Mobile technology is moving at an amazing speed. As Apple CEO Tim Cook said recently, “Apple’s lifetime iPad sales across all generations have now topped 67 million. To put that into context, it took us 24 years to sell that many Macs, five years for that many iPods, and three years for iPhones.” The world is shifting its preference for consuming and producing content to mobile devices. What can you, as a content producer, do about it?

With the increasing use of mobile devices for the consumption of content, you, as content producers, have to understand the mobile consumer so that you can produce content that reaches and appeals to them. This is not just about having a mobile-optimized website, this is about having the type of content that actually captures attention through all the other distractions that surround a mobile user. Content producers have to understand the setting and context of the mobile user and how it differs from that of the non-mobile user (even though those two may, in fact, be the same person at different times in their day).

The experience of consuming content while sitting at a desk is vastly different from that of sitting on a train or in front of the TV. While you may well believe you have optimized your existing content for mobile, did you do it because your audience needed it or did you do it because you were told it was something that should be done? If nothing else I suggest checking out your Google analytics and seeing how many of your readers/content consumers are viewing your content from a mobile device, and seeing which areas they are consuming. Then, place your focus for optimization on that content.

Remember mobile optimization isn’t about your content as much as it is about the audience experience. In our efforts to be better at what we do as content producers one of the most valuable assets in our arsenal is knowledge. Aside from reconnecting with friends and making new contacts, attending a conference like Blogworld Expo is one of the easiest ways of gaining new knowledge.

If you come to my session in New York, “Smartphones, Smarter Users – The Who, When, What of the Mobile Consumer,” I am going to discuss the day in the life of the mobile user. The research I will be unveiling is brand new, never seen before, and the presentation is tailored specifically toward content producers. So if you want to know the when, how, why and what of the mobile content, consumer I’ll see you in my session.

But even as a new media lover but a cell phone hater…well, I have to admit that my cell phone comes in super handy when I’m not at home. I can use it to set alarms. To check Twitter and Facebook. To take pictures. To send quick emails. To look up product prices to see if I’m getting the best deal. If you have a small business in a physical location (or locations), cashing in on utilitarian cell phone users like me can boost your profits more than you think. Let’s face it – you might be cutting edge, but most smart phone users are still pretty new to the whole new media thing. So how can you grab their mobile attention?

• Create some kind of very useful free app. 

The previous URL Lightbox users were given has now been turned into their very own photo blog, where the photos are automatically organized. Here’s a description of The Photo Journal from the Lightbox app page:

YOUR PHOTO JOURNAL:Lightbox is a place to capture, enhance, and share your moments. Photos you post are automatically organized into a timeline of postcards on Lightbox.com. Keep them private or selectively share them with friends, family, or the entire Lightbox community.

MANAGE YOUR PHOTOS ONLINE:
All the photos you take with the Lightbox app are automatically uploaded to Lightbox.com for safe storage. So if you lose your phone, you won’t lose your memories.

As you can see in the screenshots of the app above, each user is given a follow button. When you hover over their photo, you’re given the opportunity to “like” that particular photo. And just like the blogs we are all familiar with, you can comment, Tweet, Facebook or add to Google+ each individual photo page.

The Lightbox app update was already added to the Android market this morning.

So Android users, what do you think of the new photo journal feature to Lightbox?

The plan behind the deal is to hire the talent behind Gowalla and shut the service down completely. They have not purchased the Gowalla technology or service, but rather have hired the team.

Facebook said in a statement, “Gowalla co-founders Josh Williams and Scott Raymond, along with other members of the Gowalla team, are moving to Facebook in January to join our design and engineering teams.”

Neither company would say how many employees Gowalla has or how many would be joining Facebook. They also didn’t comment on what they would be working on together, but from Williams comment in his blog post, signs are pointing to the Facebook Timeline.

Williams said, “The Gowalla Passport has become a record of all the places we’ve visited, the people we were with, the photos we took, and the stories we told. Many of you even use Gowalla like a scrapbook of sorts — a place to keep all those memories.”

What are your thoughts on this announcement? Did you use Gowalla?

A new study done by comScore shows that mobile shopping is on the rise.

The most popular products purchased on a smartphone includes digital goods, clothing/accessories, tickets and daily deals. Maybe that’s one reason Daily Deal sites have exploded so much this year. It’s easier than ever to purchase a deal right from your phone and according to these stats, people are doing just that.

“Fueled by smartphone adoption, mobile is becoming a central part in the shopping funnel for many consumers,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president for mobile. “In September we saw two-thirds of all smartphone owners perform shopping activities on their phones, including comparing products and prices, searching for coupons, taking product pictures or locating a retail store. Considering there are currently 90 million smartphone owners in the U.S., retailers without a well-developed mobile strategy are not only missing a tremendous opportunity with these customers but also risk becoming obsolete in the minds of these digital omnivores.”

The chart pictured above shows where people are when they purchase something via their smartphone. Home came out on top at 56%, with Out Other Places (restaurant, school) and Work tying at 42%.

Mobile shopping is changing the way businesses do business. The retail world is changing and businesses need to jump on the smartphone bandwagon to snag a piece of the mobile sales.

Do you frequently purchase items from your mobile phone? If yes, what?

They have re-released the app today. The problems have been fixed but users still aren’t happy with the outcome. Some say the notifications are super slow and that it’s still basically the same app that was originally pulled.

Google does plan on enhancing some of the features, which they mentioned in a blog post from today:

In the short time the app was public we received a lot of helpful feedback and feature requests. This included requests for everything from bigger features like multiple account support to customizations like improved notifications and mobile specific signatures.

We’re just getting started with the Gmail app for iOS and will be iterating rapidly to bring you more features, including all the ones listed above plus many more. Based on your comments we have already improved our handling of image HTML messages – they are now sized to fit to the screen and you can pinch to zoom in.

Here’s a description of the features from the iTunes app store:

With the Gmail app, you can:

• Receive notification badges for new messages
• Read your mail with threaded conversations
• Organize your mail by archiving, labeling, starring, deleting, and reporting spam
• Keep track of important messages with priority inbox
• Auto-complete contact names as you type
• Send and receive attachments
• Search through all your mail

Have you tried out the new Gmail app for the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch? Let us know what your experience has been with it.

So are QR codes already dead? Is this a failed technology that we should put in the “it was a cool idea that never really panned out” pile?

Recently, Dave Wieneke from AdAge wrote a piece entitled “Why Marketers Shouldn’t Waste Their Time With QR Codes.” It’s hard to disagree with his claims – that marketers love them more than consumers do. They’re overused and often just lead consumers to more advertising, which is turning off anyone who has decided to check out what this QR thing is all about.

Not everyone agrees with Wieneke, of course. On ClickZ, Melinda Krueger argues a case for QR codes and if you do a quick Google search for “cool QR codes” you’ll come up with tons of results for people and companies using them in really unique ways. At BlogWorld LA 2011, Peter Shankman actually used the Stefan Pinto ad pictured at right to highlight smart advertising – it’s an example of a QR code used in a really funny way.

But there are a lot of people misusing QR codes, and it’s perhaps making them irrelevant for all of us. I can’t tell you how many times I see QR codes on websites. Really? That doesn’t even make sense. Or when I scan a code, it often takes me to the company home page. So what? I could have found you easily online after shopping…a QR code wasn’t necessarily. There was no “next step” for users (like “liking” a Facebook page) or benefit (like getting a coupon for some free products).

I don’t think QR codes are dead…yet. They are perhaps in the hospital bed, but the disease isn’t incurable if we take action. What do you think? Are QR codes on the way out? Do you use them for your website or business? As a consumer, do you scan them when you see them as part of marketing campaigns?

He’s currently in South Korea and was asked by reporters about a comment Steve Jobs made saying  Android was a rip-off of the iPhone.

The following statement was included in the Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson.

“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

Sshmidt’s response was “I’ve decided not to comment on what’s been written on a book after his death. Steve is a fantastic human being and someone who I miss very dearly. As a general comment, I think most people would agree that Google is a great innovator and I would also point out that the Android effort started before the iPhone effort.”

Some are saying it’s not the timeline that’s in question here, rather the features of the Android phone.

The Next Web says, “When the HTC Dream was introduced (sans multitouch) in 2008, it had transformed itself into a mirror-world version of the iPhone. By 2010, Android phones had incorporated multitouch technology and other features popularized in the phone market by Apple, sparking Jobs’ ire.”

What are your thoughts – Is it a timing issue or a features issue? Or, do you even care?

Shuffler.fm iPad screenshot

Music blogs are an incredibly popular way for music lovers to discover new music. Shuffler.fm calls their iPad app a “flipboard for music”.

Shuffler.fm made the announcement today via their blog:

Shuffler.fm was made for tablets and today it’s finally here on the iPad. It’s the world’s first real audio magazine, one which compiles itself and changes by the hour, giving you the latest, hottest, newest music from around the globe. Sit back, relax, listen, and read.

Shuffler.fm is a free download from the App Store. Find out more about the app on their site.

The company made the announcement today via their blog.

There’s one particular iOS app you all have been asking and patiently waiting for. Everyday, we read your tweets, comments and messages asking us when we’ll be releasing an official iPad app. They say that ‘good things happen to those who wait’ so today, we’re super excited to tell you to it has finally arrived: SoundCloud for iPad. It’s gorgeous.

And here are a few of the highlights of SoundCloud for iPad:

• More intuitive: Flowing screens to help navigate and discover sounds more easily along with simplified ‘stream’ and ‘activity’ tabs.
• More waveform: More space to interact with the newly designed waveform allowing you to add comments directly to the waveform and see them scroll as a sound plays.
• More social: Easier to ‘find & follow’ people and now record dedicated private messages to someone with a single tap.
• More visual: Larger profile images throughout the app.

You can see the app in action in this video they put together.

Introducing the SoundCloud iPad app from SoundCloud on Vimeo.