Mobile Photo Sharing Apps

It looks like as smart-phones become more photo capable, photo sharing apps will become more popular. Instagram, the app we talked about in last class, now has 2 million members. This Mashable article talks about Instagram and Picplz and how business might come to use them. Picplz allows users to comment, analyze and like each photo, while Instagram relies on hashtags to organize pictures. Starbucks is the first major brand to join Instagram and about 1000 pictures are marked with their hashtag. I have an iphone 3 and its not too great with loading pictures, so I haven't use my instagram app too much. Will picture sharing and viewing become another way to pass time on your smartphone?

Mobile Marketing Evolution

This graphic and blog post from Melissa Parrish, a mobile marketing expert, is helpful in understanding the various phases of launching a mobile marketing campaign. As I read it, I thought about which companies and products I use that are in each phase and whether or not it makes sense for every organization to reach the "connecting online and offline touchpoints" phase. What do you guys think of this approach?