Comments on: Mobile applications, RIP http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/ News And Views from Google MObile Team Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:28:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: noreply@blogger.com (Q dub) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-774 noreply@blogger.com (Q dub) Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:56:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-774 Mobile applications make much more sense as a younger sibling to an already high-performing web-app. E.g., Facebook, Yahoo's all-in-one app, Google's suite. None of these apps need special promotional channels: people just go and download them or are redirected to the download when accessing the basic mobile-web versions.<BR/><BR/>I do hear you on the OS fragmentation - It's only going to get worse with Android and iPhone making strong strides against the already fragmented Windows-Java-Symbian-RIM landscape. Mobile applications make much more sense as a younger sibling to an already high-performing web-app. E.g., Facebook, Yahoo’s all-in-one app, Google’s suite. None of these apps need special promotional channels: people just go and download them or are redirected to the download when accessing the basic mobile-web versions.

I do hear you on the OS fragmentation - It’s only going to get worse with Android and iPhone making strong strides against the already fragmented Windows-Java-Symbian-RIM landscape.

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Reda E) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-775 noreply@blogger.com (Reda E) Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:51:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-775 I'm kind of late on this but just wanted to give my two cents. It's true that every aspect of our life is becoming more and more Internet-centric; the more this will happen the more the internet experience will improve, costs will go down and opportunities increase in every business. However, my personal short comment is that mobile applications are here to stay for a long time, perhaps changed in scope and presence, but they will surely stay. An analogy could be high street shops: are they destined to close down? After all you can get a better deal on line, can't you? Well, the reality is that they will complement the buying experience because they offer advantages that Internet will not be able to offer in the foreseeable future. I’m kind of late on this but just wanted to give my two cents. It’s true that every aspect of our life is becoming more and more Internet-centric; the more this will happen the more the internet experience will improve, costs will go down and opportunities increase in every business. However, my personal short comment is that mobile applications are here to stay for a long time, perhaps changed in scope and presence, but they will surely stay. An analogy could be high street shops: are they destined to close down? After all you can get a better deal on line, can’t you? Well, the reality is that they will complement the buying experience because they offer advantages that Internet will not be able to offer in the foreseeable future.

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-776 noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:19:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-776 No way users will put up with the deficiences and drawbacks of mobile web. and the consumer demand for what gave rise to the Palm revolution will not go away--no way.<BR/><BR/>The industry will have to adapt, not consumers. No way users will put up with the deficiences and drawbacks of mobile web. and the consumer demand for what gave rise to the Palm revolution will not go away–no way.

The industry will have to adapt, not consumers.

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Markus Spiering) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-777 noreply@blogger.com (Markus Spiering) Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:04:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-777 Great article and interesting comments. <BR/><BR/>I have been running a major Palm OS software distribution site in Europe for many years and I remember all the excitement when the Palm OS platform was flying with doubling revenues for both sides: the hundreds of developers and us. We teamed up with PalmSource, our Windows Mobile sister portal teamed up with Microsoft - an incredible time! <BR/>After seeing the revenue streams not increasing that much as in the past more and more restrictions have been introduced across all major sites. Developers had to change their software to point customers only back to the original download site, email addresses have not being shared with developers anymore and for customers it got more and more difficult to find excellent freeware applications. The relation between distribution channels and the development community got poisoned in many cases and I believe from today's perspective that besides the fall-down of the Palm OS platform this also affected the ecosystem quite a bit. There was not much difference left between restrictions from a carrier and the restrictions that the sites have put on developers shoulders with exception that the carrier has more potential customers, an easier way of getting the customers money but with very less percentage left for the small development company.<BR/> <BR/>We had the vision of being the marketing voice for the developer community and to explain the world why it is so great to have a handheld device and explain all the amazing things that are possible with 3rd party software. We did a good job in the first years, spending hundreds of thousands of Euros for marketing, tradeshows and investments in user groups but we all turned into normal software stores with very less marketing innovations for the reasons mentioned above. <BR/><BR/>Native applications vs. Mobile Web sites: Why not both?<BR/><BR/>Mobile web applications gained a lot of attraction with the iPhone launch and a few iPhone web apps are really outstanding: Take Facebook or Bejeweled (yeah - old Palm times :) ) as examples. However- everything that requires a deeper integration fails when it needs to run in a browser. Monetization is basically possible (if you think to sell your web application) but I'm not sure if the iPhone dictionary web apps really have been successful. It will be different with the AppStore but this brings us back to native applications (theoretically web apps could also be sold using the AppStore) and to the need for development for many different operation systems.<BR/><BR/>Given this I like the approach Yahoo! is doing with the Blueprint platform. The platform got announced just a couple of weeks ago and the language and the environment is in Beta but from a conceptional view this platform could solve many of the problems that have been raised in the article. <BR/>An application (aka widget) written in Blueprint can basically be seen as an standalone mobile app (when Blueprint support is natively integrated in the OS), running inside a client environment or in almost any of the mobile browsers available. The developer does not have to change the code - the platform takes care of this. <BR/><BR/>Blueprint applications/widgets can basically run in the following environments across multiple platforms and hundreds of devices:<BR/>- Running inside Yahoo's mobile client application: Yahoo! Go 3.0 (available for a wide range of devices across multiple platforms).<BR/>- In the mobile web by accessing Yahoo's mobile web presence, currently http://beta.m.yahoo.com<BR/>- Directly on devices that have native integrations with Blueprint<BR/><BR/>Depending on the device and platform the widget is running it will have access to certain features and will presented in the best possible way. A Blueprint app running in Go 3 will be able to access location information for example while this is not possible when the same widget runs in a xHTML browser. Still: The developer has one code and the widget will run across multiple platforms. At the same point the developer can profit from the platforms openness and the huge distribution range that Y! covers with their mobile products.<BR/><BR/>Take a look at: http://mobile.yahoo.com/developers <BR/><BR/>Drop me a note if you have any questions or thoughts - my email is in my profile.<BR/><BR/>Markus<BR/>(PM Yahoo! Mobile) Great article and interesting comments.

I have been running a major Palm OS software distribution site in Europe for many years and I remember all the excitement when the Palm OS platform was flying with doubling revenues for both sides: the hundreds of developers and us. We teamed up with PalmSource, our Windows Mobile sister portal teamed up with Microsoft - an incredible time!
After seeing the revenue streams not increasing that much as in the past more and more restrictions have been introduced across all major sites. Developers had to change their software to point customers only back to the original download site, email addresses have not being shared with developers anymore and for customers it got more and more difficult to find excellent freeware applications. The relation between distribution channels and the development community got poisoned in many cases and I believe from today’s perspective that besides the fall-down of the Palm OS platform this also affected the ecosystem quite a bit. There was not much difference left between restrictions from a carrier and the restrictions that the sites have put on developers shoulders with exception that the carrier has more potential customers, an easier way of getting the customers money but with very less percentage left for the small development company.

We had the vision of being the marketing voice for the developer community and to explain the world why it is so great to have a handheld device and explain all the amazing things that are possible with 3rd party software. We did a good job in the first years, spending hundreds of thousands of Euros for marketing, tradeshows and investments in user groups but we all turned into normal software stores with very less marketing innovations for the reasons mentioned above.

Native applications vs. Mobile Web sites: Why not both?

Mobile web applications gained a lot of attraction with the iPhone launch and a few iPhone web apps are really outstanding: Take Facebook or Bejeweled (yeah - old Palm times :) ) as examples. However- everything that requires a deeper integration fails when it needs to run in a browser. Monetization is basically possible (if you think to sell your web application) but I’m not sure if the iPhone dictionary web apps really have been successful. It will be different with the AppStore but this brings us back to native applications (theoretically web apps could also be sold using the AppStore) and to the need for development for many different operation systems.

Given this I like the approach Yahoo! is doing with the Blueprint platform. The platform got announced just a couple of weeks ago and the language and the environment is in Beta but from a conceptional view this platform could solve many of the problems that have been raised in the article.
An application (aka widget) written in Blueprint can basically be seen as an standalone mobile app (when Blueprint support is natively integrated in the OS), running inside a client environment or in almost any of the mobile browsers available. The developer does not have to change the code - the platform takes care of this.

Blueprint applications/widgets can basically run in the following environments across multiple platforms and hundreds of devices:
- Running inside Yahoo’s mobile client application: Yahoo! Go 3.0 (available for a wide range of devices across multiple platforms).
- In the mobile web by accessing Yahoo’s mobile web presence, currently http://beta.m.yahoo.com
- Directly on devices that have native integrations with Blueprint

Depending on the device and platform the widget is running it will have access to certain features and will presented in the best possible way. A Blueprint app running in Go 3 will be able to access location information for example while this is not possible when the same widget runs in a xHTML browser. Still: The developer has one code and the widget will run across multiple platforms. At the same point the developer can profit from the platforms openness and the huge distribution range that Y! covers with their mobile products.

Take a look at: http://mobile.yahoo.com/developers

Drop me a note if you have any questions or thoughts - my email is in my profile.

Markus
(PM Yahoo! Mobile)

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-778 noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:46:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-778 I agree with your statement that "Vertical and native mobile application development is suffering due to poor business model syndrome. With the market widely fragmented and no solution in sight to ease the challenges of marketing individual applications, mobile content developers are shifting to the Web" Our company has realised the problems content sellers are having therefore we have created a revolutionary online payment processing service for digital downloads, called OneTouch Online Purchasingâ„¢.<BR/><BR/>â„¢. The OneTouch Online Purchasingâ„¢ service enables consumers to purchase digital content (such as music, ring tones, games, video clips, wallpapers etc.), via their computer or their mobile handset, and charge their purchase directly to a billing account with any telecom service provider, bank, or ISP of their choice. <BR/><BR/>"Think about it: If you're creating a website, you don't have to get permission from a carrier. You don't have to get anything certified by anyone. You don't have to beg for placement on the deck, and you don't have to pay half your revenue to a reseller. In fact, the operator, handset vendor, and OS vendor probably won't even be aware that you exist. It'll just be you and the user, communicating directly." Yes we agree therefore by using a D2C payment model, you get a much higher revenue share as high as 77%!<BR/><BR/>Worth checking out www.onetouchpurchasing.com I agree with your statement that “Vertical and native mobile application development is suffering due to poor business model syndrome. With the market widely fragmented and no solution in sight to ease the challenges of marketing individual applications, mobile content developers are shifting to the Web” Our company has realised the problems content sellers are having therefore we have created a revolutionary online payment processing service for digital downloads, called OneTouch Online Purchasingâ„¢.

â„¢. The OneTouch Online Purchasingâ„¢ service enables consumers to purchase digital content (such as music, ring tones, games, video clips, wallpapers etc.), via their computer or their mobile handset, and charge their purchase directly to a billing account with any telecom service provider, bank, or ISP of their choice.

“Think about it: If you’re creating a website, you don’t have to get permission from a carrier. You don’t have to get anything certified by anyone. You don’t have to beg for placement on the deck, and you don’t have to pay half your revenue to a reseller. In fact, the operator, handset vendor, and OS vendor probably won’t even be aware that you exist. It’ll just be you and the user, communicating directly.” Yes we agree therefore by using a D2C payment model, you get a much higher revenue share as high as 77%!

Worth checking out http://www.onetouchpurchasing.com

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Paul Golding) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-779 noreply@blogger.com (Paul Golding) Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:29:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-779 I said <A HREF="http://blog.wirelesswanders.com/2006/08/10/mobile-apps-nearly-dead/" REL="nofollow">mobile apps were dying a while back.</A><BR/><BR/>The inability to update mobiles in the field has been a major contributor to the fragmentation problem. I said mobile apps were dying a while back.

The inability to update mobiles in the field has been a major contributor to the fragmentation problem.

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Steve) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-780 noreply@blogger.com (Steve) Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:40:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-780 "For example, nobody threw his iPhone because of the lack of good office application... "<BR/><BR/>Because the iPhone is BLING first, and a tool second. “For example, nobody threw his iPhone because of the lack of good office application… “

Because the iPhone is BLING first, and a tool second.

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-781 noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:48:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-781 Guys stop all this. This is about the same as usual. The first 3rd party mob developer that is able to design a mobile app will win and then the mobile users dont really care if they will need to go through a downloading process that is difficult or if the developer needs to get whitelisted. It is about developing something that is of so strong need by the users that no one in the whole ecosystem can cut it out. Of course this killer app would need to take revenue generation of all the stakeholders into the picture and all this - and we have a winner. Who is going to develop this first will be a independant company, not the established players, as they are stuck in their own mindsets. This happens all the time in industries with such a massive fuel of growth - in a similiar way as Skype got there. Guys stop all this. This is about the same as usual. The first 3rd party mob developer that is able to design a mobile app will win and then the mobile users dont really care if they will need to go through a downloading process that is difficult or if the developer needs to get whitelisted. It is about developing something that is of so strong need by the users that no one in the whole ecosystem can cut it out. Of course this killer app would need to take revenue generation of all the stakeholders into the picture and all this - and we have a winner. Who is going to develop this first will be a independant company, not the established players, as they are stuck in their own mindsets. This happens all the time in industries with such a massive fuel of growth - in a similiar way as Skype got there.

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (MikeTeeVee) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-782 noreply@blogger.com (MikeTeeVee) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:28:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-782 Google Gears to the rescue?<BR/><BR/>http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2008/03/shifting-google-gears-to-mobile.html Google Gears to the rescue?

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2008/03/shifting-google-gears-to-mobile.html

]]> By: noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-783 noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:12:00 +0000 http://mobileopportunity.mobiforumz.com/2008/02/25/mobile-applications-rip/#comment-783 Without taking any side, here is just some marketing info about what happened in my country (Bulgaria) after iPhone appeared. <BR/>Around Christmas 2007 there was a big boom of the "unofficial" iPhone sales. This created a market opportunity for the small phone shops which can afford to sell sort of illegal phones. What they did - they imported by some way locked iPhones, unlocked them and sold them at a price about 600 Euro.<BR/>Since I am known as a "mobile" guy, at that time I was asked by many proud iPhone owners to install some games and software on their bricks. My experience was that the people were a little disappointed by the lack of software. Everybody just wanted this simple single icon which will bring in no time their favorite game or office program. <BR/>Anyway, I also found that to have native application on the phone was actually not very important (at least for that people who can afford 600 Euro for a phone). For example, nobody threw his iPhone because of the lack of good office application... <BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>Iliya Without taking any side, here is just some marketing info about what happened in my country (Bulgaria) after iPhone appeared.
Around Christmas 2007 there was a big boom of the “unofficial” iPhone sales. This created a market opportunity for the small phone shops which can afford to sell sort of illegal phones. What they did - they imported by some way locked iPhones, unlocked them and sold them at a price about 600 Euro.
Since I am known as a “mobile” guy, at that time I was asked by many proud iPhone owners to install some games and software on their bricks. My experience was that the people were a little disappointed by the lack of software. Everybody just wanted this simple single icon which will bring in no time their favorite game or office program.
Anyway, I also found that to have native application on the phone was actually not very important (at least for that people who can afford 600 Euro for a phone). For example, nobody threw his iPhone because of the lack of good office application…

Cheers,
Iliya

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