February 1st, 2010 | Posted in This Week | No Comments
Tags: appmakr, iphone, philip slade
Now this is a very interesting. An automated app builder of sorts. For $199 you can mash up a few RSS feeds and heh presto, iTunes glory awaits. See the t7F version HERE. The site AppMakr claims to have built over 3,000 so far, including a neat Haiti news fundraiser themselves. 
With Google, Nokia and Blackberry working all hours trying to catch up with Apple. The category as a whole is beginning to define mobile computing.There are new App stores coming online all the time leading to fragmentation of formats. Any brand coming into the market (and just about everyone is) has to now weigh up the costs of porting across multiple formats. The new Apple iPad’s big screen will offer a huge new opportunity for creative uses, but this year will see so many Android enabled phones launch (25+) that brands will have to at least have two versions. The Nokia Ovi format and the Blackberry App World have also to be considered due to the large amount of work sponsored phones in the hands of influential consumers.
January 13th, 2010 | Posted in This Week | No Comments
Tags: android, guide, iphone, location, nike, philip slade, travel, wallpaper
Brands moving away from novelty apps into usability now embracing travel/location as a new trojan horse.
With most iPhone apps only being used a couple of times and retention rates at best around 3 months. It is important for any brand coming into the market to have content with a legacy factor. Giving value in the ‘travel/where is?’ category looks like being an interesting development for 2010.
Nike have launched a taste makers based series of city guides. Wallpaper* have updated there beautifully looking (but very out of date) print guides onto the iPhone. City guides are so well suited to smart phone tech, almost a genius must have, However currently there are niggles in all this. While your web use maybe free in your home country, overseas charges (where you might actually want to use the thing) can be ludicrously high. I recently have used both UnLikes Paris guide and BeeLoops Lisboa guides insitu. Both were unaccountable excellent. doing away with paper maps and confusion. Both found hip and fun places to see/do. But wow what a hike in your monthly bill when you get home. This has got to get sorted out. Brands can achieve an excellent feel good factor from a clever guide working. The tech is also an ideal way of introducing augmented reality into everyday use. Its just most airtime price plans are not taking into account these developments.
The clever brand would reward consumers for loyalty in one country with subsidised use of there branded city guide when overseas.
Now this is a very interesting. An automated app builder of sorts. For $199 you can mash up a few RSS feeds and heh presto, iTunes glory awaits. See the t7F version HERE. The site AppMakr claims to have built over 3,000 so far, including a neat Haiti news fundraiser themselves. 
