Smarter Agent's Blog has a new location!

2009-11-10T15:46:00.005-05:00

Thanks so much for visiting! Smarter Agent has recently transferred our blog over to the WordPress platform to match our spiffy new Web site. Click here to be directed to the new blog and click here to go to our Web site.

Smarter Agent launches new app for BlackBerry Storm. Free upgrade also available for all BlackBerry users.

2009-08-13T10:43:00.008-04:00

BlackBerry Storm users - the wait is over! This week, Smarter Agent launched its free, location-aware real estate app on the Storm.

This new version of our BlackBerry app not only features our flagship search "Homes for Sale" which let's you search all publicly viewable listings in more than 300 markets nationwide, but if you check out the image to the left you'll see an additional search option is included in this app - "Recently Sold" so you can see the prices of homes that sold within the last three years.

With the Storm, the GPS Quick Search feature will pinpoint your location and find all property listings around you. Or, you can always use Smarter Agent's other convenient search options to find homes based on address, community name, city and zip code. Plus, our refine search will narrow down results based on property type, distance, price range, and beds/baths.

Here's what you can expect to see in Smarter Agent's upgraded app:
-A graphically dynamic interface with icons for every command
-More Powerful GPS capabilities
-"Recently Sold Homes" data
-Option to SMS text a property listing to a friend
-Screen adjustment for landscape view

This enhanced version is also available for all other BlackBerry devices (but only the Storm gets the landscape view, sorry). GPS search capabilities are dependent on your device and carrier.

To search all Homes for Sale and Recently Sold Homes on your BlackBerry with the new and improved version, text TRY to 87778. You'll receive a message with a link to begin the download process. I did mention it's free, right?

#ICSF Day 1: A Lesson on Mobile Apps

2009-08-06T12:54:00.007-04:00

It was standing-room only for the panel "Mobile App Development for Real Estate" at Inman's Real Estate Connect SF '09.

Smarter Agent's President/CTO Eric Blumberg was invited to be on the panel along with Sasha Aickin, Engineering Manager for Redfin and Jim Secord, President & COO of Kurio. The workshop was moderated by the Co-Founder of W&R Studios Dan Woolley.

Inman News writer Matt Carter published a story to recap the session entitled, "Do mobile apps right, or not at all."

Carter's article quoted Eric Blumberg using one of his favorite analogies in his panel presentation:

"If you only put an iPhone app out, it's like saying I'm only going to sell to people who drive a Mercedes."

Of the 270 million cell phone users in the U.S., only about 7 million have an iPhone.

Maybe it's time you incorporated a mobile solution that reaches everyone with a cell phone. That's Smarter Agent's philosophy.

Smarter Agent Selected as Speaker and Innovator Award Finalist

2009-08-04T15:46:00.008-04:00

Connect SF '09 starts Wednesday! More than 1,500 people are expected to attend Inman's annual conference Real Estate Connect in San Francisco Aug. 5th - Aug. 7th.

Smarter Agent's President/CTO Eric Blumberg was selected to speak on the panel, "Mobile App Development for Real Estate," as part of the newly added ConnectTech workshop Wednesday morning. ConnectTech was designed for technology officers, developers, entrepreneurs and product managers to "talk tech."

Smarter Agent is also honored to be an Innovator Award Finalist. Our branded mobile real estate application is up for Most Innovative New Technology.

For Connect SF updates, follow @sa_jen and @smarteragent_ss on Twitter.
Or check out Inman's Social Media Dashboard.

Don't want to take our word for it? Listen to the pros.

2009-07-30T17:12:00.006-04:00

Some of the most vocal bloggers in the real estate industry are weighing in on Smarter Agent's mobile real estate app.

See what they have to say:

Agent Genius

Bloodhound Blog

The San Diego Home Blog by Kris Berg

You can also click here to view more comments and success stories on our Testimonials page.

GPS Smartphone use expected to jump 34% worldwide

2009-07-29T16:45:00.012-04:00

According to a recent report released by Strategy Analytics, GPS smartphone shipments will grow from 57 million in 2008 to 77 million in 2009. You can either pay $7,000 for this full report or get the gist below. And yes, that is our intern Nick loading Smarter Agent's real estate app on a BlackBerry inside a BlackBerry. Just a little Photoshop fun.

The report indicates there are two main reasons to explain why GPS smartphone volumes will increase 34% worldwide in a year:

1). Widespread acceptance of portable navigation devices in Europe and the U.S.

2). Increasing presence of mapping applications (Like Smarter Agent's location-aware real estate app! That's not in the report-it's just our 2 cents.)

Nokia is the global leader in GPS enabled smartphones. But the report says Research in Motion and Apple are starting to close in. See the article on FierceWireless for more details on the report and quotes from Strategy Analytics.

Here’s the first GPS Smartphone with a mobile real estate search built by Smarter Agent’s founders in 1999.

This is an early version circa 2000 Brad and Eric Blumberg created to find properties in Philly. Check out the size of that antenna!

Smarter Agent has come a long way. Our premium mobile real estate search now works on 95% of cell phones. Click here to see the devices we support and to download Smarter Agent.

A Hole in One!

2009-07-22T17:33:00.005-04:00

So, imagine you're working on your golf game and you come across this on the back nine!

No, we don't go putting up Smarter Agent signs on every green. But today, Smarter Agent was a sponsor for the 2nd Annual World of ACIN Golf Outing at the Suneagles Golf Club at Fort Monmouth, NJ.

The ACIN Technology Center is Smarter Agent's home. It's America’s first small business accelerator devoted to serving the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. ACIN was established in 2001 through a contract between the U.S. Army and Drexel University. The mission of the ACIN Technology Center is to identify small businesses and technologies that make information delivery faster, more secure, and more flexible to benefit the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.

Smarter Agent's location-aware, mobile property search technology helps not only interested home buyers and real estate professionals but also first responders and the military!

You can follow the instructions on our sign above or text SA to 87778 to download Smarter Agent's mobile real estate search to your phone.

Smarter Agent Launches Upgraded iPhone App

2009-07-11T10:23:00.017-04:00

Smarter Agent's upgraded iPhone app offers great, new features to make your real estate search even easier!

Real Estate by Smarter Agent offers:

* New search flow
* Increased speed and stability
* Ability to share properties with friends via text or email
* Ability to save images with favorites
* Integrated Map View and Map-Based Search
* More data details on properties
* Increased coverage area for searches
* Enhanced Picture View

In a neighborhood you like? Smarter Agent will use your iPhone to pinpoint your GPS location and find what’s for sale in your immediate area. Select a property from the search results to see price information, the number of beds/baths, square footage, interior and exterior features, pictures and more. Map the results to see the surrounding area and get directions to each listing.

If you want to search somewhere you’re not, Smarter Agent will take you there. Customize your real estate search by entering an address, community name, city or zip code.

You can also refine your search based on property type, number of beds/baths, and your price range.

When you’re ready to take the next step and schedule a tour of the property, the “Call to See” button will connect you to a real estate professional.

The “Broker Reciprocity” logo at the bottom of the data lets you know you are seeing every public MLS listing in that area. Smarter Agent partners with local real estate agents and brokers to gain access not only to their listings but to all listings in more than 300 markets nationwide. If you do not see the “Broker Reciprocity” logo, you will see about 25% of the available listings coming directly from feeds Smarter Agent gets from major real estate firms.

Real Estate by Smarter Agent is free! Click the App Store icon below to download to your iPhone or iPod Touch today!

Don't have an iPhone? No problem! Smarter Agent works on 95% of cell phones. Use this download tool to get Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale application on your mobile device.

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Smarter Agent's GPS, Real Estate Application now on Android - Still the Only Application for All Mobile Users

2009-06-26T17:23:00.004-04:00

Smarter Agent extends its reach to Google's Android Operating system and continues its reign as the only developer with a property search application available across all devices, carriers and formats.

Real Estate by Smarter Agent is a free application on the Android.

It’s a power tool for anyone interested in accurate, up to date, and comprehensive real estate information.

Real Estate by Smarter Agent features three location-aware (including GPS-triggered) real estate searches in one easy-to-use application.

Search options include:
• Homes for Sale
• Recently Sold Homes
• Apartments for Rent

Homes for Sale lets users search every public MLS listing in over 300 markets, more than any other real estate application on the market. With Recently Sold Homes, consumers can see the prices of homes sold within the last three years, and Apartments for Rent offers a growing list of apartments from top Web sites like apartments.com.

All three search options use Smarter Agent’s patented property search technology to pinpoint the user’s location and find available apartments and property listings in the immediate area with the touch of a button. Consumers can also search by address, community name, city or zip code.

Search results reveal:
• Price
• Square footage
• Estimated mortgage
• Taxes
• Interior and exterior features
• Interactive map
• Beds/baths
• Pictures

Smarter Agent features a “Call to See” button, which offers real time access to a real estate professional if you have questions or want to schedule a tour of the property.

This is the first application created by Realtors for Realtors that gives home buyers full access to publically viewable MLS property information and helps agents and brokers maintain their brand in the emerging mobile real estate market.

Android download instructions: Go to Android Market, select Search and enter Smarter Agent. Select ‘Real Estate by Smarter Agent’ and then select Install at the bottom of the screen. You can also text G1 to 87778 for download instructions.

For other devices, Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale application can be downloaded from:
• www.SmarterAgent.com
• A consumer’s cell phone via the carrier’s application store, or from application stores maintained by iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry.
• A broker’s or agent’s Web site if they subscribe to Smarter Agent and have a branded application.

Snapshots of NAREE's Annual Conference

2009-06-22T16:53:00.019-04:00

All Aboard the Smarter Agent Express
Bus transportation for all NAREE members and attendees to tour D.C. was provided by Smarter Agent again this year! Both buses were packed - about 80 attendees toured D.C. from what we liked to call the "Smarter Agent Express."

From the buses, it was difficult to catch For Sale signs, but the writers could see all property listings in D.C. with Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale application. BlackBerry generously provided 30 BlackBerry Curves so that a majority of members could see the app in action. A big thank you goes out to BlackBerry for providing us with so many phones at a moment's notice. Since Smarter Agent works on virtually every mobile device, many members downloaded the app to their personal cell.

The Big 8-0!
The weekend packed with tours, panels and presentations concluded with a toast to NAREE, which has been going strong for 80 years. Smarter Agent hopes everyone enjoyed their time at the conference. We enjoyed your hospitality and enthusiasm!

Smarter Agent on the Hill

2009-06-19T22:36:00.014-04:00

This weekend, Smarter Agent is a proud sponsor of the National Association of Real Estate Editors spring conference in Washington, D.C. This is the primary networking event for real estate writers, editors and authors. Nearly 100 members of the press covering residential, commercial, and financial real estate have gathered to hear from representatives of the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

BlackBerry provided Smarter Agent with BlackBerry Curves to give attendees a mobile tour of D.C. real estate with our Homes for Sale application.

How Realtors Can Reach Generation Y

2009-06-15T16:04:00.011-04:00

I read an article this morning on RISMedia about how Realtors can effectively meet the demands of Generation Y. With over 72 million ‘Millennials’ in the US (another cool term for people, like me, who fall in the 22-31 age group), we’re an “increasingly powerful economic force.” The article briefly touched on a list of ways Realtors can become relevant in the Millennials’ world including blogs, social networking, and virtual tours on YouTube.

I may be slightly biased, but I don’t think the article went far enough in stressing the importance and prevalence of mobile in the Generation Y target market. Our dependency on accessible, mobile technology comes into play not only in communicating (texting and e-mailing via cell phones is the norm), but gathering information and completing even the most mundane of tasks (from finding movie times to tracking personal spending), and finding a home should be on that list!

We here at Smarter Agent think one of the best uses of our mobile application is to become relevant with your Generation Y house hunters and to help meet their needs using a medium with which they are already very familiar.

Click here for the full article.

-Melissa Hindman, Smarter Agent Marketing Manager

The Camden Waterfront takes over the city!

2009-06-09T09:53:00.004-04:00

Severe thunderstorms rolled through Camden, NJ around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday morning and Market St. near Smarter Agent's Headquarters just couldn't handle all the rain! Sure, we're located on the Camden Waterfront but this was a little too close for comfort. Gondola ride, anyone?

Smarter Agent's iPhone app makes front page of Baltimore Sun real estate section

2009-05-28T16:41:00.004-04:00

Pretty spiffy. But don't forget - Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale app is available on virtually every mobile device!

Smarter Agent Employee: "Opportunity may have been lost" if not for Homes for Sale app

2009-05-27T19:12:00.011-04:00

Over the past 15 months, my wife and I have been preparing to purchase our first home. It started with raising our credit scores by decreasing our debt, which fortunately turned out to be easier than expected. Simultaneously, we were gathering information about what neighborhood, school district and price range would be ideal for us. After crunching numbers and weighing the pros and cons, we narrowed our search down to the zip code that best fit our criteria.

But we were challenged with trying to lay out a plan to drive through the different neighborhoods and only see the properties that were both in our price range and included the features we desired. Throughout this time we witnessed our selected homes pop up as new listings only to go off-market before we were ready to commit. We never imagined what a challenge it was going to be to keep track of the dynamics that were happening as we were out searching for properties.

While we were out searching, I noticed some For Sale signs had sign riders to have the property information texted to your cell phone so I decided to give it a try. I’d stop the car, pull over in front of the sign, type in the text information and wait for the text message. Much to my surprise the text message arrived quickly, which made me very excited to be able to instantly see the additional information available for the property, “including photos” it said, but I was disappointed by the seemingly endless wait for the data and photos to be transmitted to my phone followed by endless scrolling up and down to actually view the data.

These events provided more than enough motivation to help the company I work for, Smarter Agent, to launch its carrier approved, GPS mobile search application. Finally, the time came that we are ready to purchase our home. So, on the night of May 15th, 2009 I took a BlackBerry armed with Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale mobile application to the neighborhood we were interested in and performed a GPS refine search, narrowing the results to within our price range. Very quickly we had a list of 17 properties that fit our specifications, along with a map view to guide us to each one. As we easily drove to the homes on the map, we were able to quickly narrow the list down to our top five: three corner lots and two middle rows, based on all the property information, including pictures, displayed right there on my BlackBerry screen. I need to mention that there was no need to send a text message and then wait for the information and photos to be transmitted to the phone for just that property, or scroll endlessly to see all the information once it arrived. It was just there. An easy-to-use, touch-of-a-button application allowing us the luxury of driving right past the homes that the photos and data helped us eliminate and right to the homes that we could stop in front of and envision ourselves living in.

I immediately called my Agent to schedule showings for our top 5. As we walked through the homes, I was able to pull up other properties for sale in the immediate area by doing a GPS Quick Search to compare the value of the property we were being shown. Now the best part- As as we walked through our top pick, the value was clearly evident. This home was priced to sell with a list price 15% under the 3 other properties within a stone’s throw. We are now under agreement with this property and are very excited about this terrific opportunity that may have been lost without the instant access to information provided by Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale application.

Ken Gilliam, Data Analyst for Smarter Agent

The Dream Internship

2009-05-14T10:39:00.004-04:00

Eight months ago I tottered slowly into the Smarter Agent headquarters for the first time. And to be honest, I felt like I was walking into a completely new universe. I've been employed at countless jobs ever since I was a young teenager, but I never actually had a real job. I scrubbed tires at a car wash, bussed tables at a restaurant, stocked shelves at a supermarket, and did about 734,278 odd tasks at various local grocery stores. So when I was shown my very own cubicle... with my very own name on it... with my very own computer (with two fancy shmancy high grade monitors, mind you), I felt like Charlie when he won the golden ticket. You mean I can actually sit down at work? You mean I get unlimited free coffee? You mean I can make my own schedule that works around my college courses?

Seriously, it felt like I had met the most beautiful girl in the world. And for some odd reason, she decided to give me a chance.

Well once the initial honeymoon wore off, and it actually got down to do work, I was pleasantly surprised. I work on the fastest desktop I have ever used. I use powerful “crème de la crème” programs. I write web pages. I design handouts. I create things. I create things that people are actually going to see on their computer screen or mobile device. I'm not just cheap physical labor anymore, but an actual asset to a company. It's honestly one of the most exhilarating feelings I've ever had at a job.

I've been pretty busy at the office these days. I seem to have my hands on a bunch of different assignments at once. I get to work one-on-one with most of the other people at Smarter Agent, and everyone is extremely proficient at what they do. Not only are they hard workers, but they are darn good co-workers, too. It's a real family atmosphere over here, and that definitely makes it easier to be productive all day long. One of my bosses actually decorated my cube with Jonas Brothers and Twilight posters, as well as various High School Musical memorabilia. Despite the fact that I am a twenty-year-old male with little to no interest in these tween sensations, I keep all the items exactly where they were placed. Because I'll tell you, looking up and seeing Nick Jonas squinting seductively back at me is enough to make me crack a smile on even the most stressful of days.

While I'm notorious for my lighthearted and jocular personality, I'm using this post as an earnest opportunity of reflection. I get to do something I love for a company that makes a product that I am very proud to be associated with. I'll meet people in my personal time who ask me if I have a job. I'll tell them how I do graphics and web work for a company that makes a GPS-based real estate search for cellular devices. And they all respond the same way: “Whoa... cool.”

So I'm grateful. I'm grateful that I wake up in the morning and drive to work with a smile on my face. I'm grateful that I work with some of the coolest, smartest, and most talented people I've ever met. I'm grateful that all of my superiors think highly of me enough to keep me on board. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to be apart a company that is destined for tremendous success.

To the MLS companies that supply their IDX feeds, the brokers and agents that sign up for our branded application, the real estate buyers downloading Homes for Sale on their cell phone, the Blumberg brothers who operate Smarter Agent, my department superiors Alison and Tom, and all of the other wonderful people I work with:
Thanks.

Sincerely,

The Eccentric Intern with the Most Questionable Cubicle Decorations in the Entire Office.

Leave No Cell Phone Behind

2009-05-07T10:07:00.003-04:00

We at Smarter Agent believe everyone should have access to our superior mobile real estate search. Have you checked out our downloader tool on our homepage recently? Take a look below. You'll see Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale is now available on even more carriers and devices.

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Plus, if you don't see your device listed, you can select "[Other] Not Listed" to download our mobile web (WAP) version of Homes for Sale. With our fully downloadable application and our mobile web version, we can reach just about every mobile user! And we won't stop until Smarter Agent can provide the best mobile experience for everyone.

Smarter Agent Presents at GPS Wireless Convention

2009-04-28T15:00:00.010-04:00

Smarter Agent's Founder and President Eric Blumberg was invited to San Francisco this week to speak at the 13th Annual GPS-Wireless Convention on the Web Portal Markets Panel. He is joined by:
Thomas Owen, Vice President of Wireless Development & Alliances and panel moderator; Pankaj Mathur, Vice President of Sales at infoUSA; Howard Steinberg, IAC Mobile Business Development at IAC Mobile (Ask.com); and Bob Upham, Director of Business Development for Yahoo! Geo Technologies.

Happy Earth Day: Go Mobile, Go Green!

2009-04-22T09:08:00.005-04:00

Give our Earth a break! Help reduce waste while house-hunting by going mobile with Smarter Agent.

Consider this situation: You print out pages upon pages of properties you're interested in checking out. And you can't forget directions to each destination--a dozen more printouts. Then, as you're driving to the first property on your list, you pass the perfect house you never came across in your internet search that you just have to know more about. All those printouts--and, still, you don't have all the information when you want it most.

Using Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale mobile search application saves paper, time, and hassle. So save a tree, and get GPS real estate search capabilities and real time property information directly on your mobile device for an easy, green, and fun house-hunting experience.

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How to Improve Your Website: Add Smarter Agent's Mobile App Downloader

2009-04-17T16:52:00.005-04:00

Kathleen Allardyce is the President of Getting It Write, Inc. and a "how to" guru on a variety of real estate marketing issues on her blog, Build Real Estate Results. She writes how Smarter Agent can help "Dazzle Your Real Estate Website Visitors." --Click the article title to find out more on how Kathleen thinks Smarter Agent can benefit agents and brokers.

Smarter Agent's WAP App Solution a Hit in San Diego

2009-04-16T14:46:00.005-04:00

Kris and Steve Berg of San Diego Castles Realty are excited about Smarter Agent's WAP app, according to their blog post. The Bergs launched their mobile search feature a few months ago, and now the WAP app makes it possible for the Bergs to reach every consumer across every carrier and device, including Kris's BlackBerry Storm. Rest assured, Kris, the fully downloadable Homes for Sale application will soon be available for the Storm, and we'll be asking you to be a Beta tester when the time comes.

Click here to see Kris's full blog post on San Diego Home Blog and for more information on San Diego Castles Realty's mobile application.

Smarter Agent in the Windy City

2009-04-15T10:42:00.003-04:00

Geno Petro--a top producing Web 2.0 Realtor and downtown Chicago Buyers Agent--just announced his Homes for Sale application is live and ready to help all his clients search the Chicago MLS from their cell phone.

See his blog Chicago's Home Weblog for the full announcement and more on how Geno is taking his business mobile.

Q&A With Smarter Agent on RealTechTools

2009-04-13T17:41:00.007-04:00

Check out Mike Antoniak's post on Smarter Agent. Mike covers technology for the National Association of Realtors and supplements his articles with his blog RealTechTools.

Five Questions About Smarter Agent
Most think of GPS as a navigation tool, but one company is using that technology as the basis for of location-based property searches on mobile devices. Smarter Agent is a carrier approved, GPS-powered tool which enables consumers to search and retrieve property information on their cell phone or other handset, based on where they are. It was developed by co-founders and brothers Brad(CEO) and Eric Blumberg ( CTO and president). The Blumbergs have an insiders’ understanding of how technology can best serve the needs of today’s mobile real estate professionals and clients... See the rest of the post on RealTechTools.

Smarter Agent Shares Expertise at CTIA

2009-04-06T12:03:00.004-04:00

Smarter Agent's President Eric Blumberg was invited to speak on the Mobile Search panel at CTIA in Las Vegas.

Here is a description of the panel:

"Rising penetration of smartphones and all-you-can-eat mobile data ‘bucket’ pricing plans have led to a dramatic increase in usage of mobile search services. The assembled panel will deliver a frank discussion on what the mobile search sector’s diverse set of players need, want and expect from each other in order to maximize their respective stakes in the mobile search game. This invited team of experts will offer insights on the real-world partnerships currently in place and their top choices for future collaborative arrangements and why."

Moderator: Mark Lowenstein; Managing Director of Mobile Ecosystem

Speakers
Doug Antone; CEO of Networks In Motion

Eric Blumberg; President & CTO of Smarter Agent

Aman Brar; Vice President, Business Development of ChaCha Search, Inc.

Matt Crowley; CMO of AT&T Interactive

Brian Lent; Chairman and CEO of Medio

National Survey Shows Wireless Applications are Essential for Success

2009-04-03T13:32:00.008-04:00

“In the midst of these challenging economic times, this study shows the wireless industry’s future is extremely bright.”-Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association.

LAS VEGAS, Apr 02, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) – A new national study released today at International CTIA WIRELESS 2009® in Las Vegas, Nevada by CTIA-The Wireless Association® in conjunction with Harris Interactive®, finds that almost half, 45%, of business decision makers state that wireless applications are important or absolutely essential to remaining competitive in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Click here to view the full article.

Highlights of the study, “Mobility Means Business—The Wireless Road to Prosperity” by Harris Interactive Technology Research Reports:

55% of business decision makers agree with the statement that “wireless applications are only getting started. I’m excited about the future.”

More than 50% of those surveyed expect to deploy the hottest application within the next two years.

Improvement Expected with wireless applications: Small Business: 16%, Medium Business 16%, Large Business 14%.

Smarter Agent's President Eric Blumberg is invited to speak on the Mobile Search Panel at CTIA in Las Vegas this week.

Smarter Agent Presents to North America's Elite Real Estate Firms

2009-04-02T17:52:00.005-04:00

Smarter Agent's Jennifer Levine presented before The Realty Alliance this morning at its General Membership Meeting in Coral Gables, FL. Levine demonstrated Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale mobile search application in a session titled, "Taking House Hunting Mobile." Members of The Realty Alliance represent and serve most major markets in North America. These Realty Alliance members were the first to join the mobile revolution:

Prudential Georgia Realty: www.PrudentialGeorgia.com
The Keyes Company: www.Keyes.com
William Raveis: www.Raveis.com
Real Estate One: www.RealEstateOne.com
Prudential Fox & Roach : www.PruFoxRoach.com
Prudential Carolinas: www.PruCarolinas.com
Prudential CA
Prudential Douglas Elliman

An Unexpected Turn of Events With Smarter Agent

2009-01-29T18:29:00.005-05:00

Jay Youmans is a Broker Associate at William Raveis, Smarter Agent's Real Estate Partner in CT, MA and RI. Jay took advantage of the latest in mobile technology by signing up for a personal branded Homes for Sale application for his websites. He continues William Raveis' attitude of having the latest and greatest in technology, and making sure consumers benefit from those tools!

Jay had been keeping me up to date on the happenings with some out of state buyers. Smarter Agent always strives to provide the best user experience possible, so when our efforts prove successful for the agents we work with, we are ecstatic!
Jay sent an email to the Executive Vice President, Kent Hanley, of William Raveis telling how he used his branded mobile application to seal a deal! Kent was nice enough to allow me to share it with all of you.

...'I had an unexpected turn of events with my new "Go mobile" Smarter Agent system. I wrote an offer which was accepted on a home in Sharon, CT. My buyer clients are getting an absolutely incredible deal on a charming well cared for 1780 vintage home. After the inspections, the buyers were concerned about value based upon some issues they felt needed correction. On final decision day I met with the out of state buyers at the house (4th time) armed only with my Blackberry and knowledge of the current market. After lengthy discussions at the kitchen table I suggested to the buyers that we take a look at what's on the market right now around this house so could see for themselves, one more time, whether or not this was the best value.

I pulled out my phone, brought up my Smarter Agent branded web page, then displayed the current listings surrounding the house in list and map form. There were numerous homes less than 2 miles away with the vast majority of them being priced well in excess of not just my clients accepted price, but also the asking price. Then, with phone and surrounding market data in hand we got into the clients car and I drove them around past the other competitive listings (many of which they had already been through). Along the way we also past some multi-million dollar estates which the phone showed us were less than a mile away.

My clients were literally able to see the value of their purchase right in the palm of their hands. It was powerful. It was subtle. It literally saved my deal. The second deposit was Fed-Exed today. I never anticipated using this system for a situation like this. It was the cornerstone for this particular decision process.'

... 'Turnaround time for my "Go mobile" system set-up was only about 48 hours. That's branded website set-up, testing and all. Jennifer was highly customer service oriented, followed up and followed through. She was even double checking functionality for me this past Saturday moments before my meeting with these clients. I was nervous the application would not work in Sharon, CT - but it did!! She is a great asset to Smarter Agent and to our team.

In closing; Thank you Bill!! Thank you Kent!!! Thank you Joy and the Raveis Team behind the scenes!!! I truly appreciate the tools, the support, and the opportunities.

Jay Youmans
Broker Associate
Litchfield, CT Office

Congratulations Jay on a job well done! I can't wait to see what happens when you start distributing your branded application to your clients, and potential clients, putting yourself and all the listing information in their pockets, anytime anywhere! May your real estate knowledge and expertise, along with your branded Homes For Sale mobile application powered by Smarter Agent, bring you lots of "Call to See" action!

Smarter Agent at Inman Connect NYC

2009-01-12T13:36:00.009-05:00

Last week, Smarter Agent exhibited once again at Inman Connect, this time in NYC. And let me tell you, when they say New York is the ‘city that never sleeps’ they weren’t kidding! Every day was filled with exhibiting, mingling, networking, and of course having fun! While there, we had the chance to meet so many new agents, brokers, and social media gurus. This is a show where people really “get” technology which allows us to have more in-depth conversations about our applications.

I must say, I have never seen so many iPhones in one place than at this show. Did I mention we also got to show off our new free iPhone application? Hands down, it had to be the biggest hit of the show. Real Estate by Smarter Agent is so easy to download and use, and pictures just look great! Everyone that downloaded the application played with it for at least an hour after. I am not an iPhone user, but using the application is seamless, simple, and most importantly FAST. Within seconds I could locate the closest properties for sale and find price, beds, baths, details, and pictures. This has to be the most efficient home search I ever conducted, and all in under a minute. I could even refine my search to find properties with the exact amount of bedrooms and bathrooms I need. It was great to know that when I’m ready to look at a property I just have to hit “Call to See” and I am instantly connected with a knowledgeable agent ready to help.

Overall, the show was a great success. A great buzz around our new application was created, and we got to make great new relationships as well as strengthen existing ones. There is truly no other city like New York and with the great group of people we were surrounded with, it was definitely a trip to remember.

To see what all the buzz is about, click here to download our free iPhone application: http://www.smarteragent.com/mobile/att/iphone.php

Don’t wait. Experience the mobile revolution now and join in on the conversation by writing your own review.

P.S. - The Blackberry download is free too!
http://www.smarteragent.com/index_blackberry.php

Smarter Agent starts off 2009 with a BANG on the iPhone!

2009-01-03T00:38:00.021-05:00

iPhone's Location-Aware Real Estate by Smarter Agent, the most comprehensive real estate mobile search, is now an approved iPhone application!

With Real Estate by Smarter Agent's iPhone application, you can find the closest properties for sale using GPS technology. No typing required! You can learn about the price, the number of beds and baths, read property descriptions, plot the property on an interactive map - even see multiple exterior and interior pictures!

Smarter Agent is much more detailed and comprehensive than other mobile applications. We are very proud of that.

Here's one reason why:

Because Smarter Agent has partnered with some of the top real estate brokers and agents around the country, you are able to see ALL of the publicly viewable local MLS listings in any market we cover. This is more information and listings than found in other mobile applications. And the information is updated at least once daily so you only see what's REALLY available.

Here's more information about the application and us:

Want to search somewhere you are not? Today you might be in Chicago and want to search for condos in Miami - no problem! You can customize your search to a specific area by entering in a neighborhood, address, city or zip code.

Don't take our word that this is a great application -- CTIA, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Aassociation, named Smarter Agent the best GPS application in the world, and we are happy to now make it available to you from the iPhone.

Mobile to human:

Let's say after months of tooling around, you are ready to actually take the next step and talk to a professional. With this application you can hit the "Call to See" button to reach a live real estate agent to ask questions or schedule an appointment to see inside the home.

Smarter Agent invented the GPS real estate search:

The application is so unique we've been granted 4 US patents: 6,385,541, 6,496,776, 7,072,665 and 7,457,628. No other mobile real estate application can claim that. Once you try it, you'll know why.

Try this version for free!

Download Real Estate by Smarter Agent's application now for instant access to all publically available MLS listing information directly from your personal iPhone.

Change the way you search for real estate as your iPhone becomes the ultimate search tool!

You can find the application in the iTunes store under Lifestyle or search for Smarter Agent.

Or simply download the location-aware Real Estate by Smarter Agent to your iPhone , by entering your information below:

Happy New Year from Smarter Agent!

2009-01-03T00:28:00.003-05:00

Our New Year's resolution is to post more often. To start that off, here are some links to blogs some members of our team have started:

http://activerain.com/blogs/sa_blog
http://www.realtown.com/Bayrin/blog/mobilemarketing
http://activerain.com/blogs/sajlevine

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2009!

The financial meltdown wrap-up

2008-10-12T05:46:00.002-04:00

Let's try to explain where we are:

For most of the last decade, this country could expect about 4.5-5.5 million existing homes sales, and 500k to 1 million new home sales by builders.

Call it 5.5 million homes sold in any given year.

Over the past 3 years that number went to almost 7.5 million, fueled in a large part by speculation, folks trading up faster, buying multiple properties.

Note: For real estate folks the end of 2008 is going to be a real bear, but we'll get back to 5M homes sold in 2009 - historical norms. With each year 1,000,000 new households are being formed, so the real estate market will have its sales. Homes p-r-i-c-e-s will be down 30% on average, but people have to move in the US and they will.

So let's keep tracking what happended to get us in financial turmoil.

In addition to housing speculation, put into the mix people using their new home equity - as homes prices rose - as piggy banks. Lines of credit to live beyound our means. Throw in all the credit card debt too and the american consumer has little in reserve to weather any slowdown in the economy-caused by that everyone has to slow down their own spending. Yes, that's how it works ;).

Now here's where it gets to become a crises:

Throw in lax mortgage underwriting, packaged as subprime, that fueled a large part of those extra 2 million housing sales.

Right there you have the making of an inflated housing market.

Add that Wall Street goosed returns by leveraging these subprime mortgages and sold them to investors as high yeld bonds, now selling for 30 cents on the dollar as the underlying fundamentals deteriorated. That was part of the Lehman blow-up.

Add more...that the government got involved in giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a "social purpose" instead of a pure ecomomic one, and you have a failed securitization engine. That means if they got people into homes that couldn't really afford them, these securitization firms got more $ without penalty. They blew up next.

Here's one of the more damaging moves...then the government said that banks, who could in the past only could invest in US Treasuries, could now invest in preferred Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock. This also goosed bank returns. This is where additional banking pain is being felt. My own mid-sized regional bank has over $600 million in now worthless Fannie Mae stock. Now you have the duel real estate/banking crises - a nice chunk of GDP now whimpering.

ADD to all this... that corporate borrowing was propping up many of our "leading" firms, like the auto industry, and guess what, this 3 year party, built on over a decade of excess -- is now unravelling. And the insurance industry, tied to many of these ills through the wrongful investment of your premium payments (see the next section about credit derivatives to learn what brought down AIG) is being pulled in as well.

Is this a great country. Yes. We will get back in gear. Yes. Will it take 3 years. Maybe.

The interesting part is while everything is unwinding, there is still a leg wobbiling that could make things worse, yes worse in the next 1-6 months. Something I really just learned about - the credit derivative market.

Here is a summary from an AP story this week:

".....in a letter to shareholders, billionaire investor Warren Buffett followed with his own warning, calling derivatives “weapons of financial mass destruction” controlled by “madmen.” While financial experts were concerned with the housing bubble and mortgage-backed securities, Buffett was focused on what many now believe may be the next big shoe to drop - the credit derivatives market, better known as credit default swaps. What worries financial insiders most is the $54.6 trillion of risky credit derivatives concentrated among the few banks left standing. Credit default swaps (CDS) are the cornerstone of the credit derivatives market accounting for more than 98 percent of all credit derivatives. They are difficult to understand, ignored by regulators and poorly reported on balance sheets. In simplest terms, CDS are insurance policies on things like bonds, loans and corporate debt. But there are two big differences: the seller of a CDS doesn’t need to have the money to cover losses if the security defaults, and the buyer doesn’t need to own the asset it wants to protect. It’s as if hundreds of people could buy insurance policies on houses they didn’t own yet still collect the full value if it burns down. The danger comes when the company defaults and the seller - because he’s not required to - doesn’t have the money to pay out on the default. Investment firms that traded various derivatives, such as CDS, collected an average of $2 billion in fees each quarter over the past two years. And traders who spoke to CBS News said these transactions were the largest cash cows on Wall Street, even more profitable than mortgages. The newfangled transactions were seen as easy money and many traders had the attitude that when it blows up, it’s someone else’s problem. Today, the same commercial banking heavyweights thought to be the most safe, JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America, hold 92 percent of all the disclosed credit derivative contracts, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. "

That does not seem like a happy ending in the short term. More bailouts, will equal more pain, slower recovery. But it all resolves over time, that you can bet on.

In the meantime, try Smarter Agent to look for your next home or apartment. A whole new real estate search and marketing channel will emerge in 2009 putting agents and consumers in touch via a new medium (mobile) in much the same way the Internet did starting in 1999. It's built by us, at www.smarteragent.com. We invented the mobile real estate location-aware (GPS) search and have 4 granted patents.

Homes for Sale by Smarter Agent, Mobile, Launches

2008-09-20T19:29:00.000-04:00

Smarter Agent starts the lauch of a multi-carrier, multi-device, multi-operating system roll-out of its Home for Sale application...we start with close to 100 cellphones, and soon Blackberry and iPhones, and other carriers.

Nation’s leading real estate brokers enter red-hot mobile space in a big way via Smarter Agent

Any consumer can turn their cell phone into a house-seeking real estate finder

Smarter Agent’s Homes for Sale mobile search launches today, accessible to over 50 million AT&T and Sprint customers on 80 different cell phone models.

Over 99% of all mobile location-aware real estate activity is now powered by Smarter Agent. Smarter Agent is the only carrier approved, on-deck mobile search – meaning it has gone through significant security and usability testing to be chosen to be on the carrier (AT&T, Sprint) deck.

Smarter Agent delivers accurate and up-to-the-minute home sale information to a consumer’s cell phone.

What is seismic for the real estate industry, and what differentiates Homes for Sale from other mobile real estate applications, is the comprehensive nature of Smarter Agent’s platform:

More listings: This information is delivered from the country’s top brokerage firms, including cooperative access to their multiple listing (IDX) data feeds. This means just about every home for sale in a particular market can now be viewed by any consumer.
Reaches more consumers: Smarter Agent is already on more cell phones than most mobile applications of any kind. It works, elegantly and simply. Smarter Agent invented and patented the location-aware mobile GPS real estate search. Over the next 100 days, Smarter Agent will launch on every carrier, operating system, and just about every mobile device including iPhones, Blackberries and Android.

Where to get it, now
Smarter Agent can be downloaded:
from a consumer’s cell phone via AT&T’s Media Mall,
from a consumer’s cell phone via Sprint’s Get New area,
from www.SmarterAgent.com

If GPS is available on the consumer’s cell phone, Smarter Agent instantly turns the cell phone into a GPS-triggered real estate finder. This means with just one click, all of the local listings are immediately returned—no typing required! Should the consumer’s cell phone not contain inherent GPS, Smarter Agent also works on all non-GPS enabled devices with a simple to use interface that initiates the search.

Smarter Agent instantly returns all publically allowable information on a property, such as sales price, taxes, beds/baths, square footage, interior and exterior property descriptions—even pictures! Mapping capabilities also let the user see where they are in relation to the homes. And a button reading “Call to See” routes the user directly to the Broker/Agent Partner, who can show the home.

To provide consumers with the best and most accurate home listing information, Smarter Agent has partnered with premier brokerages across the country, whose combined sales in the past twelve months exceeds $125 billion.

The following is a sampling of Partners:

Prudential Fox & Roach in Philadelphia
William Raveis Realty in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Prudential Georgia Realty in Atlanta
Prudential California Realty in Northern California
Real Estate One in Michigan
Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston in Raleigh, NC
Prudential Carolinas in North and South Carolina
Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York City, Long Island and the Hamptons
Prudential Network Realty in Jacksonville, FL
Weichert Lead Network in New Jersey
Luxury Realty Group in Las Vegas, NV
Laffey and Associates in Long Island, NY
Century 21 Sussex and Reilly in Chicago, IL
RE/MAX Professionals in Denver, CO
Prudential Palms Realty in Sarasota, FL
Prudential Preferred Realty PA in Pittsburgh, PA
RE/MAX Allegiance in Baltimore, MD, Washington D.C., Richmond, VA and Northern Virginia
Tomlinson Real Estate Group in Washington and Idaho
The Keyes Company in Southeastern Florida

Also adding to this tony real estate mix is RealEstate.com who will run a channel in the Smarter Agent Homes for Sale portal of nearly two million real estate listings in over 80 markets.

Dependent on your carrier, Homes for Sale costs between $2.99 and $4.99 per month for unlimited usage, billed directly to your carrier bill.

For more information, or to conduct interviews with leading local brokerage launch partners in your local market, please contact Carrie Johnson at (856) 614-5423.

# # #

About Smarter Agent (www.smarteragent.com)
Smarter Agent® combines mobile location technology, such as GPS, with information about real estate and neighborhoods around you. Smarter Agent is the inventor of the mobile location-triggered real estate search -- and has been granted four patents. By delivering location-relevant content to mobile devices, consumers can learn, interact and transact with the world around them as never before possible. Smarter Agent was named BEST GPS Application by the CTIA (Cellular Telecom Industry Association), BEST COMMERCE Application at Navteq Global GPS Challenges in the US and Europe, and has been featured as a leader in mobile innovation at Dow Jones and DEMO conferences.

Where to Find Us.

2008-05-06T23:59:00.001-04:00

Here are some conferences where we are exhibiting or are on panels -- if you want to catch up with us:

Wireless:
Stevens Institute, LBS Event, Hoboken NJ May 12
NJTC Mobile , Mt. Laurel, NJ May 15
Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic (Philadelphia), May 19
MIT LBS Forum, June
CTIA, April

Real Estate:
NAR MidYear, Washington DC May 13-16
June 25-28 The National Apartment Association Convention & Expo (Orlando, FL)
July 23-25 Inman Connect San Francisco '08
Sept 7-10 Maryland State Association Convention (Ocean City, MD)
Sept 8-11 Texas State Association Convention (San Antonio, TX)
Sept 24-25 Florida State Association Convention (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
Oct 5-7 North Carolina State Association (Charlotte, NC)
Oct 14-18 California State Association Convention (Long Beach, CA)
Nov 7-10 NAR Annual Convention & Expo (Orlando, FL)
Dec 9-11 Triple Play Convention (Atlantic City, NJ)

Pete Distler joins Smarter Agent as President of the Smarter Agent Media Network

2008-04-01T23:04:00.001-04:00

We are excited and proud that Pete Distler has become our partner. As we continue to build momentum in the mobile space, how we monetize our traffic for our real estate, distribution, carrier and local neighborhood partners is key. Pete is the best person in the country to lead this effort. Pete was the person behind creating and executing the first mobile media network while at Sprint.

We will announce this, with a release that goes something like this:

Mobile advertising gets focused on the $100 billion spent when people move.

Smarter Agent has developed the mobile industry’s first vertical search application focused on bringing a slice of the $11 billion real estate advertising market to mobile devices.

With Smarter Agent, brands can reach consumers when they are in a particular neighborhood searching for homes and apartments via Smarter Agent with GPS accuracy giving new meaning to the real estate maxim: location, location, location.

To lead this effort, Pete Distler joins Smarter Agent as its new President of the Smarter Agent Media Network. Pete Distler built and ran the first carrier mobile media network deployed in the United States.
# # #
In 2008, $11 billion in advertising will be spent to attract the attention of homebuyers and apartment renters. Surprised at the size of that number? Marketers aren’t. Even in a slow real estate market Americans are constantly on the move.

Many times a move surrounds a life changing event: a new job, marriage, growing families or that second vacation home. Indeed, 1 out of 3 renters and 1 out of 12 homeowners will move this year – and they will spend more than $100 billion on related goods and services.

Real estate is a huge market - where “location, location, location” still rules the day
Smarter Agent patented the GPS real estate search and operates carrier approved mobile real estate applications. With Smarter Agent, consumers can search anywhere in the United States for rentals using Apartments for Rent, past sales data using the Recent Sales application --- and next month for active listings using the Homes for Sale application from their cell phones – in many cases utilizing GPS!

Smarter Agent is now able to offer advertisers a hyper local channel to target movers.
More money is spent buying goods and services when a person moves than at any other period in their lifetime. Think about it: The last time you moved you probably visited a home improvement store, bought new furniture, changed banks, got insurance, picked a new cable and internet service -- and started new relationships with local businesses from restaurants to drugstores to supermarkets. With Smarter Agent, advertisers can already begin this relationship with their new neighbors.

Leading this advertising effort, Pete Distler joins Smarter Agent as President of its Media Network this week.
Mr. Distler created the first carrier advertising while working at Sprint, and introduced many brands and agencies to the new emerging world of mobile advertising. “In looking at the mobile advertising landscape, Smarter Agent offers one of the most thoughtful approaches to give brands the most bang for the buck in mobile advertising”, noted Mr. Distler.

Mr. Distler added, “While searching for what’s for sale or what’s for rent consumers can learn about local retailers - and offers from them - as they search in the neighborhood. When a person moves they spend more than they will on products and services than at any other time in their lives. Now they can get this information from a device they carry with them at all times – their cell phone. Because they are highly relevant, mobile location-aware ads are exciting and useful content for consumers as they review local home and apartment listings”.

Here's what we did January and February.

2008-02-24T23:11:00.004-05:00

Things are busy at Smarter Agent.
Here are some items that happened this month and last, January - February 2008.

Smarter Agent closed an oversubscribed $6.2 million funding round a few weeks ago. Some great investor partners are now part of Smarter Agent and we are honored to have them. We are working in overdrive to create value for them, our customers and partners.
This week, Smarter Agent Apartments for Rent went live on AT&T.
Our branded mobile GPS application for real estate agents and brokers, that we introduced at the National Association for Realtors (NAR) annual convention, made more headway at the Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and ERA conferences in Orlando this week. You can catch us live at the Prudential annual conference in New Orleans in March, and at the NAR mid-year conference in May in DC. Agents who have an interest in this product can call us at 800-727-1787. You can see a demo on our YouTube site.
We will be in the Qualcomm booth at CTIA in April in Las Vegas, further demonstrating our value to the new LBS ecosystem. At CES in January we were again honored to be in the Navteq booth, and also to be named a LBS innovator by TeleAtlas, who also gave us floor time in their booth.
We are scrambling to hire mobile programmers and build-out our sales team. For those smarter and fearless animals looking for a great opportunity - please consider us as a place to put your mojo to work.
Thanks to the team at Smarter Agent. You folks are the hardest working and coolest group the Philly region has seen in a long time.

3 recent news items about Smarter Agent (all big impact items, in short posts)

2007-11-23T07:42:00.001-05:00

ONE
For Apartment Owners:
Upload your Apartments for Rent - FREE. beta
If you own an apartment, you can post its availability for FREE. You post it, and than SWOOSH...the listing is instantly available to people looking for apartments via Smarter Agent on mobile phones!

The calls go right to you.

Learn more here.

TWO
For real estate brokers, and agents:
Create your own mobile phone real estate search.
Email us at: yourbrand [at] smarteragent.com, or start here. 200 brokers and agents signed-up the first day we showed this product to a select audience at the NAR annual convention in November. We are doing another sneak peak at TRIPLE PLAY convention in Atlantic City the first week in December.

THREE
Ira Lubert is now an equity owner in Smarter Agent. Ira is Chairman of the largest equity fund group in the Philadelphia region with real estate and technology interests. Mike Carter of The Musser Group and Howard Lubert of SafeHatch also joined our Board and have equity interests in the company. The introduction was made by our friend Paul Soult.

The right approach to analyzing the real estate market

2007-10-11T12:35:00.000-04:00

I am often asked my opinion of the real estate market.

Stephen Bedikan is a real estate analyst. His piece that I read on Inman news, is copied below.

I suggest you take Stephen's outlook to base your buying and selling and investment decisions.

"The long boom in the real estate market attracted many people into the industry, with the National Association of Realtors' ranks growing to more than 1 million members. Because the upcycle lasted for 10-15 years in many markets, hundreds of thousands of agents have not experienced a significant down market.

By looking at down markets in the late '80s and early '90s, we can make some observations on past real estate declines.

Price declines are relatively shallow. During most downturns, prices tend to decline in the range of 3-6 percent annually with cumulative declines of less than 20 percent. Los Angeles was the exception in recent history, experiencing a cumulative decline of more than 27 percent. Compare this with the NASDAQ index, which was over 5,000 at the height of the dot-com boom in 2000 and is still at only 2,791 seven years later. Of course, because houses are a highly leveraged purchase, a percentage decline even in the teens can eliminate your equity entirely if you bought too close to the market peak.

Down markets can be lengthy. Market observers frequently say that the market will turn up "next year." This is often wishful thinking. Past downturns have persisted for a number of years, not just one or two. Real estate markets are often characterized as "sticky downwards." That is, when home sellers don't get the price they want, they opt to take their properties off the market and wait. While this behavior may cushion the downturn in prices short term, it tends to extend the duration of a market correction.

The big picture matters. Most downturns are a manifestation of larger economic conditions. Generally a national or local recession with substantial job losses drives real estate corrections. The current downturn in Detroit has been the most severe of any major market because of auto industry-related job losses. Many real estate markets declined during the national recession of the first Bush presidency in the early '90s. In the case of the Los Angeles market decline, the downturn was extended and deepened by an earthquake and race riots.

Market	Downturn Start Date	Duration (months)	Cumulative % Price Decline	Average Annual % Price Decline
Los Angeles	Jun-90	67	-27.1%	-4.9%
San Diego	Jul-90	68	-17.2%	-3.0%
Boston	Jul-88	43	-16.7%	-4.7%
New York	Sep-88	31	-15.5%	-6.0%
Detroit	Dec-05	19	-12.4%	-7.8%

Source: S&P Case Shiller National Price Index

So what does this mean for real estate professionals in the current downturn? Be prepared for the weak market to last a fairly long time.

In our view, prices are likely to continue to decline by low- to mid-single-digit percentages annually for the several years in the high-cost markets that had the greatest run-up. The wildcard is a recession. If that happens, we will take another downward lurch before we gradually settle to a bottom and begin the upcycle again.

Stephen Bedikian is a partner at Real IQ, which provides consulting and housing market analysis. He can be reached by phone at: (310) 871-3737 or by e-mail: sbedikian@realiq.com. Or contact him via his blog at http://realiq.wordpress.com/.

Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic

2007-08-24T11:45:00.000-04:00

The first event for Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic is set for

Website: http://www.momo-ma.com/

MONDAY September 24, 2007
“The Wireless Mobility Landscape in the Region”

The format for this event will be a panel discussion with audience questions/discussion followed by networking with a cash bar.

Agenda:

Welcome/Intro
The Panelists:
Brad Blumberg, CEO Smarter Agent
Jim Drobile, Associate Liberty Associated Partners
JP Finnell, CEO Mobility Partners, LLC
Rick Rasansky, CEO Sapphire Mobile Systems
Additional moderator and panelists pending.

Cost:
FREE, please just RSVP here.

When:
Monday, September 24th, 6:45-9 PM

Where:
Union League Club
140 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102

At the intersection of Broad and Sansom Streets

Parking
Midtown Parking Garage
1415 Sansom Street

We made a little miscalculation...we want to have a free wheeling, anything goes, come as you are event. We forgot there is a dress code at the Union League basically slacks (no jeans) and a shirt with a collar and no sneakers. Bear with us this time, we will re-evaluate the venue!

The Union League’s Dress Code requires Business Casual Attire for ladies and gentlemen. Gentlemen are required to wear a collared shirt and slacks; turtleneck and mock-turtleneck shirts may be worn when accompanied by a suit jacket or sport coat. At no time are jeans, sneakers, athletic clothing, or shorts permitted...

Mobile Monday Philadelphia

2007-06-16T13:43:00.000-04:00

We're orgainizing a Mobile Monday program to be held once a month in Philly. Regional and national speakers will key us in to what's hot in the mobile space - and those of us in Philly interested in all things mobile can network, drink cocktails and create a dynamic community. Interested in helping out, sponsoring to get the ear of both established and up and coming mobile firms, and/or becoming a media partner -- shoot an email to info [at] smarteragent.com - until we get the website up.

Oh, the places we'll go.

2007-05-12T22:19:00.000-04:00

Places we'll be...

This Thursday (May 17), I'll be on a panel at the Wireless Evolution Expo: The Next Great Idea. This event will take place at Stevens Institute's Babbio Center, home of the University's Howe School of Technology Management.

Eric Blumberg will be speaking at BREW 2007 at the end of June, his panel is "What's next for LBS after Navigation". Those Qualcomm folks throw a big party.

Places we were...

Had a nice lunch with Steve Smith one of my favorite new media authors. Very perceptive thinker, and he's starting to cover more mobile through his column with OMMA.

Eric had a nice time in San Fran, talking with wireless carriers from the US and abroad, and we're gearing up for some international launches of Smarter Agent.

CTIA, Smarter Agent

2007-04-11T10:24:00.000-04:00

Did not have much time at CTIA in Orlando last month.

Smarter Agent was showcased in the Navteq and Sprint booth, and I spent a few hours there.

The funniest thing I saw was the CEO of one of the navigation companies asking for directions at a hotel. Of course I busted on him, he's a nice guy. My wife and I still shell out $9.99 each per month to have his company's voice turn by turn navigation on our cell phones. And that sums up the state of the LBS industry...the industry is just getting started, there are good app's that work on carriers, and Smarter Agent is one of the few launched. It's all about building them out, adding content, testing and experimenting. Nothing like using the app in the field, like the nav CEO, to know you have to keep upgrading the experience.

The other thing that struck me is that the carreirs customer service could learn a lot from Disney customer serivce. I brought the kids and we stayed at a Disney hotel. Those folks are all about how can I solve your issue, problem, etc. How can I make you smile. Not about rules, etc.

Overall, there are a few good summaries about the show. Here's one from Cheetan Sharma if you are interested:

Mobile Advertising As expected, the hottest theme out of this CTIA was Mobile Advertising. The pre-event seminar on the subject was packed with discussions and viewpoints from all parts of the value chain. The involvement of agencies was refreshing. They can help guide the industry by articulating the needs of the brands and agencies in an overall advertising framework, develop standards, and not develop point solutions that won’t scale beyond MDF campaigns. But they are keenly aware of mobile and reported positive results from their tests for some big brands. David Rittenhouse from Ogilvy noted that Lenova experienced 188% lift (n=1495) in awareness from a mobile ad campaign. Third Screen reported up to 7.5% click rates on its network. Still missing were Internet players like Google and Yahoo. Vendor driven standardization processes are not very productive and take too long to become meaningful. Since, mobile advertising is the most buzzable topic in the industry right now; companies are adjusting their positioning to become mobile advertising players (akin to becoming Web 2.0 compliant). There was some debate whether off-deck impression is worth more than an on-deck impression. CPMs are a bit out of whack and will need to drop and stabilize. Premium CPMs range from $27-35 going as high as $60. User profile is of course the holy grail of mobile advertising. Visa demonstrated that mobile advertisements isn’t really limited to messaging, keyword auction, and banner ads, but also includes promotions that drop in your applications based on your transaction history. Can carriers stop them from running this downloadable app on the device? They are running some trials to find that out. Code/Image-based advertising is also picking up – Qcode, NFC, barcodes, pictures, etc as input to trigger content/ad delivery is making its way to the US.

Amongst the various enablers (that I was able to talk to and look at), The Hyperfactory has the most comprehensive view of the space and it shows in their campaigns. Not only cross carriers and cross handsets, but also cross modality and cross countries. Mobile Advertising needs to seamlessly fit in the overall digital strategy of a brand or else there will be too much friction. GSM association has taken some lead in helping define standards in this space. MMA is also updating its best practice guide though it needs to do more to expand in its vision. Companies that made their presence felt were Third Screen Media, Ad Infuse, Millennial Media, Yahoo, Smaato, Mindmatics, Bango, Medio, JumpTap, Blyk, Admob, iLoopMobile, GreyStripe, Enpocket, and Rhythm.

Not to be outdone, Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola were also showing some future mobile advertising concepts that allow for cross medium advertising. For e.g. purchasing or activating advertising subsidized content on one device (like mobile) and viewing on another (like IPTV) and the experience is subsidized and interstitialized with advertisements.
Note: As some of you know, we have been involved in helping players in the value chain with mobile advertising strategy for the past two years. Well, we are now writing the book on it, literally! A collaboration with two brilliant co-authors and to be published by a major publisher; this book on Mobile Advertising will explore the key elements that will make mobile advertising tick. If you know of interesting case studies or people we should talk to, please do let us know. Check out our two part series on the subject published in Wireless World Magazine. Track the progress and become part of the conversation and the book at http://www.chetansharma.com/blog/category/mobile-advertising

Mobile TV. With Mediaflo’s launch, the discussion in the US has changed from unicast/multicast to broadcast. With Cingular and Verizon adopting Mediaflo, it is hard to see DVB-H’s future in the US. Spent some time with Dr. Kamil Grajski, Chairman of the FLO forum. FLO’s advantage comes from better channel switching time and slightly better spectrum efficiency. The goal is to pursue individual partnerships by geography that fuses spectrum, technology, and content. KDDI partnership is such an example. The quality is very impressive and the user experience raises the bar. With the introduction of clipcasting that enables some personalized content filtering on the device (e.g. Entire NASDAQ quotes are streamed but only your portfolio is displayed), broadcast can extract more value from the spectrum. Though Mediaflo has an edge, the future beyond the US shores is tough. Majority of Europe is going to go to DVB-H and similar standards. But, the potential customers are not only cellular operators but also include cable and satellite operators. Companies looking for Triple and Quad play strategies will have to come up with their mobile Broadcast strategy in the next couple of years. While Mobile TV has been in the headlines for some time, the penetration in the US remains quite low – around 2% and represents less than $350M revenue in 2006 (European trends are similar). For the opportunity to scale, pricing and business models will need to be adjusted to market realities. Mobile TV has been around in Japan and Korea for a longer duration and has reached critical mass penetration. Unicast becomes expensive if the usage gets into double digits because pricing pressure doesn’t allow for monetizing by the MB. Broadcast becomes the natural solution but it is limited by spectrum, less interactivity, and lack of handsets in the short-term. Clearly, hybrid models will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. For broadcast, it is about the spectrum first and the technology second.

Near Field Communication (NFC) VISA has been running NFC trials around the country for some time with VISA credit cards (30K) and POS terminals (50K). The goal is to do NFC on the phone. VISA also released numbers from their NA survey (n=800) – 57% interested, 64% of Gen X/Y will consider switching carriers and credit card for mobile payment capability, by 5:1, consumers prefer to have charges on their credit card bill rather than their phone bill. The first generation of NFC phones is hitting the US market later this year. Kyocera demonstrated buying from a vending machine, downloading content, and doing internet transactions using an NFC-enabled prototype handset. It also had a biometric fingerprint sensor. Korea and Japanese market have been using phone as a wallet for some time (e.g. DoCoMo’s FeliCa) and it will be great to see such enhancements in Europe and North America. There is a demand for such solutions, Visa is providing leadership, and hopefully, the ecosystem will step up. Last year, in US, $7.2Trillion dollars worth of consumer financial transactions took place. Taking a small cut of this pie will be a big deal. Enabler to watch – Ecrio.

Mobile Search Google and Yahoo announced their next release of mobile/local search. Google’s attempts at mobile search remind me of Microsoft’s early attempts to build an OS for mobile phones. I thought AskMeNow’s semantic search was pretty good though they are still working on indexing which can take a long time due to understanding content. With the recent purchases of BeVocal and TellMe, voice is getting its due attention. V-enable showed their local 411 app and Nuance talked about voice-enabled music search. Voice has become an integral part of any mobile search (and ad) strategy.

Interesting handsets While the industry is waiting for the June launch of iPhone, several new concepts and phones emerged at the show. Hopefully, NA operators got inspired from the handsets available in Asia and will bring some of that experience here. Samsung launched its dual-faced Ultra. While, it is a first for the industry, the user experience left lot to be desired, the Sharp touch UI is confusing. DoCoMo had the best selection on display. Flipstart is launching a $2000 which has full PC running on it. It does have some clever user experience enhancements that make the usability acceptable but I am not sure if the price point will hold in the market where you can find an equally powerful laptop for half the price.

User Interface Apple’s iPhone has raised the bar on device user experience. Zenzui announced their UX technology (based on Microsoft IP) that takes us away from the boring menu-based navigation schemes. Punchcut showed what’s possible utilizing the idle screen. Flipstart had some clever UX enhancements that I hope can get integrated into other forms of computing. Biometric sensors also surprisingly prove to be a good navigation element, better than 5 key dial and even iPOD dial.

Simplicity EMI’s Nicoli had emphasized on simplicity of applications and services. AT&T's COO Randall Stephenson echoed similar sentiments. It is a no-brainer, right? So, why do we make things inherently complex and hard-to-use? Hasn’t Apple taught us enough? Ontela’s mobile imaging platform is following on Apple’s footsteps. The technology allows you to take the picture and store it on any other device or destination within 30-60 seconds. No user intervention. It just works.

GYM is in the house It was the first CTIA with Google and Yahoo having their own booths, announcing their arrival. Their presence was telling of the battles to come. Microsoft has been coming to the show for some time but primarily to show their devices and talk about enterprise (email) applications.

LBS and Telematics There were a number of firms talking about telematics or navigation on the phone or devices for your car. Navteq, TeleAtlas, TeleNav, Inrix, Pharos, Kore, deCarta, and many others displayed their wares. On the consumer side, navigation is getting embedded into Local search apps which are enhancing the user experience quite a bit. FindIt and Google Maps are two examples. TCS is working on a framework for LBS based mobile advertising that allows carriers and users to control location availability to applications, something I wrote about back in 2001. Sprint’s has raised the bar by opening the APIs for developers and loosening the pricing friction. GSM operators are awaiting the arrival of OMA compliant phones. European carriers are targeting Christmas 2007 to launch several OMA SUPL devices while US will see such devices from Cingular next year. The best navigation was from Churchill Navigation which gives you a bird’s eye view in a fun-interactive experience.

WiMax. Sprint showed some potential launch devices for their WiMax service. Initially, the focus is limited to data cards and UMPCs. There will be restrictions on data usage and the move to handset form factor devices is uncertain. Samsung showed video conferencing at 12fps and VoIP on WiMax devices (PDA form factor). Since Intel put a boat load of money into Clearwire and Sprint’s endorsement, WiMax industry has been surging ahead but long-term viability is still not certain, how fast will device pricing drop?

China While China can’t make up its mind on TD-SCDMA, Chinese manufacturers are increasingly competing with the big boys, the handset rollouts and infrastructure wins are a testament to that. They should just let go of their obsession with TD-SCDMA, there are plenty of opportunities for their manufacturers. Canada, Finland, Taiwan, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Korea, and UK also had Intl pavilions.

The ecosystem friction The mobile data ecosystem tension is bubbling up. It was highlighted in the first session of the conference – Jim Ryan (Cingular) vs. Larry Shapiro (Disney) well moderated by Tom Wheeler (past CTIA President). Carriers want control (some more than others) so that they can manage user experience and minimize customer support calls. Content companies want to bypass the carrier and go direct to the consumer. Things are improving but not at the pace everyone would like it to be. This debate is not going away. Perhaps, CTIA can demonstrate some leadership in kicking-off some content interoperability (and treat ad as content) initiatives.

CTIA Orlando, come visit us.

2007-03-09T08:47:00.000-05:00

Come visit us at CTIA 2007 in Orlando. Give us a call if you want to meet.

Smarter Agent will be in Orlando Monday-Thursday March 26-29.

We are in the Navteq booth the entire convention, as well as will spend a hour or two a day at a station in the SPRINT booth.

We are also a Finalist in the Navteq LBS Challenge, so will be at the cocktail party Wednesday afternoon when they announce the winners.

We also have an entry in the CTIA Emerging Technology awards (we won last year), and our board will be on exhibit at the show.

Content expanding from messaging to entertainment to enterprise and a NEW MOBILE EXPERIENCE is beginning to emerge.

2007-02-16T15:31:00.000-05:00

Here's a research blurb from API:

ABI Research Sees a Mobile Content Goldrush at 3GSM, as WCDMA Clocks 100 Million Subscribers
Friday February 16, 9:35 am ET

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona, it was possible to hear a whistling noise as the mobile operators scrambled past each other to reach mobile content providers, and it is not hard to find out why. Data-heavy mobile content services will be key to their future success.

ABI Research is releasing two Research Briefs, "Mobile Operator Performance Benchmarks, 4Q-2006" and "Global Wireless Subscriber Dynamics, 4Q-2006" that track the latest developments in the global mobile marketplace. "As of the end of 4Q-2006, there were over 100 million WCDMA subscribers around the world," said Asia-Pacific research director Jake Saunders. "The WCDMA subscriber sector is moving particularly fast, growing 102% YoY and 16.6% QoQ."

3G subscribers are providing a much-needed shot in the arm for mobile operators, because they deliver an average revenue per user (ARPU) that is 5% to 20% percent greater than the average...."Non-voice now represents between 15% and 29% of operator service revenue, depending on the market. Of that, mobile Internet downloads and data now contribute a very respectable 3% to 17% of total service revenue. Operators are striving to lock down entertainment content, including not only broadcast network syndicated shows, but also user-created material that enables an operator to differentiate itself and reduce churn.

The amount of traffic an operator carries is about to explode, and within seven years the majority of the traffic carried will be data-orientated (music, video streaming, messages, enterprise applications and more). Handling that traffic efficiently will then become the new challenge for operators.

Smarter Agent wins BEST MOBILE LBS BUSINESS application at 3GSM in Barcelona.

2007-02-15T23:41:00.000-05:00

News…

In Barcelona today, at the 3GSM conference ( http://3gsmworldcongress.com/index.asp )
Smarter Agent won the BUSINESS category at the Oscars of GPS/LBS- the Navteq Global LBS Challenge. http://www.lbschallenge.com/eu/judges.html

Smarter Agent receives 5000 euros plus over $100,000 in mapping and hosting licenses.
Judges included those from British Telecom, Orange and Sony. noted

Smarter Agent, an app for real estate fanatics

2007-02-15T23:32:00.002-05:00

Yahoo Tech News writer Judith Raskin.
She saw a real demo. Sse also lives in NYC. Here is what she has to say about Smarter Agent.

A Phone App for Real Estate Fanatics
Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:02PM EST

In New York, where I live, real estate is second only to the weather on the buzz meter. So naturally, I was tickled to see the first mobile app for real estate mavens, Smarter Agent.

At the moment, Smarter Agent is available as a downloadable application from Sprint/Nextel. You pay a monthly service fee. Because it uses Sprint's built-in GPS service, Smarter Agent is what's come to be called "location-based." You'll be able to walk down the street and press a button on your phone. The phone will know where you are and start cluing you in about real estate: what's been sold or is available in the area, price, floor plans, taxes, and more. If you've seen Zillow, it's similar, but the phone-sized version.

See a home with a FOR SALE sign and want to find out the scoop? Know you want to rent an apartment close to your office? Afraid of paying yesterday's prices in today's market? In the business and looking for the inside edge?

At the moment there three different variants of the Smarter Agent service:
Recent Sales: A Java app that gets data from various public records and costs about $5 a month.

Apartment Finder: This will launch at the end of the month for $3 a month. (The company founders say that real estate season kicks in when the Super Bowl ends.)

Homes for Sale: Launches this spring for $10.99 a month.

I had a demo of the recent sales application. The interface looks like a cross between a mapping program and a classified ad. It's easy to navigate and surfaces a lot of information. In my conversation with Eric and Brad Blumberg, the two brothers who founded the service after successful careers in real estate, they told me that the U.S. is a mobile country. "Forty million people move each year," said Eric. Most people shop for 18 months before buying a home, and one-third of all existing apartment renters move every year (that's 12 million apartments). That could be a lot of people who want a Smarter Agent in their pocket.

Representing Real Estate to the World

2007-01-29T14:21:00.000-05:00

Smarter Agent goes International.

Smarter Agent was one of 9 firms selected in Paris to advance to the finals of the NAVTEQ European LBS Challenge. Final judging is held at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona the week of February 10.

The potential of mobile GPS and Location Based Services (LBS)

2007-01-16T15:18:00.000-05:00

LBS, the big picture, revisited:

LBS, which includes GPS, is true disruptive technology that will help usher in the next wave of mobile usage.

I've heard it said IBM dominanted early computing , then Microsoft and now Goolge dominates the Internet. Most agree none of these venerable firms will domiante mobile.

I beleive the winner in mobile will have LBS as a core feature of its offering.

LBS uses mobile to the fullest.

LBS is to mobile, like the Internet was to the computer.

It adds a dimension to an existing technology that opens profound opportunities.

LBS makes mobile applications easy to use, highly personalized and connects people to places.

LBS applications offer a far more interactive experience than “tapping the Internet” from a desktop or mobile phone.

I've noted that in the 1970’s Professor Marshall McLuhan, came up with the phrase, “the medium is the message” to explain how people interact and react to new technology. This interaction determines the success of the content.

For example on the Intercasting blog it was noted the television medium is characterized by sitting back and watching programming pushed from a centralized source. In juxtaposition, the Internet introduced a new medium, where one leans forward and interactively surfs millions of distributed sources.

LBS changes the user experience in wonderful ways.

When mobile is combined with LBS, there is freedom of movement where users access and interact with places and information relvant to their location from cell phones carried at the ready.

This new “user to machine” interaction will create tech winners that re-order content that fits this new medium. While successful new (technologies) mediums, such as mobile LBS, do not kill established industries that evolved first, they do re-order established practices and create new value propositions.

LBS in the context of the fast growing mobile market
Over the next few years, more people will use cell phones than desktop computers to search for information. Already, mobile devices are the best selling consumer device of all time, outpacing computer sales

The race is on to win viewers on what is being termed the ‘third screen’ in our lives. First there was the TV screen, then the computer screen for the Internet, and now the mobile phone screen.

Today, we are seeing the ramp of mobile content (mobile data) and the emergence of LBS, with a lot of room to grow.

Even more lucrative is mobile location-activated dynamic content that ties back into local commerce activities. This is what Smarter Agent does better than anyone.

APTS FOR RENT, by Smarter Agent

2007-01-11T13:20:00.000-05:00

Here is the release put out by Apartments.com: One of our mobile GPS apartment listing providers.

Apartments.com Partnership Creates Nation’s First Ever GPS Apartment Search Application Accessible through Mobile Phones

Apartments.com today announced a national partnership with Smarter Agent to provide apartment listing content through wireless carriers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apartments.com Partnership Creates Nation’s First Ever GPS Apartment Search Application Accessible through Mobile Phones

CHICAGO, January 9, 2007 – Apartments.com today announced a national partnership with Smarter Agent to provide apartment listing content through wireless carriers. While in a neighborhood, subscribers to this service will be able to find apartments for rent using cell phones equipped with global positioning system (GPS) technology. The commercial launch of the application will take place immediately after the Super Bowl, the traditional start of the “real estate season”.

Smarter Agent is the premier provider of GPS real estate applications that work on mobile devices including cell phones. Consumers download Smarter Agent just as they would a ring tone or game and get a robust experience designed specifically for mobile users.
Once the Smarter Agent application is downloaded to a cell phone, each time it is engaged, the user is located and Apartments.com listings from that area are instantly shown. The user may also access rental price, apartment features and pictures directly from this service. Appointments with the apartment owner/property manager can then be made through an immediate and direct connection.

All properties that advertise directly with Apartments.com will have their listings uploaded to Smarter Agent for access by these mobile subscribers.

“As mobile phones are practically everywhere, partnering with Smarter Agent is a logical step in capturing this valuable rental audience. By providing listings through this service, renters across the United States can now access Apartments.com on the go,” said Chris Long, vice president of product development at Apartments.com.

“Bringing print to the web is powerful, and mobile is certainly next. Smarter Agent has created a tool that is a win for our Apartments.com partner, their advertisers, and most notably the consumer who now has instant access to great apartments from devices they carry at all times,” said Brad Blumberg, CEO of Smarter Agent.

In addition to GPS searches, a user can search anywhere in the US by city and state to research multiple areas of interest, save properties to their phone, or call the listed number for more information right from the application.

The application will make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week in Las Vegas as part of the Navteq and Qualcomm exhibits showcasing new mobile lifestyles.
About Apartments.com Apartments.com is the most visited national apartment Internet listing subscription service distinguished by more than two million rental listings from managed properties, newspaper classifieds and for-rent-by-owner units. Its personalized searches, highly visual ads featuring 360-degree virtual tours and professional photography, and comprehensive community listings, make it possible for in-market renters to access rental inventory from across town or across the country and make informed decisions quickly. The site's foundation of solid partnerships with the local newspaper and television station Web sites of more than 190 affiliates across the country includes the Chicago Tribune (www.chicagotribune.com), The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) and the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com). Apartments.com, a division of Chicago-based Classified Ventures, LLC, delivers highly qualified, ready-to-rent prospects to more than 14,500 trade customers, which increases closure rates and decreases the average cost of leasing an apartment. ###

About Apartments.com
Based in Chicago, Apartments.com is a national online apartment guide and relocation resource distinguished by its highly customized searches, superior visual ads and affiliation with more than 150 newspapers across the country.
Apartments.com currently represents millions of apartments in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

About Smarter Agent
CTIA, the telecommunications industry association, recently named Smarter Agent the 2006 Winner in its Emerging Technology Awards LBS/GPS category. Smarter Agent combines the powerful capabilities of location-based services, such as GPS, with real estate information. Smarter Agent has been granted 3 patents governing the use of GPS and location-based services in real estate applications.

CES, GPS, LBS, Smarter Agent, Real Estate, Cell phones, Vertical Mobile GPS Search and Advertising

2007-01-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

If you are interested in GPS/LBS and mobile search for real estate, come visit us at CES 2007- Consumer Electronics Show.

We are in the QUALCOMM booth and the NAVTEQ booth at CES. CES officially starts on Monday. These are fantastic exhibits showcasing new mobile lifestyles.

We will unveil a new mobile GPS search that covers new ground in real estate.

The new application as some user generated features and uploads and let's local advertisers post ads that will immediately be seen by mobile searchers looking for homes and apartments.

Mobile advertising to real estate searchers
with large discretionary spending,
that are moving into the neighborhood,
and that are right around the corner!

Back when I did a bit of retail development, the name of the game was to get a consumer in your store 3 times. Then they were a customer! Which is why those supermarkets give you FREE eggs one week, FREE bread the next week, etc. People get familair coming in, knowing where things are, seeing your freindly and helpful store stafff ...

We have a very cool local offer system in place for our new mobile GPS applications.

If you are a retailer like IKEA, Home Depot or Best Buy or local restaurant or serivce provider (agent, moving company, insurance) you will want to talk to us, - we want to talk to you.

We would be happy to show our new applicaitons to you at CES.

Call us at 856-614-5423 to schedule a time to talk if you are press covering the event or a partner that wants to talk.

Will post more at weeks end.

Targeting the Household CEO

2006-12-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

An article in Media Post noted: "Mothers are generally acknowledged as "CEOs of the household".

That's no joke. In my house, Jen gets going on any housing decision and makes most of the household buying decisions. I'm a guy, I'm just happy to have veto power.

In our market, home and apartments, women are key descison-makers. Our first marketing for our new housing and apartment applications target women.

After married folks, single women are the next largest buyers of homes - double that of their single male counterparts.

Women rule real estate.

Here's some more from the media post article..."While moms may not have time to fiddle around on YouTube and MySpace, they land on the Web for everything from parenting tips to advice on school districts and kids' health information. They research product and service options diligently. Nearly 95 percent of moms polled in a Haystack Group survey go online at least once a day, with 88 percent relying on the Web for parental guidance and tips, 86 percent shopping online, and 85 percent actually clicking on an online ad...And, unlike the stereotypical male who won't ask for assistance no matter how lost or clueless he may be, moms seek out similarly situated peers for advice and product recommendations. More than 90 percent of mothers in the Haystack survey prefer to purchase brands recommended by other moms."

You better be nice, not naughty

2006-12-28T09:56:00.000-05:00

Santa has a new tool to make sure you are being good - and it turns out he's running trials with the FBI.

File this under -- I bet you did not know this --

RCR Wireless news has an interesing piece on how "the FBI is using wiretap law to eavesdrop on conversations by remotely firing up microphones on idle cell phones of unwitting criminal suspects."

Turns out the control channel on your phone (used to send you network updates, etc.) can actually be used to turn on your phone and pick up conversations. Only by warrant of course.

Really..and it's not even April fools, this is true.

Relax, if you are doing something the FBI or other law enforcements agencies might have an interest in getting a warrant to learn more...turns out by taking out your battery they can't use your phone against you as it won't power-up. So when sitting in a cafe talking trash, take off your battery, ALL the wiseguys are doing it.

Plus it turns out once they use your cell phone to eavesdrop, you have to turn off your cell phone to reboot before you can make a call...I hate when that happens....

America's Significant Hispanic Demographic

2006-12-28T09:30:00.000-05:00

Between 1995 and 2005, the number of Latino owner-occupied homes increased by 3.1 million, reaching 6.9 million. That's an 81% increase compared to a 19% increase for all other non-Latino owner-occupied homes, according to the National Association for Hispanic Real Estate Professionals' Web site.

In the next 20 years, Latinos are expected to make up 40% of all first-time home buyers, according to the Web site.

Mobile next? Logical.

2006-12-17T15:03:00.000-05:00

Inman News - INTERNET REAL ESTATE STATS

Nearly two in five adult Internet users in the United States, or 39 percent, have looked online for information about a place to live -- double the overall number of Americans who had done so in 2000, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Overall, more than a quarter of all adults in the United States, or 27 percent, have looked online for information about housing, more than double the overall number of Americans who had done so in 2000 (13 percent).

Younger Internet users were more likely to seek housing information online than older Web users. Fifty-one percent of Internet users 18-29 years old have searched online for housing information, compared with 43 percent of Internet users 30-49 years old, 27 percent of Internet users 50-64 years old, and 15 percent of Internet users age 65 and older.

Moreover, 9 percent of Internet users 18-29 years old reported in August that they looked for housing information on a typical day, more than double the percentage (4 percent) in this age group who said the same thing two years earlier.

The number of years a person has been an Internet user and the type of Internet connection they have at home were two other characteristics associated with the likelihood of seeking housing information online, according to the study. Those who have been online six years or more are significantly more likely than shorter-time users to have done this: 45 percent of these veteran users have looked online for housing information; compared with 30 percent of those who have been online 4-5 years; 24 percent of those online for 2-3 years; and 22 percent of those online one year or less. In addition, 45 percent of those with broadband connections at home have looked online for housing information, compared with 30 percent of those with home dial-up connections, according to Pew.

The study also found that by August 2006, about half of all Internet users (51 percent) had taken virtual tours, up from 45 percent in November 2004. Also, nearly onethird of all Internet users (30 percent) have used online classified ads or sites such as Craigslist,up from 22 percent in September 2005.

Customer service - key to remember in stores and online.

2006-12-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

So I walk into Best Buy, and I am ready buy a computer for my son. It's the week before Xmas, I promised my wife I would take care of it before Xmas, so I am walking out with one.

I'm in Best Buy anyway dropping off 1 of the computers in the office to see if they can fix it. We buy about 5 laptops and 10 desktops and warranties and lots of support stuff in Best Buy each year for work and family.

Guess what, no one will help me.

The store is not busy. A few folks offer to find someone, there are as many computer folks stocking the shelves rather than help me.

So, I wait about 15 minutes. Then f-them.

I go back to the office, log onto dell.com. Drop 1000 bucks, place an order. Heck, there's hope for the Internet!

No when I tell my brother, the story, he says you know we have a corporate account at Dell and get a nice discount, so you left 30% or so on the table.

So I am of course aggravated in his management style not telling me all the options as he knew I was going to Best Buy :).

So here it is Sunday morning. Dell sends me a comfirmation telling me the delivery date is Dec 25.

Yikes!

Not only did I spend more than I had too, my wife is going to kill me unless I call Dell and pay $70.00 more to overnight the computer so I get it before X-Mas.

I call Dell, and guess what. The first thing out of the rep's mouth is....We will overnight it to you free of charge, and I will make a request that the computer is shipped before the 20th when we promised it.

So what do I do...I write this blog which is akin to being an ADVOCATE for Dell. An advocate is the kind of customer you want!

Lesson re-learned about the power of customer service.

Let's hope I actually get computer on time! But feeling good about Dell today!

cell phone gps moving mainstream in 2007

2006-12-13T07:29:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting GPS tidbit from Moco News reporting on projections from a leading cell phone/content vendor:

GPS-Enabled Location Based Services (LBS) Will Be Killer Applications—“According to ABI Research, subscribers using GPS-enabled location-based services will total 315 million in five years. “GPS” is now the most popular search term on Handango.com”.

Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 7-11 2007

2006-11-29T22:18:00.000-05:00

Smarter Agent will be launching a very exciting new GPS (for cellphones) based application at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). We are part of 2 of the most exciting companies at the show's exhibits - and will report more on that soon! We've never been to CES before, and we're excited. With us, it's more like, what happens in Vegas to Smarter Agent, does not stay in Vegas -- we suspect you will hear about it on TV and lots of media.

Cingular the LBS (Location Based Services) bellwether

2006-11-14T02:49:00.000-05:00

LBS, of which GPS is a part, will have a tremendous impact on mobile content. We'll call it GPS in this post, as that's what most people call it. This weekend I watched the movie CARS, and they referenced GPS at least twice - so that's mainstream!

Information viewed with mobile GPS gives the user a distinctly different experience than surfing the Internet for information.

For example, navigation aided by GPS turn by turn directions is a lot cooler than using paper directions printed from Google, Mapquest or Yahoo. Plus you always have your mobile device when you are lost, and rarely a printer.

So when does mobile GPS take off on cell phones?

I think a good bellwether is when Cingular launches GPS in their network.

Then give it six months or so for GPS to permeate the customer service and marketing departments within that large company - and as specific 3rd party GPS app's begin to get media attention.

Navigation (driving directions, traffic) and Tracking (trucks, people, pets) are GPS staples, but I would look to unique 3rd party app's to drive the market.

Why is Cingular bellwether? They are a big carrier, and in mobile it takes 3 to tango.

Sprint-Nextel has already begun launching 3rd party GPS app's. As GPS gets a wider marketing focus within Sprint, and is pushed down into the retail channels, Sprint will continue to be the innovator and risk taker in GPS.

Verizon, has also launched GPS, with a push towards Verizon branded apps. 3rd party app's are making their way to the Verizon deck and I see our friends at a 3rd party app called Bones In Motion recently launched on Verizon.

So I would think when Cingular makes a concerted GPS push to their 50 million plus user base, this forms the third leg of carrier GPS launches. Then I suspect mainstream GPS adoption will be 6 months away and ramp from there.

Although I would like to see it sooner, I think Xmas 2007/1st Q 2008 is when GPS ushers in the real mobile 2.0.

But don't fret... the future winners of GPS, the really cool app's, you will start seeing them early 2007. First adopters will be all over these applications.

I know Smarter Agent has 2 industry changing app's ready to go 1st Q 2007. We will launch these applicaitons at CES (consumer electronics show) in Vegas the first week in January. YOU can use them along with a 100,000 of your closest friends.

But to the point of mainstream adoption, let's make a prediction that +/-5% of all wireless users trying a cellphonbe based GPS application within 6-9 months of Cingular' GPS launch, growing to 30% of all wireless users having tried an LBS app by 2010.

Sometimes at the real estate settlement table, disputes can be decided by rock, paper, scissors. Here is how to get an edge.

2006-11-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, file this under who would have thunk it.

On NPR today, I heard an interview with a grand champion -- rock, paper, scissors (RPS) player.

The scenario: Just noticed the Seller chipped the foyer tile sometime between your home inspection and your settlement day walk through. Instead of walking away over the $500 credit your attorney is demanding, perhaps a RPS match is in order to see who pays.

Here is how to increase your odds, with tips by Graham Walker a past champion.

1 - Rock is for Rookies
In RPS circles a common mantra is "Rock is for Rookies" because males have a tendency to lead with Rock on their opening throw. It has a lot to do with idea that Rock is perceived as "strong" and forceful", so guys tend to fall back on it. Use this knowledge to take an easy first win by playing Paper. This tactic is best done in pedestrian matches against someone who doesn't play that much and generally won't work in tournament play.
2 - Scissors on First
The second step in the 'Rock is for Rookies' line of thinking is to play scissors as your opening move against a more experienced player. Since you know they won't come out with rock (since it is too obvious), scissors is your obvious safe move to win against paper or stalemate to itself.
3 - The Double Run
When playing with someone who is not experienced at the RPS, look out for double runs or in other words, the same throw twice. When this happens you can safely eliminate that throw and guarantee yourself at worst a stalemate in the next game. So, when you see a two-Scissor run, you know their next move will be Rock or Paper, so Paper is your best move. Why does this work? People hate being predictable and the perceived hallmark of predictability is to come out with the same throw three times in row.
4 - Telegraph Your Throw
Tell your opponent what you are going to throw and then actually throw what you said. Why? As long as you are not playing someone who actually thinks you are bold enough to telegraph your throw and then actually deliver it, you can eliminate the throw that beats the throw you are telegraphing. So, if you announce rock, your opponent won't play paper which means coming out with that scissors will give you at worst a stalemate and at best the win.
5 - Step Ahead Thinking
Don't know what to do for your next throw? Try playing the throw that would have lost to your opponents last throw? Sounds weird but it works more often than not, why? Inexperienced (or flustered) players will often subconsciously deliver the throw that beat their last one. Therefore, if your opponent played paper, they will very often play Scissors, so you go Rock. This is a good tactic in a stalemate situation or when your opponent lost their last game. It is not as successful after a player has won the last game as they are generally in a more confident state of mind which causes them to be more active in choosing their next throw.
6 - Suggest A Throw
When playing against someone who asks you to remind them about the rules, take the opportunity to subtly "suggest a throw" as you explain to them by physically showing them the throw you want them to play. ie "Paper beats Rock, Rock beats scissors (show scissors), Scissors (show scissors again) beats paper." Believe it or not, when people are not paying attention their subconscious mind will often accept your "suggestion". A very similar technique is used by magicians to get someone to take a specific card from the deck.
7 - When All Else Fails Go With Paper
Haven't a clue what to throw next? Then go with Paper. Why? Statistically, in competition play, it has been observed that scissors is thrown the least often. Specifically, it gets delivered 29.6% of the time, so it slightly under-indexes against the expected average of 33.33% by 3.73%. Obviously, knowing this only gives you a slight advantage, but in a situation where you just don't know what to do, even a slight edge is better than none at all.
8 - The Rounder's Ploy
This technique falls into more of a 'cheating' category, but if you have no honour and can live with yourself the next day, you can use it to get an edge. The way it works is when you suggest a game with someone, make no mention of the number of rounds you are going to play. Play the first match and if you win, take it is as a win. If you lose, without missing a beat start playing the 'next' round on the assumption that it was a best 2 out of 3. No doubt you will hear protests from your opponent but stay firm and remind them that 'no one plays best of one for a kind of decision that you two are making'. No this devious technique won't guarantee you the win, but it will give you a chance to battle back to even and start again.About the author:

Graham WalkerAs a co-author of the Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide (published by Simon and Schuster) and five-time organizer of the World Rock Paper Scissors Championships, Graham Walker is one of the few people who is actually a credible authority on the strategy and cultural significance on the game of Rock Paper Scissors.

Hyper Local Mobile Search

2006-11-07T14:50:00.000-05:00

Smarter Agent is emerging as a great platform for hyper-local, mobile search for place related things like real estate. Real estate professionals, media properties and advertisers now have an entirely new hyper-local mobile channel to extend and advertise their brands and receive leads from receptive real estate consumers looking to buy, sell, rent or research real estate. Leads and advertisements can be geotargeted by state, city, neighborhood or square meter location. Very powerful for the consumer and marketer.

It's about the mobility, -- not an activity of last resort

2006-10-25T10:31:00.000-04:00

Every day, I read about another media property making a mobile site. Business magazines, TV shows, you name it. Read and watch them on your cell phone.

This is like the days (1999ish) of companies rushing to put a mobile brochure on the web. At least everyone is thinking mobile, but really the only folks making money are the developers of these mobile sites. And that party always ends.

No one, except the deadly bored demogrpahic will care about these sites..."I have so much time on my hands, sitting in an airport without my laptop and internet access, and I already called everyone I can think of, oh... what's on my phone I can read".

No way are these the killer mobile applications.

A key to what will be a killer mobile application is something that you cannot do as well on the internet, or something that satisfies instant gratification. IE, its cool becasue it is mobile...not in spite of it.

Smarter Agent's mobile GPS search fits that bill: I wonder what that house costs. Bam. 1 click, you get the info. You don't have to know where you are, you don't have to know the address. It's fast, empowering.

Other applications that use GPS, like navigation also let you do something important. Your in the car, lost, bam, get right on track.

So as mobile grows, portals that let you do a lot of useful things when on the go will be valuable.

Reading or watching things on your cell phone is just about killing time in places where you can't wait to move on - where there is no one to watch or talk to, and all you really want to do is get somewhere else -- like home. Interesting, but not the applications of the future. Version 1.0 for and by the uninspired for sure.

LBS and GPS + Cell Phones, it's exciting, here's why:

2006-10-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

Fast Growing Mobile Market

Over the next few years, more people will use cell phones than desktop computers to search for information. Already, mobile devices are the best selling consumer device of all time, outpacing computer sales.

The race is on to win viewers on what is being termed the ‘third screen’ in our lives. First there was the TV screen, then the computer screen for the Internet, and now the mobile phone screen.

“Mobile could be the greatest media vehicle ever created, greater than even television...we are still only sitting on the precipice of a consumer opportunity no one has ever seen before." Peter Chernin, COO News Corp

LBS uses mobile to the fullest
LBS is to mobile, like the Internet was to the computer. This makes mobile applications easy to use and highly personalized. LBS is a different experience than the Internet from a desktop or tapping the Internet from a mobile phone.

In the 1970’s Professor Marshall McLuhan, came up with the phrase, “the medium is the message” to explain how people interact and react to the technology determines the success of the content. For example, as noted by Shawn and the rabble that blog about mobile: the television medium is characterized by watching programming pushed from a centralized source. In juxtaposition, the Internet introduced a new medium, where one interactively surfs millions of distributed sources. Now, with mobile combined with LBS, there is freedom of movement where users access and interact with proximal information from cell phones carried at the ready.

Until recently, all the pieces, such as LBS, have not been in place for mobile.
While most everyone has a cell phone, carriers have just begun to launch LBS and these services will take time to be properly imbedded in a carrier’s marketing, retail and customer service practices.

Mid-2007 probably sparks widespread mainstream LBS awareness. Sprint-Nextel and Verizon already launched LBS content mid-2006 and Cingular and T-Mobile should launch LBS in 2007. The initial 2006 LBS application launches were primarily in navigation and tracking, things GPS has been used for in the past. While these applications will post the early gains, these are core functionalities of other applications moving forward.

Today, we are seeing the ramp of mobile content (mobile data) and the emergence of LBS, with a lot of room to grow. Even more lucrative is mobile content that ties back into commerce activities. This is what Smarter Agent does better than anyone.

You Tube and Smarter Agent 1.5 billion degrees of separation

2006-10-11T12:52:00.000-04:00

Guess what I started using YouTube for:

When I open my laptop, my 2 year old comes running over and says: "Rocket Ship" or Trains" or "Jet Plane". I type those terms into YouTube and he delights in watching the 50 sec to 5 minute clips of rocket ships blasting off, jet planes zooming by, or other folks experiencing Thomas the Train. He stares at those clips and shouts "there it goes" when the rockets launch and get's engaged far more than those hollywood videos we watch.

Interesting, but I get a lot less work done on the sofa these days.

Then I am talking to one of our broker partners in the Reading PA area, and he tells me one of the founders is from Berks County. Damn, the local Philly press did not even report that!

Of course we talk to Sequoia Capital from time to time, and have met with Roelof who made the YouTube investment...We understand from reports the investment was $5 with a $15 million pre-money valuation (which means they owned 25%) and then Sequoia did another $8 million for +/- 5-10% additional equity. That's how a good VC does it, keeping it clean, going for good ideas at an early stage, and leaving room for founders to go for it. Sequoia also did the Google Investment. They are a great group. I hope they come around for our 2nd round.

Here's some background on how You Tube came together from a prior Business Week article:

Hurley, 29, and Chen, 27, feel at home in turbulent times. They got their start in the business world during the dot-com bubble and the bust that followed. They were among the first 20 hires at online payment service PayPal Inc. (EBAY ), joining during the second half of 1999. They got to know each other well during the lean years, becoming part of a tight-knit PayPal mafia that remains close today. Their venture money came in part through their connection to Roelof Botha, a Sequoia Capital partner who had been PayPal's CFO.A key lesson Hurley and Chen learned from the PayPal days is flexibility. PayPal's founders started out providing security software for handhelds and then tried several other fields. Only later did they hit on the idea for their online payment system, a business that eventually was sold to eBay (EBAY ) Inc. for $1.5 billion in 2002.Hurley had an entrepreneurial streak from the start. He grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and as a 5-year-old tried to sell paintings from his front yard. He studied design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and landed at PayPal after reading about it in Wired magazine and sending an e-mail inquiry about a job. During his interview he designed a new logo for PayPal, one that executives liked so much they still use it today. He left after the eBay deal, working with a few companies as a design consultant.

What is a Top Agent?

2006-09-30T10:46:00.000-04:00

When using Smarter Agent from your mobile phone, you can also get connected to a Top Agent.

How do we define who is a top agent?

To us, a top agent is someone who lists and sells many properties in a particular nighborhood in a particular price range.

My mom was a very good real estate broker. In the areas she sold the most, she could drive down any street and tell you about just about every home we would pass.

This was not limited to homes that were for sale, she could tell you about the homes that were not on the market, what they last sold for, etc. Becasue we lived in a resort community, it was great when she would recall how over the years, she had even sold the same house 2 or 3 times!

When you have an agent that can do that, you are on your way to having a great buying or selling experience. They will know more than your average agent.

Smarter Agent does not send leads to just anyone. You can't just sign up, pay us money, and get our customers.

We very carefully review applications we receive from agents that want to be in our relocation network, or we partner with the top firm in an area and together we make sure you get the best agent to meet your needs.

As second generation agents and brokers, making sure our customers have a great buying and selling experience is job #1.

2006-09-29T11:10:00.000-04:00

Update: here is the link to view the CNBC piece:
http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=a80080b3-66ef-4219-bc54-03d2e46d9ec4&f=rssmoney&fg=rss&f=15/64rssmoney

If the link does not work, more in our news section, NPR, Fortune Business Report here: http://www.smarteragent.com/news.php?sub=realestate

Also, a similar piece should air on the Today Show this weekend.

CNBC, takes a look at Smarter Agent, 7PM Monday, September 25

2006-09-23T15:18:00.000-04:00

Catch Smarter Agent, and our Philadelphia broker partner, Prudential Fox and Roach, discuss how our mobile location based services will help consumers learn about real estate and when consumers are ready connect them to the best Realtors in each price range, in any neighborhood.

CNBC's "On the Money," hosted by Dylan Ratigan, is a nightly look at the world of money. Airing at 7 p.m. ET every weeknight, "On the Money" wraps up the day's news from the world's of business and everyday life, taking a closer look at the money in every story.

2006-09-22T10:05:00.000-04:00

CNBC feature on-air reporter, Diana Olick, came into Philadelphia yesterday to take a stroll with Eric Blumberg and do a piece with Smarter Agent. Although we have not announced they also interviewed one of our partners for our new mobile LBS search in the real estate space.

Look the piece to run Monday on CNBC when they are devoting some time to real estate.

Also, September 29, on the morning edition of NPR (national public radio) around 10AM, tune in to hear about GPS and a Smarter Agent mention. You can also catch re-broadcast's on the NPR website.

I think this points to the gotta have it application that Smarter Agent is turning into for consumers, professionals and well that's just about everyone. As we like to say, more people cruise around looking for real estate, than watch sporting events.

CTIA Takeaways : News Corp and Sprint make bold statements about mobile future

2006-09-14T10:22:00.000-04:00

News Corp COO Peter Chernin, (News Corp owns Fox TV, MySpace)

“Mobile could be the greatest media vehicle ever created, greater than even television... we are still only sitting on the precipice of a consumer opportunity no one has ever seen before."

Some of his thoughts as reported by Moco News:

First, we must create an engaging consumer experience and we should be bolder in personalizing entertainment. We need to fit the needs of a wildly diverse audience.– We need to be more interactive.– Mobile should be its own medium. We shouldn’t look at it as a marketing channel.– Make is easy to find: it is a joke to find content on and off the deck presently.– We need to keep it simple for consumers….choices is good, but not too many.– We need to standardize technology…we have an urgent need for more standardized handsets.– We need to market much more imaginatively….just promoting availability does not cut it. We need to establish an emotional connection: communicate ease of use, communicate fun, communicate experience.– We need to entice advertisers to the largest media platform in the world.– We must banish the word failure from our vocab, and willing to take risk and try everything.

Now, Paul Reddick, Vice President Business Development and Product Innovation at SPRINT is a dynamic leader. He has been a supportive advocate of Smarter Agent. He gave a supurb, frank and humerous keynote in LA at CTIA. As reported by Moco News, here are some of the myths he addressed:

Myth #1: Carriers are strictly content distributors. We need to be original programmers...it will help us become better partners. Myth #2: Technology is the biggest limiting factor. We don’t have time for that. Myth #3: Mobile entertainment is just portable entertainment. Myth #4: Mobile TV is nothing more than “Tiny TV”. Myth #5: Repurposed content alone will do. User-gen: it is made for mobile, and mobile is made for it. For marketers: quit using mobile as a marketing vehicle for big screen. The point is to entertain and entice customers here and now, with original content. Myth #6: Mobile entertainment has to be commercial free. Partnering with Enpocket for mobile advertising…the rumor is true. Mtyh #7: Customers won’t pay premium for the convenience of “now”. Sprint music store: We took a lot of heat on pricing. We are well past 5 million downloads at $2.50 a pop. Myth #8: Mobile entertainment markets itself. We need entertainment industry to make mobile part of the message. Recommendation engines are beginning to take off, so is gifting. Myth #9: Carriers are inhibiting market growth and don’t care. We add a lot of value by building customers, platforms etc. Our interests are aligned and we are looking to creatively partner. Myth #10: Nevermind.

How important is real estate?

2006-09-12T10:19:00.000-04:00

On the way into work, I heard David Wessel, Deputy Washington Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal talk about housing on NPR.

He noted prices are falling or not going up, after a few years of +/- 12% increases.
The open question is if this causes a recession next year, -- Wessel doesn't think so.

He the noted the importance of housing on the economy by stating the housing industry is as big as the auto industry. 1 million people work building homes he noted.

Add another million that sell homes.

Plus, housing is important to consumers. Why> More than 2/3 of all Americans own a home. Less than half of all Americans own stocks or mutual funds.

Indeed, US consumers have more than 11 trillion in equity in their homes, more than the value of the stock market.

Consumers -- 40million search for real estate information each year.

And professionals in the home building, home selling, fiancing and retailing (home improvment, furniture, pools, etc) and advertising markets are equally interested in real estate.

Wessel noted, What happens in housing affects how people feel, and affects the economy.

All in all, real estate is a big impact vertical, -- highly personal, and you come to it time and time again in your lifetime. From renting a college apartment, moving, upgrading, and of course seeing what the nieghbor's paid -- all very mobile activities.

CTIA: LBS, Location Based Services from Qualcomm and Carriers picking up steam at CTIA

2006-09-12T05:17:00.000-04:00

CTIA's midyear show is this week in Las Vegas. Eric Blumberg is there meeting with our LBS partners.

Major LBS vendors such as Qualcomm (chipset in Sprint, Verizon phones) and phone vendors such as Motorola are working on LBS programs at CTIA.

US based wireless carriers are also pushing the LBS ball forward. European and South American carriers are on the LBS move too, watch Orange.

You can check Smarter Agent out on the Qualcomm website, here: http://www.cdmatech.com/locationservicesshowcase/dev_smarter_agent.jsp

We would think it is likely that Sprint continues to get the most LBS traction and live applicaitions, and that Verizon will make a major LBS 3rd party push that if marketed will propel them into a great position.

Marketing to consumers, in-stores (to consumers and carrier retail staff), bring carrier customer service folks in the fold so they can help consumers download these LBS applications (or even know they on on the deck :) - combined with content providers marketing with distribution partners and vendors - are some of the keys to consumer awareness, acceptance and downloads.

We are pretty sure consumers need to see more TV ads, like the Verizon TV spots for their navigation product, for folks to realize the new power of their cell phones.

We are also looking for LBS announcements by T-Mobile and Cingular into 2007. And by mid-2007 many of the LBS winners will be evident.

The media has begun to picked up on LBS. I think even our carrier partners have been surprised by the media requests to learn about Smarter Agent. Just last week we were on over 25 major station newscasts in places like DC and LA. I think we are taping on the Today Show this weekend as well.

I'll give you some more insight by Wednesday as we get the CTIA play by play from Eric.

1,000,000,000

2006-09-05T14:41:00.000-04:00

It looks like 1 Billion NEW cell phones will be shipped this year worldwide.

Billions already have cell phones.

This medium is beginning to morph into something that is used much differently than radio, television and 2007 proves to be an interesting year as music, video, location-awareness, and imagery all come to bear on new applications on this device most of us have.

Who's Smarter now.

2006-08-30T13:36:00.000-04:00

The right call?

Here's a post from our blog in February 2005, 18 months ago.

...."Of the myriad projects under construction now in Center City Philadelphia in Feb 05 -- only those with the largest square footage, with the best locations and design have a chance for appreciation for their buyers. At some point within the next 36 months this market will see a 20% valuation decline. This is a gut call, open to criticism by agents and developers. If you want to pay these prices do so because you need a place to live not because you think there is upside investment potential. Take it with skepticism any agent that does not give you some degree of caution and hypes the investment potential of these overpriced small studio, 1-2 bedroom condos in "up and coming" areas."

New call for January 2008.

So in 18 more months we may see some buying opportunities. Still not nearly enough blood in the streets to go real estate investment fishing. I think a nice snowy day Winter 2008 will be when I start buying some distressed condo/apartment buildings.

Patient? Confident...

You bet. That's how you make $.

It works for real estate, it works for tech investing, too. After all, we filed the patents for location-triggered place-based searching +/- 6 years ago, and put Smarter Agent in motion when anything with a technology bent was tanking. Who knew, cell phone mania would be here in 2006, LBS (location based services) would be an emerging game changer for 2007, and people would take a shine again to Internet and wireless telecom. Well, we thought it would and so did you if you've been hanging with us.

Get your own people

We hope in the future we'll have more time for this blog, and we'll try to give you some tips on what to look for in real estate. In the interim, give us a call, 856-614-5423, and ask for the get me some people coodinator, the Marnster (marnie). We routinley talk to the best agents, and can get you started with the right people. Having the right"people" is always good. Even us so-called experts, never sell our own property, would never buy a residential property without an agent. Hey, who you gonna sue when it gets all f-d up? Sucks having to blame yourself for your own idiot moves. Kidding (we never have sued anyone). We threatened Exxon once, they left some oil tanks lying around, and they took care of it because we had people...big bad lawyer people....

THE MORALS
Wait to be an real estate investor, be patient. Get people. Buy a place to live because you need a new home or vacation place. And of course...use Smarter Agent mobile to be the smartest real estate person you can be. In slowing markets, research breeds confidence built on fundementals not hype. Know more, spend less...keep more dollars for your family or cocktails.

NY1

2006-08-30T12:47:00.000-04:00

New York 1, that uniquely (Time Warner) NYC television newscast, will be showing an interview with Eric Blumberg, this week on the FORTUNE BUSINESS REPORT.

This follows on the heels of some pieces we read in the New York Daily News (got the NYC scoop), and Newsday about Smarter Agent.

We're hoping our friends at the Times, WSJ and the Gawker folks (lockheart where are ya), give Smarter Agent a try.

You know, if we can make it there...

Meeting at CTIA Los Angeles September 11-15

2006-08-30T12:42:00.000-04:00

Eric Blumberg, President of Smarter Agent will be at CTIA September 11-15, as well as in the Los Angeles, Orange County area during that time. If you would like to meet with Eric, at CTIA on or off-site, please call our appoiment center at 856-614-5423. Several media interviews are scheduled as are partner meetings and we will try to be accomodating.

First lead to a broker from Smarter Agent Mobile

2006-08-14T12:57:00.000-04:00

The first day we launched our application we got our first "lead". We define a lead as a consumer using Recently Sold, who hits the 'call agent' button and asks for more information.

So on Day 1 we got a hot transfer that said "hey there, I am looking in the neighborhood, can you help me find things that are for sale?"

So where in the nation do you think the first mobile lead came from? Tech hotbeds Silicon Valley or Boston. (Silicon Valley was our second lead).

Well all I have to say is that maybe Al Gore did event the Internet, because our first lead came from a suburb of Nashville Tennesee.

Here come Smarter consumers

2006-08-11T08:55:00.000-04:00

So, during the first few weeks since Recently Sold Homes, by Smarter Agent launched, we have had downloads in a lot of cities.

The application is a new location based service (LBS), that uses GPS in cell phones.

Inman News once said we should change our name to Smarter Consumer. Eric Blumberg, President of Smarter Agent, agrees and sent me a note saying he thinks there are going to be a lot of smart consumers in cities where Smarter Agent is being used.

Here is a sampling of where people are downloading during our launch of Smarter Agent.
Phoenix, AZ
East Bay, CA
Fairfield/Suison, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Madera County, CA
Orange County, CA
Sacramento, CA
San Bernardino, CA
San Diego, CA
San Fernando, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Gabriel Valley, CA
San Jose, CA
Santa Monica, CA
Silicon Valley, CA
Washington, DC
Ft Lauderdale, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Miami, FL
Orlando, FL
Palm Beach/Boca, FL
Sarasota, FL
Atlanta, GA
Davenport, IA
Des Moines, IA
Peoria, IL
Kansas, KS
Wichita, KS
Boston, MA
East of Maryland, MD
3 Rivers, MI
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Kansas City, MO
Greensboro, NC
Raleigh, NC
Omaha, NE
Morris-Sussex, NJ
Southern New Jersey, NJ
Catskills, NY
New York, NY
Syracuse, NY
Akron, OH
Columbus, OH
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Puerto Rico, PR
Nashville, TN
Dallas, TX
Denton, TX
Houston, TX
San Antonio, TX
Arlington, VA
Seattle, WA

This is going to make our broker partners very happy. They love working with smart consumers, they know more coming in the door.

Yo! (that's Rocky speak for you are ok with me, howyadoin) Philadelphia, watch NBC 10 news on Monday August 14th for a piece on Smarter Agent

2006-08-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

Smarter Agent to be profiled on NBC Philadelphia (top 5 media market) , Channel 10 NEWS. 6AM, and on the Evening Newscasts on [next] Monday, August 14. http://www.nbc10.com/index.html

If you miss it there will be a link on NBC's 10 Philadelphia website to the piece, and we will try to get a copy of it on our website as well...the lovely Laura from Sprint's media team took the reporter and some folks in the neighborhood through the paces.

I heard they all said how easy it was to use and thought is was very amazing indeed. Very nice.

Feel free to call me at 6:30AM, you know I'll be watching ;).

LA Times covers Smarter Agent GPS launch

2006-08-05T18:55:00.000-04:00

It's nice the top technology and real estate writers in the country are beginning to review Smarter Agent.

Peter Key of the Philadelphia Business Journal did a great overview from an emerging business perspective that just went national.

The real estate editors at the 4th largest and 6th largest newspapers in the country - the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune - picked right up on covering the launch, as well. Both papers have over a 1 million circulation numbers each.

And I know the LA Times folks took it out for a spin in LA neighborhoods, courtesy of the outstanding Sprint media team. We tried to do a "see what the rich and famous payed for their house tour", but it was not ready -- stay tuned 'Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood, we are working on a new twist to the old map of the stars homes. Still working the kinks out of that one...

Here's something from the LA Times article from this weekend.

From the Los Angeles Times
NEW PRODUCTS

Home price info a phone call away

Sprint is the first cellphone service provider to give customers access to recent sales data.

By Ann Brenoff, Times Staff WriterAugust 6, 2006

Attention all real estate hounds and home voyeurs.

Your cellphone can now answer that all-important question: What did it sell for?

The cellphone must be armed with a global positioning system — standard on most new phones — and the data service Smarter Agent will beam the property price, size and date-of-sale information straight to your curious eyes.

Smarter Agent has teamed up with Sprint, which offers the "Recently Sold" service exclusively for now. It's pretty simple to use. The phone will show you all sales made in your GPS vicinity in roughly the last two years. The data comes from public records, and most deeds take about three months to record after sale.

Another feature allows you to type in any U.S. address and get information about area sales including square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, lot size and tax information. It also maps the homes' locations.

By the end of the year, other phone service providers will probably offer the feature, and its developers have plans to expand the data to include available rentals and, eventually, data from Multiple Listing Services. The developers say they have data for 180 of the 200 major metropolitan areas, which includes all of Southern California.

Sprint charges $10 a month for its GPS data portal — Internet access, e-mail and photos — plus $4.99 for Smarter Agent.

The answers you seek are in the medium

2006-08-02T13:07:00.000-04:00

At some point, I suspect, the media will hone in on how "mobile" + "location awareness "changes everything.

The medium of location-aware mobility is different from all that came before it.

The winners of radio, were not the winners of TV, mainstream media and traditional corporations were not the winners of the Internet. And the winners of the Internet will not be the winners of mobile - winners in the sense of the come out of now where "ebay", "yahoo" type companies.

Mobile will create entirely new winners, you wait and see.

In the interim you can still find the clues in 1960's media guru Marshall McLuhan.

The Medium is the Messege
Here are some of his "McLuhanisms", and we all know about his quote the 'medium is the message' --meaning when we look at a photo we have to add our thoughts to interpret it, whereas TV streams right at us filling in most of the information. Based on the time period, and the business case, each medium created wealth in it's own way.

The winners of mobility will not be merely putting the internet or video on your phone. It will be the ones that use the medium to the fullest.

Here are some other famous quotes from M - rememeber he wrote them about 40 years ago, and most still stand out. How about the one 'the future of the book is the blurb', he may be have hit it on the head 'the future of the book is the BLOG'

QUOTES BY MM:

If it works, it's obsolete.

Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity.

Whereas convictions depend on speed-ups, justice requires delay.

With telephone and TV it is not so much the message as the sender that is“sent.”

We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards intothe future.

Invention is the mother of necessities.

You mean my whole fallacy’s wrong?

Mud sometimes gives the illusion of depth.

Why is it so easy to acquire the solutions of past problems and so difficult to solve current ones?

People don’t actually read newspapers. They step into them every morning like a hot bath.

The road is our major architectural form.

Today the business of business is becoming the constant invention of new business.

The price of eternal vigilance is indifference.

News, far more than art, is artifact.

When you are on the phone or on the air, you have no body.

Tomorrow is our permanent address.

All advertising advertises advertising.

The answers are always inside the problem, not outside.

One of the nicest things about being big is the luxury of thinking little.

Politics offers yesterday’s answers to today’s questions.

In big industry new ideas are invited to rear their heads so they can be clobbered at once.

The idea department of a big firm is a sort of lab for isolating dangerous viruses.

When a thing is current, it creates currency.

Food for the mind is like food for the body: the inputs are never the same as the outputs.

Men on frontiers, whether of time or space, abandon their previous identities. Neighborhood gives identity. Frontiers snatch it away.

The future of the book is the blurb.

The ignorance of how to use new knowledge stockpiles exponentially.

“I may be wrong, but I’m never in doubt.”

—Copyright © 1986, McLuhan Associates, Ltd.

GPS trumps SMS/Text Messaging marries WiMax

2006-08-01T12:21:00.000-04:00

I have been told that GPS is luxury car, while texting is more like a Yugo.

Here's why that is true for mobile searching, even though the numbers say many, many folks have tried texting. I suspect many are very young (I don't text), and there is jargon that texters use to get over what a pain it is to type on mobile devices. 2MI = too much information, BRB = be right back. Or texters use letters to disguise what they are saying --- for example, my 11 year old niece taught me that texting POS to your friends means parent over shoulder. That abbreviated typing is not going to work for many types of commerce.

Using SMS/Text Messaging for real estate info:

To get an answer about a real estate property, even if it is an automated system, via mobile sms/text-messaging/email - you have to type on your cell phone's keypad.

So in real estate it's a pain in the arse.

Want to know about 271 Winding Way Drive, Pleasanton (Sp? - spell it wrong and you have other problems) California.

To get a text message answer - you have to peck that address in. A 20 minute exercise. No way. And in some text messaging scenario's you may have to look for the code to type in, and that's an added expense for the person who wants you to text about their product (house, store, etc) and not everything you want to know about will have a text message code sticker on it.

That's why for real estate and place based things we patented the use of LBS (location based Services) and GPS (global positioning systems) to trigger real estate searches for example. GPS is a form of LBS, and so is 'location-detecting' WiMax.

I like solutions that are simple and elegant - (like E=MC squared - not that I understand that, but I like the theory that says the better you understand something the more simply it can be explained).

We have been granted 3 patents using GPS as a trigger to start a search. GPS triggered searching is an elegant solution that makes it easy to use.

At Smarter Agent we created a grid that has EVERY property in the United States listed (and are working on some international things as well). We add things like comps, for sale listings, and rentals to this grid.

As carriers roll out LBS services all you have to do with Smarter Agent is hit a button and we tell you all the information about the properties around you. The GPS in the phone gets your longitude and latitude and this allows Smarter Agent to instantly bring you back information about the property. 1-click, no typing required.

This is about as close to changing the TV channel (with a remote) as we could get. Forget about all those other keys!

As more people and the media continue to learn about the coming pervasiveness of GPS in cell phones this will be a game changer for real estate and other local search and local finding applications.

You can see what I mean by stopping in a Sprint-Nextel store and trying out Smarter Agent. Or with millions of GPS capable phones already out there, you may already have one that let's you experience this Star Trek like searching. Try it, you'll be hooked - after all we all like a little luxury WOW! experience now and then.

Forbes Richest Fictional Characters

2006-07-31T17:57:00.000-04:00

Ok, there is no educational reason for this post. But if you ever wondered who was richer Bruce Wayne or Thurston Howell III, the financial writers at Forbes worked it out a few years back. I suspect with the real estate boom, you can up these numbers. If the links work, you can see how they arrived at the estimates. Where's Donald Trump on that list -- no way that character is a real person.

Rank
Name
Net Worth
1.
Santa Claus
$ ∞
2.
Richie Rich
24.7 billion
3.
Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks
10 billion
4.
Scrooge McDuck
8.2 billion
5.
Thurston Howell III
8 billion
6.
Willie Wonka
8 billion
7.
Bruce Wayne
6.3 billion
8.
Lex Luthor
4.7 billion
9.
J.R. Ewing
2.8 billion
10.
Auric Goldfinger
1.2 billion
11.
C. Montgomery Burns
1 billion
12.
Charles Foster Kane
1 billion
13.
Cruella De Vil
875 million
14.
Gordon Gekko
650 million
15.
Jay Gatsby
600 million

Realtors are not Travel Agents

2006-07-18T14:56:00.000-04:00

In some states, every real estate agent and broker must take continuing education classes.

Because I maintain real estate brokers licenses in a few states, in Pennsylvania for example, every 2 years I attend a 15 hour class.

This year I took a class on the new real estate sales agreement used in Pennsylvania.

The instructor is very active in the Pennsylvania (PAR) and National Association of Realtors (NAR), and was a key person involved in creating the 10 page Agreement of Sale. If you ever bought a house, you have probably witnessed a similar pre-printed 'standard' form.

In each state they want the Realtors using a pre-printed form, because they are not trained as attorneys.

Did you know which page of the form leads to the most lawsuits?

The blank page --- where the Realtor fills in language for some particular thing needed by the buyer and/or seller to do the deal! Whatever a Realtor writes in there is subject to interpretation.

The instructor opened the class talking about why they make the form so complicated -- so Realtors won't go the way of travel agents! I almost fell off my seat.

Funny, as you can imagine, in this class of 40 or so, no one really knew all the ins and outs of the form - scarry, as all these folks fill it out all the time.

The instructors main point about the form is that most Realtors think their job is to connect buyers and sellers. If that is true then they have about as much value as travel agents - he said.

However, if you know the ins and out of real estate law, you can keep your buyers and sellers out of a lot of trouble! And he is right about that. Worth way more than the 4-7% commission if you have a great agent. Just learning the nuances of that form was worth 1000's of dollars. Like in PA, did you know if your Realtor fills out the name of a mortgage company in the mortgage contingency and you use someone else, without notifying the seller by amendment, the Seller can cancel the deal and keep your deposit. Me either! One guy in that class who sells his own real estate did that 18 times as he gets pissed when people can't close on time because they are having trouble getting a mortgage. Buyer beware if you have a dumbass agent I guess.

I have to tell you it's a pain in the ass to give up 2 days to take these education requirements, but I always learn something and enjoy them - even though I never take anyone out looking for homes. I can fill out a mean PA form now, thanks Dominic!

The test was to fill out the 10 page form, I got a 97 on my test as my transcript came in the mail last week-- I was too lazy to stick around (you could have had him grade it in front of you). I wonder what I got wrong -- that could cost me if a buy a house in PA, I hope I use a good agent (I will it will be a Smarter Agent partner!). No worries.

Mobile Leads, you bet...

2006-07-11T17:49:00.000-04:00

While we did a very short announcement we were granted a third patent, the only place we have told folks (for the moment) that Smarter Agent is now live (on Sprint and Nextel phones) is in this blog.

Nonetheless, we will shortly hit the 100 mark for users that have apparantly stumbled upon the application on their cell phone.

And we have already received requests from folks to find them homes similar to the ones that have recently sold in the neighborhoods they are looking.

This is significant.

This means the first leads ever sent to Realtors via consumers searching for real estate on their LBS cell phones has occured.

Maybe not the same as taking the first steps on the moon, but very, very exciting.

A new channel is born.

Mobile LBS patent issues on an appropriate day.

2006-07-06T11:18:00.000-04:00

REVOLUTION expands mobile searching, commerce, and marketing. Starting with real estate....

On the 4th of July, the United States patent office granted a patent for mobile location-based services (LBS) that includes location-activated advertising in front of buildings.

The United States Patent Office issued patent number 7,072,665 to Brad and Eric Blumberg, the founders of Smarter Agent® (see http://www.smarteragent.com/).

This further strengthens the patent portfolio of the entrepreneur brother-duo as they now hold three patents relating to mobile LBS and global positioning system (GPS) triggered real estate and place-based searching, commerce and advertising.

Patents 6,385,541 and 6,496,776 were issued to the Blumbergs in 2002 and cover LBS triggered searching for property-centric information/commerce.

Nextel launches Smarter Agent

2006-06-29T14:54:00.000-04:00

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent launched on the Nextel side of Sprint, today.

Here's how to use it on Nextel. From your cellphones deck:

Go to applications. Then, to the all categories section. Then to the GPS section. And then click on Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent.

Use on these Nextel phones: i605, i760, i850, i860, i870.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is the first GPS mobile real estate application to launch on wireless carriers.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent utilizes location technology such as GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) –already in your cell phone - to instantly return information about the closest homes sold within the last three years such as the last sold price, last sold date, taxes and square feet.

You can use on Sprint as well. Here are the steps to download on Sprint. Go to the main menu of your Sprint phone and look for the “My Content / Downloads” area -- this is where you download games, ringers, screen savers, applications. Then to find Smarter Agent, scroll through the navigation to: Applications, Get New (Content), Find It, Shopping (Pick: Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent). Use on Sprint Phones with LBS/GPS capabilities: Samsung A900, Sumsung A920, LG 535, Sanyo 5600, Sanyo 7400, Sanyo 7500, Sanyo 8300.

Because of Smarter Agent’s patented use of GPS, once you download the application, every time you engage it, your cell phone automatically locates where you are and instantly provides you with recent sales data for homes around you. Mapping included.

Smarter Agent covers millions of properties in just about every neighborhood in the United States. And it costs less than a big fancy coffee at Starbucks! You can search as much as you want for a single low monthly fee of $4.99. The fee is billed right to your cell phone bill.

Try Smarter Agent where you live, when driving through a new neighborhood you are curious about, or while on vacation looking for second home.

We have been told Smarter Agent is also a great busy buddy and party conversation tool - you can learn what the neighbors paid anytime, anywhere! Bottom line, Smarter Agent can make YOU the smartest real estate person on the block in an instant!

About Smarter Agent
Smarter Agent® is creating a communication revolution by combining the powerful capabilities of mobile LBS (location based services) technology with real estate content about properties, neighborhoods and interesting places around you. Smarter Agent has been granted 3 patents governing the use of GPS and location-based services in the real estate vertical. The company's application platform delivers dynamic, location-relevant content to both mobile devices and the Internet. This allows consumers and enterprise users to learn, interact and transact with the world around them as never before possible.

Smarter Agent is one of the most acclaimed location-aware applications in the world. CTIA, the telecommunications industry association, awarded Smarter Agent the Best LBS/GPS application through its Emerging Technology Awards. Smarter Agent also won the Navteq Global LBS Challenge category for Best Commerce Application. It has been named a product likely to “change the marketplace” from the prestigious DEMO conference, is an Inman Innovator Award Finalist, and is the Winner of the Ben Franklin Award for Most Innovative Product.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is available now on Sprint/Nextel. Rentals, by Smarter Agent will launch in the 4th Q 2006. For Sale Homes, by Smarter Agent is scheduled to launch in time for Christmas.

Smarter Agent nominated for Inman Innovator Award

2006-06-29T14:42:00.000-04:00

Smarter Agent is an Inman Innovator. Inman News today released the names of the finalists for the coveted 2006 Inman Innovator Awards. Winners will be announced at the annual Real Estate Connect SF technology conference, July 26-28, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Smarter Agent was nominated for Most Innovative Technology. The Inman Innovator Awards recognize companies that use technology and innovation to enhance the real estate transaction for consumers and real estate professionals. "In today's fast-moving marketplace, innovation is a more important quality than size, market share or even revenue," said Bradley Inman, founder and publisher of Inman News. "That's why I'm so excited to announce these Inman News Innovator Award finalists today." The awards have been presented at Real Estate Connect SF since 1997.

We're number 9000

2006-06-21T15:25:00.000-04:00

So back in the day (2004 ish) when we were testing our online lead generation prowess, and when real estate was the national pastime, our beta www.smarteragent.com site hovered around the 20,000-25,000 most trafficked website of any kind in the world, according to Alexa.com. That was enough to make us the most visited real estate broker owned website in the Philadelphia region - a nice little thing.

As we started focusing on building mobile, we drifted to about the 40,000 most trafficked site.

So low and behold without an ad budget, and without an announcement we soft lauched on Sprint, we spike the other day to about the 9,000 most trafficked website in the world according to the Alexa universe. Now I did tell 5-6 of the bloggers I read, but I doubt that could do it...and I do not have that many relatives to push up our site traffic. I just can't explain it - but thanks for visiting.

I think this means that when we start announcing Smarter Agent Mobile -- our web traffic is going to skyrocket...I will keep you, my loyal reader (I have only 1 :), posted. Yes, you launch mobile and your website hops, if you think they are separtate channels you would be wrong! One plays off the other.

The mix: Technology start-ups need a lot of wealthy neighbors, nerds and cafe's as opposed to trendy LA & NYC nightspots

2006-06-15T11:57:00.000-04:00

Paul Graham in an interesting analysis says you need lot's of rich people, nerds and a neat place to live to have the right mix for technology start-up nirvana. Read his interesting post here: http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html

In the 1st Q 2006, Silicon Valley and Boston did about as much Venture Capital investing as the rest of the country combined. Silicon Valley did 2 Billion; Boston area did 872 Million; NY, LA , San Diego and Seattle area did about 300M each. Philadelphia did under 100M, 20 times less than Silicon Valley and 8 times less than Boston - I knew it felt a little light around here. See the chart here: http://www.pwcmoneytree.com/moneytree/nav.jsp?page=region

Be like a sponge.

2006-06-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

One of the keys to successful home buying, selling and investing (or any type of real estate endeavor) is to know more than anyone else.

You should research urban and suburban growth issues such as schools, zoning, transportation, employment centers - and how they will effect property you want to purchase .

Good buyers of real estate usually have some experience that let's them uncover value. They may be good at finance, art, architecture, gardening, politics - and the really great ones are good at many fields that can impact real estate value.

In a post a few days ago, I included an article that gave examples how to look for real estate. The author advocated talking to neighbors, police, real estate agents and other local experts. Good advice.

Most buyers rely solely on their agent for information. Not the best plan. There are more than a few real estate billionaires, and guess what -- none are real estate agents. However, most every real estate billionaire uses real estate agents. So what gives?

Rich real estate folks take in a lot of information so they can do their own homework.

The key is to use your agent, your banker, your insurance broker and even the staff of your local county and city government -- all as a set of consultants that can provide you with pieces of your home buying or investment puzzle.

Smarter Agent is a good tool for your arsenal.
We invented Smarter Agent Mobile for a single reason. When we were involved in real estate development, you had to go to a lot of different places to get information about a property. With Smarter Agent mobile, you will start to see a suite of services that bring pertinent information to you where it really counts - out in the field - as you drive around. Smarter Agent let's you tap real estate information spontaneously - when you see something you like, from a device you will have with you - your cell phone.

There are a lot of great real estate tools to support you, but if you spend more time on the Internet than in the field looking at property and neighborhoods you can forget about being a great real estate buyer, seller and investor. Doing research online and visiting a dozen homes pretty much assures you might have found something better.

So my advice is be like a sponge. Actually I heard the Donald say that in his book, but as any expert knows, they are successful because they are information sponges.

Learn as much as you can about a place. Do not depend on few sources for your information. I suggest reading things you might not normally do like architecture, urban planning and real estate finance magazines - most which can be found online - and which can get your creativity flowing. Even HDTV can give you some tips, although I do not have the patience to sit through a show with all those commercials, I wish you could search them online by topic.

AN eye opener is to go to a few planning board meetings.

Then get out there and compare homes in the town you want to live, with homes in neighboring towns as well.

Remember it is up to YOU to create and recognize value. It takes time and effort to be in the part of the pack that knows more than everyone else. But once you get up the curve you can take action based on your new knowledge, which in turn lowers your stress level!

A fool wants his bubble back....

2006-06-13T14:33:00.000-04:00

Seth Jayson from The Motley Fool wants his Bubble Back!

Here are several paragraphs written by Seth on 06/09/2006:

The housing spin
"There's nothing funnier or more satisfying (for me, at least) than watching the National Association of Realtors (NAR) change its tune these days. The latest news release from this sunny-Jim industry group finally fesses up to its past fiction, but even when it admits the bubble's going to pop, it can't muster the courage to just come out and say it.

Nope, according to the news template the NAR released to the press on June 6, "The housing boom has ended, but sales at historically healthy levels will continue." Wow, sounds great! What about all those poor HGTV-addled suckers -- oops, I mean investors -- who've been buying property on interest-only ARMs with the hopes of flipping it for an easy profit?

Not to worry, folks -- a flop in prices is good! Here's why, according to the NAR. "Experiencing a slowing from a hot market is a good thing because we need a solid housing sector to provide an underlying base to the economy, and slower appreciation will help to preserve long-term affordability."

I hope all those people out there who leveraged themselves up to their eyeballs with risky loans to get into the market are going to be greatly comforted by the "long-term affordability" their homes may offer the buyers of the future.

Who moved my bubble? So, yeah, the NAR is full of it and will spin the numbers any way it can to keep up the pleasant fiction that all is well. But the cracks began to show in subsequent remarks from NAR "Chief Economist" David Lereah. The head outfit that ridiculed the idea of a housing bubble for years is now crying for Ben Bernanke to bring it back.

"But this is a time for the Fed to pause on rate hikes because we have some interest-sensitive housing markets that have become vulnerable," Lereah said.

Allow me to translate:

Interest-sensitive housing markets = "Bubbles"
Vulnerable = "Ready to pop"

Price gains. Returns.
These are people who want us all to believe in housing as an investment, and they just happen to take a cut on the deals. Of course, housing, over the long run, is not a good investment, except for a very savvy few. It's a roof over your head that tends to keep pace with inflation, but not in a straight line. But if you can't afford your place because you made a bad deal based on reports of the never-ending happy housing story, that cozy home could be a personal finance time-bomb waiting to explode.

Those home industry advertisements might feature kitties and puppies, blue skies and little girls with dimples frolicking in the home of your dreams, but the people putting together those ads measure their success by how many greenbacks they can extract from your wallet. The only person out there who's really looking out for your financial well-being is you.
For related Foolishness:
Behind the Bubble Babble
Bad-Mouthing the Bubble
Don't Get Crushed by Your Home

Get off your fanny and go talk to the neighbor's nanny.

2006-06-08T10:48:00.000-04:00

Smarter Agent Mobile (with GPS) is the best tool to learn about neighborhoods quickly.

You can swoop into a neighborhood you desire and learn about property values from your cell phone.

Heck, even with all the neat Internet real estate tools out there, 1 out of 5 people find the eventual home they purchase by driving by it. That's over 1,500,000 people a year that buy a home they first saw and found themselves by driving through a neighborhood. Then of course most bounce the idea of their Realtor, and a home is bought!

In the below article, Michele Dawson, writing for realtytimes.com, gives you tips for what to think about as you walk and drive around new neighborhoods.

Her advice is the same process followed by all real estate savvy pro's and should be heeded.

She says by all means use the Internet-- but then get off your butt and do your homework in the neighborhood.

Talk to the neighbors, police, visit the schools etc.

The more you know the better deal you will get! Seems obvious...but there are enlightening tibits that can be discovered in any neighborhood. You would be surprised what a nosey neighbor knows about the place you are thinking about buying! Heck, sometimes meeting the neighbors is a real eye opening experience in its own right ;).

Find The Perfect Neighborhood.
How to scout out the best place to call home
By Michele Dawson

Once you've become pre-qualified for a loan, you should be ready to put your house-hunting efforts into full gear. But don't skip the important step of scouting out neighborhoods before you start your search for the perfect house.

The neighborhood in which you live will heavily dictate your whole way of lifeÂthings like walking to a nearby park with your kids, knowing your kids are attending good schools, feeling safe when your children play outdoors, being close to restaurants and shopping, enjoying a short commute, and knowing your home will appreciate at a healthy rate.

Of course one way to get started in your neighborhood search is to get in your car and explore, especially if you're unfamiliar with the area. Get an idea about the neighborhoods by driving around and seeing which areas appeal to you. Walk around, explore, and talk to some of the residents.

Take note of the general appearance of the homes. Are they well maintained? Are they nicely landscaped?

If you have children, you might be looking for a neighborhood with plenty of children around, as opposed to neighborhoods that attract more seniors or young singles.

Other factors you'll want to consider are the schools, crime, your family's specific needs, and appreciation - as in how much the value of the home is likely to increase.

A good Realtor will be very familiar with all the neighborhoods in the area and should be able to tell you about the strengths and weaknesses of the specific neighborhoods you're eyeing.

The School District
Even if you don't have school-aged children, buying a home in a district with good schools will be in your best interest. When and if you sell the home at some point in the futurfutureure buyers with children will likely consider good schools their top priority. And neighborhoods with good schools typically attract more buyers. Ask your Realtor about information on schools in the area.
Talk to people in the neighborhood, especially people with children. Standardized test scores are also available on the Internet.

Visit the schools and take a tour if you have children. It's important that your decision isn't based purely through facts gathered online. Get a true feeling for what the school is like.

Crime Statistics
No one wants to live in a neighborhood where break-ins and burglary are the norm. There are web sites that can provide you with statistics on crime and other information pertinent to your search.
Talk to neighbors.
Take note if there are bars on the windows and doors of homes.
Talk to the police or sheriff's department.
Check for gang graffiti on walls and walkways.
Keep in mind that if you're looking in-town, you may not be able to get away from everything you consider unappealing (such as noise and traffic).

Keep Your Family in Mind
A home isn't just an investment when you have a family to think of. You'll need to consider more than just the number of bedrooms or whether it has an attached garage. You'll need to consider the community first and foremost. Do you want schools that are in walking distance? Do you want to be close to your place of employment? Do you want to be close to shopping, restaurants, and other services?

Recently Sold Homes, by Smarter Agent

2006-06-07T08:58:00.000-04:00

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is a new mobile application.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent utilizes GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) to instantly return information about the closest homes sold within the last three years such as the last sold price, last sold date, taxes and square feet.

Because of Smarter Agent’s patented use of GPS, once you download the application, every time you engage it, your cell phone automatically locates where you are and instantly provides you with recent sales data for homes around you. No typing required! It’s amazing!

Smarter Agent has a lot of other cool features that make it fun and easy to use. For example, Smarter Agent has GPS mapping so on the same map you can see where you are and all of the recent sales near you. You can search by city and state if you want to research areas other than where you are.

Smarter Agent covers just about every neighborhood in the United States. And it costs less than a big fancy coffee at Starbucks! You can search as much as you want for a single low monthly fee of $4.99. The fee is billed right to your cell phone bill.

Smarter Agent is the most award winning GPS (also called LBS - Location Based Services) application in the world. CTIA, the telecommunications industry association, just awarded Smarter Agent the best use of LBS/GPS technology. Smarter Agent also won the Navteq Global LBS Challenge for best commerce application. It has been named the most innovative and most likely to “change the marketplace” product from a number of sources such as Inman News and DEMO.

Smarter Agent’s mobile GPS application may just be the most powerful real estate tool ever invented. Try it where you live, when driving through a new neighborhood you are curious about, or while on vacation looking for second home. We have been told Smarter Agent is also a great busy buddy/party conversation tool - you can learn what the neighbors paid anytime, anywhere! Bottom line, Smarter Agent can make YOU the smartest real estate person on the block in an instant!

Local Mobile Search

2006-06-07T08:34:00.000-04:00

Russell Buckley who contributes to the Mobhappy blog said something we agree with: "Most people know the area they live and work in and the idea of getting your phone to find the nearest ATM or pizza restaurant is not something they need most of the time.”

He's right. We oftern say the mobile search universe is very sophmoric at this point.

What we do at Smarter Agent is add true value to people that want mobile search.

We call this bringing the “Steven Spielberg effect" to mobile. IE, the search has to be crafted by someone that creates a compelling story someone would pay for. So you have to be an expert or have expert content to make the search interesting. Do not tell us things we already know -- as Russell aludes to.

You can see - if you try Smarter Agent - that we are beginning to address some of these high value searches in a way no local search algorithm will be able to match in the next few years. If you are creating a local search platform, and especially when using GPS/LBS, you better be able to deliver “expert of expert” data about the spot where the user is standing! Not a bunch of skim the surface, boring data base entries.

That is one of the problems with mobile content today. There are a lot of one dimesional games and applications, a user tries once and says, this is no big deal - and does not come back. Smarter Agent creates compelling and multi-dimentional applicaitons that are updated - at least - daily! They contain expert data.

We are pretty good at this because by chance of birth, we grew up in a family of architects, urban planners, real estate brokers and developers - and worked and studied in these fields as a right of passage. These are the professions that have been asked to describe and interface and decide what is relevant about a location for 1000’s of years. Take that and mix it with mobile GPS/LBS technology and you do indeed have some game changing local search (we think).

That’s why we have received 3 patents in the mobile LBS space as far as searching and advertising and conducting commerce within real estate and built environment. Which is in essence - local search - with a narrow focus growing outward – the opposite of trying to be a generic mobile search platform.

Plus our killer attibute is that your grandmom can understand and use it!

Smarter Agent Mobile Live on Sprint!

2006-06-01T10:34:00.000-04:00

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is live on Sprint. We will have a lot more to say about this!

Here are the steps to download on Sprint. Go to the main menu of your phone and look for the “My Content / Downloads” area -- this is where you download games, ringers, screen savers, applications.

To find Smarter Agent, scroll through the navigation to:

· Applications
· Get New (Content)
· Find It
· Shopping

Pick: Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent.

Use on Sprint Phones with LBS/GPS capabilities:
Samsung A900
Sumsung A920
LG 535
Sanyo 5600
Sanyo 7400
Sanyo 7500
Sanyo 8300

Where people move

2006-05-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

Of all people that move (principal residence) in the United States each year:

56% stay in the same county.
20% move within the same State.
20% move to a different State.
04% come from abroad to live in US.

Almost 1 out of 5 United States residents move each year!

-US Census data

Now that's entertainment

2006-05-06T08:10:00.000-04:00

You have to love crazy real estate guys like the Donald and now Gator-berger. Can you imagine being there...

Real estate tycoon Ronald Bergeron, who made his millions by developing much of the former Everglades in southwest Broward County, last weekend took guests on a tour of his private 5,000-acre-plus nature preserve in south Florida.Feeling the need to make the visitors' recent $10,000 donation to the Boys and Girls Club worthwhile, Bergeron found an alligator and decided to wrestle it."Couples donate a lot of money to charities for the weekend and I always tell them I'm going to wrestle an alligator," Bergeron said Wednesday. "It's part of my Florida cracker culture. My grandfather was a game warden in the Everglades and I grew up around alligators."The wrestling event soon went awry, as the 7-foot-long 'gator dragged Bergeron into a lake where it used a submerging tactic to disorient the multimillionaire, and then used a rolling maneuver to unsuccessfully dislodge the 62-year-old, while severely injuring a couple of the man's fingers.Spectators eventually grabbed the 'gator's tail and helped pull it out of the water, as Bergeron continued to hold on to the beast's jaws.Bergeron was whisked away to a nearby hospital but vowed to return to wrestling, saying it's "too exciting" to give up.
-from our friends at Inman News via a report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Best LBS application at CTIA Wireless 2006

2006-04-12T10:19:00.000-04:00

We had a good Vegas trip, here is a post from the INMAN NEWS BLOG, as well as a media release:

from Inman:
Pays to be 'smart'Congrats to Smarter Agent on its latest recognition for having the best-in-show location-based service at a huge industry event last week. The Philadelphia-based company tells us that it was selected as the first place winner of the Wireless Emerging Technologies Award at CTIA Wireless 2006 for location-based services. Smarter Agent was judged on its Recently Sold Home Search application that will launch on cell phone wireless carriers this quarter, enabling consumers quick and easy access to last-sold prices, sales data and additional information on properties that have sold within the last approximately three years. Picture it this way: Consumers sign up for location-based service; they walk around a neighborhood in which they want to buy a home; they click on the Smarter Agent icon and see recently-sold prices and other information on houses that are right in front of them.--Jessica Swesey, Inman News
1 comments links to this post

Smarter Agent Receives CTIA Wireless 2006 E-Tech Award for Best in Show for Location Based Services

Judges noted Innovation, ease-of-use and WOW! factor

Smarter Agent was selected as the FIRST PLACE winner of the Wireless Emerging Technologies Award at CTIA Wireless 2006 for Location Based Services (LBS).

Award recipients were announced in a ceremony at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CTIA Wireless 2006 Convention. CTIA Wireless is the largest telecom show in the world with over 40,000 US and International attendees.

The Wireless E-tech Awards program is designed to give industry recognition and exposure to the best wireless products and services in the areas of consumer, enterprise and network technology. Over 200 applications were submitted and reviewed by a panel of recognized members of the media, industry analysts and executives, as well as select show attendees.

Products were judged on innovation, functionality, technological importance, implementation and overall "WOW!" factor.

"We are extremely proud of the e-Tech awards program and continually amazed at the level of ingenuity present in the submissions," said Robert Mesirow, vice president and show director for CTIA WIRELESS. "On behalf of CTIA, we congratulate Smarter Agent on this accomplishment and look forward to their continued innovation in the field of LBS."

Smarter Agent was judged on its Recently Sold Home Search application that will launch on wireless carriers this quarter.

With Smarter Agent’s Recently Sold Home Search, consumers and professionals can learn the actual last sold price, sale date and information about properties that have sold within the last +/- 3 years.

Smarter Agent uses GPS already in the user’s cell phone to pinpoint their location and instantly deliver detailed recently sold information about properties around them. No-typing required. In 1-click. The user can utilize Smarter Agent nationwide.

About Smarter Agent
Smarter Agent® is creating a communication revolution by combining the powerful capabilities of mobile LBS (location based services) technology with real estate content about properties, neighborhoods and interesting places around you. Smarter Agent is the inventor of mobile LBS triggered real estate searching. Smarter Agent has been granted several patents governing the use of LBS in the real estate vertical. The company's application platform delivers dynamic, location-relevant content to both mobile devices and the Internet. This allows consumers and enterprise users to learn, interact and transact with the world around them as never before possible.

About CTIA WIRELESS 2006
As the premiere global event representing the complete wireless, mobile computing and wireless Internet industry and as the largest wireless show in the world, CTIA WIRELESS 2006 brings together all industries within the communications ecosystem and all those affected by wireless technology for three days of intense learning and networking. Visit www.ctiawireless.com.
CTIA-The Wireless Association is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, representing carriers, manufacturers and wireless Internet providers. Visit www.ctia.org.

OTHER WINNERS at CTIA WIRELESS E-TECH AWARDS 2006 included Google for Google Local in the Consumer Application category; Motorola Inc. for Motorola SLVR in the L7Hardware category; Dell Inc. for Latitude D620/D820 Notebook Computers in the Enterprise Solutions category.

JUDGES: Judges for the E-Tech awards included: Business Week, Steve Wildstrom; CNET, Kent German; Fidelity Investments, Joseph Ferra; Forrester Research, Charles Golvin; General Catalyst Partners, John Simon; Jupiter Media, Michael Gartenberg; PC Magazine, Sascha Segan; RCR Wireless News, Tracy Ford; Siber Consulting, Richard Siber; Wireless Week, Rhonda Wickham: Yankee Group, Philip Marshal

Are we looking at a rash of foreclosures in 2007-2008?

2006-03-20T11:21:00.000-05:00

Here's a summary from an article in the Baltimore Sun (03/20/06); by James R. Hagerty, as reported in the Mortgage Bankers Association email daily... I can't believe that 1 in 8 mortgages taken out by aggressive financing (100%, no money down, etc.) over the past 2 years will result in foreclosure. But I have no doubt, that after price dips over the next 3 years, it will take another real estate [decade] cycle for these folks to see the value of their home approach the mortgage if it is indeed a 95% or 100% mortgage. Sales are cooling, let's see if recent homebuyers panic when they realize (ok, if they did a 100% mortgage they will probably never realize it) their home is not a credit card or an investment. Also, will be important to see if the lenders panic triggering forclosures rather than workouts. I assume most of these loans have PMI insurance to make up for the low downpayment. With utility costs up, hopefully rates will rise slowly so folks don't get behind - I think each lender should send notices with estimates that rates could rise-- be prepared.

From the Baltimore Sun...
"According to Economy.com, interest rates on 25 percent of outstanding mortgages will adjust upward in 2006 and 2007. Though some homeowners will be able to avoid payment shock by refinancing, First American Real Estate Solutions expects one in eight adjustable-rate borrowers to default on loans originated in 2004 and 2005. The company's research and analytics director, Christopher Cagan, believes the most vulnerable borrowers are recent buyers who have not seen rapid price appreciation boost their home values above the mortgage balance, adding that price gains already have weakened in several markets. However, Mortgage Bankers Association chief economist Doug Duncan does not expect a substantial jump in foreclosures tied to rate resets, as he contends that foreclosures are primarily the result of job losses. "

Visit us in Qualcomm booth at CTIA April 5-7

2006-03-13T15:06:00.000-05:00

Qualcomm will showcase Smarter Agent as a mobile LBS (Location Based Service) solution at the CTIA wireless convention in Las Vegas the first week in April. There will be a LBS station as part of their large booth, and we hope to see you there. We can also be found on the Qualcomm website at this link: http://www.cdmatech.com/locationservicesshowcase/dev_smarter_agent.jsp

We are getting close to launch of the Smarter Agent mobile GPS/LBS real estate search, so watch for details and a new website homepage in April...

* GPS is the most well-known form of LBS that can determine a users locaition. Triangulation is another method that is combined with GPS in the Qualcomm solution.

Blumberg speaking at GPS-Wireless San Francisco, March 2, 2006

2006-02-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

Will see some of you at this GPS Wireless Conference in San Francisco on March 2, 2006

New Mobile Technology and Markets
Summary: For 10 years, this has been one of our most popular panels. Find out what's new with Portable Navigation Systems' markets. New players are coming on strong. Will new units have increased wireless connectivity? Will other features become available such as satellite radio, traffic information and more content? What emerging markets are out there? Real Estate? Security?

Panelists include:
Moderator: Michael Sheldrick, Principal CJ Driscoll & Associates, Los Angeles, CA
David Marsh, Director, Navigation Product Development Cobra Electronics, Chicago, IL
Brad Blumberg, Chief Executive Officer Smarter Agent, Camden, NJ
Matthew Rabinowitz, CTO & Co-Founder Rosum Corporation, Mountain View, CA
Gary Russell, President GeoSentry, Anaheim, CA
Steve Wollenberg, Co-Founder & Vice President of Marketing Circumnav Networks, Palo Alto, CA

LBS is a top technology trend

2006-02-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

We all know technology is impacting how we learn about place and real estate.

Here is a panel of tech expert's view of the most important technologies this year.

We are happy to see mobile location based services made the list...and the prevalence of mobile technologies. Mobile content is now mainstream. ESPN, Sprint all has Superbowl ads relating to mobile content.

...Moderated by John Patrick:

There were many good speakers and panels at the SIIA Conference yesterday and today. It was my job to moderate the final panel of the conference which was called "Top 10 Technology Trends".

Leading the panel was a special treat for me because the panelists were colleagues that I have known and respected for many years: Jason Calacanis, Blogger and CEO, Weblogs, Inc., Jeff Pulver, Chairman and Founder, pulver.com, Inc., Chris Shipley, Co-Founder & Editorial Director, Guidewire Group, LLC, and Dr. Robert Sutor, VP Standards, IBM Corporation.

We had a lively conversation about a wide range of technologies and then some Q&A with the audience. One question was "what *exactly* is the list of the top ten technologies?". It was a fair question. I purposely planned the panel as more of a loosely structured discussion and did not want to box the panelists in to a list of things but nevertheless, I promised to post a list of the top ten things we talked about. These are not in priority sequence. I believe they represent a consensus.

Top Ten Technology Trends

Blogging software highly integrated with all the other software we use

Video blogging technology being practical for many more people

Voice over IP known more for applications than for price

Location based services

Mesh technology enabling highly distributed bandwidth

Tags everywhere

OpenDocument Format predominant

Standards evolving rapidly and winning over proprietary

Broadband over the Power Line (this one we did not have time to discuss)

Mobile devices dominant as our primary way to communicate including the web