Google Announces Cloud Messaging as Replacement for C2DM

During the Google I/O conference today at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Google announced the launch of Google Cloud Messaging (GCM). The new service, almost identical to their current push service, C2DM, promises a number of new enhancements benefiting mobile application developers and device users alike, including:

• better battery life
• more efficient data usage and transfer
• new robust APIs
• improved app performance
• an easier developer enrollment process.

One stand-out feature that's interesting for us: GCM will allow developers to notify their apps that there is new data to be fetched from the server without actually downloading the data. Instead, the app (for example a messaging app) can tell a user that he/she has a new message, which the user can retrieve manually. This will reduce data transfers and battery drain while still leaving users’ app information up to date.

There were a number of other mobile app-related announcements including notification improvements (for example letting users open up a notification with a two-fingers swipe revealing a bigger view with more content) and Smart App Updates. Smart App Updates make it possible to download only what has changed in an app, rather than download the entire app again.  This will save time and also cut down on unnecessary data costs.

C2DM will be phased out and developers will need to migrate to GCM.  Xtify is currently testing the GCM service and will replace the current Android C2DM SDK with GCM support in the coming weeks. Xtify will send an email to its developer community when the GCM-enabled SDK is available for download.

About Google Cloud Messaging:

Google Cloud Messaging for Android (GCM) is a service that helps developers send data from servers to their Android applications on Android devices. This could be a lightweight message telling the Android application that there is new data to be fetched from the server (for instance, a movie uploaded by a friend), or it could be a message containing up to 4kb of payload data (so apps like instant messaging can consume the message directly). The GCM service handles all aspects of queueing of messages and delivery to the target Android application running on the target device.

Xtify's First 1 Billion Location Update Month

We are delighted to report to worldwide mobile marketers that in May 2012, Xtify’s platform recorded over 1 billion monthly location updates.  Furthermore, location-triggered notifications are THREE TIMES more effective than typical push notifications.

Xtify’s technology allows marketers to leverage anonymous device derived data – including real-time location updates, application usage behavior, user defined preferences – and a brand’s own CRM data, to send highly relevant marketing messages and service alerts.  Location-triggered push notifications help you engage more of your users, on the devices they love, with the content they need, at the right time, in the places that matter. 

You can read the full PRWeb press release here: http://bit.ly/LrF8vj.

Xtify joins the ranks of many well-known and innovative multi-national companies that count items of relevance in billions of units:

• Google was the worlds first internet company to reach over 1 billion users in a single month on its websites
• The Coca-Cola Company serves happy patrons over 1.8 billion servings per day
• Old Navy generated $5.7 billion of sales in fiscal 2011
• Apple reported that over 25 billion apps have been downloaded from the iTunes Store to date
• The newly merged United Airlines is the largest airline in the United States based on a combined 180 billion revenue passenger-miles flown in 2010
• PREDICTION: Facebook will reach 1 billion members in August.

Suffice to say, there is magic in the word “billion.”