Right now, in many ways, we have a better mobile web than ever before. We have super-fast 4G connectivity; we have more advanced smartphones with displays capable of rendering the web in all its glory; we have fast-loading AMP websites and progressive web apps that won't eat up all of our data. We can watch videos, enjoy 360-degree panoramas, and experience augmented reality all in our mobile browsers.

Remember QR codes? Those blocky, black-and-white graphics that take you to a URL when scanned with your phone were everywhere from about 2011 to 2013. Brands splashed them across posters, put them in shop windows and integrated them into creative advertising. But despite the ostensible usefulness of QR codes in linking the offline and online worlds, QR codes have since mostly died out, due to a combination of poor implementation, subpar technology, and a lack of native support

Mary Meeker’s recently-released Internet Trends 2017 report, which focuses on the defining trends of the digital world and what they might mean for the future, featured a prominent section detailing the steady rise of gaming in all forms across the globe. Meeker dedicated a 70-page section of this year’s report to a wealth of statistics analyzing the explosion of popular gaming and what it means for various industries.

Much has been made of the fight between mobile apps and the mobile web, but the line between the two is no longer as clear-cut as it used to be. Broadly speaking, a mobile-friendly or mobile-responsive website is less costly and time-consuming to develop than a native mobile app, and tends to attract a wider audience – it’s quick to access, with no downloading or storage required.

Over the past couple of years, augmented reality has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the hottest topics in marketing. Historically, it has always been mentioned in the same breath as virtual reality (the two are usually referred to collectively as “AR and VR”), but next to virtual reality’s almost mystical potential, it was sort of the awkward cousin that no-one quite knew what to do with.

How did you start your day today? If you’re anything like me, you probably started it at the breakfast table hunched protectively over a cup of coffee, blearily reading something on the screen of your smartphone. And, again if you’re anything like me – or thousands of other people now subscribed to one of the myriad newsletter offerings that have sprung up across the web – that “something” was quite likely an email newsletter.

We’re all sick of headlines proclaiming that “201X is the year of so-and-so”. The year of mobile, the year of programmatic, the year of the influencer – we’ve heard it all. Yet in spite of this, Abi Morrish, Digital Engagement Business Director at MEC Wavemaker, truly believes that 2017 is the year of video – and she has the stats to back it up.

Once a time and resource-heavy exercise, creating and embedding 360 degree imagery has become much cheaper and easier over the past couple of years. The advent of mobile apps that can take 360-degree photographs, or ‘photo spheres’, has made creating 360-degree images accessible to those without specialized equipment. At the same time, it has become easier to embed and share photospheres directly within webpages, and the virtual reality headsets which allow users to experience them are increas

The next generation of wearable technology will give consumers an unprecedented ability to filter out digital experiences that aren’t of value to them, according to a report by Adobe which launched last week.

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project is due to launch at the end of February, taking a huge stride towards Google’s stated goal of a “better, faster mobile internet.” But just what will AMP consist of, and what will it mean for the marketing industry?

By day, she’s the Communities and Partnerships Manager at OpenCorporates, ensuring that data is used for social good. By night, Hera Hussain helps women to empower themselves through technology with the organisation Chayn. Chayn is a small, volunteer-driven organisation which mainly works with women, primarily in countries such as India and Pakistan, who are victims of domestic violence. Its team are developing a number of technology-driven projects to help these women in different ways...