We can’t believe Apps World North America 2013 is  over!  Thank you to everyone who visited/spoke/exhibited and helped to make it a great two days showcasing the most innovative and exciting developments in the mobile app industry. We’re already looking forward to next year’s show, but here’s our photo highlights of 2013 – with special thanks to our photographer May Suen:

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It’s a give away bonanza at Apps World in San Francisco on 7-8 February, with many of the key apps industry players keen to woo the North American developer community with top prizes, competitions and free-to-attend developer briefings.

The event includes four jam-packed developer conference tracks, where some of the leading names in the industry will share their insight and experience on the technical and business related challenges developers face. Not to mention a load of special theatre sessions from the likes of Microsoft, Rackspace, Enyo and Intel. (more…)

Ten years ago there were 3 million websites and 569 million people online; today there are 555 million websites and 2.27 billion people have internet access. Back then some businesses may have considered investing in a website to be a luxury or novelty. Nowadays businesses can barely survive without a web presence and are beginning to adapt to the mobile web.

Mobile internet usage is set to overtake fixed internet access by 2013 according to comScore. With 4G becoming widely available and operators installing Wi-Fi hotspots everywhere, consumers are beginning to enjoy truly instant access to the internet wherever they are. Given these changes, it seems we’re finally approaching an answer to the question “mobile sites vs apps: which one do I need for my business?” and Apps World exhibitor Pitney Bowes believe, for most purposes, mobile sites are coming out on top. (more…)

Over the past 12 months all eyes seem to be set on mobile navigation, starting with Intel’s acquisition of Telmap followed by Apple’s announcement to ditch Google Maps and create a mapping app of its own.  Even Amazon looks like they are planning to join the location based services (LBS) market with their recent acquisition of mapping start-up, UpNext. And of course, indoor navigation is making a lot of noise in the industry lately and we are sure to see much more breakthroughs in that niche.  There is no doubt that the big players in mobile have started to realize the importance of LBS and the potential it holds.

Whether it’s checking in on Facebook, receiving local deals or searching and navigating to a location, nowadays we are all using location based services as part of our daily routines.  It seems now that a week doesn’t go by without a new announcement for the latest development in mobile navigation. Both Google and Apple have expressed their interest in 3D mapping. Google has even extended its capabilities to include some indoor mapping. LBS is growing at such a fast pace but where will it be in the future? (more…)

Apsalar, the leading Mobile Engagement Management platform for app developers and marketers, has recently uncovered first party analytics data which shows that not having paid apps and playing lots of games are the best predictors of in-app purchases.

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The Appsters Awards has unveiled its 2012 shortlist, following a massive response from the industry across 12 categories of first class app innovation, razor sharp business instinct and super-human creative brilliance.

Recognising and celebrating the achievement in the world of multi-platform apps, the Appsters Awards will be a showbiz party occasion for industry high flyers and sharp shooters to celebrate being at the top of one of the fastest growing tech sectors on the planet.

Over 250 nominees applied to be part of this year’s awards, the extremely high standard creating a tough job for the expert judging panel, who will now rate the shortlisted entries to determine the winner in each category.

Additionally, judges will have to select a standout entry from across the competition, a nominee worthy of the crowned the overall Appsters Champion 2012. (more…)

Apps and mobile content are fast becoming the primary way people expect to be able to do their jobs, accessing email, corporate information, sales analytics data and other essential but sensitive communications.

With businesses increasingly looking to apps to deliver much of their IT connectivity and operational efficiency, and employees demanding the same levels of usability and connectivity they experience in their everyday lives, many believe we’re in the midst of a fundamental shift in the way enterprise IT is delivered.

The new challenges this presents around security, device and data management will be central to the Apps World discussions, and MobileIron is one of the market leaders in this field, offering a suite of services that allow IT managers centralised app management, distribution, mobile activity tracking, security and content management tools. (more…)

We’re very pleased to announce that Samsung will be the Diamond Sponsor at this year’s Apps World event. Samsung will be running a number of workshops for developers around their bada platform. To register for a free developer pass to the exhibition and bada workshops click here.

The other exciting news for developers is that Samsung have also launched their Global Developer Challenge 2012. The challenge aims to motivate and reward the developers of innovative, creative, functional and original apps for the Samsung GALAXY Tab and GALAXY Note. (more…)