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!!

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.”

Marketers and publishers alike have flocked to Apps World today to find out answers to some key industry questions: How can you make apps stand out from the crowd? How can you optimise app store placement? How can social publicity aid your app? Our Marketing & Monetisation track was on hand to discuss just this, and how marketing and promotion can support your app launch.

The panel, including Alex Kozloff, Mobile Manager from IAB, Emmanuel Carraud, CEO of MagicSolver, James Kaye, Director from appromotor and Ian Malone, Managing Director from We Are Apps, gave us some interesting insights into how to make your app the most visible in the app store.

(more…)

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.”

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!

Layar the world’s leading mobile augmented reality platform is exhibiting at Apps World next week. You can come along to stand 81a to meet Layar and hear about the largest content catalogue with more than 3,000 layers.

The app aims to bring impactful augmented reality experiences into people’s everyday lives and was named as a 2011 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and received a Meffy Mobile Entertainment Award in 2010 for Technology Innovation. Layar recently worked with Linda magazine to add additional content in the form of digital buttons to over 50 pages in the magazine, which could then be revealed using a smartphone. The content included unique backstage video footage of the cover shoot, one click to sites selling the fashion featured in the articles, and book test drives for the advertised cars. Check out the video with Linda here. (more…)

Adfonic’s very own Paul Childs presented to a packed hall at a seminar at Apps World North America. Paul provided independent analysis of the options available to developers and explored various options that developers need to consider when optimising performance and revenue.

Q: What monetisation options are there for developers? What are the key reasons for taking ads?

Developers have a number of monetisation options open to them. Taking mobile ads generates an additional revenue stream and provides developers with an alternate business model to paid apps. It also presents them with an opportunity of cross promotion. Ad funded apps also benefit from instant monetisation and revenue optimisation. (more…)

The gambling sector is one of the biggest mobile app success stories in terms of creating real value for customers and real revenue for companies who execute their strategies correctly.

Apps World Europe, one of the world’s leading multiplatform apps events, is returning to London Olympia on 29-30 November, to learn more about how you can benefit from the explosive trend in gambling apps, visit: http://www.apps-world.net/europe/

Apps World Blog caught up with one of the UK’s leading app developers, Mubaloo, which has produced apps for a number of major players in the gambling industry, to find out how the sector has grown recently and discuss how gaming brands are taking advantage of this lucrative new channel. (more…)

We’re very excited to announce that local Meet Up group Apps Junction are holding a meet up at Apps World as part of our free to attend developer zone. The session will be run from 5-6.30pm on November 29th and will focus on matchmaking developers and App ideas in a friendly casual atmosphere. The format will consist of demos, pitches and expert speeches from AppsJunction members.

Mobile Applications are poised to hit the $9billion mark by end of 2011 and only going one way! Juniper Research predicts the market will reach $25billion in 5 years time! From Mobile Search, Browsing, Health monitoring, Money transfer & payments, advertising, instant messaging and location based services the possible areas are endless. Apps Junction sets out to help new application ideas come to fruition, allowing entrepreneurs, companies and agencies to meet developers and vice versa.

The session will be free to attend, if you wish to join Apps Junction event please visit their site here. To gain entrance into the session just register for a free Apps World developer zone and exhibition pass here and have access to all the other developer track sessions.