As we turn another page and enter a new decade, I find myself thinking about technology and restaurants. As a customer, how do you see handheld technology being used to enhance your dining experience?
I captured this bit of video while trolling the aisles of the BC Hospitality Expo in Vancouver late last year. The video shows a handheld (iPhone) app that servers can use to be more efficient at handling the orders and billing of their guests.

I am also reflecting on how restaurants can use QR Codes to tell the behind the scenes stories of the meals they deliver to folks in the dining room. One really creative restaurant in New Jersey recently began using QR codes to link to videos showcasing the Ethiopain cultural connection of some of the meals they serve. The diner, clicking on the QR Code links to the video and watches the short Youtube Video. Nice. The restaurant doesn’t even have to create the video content, just has to make the connection for their diner.

How could a brew pub showcase their pride in craftsmanship or educate the customer on how their product is made? How could you give behind the scenes access to your kitchen recipes or showcase where your local food is purchased by filming a short video with a local farmer?

How do you think restaurants could utilize the power of handhelds to enhance the dining experience for their ideal guests? Have you seen anything innovative in this space?

photo © 2007 Alexandre Dulaunoy | more info (via: Wylio)
This post is 100% unsubsidized, personal referral because
http://www.toktumi.com/ and Line2 for iPhone or iPod or even iPad make for a great portable office.

I’m using this service on my iPod and computer – Line2 turns even an iPod into a phone for 10 bucks a month or less. With a phone number and everything. Try it free for 30 days.
I tried it free for one day, and then subscribed.

Includes North American calls (incoming and outgoing) Free.
When I travel, you guessed it. I can make calls from anywhere in the world to North America.
for FREE on wifi, and Folks can call me back on my number as if they were calling my North American number.

I have a phone number but I don’t have a phone.

Yes, my iPod. Also works on an iPhone. It runs as an app in the background.  You don’t need to keep it open.  You can do anything you want, and the call announces itself.
It rings my iPod or my computer. My choice. Hilarious.

It uses wifi. Also works on computer with wifi or ethernet.
Got an iPad – turn the sucker into a phone. Why not? It can have its own phone number.

Transfers calls anywhere…. Yes, transfers calls. “Oh, sorry, you should speak with Martha” , click a button and forward the call. wicked good stuff.
Conference calls – up to 20 Free. Yes, included in the service. Just dial each person one after another and you’ve got a conference going, even on your iPod Touch.  Yes it does. Try it, if you don’t believe me.

You can even change your phone number to work with Toktumi or Line2.

First thing in the new year, I’m going to do what I can to get Bell Canada out of our office and get a few lines like this where we manage our calls on our computers. Each computer can have a headset and its own number. Transfering calls instead of picking up an extension. The only question, what will we do with the thousands of dollars we save each year?

My phone number sits at my computer and travels with me when I go away – on my iPhone or iPod.
It’s blowing my mind how we will save money with this revolutionary service.
Give it a try and tell us how you like it.

Unfortunately, this service is still only available in North America.  Sorry chums.

Facebook is pursuing a trademark on the word “Face” and has filed litigation against a Website that includes the name “book” in their URL.  Some in the accommodation industry may consider that Facebooks new “Check in” service, that has found its way into the mobile version of the website and the Facebook App (accessible to iPhone, iPod, Blackberry and Android devices), might some day pose a threat to the industry standard for guests announcing their arrival at the front desk.

In the meantime, Facebook Places provides a simple, handheld way for your guests to tell all their friends that they are at your location.

Why Facebook’s Places app matters?

• over 50% of web users have an account at Facebook.
• over 90% of people who earn at least $30 000 per year own a cell phone.
• over 35% of cell phones are Internet enabled devices.

It’s a fair guess that 2 of every 10 guests you are serving today has a handheld device and are capable of checking in on Facebook.

Whether an accommodation, food service, beverage service or attraction ask yourself this question.

“Would you like your clients to tell their friends that they are enjoying themselves at your location?”

Go ahead, I’ll give you a second to think about that.

OF COURSE YOU WOULD!!!!  Perhaps friends will come along to join the party, look you up online . . . at the bare minimum, you are going to score credibility points with all the friends of your guests who decide to check-in at your location.

So what do you need to do to encourage your guests to “Check in” on their mobile device?  Ask your guests to check in.

Call your guests to Action.

Give your guests a clear call to action.

Consider posting a sticker on your door, a sign in your waiting area, a rack card at your dining table that invites your guests to “Check in” on their handheld.  Consider offering an incentive to folks who check in – like a coupon for a free coffee on their next visit.

Of course there are a myriad of location-based games and associated apps – Gowalla, Foursquare, etc…. but the granddaddy of “Social” is Facebook.

What do you need to do to get started?

Go to your lobby or guest waiting area, turn on your handheld and point it to Facebook app or mobile website.  Click on the places tab and fill in your location.  If you are the first one to check in, you’ll be able to give your place a title and description.  All others who check in, will announce their arrival with the information you post as well as their own personal note.

Apple has approved a Paypal mobile payment solution that works across different applications on iPhone. What this will mean is travelers will soon be able to pay for goods and services from within a wide variety of applications on iPhone within Paypal. Ditto for Android phones.

The next phase of development for tourism business apps will be to integrate Paypal payments; making it easy for mobile phone users to pay for tourism services from the palm of their hand.

Frankly, I’m not sure why more restaurants haven’t offered diners the option of paying their tab using the existing Paypal app. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

My conversation with David Janes @dpjanes (Discover Anywhere Mobile) asks the question:

Are a you Destination Marketing Organization or a Destination Make-them-spend-more-money-in-your-region Organization?

Download Podcast

In this 40 minute conversation, David and I cover a number of interesting content ideas for destination apps including:

• underestimating the growth of mobile
• understanding the needs of digital traveler
• the importance of finding the right partners
• marketing Web apps in a destination
• the importance of GPS location relevant data for the traveler
• the irrelevance of regional boundaries
• how Discover Anywhere Mobile does the work of integrating destination content into the app including: remapping the themes of experiences, events calendar, tracking changes (adding, modifying and deleting content for the host dmo) – so there is no need to upload your content to a content management system.
• why an app living on a device is more valuable than a Web app and why hosting data on the app is vital for minimizing data pull (roaming charges) for out of country users
• augmented reality
• integration of social media with real time communication from twitter users in the destination
• direct communication with the dmo from the app
• the importance of having Web Savvy staff at your DMO and partners in your community.
• issues and opportunities with making handheld payments from within an app.

Check out apps discussed in this podcast:

• Discover St. John’s app on the iTunes store
• Near Me BC app on the iTunes store

What do you think are the obstacles and opportunities of handheld applications for regional destination marketing organizations?

In less than a day you can have a great mobile-ready Website that delivers all the content you need to satisfy the needs of your iPhone and other smartphone carrying guests before, during and after their visit to your region.

Why ensure your content looks good on a handheld?

• 60% of the world’s population have a cell phone. (3.1 Billion cell phone contracts)
• Cell phone users replace their phones every 18 months; the vast majority of new phones are smartphones.
• 91% of cell phone users have their phone within arms reach 24/7; providing users with impulse access to Web content during the “in-between moments” in a day.
• listen to podcast episode with Hilton VP on the explosive growth in handheld sales for the hotel chain.

WordPress.com blogs are automatically optimized for iPhone and Google Android phones; another reason why it’s time you started blogging with WordPress.

Make your WordPress blog a fully functioning  iPhone-ready and Android phone-ready Website without worrying at all about being a code monkey.

Create an account at WordPress.com and add a blog.  Treat your blogsite as a free iPhone-ready and Android-ready Web site.  Both phones use the Webkit engine that powers Safari Web browsers and these phones will co-rule the handheld landscape along with Blackberry.  Soon Blackberry is expected to join the Webkit/Safari browser handheld crowd too.

Get your mobile site started with the right content on a WordPress blog

Choose a Theme and Banner

It doesn’t matter what theme you choose, just pick one that has space for a banner image.

Banner Image: In the theme settings for your blog choose a banner image.  Give your Blog your Business Name as it’s title and include your main phone number in the Tagline setting on the General Settings tab for your blog.  Remember viewers may be looking at your site on their phone. Your phone number will automatically be a link, allowing your iPhone/Android site user to click the number to dial you with their phone!

Create Permanent Pages you think handheld device users and blog readers will appreciate:

• About us:  Include Contact Info.
• Check Availability: Consider using a page with a Google Webform.
• Link to your TripAdvisor page:  Encourage guests to write a review from the road when they check out.
• Map: Embed a Google Map on this page. (iPhone users can click on the map to link out of the blog to iPhone Maps app)
• Seasonal Rates: iPhone or handheld specials?
• FAQ’s:  Include things to do en route
• Media: On iPhone, Audio Podcasts can play in iTunes app, Youtube Videos open in the Youtube app and photo libraries on Flickr or Picasaweb can open in their handheld media format.  Be sure to link to your favourite picture folder on Flickr.com or Picasaweb.com

Flickr Photo Page looks great on iPhone:

Turn on the Mobile Theme for your WordPress Blog

By default, the mobile version of your site is on, but check just to make sure.

On the Appearance tab click on Extras.

On the Extras page, Display a mobile theme box should be checked.

What happens now?

When viewing your WordPress.com blog on iPhone or Google Android device your new WordPress blog site automatically renders beautifully with WPtouch theme by BraveNewCode. W0rdpress.org (self-hosted blog) users can choose from a few plug-ins to render your site for iPhone (WPTouch among them).  A nice feature of WPtouch is that users can choose to turn it off and access the full version of your website simply by switching the mobile on/off switch at the bottom of each page.

Publicize your iPhone Page

As with the regular WordPress view of your blog, the site home page of your site shows the most recent posts first.  The permanent pages-list at http://YourURL.wordpress.com/?pages-list is a great page to link to from your existing Web site as the iPhone or mobile version of your Web site.   Consider treating this pages-list page as your mobile home page.

Ask your guests to bookmark the iPhone blog version of your Website on their iPhone.

Pages list view of your blog on iPhone:

The Drop Down list in the upper right corner of the iPhone site brings up:

• a search box,
• home page
• links to permanent pages,
• post archives.

Special Pages for YOUR Ideal Guests:

No one knows the needs of your guest better than you (except your guests themselves).  Create pages you know your ideal guest will appreciate. Imagine for instance that bus tours are a key market segment for you. Consider a page dedicated to the guests traveling on the bus. Give the link to travel trade and have them include it in literature to your bus-traveling mobile phone toting guest so that they can view your content en route.

Get Blogging!

There you have it: A free iPhone-ready, Android-ready version of your Website; another great reason to have a free WordPress.com blog for your tourism business.

Links

• Screenshots taken from Todd Whyte’s blog at Ocean View Hotel in Rocky Harbour, NL, Canada.
• Mashable’s Guide to Mobile Design
• Smashing Magazines’s Mobile Design Showcase

Last week, I blogged about how the new Apple ipod nano makes recording and posting video to the Web a snap. With the incredible growth of online video, we often overlook the power of audio to create a compelling experience.

iPhone Apps: The Future of Handheld Multimedia is Now

When it comes to multimedia, I’m biased in favor of iPhone; but only because it is the most versatile handheld device currently available. There are dozens of ways of capturing and sharing multimedia on the iPhone without ever touching your computer.

Here are just a couple of samples of applications that make it super simple to create multimedia using an iphone and instantly sharing your creations with the world.

Audio Boo

With this Free app and a free AudioBoo account, audio can be recorded and uploaded directly to the Web over a wifi or 3G cell phone connection. The audio can also be embedded into a blog post like this:

HT Professional Audio Recording

This $3 audio recording app is one of many audio recording apps available in the iTunes store. HT Pro allows uploading of longer recordings (up to 30 minutes) directly from the device to the Web allowing content such as this recorded interview with the Missoula Children’s Theatre to be online in minutes.

Animoto

Another free app that combines up to a dozen of your iPhone photos with Creative Commons music and voila – Animoto in the palm of your hand.

Check out this little Animoto production made and shared on Facebook from iPhone while lounging in a hammock.

Social Web apps make sharing without a computer a snap

Uploaded Multimedia can also be shared on social networks directly on the iPhone directly using WordPress, Facebook or Twitter Apps making posts like this one directly to a fan page in Facebook a snap.

Are you an iPhone fan?

What’s your favourite app for getting multimedia instantly to the Web?

Introduction

This guest post is about how to create a website specifically created and optimized for people using the Internet from mobile phones.

To make sure this is perfectly clear, we’ll be talking about two different sites: your “normal” website (e.g. www.example.com) and your “mobi” site (e.g. m.example.com). Your website is what one would normally see on the Internet, your mobi site is something that you’re explicitly using for mobile devices

Why am I doing a mobi site?

Because there’s a lot of travelers using smartphones, there’s going to be a lot more in the future, and they’re visiting to spend money:

• Nearly 70 percent of frequent business travelers have a smartphone somewhere on their person (link)
• 1 in 7 computer owners currently own a smartphone (link)
• over 40% percent of consumers will make their next mobile phone a smartphone (link)
• more than three quarters of smartphone owners said that they will either be planning or taking a trip in the next 6 months (link)
• smartphone owners demographically skew wealthy (link)
• as of January 2009, there are about 18m iPhones and about 13.6 iPod Touches in use (link)
• iPhone and BlackBerry sales are expected to increase 25% this year (link)

What is the emphasis of your mobi site?

In-destination, the emphasis of a mobile site should not be marketing: the user is sold, they’re there. Instead, it should be to rapidly allow users to navigate to information they’re interested in consuming in the most convenient possible way.

This means:

• allow users to quickly see navigation items in the most obvious way possible
• present location information based on proximity (if GPS is available)
• present event information based on date.

IMHO concepts such as “the entertainment district” may have to become de-emphasized as this is an organizational unit more suitable to the printed page than mobile devices.

Page size and features

Page load speed is as critical as possible. This is true in the web browser world too, but in mobile:

• minimize JavaScript, as there’s probably not a lot of value in clever browser tricks or the CPU cycles to do it.
• minimize page size, as that corresponds to time-to-download and also cost to the user. In any case, do not exceed 25K for a page (why)
• put CSS and JS in separate files to optimize caching
• minimize images. 0 is a good number; 1 is OK; 2 is too many. It goes without saying that any images should be small both in dimensions and bytes.

Since the traveler is likely not to be using their normal carrier, they’ll appreciate the effort.

Which devices?

Test your mobi site on a BlackBerry and on an iPhone (here’s why). If it looks decent on those, it’s probably at least tolerable on lesser devices.

The relationship between your Mobi site and your website.

When a mobile browser reaches your normal website, you have several options:

• use CSS to make your normal website look good a mobile browser
• automatically redirect users to your mobile site
• prominently display a link to your mobile site

You should probably do the first option anyway, but this is not sufficient for creating a compelling mobile experience, as you really want travelers to see your mobile optimized site. Either of the other two options are good, with my preference being the “display a link” option, as users may still want to reach content that is only available on your normal website.

Detection of whether the user is reaching your site via mobile browser can be done “server side” (in the website code) or “client side” (using Javascript). My preference is the first.

If a user reaches your mobile site from a non-mobile web browser (i.e. from their computer) there’s no need to do anything special. You probably should have a link from your normal website to your mobi site somewhere anyway.

Domain Names

You have two good options for a domain name for your mobi website:

• m.example.com
• example.mobi

My preference is the first. Note that you should always register your .mobi name so that someone else doesn’t. You should redirect the user’s browser from the unused one to the correct one.

iPhone and BlackBerry Applications

Places with large event calendars, many properties or listings, or many visitors should consider developing custom iPhone and BlackBerry applications. This will:

• provide a superior experience to what is achievable in a mobile web browser
• reduce dependence on having an Internet connection in order to be able to achieve tasks
• provide “wow” factor
• enhance loyalty, the chances of repeat visits, and create word of mouth

I am not a neutral party in this recommendation.  My company, Discover Anywhere Mobile creates iPhone, BlackBerry and mobi websites for DMOs, CVBs, festivals, events, conferences, etc.. Our website explains our mobile web services in detail.

Conclusions

• every travel website should strongly considering having a mobi website companion
• that mobi website should be developed especially for the needs and limitations of mobile devices
• the emphasis of mobi website should be user experience in-destination, not marketing
• larger organizations should consider apps

Please feel free to leave comments below, or follow me on Twitter at @dpjanes.

This post originally appeared on the Discover Anywhere Mobile blog.

Mobile Access will be on Most Handhelds

• Forrester (July 2009) predicts that by 2013 there will be 2.2 billion Internet users in the world.
• Cell phone users generally upgrade their phones every 18 months, and virtually all new Cell phones are Web enabled .
• Research also shows mobile internet access is growing rapidly. 13% of Western European consumers (source: Forrester, July 2009) and 23% of American consumers (source: Pew Research, April 2009) enjoy access the internet on their mobile device.

Web access not used by all Travelers

Accessing the internet on a mobile device when abroad is still expensive. However, mobile phone operators are slowly lowering roaming fees.  The cost of accessing the Web on a phone is expected to continue to decline, just as the cost of making cell phone calls has fallen.

Adapting to Mobile

• Use fewer images for a Handheld version of your site than the desktop/laptop version. This makes them much faster to use, and cheaper when used while roaming abroad.
• Provide “Here and Now” focused content that the traveler may be accessing from within your community.
• Make sure your phone number is front and center on every page of your site which makes it easier for a handheld user to contact you.
• Link to Google Maps which works seamlessly with GPS / Google Maps-enabled phones such as Apple iPhone, or Google Android devices.
• respond quickly to inquiries!  The average response time to inquires in the travel industry is a dismal 30+ hours.  In the era of the always connected digital traveler make efforts to respond to inquiries in a timely manner or risk giving business to your digitally savvy competitors.

What are your thoughts on adapting to Mobile?

Time for some data on Handhelds and the Here and Now Web:

• 91% of Cell phone users keep their phones within arms reach 24/7 (Mary Meeker – Web2 Summit, November ’08).
• Technology is continually evolving and data on phones is near universally available. Those without data, no worries they will have it, people upgrade their phones every 18 months!
• iPhone is already pushing over 50% of data on cell phone networks.
• people want to share their stuff with people NOW, not when they get home.
• One benefits of being on the good side of the digital divide? Revenue doubles in communities with access to high speed Internet.

What are you doing to listen and respond more effectively to the handheld traveler’s needs:

• Are you tuned to the types of communications that handheld users prefer? phone & audio, twitter, sms, other?
• Can they access their cell phone network or your wifi network en route, in your community and at your location? What are you doing to ensure they can?
• Are you providing information to handheld users – when they need it. ~ NOW.
• Are you providing relevant information for where handheld users are? before, during and after their visit? How do you know?

How are you communicating and engaging with the handheld traveler?

• How do you encourage handheld users to upload content featuring your business or region
• Do you provide easy access to handheld-optimized Web content.
• Can you provide on-the-go in-the-car creative content: enticement, education, entertainment – podcasts?
• If you were to get a newsletter on your handheld, how else would you like to receive the content? audio? video? text? photos?