Alex Kinsella from BlackBerry will be joining the agenda at Apps World next week. Alex is the team lead of product management for BlackBerry App World at Research in Motion. He works with the BlackBerry developer community to ensure RIM has the best in-class app store in the market.

Alex will be giving a technical presentation on the social marketing of apps and how that relates to App stores, providing a new look at the mobile app market including store sizes, consumer bases and revenue opportunities. The session will give insight into how to create a social graph for your app and your brand.

BlackBerry will also be joining the exhibition, so come along to stand 52 and meet Alex and other BlackBerry representatives. It’s not too late to register for your Apps World North America pass and see Alex speak click here to register now. You can also register for the exhibition for free here.

There’s just a couple of days to go until Apps World North America 2011 kicks off in New York, featuring leading brands and developers from across the apps spectrum, brands, businesses and app store operators, all preparing to get together for two days of industry insight, practical advice and top-level networking.
We caught up with two of the show’s speakers, two guys who also happen to be leading app development specialists, to see what advice they could offer for aspiring developers ahead of the apps industry bonanza that is Apps World NY 2011.

Marketing an app is all about building up that initial frenzy when an app is launched and creating a buzz with consumers, bloggers and key press contacts. Those who have a strategy and start marketing the app early create the best buzz and give their app the best chance in a very competitive market.

1) First bird gets the first worm

When the app first becomes available in the app store is a key moment for initial buzz but don’t miss the chance to start your marketing strategy before the app is released to really exploit the buzz you can create. Many developers have begun building splash pages which act as a promotional platform for the app prior to its release and then grow into the full app website post release. (more…)

Worldwide app store downloads are forecast to reach 17.7 billion by the end of this year, which amounts to a 117% increase from an estimated 8.2 billion downloads in 2010. By the end of 2014, an estimated 185 billion applications will have been downloaded from mobile app stores, the first of which was launched in July 2008.

Formulating an effective strategy for mobile application development requires a thorough understanding of the current ecosystem landscape. In order to maximize return on investment, you must be able to identify the ecosystem that will give the end user the best possible experience, including how the app is discovered, downloaded and used. (more…)

Intersting article on the shelf life of apps stores looking at how developers are promoting themselves in an ever crowded market.  Bango are a mobile analytics company that provides the technology that powers commerce for businesses targeting the growing market of internet enabled mobile phone users.

Bango are Silver Sponsors at Mobile Social Media on the 15/16th March at Olympia, London.

(Bango – 03/02/10)

With the intense coverage that mobile applications continue to attract, the content developers are already starting to investigate alternative distribution channels to the App “Stores” themselves. In the rush to follow the now crowded mobile apps market, developers are starting to realise that after all their efforts to build a mobile app, to get noticed and survive they need to look beyond the app store. (more…)