Digital Times » Apps

Calling all app developers and brands/companies who have developed an app

Stephen — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:23:16 +0000

Conceived by Alchemy Events and developed with Digital Times, ‘The Appys with the Carphone Warehouse’ will celebrate the innovation and creativity now abundantly evident in the app development industry and will reward the best, the most useful and the most creative apps and their developers.
The Carphone Warehouse is the title sponsor of the awards programme while Independent.ie is the media partner. The winners will be announced at a fabulous ceremony on November 4th.
Our category partners also include O2, Meteor, Nokia, Samsung and IDA Ireland.
There are 15 categories to enter. To find out more go to www.theappys.ie where you can upload your app(s) and enter the Awards programme. You can also book your seat(s) at the Awards ceremony.
There will be great prizes on the night from many of Ireland’s leading digital companies as well as a host of your digital media/marketing contemporaries.
We will have further announcements as the days/weeks progress. Deadline for entries is September 30, 2010.

Significant app focus at this year’s Mobile World Congress

Stephen — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:39:34 +0000

A few additions have been announced for the 2011 GSMA Mobile World Congress, which will be held 14-17 February, in Barcelona.
Building on the inaugural App Planet event held in 2010, the GSMA is expanding the developer-focused programme to include new elements such as Macworld Mobile and the Brand App Challenge.
The GSMA also announced RIM and Palm as the first Application Developer Conference (ADC) partners for App Planet.
“The developments we are announcing today, particularly the launch of Macworld Mobile which will target the critical Apple developer community, will serve to make App Planet and Mobile World Congress the epicentre for the app world,” gushed Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA.
The Mobile World Congress keynote speakers include: Daniel Hajj, CEO, América Móvil and Telcel; Peter Chou, CEO, HTC; Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, Vodafone; and Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive, WPP (pictured).

Developing apps for Nokia smart phones made easy

Stephen — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:59:56 +0000

The second Ovi Developer Day took place yesterday in the Arrol Suite at the Guinness Storehouse. The primary theme of this event was “App Development Made Easy”, with presentations from Nokia’s technical consultant Riku Salminen, who demonstrated different ways to develop for the Ovi store. The event also covered developer support and overviews of the market, alongside discussions with Forum Nokia representative Greg Merten.
Salminen also discussed the support available on forum.nokia.com for would be developers and seasoned programmers. The Ovi Store has on average more than 1.7million downloads per day, with users on average downloading eight content items. Nokia’s next major handset release is the N8, a smart phone with a 12 megapixel camera and useful video editing tools as standard. It also has a much better battery life than the iPhone.
Shane O’Brien, services manager for Nokia Ireland said, “The Developer Day was an opportunity for Nokia to demonstrate the support that we can offer developers and publishers, as well as highlighting the changes and improvements that have been made to the Ovi Store since the last Developer Day. The aim is to demonstrate how Ovi can benefit Irish developers and businesses by driving their content and brands.”
Pictured are Shane O’Brien, software and services manager for Nokia Ireland, Riku Salminen from Forum Nokia in Finland and Norma O’Reilly, Go to Market Programme Manager, Nokia Ireland.

252,000 Apple apps and counting

Stephen — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:42:49 +0000

Here are some key updates and stats on Apple’s App Store. There are over 50,000 registered Apple app developers (and growing). The US App Store now has over 252,000 apps on offer – 70% of these are paid apps and 30% are free. The average cost of an app is $2.67 but 33% of apps sold cost just 99c.
In the last 30 days the average number of applications from developers for new apps stood at 626 per day. That’s over 18,000 in one month. The average time it takes to get an app approved by Apple has fallen from 8 days in June to 6.7 days this month.
The most expensive app in the store costs $999. It’s called the ‘I’m Rich’ app and one dumb person actually bought it – http://gizmo.do/3HPmXE.
The Appys with The Carphone Warehouse are open to all app developers, across all platforms. Closing date for entries is September 30th. Go to www.theappys.ie for more details.

Sony Ericsson is the official mobile of the UEFA Champions League

Stephen — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:21:22 +0000

Sony Ericsson has announced it will leverage Sony Corporation’s existing partnership with UEFA to start a global marketing programme around the UEFA Champions League until 2012. This will see Sony Ericsson become the official mobile handset of the UEFA Champions League, as part of Sony’s UEFA Champions League Partnership.
The programme will have a fan-focused approach and will build on previous marketing programmes. Offering an ‘on-device’ experience will be part of the new programme, which will use the GPS capabilities of Sony Ericsson smart phones to “enhance the fan experience”. This will include a new mobile app developed in conjunction with UEFA.com.
“Using the existing GPS capabilities of our Xperia smart phones to enhance the fan experience is an exciting part of this programme. This new initiative will build on our other ongoing worldwide sponsorship campaigns.” said Lennard Hoornik, corporate vice president and head of global marketing, Sony Ericsson.

Facebook going Places?

Stephen — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:16:13 +0000

Facebook has launched its eagerly anticipated ‘geo-location’ product – Places. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said the service will “allow users to share where they are with their friends; allow them to see who is near them; and allow them to discover new places around them”. Places is for ‘advanced mobile browers’ only (i.e. smart phones) and can be accessed via Facebook’s iPhone app.
Many have said that Places will be a ‘Foursquare killer’, and initially it will only be available in the US. Where Foursquare has a social gaming aspect to it with prizes like ‘mayorships’ of venues, Facebook says Places will offer more to users like coupons and other types of rewards. For advertisers the appeal is very obvious. Places will allow them to give potential customers offers and deals in specific venues and benefit from immediate sales while also building up profiles of people and their consumption patterns.

The mobile web’s first baby steps

Stephen — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:29:20 +0000

It has often been said that the future of media is mobile and the future of advertising will follow the media. However, the gestation period for the mobile web has been a slow and often painful experience. Now that it has been born with a smart phone in one hand and an iPad in the other, what kind of baby will it be?
Many media watchers agree that most people will consume the majority of their media through mobile handsets (and/or tablets) in the near future. Apple and Google certainly agree that this will be the case.
Google chief Eric Schmidt says the search giant is now taking a ‘mobile first’ approach to all aspects of its business.
Apple on the other hand is already firmly in the mobile present, and is in prime position to earn billions more as we move further and faster into the mobile web. The iPad is selling over 200,000 units a week and the iPhone has led the smart phone revolution. Hundreds of millions of people now use smart phones to do everything from paying bills to shopping and news gathering. ‘There just happens to be a ‘phone app’ on smart phones’, as someone rightly put it.
Apple is now on the verge of its next big leap into the endless possibilities of the mobile web. In September, users of apps for iPhones and iPads will see the first wave of iAds – advertisements that run inside apps.
Apple boss Steve Jobs has said iAds would bring in the revenue that would allow developers to continue producing “free and low-cost apps to delight users”. Apple has already sold millions of dollars worth of iAds to the likes of Unilever and Disney.
Apple has other assets that may appeal to marketers, keen to see how iAds may work. For years the company has been analysing the purchasing history of its 150 million plus iTunes account holders worldwide. Now with the iPhone 4 it is also able to collect anonymous, real-time location data on its users. Apple, therefore, will not require the assistance of advertising media agencies. It already is one.
Apple says it will pass on to app developers 60% of the revenue generated by iAds. 40% is a nice commission by anyone’s standards. Currently 15% commission goes to Irish media agencies for bringing in advertising for publishers.
If iAds are to succeed, Apple will need a steady stream of content (i.e. apps) that engage people and attract advertisers. The problem for traditional media owners and publishers is that the mobile web is misunderstood and often despised. However, it’s obvious that apps (either web or native) are leading the next phase of the media’s evolution.

Tesco launches first transactional app on Ovi

Stephen — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:44:36 +0000

The announcement this week that Tesco is to launch its first transactional mobile app is interesting on a number of fronts. Firstly the app will be available in Nokia’s Ovi Store. While Tesco says it plans to roll out the app’s transactional features to a mobile site and an iPhone app, the fact the UK’s biggest retailer chose the Ovi store tells us something about the way it sees smart phone use and the mobile web developing.
Mobile commerce, or m-commerce is on the up. Tesco’s app will allow Tesco.com members to browse a full store and shop through their handsets. Nokia is the most popular handset in the UK, especially with the all important ‘mums demographic’. Online retailer Amazon predicts mobile transactions worldwide will be worth $1.5bn this year alone.
Other UK retailers have already dipped their toes into the m-commerce stream. Waitrose has launched an iPhone app and Asda is said to be launching an iPhone app later this year. However, the retailer with its finger truly on the pulse is Marks & Spencer.
M&S didn’t want to develop an app limited to only one or two platforms so it developed a transactional mobile website instead. Sienne Veit, M&S mobile development manager, said, “We wanted the mobile web to be the foundation our m-commerce strategy. We believe that by not restricting our services to one platform we have broadened our appeal.” The figures certainly back up this theory. Since launching in May 2010 the mobile site has attracted 1.2m unique visitors, 300,000 of whom have made a purchase.

The Carphone Warehouse is title sponsor of The Appys

Stephen — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:01:52 +0000

The Carphone Warehouse has announced its title sponsorship of The Appys 2010. The Carphone Warehouse stocks all smartphone brands across all the various app development platforms and networks and is, therefore, “an excellent title sponsor of the awards program,” says Stephen Conmy, editor, Digital Times (pictured right).
The Appys with The Carphone Warehouse was conceived by Alchemy Events and Digital Times with the aim of highlighting and rewarding the talent emerging in the app development industry.
“App development is a media sector in its own right now,” says Des Dorris, MD of Alchemy Events. “Apps are now media channels and utility tools and some of the most creative aspects of the new media landscape are emerging from app developers. We want to highlight the great work they are doing.”
The CEO of The Carphone Warehouse, Stephen Mackarel (left) says, “Apps are becoming an integral part of Irish life, and with so many available in the market, it is critical that best Apps and the people who developed them are acknowledged and awarded. As an independent mobile provider and stockist of all brands and operating systems, we wanted to sponsor The Appys to recognise app development across all platforms. We look forward to announcing the winners in November.”
To enter visit http://www.theappys.ie

The Judges for The Appys with The Carphone Warehouse are:
Stephen Mackarel, CEO, The Carphone Warehouse
Stephen Conmy, Digital Times
Alex Gibson, The Persuaders
Tim Duggan, Partner, Mercury Girl and Mercury Boy Inc.
Jonathan Forrrest, MD, Cybercom
Jane McDaid, MD, Thinkhouse,
Darragh Doyle, communications manager, Boards.ie
Colm Grealy, CEO, DRG
Ronan Higgins, CEO & Founder, Appsie
Conor Lynch, connector.ie
Patrick Lenehan, CTO, The Independent Group
Alexis Bouckaert, creative director, Rothco
Dr. Evelyn Balfe, business innovation analyst, Amdocs
Ruadhan O’Donaghue, project leader and site editor, dotMobi
Claire Carroll, digital media strategist, Ogilvy Neo
Pictured are (l-r) Des Dorris, MD Alchemy Events; Stephen Conmy & Edward Conmy

The world’s first personal, social magazine

Stephen — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:27:38 +0000

This is a good idea. The Flipboard claims to be the world’s first ‘personalised social magazine’. It has been launched as an app for the iPad and essentially it offers users a packaged collection of all the news, features, videos and images circulating within their social networks.
It was developed by a former senior iPhone engineer called Mike McCue. The idea behind the app is to make it much easier for users to discover, view and share social media content. Users can also create sections around topics they are interested in. McCue calls it the world’s first ’social magazine’.