Apple announced Tuesday that more than three billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store by iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide.

“Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months–this is like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon.”

The news comes nine months after it hit 1 billion downloads, with the second billion taking a further six months.

When the 2 billion mark was reached, Apple also announced that 85 000 apps were available in the App Store at the time. This time, the company chose to stick to download numbers only.

However, in November 2009, Apple did say that 100 000 apps were published to the store.

There’s been some useful discussion recently about using the app store model for distributing enterprise software and services within organizations. Up until now, most IT needs in the majority of businesses have been met through one-size-fits-all delivery of solutions that are either hand-crafted or purchased and then imposed on all. It’s been this way for at least three decades, but now this aging and inadequate process is beginning to improve.

The premise of an app store model for enterprises is simple: By removing the middleman, the famous bottleneck between the business and IT demand can be reduced in many cases. Application backlogs can shrink, consumption of internal and external IT resources will increase, and fierce competition to provide the best solutions to niches can greatly improve overall quality (the long tail of IT argument), all while reducing costs. At least, that’s what is possible if we look at what’s happening to the non-enterprise software market today.

Related: The app store: A “must-have” new digital business model

Fellow Enterprise Irregular Jevon MacDonald posits this as a likely outcome of the emerging Personal Enterprise. Current trends involving the mass personalization of services and the consumeration of enterprise IT have come together and resulted in ready-to-use catalogs of IT solutions that are much easier to acquire and consume today than they from traditional channels. Jevon cites Force.com, Intuit Marketplace and Get App as current examples of app stores for enterprises and SMBs, to which I’d definitely add IBM’s Smart Market. Google is even rumored to be ready to release an enterprise app store of its own soon.

Distributing SOA, SaaS, & Mashups with The Enterprise App Store

Even the Web itself has become a sort of ad hoc app store writ large in the cloud with thousands of SaaS applications available today that most enterprise users can acquire and use with little or no provisioning or support from IT.

In this view, monolithic enterprise deployments become rarer and IT solutions begin to look more like their counterparts online: smaller, more specific apps that fit the local conditions better (and are usually cheaper too). That this might actually happen is evidenced not only by the already existing enterprise app stores today but by the work currently going into rethinking of IT in terms of emergent enterprise architecture (intentionally) and the growing use of shadow applications in the cloud (grassroots).

App Stores: Not Just For Apps

ebizQ’s own Joe McKendrick recently explored the app store’s applicability to service-oriented architecture (SOA) this week, quoting George Ravich, who promulgates the SOA-as-a-store approach to enterprise users in the same way that iTunes is available online to get whatever one needs at the time: “The SOA service catalog promises to have the same impact on enterprise computing as the iTunes playlist has had on listening to music.”

SOA has always been an approach that promotes reuse and interoperability between existing IT systems. Those who have adhered to SOA principles have been able to project their services and data into widely distributed and far-flung IT solutions, both within and between organizations. But successfully driving SOA consumption has been hard, and the focus is too often on opening up services instead of focusing on increasing usage. But the SOA industry quickly hit upon a potential solution. Proving that what is old is new again with the app store model, there have been commercial service directories for a long time now that have have helped organizations maintain open inventories of services, such as StrikeIron or IBM Mashup Center…

Social news aggregator Digg.com has released its free iPhone app in the App Store. Packed with a slick, feature-rich interface, the app is a strong start for the popular website, though there’s plenty of room for it to grow.

Source: (Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/03/digg-iphone-app/#ixzz0jIb7zwIa)

Launching the app, you’ll be able to immediately browse popular stories on Digg. You can also view popular stories by topic (e.g., technology, business, science, etc.) or upcoming articles that are about to go popular. You can search through stories by typing a keyword in a search field.

The best part of the app is it makes it really easy to Digg or bury a submission. Tapping a link launches the story inside an in-app browser, and a bar below contains thumbs up and thumbs down buttons to cast your vote. There’s also a button to save a story for reading later. The entire interface is snappy; from my testing on an iPhone 3GS, stories loaded quickly inside Digg’s browser.

With that said, there are some features missing that I’d like to see in version 2. One major minus is you can’t comment on stories like you would on Digg.com. You can view comments, but you can’t actually write any. According to Tap Tap Tap, which developed the app with Digg, the public Digg API doesn’t support adding comments yet. So hopefully we can expect this feature in a later version.

Also, there’s limited interaction between the Digg app and other apps. For example, if you’re browsing your Twitter feed in Tweetie and you tap a Digg link, it doesn’t launch the Digg app. Instead, you’re stuck with viewing the Digg link in the Safari browser. To be fair, you can hit a button to share Digg links through Twitter, Facebook or e-mail, but the inability to use the app to view others’ shared Digg links is stifling.

The free Digg app is downloadable now in the App Store. A video demo of the app is below.

News release [Digg]

Whats next for Social TV? Below Mark Groves from NDS talks about whats next for social tv and how this will be intergrated into our exisiting platforms
NDS will be exhibiting at the Social TV and Social Media World Forum on the 15th & 16th March, London 2010. http://www.social-tv.net meet them at stand number 15.

The Social Shindig party, the official networking party of Social Media World Forum will be taking place on the middle evening of the event.All conference pass delegates are invited to head over to the Archangel venue situated opposite the Kensington Royal Garden Hotel.  The venue is a10 min walk from Olympia & The Hilton Olympia Hotel – the official event hotel and 5 m ins from High Street Kensington Tube Station.

Please Note: Open only to full conference pass holders – wristbands will need to be shown to gain access Networking Party Partners

About Social Media UK

‘Social Media UK’ is a networking community based in London consisting of a LinkedIn group of 850+ members, a crowdsourced blog www.socialmediamonday.co.uk and a monthly networking event ‘Social Media Monday’ with presentations & plenty of ‘social’ till late… (follow @SocialMedia_UK & tweet about #SMUK)

We’ve grown tremendously over the last 6 months and we’re really proud to be continuing these talks in the Workshops at the Social Media World Forum 2010.

‘Social Media UK’ is organised by the Digital / Social Media recruitment specialists; Fresh Resources. We’re ridiculously passionate about all things digital and absolutely believe that being an active part of the community and contributing towards the industry we specialise in, means we’re poised to consistently deliver precision services to our much adored clients. 

#SMUK loves social media, that why even this description is wrapped up in 140 words!

Monterosa (www.monterosa.co.uk) have confirmed their attendance at the Social TV Forum Europe, (www.social-tv.net) taking place on the 15/16th March 2010 at Olympia, London.

Monterosa are a creative and technology company based in central London. We’re a team of experienced producers, project managers, software engineers and designers with range of backgrounds backgrounds in broadcast, advertising, games and software development.

Ooyala’s player has always supported sharing to popular social networks sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Ooyala now supports deep linking which allows a viewer to share only a particular video within a playlist or a specific scene within a video. These deep linking sharing options are available for its player embeds, its sharing links to social networking sites, as well as the newly released URL link, also available in the player. What’s great about this is that it does not require any custom development work. A publisher can easily enable the various sharing options in Backlot for all their viewers.

Ooyala is a leading video technology company, for details visit www.ooyala.com/blog

The Cloud Computing Congress (http://www.cloudcomputingcongress.com/), has just announced a range of free to attend workshops on mobile cloud computing, co-located with the Mobile Social Media forum (http://www.mobilesocial-networking.com/).

The workshops examine why mobile and cloud computing are the perfect fit, and how this can be used to generate the next generation mobile experience. The workshops also cover practical demo of hybrid and mobile cloud computing, and how core functionality can be expanded to mobile devices for the cloud. View the free to attend workshops here: http://www.cloudcomputingcongress.com/exhibition/workshops.html

“Cloud computing technologies look like they will become a changing force in the mobile world, facilitating mobile solutions to be offered to a much broader audience of mobile subscribers.” commented Ian Johnson, MD, Six Degrees Events. “We are delighted to announce a range of free to attend workshops, and think that  the mobile social media event will help outline the next generation in mobile cloud applications, new business models, and the obstacles to be overcome.“

“In the mobile Web device detection, media adaptation, and optimized content delivery are challenging tasks as there are so many different devices out there. Mobile cloud computing gets all these hurdles out of the way. Using a web-based mobile publishing platform, it’s not only more cost-efficient, it also delivers much better quality output on a broader variety of handsets.” (Michael Neidhoefer, CEO, Netbiscuits)

“What if you could build applications based on web standards, move the processing associated with the applications off the mobile device to powerful, centralized platforms and then use the Internet to access the applications, in essence moving these applications into the cloud?” (Mark Beccue, ABI Research)

Additional workshops at the event include cloud application development, Microsoft Azure overview and more.  To register for the free to attend workshop please go to – http://www.cloudcomputingcongress.com/register/free-exhibition.html

Learn which mobile applications will lead the growth, the key technologies, players and initiatives involved, new business models that will be introduced, and the barriers that must be overcome. Additional free to attend workshops with Facebook and other partners are co-located @ the social media world forum, please see agenda – http://www.socialmedia-forum.com/exhibition/workshops.html

Cloud Computing Congress & Mobile Social Media is co-located with the Social Media World Forum (http://www.socialmedia-forum.com/) an event that encompasses the entire spectrum of Social Media.  It will take place at Olympia, London on the 15/16 March.

Speaker line-up announced at the London Social Media Events.  200 confirmed speakers across the conferences.  See our full line-up below.

Speakers @ Social TV & Mobile Social Media 15/16^th March  include – http://www.social-tv.net & http://www.mobilesocial-networking.com

• Robert Marsh, VP, Interactive & Telephony, Freemantle Media
• Peter Ward, Co-founder & CEO, WAYN
• Bob Rapp, Head, User Communities, Vodafone Group
• Rahul Chakkara, Controller of TV Platforms, BBC
• Angel Gambino, Vice President, Sonico
• Mark Watts-Jones, Head of Development & Innovation, Orange UK
• Yoel Flohr, Head of Mobile, Bebo
• Andrew Kearney, Vice President TV Products at UPC Broadband
• Richard Griffiths, Director TV and Entertainment, Eircom
• Nicolas Bry, Vice President, Orange Vallee
• Kevin Baughan, Head Technical Strategy, Virgin Media
• Ian Kegel, Head of Future Content Group, BT UK
• Triona Campbell, CEO, Campbell Ryan
• Pasa Mustafa, Head of Digital Studios, Endemol
• Damien Byrne, Head of Entertainment, T Mobile
• Miroslaw Smyk, General Manager TV Business Division at Romtelecom
• Matt Dicks, CMO, Flirtomatic
• John Cole, Managing Director UK, Adknowledge
• Claudio Venezia, Researcher, Telecom Italia
• Cian O’Sullivan, Editor in Chief, GoMo News
• Tim Hussain, Head of Mobile and Video Advertising
• Guillaume de Saint Marc, VP R&D New Initiatives, NDS
• Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Head of Product, Mobile – EU, Yahoo!
• Paul Berney, Managing Director Europe, Mobile Marketing Association
• Adrian Drury, Principle / Media, Broadcast & Telecoms, Ovum
• Paul Berney, Managing Director, Europe, MMA
• Deborah Porton, Head of Mobile Development, Badoo Ltd
• Franco Beschizza, Head of Mobile, Interactive Services, COI
• Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Head of Product, Mobile – EU, Yahoo!
• Martin Harris, SVP Corporate Sales, Bango
• Peter Ward, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, WAYN.com
• Stefanie Hoffmann, CEO Finance, Business Development, aka aki
• Simon Spanswick, Chief Executive, Association for International Broadcasting
• Dan Cryan, Head of Broadband, Screen Digest
• Paul Bristow, Vice-President of Strategy, ADB
• Dr William Cooper Founder and Chief Executive, informitv.com
• Justin Kan, founder and President, Justin.tv
• Aliza Beckett, Business Development, Web, Mobile & New Platforms, Channel 4
• Chi-chi Ekweozor, Director, RealFresh.tv
• Dick Rempt, CEO, Talents Media
• Richard Lindsay Davis, Director General, DTG
• Benjamin Schwarz, Owner, CTO Innovation Consulting
• Martin Jarrold, Chief, International Programme Development GVF

Speakers @ Social Media World Forum 15/16^th March – http://www.socialmedia-forum.com

• Lucas Herscovici, Global Marketing Manager, Becks
• Dr. Torsten Wigenter, Head of Social Media Marketing, Lufthansa
• Trevor Johnson, Head of Strategy and Planning, EMEA, Facebook
• Stephane Panier, Global Head, Bebo
• Nick Halstead, CEO, Tweetmeme
• Allison Wightman, Head of Marketing Systems, Virgin Atlantic
• Kerryn Dinsdale, Senior PR Manager, Barclaycard
• Muhammad Karim, Senior Brand Manager, Mars
• Peter Crosby, COO, Viadeo
• Dr. Helmut Becker, COO, XING
• Mark Schmid, Communications Director, Talk Talk
• Martine Edgell, CRM Specialist, Mercedes Benz
• Neal Sato, CTO, mixi
• Christian Schultz, Head of Communications, Mattel
• Michael Smith, Deputy Director of Interactive Services, COI
• Lorenz Bogaert, CEO, Netlog
• Jason Baker, Head of CRM and Digital Media, Ikea UK
• Justin Kan, founder and President, Justin.tv
• Guy Clapperton, Freelance Journalist, Editor and Broadcaster
• Penny Power, Author, International Speaker, Entrepreneur and founder of Ecademy
• Matthew Fraser, Senior Fellow at INSEAD & co-author of  ‘Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom
• Fred McIntyre, Vice President, Product, CBS Interactive
• Sienne Veit, Social and Mobile Commerce Development, Manager, M&S Direct
• Ricky Chopra, Digital Marketing Manager, Speedo International Limited
• Igor Beuker, Founder, SocialMedia8
• David Henry, VP Digital Marketing, Europe, Monster Worldwide
• Mark Watts-Jones, Head of Development & Innovation, Orange UK
• Lisa Mane, Head of Social Media, COI
• Mike Gamoroff, Owner & MD, Gamoroff
• Will McInnes, Managing Director, NixonMcInnes
• Michael Caselli, Editor, Online Casino News
• Adam Caplan, Vice President – Virtual Currency (Super Rewards), Adknowledge
• Neal Sato, CTO, mixi
• Fred McIntyre, Vice President, Product, CBS Interactive
• Oli Newton, Head of Emerging Platforms, i-Level
• Celina Maguire, Consumer Director, Gorkana
• Laila Takeh, Online Manager, British Heart Foundation
• Kristin Wadge, Director, Metrica
• Sam Barratt, Head of Media, Oxfam
• Craig Elder, Online Communities Editor, Conservative Campaign HQ
• Alex Aiken, Head of Communications, Westminster City Council
• Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East & New Media Communications Spokesperson
• Mark Jones, Online and Social Media Editor, Thomson Reuters
• Alex Miller, Head of Social Media, i-Level
• Markus Berger – de Leon, CEO, VZ Networks
• Angel Gambino, Vice President, Sonico

Speakers @ Enterprise Social Media & Cloud Computing http://www.cloudcomputingcongress.com – 15/16^th March

• Dion Hinchliffe, Editor in Chief, Social Computing Magazine & Web 2.0 Journal
• Geoff Timblick, Group Internal Communications Manager, New Media, Vodafone Group
• Helen Farrar, Head of Internal Communications, Virgin Media
• Martin Bellamy, CIO, Cabinet Office
• Adrian Steel, Head of Infrastructure Management, Royal Mail
• Thanos Kokkiniotis, Business IT Analyst, Shell International Ltd
• Eachan Fletcher, CIO, Sporting Index
• Simon Revell, Associate Director, Collaboration and Web Technologies, Pfizer
• David Wilde, CIO, Westminster City Council
• Per Rombouts, Project Manager Intranet & Social Media, ING Group
• Kenneth Verlage, CIO, DHL Express
• Paul James, CIO, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, MOD
• Dominic Burch, Head of Corporate Comms and New Media, ASDA
• Sonia Carter, Senior Manager Online Communications, AXA
• Anthony Frost, Head of Corporate Communications, Santander
• Euan Semple, Independent Advisor/former Director of Knowledge Management BBC
• Alison Coward, Owner, Bracket
• Evangelos Kotsovinos, Vice President, Technology, Morgan Stanley
• Eachan Fletcher, CIO, Sporting Index
• Richard Ellis, Manager, UK & Ireland, Iron Mountain Digital
• Andrew Charlesworth, Director, Centre for IT and Law, University of Bristol
• Dr Bill Ashraf, Director of Technology Enhanced Learning, University of Sussex
• Adrian Davey, Head of IT, Tube Lines

Version 2.0 of award-winning Mediaroom TV platform enables subscription TV providers to deliver more entertainment content to more types of screens, using a single cloud-based infrastructure.

LAS VEGAS — Jan. 6, 2010 — Today at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft Corp. is announcing Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0, the next version of the world’s most deployed Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) platform. Mediaroom 2.0 will enable television service operators to provide their TV services to more subscribers than ever before, delivering more content to more screens than the previous version of Mediaroom — both inside and outside the home.

“Mediaroom 2.0 operators will be able to deliver their live, recorded and on-demand TV service through Windows Media Center on Windows 7-based PCs.” Click for high-res version.

Mediaroom 2.0 is scheduled to be available for operators to start testing beginning next month. Mediaroom 2.0 can be deployed by operators as their entertainment cloud powering the delivery of a complete television service, including cloud digital video recording (DVR), on-demand features, interactive applications, and access to both operator-hosted content and externally hosted content such as Internet TV. The operators’ service can be enjoyed by their subscribers on multiple screens including the TV (with Mediaroom set-top box), Windows Media Center, Web browsers (for Windows-based PCs and Macs), Xbox 360 and compatible smartphones.

Also new with Mediaroom 2.0, service providers will now be able to offer their existing on-demand TV service to their entire broadband customer base using their existing set-top box inventory, thereby expanding their service footprint beyond the reach of their IPTV network. The same on-demand service can also be enjoyed on Windows 7-based PCs using Windows Media Center,* as well as on Xbox 360. Service providers also can offer subscribers access to their on-demand programming remotely using a range of Web browsers running on Windows-based PCs and Macs and, in the near future, on compatible smartphones.

Mediaroom 2.0 also adds support for Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Smooth Streaming for the access and delivery of on-demand content. This enables viewers to enjoy an exceptionally high-quality playback experience, because IIS Smooth Streaming adapts the video stream to the user’s network connection to enable optimum video quality. In addition, support for Microsoft PlayReady preserves the service providers’ ability to secure their content libraries and monetize consumer experiences.

“Our strategy with Mediaroom is to combine the power of client software and cloud-based services to greatly enhance the way consumers experience digital entertainment. We want to make it easier for consumers to find and discover great content, to watch, listen and engage in new ways, and to do so anywhere and on any screen,” said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president for the TV, Video and Music Business at Microsoft. “Mediaroom 2.0 is a key milestone in our strategy, providing the software platform to power operators’ service clouds to reach more screens, and more people, with more content than ever before.”

More Screens

Watching TV on a PC is a growing trend. For some, it is a second or third screen in the home or is used for watching TV when on the go. For others, the PC may be their only screen for TV. Mediaroom 2.0’s new support for Windows Media Center in Windows 7 means operators can now deliver their premium TV services, including live high-definition (HD) TV, DVR and on-demand programming, to virtually any Windows 7-based PC with no additional hardware tuner required. In addition, DVR and on-demand content can be enjoyed on Xbox 360, a broad range of Web browsers for Windows-based PCs and Macs, and, in the near future, playback on compatible smartphones while on the go.

All of this gives consumers more freedom in where and how they access their TV service, with the benefits of a familiar experience across multiple screens. For example, they could start watching a show on one screen and finish watching it on another. They also could build a video queue on their smartphone and watch it later on their TV or PC. While traveling, they could watch recorded TV on their smartphone and later watch an on-demand feature film in HD on their laptop, accessing the same storefront they enjoy at home.

More Networks

To date, Mediaroom deployments have been delivered over a fixed-line managed Quality of Service (QoS) IP network. By integrating IIS Smooth Streaming technology into Mediaroom 2.0, Microsoft enables operators to offer a premium, HD-quality video-on-demand service, with minimal buffering and fast startup times, even over IP-based networks of varying bandwidths.

This significantly expands the service reach for operators and enables them to serve customers on fixed-line as well as wireless and, in the future, mobile broadband networks. For operators wishing to deliver only on-demand TV-video services to customers via the Internet, Mediaroom 2.0 includes a set-top box client that supports this functionality and is designed for self-installation by the subscriber. This client is upgradable to full Mediaroom functionality without the need for hardware changes.

For consumers, this advancement means that more people in more places will be able to experience the benefits of cutting-edge Mediaroom-powered TV services than has been possible before. It also means that whatever the speed of their network, they will enjoy an optimal viewing experience thanks to built-in support for IIS Smooth Streaming.

More Content

Consumers are demanding access to ever-larger libraries of content, and IPTV operators are looking to meet this demand and further differentiate their services by augmenting their existing content lineup with TV and video from the Web. With Mediaroom 2.0, operators can now easily bring together live and on-demand TV with externally hosted content from Internet TV partners and other Internet-based content sources, all in one place with a consistent, easy-to-use interface. New support for playback of content protected using PlayReady, Microsoft’s advanced content access and protection technology, further expands the base of potential content for operator TV services. In addition, operators can further distinguish their services with applications that provide rich interactivity and seamless blending of Web and TV content using the Mediaroom application development platform, Mediaroom Presentation Framework.

Once a Mediaroom 2.0-powered service is deployed, subscribers will be able to enjoy the content they want to watch in one place on their TV or PC — no more having to visit a multitude of sites to find what they are looking for or connect a PC to the TV. Instead, they will be able to easily find and watch TV shows on demand across different networks using one easy-to-use guide, or simply search through the programming available to find the shows they’d like to watch, all in a consistent playback experience.

More Revenue

According to analyst firm Screen Digest the top five Mediaroom customers generate on-demand average revenues per user (ARPUs) that are on average three times that of the incumbent pay TV operator in their market.

Mediaroom 2.0 includes a compelling new on-demand storefront that further enhances the monetization potential for Mediaroom service operators. The new on-demand storefront is designed to help drive subscriber usage and satisfaction by providing a richly visual browsing, discovery and playback experience, and offering easy access to other elements of the operator’s service directly from the storefront.

Features

About Microsoft Mediaroom

The award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform is the most widely deployed IPTV platform in the world. Mediaroom is driving the future of television by enabling broadband service providers to deliver new connected TV and entertainment experiences to consumers worldwide. It provides new ways for consumers to experience TV as part of their connected, digital lifestyle, while also creating new business opportunities for broadband service providers, hardware manufacturers, content creators, advertisers and application developers. Over 20 of the world’s leading service providers across four continents have selected the Mediaroom platform to drive their digital TV services. More information on Mediaroom and the opportunity to deliver the best in TV plus all your media in one place is available at http://www.microsoft.com/mediaroom.