Without exception, CES generates a lot of exciting news for the mobile app space. Here’s a quick summary of the key announcements in mobile this year.
Thinnest tablet ever
The Toshiba Excite X10 tablet is the thinnest tablet ever made with a 10.1 inch screen, 0.3 inch thin and 1.2 ibs weight.
Our take:
The Toshiba Excite X10 tablet is an alternative for the iPad2 and this could be Apple’s real competition. However it is unlikely that it can compete with Apple’s iPad3 which is expected in the next couple of months
Intel in partnership with Motorola Mobility
Being in partnership with Intel allows Motorola to use Intel’s Atom processors on their mobile computing devices. This includes smartphones and tablets for consumers and businesses during the next couple of years.
Our take:
Currently, Qualcomm and ARM dominate the mobile processor market and more competition is needed. This should lead to more innovation in the mobile processing space including better battery life and increased processing power.
Smartphone news
LTE devices across all price points
Most of the major device manufacturers announced LTE devices together with the carriers in the US including LG, HTC, Nokia and Samsung but also Huawei, ZTE and Pantech.
Our take:
Although LTE is important from a network capacity perspective an transition to GSM technology in the US the technology will not have much impact on consumers right now as 3G speeds are adequate for most smartphone usage. Nevertheless, the speed of the transition is impressive.
Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone
AT&T is launching the Nokia Lumia 900 in the US with LTE and stands firmly behind Windows Phone.
Our take:
This will bring positive media echo for Nokia Luma and Windows Phone devices. Uniqueness and differentiation is good news as it shows there is still room for innovation in the OS space. Thanks to this, Apple has not been able to steal the show like they did last year.
Sony Xperia S
Sony launches the first device without the Ericsson brand as a game focused device with Android.
Our take:
The device looks great with nice specs but we don’t believe it’s unique enough to compete against the top Android devices from Samsung and HTC.
Waterproof phones
Will waterproofing treatment make smartphones ruined by water damage history? The company HzO thinks so and announced a new technology for waterproofing that they want to license to phone manufacturers.
Our take:
This is probably one of the most exciting news for consumers coming out of CES. Many of us have dropped their phone in water or gotten it ruined by rain or water splashes. If the waterproofing works without having to turn the phone into a piece of rubber like previous attempts then this could be a big trend in the future.
Apps, apps and more apps
With over 100 great apps submitted for Mobile App Showdown here are 3 of our favorites:
CIA: Operation Ajax Amazes!
An app delivering a graphic novel with interactive sounds and animations, which seems like a unique way of mobile story telling.
SkyQ
SkyQ is an easy to use astronomy application that locates and identifies virtually any celestial object visible in the night sky with portable convenience right from the palm of your hand.
Swakker
Swakker lets you personalize your mobile messaging. Communicate in creative ways, like drawing in a chat and writing messages in the sky.
Biggest news of all
No show would be worthwhile without an app by Golden Gekko of course and to avoid disappointment Qualcomm showed off Golden Gekko’s augmented reality app for the National Guard. More about this later…
Showing posts with label iPad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPad. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Friday, 6 May 2011
Why Android Tablet Apps?
The iPad currently accounts for 90% of the tablet market, so why bother with Android? More than 20 device manufacturers have now announced Android tablets with prices ranging from 150- 700 USD. Key devices such as the Motorola Xoom are showing top quality design, and impressive hardware specs that are opening up interesting opportunities for our customers. At Golden Gekko, we're confident of strong growth in the Android tablet market over the coming months. Being first to market with quality offerings is a key recommendation for our customers. Supporting tablets, with the correct user experience will pay dividends:
• Impressing early adopters
• Being well situated for the users who are sure to enter the market in 2011
• Increasing your chances of being featured on the Android Market – our experience shows
this can have a huge effect on download figures
Key attributes of the Android Tablet
Golden Gekko has been exploring the tablet focused version of Android (Honeycomb) since it was first released to developers. We have also been observing the adoption of the technology, reviewing apps and experimenting with different user journeys.
The key enhancements, that we see adding true value to the Android experience are:
• We can now take advantage of the extra screen real estate, showing more complex pages. A common example is combining a list view on the left, with a map or details view on the right, allowing the user to browse the items they have, without needing to switch screens.
This level of interaction is simply not possible on smaller, phone sized devices.
• A new action bar has been introduced. This is a big change in the standard Android design pattern. We're also increasingly seeing this being applied to the phone variants of the apps.
Not quite everything is transferable, but it's a slick new option.
• Drag & Drop has been added, allowing for interesting new interaction between components
• Slicker animations are possible thanks to enhanced support from Android, and typically from the enhanced power of the tablet devices. Apps are evolving to feel more interactive with ever more impressive levels of polishing touches.
• We're seeing tablets being used in different ways to our phone apps. Typically, your phone is for when you're on the go, tablets for when can take your time over a coffee or a glass of wine. This allows for more in depth user journeys and more thorough integration with Social networks.
Image: An example screen-shot, showing the split screen approach. Notice the action bar introduced at the top of the screen. The soft keys in the bottom left have replaced the hardware buttons, and rotate with the device.
Key challenges
Adapting to the tablet world requires a fundamental shift in application planning. Many people will use your app on a tablet and on their phone. Ensuring a consistent user experience, while still taking advantage of the device capabilities will be a key factor in the success of your application.
For anyone used to developing iPad apps, the extra device burden that Android brings to the table will also come as a shock. Android tablets are becoming available in all shapes and sizes, with varying screen resolution, OS level and processing power. Thoroughly testing and optimising your apps for the full range of devices is a critical pre-launch step. A few bad reviews from users experiencing bugs or crashes can have a serious impact on the long term success of your app.
Saturday, 8 January 2011
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
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!
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!
Friday, 10 December 2010
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:
Friday, 12 November 2010
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
http://www.nyhetskanalen.se/webb_tv?videoId=1.1901850
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