HotLizard has 12 years experience in delivering successful job boards and recruitment websites for a range of businesses, from SME’s through to some of the biggest players in the recruitment field. HotLizard prides itself on offering a consultative, flexible service which has resulted in numerous award winning, high performing recruitment sites across the globe.

Widely know as the market leaders in mobile apps, AllTheTopBananas.com has experienced an impressive growth since launching its first app in 2008. With a solid reputation as the pioneers of mobile technology, the business has built an impressive client base in a short space of time, including PepsiCo, Nestle, Intel, Thomson Reuters, Sodexo and Autodesk, these are just a handful of the ever growing clients Allthetopbananas.com work with.

The collaboration between HotLizard and AllTheTopBananas.com is a result of an increased demand across the recruitment market to offer a seamlessly integrated user experience; a far cry from the clunky, restricted methods used in the past. Following initial discussions between the two parties, a distinct synergy was recognised straight away. The flexible nature of both technologies enables HotLizard and AllTheTopBananas.com to target the 3 core markets that both businesses already have vast experience in; corporate recruitment, recruitment agencies and job boards.

Ray McKeating, Business Development Manager at HotLizard comments:

“The use of mobile in recruitment has evolved dramatically in recent times; a demand that is becoming increasingly reflected in the needs of HotLizard’s customers. A recent survey by Reconverse.com discovered that 84% of people think that job organisations should have a website made specifically for mobile. This growth, coupled with our ongoing strategy to stay ahead of market trends, has led us to our latest partnership with AllTheTopBananas.com. We’re very excited about working with the team and we feel there is a great match between the two businesses.”

HotLizard and AllTheTopBananas.com will both be attending the Social Media in Recruitment Conference this Thursday. You can visit the Allthetopbananas.com stand at the conference to find out more.

For more information on HotLizard or AllTheTopBananas.com please contact:

HotLizard:
Ray McKeating | 01635 527900 | ray.mckeating@hotlizard.net | www.hotlizard.net

AllTheTopBananas.com:
Kris Clare | 0844 800 1616 | kris@allthetopbananas.com | www.allthetopbananas.com/MobileHome.aspx

comScore recently released their 2012 Mobile Future in Focus report where  they looked at what happened in the world of Mobile and Connected Devices in 2011 and what it means for 2012.

Some of the key highlights from the report included:

• Nearly 42 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers now use smartphones, along with 44.0 percent of mobile users across the EU5 (comprised of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK).
• In 2011, both the U.S. and EU5 saw the growth in mobile app use exceed the growth in mobile browser use, leading to both markets seeing the same percentage of their mobile audience use both apps and browsers to access mobile media.
• More than half of the U.S. smartphone population used their phone to perform retail research while inside a store in 2011, illustrating the emergence of savvy smartphone shoppers who bring online shopping behaviors in-store
• 64.2 million U.S. smartphone users and 48.4 million EU5 smartphone users accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile devices at least once in December 2011, with more than half of these mobile social networking users accessing social media almost every day

If you interested in the latest mobile stats and insights then the report is well worth reading.

You can download a full copy of the report by visiting: http://www.comscore.com/2012MobileFutureinFocus

There has certainly been a lot more activity in terms of blog articles, press reports and overall interest in Mobile Recruitment so far this year.

Up to now, a lot of what has been written and reported has revolved around mobile websites and mobile apps, with less emphasis put on how mobile can be used as a resourcing tool.

Well that has now changed with an excellent blog post by Hung Lee who shows you 5 different cool iPhone apps you can use for sourcing.

Have you tried the following apps for sourcing:

• Foursquare
• Sonar
• Banjo
• LocalMind
• Glancee

Hung has been using  a number of these tools over the last 12 months and here is a link to his blog post where he reviews each one in details.

If you are looking to use mobile for sourcing it is well worth reading.

Using data from comScore and Alexa, Flurry’s June resarch found that people were using mobile apps for 81 minutes per day, compared with the mobile web, which was used for 74 minutes a day.

As of December 2011, the research now shows that people are using mobile applications a lot more, with mobile app usage increasing to 94 minutes per day, whilst mobile web usage has dropped slightly, at 72 minutes a day.

Flurry reported that approximately 40 billion apps have been downloaded from the Android market and iTunes Store since both launched. This is a huge growth market as smartphone usage and the use of mobile applications have become part of everyday life for most people.

Flurry also noted a decline in the time users spend on Facebook’s mobile site. The June figures stood at 33 minutes of use per day, compared with December, reported as under 24 minutes. The social network is certainly not short of users, instead the data more likely shows that more users are taking to using their Facebook mobile applications instead of the mobile website.

Whilst Flurry’s research appears to try and pitch mobile app use against mobile web use, it is not an easy comparison. The two will always be used in conjunction with one another and from a business perspective it should never be a choice between having a mobile website or a mobile application; the only real decisions are how and when you should implement these in line with your business goals.

The US report goes on to look at mobile application usage per category, the findings of which can be seen below:

The data, which has been released by research firm NPD, shows iOS market share has increased from 26% in the third quarter of 2011, to 43% by October and November. This increase is in line with Apple’s release of the iPhone 4S towards the end of 2011. Their decision to lower the price of their older models will have also impacted on the market share data seen for the end of the year.

The figures reflect the market we have seen developing throughout the year and NPD believe it has confirmed that iOS and Android have turned the competition into a “two-horse race”.

Smartphone sales across the board have continued to impress, and the figures from October and November show that two out of every three handsets bought in Oct/Nov were smartphones. This figure has increased considerably since Q4 of 2010; up a massive 50%.

Samsung have reported record profits in the US for Q4, with over 35 million smartphones sold, up from 27.9 million in Q3.

Google are also enjoying continued high sales of their Android devices. Google’s Andy Rubin tweeted that in December Android activations soared, with the company now experiencing over 700,000 Android phone activations per day.

In the last year within the US, Apple and Google held 3/4 of the market, having achieved a combined market share of 75.6% between August 2010 and November 2011.

Less successful contenders include Microsoft, who saw their share plummet from 10.8% to 5.7%. RIM also dropped its share from 37.6% to 19.7% in spite of its past prevalence as the single largest smartphone platform in the US, just one year ago.

Mobile web browsing statistics for the US have seen the iPhone and iPad account for iOS’s 52% market share of mobile web browsing in the closing month of 2011. Over half of mobile web users in December were browsing using an iOS device; a successful outcome for Apple, with the iPad contributing greatly to this overall figure.

Meanwhile statistics within the UK appear to largely shadow the US, with key contenders Google and Apple residing at the top following figures released at the end of October 2011. The data shows that Android’s OS is responsible for powering just under half of all smartphones sold within the UK, as the graph below indicates.

Flurry’s findings have revealed that device activations and app downloads for the last week of December 2011 have gone down in iOS and Android history for being the highest ever recorded.

Worldwide application downloads peaked at 1.2 billion from the 25th-31st December, with the U.S accounting for just under half of the total downloads in the period at 42.3%.

Flurry estimates that 6.8 million iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas day alone; a record breaking figure for both Apple and Google. It was also reported that 242 million applications were downloaded Worldwide on December 25th.

This is the first time that application downloads have reached over 1 billion in a week. Flurry’s analysis of the growing mobile market has led them to expect this trend to increase over the next year, and it is likely that we will see more weeks surpass the billion mark in 2012.

It’s that time of year again, when we wave goodbye to another working year and focus our attention on the next twelve months. But what will 2012 bring for your business? Stay focused and take charge of your mobile strategy by making your mobile resolutions for the new year.

The Year of Mobile

A good starting point for any business is to acknowledge and understand the growing trend towards mobile. Exposing your business to this new and increasing market will ensure that you stay relevant to users. Implement a mobile strategy today: decide whether you are going to have a mobile site, mobile application or both, and start laying out a plan for research and development. If you already have these, how are you going to improve your mobile product and your presence in the market?

Know Your Audience

Take the time to research your users and their goals. Find out what visitors want from your website and how they would use your mobile site; what is expected from your mobile site may be different. Develop your mobile strategy with your users firmly in mind, respond to your market to ensure return on investment.

Opt for Maximum Exposure

Aim to maximise your exposure to the ever-increasing mobile audience- explore different platforms and their markets to find out how best to maximise your mobile presence. When launching an app or mobile site, make sure to think about marketing- how will people find it? A big initial push will help attract visitors or boost downloads. Think email campaigns, website exposure and advertisements to attract users.

Keep Focused on Mobile

Think about mobile when planning new projects – include your mobile strategy as part of any new business goals where possible. When coming up with project ideas, ask yourself: “how does mobile fit in here?”

Keep on Innovating

Having a mobile site or app is one thing, but keeping it up to date is essential for its success. Ensure that you treat your mobile site like your website and keep refining and developing your product. Having the ability to create and manage content within the app or via a mobile site will ensure users continue to get a relevant, up-to-date user experience.

The ruling showed HTC to have infringed on one of Apple’s technology patents. Apple had originally suggested that HTC had infringed on a further three of Apple’s patents, but the ruling decided that this was not to be the case.

Patent ’647 affects the technology used to allow users to touch dial a number that appears as a link on the internet or in a text message. This feature on HTC phones acts as a convenient way to call a number that you may need to search for online, or be sent via email or message.

Grace Lei, HTC’s General Counsel thanked the judges, who have also re-evaluated earlier patent battles, and it was said in a statement:

“We are gratified that the commission affirmed the judge’s determination on the ‘721 and ‘983 patents, and reversed its decision on the ‘263 patent and partially on the ‘647 patent. [...] the ’647 patent is a small UI experience and HTC will completely remove it from all our phones soon.”

The ruling means that by 19th April 2012, infringing products will not be allowed into the US if HTC cannot alter or remove the software involved. Additionally HTC will be able to import refurbished handsets into the US until 19th December 2013 so that replacement devices will be available for consumers.

Carolyn Wu, a spokesperson for Apple, is reported to have commented: ‘We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.’

The rather cutting remark suggests that this will certainly not be the end of the long running battle between the two companies. While patenting software is common practice in the US, the UK has not yet allowed companies to patent software, which is deemed as a ‘program for computers’ and is therefore not an invention in the typical sense.

Kevin Pease, Technical Director at AllTheTopBananas.com commented on the recent events:

“Patents were established to protect innovation, but in recent times these patent battles are only serving to stifle innovation, with a small number of established companies using their patents to prevent competition in the marketplace.”

Is this kind of competition in the mobile marketplace healthy? Should companies be patenting their software and going to great lengths to protect it? Or is this lawsuit culture damaging the innovation of mobile technology? Share your thoughts below…

The AllTheTopBananas mobile site can be accessed via your mobile when viewing www.allthetopbananas.com on your phone. A prompt will appear asking if you would like to proceed to the mobile version of the site, or alternatively, you can access the mobile site by going to the following url: http://attb.allthetopbananas.com.

1 in 6 workers used a social network to get hired, with 9 in 10 job seekers having a profile on a social media website.

One of the most powerful statistics shown on the infographic is that: 18,400,000 Americans claim that Facebook got them their current job.

This figure is perhaps even more surprising considering that LinkedIn, a dedicated professional social network, assisted fewer individuals in the US into their most current role, with 10,200,000 candidates attributing LinkedIn to their job success.

Perhaps this can be explained as purely a numbers game; the sheer volume of users who subscribe to Facebook will always significantly outweigh that of a more specialist social network such as LinkedIn.

In the last year job seekers opted to use Facebook more than both Twitter and LinkedIn to search for jobs: with 50% of respondents using the social network.

Is social media set to overtake conventional methods of the job search? Share your insights in the comments section and read the full infographic below:

The world is busy, it’s been busy for years but we’ve finally got round to managing our time efficiently. We don’t need to wait for our modems to kick start, we don’t need to surf the web on a Sunday afternoon during the cheap rate; it’s available, it’s mobile, and it’s damn convenient. The lady next to me on the train has 3 phones, and she’s switching between them constantly. It’s mad, it’s lunacy, but it’s where we are.

If there are still mobile doubters among you then you only need to look at the wealth of business mobile success stories, smartphone statistics and app download rates that are suffocating tech news sites everywhere.

There’s no doubting that mobile apps are successful, their uptake is incredible, especially in the recruitment industry, but the first hurdle for any business to overcome is making their own website mobile friendly. A mobile site makes your users much more likely to return and use your site, even on the go. But what do you need to consider when deciding to join the m-site revolution?

1. Focus your objectives

It’s not rocket science, but your mobile site has got to perform as a stripped back version of your own site. For your sanity and the sanity of your users, do not over complicate the experience. Your mobile site shouldn’t attempt to do everything your website does, or you’re on the road to disaster. A user is far less likely to return to a site that takes too long to load or does not work, than they are to a clear, focused mobile site with basic but flawless functionality.

Consider your company’s objectives, what values are at the core of your business and what do you need to drive your users towards? For any recruitment business the job search is key, and a mobile site gives you the opportunity to display this clearly and effectively for your users.

2. Reach a wide audience

There’s no getting away from it, the mobile landscape is diverse. There are a lot of handsets, a lot of different operating systems and a lot of browsers to consider when looking at mobile site compatibility.

Ensure you steer yourself away from browser specific functionality; use features that are supported across all platforms and remember to test your site on as many platforms and browsers as you can.

Avoiding complicated javascript, large images and flash (which won’t work on an iPhone, and soon won’t work well on Android following Adobe’s recent decision to drop it’s support) will ensure your mobile site is multi-platform friendly for a seamless user experience across the board.

3. Functionality and form

Forget function over form, it’s important that your mobile site does both. Think loading times, think of the amount of screen space on the device, heck, think of those poor people with large fingers! Keep your buttons big, your call to actions clear and your branding unmistakable.
The usability and user experience of your mobile site will depend on achieving a good balance between both form and function.

Those are just a few starting points to help you on the way to becoming the next mobile success story. Isn’t it time you joined the mobile revolution?

Functionality

Your app or mobile site must function well to keep its users. A recent study suggests that mobile users are unwilling to give mobile sites and apps much of a chance, before sending them to the app graveyard. 78% of mobile users are willing to retry a website twice or less and 80% are willing to retry an app twice or less before moving on to a competitor service.

Make sure your app has a clear goal for the user; simplify the user experience to ensure they are able to use the app easily when on the move. Over-complicating your app will only increase the likelihood of functionality and usability errors.

Key considerations: Does your app require a data connection to work? What will the user see if they are not connected and try to use it? Is the app slow to load all of its graphics and features, and if so, are they all necessary?

Design

A key factor for businesses to consider when creating a mobile app is its ability to increase brand awareness to thousands of mobile users. When looking at your mobile app design, you need to ask yourself whether your app is recognisable to your existing users: does your app reflect the key design of your brand, or is it too far removed for people to make the connection- if so, you are missing out on a key opportunity to ensure users identify with your brand.

There’s no doubt that Smartphone displays are getting bigger, however your app still has to appear in a relatively small space which is just a fraction of the size of a PC. Ensure your app’s design is simple, and that you consider usability: remember to keep buttons large enough for users to press and ensure they are well spaced to allow users to easily select their chosen option.

User Expectation

Keep a clear focus in mind when creating your app; what do users expect from your mobile app or website? Do they want to search for jobs, receive job notifications, have access to CV advice, save jobs, share jobs..? Conduct some market research to ensure you understand the needs of your users.

For a first app it is advisable to try to do a few things extremely well rather than a lot of things badly; you can always add features to later versions of your app.

Exposure

Having an app is one thing, but to ensure it gets downloaded and noticed in the app stores is down to your app marketing.

Have a clear marketing strategy in mind when you launch your app. As soon as your app gets released into the app stores, this is the key time to conduct a marketing push. Send out email campaigns, feature it on your website, use all of the tools that you would normally use when launching a new product. Remember, an app is no different to a website; if it has no users, it has no future.

Sellers on the eBay marketplace are using mobile more than ever, as new figures show the number of sellers uploading product details to make sales on the site via mobile.

eBay are reporting that over 1 million listings are made through mobile per week, showing an increasing trend in mobile activity and e-commerce.

This follows a successful sales period for eBay during Thanksgiving, as mobile sales more than doubled when compared with the previous year. PayPal added to this mobile success story by announcing that it had seen a 511% increase in Global mobile payment volumes, compared with Thanksgiving 2010.

Could Social Media help kill office email?

The CEO of technology company Atos announced today (2/12/11) that he plans to implement a complete email ban which will affect 74,000 member of staff across 42 countries, within the next year and a half.

Thierry Breton, the chief exec at Atos stated that only 20 emails in every 200 emails received by staff members are deemed important. The time wasted by wading through pointless e-mails could be decreasing productivity, morale and staff concentration. Breton believes that: “The email is no longer the appropriate tool. It is time to think differently”

“Emails cannot replace the spoken word.“

Breton suggests that real-time chat programs could be the way forward, alongside visiting people face to face, whilst also saying he would prefer a text message to an email.

As real-time chat programmes increase in popularity, due to the immediacy of social media sites such as Twitter and the availability of real-time chat on Facebook, could offices approach communication differently, and more importantly, should they?

The Infographic takes data from Beyond.com and comScore and suggests that an incredible 77% of US job seekers use mobile job search apps.

Beyond.com have emphasised what they believe to be, 6 key areas to focus on when mobile job seeking: job alerts, saving searches, sharing jobs via social networks, applying, accessing career resources and reviewing job apps.

From their research it has also emerged that recent graduates and entry-level job seekers have become keen adopters of the mobile job search. Beyond.com’s traffic continues to increase year on year, seeing a 100% growth rate in mobile traffic.

View the Infographic below:

In September, analysts at Gartner and IDC predicted that Windows Phone 7 would gain growing market share in the coming years and emerge as a key contender in the smartphone market. Their predictions suggested that Windows Phone 7 could own 20% of the market by 2015, while naturally, the marketing department for Windows suggested that this was a conservative estimate. One year in, Distimo’s report helps us analyse how the landscape of Windows Phone 7 has grown, and decide whether it is possible for the platform to make a dramatic bid for market share in the coming years.

The Key Findings:

- The Windows Phone 7 (WP7) Marketplace has grown to accommodate over 700 new publishers per month.

- The app download volume for WP7 in theUSis 101k free downloads and 20k paid for downloads per day, in the top 300 most downloaded apps. This figure is 39 times smaller than that of Apple’s iTunes, though Apple has a far more established app store which makes direct comparison difficult.

- There are over 1300 new paid for applications available in the marketplace each month, as well as 1650 new free apps.

- The fragmented Worldwide release of the Windows Phone 7 marketplace has seemingly affected penetration of apps. While 50% of apps released are available in the first 17 countries that originally had access to the marketplace, a mere third of all apps are available across all 35 countries.

- TheUnited Statesconducts the largest amount of daily downloads in the WP7 markeplace to date. 

- The Windows Phone 7 marketplace is currently the 5th largest OS app store in terms of active apps worldwide. Although WP7 has modest beginnings, only time will tell whether this platform can take on the big hitters in the smartphone market, but at the moment, as we would expect, it is only a mere fraction of the size of Apple and Android.

You can read Distimo’s report in full here.

Research2guidance have released figures that suggest the Android market is continuing to grow with increasing pace. In September 2011 the Android Market had over 500,000 apps, while Apple’s app store stayed just ahead with 600,000.

This shows an improvement from results In the third quarter of 2011, as Android had 319,161 apps in the market, compared with Apple’s 459,589 apps.

The report also showed that on average, a developer on Android will have published more than 6 applications to the Android market, whereas Apple iOS developers publish an average of 4 applications in App Store.

Mobile showing no signs of slow-down

Last month Apple’s CEO Tim Cook announced that the iPhone has a 5% share of the Worldwide handset market; an incredible figure in a market which equates to over 1.5 billion handsets annually.

The Christmas period is seeing an increase in consumers using smartphones to conduct their holiday shopping and reports are showing that more people are purchasing through their devices.

A recent study by Prosper Mobile Insight has revealed that 62% of respondents plan to use their mobile or tablet device for holiday shopping this year. Of those planning on doing so, 57% will use their device for research and planning, whilst 40% will use their phone when shopping on the high street to compare deals and make purchases.

Google stays on top with mobile ad metrics

Google announced last week that it has introduced mobile ad metrics to Google Analytics. This will enable businesses to monitor user activity in the growing mobile marketplace.

Phil Mui, a member of the Google Analytics team posted on their blog: “As more consumers begin to make use of tablets or high-end mobile devices, businesses need to understand this shift towards mobile and adapt your marketing mix. This mobile ads reporting enhancement in Google Analytics is one of many steps that we are taking towards helping you make more sense of how mobile advertising interacts with your business.”

Google’s latest initiative to help businesses progress with their mobile strategy began last month with the launch of their website GoMo, with a wealth of tips and advice for those wishing to use mobile to attract new customers and retain existing ones in the growing mobile space.

The event is a must for those recruiters wishing to learn more about how mobile is growing and how the recruitment industry can use mobile to gain users and stay ahead in the marketplace.

Mike Taylor, the event’s organiser and Managing Director of Web Based Recruitment discusses on the MVIR website: “In today’s competitive world, Recruiters need to use all available channels to attract, engage and hire new employees. By using Mobile and Video you are able to utilise two of the fastest growing channels to achieve your recruiting goals.”

The conference programme is packed with industry experts who will be sharing their expertise and insight into mobile recruitment. Just a few of the speakers who will be attending today’s event include:

-Jeremy Copp, VP of mobile,Europe at comScore will be discussing mobile usage in recruitment and at just what pace the mobile industry is growing for recruiters.

-Matthew Jeffery, Head of EMEA Talent Acquisition & Global Talent Brand- Autodesk. He will be joined by one of our own, Cris Bradshaw to discuss AllTheTopBananas.com’s role as the World’s leading provider of mobile recruitment applications.

-Frank Durrell, Head of Digital at TMP Worldwide will be highlighting the rise of QR codes and location based applications in recruitment and how these new developments are being used today.

You can follow the event on Twitter using the hash tag #MVIR to get all of the latest updates and debates straight from the conference.

The data, which has been shared on Mashable’s website, shows that while 19% of those surveyed already use mobile in a job oriented capacity, a high proportion of respondents, more than 50% of those surveyed, could imagine doing so in the future.

The study revealed that 57% of respondents would like to utilise mobile to proactively search for vacancies and 51% would like to receive job alerts through their device. 30% of users would be receptive to applying for jobs through mobile, and 39% of users would like to track applications, learn about the recruitment process and keep up to date with career events.

Employers who have implemented a mobile strategy are still within the minority; 7% of employers have a mobile website and 3% have a mobile app. User expectation and need will drive this figure to change within the future, as employers learn how to interact with their users through mobile apps and web.

Potentialpark Communications, who conducted this research, will be speaking at the second mobile and video in recruitment conference in London, which takes place this week on the 17th November.

Original iPad owners will now be able to utilise the new multitasking gestures that feature on the iPad 2, and it has been reported that Australian users will now have more accurate voice recognition, which has been proving problematic.

Apple’s decision to move away from their traditional iTunes updates will please users who have found the upgrade system arduous in the past. The new OTA update should take around 10 minutes. Apple finally joins Google’s Android, which has been releasing OTA updates on its devices for years.  

In other news, Google have reportedly seen an increase in mobile shopping traffic in Australia. In a blog post Google revealed:

“[…] this year’s true Christmas miracle is mobile. While retail has posted impressive gains over last year’s season, the number of shopping queries coming from mobile devices increased 220% year on year. In fact, one quarter of all Christmas shopping-related Google searches this year now come from mobile devices.”

Australia is the world’s second highest smartphone-using country. This trend in mobile shopping and mobile usage in general is one that we can expect to see continuing within theUKand other big smartphone markets in the coming months. There really has never been a better time for businesses to evaluate their mobile strategy to ensure they can be found on this growing platform.