On November 29-30, Altoros exhibited at Apps World Show London Olympia. Altoros is a global company of experts in software and application development, and provides new approaches in staffing technology projects.

Tristan Palmer, Altoros Managing Director UK, shared the company’s experience in building cross-platform apps,with the use of Rhodes, Titanium, Phonegap, etc. and developing for tablet devices. Also, for those who were curious about making the applications work faster without re-writing them from scratch, he dwelled on some strategies for enhancing the performance of existing apps.

“We’re glad that our presentation attracted so many people and encouraged loads of questions,” said Tristan. “Mostly, they were interested in mobile (iOS, Android, Blackberry) and TV-related apps development segment. Another trend under discussion was building applications for specific industries, e.g. e-learning, sports, marketing, etc.”

Tristan gave some examples of how Altoros helped other software companies develop their projects by supplying flexible IT talents and staff for HTML5, Flex/AIR, Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and .NET projects of any size.

If you want to learn more about Altoros and how it can help you with your multiplatform apps, please, visit http://altoros.com/about_summary.html

Last week at Apps World buzzdoes the app distribution tool exhibited at the show and CEO and founder of the tool, Assaf Kolirin presented in the New Platforms and Technology Developer Zone.

buzzdoes is an automated word-of-mouth tool that turns apps users into apps distributors. All it takes is a click on the buzzdoes icon for users to recommend an app to a selected list of friends – they just need to pick the ones they want. The result is that each happy user can steer dozens of new ones your way.

The ‘recommender’ is rewarded for every download that occurs as a result of his/her recommendation. It’s a win-win situation. The users gain from their goodwill and the developers gain new users. buzzdoes, have added a social aspect to the tool, where users can see their friends’ applications. This serves as an advertisement area where the developer can earn money from every download that occurs through the buzzdoes button on his/her application creating a new revenue stream.

“A few years ago, I was involved in developing applications for both the games and business markets. We thought our ideas were great and couldn’t wait to get them in front of users and we started looking for ways to market our apps,” says Assaf, “This is when I had my Eureka moment. Why not use the most reliable and influential marketing model – word-of-mouth? It worked for Gmail, it worked for Facebook. Why wouldn’t it work for my app?”

If you want to find out more about buzzdoes you can view their website here

A big thank you to those that attended the Apps World in London

Special thank you to all the speakers at the event, sponsors, exhibitors & media partners – have a look down the shots and see if you can spot yourself!!

NXP Software exhibited at this week’s Apps World Europe. The world-wide leading software vendor for multimedia specialises in innovative solutions and applications to help mobile device manufacturers and service providers deliver extraordinary media experiences.

The company used the event to launch a new release of their highly popular LifeVibes CineXPlayer, CineXPlayer 2.5, the first video player for iPad, iPhone and iPod devices to support Dolby® Digital Plus.

“NXP Software aims to help people enjoy life to the full by delivering outstanding mobile multimedia experiences. That vision has seen CineXPlayer become a top video player in Apple’s App Store. Many of CineXPlayer’s fans asked us to add true multi-channel sound and, working with Dolby Labs, that’s exactly what we’ve done. It brings the digital audio quality people know from the home theater to mobile devices,” said Peter Van de Berg, Marketing Director, NXP Software.

Dolby Digital Plus improves the quality of sound from content creation to playback. It delivers an optimal audio experience across a range of portable devices, whether listening through headphones or built-in speakers, or sending an HD entertainment experience with discrete multichannel audio to the home theater from the smartphone in your pocket.

“Dolby Digital Plus in NXP Software’s CineXPlayer allows for more high-quality entertainment across screens,” said John Couling, Vice President, Electronic Media, Dolby Laboratories. “Dolby is committed to bringing a cinema-quality experience to the home on a wide range of services, devices and applications.”

CineXPlayer lets end-users transfer Xvid movies instantly on to their iPad, iPhone or iPod without file conversion. And as it is possible to save full movie files to the CineXPlayer app, users can watch at home or on the go, even if there is no Internet connection available (e.g. on trains, planes, and so on).

CineXPlayer is available for download in the Apple App Store now and you can find out more information here

The buzzdoes stand was, well, buzzing, at Apps World this week, with developers working in consumer and b2b fields keen to learn about our viral app marketing tool. So they wanted to share their answers to the top 8 questions that cropped up.

1. How does an end user recommend my app to a friend using buzzdoes?

By clicking on the buzzdoes icon, an end user is given the option to recommend buzzdoes to friends in the Facebook, phone or mail contacts list.

2. If an end user shares my app on Facebook via buzzdoes, do you take a commission?
No. One of the added services provided by buzzdoes is the ability to share or ‘like’ an app via Facebook. If this leads to new downloads, that’s an added bonus for you, the developer.

3. What happens if I integrate buzzdoes into my app then a user downloads it, not from a recommendation, but because they saw an advertisement or a review?
buzzdoes only takes a commission on successful recommendations that come from buzzdoes. Of course, the developer does not pay for other downloads.

4. What rewards does an end user get for sharing my app?
An end user is rewarded with buzzdoes points for sharing your app. These can be exchanged for money, vouchers (e.g. Amazon) or donated to charity.

5. Can I as a developer can track recommendations of my app, including how many distributors I have and how many leads they are creating?
Yes, we share that directly with developers who use buzzdoes.

6. How do I add buzzdoes to my app?
Just add a single line of code into your app and everything will be done automatically from there.

7. Where can I find out more?
Follow us on Twitter @buzzdoesApps, visit our website www.buzzdoes.com or contact me directly on assaf@buzzdoes.com

8. What is your website address?
Our website is address is www.buzzdoes.com

Thank you to everyone who came to Apps World over the last two days; we’ve had an awesome show and we hope you got what you came for.

We’ve been lucky to have some of the leading minds in the industry here with us this year, delivering top-class insight and advice into the state of the apps industry, what it has to offer numerous business sectors, and how organisations can harness their power.

There have been some key themes running through a lot of the conference. The shift in ownership within companies seeking to move their brand into the apps sector seems to be swinging from mobile-curious CEOs to marketing departments.

This trend is welcomed among development companies we’ve spoken to, who see analytics-driven, strategic marketing professionals coming up with mobile app strategies based on numbers rather than a vague wish to move the brand into the space.

One to watch from our TV Apps Track, ZeeBox, the social TV company that seems to be on everyone’s lips. TV apps are the hot ticket for the apps industry over the next two years, and with a number of the key players all making moves in the space, we can’t wait to see what the landscape looks like next year.

Developer recruitment has been a large topic of conversation on the exhibition floor, with many companies on the hunt for fresh developer talent; great news for developers and a pretty good indication that we’re all part of a healthy, growing industry.

HTML5 has been receiving incredibly mixed views, with a number of people hailing it as the biggest technological event since the invention of the light bulb; others dismissing it as a complete waste of time. “By the time it’s finally ready we’ll have moved on to the next thing,” said one nameless developer.

The free-to-attend Developer Workshops provided a wealth of technical and business advice, discussing the major challenges of app creation, distribution and monetisation. The Samsung bada workshop pulled a massive crowd; and there was massive interest in the introduction to WP7 design session.

Thanks again to everyone who came down, speakers, sponsors, delegates and exhibitors. If you’ve blogged or covered the show in any way, please tweet it at us and we’ll promote you in our post show round-up. We welcome your feedback.

Stand by for information on next year’s exciting plans. We’ll be back, building on this week’s success with a bigger and better show; striving to help people make valuable industry connections.

Apps industry growth is still significant in the UK and throughout Europe, though the really rapid growth areas are Asia and Africa, according to Terence Eden, head of developer community at InMobi.

Developers need to recognise the global nature of apps, he says; your market isn’t just limited to the country or even continent that you live in.

“The UK market is getting saturated,” he adds. “If developers want to unlock the power of what they’re doing they have to translate their apps to all the different app stores around the world.”

Not only that, but he believes developers need to think more strategically about how they’re going to monetise their apps over their entire lifecycle. “Think about that first sale and think about how you’re going to follow that up,” he says. “We can monetise your apps by putting advertising in them.”

With growth in app downloads predominantly around free apps, offering a free version of your app is often a smart way to go. “Once they’ve got your free version, you can upsell them, get them to buy the premium version,” says Eden. “If you want to sell extra functionality or features, we can provide a payment solution for that.”

Eden says his big issue is making developers aware that mobile advertising is also an option for their own business.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re the biggest brand on the planet or some guy in his bedroom working on the next big thing; you can use advertising to get your app out to millions of people, he says. “You can actually make a big splash worldwide with not a huge amount of budget.”

With Apps World Europe kicking off to a great start so far, we took a moment to visit Developer Zone 1 to find out what industry experts have to say on building multi-platform apps.

RunRev’s Benjamin Beaumont, Joe Stagner from Mozilla and Andrew Ashe from EuroTalk were on the panel to give app developers some top tips on how to develop a successful application:

Enthusiasm

Be aware of your own enthusiasm. You’ve got to publish something that people really want to use and it’s really easy to make something that you think is great but it doesn’t work for the customer.

Prototyping

Building a prototype of your app in order to test it on your audience is a great way to find out what works and what doesn’t. Making the target group your focus will aid you into creating an app that suits their needs. Andrew Ashe said: “We throw away at least 60% of what we do – testing it with your target niche group, and if they don’t like it you can’t try and persuade them, you have to change it to suit them.”

The use of an app is an emotional experience, so by ensuring you have targeted your audience and have made an app that suits them, you will have created emotion towards the app and the audience, therefore making them become a potential regular user.

Simplicity

Benjamin Beaumont added that simplicity is also a key part in the development and prototype process. Developers need to work on the design of an app, alongside the content. However, Beaumont said: “We are great developers but doesn’t mean we are great designers.” Hiring an external designer may help your process to building an app that engages with your audience.

Grab their attention

Another aspect of building an app is to focus on the first 60 seconds of the user’s experience, in order to keep them interested in your application. “If you’ve lost them in the first 60 seconds, you’ve lost them forever. Don’t think that you’ve got something amazing later on, you’ve got to get it right early on,” said Ashe.

Development practice

By having an actual development practice, it will make the process of building an app less painful. Joe Stagner said: “Because apps are so easy to replace and the marketplace is so dynamic, the ability to evolve your app quickly but without missteps is super important. You may have the number 1 app in your space, but a point release that is less than satisfactory could crush your market position from a single point.”

With the festive season fast approaching, we’re gearing up for a bumper few months for mobile display advertising as ad budgets reflect the growing tendency of consumers to research products, compare prices and purchase Christmas gifts over their smartphones and tablets.

Record revenues were generated over mobile last year, and this year is set to smash this with brands spending more on mobile advertising than ever.  Planning for the busiest weeks in the mobile advertising calendar is already well under way and now is the time to ensure you’re ready and well placed to maximise the mobile advertising opportunity this holiday season.

Be prepared for peaks in traffic volumes throughout December and early January.  Last year across the Adfonic network we saw a 400% increase in traffic on the busiest day of December pre-Christmas.  If, as expected, we see a similar pattern this year, Sunday 11^th December is set to hit a pre-Christmas high, with traffic volumes for the full month peaking on 26^th December.

Advertisers

· Ensure you’re not caught out by sudden increases in traffic.  Think about setting daily caps and deploying day part targeting on your campaigns to ensure you don’t burn through your budgets faster than planned.

· Be ready with Christmas themed creatives in as many mobile ad units as possible to maximise the exposure of your campaign and get these live as soon as you can.

· Be clear in your ad creatives and within your mobile sites and apps about last order dates and shipping deadlines pre-Christmas.

· Ensure Christmas themed ads are replaced with January sales offers once Christmas Day arrives.

· The iPad 2 will undoubtedly be one of the most popular gifts this Christmas and iPad traffic will receive a large boost as a result.  Bear this in mind when planning your January sales campaigns.

Publishers and Developers

· Ensure you have as many ad formats as possible enabled in your apps and sites to ensure you’re set to benefit from the increase in advertiser campaigns over the coming weeks.

· And iOS & Android Developers….don’t forget to download our iOS & Android SDKs.  Designed to facilitate ease of integration and greater rich media and in app browsing capabilities, the SDKS feature a host of great benefits to help maximise your eCPMs.

You know a technology has really arrived when it has its own conference, so it’s no surprise to see that there’s a conference dedicated to apps today. Apps World takes place at London’s Olympia on 29-30 November, and is accompanied by a free exhibition. On the exhibition floor, there’s a program of sessions, including one from Intel that will reveal how you can make money selling your HTML5 apps.

HTML5 is the latest version of the language that is used to create websites, but it offers such rich options for animation, video and interaction, that it’s increasingly being used to create app experiences. The Intel AppUp developer program is now accepting HTML5 apps, to be sold through the Intel AppUp center, which underlines app stores including the Dixons KnowHow Centre. There’s also a developer challenge running with the best app in each of five categories receiving an Ultrabook, so now is the perfect time to start making HTML5 apps.

The free Intel workshop at Apps World will show you how you can turn your HTML5 code into an app using the Intel AppUp Encapsulator, and how you can submit it to the store. Experts will be on hand to answer your questions, so it’s the perfect opportunity to kick start your future in HTML5 app creation.

Register for your free exhibition pass to get access to this application lab now!