As Apps World Europe draws nearer we just wanted to say a big thank you to all the industry experts who gave up their time recently to attend the Apps World Europe advisory board meeting in London. Having escaped the Bristol offices for a day out in London we had a great day chatting with them about the latest developments in the industry, and learnt lots about what the key issues and topics are that they are currently facing. (more…)

So that’s the Apps World London live show for another year, thanks to everyone who came down, took part, got involved or even followed the event remotely.

Many thanks to all our exhibitors and sponsors for enabling us to put on our biggest ever show. The numbers are in and we’ve had almost 6000 visitors through the door this year, and you’ve helped Apps World cement its place as one of the foremost European apps industry events. Special thanks to our Diamond sponsor Samsung, and our Platinum sponsors BlackBerry, Yandex, Microsoft, SAP and Brightcove.

We’ve heard some fascinating talks, presentations and workshops across ten conference tracks, covering everything from TV apps, mobile marketing and game development, to enterprise mobility, mobile payment and operator app strategies. The free-to-attend developer tracks were packed on both days, with the HTML5 track proving particularly popular.

In previous years you would’ve had to wait a full twelve months before your next slice of Apps World action, but this year we’re making the majority of sessions available to paid delegates as downloadable podcasts, enabling you to enjoy first class industry advice and insight all year round. There will be additional streamed content to come via our partners.

There was another awesome first this year, as we held the inaugural Appsters Awards, complete with TV comedian host and vodka ice luge, at the sumptuous Kensington Roof Gardens on Tuesday night. Judged by a crack team of industry experts, the Appsters whittled down over 250 nominees to a shortlist of 70, and finally winners in 12 categories.

Congratulations to all the winners, and particularly to Bristol-based developer Mubaloo, who scooped both Best Developer and the overall Appsters Champion 2012 award. The after party was a cracker, the dancing was borderline illegal and we suspect there may have been some sore heads on the conference floor this morning. Well done you troopers! Click here for a list of all the Appsters winners.

That’s it for this year. It’s been emotional. More content to follow when we get back to the office!

Britain was famously described by Napoleon as ‘a nation of shopkeepers’. The epithet stuck, and in time was reclaimed as a badge of honour by merchants up and down the country – especially those which formed part of its nascent–and then thriving–highstreets. But today those highstreets are in trouble. As anyone who reads the newspapers or watches the television news will know, they have been in trouble for some time. So long, in fact, that there is even political consensus that something needs to be done. Most recently, the Conservatives tasked retail expert and celebrity Mary Portas with reviewing the situation and making recommendations which were widely covered in the press once released. Despite this, small merchants (whether they work out of a shop, a vehicle, or a backpack) are still facing incredibly tough conditions, and the decline of the UK’s highstreets continues unabated. But what does all this have to do with apps? Well, I’m going to use my post here to ask the question, ‘can an app/app technology save small merchants and thereby our highstreets?’ Read on to find out. (more…)

The winners have been announced in the first ever Appsters Awards, celebrating excellence and achievement in the apps industry.

The glitzy Awards ceremony at Kensington Roof Gardens, hosted by TV comedian Miles Jupp, was a who’s who of the apps industry. It was a good night for British talent, with the BBC’s 2012 Olympics app, Bristol-based developer Mubaloo and the interactive Tube Map app from mxData all taking the top prizes in their category.

With a shortlist of over 70 nominees, Awards were handed out across 12 categories, including Best Consumer App [London 2012], Best Entertainment App [BBC Olympics app], Best Use of Geo-Location [Tube Map] and App Developer 2012 [Mubaloo].

A panel of expert industry judges scored each nominee individually to determine the winners. However, two special categories were decided differently from the others.
Start-up app 2012 finalists had to pitch their ideas to a live audience and a panel of judges at the Apps World conference at Earls Court on Tuesday, with the winner decided by live audience voting as well as judges scoring.

Appsters Champion 2012 was awarded to the finalist with the largest cumulative score from all competition judges.

Mark Mason, CEO of Appsters Champion Mubaloo, said: “It’s been fantastic. Three and a half years ago, there were four of us in the show. We just had an inkling that the B2B and enterprise market was going to be huge.

“These awards are the confirmation of all our hard work over the last three and a half years.”

CreditCall’s Commercial Director Sian Bosley on winning the Best Payment App Award said: “We strive to offer the most secure and forward thinking solutions. It has taken us over two years to navigate the complexities of EMV and UK payment regulations to ensure that it has the required certification to fulfil all card scheme needs.

“We are honoured and delighted to have won this professional recognition and to have been cited for our innovations in this booming industry.”

Appsters Awards 2012 Winners
Best entertainment app – BBC Olympics app
Best enterprise app – SwiftKey Healthcare
Best consumer app – London 2012
Best payment app – CardEase Mobile by CreditCall
Best TV app – PlayJam
Best use of geo-location – Tube Map by mxData
Best visual design – Shutterstock by Xtreme Labs
Most innovative app – Speech Pathology by Gravitywell
Start-up app 2012 – Soundrop
Mobile Marketing Agency 2012 – bolser
App Developer 2012 – Mubaloo – creator of the MET Office Weather app
Appster Champion 2012 – Mubaloo

We’re very excited to be launching the official Apps World app for this year’s event. Our friends at Conduit have been hard at work putting it together for us and we’re very pleased with the results!

The app is the perfect companion for next week’s show; it’s the best way to stay informed about all the happenings as they happen during the event. Get in on all the discussions, parties, and workshops with a full agenda with real-time updates, general event info, speaker info and bios, map and directions, a floor plan, Facebook and Twitter updates, a photo and video gallery, and much more!

Download the app on Android here

Download the app on iOS here

Download the web app here

A recent poll conducted by learning and mobile technology firm Redware amongst staff revealed interesting findings about the changes in mobile phone usage since the nineties and highlights some of the most popular apps today.

Nearly half of staff surveyed were the proud owners of a Nokia from the mid nineties onwards, with models such as the 3210 being popular.  A handful also owned a Motorola or a Sony Ericsson.  Today that’s changed significantly with the dawn of the smartphone with users owning an iPhone, Blackberry or HTC handset.

Whilst early mobile phones meant that people became available anytime and anywhere to receive calls and people could get access to answers and information on the go, today staff see the main purpose of their mobile and smart phones as being very different.  Email, music, social media and children’s games were the most commons uses today.  In the nineties users revelled in the fact that they didn’t have to be at home to take a call, could make social plans via text and could pose to impress the girls with their new gadgets! (more…)

Most applications do not generate revenues from paid downloads, but they serve other purposes. They can generate revenue with adjacent services like advertisements, in-app purchases or as a channel for larger service offerings, like mobile payments, retail, customer service, auction sites, banking applications or engaging customers with your brand.

If your application is built as a part of larger mobile strategy and it gets uninstalled due to bugs or other failures, you have limited your possibility to generate any revenues with your strategy, and a lot of expensive development and marketing work is quickly wasted.

Low ratings come from users who have problems with an app crashing, perhaps after a new version of the app was issued. (more…)

Be our business partner!

Procedures commonly used by IT companies create a situation in which the client, having agreed to system requirements, loses control over development for months. Consequently, the client’s expectations are not always met.

To eliminate this problem we implemented a methodology where the client provides regular insight into the work progress at every stage of developing the application. We build a working relationship, which is based on trust and partnership.

Both sides can gain additional value from cyclic meetings, during which we listen to as many comments as possible and solve the emerging problems together. Responding to changes faster enables us to save valuable time, which can be later devoted to testing the application. In turn, a larger number of tests results in a higher quality product.

(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.

(more…)

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…)