In Mobile, Fragmentation is Forever. Deal With It.

TechCrunch has a great article about mobile fragmentation by Richard Wong at Accel Partners. The article highlights the fact that there is no long or short term solution to fragmentation and nor is there a simple answer answer to which platforms companies should invest in. As one of the pioneers in cross-platform development Golden Gekko has invested heavily in R&D and education of customers and partners.

Our platform recommendations vary from case to case but our general advice is:

• PR, communication and experience - go for an iPhone app
• Innovation - Android is the first choice as there are few restrictions
  
• Youth market - J2ME for non-connected apps
  
• Mass market reach - multi-platform is a must
  
• Business users - go for Blackberry and J2ME
  

Java/J2ME is our preferred base platform as there are clear development synergies between J2ME, Blackberry, Android and e.g. widgets whereas iPhone development has limited synergies with anything else.

One of the main limitations with J2ME today is that most users won't connect to the network due to issues with settings, data costs, security prompts, etc but the number of downloads for a like for like iPhone and J2ME app is still 5x to the advantage of the J2ME app.

Read more on
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/04/mobile-fragmentation-forever/

To predict the future we must first understand the past. Therefore this year’s top 10 list consists of the top 5 activities in mobile 2009 and our top 5 predictions for 2010.


Top 5 Mobile Activities 2009

1. The year of mobile marketing Every year for the last six years some analyst, media agency, operator or handset manufacturer has forecasted that the next year will be the year of mobile marketing. We are happy to say that from our perspective 2009 was the year when mobile marketing took off. The past 12 months have been incredible in terms of interest around mobile marketing, despite a very difficult financial environment for the advertising industry.


The tipping point had nothing to do with particular media spend on mobile or reaching critical mass in consumer uptake of mobile services however. Instead the main indicator to us was that for the first time brands and businesses across the board took a spontaneous interest in mobile marketing. The number of briefs directly from brands and agencies sky-rocketed compared to previous years and although not every brief resulted in a project we now know that the demand is there. The second indicator was that Google acquired Admob for 750m USD showing that the major internet players are now getting serious about mobile.
Finally we can say goodbye to the year of mobile marketing and concentrate on building a long term profitable marketing channel together with partners and customers.

2. Shift from advertising to marketing In the last couple of years we have moved from a world with impressions to a world with engagements and 2009 was the break-through year with more mobile marketing budgets being invested in the mobile websites and apps than display advertising including search. This trend is in contradiction to most forecasts by analysts such as Gartner, Strategy Analytics, Yankee Group and eMarketer. In reality it has meant that the growth in mobile display advertising was very small in 2009 despite the fact that overall mobile marketing budgets increased with somewhere from 20-50% depending on source. We believe that the trend is more positive as it shows that brands want to engage customers and not only hit them with ads.

3. Appstore explosion 2009 was the year of app mania.
• Apple appstore hit 2 billion downloads and 100.000 available apps
• Marketers across the world started talking about iPhone apps as the must do activity in any digital marketing strategy
• A myriad of new appstores were launched including Nokia OVI, Blackberry App World, Windows Market, Orange Appstore, Samsung Appstore, Vodafone 360 and more
• Existing independent appstores such as Getjar, Mobango, Mobile9 grew exponentially
• The Android appstore started off slowly but accelerated and reached 20.000 apps by the end of the year
• Innovative new app storefronts & reviews sites launched including mplayit on Facebook
In summary: “There’s an app for that!”

4. Increased budgets With increased attention of mobile marketing among marketing planners and brand managers budgets increased despite the tough financial markets as mobile was seen as a necessity to differentiate or in some cases to keep up with the competition. The biggest mobile budget of the year was most likely Nokia to promote Ovi but other more traditional brands such as Volkswagen and Coca Cola also assigned low to medium six digit budgets.

5. Smartphone craze The main driver of the app mania and increase in mobile browsing was continued uptake in smartphone sales lead by Symbian, Blackberry and iPhone. Marketers were surprised by Q3 figures showing that iPhone is still number three in sales despite 80% of the media attention. What it shows is that the battle is not won yet.


Source: Canalys. 2009 unit figures calculated from reported market share in new sales


Top 5 Predictions for 2010

1. Improved efficiency in mobile service development In 2009 the cost of mobile app and mobile website development went up substantially due to a combination of lack of skilled resources and an immature market. In 2010 we expect to see more standardised tools, enhanced processes and improved efficiency as mobile becomes integrated into the overall marketing strategy. We hope and believe that this means that more time and resources can be spent on critical elements of the user experience of mobile including design and usability testing.

2. Mobile becomes a business critical platform With companies starting to generate substantial amounts of business, the mobile platform becomes a business critical service and not just a campaign channel. Companies such as Pizza Hut, BMW, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Lufthansa, etc have already managed drive acquisitions as well as new revenues from the mobile and the focus will continue during 2010. This may also slow development down for a while as departments’ battle about the ownership of budgets and resources but the long-term implication is that the mobile platform will become just as important as the web.

3. Increased mobile platform fragmentation In 2010 most marketers will shift from doing an iPhone app for PR value to planning mobile services and campaigns that will reach the widest possible audience within their target segments. This means delivering across multiple mobile platforms (iPhone, Android, Java, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, etc) and channels (apps, mobile websites and messaging/SMS) which a high degree of complexity. With the number of mobile platforms still on the rise (Samsung Bada, Vodafone 360 widgets, Palm Pre, etc) mobile specialists will have a big responsibility in making a complex environment simple without dumbing it down. The starting point of any mobile marketing strategy will be to build a mobile website that works across all platforms as the baseline but this won’t meet the consumer demand for a great user experience. The objective should always be to offer the best user experience for each platform and this means delivering a mix of mobile web and mobile apps for many years to come.

4. iPhone growth slows down, Android picks up and others stay neutral The growth of iPhone sales slows down as mobile operators reduce subsidies and promotions for the device whereas Android with a more mobile operator friendly model picks up with new devices from LG, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson and Motorola. The operators will also continue to promote other platforms such as Blackberry, Windows Mobile and LiMo as well as feature phones to avoid domination by Google.

5. Mobile network collapse under traffic load AT&T has seen a 5000% increase in mobile data network traffic over the last three years and with only 3-4% penetration the iPhone made up 50% of all mobile data traffic in the US during 2009. O2 in the UK has seen a similar increase in traffic resulting in network outages, slow network speeds and customer dissatisfaction. At the same time mobile operators will not and cannot keep up with the demand due to shareholder pressure to keep capex investments at a minimum and maximize short term profits. Our prediction is that mobile network reliability and performance in 2010 will get considerably worse with an even greater increase in smartphone sales, uplift in usage and more mobile video & music services launched. The short term solution by operators will be to shift more traffic to wifi networks but with the lack of open wifi infrastructure in Europe this won’t help much. Longer term capacity will build up thanks to competitive forces and consumer demand for a reliable service.

Happy New Year 2010!


This article was published in a shorter version on http://www.gomonews.com/top-10-activities-and-predictions-in-mobile-2009-to-2010/

Ogilvy gives everyone a white christmas this year

Ogilvy develops Christmas app for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and most other camera phones in partnership with Golden Gekko.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…”

Like Bing Crosby, but smaller and easier to control, Let It Snow brings you the magic of a white Christmas wherever you are.

Syncing with your iPhone camera, this smart little app works by adding a gently-falling veil of snow to anything you view. Just click the button and look… it’s snowing!

Cheaper than hiring a snow machine and so simple, a reindeer in mittens could do it – Let It Snow transforms your whole world into a festive photo opportunity. (You don’t even need to go outside to enjoy it.)

Chances of a white Christmas this year? 100%.

Click here to download

The application is also available for Android and over 1000 Java phones on http://snow-ogilvy.golgek.mobi from your mobile

Anyone Make A Mobile App In Five Easy Steps

Official press release:

Time, and cost to get an app to market gets faster and more affordable

Golden Gekko, a leading developer and technology provider for cross platform mobile applications, today unveils its new service Tino, that will allow anyone to build a mobile application and bring it to market much faster, and more affordably, than has previously been seen in the mobile app marketplace.

To build a mobile app, a customer can visit www.tinomobile.com and follow five easy steps to build an application of choice. Pricing for Golden Gekko’s Tino starts at as low as £100 which is significantly cheaper than the average £5-10,000 price tag of comparable applications.,
“We are offering Tino as a low cost entry to the mobile app marketplace, and can provide anyone with the tools to build a mobile app, with a process that takes less than an hour,” said Magnus Jern, Golden Gekko’s CEO. “Our Tino customers do not need to be technical experts, as they’ll get an easy step-by-step guide that allows them to self-develop a mobile app on the Web.”

Golden Gekko’s Tino invites everyone to create attractive, powerful mobile applications, that will support 90 per cent of the global mobile handset market,
using any content, external feeds, and rich media. The process is simple, requires no programming, and can be completed in as little as 30. Tino will automatically host and track the number of engagements.

Tino customers will get access to the wealth of experience Golden Gekko has in the mobile applications industry, of serving exciting mobile content on billions of phones worldwide, and developing content for 40 leading global brands including Absolut Vodka, Accenture, Bloomberg, Coca Cola, Disney, European Directories Novartis, Paramount, Perfetti, Sara Lee, Unilever, Universal Pictures and Vodafone.

For more visit http://www.tinomobile.com

Know The Signs Breathalyzer iPhone app from Heineken

Golden Gekko develops iPhone app for Heineken to increase drinking awareness.

We all know someone who sometimes has one too many to drink on a night out. Whether they transform into a Fighter, an Exhibitionist, a Groper, a Flirt, a Sleeper, a Crier or a Stumbler, you can be sure they’re going to cause you problems.

Now if your friend starts to show the signs of turning into one of these characters, you can use the Heineken Breathalyzer before things get out of hand.

All you need to do is pre-set it to one of the seven characters before handing the breathalyzer over to your friend. Ask them to blow into the phone’s microphone and watch their face as they fail dramatically.

Not only will your friend get the message that they’ve had one too many, but they’ll also know what you really think they’re like on a night out!

Click here to download

Top 10 tips for mobile application development

Mobile applications are high on every digital marketer's agenda at the moment. But what exactly are they for and how can you get the most out of them? Who downloads mobile application?

The IAB (Internet Advertising Board) in the UK recently published a top 10 tips list for mobile application development. One example:

5. Know who the average app user is
There are 8.7 million people who have used a downloaded app in the UK which is 18% of mobile users. 60% of these users are playing games that they have downloaded. The median age of an apps user is 32 years old and 43% are female. 36% of app users own smartphones compared to 15% of the total market. Alistair Hill, Analyst and Mobile Products, Europe, comScore

For the full list visit http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/tenthingsyouabsolutelyhavetoknowaboutmobileapplications.html

NYT says cost of mobile app development going up and Mobile Marketing is the

"What Do All These Phone Apps Do? Mostly Marketing"

NYT had a some very interesting insights on mobile apps this month:

1. The demand for mobile apps is driving up cost from $5.000 8 months ago to about$40.000 or more today
   
2. Advertising apps are evolving from the early novelties like the zippo lighter to more advanced services such as the Kraft iFood Assistant
   
3. No single kind of phone holds a big enough audience to attract many mass-market national brands.
   
4. Utilities that people use repeatedly are the most effective.
   

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/technology/05apps.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

Gartner's top 10 technologies include the cloud, mobile apps

"10) Mobile Applications. By year-end 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of rich, mobile commerce providing a rich environment for the convergence of mobility and the Web. There are already many thousands of applications for platforms such as the Apple iPhone, in spite of the limited market and need for unique coding. It may take a newer version that is designed to flexibly operate on both full PC and miniature systems, but if the operating system interface and processor architecture were identical, that enabling factor would create a huge turn upwards in mobile application availability."

Comments have ranged from "Mobile apps on the bottom of Gartner's top 10 list" and "Mobile apps going out of fashion" to "Mobile apps the next big thing". To our knowledge this is the first time Mobile applications have made it onto the list and the amount of attention mobile apps are getting this year despite only being used by about 5% of the population in Europe and US is amazing. Imagine what will happen when it hits 25%!

Read the full top 10 list on http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=530109

And read more comments

Advertising to women on the iphone

According to mobile marketing firm Brand in Hand, female iPhone users are the worst demographic in terms of responding to mobile ads on the iPhone. See article by ReadWriteWeb http://ow.ly/15Vlkn

Just like the article suggests we think the solution is to offer great apps that are relevant for women. We also think that advertisers should consider other mobile platforms to target women as approximately 75% of iPhone users are still male (Comscore June 2009).

Return to this blog next week for some great examples of mobile applications targeted towards women!

Tech Media Invest 2009

We presented at the Tech Media Invest 2009 today but also thought we should share some of the insights from the conference. A lot of the discussions were around mobile applications even though Golden Gekko was the only pure mobile development company present. See http://www.e-unlimited.com/events/view.aspx?events_pages_id=1 for more information about the conference.

1. Mobile platform choice is difficult
3-6 months ago everyone was going for the iPhone as the primary platform and then expended to other platforms. More recently developers have started to question the impact of iPhone apps versus other platforms due to increasing competition.

2. iTunes appstore storefront has become a barrier
The difficulty for customers to find the apps they want / relevant apps on iTunes appstore is becoming a barrier. Despite this Apple has reached over 2 Bn downloads so question is whether this is a consumer or publisher issue? We think that it is currently mainly an issue for publishers but that it will become a limited factor for increased consumer activity in the coming months.

3. Openness is key
Media, developers and investors all believe that openness will win. This is somewhat strange considering that
a) The success of the iPhone is much thanks to the fact that it is not an open platform and continues to get the most media attention
b) Android is still far behind other platforms such as iPhone and Blackberry
c) Feedback about Symbian open initiative has not been as positive as Android

4. Business models are uncertain
Rupert Murdoch has made it clear that the time of “free” is over. Therefore it would seem that focus should have shifted to premium revenues. Generally this seems to be the case but consensus points to freemium as the golden answer.

5. Mobile Marketing is going from one hit wonders to a strategic marketing channel
Brands such as BMW, Coca Cola, Barclay’s are now moving from one-off campaigns to developing mobile platforms for future growth.

6. Apps and browsers will become seamless but when?
One interesting point that was made is that the browser is getting more and more functionality and integration with the phone but development is slow. Google has repeatedly stated that they believe browsing and not apps is the future of mobile but at the same time they refer to several of their online services as Google Apps despite the fact that they are being delivered through the browser? The difference will become more and more grey.

7. Branded apps are performing amazingly well
Speakers and panel members referred several times to branded apps as the killer mobile advertising service at the moment. iPint, BMW Z4 app, Barclays app, etc.

All in all an interesting day with lots of great new contacts!

Yankee Group Predicts $4.2 Billion Mobile App Gold Rush by 2013

The appstore market keeps booming. iTunes appstore is now showing the top apps by earnings in a separate category which gives you an indication of which apps generate top dollars and to no ones surprise 80% of the top apps are games and only a few major players (EA, Gameloft, etc) as well as a few independent development houses are making money. We believe that the forecast by Yankee Group is too optimistic in terms of direct premium revenue. One of the reasons is that customers overestimate their spend on apps but also the number of great apps available for free. According to our estimates only a few hundred or less than 1% of the apps on the iTunes appstore generates a positive return to the developer. So is mobile apps a big bubble?

The answer is definitely no. There is a much bigger story. In addition to entertainment (games), apps are used for marketing, information, productivity, communication, networking and much more so the overall value to mobile operators, advertisers, consumers and businesses is much bigger. According to Strategy Analytics approximately 20% of all apps downloaded to date in 2009 have been to an iPhone or iPod which makes the total number of downloads over 5Bn. This is almost 1 download per inhabitant globally. Amazing figures and yet they will continue to grow.

Read the full pressrelease by Yankee Group here

Golden Gekko selected Tech Media Invest Top 100 in Europe

Golden Gekko is proud to have been selected among the top 100 Tech Media Invest companies in Europe by Europe-Unlimited, Europe’s leading event organisers for investors and technology companies in association with The Guardian, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Kemp Little.

Tech Media Invest Top 100 is a list of the hottest emerging and most innovative companies in the ever converging tech and media industries right now. The 100 companies have been picked for their innovation and creativity over the past year in areas as diverse as mobile applications, racing games and music recognition. The list aims to showcase young entrepreneurial companies that are developing innovative new ways to serve business and consumers, and have the potential to radically change the shape of the technology and media industry,

The official press release is available here and for more information about the Tech Media Invest Top 100 visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tech-media-invest-100/top-100

Most mobile marketing startups hedging their bets by developing apps for multiple platforms

Moconews has an interesting article about the challenges of multi-platform mobile development (iPhone, Android, Java, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Mobile, etc) today.

The trade-off between delivering an amazing user experience to 2-3% of mobile subscribers (e.g. iPhone and Android) or a mass market application for a wide range of devices (50% or more) is a difficult one for everyone. Our general experience is that Java applications delivered across Symbian, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and proprietary operating systems get up to 10x as many downloads as an iPhone app but achieving a similar user experience is very time consuming and costly.

The average cost of an advanced iPhone or Android game/app is in the region 25-50k euro depending on complexity whereas as a mass market app/game with 80% phone penetration (across multiple platforms) is about 200.000-400.000 euro when fully optimized across the devices.

So what about automatic porting services then? There are several companies that claim that they can deliver cross-platform porting at costs starting around 10.000-20.000 USD. Our experience however is that the tweaking and optimisation to make the ported application to look and work nicely on the individual platforms make the cost almost as high as doing proprietary development.

More comments on this to follow...

Mobile app developer headaches continue

One of the main topics with our clients, partners and internally is mobile application fragmentation. Despite all efforts by handset manufacturers and mobile operators to make it go away it is actually getting worse and worse. Java, Symbian, Blackberry Java, Android, iPhone, Brew, Windows Mobile, Palm Pre, Vodafone Widgets (JIL/Opera widgets to be fair), script languages and more.

Or maybe it is for the better as all the new platforms also encourage innovation in new technology and features? Golden Gekko is probably one of the few companies that doesn't mind fragmentation at all as we think the platforms help deliver diversity.

Who knows? Continue reading on
http://mobione.com.au/wordpress/2009/07/mobile-game-developer-headaches-continue/

Promoting mobile apps using alternative channels

We've been experimenting with alternative channels to build more awareness for apps developed for our clients. Normally we post our the apps on 15+ appstores such as Getjar, Mobango, Betavine, Nokia OVI, etc and in addition to millions of downloads directly from these sites this has also generated viral spread to P2P services such as Torrents which is making it more and more challenging to monitor and measure the success of a campaign. During the next couple of weeks we will also try more traditional PC application downloads sites such as download.com, freewareark, sharewareplaza.

For more information:

• Freeware Park
• Shareware Plaza
• Download.com
• www.fileshome.com - FilesHome.com: free directory of free and shareware software, scripts, desktop applications

More info when we've evaluated the results...

Apetina in Norway launches mobile cookbook

The mobile cookbook for Arla in Sweden was the first real project that Golden Gekko delivered 3 years ago and is still one of our most popular and frequently used mobile applications. You can find it on Arla's website or on Getjar. Since then we've delivered mobile cookbooks in 4 other countries and the most recent one to Apetina in Norway.

The Apetina mobile cookbook contains about 1000 recipes and is available to download here.

And many more mobile cookbooks will follow...

Vodafone McLaren launches free mobile application

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes launches mobile app. The application brings you exclusive news and behind the scene interviews with Lewis, Heikki, the pit crew and lots more. Daily team news, Formula 1 news, real time race information, results, championship standings and new videos added throughout the season.

Download application for free or visit mobile site on http://vodafoneracing.mobi/. The application connects to the Internet to download the latest news and results.

For more Vodafone McLaren Mercedes content visit http://www.vodafone-racing.com/ on your computer.

You can also find the application on

• Getjar
• Mobile9
• Mobango
• Mobilerated
• and various other app stores...

7 Mobile Insights May 2009 including iPhone App and Java download statistics

The past 9 months have been interesting in more ways than Apple achieving 1 billion app downloads from the iPhone appstore:

1. Mobile ad spend in 2008 in the UK exceeded expectations and doubled vs. 2007 (http://tinyurl.com/qengsl)
2. Over 400% growth in apps downloaded 2008 vs 2007 driven by the iPhone Appstore as well as free appstores (Getjar, Mobile9, Mobango, etc), device manufacturer appstores (Blackberry App World, Nokia Ovi, Samsung Mobile Applications, etc) and mobile operators (Vodafone Appstore, O2 Limus, Orange World Appstore, etc)
3. Although iPhone apps get all the attention Golden Gekko has found that when launching apps/games across both iPhone and other platforms the number of downloads on other platforms (Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Blackberry, etc) outnumber iPhone 10 to 1 (contact us for more info).
4. With approx 2% iPhone device penetration Apple Appstore has an impressive 12% (21% including iTouch) market share in volume of mobile apps downloaded in Europe and North America (Strategy Analytics: How Apple Change the Market for Mobile Applications, http://tinyurl.com/o52cm7).
5. Although iPhone app development can cost as little as $12.000 a well-designed app can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000, take six to eight weeks to develop, and a couple more weeks more to be approved by Apple (http://tinyurl.com/qke9xb)
6. 52% of mobile users play games on their phone and about one-in-ten mobile phone users in Europe (8%) claim to have participated in mobile marketing efforts (MMA European Mobile Attitude and Usage Study, December 2008)
7. 51 percent of mobile phone users in the USA access content using their mobile phone on a weekly basis (http://tinyurl.com/p95opg)

Lynx Mobile 2.0: Lynx launches additional weapons of mass seduction following the success of Lynx FX

Considering that the Lynx mobile campaign was the most talked about and awarded mobile marketing campaign in 2008 this one went by quite unnoticed. A couple of weeks ago Unilever launched 3 new weapons of mass seduction (flirting tools) for the mobile.

Our latets favorite is Say Cheese with the following description:
Action speak louder than words. The latest clever mobile tool help you chat up girls. Simply give the girl your mobile and ask her to take a photo of you. Then when she presses the button, your cheeky message to her will appear on the screen instead. A fool proof way to break the ice.

The apps are available for over 500 devices including Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Blackberry, etc. To download the latest apps visit m.lynxeffect.com on your mobile or www.lynxeffect.com on your computer.

Good luck with the flirting!

What is the cost of developing a mobile app (iPhone, Blackberry, Java, Android, etc)?

At Golden Gekko we often get into the debate with clients and partners about what the cost of a mobile app or game should be and even more so with the iPhone SDK. We know that it is possible for a freelance developer to develop a descent looking iPhone app in a couple of weeks for a minimal budget. At the same time developing a market leading app with great design, usability, content and interaction that doesn't crash is not an easy thing. Therefore it was interesting to read what other people have to say about the cost of implementing a mobile app.
"Although iPhone app development can cost as little as $12.000 a well-designed app can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000, take six to eight weeks to develop, and a couple more weeks more to be approved by Apple"

Read more at:
http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/12/madison-avenue-and-the-app-store/

Now this is still the easy part. Developing an app that works across hundreds or even thousands of devices with different operating systems, screen sizes, navigation input mechanisms and capabilities is a whole different sport. When I worked Vodafone Group a couple of years ago the estimated average cost of developing a mobile game was about 200.000 euro whereof 50% for development and the other 50% porting and testing. Since then life for developer has gotten harder and not easier with more operating systems, screen sizes, touch screens, etc. At the same time budgets for app development have not increased so the only viable solution to deliver great quality apps and games is to make the development process more efficient and this is where Golden Gekko is currently developing all our R&D resources. More to follow...