I use lots of different apps spanning social media, productivity, news, travel, entertainment and gaming. One of my most used apps is my Nike IPhone app which talks to a chip in my running shoes and keeps me on my toes – quite literally – when I am out running, whereas one of the nicest apps I have is PicDial – IQzone’s Picture dialling + Social Networking Status update app, which makes my boring mobile address book socially aware.

Right now, I am watching the (mobile) social commerce space with huge interest, including new social commerce apps like Wikets, which rewards users for recommendations. We should expect significant innovation in this space. Other new apps I like include TransferWise which cuts banks (and fees) out of international money transfers. Generally speaking, I am excited about the new ‘stuff’ coming out of London Tech City (‘Old Street round about’) – really believe, we may have a serious contender to Silicon Valley here (at last!).

IPhone 4 – confessing to being an addict (still queuing for the 4S…….)

For me, two key themes dominate in mobile right now, including integration with other media and the need to understand rapidly changing consumer behaviour. Two interesting mobile start-ups which have taken up these challenges with great success include:As already mentioned, IQzone – a US start-up – invented & pioneered the ‘Social Address Book’ space, Social Networking Gateway etc. over five years ago and developed the world’s first, white-label, end-to-end, plug & play, telco-grade cloud platform solutions for social address book and social networking gateway, integrating mobile users’ native address books with their preferred social networks. Today, not only are IQzone expanding functionality around their mobile/social address book offering, they are also evolving their enabling cloud-based platform (IQcloud) to offer MNOs/CSPs a flexible delivery platform for their own, IQzone, 3rd party and OTT services across multiple media. I expect significant more innovation to come from IQzone.

On Device Research help telcos, brands, agencies, device manufacturers, government institutions, the GSMA, the IAB, research bodies and others to understand consumer opinions, mobile internet behaviour, and device preferences across micro-segments and markets. By asking their global mobile internet-based survey respondents, they understand the roles of different mobile players (MNOs, search engines, devices makers, content providers etc.) in driving customer satisfaction and preferences. One of ODRs significant differentiators is their presence in emerging markets, which are generally hard to research because of low PC penetration, so what else than use the mobile device to capture consumer attitudes! The latest addition to ODRs portfolio is their rapidly growing pool of work helping clients understand different consumer/segment behaviours across the ecosystem of smart devices including smartphones, IPads, tablets etc. and their growing role in cutting out the PC….Watching this unfold with great interest.

We are advising clients across all digital and insight-related areas, ranging from mobile/social media integration to social (mobile) media strategy, social media marketing, mobile consumer behavioural insights, mobile marketing, customer experience – and marketing analytics and so on. The unifying factor is that no medium stands alone anymore.

It is all about data and insight. With the proliferation of media and devices, organisations today are able to collect customer behavioural data from many different sources. Collecting as well as deriving meaningful insights from all this data is a significant challenge whether you are a brand, a technology company, an agency, an internet company or otherwise. Not only that.

Customer insight will be a core business enabler – and differentiator – across most business functions in the businesses of tomorrow, whether to inform R&D/product development, deliver customer service, shape marketing strategies, deliver targeted ad campaigns and/or track campaign effectiveness, including on increasingly intelligent mobile devices. Rapidly changing consumer behaviour and multi- device/multi-room usage will complicate this picture further.

I think there are many new rock stars, many non-famous as yet including some great, people around London Tech City, leaving aside the usual suspects (Google, Android, Apple etc.). I generally admire innovation and appetite to take and manage risks.

IBM

I had many different leadership roles across the telco/media/consumer space in IBM and many bosses over many years. No individuals stood out as THE best boss. However, there were some unifying features in the people I admired the most, including having a vision and the ability to execute on that, sometimes despite being part of a large and complex global organisation like IBM. Other great features in a boss include the ability to inspire and motivate people whilst being focused on delivering results. In global companies like IBM, that often requires an ability to lead people from different cultures, sometimes working in virtual teams. In life in general, my experience is that there are not many of those around.

John Kuolt, EVP. IQzone.com

Alistair Hill, Founder and CEO of On Device Research