Sessions at WebVisions Portland 2012 about Mobile on Friday 18th May

As the number of connected consumers continues to skyrocket, brands still struggle with driving core business goals. Learn how some of the most successful companies use push messaging to build a direct, personal connection with their mobile customers.

We’ll offer examples of how different types of organizations are delivering branded, real-time interactive engagement through their apps, dig into the data and best practices that help ensure every push is a good push and detail emerging technologies that bring location and context into the mix for precise targeting.

Native apps are great, but if you want your app to reach as many people as possible, HTML5 is your ticket. In this session, we'll explore the different ways HTML5 can be used to build and deploy mobile apps, as well as the tools that can make the job easier.

Mobile and HTML5 expert Todd Anglin will show how Kendo UI Mobile helps developers build "native looking" apps that automatically adapt to iOS and Android. He'll demonstrate how tools like PhoneGap can be used to package a HTML5 app for an app store and will reveal tips for optimizing app development with HTML5.

Two Kendo UI Complete commercial licenses will be raffled to session attendees.

No matter how much we try to put ourselves into a mobile first mentality, it is hard for us to do so fully. Our access to PCs prevents us from experiencing mobile the way many in the world do.

We're currently fighting for parity among experiences. We're arguing that the mobile version shouldn't be a dumbed down version of the desktop site.

But we've set our sights too low. In a true Mobile First world, the mobile version should be the best experience. Mobile shouldn't just match the desktop experience, it should exceed it.

Mobile design has often stressed the importance of context and is routinely created for a user who is thought to be “on the go”. But increasingly this is being recognized as not true, and primary engagement with the mobile web is happening while at home.

Though being able to access the deep information allowed via a smartphone no matter where you are can certainly be beneficial, not all environments allow for this sort of engagement. No place is more representative of this than while shopping. Apps and mobile websites aimed at consumers abound, but retail locations have not made any allowances that would invite mobile usage. Could this lack of affordance be causing people to be less inclined to access apps and the web while shopping?

Looking at user research done in Best Buy’s stores with participants using their iPhone app, we will see the benefits mobile engagement can allow customers and also the problems retail environments present. Mobile interaction designers may not only be creating new digital experiences, they could also be influencing the future of shopping.