MANSFIELD, Ohio (Editorial) – Last week I shared with our readers how Richland Source, McDonald’s, and Heart of Ohio magazine linked up to make May “Lovin’ it LOCAL” month. Readers can save big on subscriptions to Heart of Ohio, register to win the Arch Cards we are giving away all month, and browse the free Wi-Fi in their neighborhood McDonald’s. It’s shaping up to be a great partnership.
One of the key components for Richland Source and our readers is the launch of our new mobile app.
You asked us for a better mobile experience late last year when responding to our reader survey. The Richland Source app, developed in partnership with Columbus-based Inmobly, delivers the fast, intuitive, and innovative browsing experience you asked us to develop.
Inmobly’s award winning TruEdge video caching technology is baked right in, and will deliver on-demand video to our users with no buffering and – over time – predictive downloads based upon the viewing habits of a user.
And it’s not a moment too soon. In the last 90 days, 67 percent of our visitors arrived using either smartphones or tablets. At certain times of the day, that number routinely reaches 90 percent. Mobile is clearly the “first screen” in Richland County, and second place is fading fast.
The app gives readers access to all the same content and services they enjoy, now in a much smoother and more elegant interface. Along with groundbreaking video technology, the new app delivers easy sharing of content across social platforms, up-to-the-minute weather, and real-time traffic information.
Developing this product has been a long process, and we owe thanks to everyone who helped on the journey: our editorial and business staff members, especially David Yoder who steered us through the shoals of software development; the whole team at Inmobly; our fantastic group of beta-testers and – most of all – our family of readers.
You can download the app today on Google Play or in the App Store, and best of all, it won’t cost you a dime.
Cheers,
Jay
Reporter Dillon Carr spoke to Inmobly’s SVP of Corporate Development (and Crestline native) Scott Gatchall about how TruEdge works. Gatchall said TruEdge’s primary focus is offering mobile device users predictive video caching. Over time, TruEdge learns about a user’s individual viewing habits and downloads videos that match their preferences.
“No streaming or buffering. Our technology downloads videos while you sleep using WiFi, so when you wake up in the morning and want to catch something on your ESPN app, you don’t have to eat up your data plan to do it,” said Gatchall.
Gatchall described Inmobly as a plug-in software for your phone or mobile device. He said the software has been built around leaving the smallest footprint on your mobile device as possible. The software, he explained, uses the mobile device’s memory. “Downloading around 200 30-second videos should only take up one gigabyte,” said
“Our technology is as efficient as possible. Our partners demanded that from the beginning, and we have worked hard to deliver that efficiency” said Gatchall.
For more on Inmobly, read our piece on their award-winning run at the 2105 SXSW Tech Accelerator.
