Making sense of Freemium

 Development, Editorials  No Responses »
Aug 012012
 

For someone who has been in the mobile industry since the times when apps cost 10$ a pop and were sold from ESDs, the Freemium model has always been a bit confusing. Long-term follower Nicola Peluchetti has now shared two very interesting articles which should help shine a bit of light on the topic.

Freemium has run its course
Post number one, coming via GigaOm, provides an overview of pros and cons of the Freemium model. It is ideal for all those who are interested in the history of Freemium apps, and also want to decide whether the model makes sense for their products.

Three Steps from Paid to Freemium
Story number two hits us via Betable.com. They have a talk with a Monetization expert from Rovio who explains the actual steps needed to create a successful freemium app – hit it when you have decided that Freemium fits your business concept.

Any interesting links to share?

Free passes for the Mobile Asia Expo

 Development, News  No Responses »
Jun 152012
 

The Mobile Asia Expo is scheduled to be held in Shanghai this year from 20-22 June at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai, China.

Mobile Asia Expo comprises of several components:

  • A world-class Expo, showcasing cutting-edge technology, products, devices and apps to mobile professionals and mobile-passionate consumers
  • A thought-leadership Conference for senior mobile professionals, featuring visionary keynotes, panel discussions and world-class networking
  • App Planet, where app developers can learn and expand their knowledge of the popular mobile app marketplace
  • A unique Deal Hub platform to connect qualified buyers and world class solution providers face-to-face to do business
  • And mPowered Brands, a programme dedicated to accelerating marketers’ knowledge and utilization of mobile as a marketing medium

The expo will have several App developer conferences which will feature keynote presentations, panel discussions, and encourage audience interaction on a wide range of topics.

Normally, 1-Day Visitor Pass is ¥ 100, but you can receive the pass for free during a limited-time “Early Bird” offer. All you have to do us to visit https://registration.itnintl.com/mae12/regonline/RegLogin.aspx and use the code EVP7F747

Notable App developer conferences include

  • Blackberry Jam sessions: Being held on Wednesday and Thursday, 20-21 June, these sessions will help developers fast-track BlackBerry application development and bring apps to the community of over 77 million BlackBerry users worldwide.
  • CMDC ADC: The CMDC ADC will introduce a host of customisable new products as well as keynote speeches on the latest developments in mobile applications and the mobile industry. Taking place on Wednesday, 20 June from 13:30-17:00, this ADC will include a lucky draw at the end of the session.
  • Nokia Developer Day: Nokia’s Developer Day will feature their latest achievements on Windows Phones and the Nokia developer support and incentive program. A special giveaway will be awarded to an attendee at the end of this conference which will take place on Wednesday, 20 June from 15:00-17:00.

Hurry up…Grab while the offer lasts…!!

Happy developing…!!!

Email usage on mobile phones

 Development  No Responses »
May 302012
 

Some years ago, reading emails on mobile devices was an acitivity which was, at minimal, uncommon – today, one can say that a huge amount of emails gets read on the run.

This – coupled with ever-improving HTML rendering on mobile devices – makes taking a look at how people read their email on the run interesting. A mass mailing company named MailChimp has compiled a fascinating report, which makes very good late-night reading.

Find out more via the URL below:
http://mailchimp.com/resources/guides/html/email-on-mobile-devices/

Chinese developers hit hard by Apple launch dates

 Development, News  No Responses »
Apr 162012
 

Developers who develop on the iOS are currently facing touch times when it comes to the iDevices. Their difficulty lies in developing and, more importantly, testing the apps. The reason is pretty simple – Cupertino is stupid enough to release the newer iDevices at  a very delayed stage in the Chinese Market.

The latest iPad – announced in March – is not yet available in China, meaning developers can’t acquire the devices via normal channels. With China behind on most Apple devices launches, this practice is likely to continue.

According to ReignDesign , a development company,

Until Apple’s China product launch dates coincide with those of other major regions, most iPad developers in China are left with few options: submit an untested app, wait weeks or even months for an official product release, or find a grey-market product to test with

With the first iPad, the company bought one from a local grey market electronics store soon after it was launched, but with the iPad 2, it had to buy it in Hong Kong.

This is a sure fire way to piss developers off, much less to turn them away to Android and slowly gaining Windows Phone Platforms.

Getting Windows 8 on the iPad

 Development  No Responses »
Apr 132012
 

Slashtop has released a $25 remote desktop client, called the Win8 Testbed, that brings the Windows 8 experience to the iPad. Though aimed at developer community at the moment, the Win8 Metro Testbed app offers support for Windows8 Metro UI gestures in a flawless manner on the iPad.

Windows 8 Metro touch gestures are supported, so you can take advantage of all the underlying touch capabilities of Windows 8 as you build your app:

  • Swipe from the right to view the Charms menu
  • Swipe from the left to switch apps
  • Pull down from the top to close an app
  • Swipe slowly from the left to run two apps side-by-side ("snapping")
  • Pinch to navigate files, folders, apps and data with Semantic Zoom
  • And more

Win8 Metro Testbed is a must-have app for anyone who’s trying to build a great Metro style app without incurring the high cost of a Windows tablet!

Experience it for yourself in 3 simple steps:
Step 1: Download and install Win8 Metro Testbed on your iPad
STRWIN8 50 Getting Windows 8 on the iPadappstore Getting Windows 8 on the iPad

Step 2: Download and install the FREE Splashtop Streamer on your Windows 8 PC
              Requirements:
              *Windows 8
              *1GB of RAM
              *1.6 GHz or faster dual-core CPU
Get the streamer Microsoft

Step 3: Set up the connection
              Both devices need to have a network connection.
3 steps to get your devices connected

If you need help, please visit Splashtop customer support at http://support-remote.splashtop.com/.

Though the only drawback is that being a *remote* app, an internet connection is needed to keep it up and running.

So what are you devs waiting for? You can really make use of this app without having the need to purchase a high $$ worth Windows 8 Tablet.

Source

Amazon app store trumps Google play on revenue

 Development, Metrics Maid  No Responses »
Apr 022012
 

You heard it correct sirs and madams. A recent report published by Flurry points out how Amazon “forking” of Android led to an overwhelming toppling of Google Play when it came to revenue generation.

Flurry found that the in-app purchase revenue model generates the majority of revenue for apps.  Combined, these apps average 11 million daily active users. The did a survey over a 45-day period, from mid-January through the end of February 2012 on the revenue generated. The results were surprising

Revenue Comparison - iOS vs Amzn vs Android_updated-resized-600

The chart above compares revenue generated per user across iOS, Amazon and Android app stores. 

According to Flurry

We start by taking the revenue generated per user in the iTunes App Store and setting it to 100%.  We then compare the relative revenue generated from Amazon and Google to the amount of revenue per active user generated by the iTunes App Store.  Doing so, we find that Amazon Appstore revenue per active user is 89% of iTunes App Store revenue, and Google Play revenue per active is 23% of iTunes App Store revenue.  Another way to interpret the results is that for the same number of users per platform, every $1.00 generated in the iTunes App Store, will also fetch $0.89 in the Amazon Appstore and $0.23 in Google Play. 

…Amazon’s bet to fork Android in order to put consumers into their own shopping experience on Kindle Fire appears to be paying off.  Showing its commerce strength, Amazon already delivers more than three times the revenue in its app store compared to what Google generates for developers.

No Matter which app store loses the battle of revenues, the winners will surely be developers.

 Older Entries