Free vs. paid: The web is the ultimate App Store

This guy has it figured out.

The next big thing will be apps as a service. Buy or rent an app you need for a short time then do it again in 3 days or 3 months or a year when you need it again. This is already available on the general web from your PC and the phone version will follow. J2ME apps run on a variety of devices, although not always exactly the same (different screen specs and I/O issues). And certainly as we move to more SaaS offerings where apps run only in a browser, the notion of an app for almost any device able to handle XML, AJAX, JavaScript, etc., would make apps almost universal. This only works if you have reliable, high speed, and fairly low cost data-driven networks, as this stuff requires users to be connected most or all of the time.

Free vs paid: The web is the ultimate App Store – Cell Phones & Mobile Device Technology News & Updates | Geek.com

Who Am I?

I sometimes feel like the question could be best answered by handing
over a copy of Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist". 

If you want to understand me, look no further.

"If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to
know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

"Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved towards that dream.

That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon'. Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being sorely tested."

"When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us
becomes better, too."

A powerful new web service - Content and Contact using one Interface (the Browser) & one Platform (the Web)

I just got this working last night and it’s blowing my mind so I have to share it.

I recently got approved for the new Google Voice service. After completing the sign up I noticed that you could access this “service” from a Web page. So I wondered how hard it would be to integrate everything using our software. It was very straightforward and took me literally just a few minutes to set this up.. I opened up my preferences and added my new Google Voice number to my settings. Now when I go to our Web site it knows that it’s Me and generates a Web page with my Gvoice number as a browser menu. I also have enabled Google search to show up in the browser menu all the time. 

So what does all this mean?

I now have access to multiple data sets (Voice AND Search) using one interface (the browser) across one platform (the Web). The second I show up at Google’s Web site using my browser you know everything about me (I’m happy to share because I value the services). I never have to type in any data – they simply provide me with my favorite (now personalized) services. We now have the marriage of Content (Search) with Contact (Gvoice) in single interface across one platform without the need to build a complex Mobile application.

And here’s the kicker – this scale to every other service out there. The second I navigate to say www.msn.com the menus change again – to reflect a new set of services.

If I click on my new voice number below it launches me straight into Google’s voice system and I can now make VOIP calls. Holy cow – the Telco's are in trouble now – all I need is a Wi-Fi enabled phone device!!! (it could be any device)

 

iPhone App Store roulette: A tale of rejection

A MUST read article. A couple of key paragraphs:

There is every indication that the App Store doesn't contribute very much to the bottom line of many developers, either. If there are 65,000 apps and 1.5 billion downloads, the average number of downloads is about 23,000. If you subtract some of the irresistible free applications like Facebook and Yelp that are just fancy Web pages, it becomes clear that selling even 1,000 copies of your application is a pretty big accomplishment.

&

Any enterprise shop would be insane to try to bet their company's livelihood on the iPhone. Oh sure, you've got to dabble in it now because the boss and the boss's boss have snorted all of the hype about the 1.5 billion downloads, but the random approval process is a real disaster for anyone trying to innovate in the simplest way. You've got to be willing to add an extra two or three months of salary for your team after development in order to get approval. Testing is a pain, and if you miss something, your users will be stuck with the old code until you can get a new version past the Iron Curtain.

 

iPhone App Store roulette: A tale of rejection

App stores are not the future, says Google

Totally agree… here’s what it could look like (this is fully functional and integrates real time GPS enabled search). The menu item “My Google Services” appears in real time when the user goes to Google. Clicking on it takes you to your personalized Google services

FT.com | Tech Blog | App stores are not the future, says Google

Google Brings Location To The Mobile Web On The iPhone – So what? Where’s the Windows Mobile and Blackberry version?

All the talk this morning is about Google bringing location to the iPhone. We’ve been doing it on Windows Mobile and Blackberry INSIDE the browser for 3 years now. Plus we can send ANY data from the device to the web server.

Here’s what you do. Click on Privacy options, go to Location Options and click on “Share my location” which shares both your GPS and Cell Tower ID.

Then simply click on Search Google or your favorite provider and Google gets your location data.

Couldn’t be any simpler. Works exactly the same on Windows Mobile.

Why Location-based spam ads will fail, but also LBS-based event ads will succeed

The reason LBS spam ads fail is because they lack the correct context around who I am. An event based location ad succeeds because there is implied information about Me (e.g. I'm here because I like the event. That's meta data which can be targeted).

Check out JumpTap's recent patent frenzy. They are betting a lot on location/meta data and search. Of course they get their information from the Telco's in return for a revenue share.

Location is all about the meta data.

Communities Dominate Brands: Why Location-based spam ads will fail, but also LBS-based event ads will succeed

CHART OF THE DAY: VCs Are Very, Very Worried About Exits

No kidding. It used to be an IPO. That got replaced with M&A. It used to be $100m on the exit – now it’s $50m or lower. Which means if they (newco) has more than 10 million shares outstanding (95% of them do) that the exit price is $5 a share. Take out the liquidation preference (VC’s get their money back first) and the Entrepreneurs are left with barely a paycheck – and that assumes they’re lucky enough to exit.

CHART OF THE DAY: VCs Are Very, Very Worried About Exits

What happened to Research In Motion and where are they going? : Boy Genius Report

What a great write up.

What happened to Research In Motion and where are they going? : Boy Genius Report