This month's Pew Internet Report on Smartphones spotlights some specifics. Under 30, nonwhite, low-income and less-educated smartphone users report "they mostly go online using their phones." Some 87% of them, according to Pew, sometimes use their mobile phones to browse the web, but 38% use their handsets as their primary means to access the Internet.
Many "free" apps such as the version of Rovio Mobile Oy's "Angry Birds" on GetJar make money for developers from tiny embedded ads, similar to those on Google sites. Such ads will provide less than 10 percent of application revenue that is expected to reach $9 billion this year from handset and Google stores alone, said Stephanie Baghdassarian, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Paris.
Free Apps
Free applications will account for 86 percent of downloads from the stores of Google and handset makers this year and more than 88 percent in 2015, according to estimates by Gartner.
"We're in favor of free and open systems in every way," Laurs said in the phone interview. "We don't think developers should have to pay a tax on downloads or future commerce through their apps, or accept restrictions."
Other application stores such as Apple's encourage developers to charge for downloads and then take 30 percent of the revenue. While saying this may be attractive for small developers who want help with marketing and revenue collection, Laurs called this a "tax."
Many applications are mobile extensions of existing businesses that operate over the Web, such as airlines, banks, and communications and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, Laurs said.
'Angry Birds'
The free model is suitable for applications linked to existing businesses because the companies can then sell apps and other products to users without worrying about fees, he said. It is also a better model for users who don't have a convenient method to make payments, he said. GetJar gave up on charging for apps in 2006.
Following Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, and other foods you shouldn’t have at this hour in the day, Google’s properly labeled its upcoming Android iteration. Introducing Ice Cream Sandwich, with an absolutely incredible new logo. (Surprise, surprise!) Google is calling it “the one OS that works everywhere” with new APIs to help with scalability — phones, tablets, and anything else in between. (We’re assuming Google TV eventually, but there’s no direct mention and the slide didn’t show any TVs.) No pictures of the UI in action, but as you’d expect, Google is saying the new Honeycomb design elements will be coming to the phone with the update — “including the holographic user interface, more multitasking, the new launcher and richer widgets.” On stage, we’re watching 3D headtracking via the webcam, called Virtual Camera operator — it figures out who is speaking and focuses on the person. Alas, no word on release date. More pictures after the break!
Hence the new package, which basically lets firms quickly strap together a native iPad or iPhone app to meet a particular business need, distribute it to their staff, and have them "updated in real time, in the field without needing to redeploy," Singh says. And unlike a web-app solution, mobile apps can allow companies to manage apps in a much more centralized, controlled way, and leverage the extra powers a native app on an iPad and iPhone can have compared to a more limited web app--including ease of use, since they use all the familiar input methods used by iOS. To speed up the app-building process, the company's even put together a suite of template apps, including systems like field surveys, location-based apps, time and action-tracking apps, and search and display apps.
I love the this new space...what I call self-service computing made possible by the cloud.
The results were the latest sign of trouble for the company, which is watching handsets from rivals like Apple Inc. eat away at its once-dominant share of the smartphone market. RIM hasn't released a new BlackBerry model for nearly a year as it tries to rejuvenate a product line that's been criticized as clunky, under-powered and stodgy.
Research In Motion is signaling weakness in the marketplace, with sales of high-end BlackBerry devices falling and delays in releasing a new operating system hurting its share of the mobile business, MarketWatch's Dan Gallagher tells Laura Mandaro.
It has seen its share of sales in the benchmark North American market fall to 16.5% at the end of the first quarter of 2011 from 41.3% in the year earlier period, according to research firm Gartner.
Some observers worry RIM is fast following in the path of Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp., which recently issued a steep second-quarter revenue warning, citing market-share loss to rival smartphones, most notably low-end devices powered by Google Inc.'s Android software.
Douglas Craver
Doug is President & Launch Craftsman of LaunchTribe LLC, his latest venture. He is a tech marketing and operations action strategist, Information Architect, Interaction Design Evangelist and Organic SEO Jockey, Startup Craftsman, Entrepreneur, Investor, Writer, huge Hammond B3 Organ fan - and any musician who can master one - and a great cook (I’m told I can, “throw it down”) based in Northeast Ohio. Email doug@launchtribe.com or call 434-272-8374.
Douglas Craver
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One man's view of the explosive Android consumer and enterprise mobile applications markets from the standpoint of an end user. Please share your thoughts.
