Recently in app store Category
Mplayit unveiled its "playable" app
store not on the web, but on Facebook. The social networking will help
to build mobile app discovery among consumers in a way that can
potentially challenge the App Store.Mplayit introduces "playable discovery" for the iPhone today in its new Facebook app store and said it would add Android and Blackberry in the coming months.
Rather than hunting and pecking for reviews and top lists, the Facebook page shows real "apptivity" that is going on in app stores so users can see which apps are receiving the most downloads, reviews and plays. In coming weeks, mobile users will also be able to see the "apptivity" within their social network so they can clearly see which apps their friends and family are most interested in. Integrating the "playable discovery" experience within a mobile users social network is a powerful combination that could alter discovery and interaction in the face of skyrocketing numbers of mobile applications.
The Palm Pre webOS app store is open for business, paid apps are for sale and developers can apply to sell apps in December. Palm, announced it will officially open the doors to its Palm
webOS developer program in December. Developer will get a 70/30 split and open source app developers will not have to pay the app application fee."Our program will be unlike anything currently available, and has been established to promote a thriving community by giving developers direct involvement in their own success," said Katie Mitic, senior vice president, Product Marketing, Palm, Inc. "Whether you're looking for immediate distribution or just feedback on early stages of development, this program is built to scale to your needs and finally put you in control of investing in and promoting your business."
Each element of the Palm developer program is designed to help developers promote their work and ultimately drive downloads directly over the air. Developers can choose to sell applications using both distribution options as they see fit. Palm's application guidelines will be made available online and will apply to all Palm webOS applications. U.S. customers will be able to easily purchase applications using Visa and MasterCard credit cards. More information about the Palm developer program is available on the Palm Developer Network at http://pdn.palm.com.
GetJar announced the
launch of App Download Page, a new service for mobile developers and
content owners seeking to provide a simple experience for their users
to download the right mobile app for their phone, independent of device
platform, model or carrier.
GoldSpot Media launched the miApp
platform for developing smartphone apps and ad campaigns. The platform includes ntuitive web-based drag and drop design studio for
creating applications and interactive ad campaigns once. They also offer infrastructure to deploy the apps across multiple apps stores and devices.
They contend that the miApp
dynamic application framework helps publishers simplify app creation by
eliminating mobile device-specific application development and campaign
creation costs.
miApp provides a single web interface that enables publishers to create, update and manage applications and advertising across all mobile devices, without ever needing to write a single line of code.
Honeywell offers apps for the Apple iPhone, cellphones and BlackBerry smartphones that allows home and business owners to stay connected to their security systems while on the go.
The My Keypad iPhone App is compatible with Honeywell security control panels and replicates a physical keypad on the iPhone and iPod Touch touchscreens, enabling users to perform tasks such as remotely arming or disarming their security systems. My Keypad is part of Honeywell’s popular Total Connect application that allows home and business owners to command and control their security systems from any location via web browser.
Android Market.will
introduce new features in Android Market for Android 1.6 (Donut) that will
improve the overall experience for users in time for the avalanche of Android smartphones coming from Sprint and T-Mobile.
- Developers will be able to provide screenshots, promotional icons and descriptions that will better show off applications and games.
- Four new sub-categories for applications are added: sports, health, themes, and comics.Developers can now choose these sub-categories for both new and existing applications via the publisher website.
- Added seller support for developers in Italy. Italian developers can go to the publisher website to upload applications and target any of the countries where paid applications are currently available to users.
Samsung will launch a new
on-device app store for Samsung Smartphone users on September
14th. The Samsung Application Store allows users to browse a variety of applications including games, references, social networking, e-books and health-related tools (e.g. pedometer, eye test, etc) that are easily downloaded with one click. The Application Store is designed to automatically display the relevant application catalog available for a user's specific Samsung mobile phone model, and works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi.
As we reported previously, BlackBerry apps are growing over at Handango. BlackBerry became the dominant platform
within the Handango smartphone content catalog, constituting 44% of all
apps sold in the first half of 2009, up from its 31% share in 2008.
Top Handango Blackberry Apps for First Half of 2009
1. Ringtone Megaplex
2. Alltel TV
3. Aces Texas Hold'em - No Limit
4. Aces Solitaire Pack
5. The Weather Channel
6. e-Mobile Today Professional Edition
7. Pimp My Pearl
8. Vlingo Plus
9. Fart Machine!
10. MONOPOLY Here & Now
As the new dominant player on the Handango network, the BlackBerry platform added 229 new content partners and almost 3,000 new apps in the first half of 2009.
As more and more people use BlackBerry App World to get their BlackBerrry apps, the popular apps are changing. Here's a list of the top five freebie apps. What tops the list of apps on BlackBerry App World? BlackBerry App World 1.1!Top BlackBerry Free Apps 2Day:
1. BlackBerry App World 1.1- the lastest version that allows you store apps on your memory card.
2. Ka-Gloom Free - Ka-Glom is a high-pressure game of falling blocks. Of the two block types, only the Ka-Glom jelly is explosive.
3.Pandora - we've been naming this music-playing app based on your favorite tunes, a favorite and "App of the Day." It can be kind of addictive, because when it creates the stream of music based on you choice, sometime it just plays all of your favorite songs, without you asking....
4. WeatherEye - allows you to select from any city The Weather Network provides content for Current conditions, Short-term forecasts, Long-term forecasts and Warning updates.5. Viigo - this all-in-one news gathering app topped the chart earlier in August and we wrote about Viigo, last December as a great holiday helper app.
What sometimes happens with the app store listings is that when a app store is new, people don't take the time to read reviews and search for apps so the just download the top free apps. If you really want to learn about apps, check our our apps listings for the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Tour(if the app works on either of these newest BlackBerry smartphones, it usually works on most the popular BlackBerry models.)
The BlackBerry App World catalog is now available to view on the web on your computer while you still have to connect to your BlackBerry to purchase them. Buying ability should be coming soon. If you are interested, you can click a "Get it Today" icon and a link to buy will be sent to your BlackBerry email.You can browse apps by category and also by price, such as top paid, or top free. There is a search feature to search apps by names. What's nice about having a full page is that you can look at more features without scrolling. The apps are rated, where users rate the app, comments are very limited to things like, "I really like it."
On reviewer call the web version, "For Windows shoppers only," which is a nice pun for those with Windows XP or Vista.
It's a set in the right direction, because choosing apps can be difficult which is why we offer so many Best of BlackBerry Storm Apps of Best of BlackBerry Tour Apps articles. There are apps for all countries, and some that are paid, we've seen for free directly from the publisher.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan's An Insight into the U.S. Smartphone Application Storefront Market, finds that smartphone downloads from all app stores will reach 6.67 billion in 2014. The market segments covered in this research include prepaid and postpaid mobile, SMS and MMS, mobile Internet, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Palm, and Symbian.
"Next-generation devices are being introduced at a rapid pace, and stakeholders are offering app stores to facilitate downloads of compelling applications from multiple categories, serving a wide range of communication, entertainment, information, and personalization requirements of the mobile user," says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Vikrant Gandhi. "For example, Apple, Google, Nokia, Palm, and Microsoft have either already introduced app stores or are in various stages of app store rollouts and are working to ensure that the entire service experience is compelling for the end user or device owner."
A vast majority of applications are available 'free of cost' to the end user, significantly driving adoption in the U.S. smartphone app store market. These applications leverage advanced device capabilities such as touchscreen, accelerometers, full Web browsing, and location-based services, among others, to deliver a truly compelling proposition.
The most significant challenge is to ensure service differentiation and optimal management of the scale of the app store business. App store providers should always be open to support new business models to drive the introduction of innovative services and content types. Having a clear value proposition is also important for mobile operators.
"Unless the app store providers establish exclusivity agreements with application developers - something that is not feasible for a large majority of applications - it will be difficult to provide enough differentiation through the app stores," notes Gandhi. "The best example of how this could be done is Apple's app store, in which the entire experience of service purchase and consumption - including device characteristics, form factor and the operating environment - was a radical shift at the time of its introduction."
This does not mean that services could not be differentiated at all. The moot point then is the extent to which providers are willing to invest in their infrastructure to offer new service to their customers, which then ties back into something that is still being examined - identifying the main purpose of launching the app stores and if app stores alone are strong enough reasons to purchase a particular type of device.
A single participant cannot provide all the services in the mobile
content industry. App store providers need to work with multiple
application providers and offer them sufficient incentives for their
app store initiatives. Services of independent, third-party app store
providers such as Handango, Handmark, and PocketGear can also be used
to run an app store business profitably with adequate service
differentiation.
"For instance, outsourcing or white-labeling of the app store business might become a good idea in the long run since a device vendor or an operating system provider may not want to commit large resources to manage the smartphone app store business," concludes Gandhi..
Motally has beta-launched its mobile application analytics service for iPhone and
Blackberry, with support for Android and others following soon.The mobile application tracker is designed to give developers greater insight and control over their data with features like specific event tracking, demographic data collection, and configurable delivery mechanisms. The service allows developers and publishers to learn more about their users, optimize product offerings, and maximize ROI on advertising campaigns.
"The possibilities of data we can capture and report on are nearly endless and give publishers the most flexibility to understand usage of their applications," said Arte Merritt, founder and CEO.
The addition of application analytics to Motally's existing mobile-web analytics provides one common interface for publishers and advertisers to track all their mobile services - mobile-web and applications.
"Publishers want a simplified way to see all their mobile stats - by offering both application and mobile-web tracking in one interface, Motally is solving a real business need," said Niren Hiro, an advisor to Motally.
Motally's service is a hosted solution available in a free community version and a premium enterprise version. It is easy to implement - publishers can be up and tracking in minutes.
If you are a BlackBerry user who likes to view and buy apps on BlackBerry App World, it's time to upgrade to BlackBerry App World 1.1.RIM has added new features including enhancing performance, improved search, save apps on memory card and memory indicator and easy re-installation of apps.
The enhanced search helps you find the apps you want. Look for "free" or "paid" apps, or search by category: music, games, weather and other apps. Sort your results by most popular, newest, or highest rated.
The storing apps to the memory card is where it really shines, giving you even more room to save apps. The feature allows you to load apps onto your microSD card - ensuring that no matter where you go, or even if you change BlackBerry smartphones, all your applications come with you.
GetJar,
the world’s largest independent app store, announced that more
than a half billion applications have been downloaded from its store.
They also have uploaded a new logo. GetJar offers free Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Palm and Flash Lite mobile games and applications.
The Popular Downloads from GetJar Are:
- Google Maps for mobile - over 5 million downloads
- mig33 mobile community - over 10 million downloads
- Opera Mini web browser - nearly 17 million downloads
- eBuddy instant messaging - over 16 million downloads
- Nimbuzz mobile messaging - nearly 14 million downloads
Adobe Flash technology based applications have also been successful on GetJar - some doing up to 20,000 downloads in one week. In fact, GetJar awarded premium placement to winners of the Adobe Flash Mobile Developer Contest.
Strategy Analytics', "BlackBerry App World Works Well But Payment Approach Represents Barrier to Use," evaluated the recently launched BlackBerry application store. Target users evaluated the core aspects of the application store experience including overall navigation and layout, content browsing, and content acquisition.
Strategy Analytics' user evaluation found that BlackBerry App World has a visually appealing storefront and intuitive user interface, allowing for easy navigation through the store. The structure of BlackBerry App World makes it easy for users to discover appealing content from brands that they were familiar with.
"BlackBerry App World offers content that users want and provides a simple download process, even though users were surprised that no option exists to display just the free apps," commented Christopher Dodge, Analyst in the Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice.
Paul Brown, a Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, "Currently the only way to purchase content is via a PayPal account. Strategy Analytics believes that this approach represents a barrier to use, and potentially a missed revenue opportunity for users who do not have a PayPal account and are reluctant to set one up."
Windows Mobile Marketplace is on schedule to open for apps submissions in 29 supported countries on July 27th. Windows Marketplace launches with Windows Mobile 6.5 in the fall. Later this month, Microsoft will announce the details of an app developer contest that will kick off at launch.
By the end of 2009 Windows Marketplace will also be available to Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 devices. This means that developers will have an opportunity to reach more than 30 million Windows Mobile devices.
They are also unveiling the Windows Marketplace Business Center; a category in Windows Marketplace that will contain mobile business applications across several common industries.
Windows Marketplace for Mobile will come with every Windows Mobile 6.5 phone.
More than 1.5 billion applications have been downloaded from the Apple App Store which they claim is the largest applications store in the world. There are more than 65,000 apps and more than 100,000 developers in the iPhone Developer Program.
"The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up."
The Apple iPhone App Store has more than 65,000 apps available to consumers in 77 countries, allowing developers to reach tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch users around the world. The App Store works with both iPod touch and iPhone including the new iPhone 3GS. Apple has shipped over 40 million of these devices that run apps from the App Store.
LG Electronics launched the beta version of their online
applications store, today. Their news release claims that all apps will be “bug-free,” and that it is independent from their handset business. There are free downloads available mostly for Windows Mobile phones.
“LG’s intention is not to censor the type of applications that are available to our customers but only to ensure that they meet the high standards for quality and compatibility,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.
The LG Application Store
(http://www.lgapplication.com) will first be introduced in Asia and then expanded to 24 countries. It’s currently open for Asia and Australia.
LG expects to offer up to 2,000 applications on its site by the end of year with at least 100 programs available free of charge to LG handset users.
Here are the Apps of the Day for New York City subway riders: Exit Strategy. The Exit Strategy NYC apps come in Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Kindle, giving users access to the all the subway platforms, so they know where to get off the subway train to be able to reduce walking and time.
"If you get off the train at the wrong end of the platform it can add 3 or 4 minutes to your walk," said the apps' creator, Jonathan Wegener, "Similar projects have been done in Toronto and Tokyo and we're extremely excited to introduce this to New York City."
After months of full-time subway riding, brother and sister team Jonathan and Ashley Wegener created detailed diagrams for hundreds of NYC subway stations, eliminating the guesswork and frustration from subway riding. The location of the subway exits and transfer points has never before been collected on a large scale in New York City.
Their website claims, "With Exit Strategy NYC in your back pocket, you'll always be prepared. You'll wonder how you ever lived without it!"
- Does not require an internet connection (therefore it works underground in subways"
- Contains diagrams for every subway station in Manhattan and large parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
- Includes locations of exits, transfers and elevators.
- Lists hours for exits that close.
- Exact door data for advanced users (available for most lines.)
Apps are priced at $1.99 on all platforms except BlackBerry which is $2.99. Exit Strategy is available from iTunes, Android Marketplace, BlackBerry App World and for the Kindle at Amazon.
The Palm Pre app store, the Application catalog has served 800,000 apps in all as of June 20, 150,000 of them were downloaded to customers on the first day of sale of the Palm Pre.
At the rate of about 46,700 Pre app downloads a day the App Catalog reach1 million download mark by the end of this week.
18 apps were available at launch from the app catalog and presently there are 30 applications. The Palm Pre is the second phone to be launched with an app store at time of launch. The only other phone was the HTC Dream aka T-Mobile G1.
The iPhone App store didn’t launch until months after the launch of the first iPhone.
The Software Development Kit for webOS will be coming out later this summer which opens up the playing field for more apps.
