I had an opportunity to sit down with Bill Scott, V.P. Sales & Business Development of GetJar.com at last years Mobilize event in San Francisco to discuss mobile apps. Today, GetJar, the premiere independent mobile app store with more than 60,000 mobile apps on hand for major mobile platforms: Android, Symbian and Windows Mobile, put out a study that predicts a gold rush in the number of mobile apps and the increase in size of the mobile app marketplace.
According to the study, performed by Chetan Sharma Consulting, mobile app downloads should jump from 7 billion in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012. The market is estimated to be worth approximately 17 billion dollars. GetJar CEO Ilja Laurs makes another statement, echoing the one from a Google executive. “It is easy to see how mobile apps will eclipse the traditional desktop Internet. It makes perfect sense that mobile devices will kill the desktop,” he said. Mr. Laurs backs up this claim with more data from the study, citing that 17% of GetJar users spend more time on internet-linked smartphones than they do on desktops.
There have been many posts about which carriers offer the lowest prices on single line plans for Smartphones. Basically, for this comparison, we use two models (minimum minutes with text and data & unlimited minutes with text and data) to see which carrier comes out ahead. Now, keep in mind, the best thing to do is go to the closest store to you and check coverage BEFORE you look at pricing. Great prices are fine and dandy, but without coverage where you need it, it won’t matter a bit.
Fast Company Magazine have just published their survey of the most innovative companies and, somewhat deservedly, HTC have done very well.
Asus 9) Olympus, 10) LG
For the past 4 years I have been a devoted user of Windows Mobile, primarily using HTC devices. I am now so stuck in my ways that the thought of moving away from HTC’s comfortable designs and the familiar environment of Windows Mobile is almost frightening; this in itself is an anathema to me.
We’ve admired the device specification from afar and were not let down by the device in the flesh. It had the same solid feel of the older HTC Touch and the software responded with an alacrity I am not accustomed to as a Windows Mobile user. Best of all, the mail setup promised me the integration with Microsoft Exchange that I had found lacking in my first foray into Android.
On first removing the device from the packaging, I noted again the sturdy feel of the Tattoo. It honestly reminded me of my first HTC Touch, albeit without the rubbery grip of the Touch. The buttons were both firm and responsive; a genuine ergonomic miracle sat in my hand. I admit to being unable to remove the back cover but I tend to handle devices such as this with the same level of “I must not accidentally crush this” tenderness as I might a small creature or child. Once the back cover was off and the pertinent cards inserted I replaced the cover and booted up.
The Exchange configuration was a little more complicated than I felt it needed to be but it worked. I then configured my hotmail account; a personal email account that I’ve used for almost 14 years. I skipped past the social networking settings, eager to toy with this new and exciting operating system.
And so, as petty as it might seem, the device was reset and repackaged. The device now belongs to one of my colleagues; one of the others who had ordered the phone yesterday. He loves it, although he did describe it this morning as “like a beautiful woman with an amazing body and stunning face until she opens her gob and she’s a f***ing scouser”; so I guess he’s having some teething issues.
So Google has opened their ears and heard what the people in the forums had to say. After Joshua Topolsky of Engadget consistently grilled Google’s Android team about not implementing multitouch, it seems they finally caved. Today Google has posted on their Nexus One blog that an OTA update has begun to be pushed out starting now. The update includes Google’s new Google Goggles application pre-installed by default, updates to their maps application, 3G issues we have heard about consistently (and I have been suffering myself), and they are adding multitouch pinch to zoom functionality to the Browser, Maps, and Gallery applications. Welcome news indeed. I believe a thanks goes out to Joshua Topolsky. We did also hear recently that Steve Jobs said Google is trying to kill the iPhone and that the whole Google is not evil slogan is “bull shit”. Maybe this is Google’s way of saying, ‘we hear you Steve’. We can speculate while constantly checking for updates on our Nexus One’s. The update may not hit your phone today but Google expects everyone to have it by the end of the week.
HTC is the world’s fourth largest smartphone company. It ships 80% of all Windows Mobile and probably a similar proportion of Android devices. Like Microsoft in 2003, Google turned to HTC for its first smartphone, the G1 and its latest, the co-branded Nexus One. The company shipped a total of 11.7 million mobile phones in 2009. 
Windows Mobile 7 minimum requirements could make it available on High-end phones only
First off, forget the phone. The big news out of Google (s goog) today wasn’t the shiny new Nexus One, but the web store that the company created as a way to get a certain class of Android devices it calls superphones into consumer’s hands and regain some control over its open-source OS. That’s right, the phone may be sweet, but the business disruption today came from the channel.
When looking to replace my old mobile ‘phone late last year, I used Twitter and blogs to get some user feedback on the option at the top of my shortlist (a productive process that included a long and helpful review of the many pros and a few cons of my choice from one friend). As a result, I am now the proud owner of a HTC Hero smartphone. This uses the Android operating system, offers both 3G and wifi connectivity and synchronises seamlessly with my Gmail account (plus Facebook and Flickr). From being mainly reliant upon a laptop or netbook to keep in touch, I am now able to communicate from a pocket-sized device whenever I want and wherever I happen to be.
Google (s goog) is set to sell its own Android phone, the Nexus One, and jkOnTheRun this week collected all the details about it here. The company is holding a press event about Android next week that could include confirmation about the phone. The device is being manufactured by HTC, and while it’s not clear why Google would want to sell its own Android phone, that’s apparently the plan. The Nexus One is fairly typical compared to other Android phones, with the exception of the Snapdragon processor, which makes it the fastest of its kind out there.