Top 10 Appstores Worldwide

More and more appstores are coming online every month. Most publicity is about the Apple Appstore, Android Market and maybe Blackberry World and OVI. We thought it would be interesting to try to rank those appstores, including the independent ones. The figures are based on press releases, our own data from appstores, discussions with operators and handset manufacturers, and a few guestimates.

1. Apple Appstore
Recently announced 10 billion downloads across iPhone, iPad and iPod. An incredible figure that few would have predicted before the iPhone launch. Apple were the first to get mobile downloads into the mainstream and are still reaping the rewards.

2. Google’s Android Market
Over 2,7 billion downloads to date. With the ever growing number of Android handset models available, their download rates are increasing, we wait to see if they can catch Apple.

3. China Mobile Market
Although it just launched in September 2010, this is now believed to be the world´s third biggest appstore, based on the number of downloads in December 2010.

4. DoCoMo
DoCoMo has offered apps through i-mode for years and was the largest appstore prior to the iPhone era. With 40 million active customers, they are still one of the biggest appstores.

5. Nokia OVI
Despite the bad press, Nokia OVI continues to perform well, with rapid growth across the base and over 3 million downloads per day. Although,this includes any digital content, such as wallpapers, widgets and games.

6. Mobile9
Mobile9  doesn’t generate much publicity, but with twice the traffic of Getjar and more free copyright protected apps than anywhere else, this is an interesting one to follow.  Including ringtones, wallpapers, etc, they now claim over 11 billion downloads, including digital content other than apps.

7. Getjar
Frequently reported as the world largest independent appstore with apps for all device platforms available, including iPhone (providing links to the iTunes store), Android, J2ME, Symbian, Blackberry and more. The independent store counts 1.66 billion downloads up to date.

8. Mobango
For long Mobango was a strong contender to Getjar, with a community based approach. After running out of cash, Mobango was acquired in 2010, so maybe there will be another boost?  They report 750M downloads.

9. Blackberry World
RIM will tell you it’s about quality and not quantity. Despite over 50 million active devices the appstore downloads from Blackberry World are pretty low. Lately though, figures have been picking up. Blackberry World reports millions of downloads per day rather than total number of downloads but our estimate based on this is a total of somewhere between 500-700m downloaded apps since launch.

10. Verizon Wireless V Cast Apps

Verizon Wireless have continued to go their own way, with a combination of closed portal (V Cast) and openness, giving access to the Android Market. V Cast is believed to provide by far the biggest carrier appstore in the US.

Others include Vodafone 360, Telefonica/O2 mstore, Orange Application Shop, 3 App Store, AT&T AppCenter, Sprint, T-Mobile, TeliaSonera, Windows Phone Marketplace, Palm App Catalog, Samsung appstore, Sony-Ericsson Playnow, HTC, PocketGear, Mobilerated, Zed, Jamba, Buzzcity, Opera, Facebook, Cydia (Apple Jailbreak appstore), Cellmania, Handmark, Javaground, Mobiles24, OnMobile, Ondeego

We also expect initiatives from Amazon, LG, Lenovo, Mozilla, WAC (Wholesale Application Community), Sun/Oracle Java, Acer, Asus and more.

Tell us what you think!

Top mobile viral marketing campaigns ever

This blog is based on a presentation held at MediaPro in November 2010 with the headline “The  most successful viral apps in Mobile history”. We had an amazing feedback on the presentation  from clients and the audience. Therefore we want to reiterate the insights on our blog.

Everyone wants to know: what makes a mobile app or service viral? We hope to provide you with at least some of the most important success criteria. Our recommendations are based on the experience from launching more than 300 mobile apps over the past couple of years. Among them some extremely successful. In some cases the content was great but viral effects turned out rather moderate.

The top 5 viral marketing campaigns that we’ve launched during this period were:

1. Malibu Bowling Game for Pernod Ricard (Agency: Great Works)– bowl with coconuts and melons and play against your friends. The game reached over 6m downloads primarily in the US with no marketing other than appstore distribution

2. Cippi for Perfetti (Agency: BBH) – the first mobile farting application downloaded over 4m times  thereof 2m in Italy which was the target market with minimum marketing effort via Vodafone Italy (watch on YouTube)

3. Lynx/Axe for Unilever (Agency: BBH) – mobile apps that turn your phone into a  flirting machine resulting in over 0.5m downloads in the UK (watch on YouTube)

4. Who Killed Summer for Vodafone (Agency: OMD) – interactive mobile app for an online reality  show which generated considerably more downloads and activity on the mobile than it did online

5. Du & Jag (You & Me) – one of the simplest apps ever with a test to see how well you match a  girl or guy resulted in over 100k downloads in Sweden in only a few months in 2007

We will let the failures be forgotten in history for now…

So what are the key learning’s and tips from these?

1. Viral is about the physical sharing experience

Viral marketing online is very centred around sharing via Facebook, e-mail, instant messaging, Twitter and other channels. With the core function of a mobile phone being communication you would expect the same thing to be true for mobile. What we’ve noticed through research and focus groups however is that the most common sharing experience is physical. The user shows the game, entertainment or utility app to a friend who then also downloads it. In many cases the average user shares the app with 5+ people.

2. Make it easy to share

Having said that the most successful sharing experience is physical there is still a great amount of viral effects that comes from sharing online. Therefore it is key that it is easy and fun to share. There are a couple of important things to think about in order to encourage online sharing:

• Make it clear what is shared – i.e. show how the other user(s) will receive the message by e-mail or Facebook
• Integrate with the phone experience – use the phonebook to make it easy for users to share with their friends
• Let the user decide how they want to share – allow the user to choose between e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Bluetooth, etc
• Make it meaningful to share – ensure that there is an incentive to share whether it is to let the user impress their friends, a benefit to the receiver or an incentive to the sharer

3. Available on all/most devices

Less than 10% of the mobile users in Europe have an iPhone. So what happens if an iPhone user shares the app with an Android, Nokia or Blackberry user? Make sure that you support the devices that your target audience has.

4. Distributed through as many channels as possible

There are now well over 100 carriers, handset manufacturers and independent appstores (excluding Apple). Clearly some of them are more popular than others but distributing your app to as many of them as possible will give you much better reach which results in more downloads. In addition to this making sure that your app gets mentioned in blogs and other media can also make a big impact.

So in summary, what makes a successful mobile viral app campaign?

• Make it a fun and useful sharing experience in the physical world as well as online
• Make it easy to share and be honest about how it’s done
• Ensure that your app/campaign is available to your target audience devices
• Distribute through as many channels as possible

And don’t forget to share this blog!

Author: Magnus Jern (CEO Golden Gekko)

See the presentation on slideshare

Top 10 activities and predictions in mobile 2010 to 2011

Once again it’s time for us to summarise the past year´s key trends and predict the future for 2011.

At the end of 2009 we looked back at the year that passed and forward to 2010 to identify some key insights and trends. Maybe we cheated but it looks like our crystal ball for 2010 was right on the spot for 4 out of 5 of ourpredictions.

Review of our predictions for 2010

1. Breakthrough for mobile marketing

Most importantly the breakthrough for mobile marketing and apps have now happened which led to a revenue growth of more than 125% for Golden Gekko in the middle of a global financial crisis. One key factor was that major brands such as GAP, Zara, Domino's Pizza and Mango launched m-Commerce initiatives which all surpassed expectations making the mobile platform a business critical channel.

2. Increased mobile platform fragmentation

We saw an increase in fragmentation, which came true with more versions and hardware configurations of Android, Samsung Bada, Windows Mobile 7, with renewed investments in Palm WebOS by HP and MeeGo announced by Nokia and Intel.

3. Android accelerates past iPhone

As expected Android surpassed iPhone as the most sold smartphone OS, while the iOS market share growth stabilised.

4. Mobile networks collapse under traffic load

Finally, several of the networks in the UK (O2) and US (AT&T) experience vastly reduced performance due to smartphones and dongles.

5. Improved efficiency in mobile service development

The one prediction which did not really materialize was improved efficiency in mobile service delivery through new tools and products. The reason is most likely that most of the tools and services are not good enough yet which could be a great opportunity for 2011.

The key trends 2010

1. Launch of the iPad and other tablets

In January Apple announced the iPad which has ever since been sold at an amazing rate although I think the usage patterns have surprised quite a few. Most of the usage takes place at home rather than while mobile. At the same time other manufacturers, despite promises, failed to bring out competitive devices during 2010 even though Samsung managed to sell about 1 million.

2. Microsoft Windows Phone 7

Maybe it was because expectations were low but reviews of the Windows Phone 7 operating system and phones have been very good. Unique user interface, great social networking integration, excellent SDK for app development and all in all the first real smartphone OS from Microsoft.

3. Launch of iAds

When Apple acquired Qattro Wireless the iAd formats with rich media had already been developed but Apple took it and turned it into a great new innovation. Although the impact in terms of mobile advertising was very small in 2010 iAds has set the benchmark for mobile ads for the next couple of years.

4. Launch of 50+ appstores by operators and handset manufacturers

The openness of Android is both good and bad in terms of security, fragmentation and developer control. One slightly unexpected result however is that everyone is now launching their own appstores. In 2010 Android appstores were launched by Vodafone, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless, Orange, Sony-Ericsson, LG, Samsung and many many more. We expect this trend to continue in 2011 making distribution of Android apps more challenging for developers but also giving them more opportunities to sell and promote their apps.

5. Blackberry proving that they can hold the fort

Many analysts thought that RIM was down for the count in the beginning of 2010 with the competition from iPhone and Android but over and over again they have beaten forecasts in terms of sales. Maybe there is demand for something different than the iPhone even though the app environment and browser is nowhere close even on the latest Blackberry 6 devices? And it will be interesting to see what is yet to come. In the past 12 months RIM have acquired one user interface expert (TAT), one SDK developer (QNX) to be used as basis for the new tablets and a couple of app developers (DataViz and Cellmania).

Our predictions for 2011 are

1. Smartphones for everyone

The price of Android phones is dropping drastically with the low end expected to reach 30-40 euro by the end of 2011.* You can already buy a ZTE Blade for about 120 euro with a specification similar to the Nexus One and other manufacturers such as LG, Huewai, Lenovo and Dell will launch low-end Android phones throughout 2011. In addition to this Nokia will continue to offer Symbian for as little as 50 euro and RIM will offer Blackberries at around the 100 Euro mark. There may also be some surprises from Apple with iOS and HP with WebOS. The exciting thing about the drastic drop in prices is that smartphones will reach mass market allowing businesses and developers to reach a much greater audience. The challenge will be to see if app usage is still sustainable or if the early adopters have a different behaviour.

* All quoted prices are list prices for an unlocked phone without contract. Prices with contracts vary depending on country and operator.

2. Mobile is going from a marketing to a business critical channel

In 2009 we talked about mobile advertising shifting to mobile marketing. Now it's time for the next phase. Based on soft launches in 2008-2010 many brands are now seeing mobile deliver substantial revenues with examples including Opentable, eBay, Amazon and Domino's Pizza. Retail brands such as H&M, Zara, GAP are now following suite with major investments expecting that the mobile channel could be as big as the web or even bigger.

3. Multi-platform strategies will be the key to successful mobile strategies

Although a lot of businesses are now turning to mobile web including XHTML and HTML5 as the base platform for their mobile business, downloadable apps continue to drive innovation and discovery. The app platforms continue to develop extremely rapidly with at least one major release per year from Apple, Google, HP/Palm with new functionality and business opportunities. Mobile web on the other hand is based on standards with considerably slower evolution since everyone needs to agree. Therefore the gap between native apps and browser based services will only get larger for now. Mobile browsers could potentially evolve as fast as the apps but then the advantages of standardised coding would disappear. In conclusion businesses and developers that want to stay ahead in mobile will have to develop for and support multiple platforms including XHTML, HTML5, iOS, Android and maybe Symbian/MeeGo, Blackberry and Windows Mobile 7.

4. Breakthrough for m-payments and NFC

With Google introducing NFC (Near Field Communication) support with the launch of Nexus S and Apple expected to follow with NFC on the iPhone 5 we expect a breakthrough for NFC and related services in 2011 although the eco system will take a long time to develop. In Japan NFC already has already replaced tickets and magnetic cards on the tube and allows you to pay for physical good in stores just like a debit card. And the potential services that can be offered are almost endless. NFC equipped devices should in theory be able to communicate or listen to RFID chips that are already everywhere. We could put sensors in flower pots that tell your phone when they need to get watered, products in the store could give you information instantly without the need for barcode scanning, the phone could store your loyalty cards for air miles or hotels.

The breakthrough in 2011 will be in terms of innovation and initiatives by major players rather than mass market adaptation which will still take many years.

5. Rapid growth for tools that improve mobile service and app delivery

This was a prediction for 2010 that did not materialise but we have not given up. Historically businesses that offer developer and service delivery tools in mobile have not been very successful with the greatest exception being Admob. The reason has mainly been that the buyers haven't had sufficient skills and knowledge to use self-service tools and therefore preferred to buy a full service offering making it difficult for mobile marketing companies to establish scalable business models. Another reason is that few marketing agencies want to use template based solutions something Golden Gekko has experienced with Tino as well as Mobile Rhodi with their service. In 2011 we believe that this will change with more experienced marketers and better tools. The main areas of development will be mobile ad serving (Adfonic), CRM and messaging services (e.g. texting.ly), mobile content management systems (thinkshed), self-service app development services (Tino and Mobile Roadie) and appstore distribution.

Happy New Year 2011!

How much does it cost to develop an iPad app or Android tablet app?

Business Insider has a great article about the cost of developing one of the most popular and more advanced iPad apps available for download on the Apple appstore. This is by no means an indication of the average cost of developing an iPad app but demonstrates the range in cost between very simple apps of below 20.000 USD and the top utility apps at closer to 250.000 USD. On the other hand some of the top apps such as Google Maps, Facebook, BBC iPlayer have all costed considerably more to develop.

Generally the cost of adapting an iPhone app to iPad is about 30-40% on top of the original development costs but to develop an original iPad app with a rich and optimal user experience, the requirements are considerably more complicated. Just like for a website or an advanced iPhone or Android app the development team needs to

a)      Start by coming up with the concept

b)      Design the app including user interface, use flow, wireframes and creative assets/graphics

c)       Produce a technical architecture and specification

d)      Develop the app in various iterations of testing and feedback loops

e)      Test it with real users as a beta to further enhance the app before public launch

f)       Launch the app and continuously improve it

The cost of developing an Android tablet app is essentially exactly the same based on our experience although there are great synergies if planning and development is carried out on both platforms for the same service.

Read the full article on Business Insider:

http://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-developing-an-app-2010-10

How to market and distribute mobile app

You've developed a great mobile app for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Palm WebOS, WM7 or any other platform and now you want people to download it whether it's free or paid for. Yet, even the world’s greatest mobile app will deliver no results unless you make people aware of its existence. Over the past year Golden Gekko has produced a basic guide based on 5 years of application development and distribution and over 50m downloads to date on how you get the most out of your mobile app through various different distribution channels.

The white paper is available in 2 different parts that will be published on the blog over the next month. The parts are:
1. Mobile App Distribution - Mobile Distribution Channels including Mobile Advertising, Messaging, Appstores, Search, Communities and Operators - Download
2. Mobile App Distribution - Other Distribution channels including Web, ATL, BTL, PR and sharing/viral - Download

Use links above to download white papers.

Mobile apps one of the 3 biggest drivers behind mobile data growth according to McKinsey

When McKinsey talks business leaders and government officials listen. Therefore it was interesting to hear McKinsey Partner Venkat Atluri talk about the main forces behind mobile data growth on the McKinsey High Tech podcast a couple of weeks ago. Mobile applications were mentioned as one of the 3 key contributors of mobile data growth together with highly compelling devices and high speed networks. Although the research and interview doesn't bring any new insights to our industry it's amazing to hear that a business area that barely existed 3 years ago is now acknowledged as the driving factor behind the 100 Bn USD telecom industry.

Listen to the podcast here:
http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/hightech/HT_mobile_data/HT_mobile_data.html

Golden Gekko talking about iPad apps on Swedish Television (TV4)

This week Golden Gekko attended Mobile Future and Mobilgalan in Stockholm and our sales and business development director Michael Eriksson had the opportunity to appear on the Swedish television channel TV4. The short appearance where he demonstrates the Mango iPad app is in Swedish and available here:
http://www.nyhetskanalen.se/webb_tv?videoId=1.1901850

The Beauty of Fragmentation

Having developed mobile apps for over 5 years we have an enormous amount of good and bad experience from different platforms and fragmentation. So can there actually be good things about fragmentation?

Good

• Working within standardisation is a slow and complicated process. To innovate, technology companies must sometimes divert from the standard
• The agreed standard is not always the simplest or smartest way to do something. Therefore platform developers constantly strive to improve the future standards by implementing them as proprietary components before the standard has been established
• Proprietary technology creates de facto standards – Microsoft Windows, iPhone OS and Adobe Flash are great examples of this
• Differentiation is good – we want different screen sizes, keyboard inputs, sizes and colours. Not everyone wants a black or white iPhone

Bad

• Applications have to be tested on all different variations of e.g. the Android or Symbian OS, display resolutions, user input methods (Touchscreen, QWERTY, etc) and hardware configurations
• The cost of optimising and testing the applications is substantially higher for Android, Symbian, Web Runtime and J2ME due to fragmentation
• The development phase is longer due to the time consuming additional device optimisation and testing that is required

At Golden Gekko we constantly work on improving our platforms and tools to get around these challenges and instead leverage the positive differentiation of fragmentation.

But the title of the blog was the beauty of fragmentation and not pros and cons or how to battle fragmentation. The following graph from Tweetdeck illustrates the enormous variety of Android devices now being used to download and use apps from the Android Market. Beauty or Beast? You be the judge.

Why do iPhone apps look so much better than Android apps?

One question we often get asked is why the Android version of most original iPhone apps looks so bad in terms of design and feel. A quick comparison reveals that even Facebook has failed to develop an Android app which is anywhere close to the iPhone equivalent.

Facebook example

Facebook app on Android

Facebook app on iPhone

              

Strengths and weaknesses

	good	bad
iPhone	Great combination of facebook look and feel and utilizing the iPhone app design principle	No option to show time and coverage while using the app
Android	Nothing better than the iPhone	Icons look old, not correctly sized and the colour schemes don´t seem consistent with the Facebook website or Android design Search requires two clicks In notifications, links open up the browser

Why is there such a big difference? Is this simply because Apple is so brilliant in terms of design? But why would Google with their simplicity and great usability across most online services not be able to take their skills to the mobile? Is there another explanation?

To answer the question we've looked at 3 different factors including the SDKs, the developers and the expectations.

1. SDKs and approval process

The main purpose of the iPhone SDK and App Store approval process is that Apple has signification control of the user experience, therefore they provided a framework for developing "standard" looking UIs. Google on the other hand took a much more liberal approach with Android arguing that developers should have total freedom in almost everything they do. Although Apple has loosened up requirements since the app market's inception, the effects of the original approach are still very obvious.

2. The developers

This is going to be a sensitive one but the truth is that most iPhone developers were originally web designers / developers with HTML, Java Script, CSS and maybe flash experience. They are usually not hard core coders. This means that they are very focused on the look and feel of a product.

Most Android developers on the other hand are Java developers with a background in coding PC applications and other more technical coding experience. Apple made iPhone development as easy as Microsoft made PC development with Visual Basic which means that the creative and design centric people can make their own apps without deep coding knowledge.

3. Expectations

In addition to this there are different expectations from users. Historically, Apple customers have been more interested in fashion and design whereas Android originally had a perception of being more techie. With both operating systems now reaching a much wider audience this is no longer true but maybe the expectations are still different between users. Despite the big differences between the iPhone version and Android version of the facebook app they both have the same rating (3.5)

So does it have to be this way?

The answer is simply NO. The Android operating system has the same capabilities as iPhone to create great looking apps even though the UI framework doesn't go as far. The only people to blame for the deficiencies in Android apps are the individuals and businesses developing the apps. In an attempt to assure that every Android app developed looks at least as good as the equivalent iPhone version, Golden Gekko has developed an own UI framework that simplifies the creation of graphics and improves therefore the outcome, This way Android apps do not fall short on iPhone apps and the results speak for themselves.

Cross platform mobile app development methods for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Java

Cross-platform support is one of the greatest challenges for developers, advertisers and service providers that offer their service through mobile apps. During the past 4 years we have evaluated the pros and cons of different cross platform development methods and tools and assorted the key advantages for a company from an app development point of view. The main methods and conclusions are presented below.

1. Web runtime apps (sometimes referred to as widgets)

For web runtime apps (sometimes referred to as widgets) the development is done in script languages typically using HTML, Javascript and CSS. Later they run within a shell on each platform (iOS, Android, Blackberry OS, etc). Solutions, such as Phonegap (adaptations thereof and other in-house tools) using this technology will only work for simple apps and are always behind in terms of supporting new OS versions and devices. The advantage is write once / run on many but the disadvantage is that most proprietary features won't work, e.g. pinching on maps on the iPhone. This is the lowest cost solution other than just developing a mobile website.

2. Source code porting

Source code porting means writing for one platform (e.g. Java) and then cross-compiling the code to other languages or OS. Innaworks is an example for a company using this technology. Although it looks very promising at first, we think that this is primarily a solution for game developers that don't require proprietary platform support. The advantage is that the developer can stick to one code base. The disadvantage is that the user experience usually becomes a compromise and that proprietary platform functionality is not supported.

3. Native development for each platform

Native development means to develop the app individually for each platform. Usually the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile development will be done by different developers as each platform requires specialised skills and experience. The advantage however is that the apps are optimised for the best experience and
to exploit the functionality on each platform. The disadvantage is that, for each platform version of the app, the developer almost has to start over from scratch. This generally means very limited synergies in terms of cost and lead time. Even worse, the maintenance of the multiple platforms become more and more expensive over time.

4. Component based cross platform development

What developers want the most are tools and methods to make the native development and app maintenance more efficient. Golden Gekko has developed a proprietary platform called Mobile Media Engine (MME). It simplifies the development by though components for common challenges such as memory management on iOS, screen size scaling on Android, User Interface on Android (similar to iOS but with platform specific advantages), keyboard input on Blackberry, etc. The components allow the developer to use similar coding conventions across all platforms which vastly increases the quality and speed of development. At the same time it reduces the cost of maintenance when updating multiple platforms. Currently this platform is only used internally but in the future we plan to open this up for partners and third party developers.

For more information about the cost of mobile app development for each platform see our previous blog on the costs of developing a mobile app.

O2 expands into the world of apps with Golden Gekko

O2 Media has formed a strategic partnership with Golden Gekko, the leading developer of creative mobile marketing applications and widgets in Europe and North America.

The partnership will allow O2 to extend its capabilities and offer further unique and engaging products and services within the fast growing mobile advertising space. In addition to the services O2 media currently provides, from now on it will be able to offer a range of products from building mobile sites to developing mobile applications. The move reflects a growing shift in the advertising industry from traditional, one dimensional media to more personalised, truly accountable and multi-faceted opportunities.

O2 Media was formed last year with the aim of providing personalised media opportunities for brands. Since its launch, over 1,000 successful campaigns companies have been deployed, including Adidas, Cadbury, Blockbuster and Interflora, leveraging O2’s unique customer data. Success stories include a NatWest campaign that targeted its app at iPhone owners which received a 26% response rate, while targeting families with teenage children gave Thorpe Park a near one-in-three download rate for its App. The company has since expanded into new areas, like Top Up Surprises and Priority, to offer brands unique and innovative solutions that stand out from the traditional clutter.

Shaun Gregory, Managing Director of O2 Media, said: “Brands are beginning to see the full potential of mobile, but it is a complex ecosystem with a multitude of emerging players. What makes us different at O2 is that we are developing the full end-to-end range of opportunities. This is an intelligent strategy that delivers the right solutions to unite customers and brands by putting equal importance on customer experience and campaign impact.

“Because we know our 22 million customers, we are in a unique position to deliver better, more engaging and thus more effective campaigns. Mobile is developing so fast that brands and agencies are seeking a guiding hand through that challenge. At O2 we see our role in that space as pivotal.”

Golden Gekko is the leading developer of cross platform mobile applications and services in Europe including award winning campaigns for Lynx, McLaren and Absolut Vodka. It provides a range of mobile application development choices, including bespoke development, tailored from the ground up to meet customer needs; an off-the-shelf product range available for customisation; and Tino Mobile App Studio, a web based tool that allows anyone to create their own mobile apps in five easy steps.

One of Golden Gekko's unique advantages is the platform GG Mobile Media Engine. It enables rapid, high quality, easy-to-use and cost efficient implementations of mobile applications across more than 3000 different mobile devices including iPhone, Android, Java, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Palm.

Magnus Jern, CEO and Founder of Golden Gekko said: “Production of content and services for mobile including apps, mobile websites and other creative has grown exponentially in the past two years with the proliferation of smartphones. It's no longer a question of having a presence on mobile but what kind of presence and how to generate the best results.

“By partnering with O2, we at Golden Gekko can leverage our experience and insights from delivering over 300 mobile apps and campaigns to give our clients advice on how to best achieve their desired objectives. O2 Media complements us perfectly as we can jointly deliver an end-to-end offering including creative, production, marketing and distribution of mobile services and campaigns to O2’s significant customer base.”

A team from Golden Gekko will join O2 Media at their offices on Ganton Street, Soho.

There´s an App for everyone!

Magnus Jern, CEO of Golden Gekko speaks at Ad:tech, London

Most major brands are already aware of the importance of mobile marketing and included mobile campaigns in their marketing plans. But as always, important is not only what you do but how you do it.

Magnus Jern, CEO of Golden Gekko will talk about challenges and opportunities of mobile applications at the Ad:tech in London. After 10 years of experience in mobile content he knows how to harness advantages and disadvantages of different platforms and development models. He will discuss how to choose them according to target group and objectives and what to consider in order to launch a successful mobile campaign.

The free seminars will take place on the show floor. “Mobile Marketing and Apps” is one of seven streams within the seminars and will feature Golden Gekko on Wednesday 22. Sept. at 12.30h.

http://bit.ly/9sSm8j

Throughout the entire conference Golden Gekko will inform about insights and achievements in the MMA Pavilion at stand nr. 8.

Let Jimmy Nordbeck, Marketing Director and Magnus Jern, CEO tell you, why everyone should have an app and how any business of any size can make the most out of mobile marketing. To make an appointment fill out the form from the link below or just pop around.

http://bit.ly/c0mshi

Golden Gekko at EADP Congress in Venice

15.-17. September the world’s largest players of the lead generation business are gathering for the yearly EADP Congress, featuring most of the most influential people in the directory business.

Golden Gekko's Ric Ferraro, VP Sales & Business Development and Jimmy Nordbeck, Marketing Director will be promoting MODISO, a new plug-and-play yet customisable mobile directory solution born out of Golden Gekko´s partnership with European Directories.

It is already successfully running in 8 countries and has now evolved into a proven tool for rapidly reaching success in the mobile space, generating substantial revenue increase every month.

For more information email modiso@goldengekko.com

How much does it cost to develop a mobile app on iPhone, Android and other platforms?

The most frequently asked question we hear about mobile app development is: "How much does it cost to develop a mobile app?"

The easiest way to answer will be with a counterquestion such as "How much does it cost to develop a website?" But this clearly is not very helpful. Although it is a difficult question to respond to we will make an attempt to give our clients and partners the answer they are entitled to.

The budgets quoted here are based on the costs of outsourced development. Our experience and feedback from clients is that this is almost always cheaper than in-house development when taking into account total costs of internal resources including specification, wireframes, design, planning, development, several delivery iterations and quality assurance.

1. Developing an app for iPhone only

iPhone is the easiest platform to develop for to start with. The UI is well defined, the development tools are great for creating apps with basic content and web feeds and the more advanced functionalities are well documented. More advanced iPhone apps with back-end integration, non-standard animations and apps with a lot of media handling require completely different development skills and therefore developers with many years of programming experience.

Budget for:

• Simple apps: 10-20.000 euro
• Average cost of branded apps: 30.000 euro
• Advanced apps 60.000+ euro

The costs of iPad apps are currently slightly higher as they require even more finishing work on the UI.

2. Developing an app for Android only

Developing good looking Android apps is considerably more difficult than iPhone apps. The main reason is that the SDK provides less default UI components which means that you can basically make the apps look however you want (more about this in a separate blog). In addition to this, Android is more designed for developers with several years of experience in programming Java, whereas iPhone requires very little to start with. For more advanced apps and games the complexity is the same or you might actually consider Android to be purer. Furthermore there are differences in the development language. Android has more fragmentation as there are currently 10 handset manufacturers with over 80 devices that use Android in comparison to only one for iPhone. There are also 4 different screen resolutions (starting at 240x320), more input mechanisms (e.g. Qwerty keyboards) and multiple OS versions that need to be supported. Therefore the QA period is usually about 1-2 weeks longer for Android and more resource intensive.

Budget for:

• Simple apps: 15-25.000 euro
• Average cost of branded apps: 40.000 euro
• Advanced apps 60.000+ euro

3. Developing for Blackberry only

The complexity and cost of developing for Blackberry are similar to Android. Some of the challenges to face are the many OS versions currently running, the range of screen resolutions and the requirement to cover both touch screen and Qwerty keyboards.

Budget for:

• Simple apps: 15-25.000 euro
• Average cost of branded apps: 40.000 euro
• Advanced apps 60.000+ euro

4. Cross platform development for iPhone and Android

With normal coding standards there is very little synergy between Android and iPhone development and few developers that can develop for both in a proficient manner. This means that most of the time the costs are the same for the second platform as for the first platform, excluding functional specification. Even the user flows and designs are different since Android uses the menu key and back button differently and supports multitasking on all devices.

There are various different ways to reduce the cost of cross platform development (see our blog next week on this subject). During the last couple of years Golden Gekko has taken on this challenge and tried all methods. We have finally developed our own framework for more efficient development of native apps for each platform. This currently reduces the average cost by more than 30% for the second platform but the goal is to fall below 50% in the long term and at the same time vastly reduce ongoing maintenance costs. In some cases we were already able to do so by compromising on user experience and functionality.

Budget for:

• Simple apps: 20-37.000 euro
• Average apps: 58.000 euro
• Advanced apps: 100.000+ euro

5. Other platforms

• WebOS (Palm) and other Web Runtime platforms (JIL, Opera, OVI, etc) – Budgets are similar to iPhone development to cover one platform and comparable to Android to launch web based apps on multiple platforms

• Windows Mobile – Budgets are similar to iPhone to support one OS version (e.g. 6.5) as Microsoft provides great development tools and closer to Android for multiple OS versions

• Symbian – The 2nd most complex platform for development due to lack of skilled developers, slightly out of date SDK and complexity of e.g. memory management . This means that the budgets are currently 30% higher than e.g. Android

• Java ME – Budgets are similar to Android with the platforms used by Golden Gekko but with higher QA cost depending on the number of target devices for each market

• Meego/Qt – Too early to tell but we believe budgets will be similar to Android

• Samsung Bada – The most complex platform to develop for due to lack of maturity of the SDK. We currently recommend using Java ME on Samsung Bada phones

Update version:

For an updated version of this blog please visit:
http://goldengekko.blogspot.com/2011/04/update-what-is-cost-of-developing.html

What's going on in the world of mobile apps and devices?

What's going on in the world of mobile apps and devices?
The mobile echo system keeps on evolving faster than ever and it's often difficult to see the macro trends with all the day to day announcements and comments about winners and losers. One of the most exciting things is that nothing is certain.

Here's a short summary of the trends that we are seeing and longer term impact:

Handset Operating Systems and Development Platforms

• iPhone - Continues to evolve with OS4 being a great leap forward and with the best UI and SDK for developers but overall market share is stablising at about 13.5% of smartphones globally and with only one new device release per year growth is likely to be tempered going forward
• Android - Outsold iPhone in Q2 and increased their market share by 886% since last year with more handset manufacturers continuing to launch devices and competing against each other with vastly improved hardware including QWERTY keyboards, better cameras as well as very competitive prices and is expected by most to be the nr 1 smartphone OS in 2011
• RIM continues to hold on to a big share of the smartphone market with 18% based on a wide range of communication and utility focused devices for business users as well as the youth market with an amazing usage adaption among teenagers in the UK thanks to Blackberry Messenger but market share is expected to decline unless Blackberry 6 delivers improved app support and user interface 
• Nokia has gone from the undisputed leader to an underdog despite still being the global leader in overall market share (36% in Q2) and smartphones (43% in Q2) due to lack of great new devices and unclear strategy of Symbian and MeeGo but we would definitely not rule them out as they still have deep pockets and a very loyal base in emerging markets and a partnership with Intel with even deeper pockets and long term bets riding on the success of MeeGo
• Palm WebOS went from being a dead horse to a joker when HP acquired Palm earlier this year thanks to having developed the 2nd best OS to iPhone in terms of user experience and based on open standards and as the largest PC manufacturer worldwide HP won't give up in the first place
• Microsoft Mobile has constantly failed to deliver a really appealing user experience since they first launched the SPV in 2002 and although they undoubtedly provide the best PC - Mobile integration it hasn't been enough but with Windows Mobile 7, the biggest development community in the world and a track record of not giving up they might still have a chance to find a market and slowly grow over the next couple of years from 5% of the smartphone market in Q2
• Samsung Bada Wave is another unexpected player in the smartphone OS space as they also deliver devices with Android and Windows Mobile but Bada has outperformed most people’s expectations in terms of user experience although it essentially is a Android copycat based on Linux and Java and won’t have much chance in the high-end smartphone segment
• Webruntime Widgets are not really a OS or a platform but with the popularity of webkit based mobile browsers and the push for standardisation among carriers the widget standard (also referred to as JIL by Vodafone, webruntime by Nokia and WebOS by Palm) it's becoming an important platform and might actually have a good chance of establishing a standard for apps that don't require the latest and greatest from each of the individual platforms.
• Java ME continues to be the leading platform in terms of installed base and handset sales supported by Symbian, Samsung Bada, Windows Mobile, Blackberry and most proprietary OS from Nokia (e.g. S40), Sony-Ericsson, LG and Samsung with well over 2 billion devices worldwide and over 0.4 billion downloads per month with majority of Java downloads now in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, Brazil and China
   

The full Q2 smartphone market share report is available here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10839034

Handset manufacturersRather than speculating over their futures we think that it's simply interesting to look at their worldwide market share of sales today and which operating systems they are betting on.
1. Nokia (36.1%) - S40 for low-end, Symbian S60 in transition and MeeGo as the future strategy
2. Samsung (20.7%) – Mix of proprietary OS for low-end and Android, Windows Mobile and Bada on mid to high-end
3. LG (10.0%) – Transitioning from proprietary OS to Android as their main platform for consumers and windows mobile for business with more than 10 devices planned to launch in the next 3-6 months
4. RIM (3.6%) – Full focus on Blackberry OS
5. Sony-Ericsson (3.6%) – Selling devices based on Proprietary OS, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android but betting on Symbian as main device going forward
6. Apple (2.8%?) – iPhone OS
7. Motorola (2.8%) – Returning from the dead with Android as their core platform and extremely strong performance in the US during the last 2 quarters thanks to Droid
8. HTC (2.5%?) – Fully focused on Android and Windows Mobile and by many considered the leading Android manufacturer

And don’t forget about Huawei and ZTE from China and of course HP/Palm.

More stats available from:http://mobile.downloadatoz.com/article,global-mobile-phone-market-statistics-in-q2-2010.html

In conclusionsThe media and financial community seems to believe that there can only be two or maybe three winners in the smartphone space like in the PC world with Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX and various Linux versions. What if it’s possible with more? Maybe the market is so big, the technology development so fast and customer preferences so different that there is room for more than three? Google Android definitely looks like the favorite of the day but we don’t think the battle is close to being over. Like we said in a previous update. “In mobile fragmentation is forever. Deal with it.”

Blackberry 6 - Good enough or Not?

The media has not been kind to RIM in reviews about Blackberry OS6 so far. See e.g. Mobilecrunch and Moconews. So is Blackberry OS6 good enough or not for RIM to compete with Android, iPhone, WebOS, Windows Mobile 7 and other smartphone OS?

Blackberry has taken the UK teens market by storm thanks to Blackberry Messenger, the QWERTY keyboard and a great camera. Is it possible that not everyone wants a touch screen phone with a big screen? Having had the opportunity to use the iPhone 3GS, Google Nexus One and various other Android phones for a fairly long period of time I must say that the Blackberry Bold (9700) is the only phone I want to use every day for calling, texting, e-mailing and social networks. The touch screen phones are great for games and rich media but not necessarily for the basic communication and organisation features. Almost everyone with both a Blackberry and iPhone or Android phone will admit this.

Having said this Golden Gekko relies on iPhone, Android and other great multimedia OS for mobile app development revenues and have no intentions of defending RIM for providing a poor SDK for apps. With OS6 we hope that RIM will catch up in terms of providing a similar app experience to iPhone and Android and we think that this is actually good enough. What do you think?

The opportunity of iAds

What do we think?

When iAds was launched earlier this year the Financial Times called me and asked what we thought about the announcement and it's impact on the industry. I said I was excited about the richness and simplicity and that I was convinced it would give the mobile advertising industry exactly what it needs in terms of strong backing (Apple) and setting a new industry benchmark.

Since then Apple has officially launched the product and sold inventory for about 40m USD so what do I think now? When should you use iAds?

iAds are fantastic in terms of attracting customers to engage with rich media. If you want guaranteed eye balls and engagement then iAds can be a great start. Especially now that media is excited about iAds and will write about it therefore generate positive PR.

Does iAds replace mobile apps?

In my opionion iAds replace mobile microsites and not apps. The advantage of apps compared to iAds are...

1. Apps are available offline and iAds are not
2. Apps can give you very low cost engagement per customer if you have a strong brand and/or concept, e.g. an app that costs 40k USD to develop and generates 100k downloads cost 0.4 USD per engagement vs 1 USD per click for iAds at the moment which would cost you 100k USD for the same engagement

How do you reach customers on other platforms such as Android and Blackberry?

Our expectation is that other mobile advertising platform providers such as Google and Microsoft will quickly follow with similar formats based on HTML5 and that mobile web and iAds will merge over time as the user experience will be almost exactly the same.

Posted by Magnus Jern CEO of Golden Gekko