeded the practical size limit for a phone — it won’t fit easily in your hand and it’s not very portable. Check out this parody, where the author uses the Note to lift weights and watch TV. And this BGR review is particularly irate at the Note’s poor usability and iPhone copycat design. We hope Samsung’s designers pay more attention to human factors going forward.

In any case, this device presents a problem for mobile marketers. Do you target it with a mobile website or a desktop site?

As we’ve said before, you should design differently for tablets and phones. Tablet users can easily navigate a desktop site on their large screens, and a mobile site is usually too simple for tablets — it won’t provide an optimal experience or hold attention for long.

But for this big smartphone, we say mobile design is the way to go. The 5-inch screen is still much smaller than most tablet screens — even the Kindle Fire’s 7-inch screen. The mobile design will be easily navigable (users can even leave the stylus behind, for real on-the-go usability) and will provide a better experience than pinching and zooming on a desktop site. And, hopefully, the Note will be the end of the tablet-smartphone fusion device.

QR Codes vs. SMS: Determining Value Between New and Old

Posted on February 15, 2012 by rmenardi

QR Code scanning is emerging, SMS is the has-been. How do you determine value for your clients?

SMS sometimes get a bad rap. We’ve all seen those annoying “Text 1212121 TODAY to reveal the name of your true love!” And American Idol and other voting shows make use of SMS for viewers’ picks. These two prominent uses may have contributed to labeling SMS promotions as voter-based, trivial or old-fashioned.

And with increasing smartphone penetration and the advent of QR codes into the public eye, SMS may seem even more outdated. Why text when you can scan, tweet, message, post, blog, email, share — all from your phone?

So the question of the day is: Are QR Codes replacing SMS? Despite the obvious evidence, we say not yet — there’s still room for SMS.

Here’s what we found from Mobile Marketer.

Nowadays consumers cannot go a day without seeing a QR code – whether it is on a magazine page, billboard or bus shelter. In past years, SMS calls to actions were seen just about anywhere.

QR codes are still somewhat novel. With greater smartphone adoption, more users are able to (and want to) scan codes. And they have ample opportunity to do so. Increasingly, instead of incorporating SMS into their mobile strategies, many marketers are simply using QR codes to encourage users to visit a site.

But there are pros and cons to both campaigns. QR codes can lead to a number of things: mobile websites, video, giveaways, surveys, etc, but they don’t take feature phones into account. There is still a large portion of mobile users (over 60 percent) that don’t have a smartphone. These users can’t scan QR codes, but they can still use SMS services. SMS is the only non-voice way to reach the 234 million U.S. mobile subscribers, and, often, it’s much easier for a consumer to receive a text message than download a QR code scanner and scan a code. So, we say that SMS will stay relevant, even with the buzz of new technologies.

“SMS will be as strong as ever, but we will also see it placed alongside other mobile options like QR codes and the mobile Web. Offering multiple channels encourages engagement and campaign creativity, ultimately driving increased customer loyalty and overall revenue from mobile marketing campaigns.” —Doug Stovall, senior vice president of sales at Hipcricket, Kirkland, WA (via Mobile Marketer)

And it’s important to remember that mobile is shifting all the time. Already, there’s buzz around the web about a new technology called Near Field Communication, or NFC. Techies are excited about NFC’s capabilities to share information between an NFC-enabled device and an object equipped with an NFC chip. When this technology grows into its own, it could allow you to buy something by swiping your phone over it, or share schedules, contact info or maps with someone in a matter of milliseconds.

Currently, there aren’t many devices that can handle NFC communications (though it is rumored that the Windows Phone 8 will have NFC capabilities). And the even greater challenge is equipping objects — whether for retail or sharing purposes — with the NFC chip.

In the short term, marketers must learn to embrace new mobile media campaigns while remembering the value of previous ones. There will never be a time when all mobile users will have the same technological capabilities, so catering to the new and old can reach the widest number of users possible.

What are your thoughts on SMS campaigns? QR code campaigns? Have you seen good examples of both in action? Tell us below in the comments.

[image via Email Marketing Blog]

Mojaba Updates: New Features, Better Performance

Posted on February 14, 2012 by rmenardi

Even though we just launched last week, we’ve been hard at work improving Mojaba™, making it better than ever. Check out our new features and updates for this 1.1 release, and keep sending us your feedback! We want to make Mojaba as useful as possible for you and your clients, and we take your ideas to heart. If you see anything we can improve, or an idea you’d like us to consider, get in touch with us here.

Here’s what’s new with Mojaba 1.1:

NEW FEATURE: Save as New Draft. You may now save a draft from within the AppBuilder. This improves workflow by saving a trip to the dashboard.
NEW FEATURE: Text Element Formatting Additions. In the new-and-improved text element, you can change text size and align your text in four different ways.
NEW FEATURE: Hanging Indents in Bullet Lists: You asked, we listened. Bulleted lists now enable hanging indents for a more readable and professional look.
NEW FEATURE: Simplified Custom Domain Setup. You may now add a Custom Domain (such as “m.mydomain.com”) for your mobile site. Mojaba will automatically serve up your site at this domain once you make a CNAME entry in your DNS. Yes, all this DNS stuff sounds scary, but we’re there to help you each step of the way. Also, when you set a Custom Domain name it’s automatically added to the Mobile Detection JavaScript, too.
No More Client Users. Based on agency user feedback, the ability to create Client Users has been removed. Agency Users are the only type of accounts available now in Mojaba.
Improved RSS Images. We made changes to improve the performance and user experience for RSS feed content.
Faster Saving Times. Some users reported longer-than-usual saving times when building mobile sites. So we made a number of changes to speed up the saving process.
Better Cursor for Expert Shortcuts: If you noticed some funky mouse activity in the expert Summary Page, don’t worry. That’s been fixed. The mouse curser now properly displays live links in the Summary Page Expert View.
Smarter Auto-Create Username: We don’t allow usernames to be less than six characters — and now the autofill corrects that as well. When you enter a name in the New User page, you’ll get an error if the generated username is too short.
No More Illegal Characters in Subdomain: We corrected an issue where illegal characters were permitted in the Website Editor Subdomain field. The legal characters are A-Za-z0-9. Now, uppercase characters are changed to their lowercase equivalents.

These features and changes are available now when you login to Mojaba.

Mojaba featured in Silicon Prairie News

Posted on February 13, 2012 by rmenardi

Our friends at SPN wrote an article on the launch of Mojaba: “Torsion Mobile, a Des Moines-based startup building mobile solutions for creative professionals, released its first product, Mojaba, in early February with the mission to make mobile websites easier to build. . .”

Thanks to Macy Koch and the SPN gang! Read the entire Silicon Prairie News article here.

What is HTML5?

Posted on February 11, 2012 by rmenardi

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be rolling out a series of definition blog posts, where we discuss one aspect of the mobile web and how you, the marketer, can use it effectively for your clients. Today’s topic: HTML5. Stay tuned for more.

Yep, our last blog post was about HTML5, too, but we realized that sometimes (read: most) people use this term incorrectly. Here’s the most important thing to realize: HTML5 is not it’s own language — it’s not a thing. It’s just the latest evolution of HTML.

So what does that mean, exactly? Here’s what Google’s eBook, 20 Things I Learned About Browsers & The Web says:

HTML5 [is] a set of capabilities that gives web designers and developers the ability to create the next generation of great online applications.

So it’s just a new set of features in an already-sophisticated web language — and it’s encouraging innovation for the next great websites and web applications.

So that’s cool. But what can HTML5 do, exactly? What are some of those buzz features we’ve been hearing about lately? There are several.

Video. There’s a <video> tag is new in HTML5. In the olden days, you needed a plug-in to watch a video inside a web browser. Now, HTML5 allows you to watch the video embedded in the page.
Geo-location. HTML5 has powerful mapping capabilities. If a user agrees to share his or her location, HTML5 can pinpoint (within feet) where they access a site. This is useful for getting directions and finding nearby retail stores. And, on the back-end, geo-location allows you to see where people are when they find your site.
Offline capabilities and caching. HTML5 can store data from the web locally on a user’s device for a period of time. When this happens, elements of a website or web application load faster next time a user accesses it.

The cool thing is that HTML is always evolving. Even though HTML5 is the latest version, developers will continue to improve on it. However, you have to keep up with the times as well. Google says, “Just as you need to use an up-to-date, HTML5-compatible browser in order to enjoy sites and apps that take advantage of HTML5’s features.” That goes for mobile, too. Your phone is already HTML5-enabled, but to make full use of HTML5′s features, you need to have an HTML5-enabled website.

Mojaba websites are HTML5-enabled — meaning they can deliver HTML5 features to your phone (in a sleek, mobile-optimized format). See how Mojaba works in our new video, and learn how you can give your clients an HTML5-enabled website today.

Torsion Mobile