Honeycomb for xmas

Well its xmas. Mother dearest was going to buy me a Kindle!.... but instead bought me two concrete Gargoyles and a mustache kit (no, really). In all honesty, I probably would have preferred the Kindle, but it did get me thinking.

Just before I get onto what the thought was, I was also doing some thinking yesterday as well (you can tell its the holidays). A friend was given an iPad for doing a talk on IPTV at Broadband World Forum 2010, they turned up with it in one of the covers that makes it look like a leatherbound book, and you a little bit of a idiot on the tube (I have a feeling this will change as tablets become more commonplace). I had a little play, and it is undoubtedly a smart little device. Browsing around the OS itself was a pleasure. Apps open quickly and the screen is gorgeous to look at. I was quickly reading their iPad subscription to Empire, and then surfing the net (admittedly using my Androids hotspot feature, which made me think that 3G was essential), and everything seemed to just work how I would expect it to, in that magical way that Apple seem to design things. I want one and I'd buy one. But not as my main computer and not at the price that Apple want me to pay. The lack of physical keys still makes doing any task that involves a lot of writing a bit of a pain.

So this xmas I want a Kindle, and I want an Ipad. But I need neither. What I will buy is an Android tablet. Despite the not-too-bad job they've done I've no desire to take the plunge with the Galaxy tab and Toshiba's own shoehorned Android 2.2 tablets, and because of this I can't help but think that Google have dropped the ball with a post Xmas release of Honeycomb (the new version of Android targetted at tablets). I'm sure in 2011 we are going to see a deluge of Honeycomb tablets, it seems everytime I logon to Hexus a new manufacturer has a press release stating their intentions to release a Android tablet in the coming months, but its a great shame that they haven't already dropped.

Once again, I'd like to emphasise the importance of the app market in the success of a mobile OS, and what this has to do with the missed opportunity this xmas. Microsoft are currently paying the price for being last to market with the W7 phones. Hardware wise, they are great, but the reason I'd buy either an Android phone or a iPhone over them now is that 1. The app store is tiny in comparison. And 2. I've already made an investment in the Android marketplace which I take with me as I upgrade my phone. I certainly don't want to have to rebuy all my old apps for a new device. This will be the same problem Google will be facing with the tablets. Those who desire a tablet this xmas, only have one real option, the iPad. Still, its the same battle that Google faced on the mobile market and they have had astounding success there. The amount of companies already committed to manufacturing an Android tablet is also assuring.

In truth I also know that if Google released a buggy, unintuitive tablet OS, into this very new sector, where a lot of people will be buying for the first time, it would put a lot of people off using an Android tablet in the future, and for me at least, once you buy into an OS, it's very hard to switch it up.

I'd like to see some statistics on the amount of people who have switched between mobile OS's.

Millenial Media - a stats goldmine

Oooh. Stats!

Most of the time any regular readers of this blog will have had to make do with personal experience, meandering, off the cuff commentary and some hyperlinks as anecdotal evidence. Well today I bring you some statistics and graphs. Shall we dive right in?

Millenial Medias wonderful monthly report for September shows, amongst other things, strong smartphone growth, with them now accounting for 58% of mobile page impressions. If you remember, a few posts ago, I mentioned how surfing the net on my HTC Desire was nearly as easy as doing it from my home computer. I can't help that feel that the rise of smartphones, and the ease with which we can use them to surf the net is inextricably linked to the amount click through's and revenue we'll see the mobile advertising market make going forward.

The Mobile Mix report has a hundred other stats and plenty of talking points. Head over now and download it

Working out your differences.

Well well well, that cute little robot has dollar signs in his eyes. For the first time in its history Android ad revenue exceeded iOS. Am I surprised? No, not really, Androids multi manufacturer, multi price point system gives them an natural advantage in this space over their Cupertino based rivals.

Part of Apples charm is that it is a 'premium' brand and as such charges a premium price. Fine, this is a system that has worked, and continues to work very very well for them. Desire-ability is their stock and trade and no one does it better. $4.31 billion profit. Enough said.

I always think about Google and Apple as direct rivals, but this weeks announcement has made me reconsider, as in fact the two do not compete directly across the board. Apple has always made its own hardware and married it with its own software, this is true for every single product its released in the last decade. It means incompatibility errors are less likely to occur and given their premium status, they can make a profit on each piece of hardware sold. Microsoft have hardly made a penny from hardware, and neither have Google (apart from the Nexus One, which a) did not sell very well and b) was made by HTC).

Google, is a software company, through and through - which allows it to work as many with established manufactures as it can do deals with. Thus, a glut of Android devices, ranging in price. Apples approach, on the one hand allows it to garner profits from both revenue streams, but on the flipside means that it will lose some ground to Google in advertising revenue as Android devices proliferate.

Both companies are very successful, but in some areas their success is mutually exclusive, and does not hinge on the others failure. If nothing else, with smartphone sales skyrocketing this town is very much big enough for the two of 'em.

After work thoughts.

Confession time: I’m writing this from work. Well, after work – but still at work all the same. Due to today’s tube strike I spent the first hour of the day comfortably surfing the net on my smartphone. I use the word ‘comfortably’ because on the new smartphones its honestly only a little less convenient than on my desktop PC at home.

One of the few merits of riding the bus to work over the tube was that I had internet access. Soon, with Boris Johnsons plan to enable internet access in the tube by the time of the Olympics, this won’t be the case, and barring tube strikes I’ll have even less reason to ride the bus than I already do.

However, there seems to be the opinion amongst a significant amount of my colleagues that the tube is some kind of sacred ground, reserved for people watching, reading ‘The Metro’ and practising standing with your neck crooked at a funny angle. As much as I enjoy all of these things, I’d rather spend the time replying to Facebook messages that I’ll have to reply later, above ground, when I could be doing other things like living. Charing Cross currently has its first free wifi connection, and is the first London station to do so. It follows a similar system in Glasgows metro, which has already got a number of advertisers onboard to help fund the system. Personally, I can’t wait.

Android Psychology

Blog time again folks. I do like fleeting updates on here, like the good friend you see now and again, and always wonder why you don’t make more of an effort to meet up more regularly. Personally, I got a new phone, eventually opting for an HTC Desire on Android. I should probably just come out and say it, I’m an Android fan. On a side note, I’ve been speaking to other people on the Android platform about why they chose it over iPhone.

Why people choose Android:

• The iPhone is now so commonplace that they wanted something a bit different
• They are cheaper
• They know someone who blindly worships Apple – which really pisses them off.

Its amazing the amount of people who cite reasons one and three, given that taken on a purely unemotional level, they make almost no sense –However, anyone who has studied why people purchase what the do knows that emotion plays a massive role in the decision making process, even if the individual would claim otherwise. In the same way people (read: me) dislike the bands they used to love as soon as they hit the mainstream, people seem to be having the same reaction with smartphones. I’d like to find a psychological study that offers a theory about this by the way, but I’d say it is more prolific now than ever before because of the level of customisation that the new OS’s offer – no phone is ever the same, it’s an extension of the ‘self’, and thus you are emotionally attached. Armchair psychology 101. Unfortunately a different theory is needed for the popularity of the iPhone.

Work, RIM and Play

Just popped in to say "hi", but also to say that RIM (of Blackberry fame) have launched a new tablet aimed at business users. All very well, but why then, have they called it the 'Playbook' - which implies exactly the opposite?

Very strange indeed.

Hope you like stats!

Two interesting articles were published this week, both of which I couldn't let slip by without a a mention.

Firstly there was this article posted on CNet, and a dozen other sites besides. For those not wanting to read the whole article, or with a nasty case of carpel tunnel, it talks about the levels of profit Apple is gaining on each iPhone sold - somewhere in the region of 50% gross margin. This is impressive, if put in context with the rest of the market where a manufacturer is lucky if they turn 10%.

As well as this, the other story that broke this week is this story from Dailytech, which talks about the % market share of each of the biggest players in the mobile Advertising universe. Googles market share, was estimated to be around 27% as of last year. However, IDC have reported that it expects a 6% drop in ad revenue for Google in 2010, meaning that both Apple and Google will be neck and neck in the market with a 21% share each. Apples purchase of Quattro Wireless and its 9% market share is starting to make much more sense.

Cos I'ma criminal!

Woe me! I am a victim of crime! Another statistic on the British Crime Survey! Yes, I’ve had my mobile stolen. After a short chase and some hardman shouting that does not befit my usual personality, the little tyke got away. Thanks to the wonders of mobile insurance, I will of course, be getting a new phone, which leaves me with a dilemma. I now have the opportunity to sell the new handset, invest a little money and buy a new phone. The decision is easy in one sense, it was only ever going to be between an Android handset or an iPhone. But which?

The high end handsets see to cost almost the same amount nowadays with a top spec Android phone costing around £450 and an iPhone 4 ringing in at about £500.

The cost of the two phones belies the kind of technology that lies beneath the handsets, and it’s easy to forget this cost when you take out a contract and get the phone for free. It is honestly amazing how much hardware they cram into phones nowadays, even for a technophile like me, and the difference beyond aesthetics between the top models from Apple/HTC/Samsung/Sony is growing steadily smaller.

So then, why on earth is it so hard to choose a phone? Well the real value and USPs nowadays, consciously for me, and perhaps unconsciously for the less discerning consumer, is in the OS. This is a real testament to how big an influence Android and iOS on their own, have over the purchasing decisions of our most important gadget.

Consumers aside, the OS of choice for advertisers will continue to be whichever one makes them the most money.

P Diddys tyres

Despite my lack of attention to you, lovely blog readers, I have been storing away interesting articles for a day of motivation. Spread the word! That day has arrived, and you’ll be getting not one, but two posts, in less than 24 hours.

Delusions of people actually caring aside, I suppose I could justify the wait because John Carmacks (not-so) recent diatribe has taken me some time to mull over. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the name, Carmack is one of the gaming industries most well respected developers, and his development house, iD software, have created some of the most well known games of the past 20 years, Doom and Quake, being the two most obvious examples. Think of him as the nerd version of James Cameron, he may not be making the best games around at the moment, but his technical skill is breathtaking and his CV speaks for itself. When he talks, people listen.

During a recent Q&A session, in which Carmack showed off some of the latest games he had got running on the iOS platform, including upcoming shooter ‘Rage’, Carmack was asked by an audience member about iD’s support for the Android platform. In response, Carmack asked the audience how many of them had spent more than $20 on the Android app store. The result: not many. And in fact, while I am approaching having spent that sum myself, currently I believe it is less. Carmack went on to say that he has been monitoring Android closely, and iD will eventually bring their products to Android, it just won’t be in the next 6 months. So, is that part of the reason for the disparity between the size of the two app markets?

My point is this. While figures are constantly released giving us the market share of each of the mobile platforms, what we know very little about is the market itself. Demographics, average spend per user, total spend, click through’s, and what kinds of apps are being bought, is all data that is very hard to come by.

Can we make assumptions about this, and more importantly, without aforementioned data to hand, is that what developers are doing? Is it fair to say that the same people who buy into the idea of a free, open platform such as Android running on phones that cost less than a return flight to Kuala Lumpar, also prefer free apps? In the same way, is it true that the same people who are willing/able to shell out £750+ for an iPhone 4 may also be more willing to pay for apps for that device? Compare this to the automotive industry, P Diddy does not put Halfords Value tyres on his Maybach.

What all this means, is that, despite Carmacks reservations about developing for a platform whose users are not splashing the cash, its quite possible that Android, with its increasingly large market share, and users hungry for free content, currently makes a compelling case for Ad funded apps.

Cupcakes and Eclairs.

Wow, what a gap. Its got to the stage where its almost embarrassing to come back and post after this long away. Like when you don’t send a thank you card to a relative that’s sent you a birthday present. Luckily the internet has no such grievances, and, given the lack of readership, legions of fans won’t exactly be baying for my blood.

Casual surfers, who have tripped upon the site on the way to somewhere else, may be excused for thinking that maybe nothing has happened over the past 2 months. Well, of course, that is simply not true. However, from an personal standpoint, the biggest change has been the upgrade of my HTC Hero from Android v1.5 (aka ‘Cupcake’) to v2.1 (aka Éclair).

The change itself was a bit of a mixed bag. It bought along hardware optimisations, in the form of improved responsiveness of the OS, better support for HTML5, a better keyboard and a few other things, which you either know about already or have no interest in knowing. But just like your mums packed lunch, its not all chocolate and crisps. The homemade bread of the bunch is that some of my apps have just stopped updating. The HTC weather app being the worst offender. Luckily the app stores ‘Weatherbug’ provided me with a simple and free solution to that. Additionally, it seems to now refuse to tell me I have received texts in the notification bar, though email notifications are admittedly, much improved.

Discussions about Éclair aside, it is the app store that seems to have undergone some of the most radical changes for casual and power users alike. First of all, it’s prettier. The hot girl with the funny nose, has finally had that rhinoplasty. A new white background and black text makes it easier to read, and somehow, for a less cluttered interface. Additionally, the number of top level categories has been extended, so if you have something in mind, it is easier to at least begin the search in a more specific section. Even better, upon entering said categories, you get three easily selectable sections with which to browse in, Top Paid, Top Free, and Just In – all are pretty explicable. There maybe many more changes that I am yet to observe, but the aforementioned make massive inroads into the Android app market mess, that I had previously heavily criticised.

It is this kind of progress that is going to really attract developers, and advertisers to the platform. With Androids market share now outperforming Apple, at 17%, progress does need to be made on this front, and it appears Google are both aware of the fact, and committed to doing so.

Is that free?

So much to talk about! So little time!

Its all news news news this week. I've started seeing iPhone 4s 'in the wild'. Over the weekend the owners were especially evident. Out on the tube on Saturday afternoon they could be spotted a mile off after queuing for hours, just look for the the dishevelled, smug looking guy with a posh paper bag. Legend has it, that the O2 store was even giving out bags saying 'iPhone 4 - I've got mine' - though to be honest, they may as well have written 'mug me now' on them. For the stat monkeys among us, they've sold 1.7m since launch.

Meanwhile, Google are trying their best to shout over the rabble that Apple has created. CEO Eric Schmidt claiming that Android Applications now number over 65000, up over 15000 - just this month. Brilliant news for the end user, and in line with the every increasing number of Android Handsets being sold. I make no secret of being a big fan of Google and Android, and their more open applications framework. However, what is concerning is a recent report by Larva Labs - a mobile app developer on the amount of revenue being raised on Androids market. At the risk of recycling statistics from this article, it Apple has paid out $1 billion to app developers since its launch, whereas Google has paid out a comparatively paltry $20 million.

From a personal point of view, I believe a lot of this has to do with the simple yet intelligent synchronisation of your iTunes account with the App store. It seems that buying apps from Android market place is just a tad more hassle to the average user - who, chances are, might already have a iTunes account. Equally, it may also be down to the sheer numbers of free Apps available on the Android marketplace. For the purpose of this article I had a look around to test if the marketplace had remembered my credit card details since the last time I purchased an app. The biggest problem I faced was actually finding a paid for app anywhere near the top of the 'most popular' lists. I can understand the average users mentality. Firstly, its sometimes hard to justify the investment in something you may only use for 5 minutes on the way to work (though Android does have a brilliant 24 uninstall and refund policy). Additionally, when you can get a similar app for free, why bother. Ultimately we will have to ask the question: will a lack of app sales eventually put developers off creating software for the platform?

I suppose this makes advertising revenue even more important, as we may well find it being the one thing propping the Androids application industry up.

Embedding

I have to admit to being entirely distracted in the last week. Work is the usual culprit, and in no small way, the beginning of the World Cup has played its hand in keeping me away from my computer. Anyhow, despite England failing to do anything to talk about on the pitch, Apple have been busying themselves with the upcoming launch of the next iPhone. As have the customers, with AT&T and apple themselves now refusing to take any further pre-orders, and in some cases, even pushing back the launch date (presumably to increase stocks at launch).

In any case, its coming, June 24 (to a lucky few).

Those of you more interested in actually using the device than looking at the possibilities it offers for serving ads might think the rest of the article will be irrelevant. Well, I'm pleased and sorry, in equal measures, to say that this is not the case. Ads will continue to be a very important source of revenue for Apple and its new mobile advertising partner, Quattro.

First up, I'd really like to examine IOS from the perspective of a consumer. The most immediate advantage is that a better advertising framework will continue to attract great developers to the platform, and you'll get great apps and games, sometimes for free! As well as this, you are going to see far better ad integration within these apps. There is nothing worse than an annoying ad that gets in the way of whatever it is you're doing. Apple have promised that IOS will make this a thing of the past. Remember the days, when you are on the final boss of Super Planet Destroyer 3 and the bus stops just a little too abruptly, and your finger hits and advertising banner, shutting the app, and shoving you into browser mode to go to the advertisers webpage. Instead, should this occur (some bus drivers will always be trigger happy with the brakes), Apple tells us it'll be far easier to negotiate your way back to the app, and it'll still be in the same place you left it.

For the developer, Apple claims we'll see far better use of embedded content. Streaming video, similar to that which really, has only come into its own on the net in the last two years or so, will be far more commonplace. We'll also see embedded ads become far more interactive, but lets just hope that they go further than "shoot the (insert animal here) to win $1m". Speaking of money, the deal is, that developers will receive 60% of revenue generated. Which, from the perspective of someone without much knowledge of historical revenue percentages from mobile advertising deals, sounds fair.

What wouldn't seem quite so fair, should you already deal with them, is that Apple has effectively banned developers from aggregating content with Googles MobiAd platform. I can understand this to a certain degree, as some say the MobiAd platform was swiped from within Apples grasp by Google, and so some bad blood may still exist there.

Allegedly, Ads are dynamically sent to devices which may mean that we'll see a larger variety of more relevant ads within the apps we are using. One of the fundamentals of advertising is that ads, are of course, far more effective if served to an audience with a pre existing interest in whatever is being sold.

Come June 24th and beyond, we'll see what the new hardware and software of Apples iPhone will let developers do. I hope it delivers more relevant and better implemented advertising to the consumer. Since, I am one.

Hate to say....

I now feel compelled to write the final part of this Android review in haste, due to the increasing glut of iPhone news that is almost all worthy of comment. Despite this impulse, I’ll do my best to give this article the finish it deserves. Maybe a little of what’s currently hitting the headlines will be relevant in a piece about the future of androids application market anyway.

What is remarkable, on both iPhone and Android, is the amount of free apps out there. These must be financed partly by the passion of the developers, partly by a desire to show off their talents and partly by financial incentives. I cannot claim to have any idea about the time lengths and difficulties of coding a smartphone app, so its hard to say whether this kind of model is viable over the next few years, or if we will see more developers start to desire some even more financial payback for their exertion. Supposedly an app entering the top 100 can expect to earn anything between $400 and $5000 a day, but then that leaves 149,900 apps earning far less than that. Techcrunch has some very interesting graphs and statistics on this here

What is clear is that both Google and Apple are both staking considerable amounts of money on mobile search, and that advertisers are prepared to, at the very least make some kind of foray into the mobile market. What is a very positive indicator going forward, is that some of the biggest names in the game, namely P&G and Nike, have recently developed Apps specifically for their brand.

I think as the Android platform matures, we’ll see a more consistent and transparent model for of ad supported payment for the app development market, whereas some apps now have no ads, some have a great many. What I hope is that, app development by big name brands also continues. These apps are usually of a high quality, and are good for both the brand and the consumer. The brand gets meaningful interaction with their product, and a campaign that can easily spread by word of mouth. The consumer gets a free app.

On the subject of paid apps, the future is a little more obtuse. Are people willing to pay money for Apps when they are so often viewed as a free commodity? My experience of paying for apps is more of a ‘foray’ than a commitment. I believe this will depend as much as whether we can adjust to spending money via our mobiles, like we did in the transition from shopping in the high street, and online, as it will on whether microtransactions are ‘micro’ enough for us to wear. If we can extrapolate from other industries such as video gaming, it does suggest that they may be.

So what does this mean? Well I’d hate to be quoted in 3 years time making a prediction that turned out wrong. On the flipside I do love to say ‘I told you so’. I’d suggest that as things look at the moment, we’ll see less apps being developed, and a consolidation of the developers into biggers studios, much like the videogame market over the past 20 years. This move will, however be counteracted by a better App funding system implemented by Google, in the near future, and as a result of this, I think we’ll see more ads in ‘free’ apps.

iPhoneyou

The new iPhone was announced today, big news for the umpteen Apple fans out there. I'll be continuing my review of the Android app market in the next post, but shortly after that, it'll be important to talk about some of the huge implications for mobile advertising that comes with the new iOS4.

In the meantime, I suggest you check out Engadgets hands on and first look articles here and here

The State of the Apt

With a week long holiday to Eastern Europe out of the way, its now time for the second part of my Android review! Hold on tight!

Unlike Androids dev teams, I won't divide this post into games and Apps, so its all going to be going in together.

Google execs recently touted 100,000 Androids units shipping per day. That's an impressive figure, and especially, since every casual journalist under the sun is clawing to get their hands on the next iPhone , or second best, an exclusive piece of news on it. Mainstream press aside, there is no doubt that the Android platform is gaining traction. In the same way a console lives or dies on the strength of its software, Android's success will only continue if its Apps continue to appeal.

So, hows it going?

Well, in total they currently number over 50000, and I do not plan to get to grips with every one of them individually. Instead I'll talk about the ones I've used regularly myself, and hopefully we can extrapolate this to the rest of the market. At the very least it might give those wondering if the Android device they are thinking of buying can do everything the iPhone can do.

With the number of Android devices increasing at a steady, and impressive, way, we can assume that as popularity of the hardware increases, App developers will also be keen to tap into this emerging market. Its seems like only a few months ago (January?) that there were 30000 apps for the device, so an increase of 20k in six months is impressive to say the least (iPhone currently has 150k in case you were wondering).

So, the apps I use:

BBC news Widget

Engadget Widget

Weather

London Tube Map

DoggCatcher podcast downloader

Youtube

Facebook

AdvanceTaskKiller

Retrocamera & FX Camera

Games - Robot Defense, Bebbled, Jewels, Maths workout, Spacephysics

Qype

Skype

Google Starmap

Finger Painting

Magic 8 Ball

Dice

and a fair few others!

Writing this down in a list makes me actually sit back and realise how many I've been using without thinking about it.

Among them Doggcatcher and Spacephysics are the only paid for apps.

Without giving it any thought at all, I could say, that generally, the apps I have used have been impressive. Read on to get to the nitty gritty. The ones I use the most, have two key attributes: They work and they are relevant/useful to me on a day to day basis. The ones that I use the least usually fail on one of these attributes. For example, the Tube Map app, is really very simple, but it does what you'd expect of it, you can scroll around the map, plan routes, and zoom in and out etc.

Google, unlike Apple, does not approve every release on Android, and as we covered last week a good app makes it mark on the basis of user reviews. What this means is that there is very little in the way of quality control, and this is especially prevalent when searching for more obscure apps. The Retrocamera app for example is very cool, and does a lot of things, but is slow, and hard to take pictures with, therefore I can never really be bothered to use it. It appears, that as a general rule, if an app crashes, is slow, or doesn't do what you wanted, it is discarded very quickly. We must remember that with 50000 apps out there, chances are there will be one that does work. Additionally, since I haven't actually invested anything in them apart from some time and bandwidth, I don't feel like I've lost anything getting rid of them. In short, we can say that when it comes to apps, I am a pretty fickle user, and I believe others must be as well.

In regards to the paid for apps, I suppose, by the same logic we can say that people are more likely to be a little more faithful. However, they are also more likely to expect more from the app. Doggcatcher, had good reviews, and I wanted my podcasts to appear on my phone so I didn't have to keep downloading them and transfering from my PC. I paid $6 for it, and it works well. Despite this, I have stopped using it, because my supposed 'unlimited' data plan, actually caps out at 1GB. Spacephsics I paid for after playing the demo, as its perfect as mobile game, and works great with the touchscreen - and is my number one recommendation for games on Android.

Of the free apps, I have seen BBC news and Facebook go through several updates, which has improved their performance and functionality no end (particularly with BBC, which was previously fairly buggy).

So to make some casual observations about the state of the Android apps market. I think its fair to say that choice is not an issue, and this will be continue to be even less of an issue as time goes on and Android hardware sales increase. Quality is an issue with some apps, but then this is a free platform, and so we must accept that. Paid for apps, in my experience at least, usually offer more functionality than their free counterparts (though this is not always the case, obviously), and are general stable.

Free apps, are a bit hit or miss. Many put out by major developers (Facebook, BBC, Google) are absolutely brilliant. But conversely, while some apps put out by indie devs can be absolutely brilliant (Tubemap, Magic 8 Ball, Dice) others are sometimes buggy or slow (Retrocamera, FX camera).

I'm still waiting for a Wheel of Tea app though...

Get lost.

So I've been meaning to write a piece on Android for a while.

As an owner of an HTC Hero, its currently my mobile OS of choice, and I have to say, that despite the hardware limitations of the said phone (its a bit slow to respond sometimes), I'm actually very impressed with the operating system itself. So with my personal opinion of the OS out of the way, there are a few other things I would like to cover in the coming three articles.

Firstly: Using the Marketplace

Secondly: The state of the apps

Thirdly: The future of the Android Marketplace

I've had the Android device for 4 months so far, and I've been downloading an eclectic selection of free, and paid for, apps. For anyone who has yet to use the Android app market, upon entering the Marketplace app itself, you are initially presented with about 4 different choices. Firstly 'featured' apps - a selection of mostly paid for apps for premium brands such as Spotify, along with a couple of free apps, selected, presumably, by a deity somewhere in Google towers. Below that you can brows either 'Applications' or 'Games'. Within the 'Applications' menu there are further subcategories for various types of app. Within these you are presented with a list of apps sorted either by date, or popularity. For me, the biggest problem with this is that there are supposedly 30000+ apps on the market. This means that within each category there is, on average, about 3000 apps.

Fine. Thats good of course, choice is almost always a good thing. But it does mean that scrolling through the list is a labour intensive task. Additionally a lot of the apps seem to repeat themselves, and beyond the ratings and reviews you can view, there is no way to sort by 'highest rated'. I suppose you could perhaps argue that 'most popular' (ie: most downloaded) can be correlated with 'highest rated'. Frankly sorting by 'date' seems to be a total waste of time, unless you check the app market every 10 minutes to see what new apps have been released. New apps are released so frequently that this is a community where reputations are built on the strength of user reviews. I can't think of another media in which I rely almost entirely on fellow users to make informed purchase decisions. Since the importance of 'ratings' is given such weight, it would be great to have the choice to sort by 'highest rated - ever' and also 'highest rated - over the last 7 days/month/year etc' - to give new apps the chance to float to the top of the list on their merits. Right now, whatever apps are at the top of the ' most downloaded' list rule the roost, and will continue to do so, regardless of their quality compared to other similar apps.

I can't speak for those of you using the iPhone, but browsing the Android marketplace makes me feel lost very quickly indeed, especially if you aren't extremely specific with what it is you are looking for.

Despite this, I did find a very useful Dice application the other day using the search function, which helped no end with 'drinking snakes and ladders' in the pub.

$1000

Friday’s finally rolled around, which puts everyone in a good mood. Mine was furthered by the news that GQ has launched an iPad (is the little ‘I’ still applicable?) version of its magazine. Admittedly its first issue made them a paltry $1000, but as editor Pete Hunsinger points out – its all profit. The move away from physical media, whether it be CD’s, DVD’s or print, is a no brainer. At the moment, with the emergence of digital media consumption, you can run a digital campaign using the existing material on a dime, so why not? It leaves the big dogs with some interesting discussions about the cost of advertising pricing in this unproven sector.

Pringoooooals!

Whether you like it or not (and you better had, because you can't avoid it), the World Cup is nearly upon us. Like every other event in our calender, the advertisers are climbing all over each other to get a seat in the rollercoaster. High on emotion, consumers the world over are at their most receptive, and it makes for a great time to get your brand name out there.

Advertising heavyweights P&G stepped up to the plate in a big way when it came to the World Cup and created, with help from Sky Media, the Pringooooals app. Functionality-wise, your iphone shouts 'goooooal' when shaken, can be made to blow a whistle, or if the decisions are going against you, shows a red card.

Nothing ground breaking then. But it doesn't need to be. It free and goes down well in our online culture that not only thrives on but expects media to be free (.torrent anyone?).

So the user gets a free event relevant app to play with. What's in it for P&G? Thanks to youtube, great adverts go on to be watched over and over again. However, not every ad can be 'colour like no other' - and once its run has finished, it disappears forever. With an app, you're essentially getting a persistent campaign on iTunes, available forever, for free, spread by word of mouth, everyday use, and propagated by the World Cup - an event someone else is paying for.

The most intelligent ads you'll see this year will be the ones that make the world cup and the users work for them. Pringoooals, currently at number 2 in the commercial app charts is a definite contender.

Back to you in the newsroom

So, to save anyone that stumbles across this page looking for advertising news, I'd love to point you to MobiAD, I've added an RSS feed ----->

Welcome to the Ad-Appt blog

Hi. Welcome.

Right, enough of that.

Ad-Appt has been created with a primary, humble, goal in mind. As a personal commentary to the goings on in the commercial advertising mobile application market.

As with everything in life, we may eventually find ourselves achieving other goals. Lets keep things simple for now though.