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Alexa Amazon Echo App Everywhere Google Home Mobile Apps Smart Home

You Don’t SAi? Joint Venture Makes “Skills” for Amazon Echo and Google Home

Last week marked the debut of SonicAi – our new joint venture that develops “skills” for voice command devices – or “smart speakers” as they’re sometimes called.

amazon echo google home alexa smart home

We partnered with Steve Goldstein, Founder/CEO of Amplifi Media, to bring SonicAi, or SAi (“say”) for short, to life. The company’s focus is on designing and creating spoken word software for devices like Amazon Echo, or “Alexa,” as well as Google Home. These gadgets are showing up in more and more homes, offices, and other spaces every day.

From time-shifted audio like podcasts to featuring key station content that can be easily accessed and shared, our vision is to use the power of spoken voice commands to enhance the radio experience.

amazon echo google home alexa smart home
Ben, one of our Mobile Developers, hanging out with “Alexa” and Google Home

Jacobs Media, our sister company, has been tracking ownership of “smart speakers” in Techsurvey 13 and found that 11% of homes have one. And they’ve found that listeners who love formats that range from Alternative to AC to Sports Talk are grabbing up these devices in nearly equal numbers, indicating their mass appeal. In fact, Gartner predicts that 75% of U.S. homes will have one by 2020, and 20% will have two.

What this means for your station is that you need to engage with your audience beyond their phone, tablet, and even their car. You need to follow them wherever they may be. This means offering them apps everywhere, or App Everywhere® as we like to say. Furthermore, you need to make it easier for them to access your content. And what better way than using their own voice? Matt Hartman suggests that voice provides the lowest friction between consumers and them getting what they want, which is what makes offering your listeners these “skills” for voice command devices so important.

Check out this video to learn more about what SonicAi is all about:

To learn even more, click here.

Reach out to us today to discuss your mobile strategy and how we can help grow your business. Give us a call at 248-353-9030 or email sales@jacapps.com.

Categories
Alexa Amazon Echo App Everywhere Google Home Mobile Apps Smart Home

You Don't SAi? Joint Venture Makes "Skills" for Amazon Echo and Google Home

Last week marked the debut of SonicAi – our new joint venture that develops “skills” for voice command devices – or “smart speakers” as they’re sometimes called.
amazon echo google home alexa smart home
We partnered with Steve Goldstein, Founder/CEO of Amplifi Media, to bring SonicAi, or SAi (“say”) for short, to life. The company’s focus is on designing and creating spoken word software for devices like Amazon Echo, or “Alexa,” as well as Google Home. These gadgets are showing up in more and more homes, offices, and other spaces every day.
From time-shifted audio like podcasts to featuring key station content that can be easily accessed and shared, our vision is to use the power of spoken voice commands to enhance the radio experience.

amazon echo google home alexa smart home
Ben, one of our Mobile Developers, hanging out with “Alexa” and Google Home

Jacobs Media, our sister company, has been tracking ownership of “smart speakers” in Techsurvey 13 and found that 11% of homes have one. And they’ve found that listeners who love formats that range from Alternative to AC to Sports Talk are grabbing up these devices in nearly equal numbers, indicating their mass appeal. In fact, Gartner predicts that 75% of U.S. homes will have one by 2020, and 20% will have two.
What this means for your station is that you need to engage with your audience beyond their phone, tablet, and even their car. You need to follow them wherever they may be. This means offering them apps everywhere, or App Everywhere® as we like to say. Furthermore, you need to make it easier for them to access your content. And what better way than using their own voice? Matt Hartman suggests that voice provides the lowest friction between consumers and them getting what they want, which is what makes offering your listeners these “skills” for voice command devices so important.
Check out this video to learn more about what SonicAi is all about:

To learn even more, click here.
Reach out to us today to discuss your mobile strategy and how we can help grow your business. Give us a call at 248-353-9030 or email sales@jacapps.com.

Categories
Mobile Apps

42% of Smartphone Owners Are Addicted to Their Phone

In this year’s Techsurvey, the radio broadcasting industry’s largest survey, more than four in ten (42%) smartphone owners agree, or strongly agree, that they’re addicted to their mobile phone. That’s an increase of 6% from the previous year. When you consider all the things they can do, it’s easy to understand how people can develop a dependency on these devices. Whether you work in an office, on the deck of a cruise ship, in the kitchen of a 5-star restaurant, or on a Broadway stage, mobile phone technology has probably made your life easier and more entertaining.

What are people doing when they’re fueling mobile phone addiction? It’s simple – they’re using apps. In fact, a recent report from eMarketer shows that mobile apps will account for about 85% of total mobile time spent throughout this year. From listening to digital audio to social networking and gaming, the way these devices change the way we live should not be taken for granted.
The addictive quality of smartphones, and other mobile devices for that matter, is something every brand tap into in their own unique way. You should be thinking about what unique product or service you can deliver to this audience. Over the past decade, we have experienced first-hand the joy apps deliver to our clients. Having your brand appear on the screen of your consumer’s most precious possession is a rush, and maybe the most important part of future-proofing your brand.
So, with that being said, we have one question for you…

How is your brand delivering to our culture of mobile “addicts?”

As always, we’d love to talk anything mobile. Click here to reach out to us today, call 248-353-9030, or email sales@jacapps.com.

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Mobile Apps

Mobile App Time Will Account for 20% of Total Media Time in 2017

We’ve said it before. Mobile apps continue to outpace mobile web in time spent. In fact, per eMarketer, mobile apps are expected to account for about 85% of total mobile time spent in 2017. This means mobile internet users will average about two and a half hours per day using apps. Meanwhile, time spent with a mobile browser is expected to remain stagnant at 26 minutes per day.

It’s safe to say people love mobile apps

Judging by the sheer dominance in the way apps have outpaced mobile web, it’s safe to say people love and prefer the apps on their smartphones and other mobile devices. This is not hard to understand considering apps are easy to use, and they can provide users with instant gratification. Mobile web can sometimes make for a frustrating experience, especially when the website isn’t optimized for mobile.
Cathy Boyle, eMarketer Principal Analyst, says “American consumers spend the bulk of their app time conducting five activities: listening to digital audio, social networking, gaming, video viewing, and messaging.”
What this means is that if you want to keep consumers engaged with your brand, you should offer them an app. And that app should deliver more than just your stream. To drive engagement and get your audience talking to you, your app should be unique… like your brand. Offer users on-demand audio and video content, as well as different ways to interact with you (like social media), to create a fully engaging mobile experience.
Another key finding in eMarketer’s report was as Americans’ in-app time goes up, the number of apps they’re using is slowly declining. In 2016, US smartphone users used an average of 21 apps per month on their smartphones. By the end of the forecasting period, that number is expected to drop to 20.1 apps.

This isn’t surprising news since we reported back in September that 63% of app users become inactive within the first 30 days. For this reason, it’s important to keep your customer base engaged. Mobile apps create an instant connection between your business and your audience. People who download your app are likely your best customers, and they give your brand a small piece of precious real estate on their device so your message is never more than a tap away – useful to them and your business.
There’s a reason why our apps have generated more than 28 million downloads worldwide – we put the end user first. Click here to reach out to us today, give us a call at 248-353-9030, or email sales@jacapps.com.

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Uncategorized

Remembering Tim Davis

Over the weekend, an illness took the life of someone who means a lot to our company. Tim Davis, jācapps’ and Jacobs Media’s “digital guy” for numerous years, passed away at the age of 49. Even though he parted ways with us 2+ years ago, the impact he left on both companies will last forever.

Bob Kernen, our COO, had this to say about Tim:

“I only met Tim Davis twice, but he is a big part of the reason I work for jācapps today. As you see if you read Fred Jacobs’ blog post about him today, jācapps was Tim’s idea. He was one of those guys who when people asked ‘Why?’ Tim’s response was usually, ‘Why not?’ I’ve always had a special place in my heart for those ‘Why not’ guys. So, all of us at jācapps want to thank Tim for saying to Paul and Fred, ‘Why not?’ I think what we’ve done since then have proven him right, and I think he’d like that.”

In his blog today, Fred Jacobs sums up how integral Tim was to both Jacobs Media and jācapps.

In his honor, his wife Kathy will be forming an education trust for their two children, Xander and Alyssa, and we’ll get that information to you as soon as it becomes available.

There are many great people to thank for the creation of jācapps and one of those people is definitely Tim Davis.

Thank you Tim, you will be missed.

Categories
Mobile Apps

9 Baseball Apps That Hit It out of the Park

By: Vinson Kattoula

With the 2017 MLB season in full swing (no pun intended), we thought it would be fun to share our choices for the best apps to help you keep track of everything, from stats to the best seats in the stadium, all season long.

Here are 9 mobile apps you should be using this baseball season:

  1. MLB.com At Bat

As the official app of Major League Baseball, MLB.com At Bat offer users a great way to keep track of breaking news, scores, player and team stats, schedules, trade rumors, and much more. The app offers two subscription options, monthly and yearly, for its extensive premium features, covering MLB games from Opening Day to the World Series.
MLB.com At Bat can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS.

  1. MLB.com Ballpark

The MLB.com Ballpark app is the official mobile companion for visiting any MLB ballpark. You can access guides to all the MLB ballparks including concession maps, driving directions, and fan services plus mobile food ordering and experience upgrades at select ballparks.
Additionally, the app lets you create a personalized game journal including a history of all the games you attended, your game photos, team stats from your visits and access to the best game highlights.
MLB.com Ballpark is available for free on Android and iOS.

  1. TeamSnap

This is the perfect app for keeping track of the company softball team, or your kid’s little league. Primarily a communication device it helps you keep track of practice and game schedules, as well as who can make it and who can’t. You can also send messages and share photos from the games.
The TeamSnap app can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS.

  1. iScore Baseball/Softball

This mobile app allows coaches, parents, and fans alike to keep a detailed record of the progress of the game. Using the app, you can score youth baseball/softball, high school games, college games, and, of course, professional games. It’s a great tool for serious baseball enthusiasts who want to follow along the game and keep their own set of stats.
iScore Baseball/Softball can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS.

  1. MLB Perfect Inning 16

This mobile game lets you build your own all-star baseball team and make a run for the World Series. As you progress through the season, you earn points which can be spent on buying new players or upgrading your existing lineup. Players can engage in Season Mode, or play through the season’s daily matchups using the MLB Today mode.
MLB Perfect Inning 16 is available for free on Android and iOS.

  1. Sports Alerts – MLB Edition

Sports Alerts focuses on getting users LIVE, FAST scores and stats on their phone, tablet, or wearable. The main concentration is more on the numbers of baseball rather than the news which makes it excellent for those who just want to see what’s happening in the game. The app uses real push technology with no background services running for faster alerts with no wasted bandwidth or battery life, and all your received alerts are saved in your alert history in case you miss any.
Sports Alerts – MLB Edition can be downloaded for free on Android.

  1. MLB.com Beat the Streak

Your goal is to break baseball’s toughest record – the legendary 56-game hitting streak. Pick one or two players who you think will get a hit each day, make correct picks for 57 straight games, and the grand prize of $5,600,000 could be yours. The game is free and takes only 15 seconds a day to play.
MLB.com Beat the Streak is available for free on Android and iOS.

  1. ESPN Fantasy Sports

Casual and die-hard fantasy baseball players will both enjoy ESPN’s fantasy platform on their mobile app. The app makes it easy for users to set rosters, browse the free agency, make trades, manage multiple teams, follow stats, review scores, and post messages to their league. It also offers players fantasy football, basketball, and hockey leagues during their respective seasons.
ESPN Fantasy Sports can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS.

  1. MiLB First Pitch

As the official mobile app for Minor League Baseball, users can use the app to get live updates for every game and complete stats, schedules, standings, and news for all 160 clubs. They can also search for their favorite team(s) by level and by MLB affiliate. The app offers push notifications for game alerts, home game reminders, and breaking news.
MiLB First Pitch is available for free on Android and iOS.
In addition to these apps, there’s also individual team apps that provides users with updates centered around their favorite team. Popular features include a team schedule, scores, stats, player news, and team updates. They usually don’t have as many features as a full-fledged MLB app, but they’re great for fans who like to keep a closer eye on their favorite team.
As always, we’ve love to talk mobile with you. Click here to set up a conversation about your brand’s mobile strategy. You can also give us a call at 248-353-9030 or shoot us an email.
P.S. Go Tigers!