The New Deck

In the mobile we usually talk about “on deck” and “off deck” , meaning distributing content throught the carrier space or out of his ground. The “new deck” is the new selling place , and it's all about applications and app stores.

Apple’s iPhone app store isn’t the only new deck in the market. Palm has announced a new application store and already has 5,000 offerings that work on more than two dozen devices including their Windows Mobile devices. Blackberry has an app store debuting in the spring and of course Google’s Android Market is already going gangbusters as well...

The proliferation of app stores impacts consumers, businesses and the mobile industry as a whole. For consumers it means that whatever your mobile device is, you can now do more with it. I predict that consumers will begin to shop for their next device based on the apps they can get and/ or stick with a particular device for the apps they have already integrated into their daily life.

The new deck requieres to have a solid and pertinent aplication store strategy, it's clearly necessary.

Knowing which devices are most used by your target audience is a critical foundation step. And ignoring the application market will not work for long.

How do you think the “new deck” will impact our industry?

VOCALIA implementing voice numeration on iPhone

One of the mobile battles of tomorrow will deal with the interface of mobile and voice recognition; here's an application that opens this type of application on iPhone.

Vocalia iPhone is a voice dialing. Talk and Vocalia quickly find the names of your contacts in your directory. Later versions could provide complementary features. Theapplication includes a new option very practical and expected by users: automatic number 1 output, voice confirmation of the person and the number to call. By enabling this option in the Control Panel, under "Browse mode", Vocalia becomes a voice recognition application 100% hands free!

Save the AppStore!

The proliferation of cheap applications on the AppStore is stifling innovation and holding Apple’s mobile touch platform back from realizing its true potential, think developers and companies developing quality mobile softwares.
The question became more obvious with the letter from Craig Hockenberry ( Iconfactory) to Steve Job : http://furbo.org/2008/12/09/ring-tone-apps/

The Apps Store and the iPhone 3rd Party Platform as a whole is barely 22 weeks old. And it's success is staggering. I can't think of any other computing platform (or any media platform for that matter) that has created over 10,000 totally new pieces of content in it's first 150 days. 150 days!!!
25 million iPhones and Touches out there at the moment, that will likely double in a few months, and a few months later too.

But I think it's becoming obvious that something needs to change with the way apps are listed and browsed in the store, as well, I think the business model of the app store is hitting an inflection point.
Apple could introduce more varieties of lists, we've seen them all in other places, fastest movers, most viewed. Apple's headings aren't clear, I presume 'Top' means most downloaded (in the last 24 hours, week?). I'm rather less clear about 'What's Hot' is.

I think so many people are jumping into I phone application development after having heard about that guy who made $250K with a casual puzzle game...but I think that about 80% of them will provide garbage applications that even free I won't pay for it.
With almost 10,000 apps in the App Store, and maybe 20 new apps per day, there's no nice way to give attention to all of those apps!

If you make an iPhone app, I suggest to prepare you to make less than $1000 on your app, for the lifetime of your app , even if you have a few developers and designers working on your app.

I really think that iPhone got a real potential that Apple must preserve, so, it may got to study and reorganize the pertinence of the App store, that will keep on growing...

First advanced UI for Vodafone

The new solution FlipFont (Monotype Imaging) is accessible from Vodafone live!, Vodafone is the first operator in Europe to provide a download service which will change the font of its interface.

The solution FlipFont launches a selection of 10 fonts from 1.40 €.To date phones that supports this UI are based on the Symbian OS.
Even if the service is an important step in the personalization of the user interface, which will expand, it is far from the Japanese Acrodea service ( check previous post).

Mobile data services are expected to exceed $ 200 billion in 2008 for the first time, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. (157 billion in 2007). It is an important growth engines for the future of operators and will therefore give an accelerated deployment of innovative mobile services, including customizing the user interface.

More than a deeper way to customize the mobile and enable a better experience to the user, I think this kind of UI would be a powerful marketing tool for brands and medias.

G point

Google Mobile is multiplatforms, Multi- constructors,Multioperators ...
Google announced the launch of Google Maps for mobile with Street View on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile to expand its products beyond 'Android, BlackBerry, iPhone. Here is a much more aggressive than any manufacturers, operators ... Google Maps Mobile 2.3 also includes a series of new features, creating pedestrian routes mode, information on public transport, alerts journals of users. Google also promises a better user interface.
Domination over the mobile is emerging in front of us. 4 main products: Search, Gmail, Maps, Youtube and multiple mobile services, more products Labs beta-test the economic model, not pay, not freemium (although the latter should see the day quickly moving to Google Free )..... backed by advertising! With now around 47 members of the Open Handset Alliance to promote the mobile operating system Google...

SMS free with Gmail
The Web services Giant announced a new feature of Labs that allows users to send free text messages via Gmail, allowing consumers to connect to the computer contact via e-mail. The product manager Leo Dirac: "The service works in the United States at this time, but you can send text messages to your friends on the United States but also on the phone numbers from anywhere in the world".

Android VS manufacturers...does the Giant represent a threat?

When Google announced the launching of Android at the end of last year he quickly formed two natural sides. The project partners such as HTC, Motorola or LG and competitors such as Nokia or Sony-Ericson. Today we wonder if Android also enables the emergence of new actors?
Indeed in recent weeks we have heard names like Sciphone, QIGI, Open-Moko, Kogan Agora or a more uncertain Huawei. All these names (name or phone manufacturer's name) represent now as serious competitors against the major manufacturers. On paper you can see specifications worthy of the largest smart-phones at prices rather interesting. Android and of course the driving force behind this novelty because now any company that has expertise in the manufacturing hardware Android may choose simply to write drivers for hardware attached to the OS. One could almost think that these companies have a shot (for the study design) reduced by at least 40 So who can say that players do not nibbling market share to major manufacturers?
This model can think of the great distribution and ultra discount, may be the next two years will be the major manufacturers of mobile with a lot of complementary services to lure customers. On the other hand, small manufacturers who offer cheaper phones, but without superfluous!
Now Google will weigh in the balance on the so-called superfluous as they they provide as well services and attractive free...