Francisco Kattan

I have the pleasure to host this month’s Carnival of the Mobilists.  If you are new to the Carnival, it is a digest of the best mobile blogging for the previous month.  Please join the conversation by contributing your posts and hosting in the future.

Last month we had a good mixture of analysis and round up type blog posts.  I selected the ones that I thought were more insightful and/or contained practical advice for developers or marketers.  Be sure to check out my pick of the month at the bottom of this article.

If you are a developer, Sean Thompson, VP of Production at GOSUB 60, wrote a nice piece on the WIP blog to help you decide if your app should be free.  The top grossing apps are free to download and are monetized through in-app purchases, but should you also monetize your app this way?  Sean helps you decide by considering five key questions.

If you are considering building your retirement nest egg with mobile affiliate marketing, you should think twice before you take the plunge.   James Coops from MobyAffiliates explains that while many conditions for making money from mobile affiliate marketing are coming into place, a number of barriers still remain. Take a look as his post Is it Possible to Make Money from Mobile Affiliate Marketing?  If you decide to not take the plunge with mobile affiliate marketing, you may want to consider mobile coupons.  Russel Buckley, Chief Marketing Officer of Eagle Eye Solutions, believes that mobile coupons will be the the next billion dollar market.  Despite the company promotion in the article, it is worth a read.  Russel explains why the largest physical good advertisers such as Procter & Gamble have stayed on the sidelines when it comes to digital advertising and predicts that mobile coupons will cause these advertisers to make a serious move into digital.

Ajit Jaokar, founder of the London based publishing and research company futuretext posted a thought provoking piece arguing that the two sided model does not apply to telecom operators.  With all the buzz around Telco 2.0 and with many operators investing in developer ecosystems, this is certainly a contrarian view by a leading thinker.  Take a look to see which side of the argument you take.

Are you a Digital Native? or an Immigrant?  Do you know how to market to the Digital Natives? If you are a marketer in the 21st century, Peggy Anne Salz, Chief Analyst and Founder of MSearchGroove (and also founder of Carnival of the Mobilists), wrote a must-read piece with practical advice on marketing to the Digital Natives.  It relates to her contribution to a recent book on the topic and a follow-up to the book author’s own post on the topic.  Peggy’s contribution is based on extensive primary research she conducted on the topic and is full of insights.  Take a look.

James Rosewell, Technical Wizzard at The Fonecast makes the case that Microsoft should buy Nokia outright.  Microsoft should use the pocket change it saved from the failed attempt to buy Yahoo! and put it to better use by acquiring Nokia.  James backs up his case with two key reasons Microsoft should act.  Very timely post.  Given Nokia’s recent stock price tumble, Microsoft might even end up with some spare change after the transaction.  Also related to Microsoft, in case you missed the news about Mango, Aurélien Fonteneau, mobile media & marketing enthusiast, wrote a round up of the new capabilities in Windows Phone 7.

Dennis Bournique of the WAP Review attended the Meego conference recently and was disappointed to find no Meego handsets.  However, he wrote a nice round up of the conference, including what’s new in Meego 1.2 and other announcements.

Volker Hirsh, Chief Strategy Office at Scoreloop and co-founder of Blue-Beck takes a close look at the evolving role of the game publisher – from the traditional console game days to today’s mobile distribution.  At a time when many have already proclaimed the death of the publisher, Volker breaks down the role of the publisher and explains how each is evolving, including providing his advice for game developers.  If you participate in the gaming ecosystem, be sure to take a look.

Mobile is the mega disrupter argues Richard Monson-Haefel, VP of Mobility at Ambient Consulting.  Mobile devices are now ubiquitous and more powerful than ever, yet mobility is not yet a fundamental component of every IT department’s strategy.  Check out Richard’s post where he coins the term “Omni-Mobility.”

My pick of the month:  Sean Thompson for his insights, helpful advice and original content.   Honorable mention goes to Ajit Jaokar for his controversial post on telco business models.

PS: If you are in the Manchester area, be sure to check out the inaugural Mobile Monday event coming up on June 6.