Since the iPhone was originally introduced in January of 2007, there has been an undeniable explosion in the number of apps that are available for it.  At the beginning of August, 2010, there were over 200,000 applications on hand in the app store.

Maybe before too long, Apple will introduce the iPhone X-1000-something, it will have 50 terabytes of storage space, and it’ll just come pre-loaded with all 200,000 apps.  In the meantime, though, we’re stuck with the (ho-hum) limitation of a mere 16 gigabytes of storage space, so we have to be a bit choosier about the stuff we load on onto our iPhones.

So which apps are the best ones to get?

Well, there’s no shortage of online opinion pieces to help you with that.  For purposes of this little discussion, though, we’ll focus on a few developers that have brought mini-collections of apps (let’s call them series) to the store for your consideration:

•    The iParrot language translation series provides easy-to-use tools that divide key phrases into categories, such as getting help, shopping, transportation, greetings and more.  Most major worldwide languages are included, and they are grouped into two-language mini-apps that translate back and forth from German to English, for example.  iParrot is available via apple.com downloads.

•    Kogan Page, a bestselling publisher of business-related books and guides, has made their Creating Success series available via a free iPhone app.  The series has sold over one million copies in print, and there is valuable information included within it for a variety of business and industry subjects.

If you’re stuck lamenting which apps to get for your iPhone, consider trying an app series like the ones above.  You may well discover that you can get what you need in one tidy icon, instead of cluttering your home screen with individual apps to accomplish the same task.

For most kids growing up in today’s high-technology world, things like Lincoln Logs and Tonka trucks (the metal ones, anyway) would seem more at home in a museum than in their toy chests.  Their parents, on the other hand, remember such relics almost as fondly as the outlandish concept of actually playing outside.

Outlandish, indeed.

If you’re a parent and you’re reading this, you know all about what it’s like trying to pry an Xbox controller out of your twelve-year old’s hands.  Tell the kid to go play outdoors, and he’s likely to manifest an impressive tantrum.  At a minimum, he’s sure to negotiate a settlement that will keep him inside, where he can happily pursue some other sort of tech-heavy entertainment.

Today, such a negotiation may well include begging Mommy or Daddy for a few minutes alone with their iPhone.  And surprisingly, those few minutes could ultimately turn into time well spent – or at least, they can be a reasonable alternative to (gasp) physical activity in the back yard.

In response to the ever-growing popularity of iPhone applications, PBS (the same folks who brought Sesame Street to the screen) is looking to mobile communications as a new outlet for reaching children.  They are reaching past the now-traditional scene of a child using Daddy’s iPhone to play games, and hoping to use the device as an educational tool instead.

PBS has contracted with developers to build several applications designed to offer educational benefits.  A recent study by the Department of Education suggests that one PBS application improved user vocabulary by up to 31%.

Not bad, considering that PBS apps cost $2.99 at most.  That’s a lot less expensive than a private school education.

Developers like SocialJitney have recognized this area as a growth opportunity for quite some time. SocialJitney, even recently created a child’s application for a partner that reached number one in the Education category for the iPhone.

For their part, naysayer’s who have panned the iPhone as more of a consumer toy than a business tool may point to children’s applications as further evidence that the iPhone belongs at home instead of the office.  But if your child turns his nose up when he unwraps a box of Lego ® bricks on his birthday, try handing him your iPhone.  Equipped with the right applications, you may well find it to be an excellent supplement to his out-of-school education.

PBS thinks so, anyway.

Got an idea for a great new iPhone app or Android app?  Planning on capitalizing on the recent trend of big entertainment companies acquiring small app developers?  Will your application be the next one to break the record for a million users in the shortest period of time? Is it the best piece of social gaming technology, like, ever?

Well, guess what?  No matter how good it is it may not succeed without a solid marketing effort to back it up.

Fortunately, the same social media technologies that make mobile applications the popular phenomenon they are, can also serve you well when it comes to marketing.  And better yet, even if you are not personally a whiz-bang at either marketing or building application architecture all by yourself, there are resources out there that can help you with both.

Companies like SocialJitney (www.socialjitney.com) specialize in taking your social networking application to complete fruition.  From initial concept development to all-encompassing promotional campaigns, such firms are well versed in all things app-related.

An application can get lost in the traffic of the iTunes App Store or the Android Marketplace. To have an app get noticed it must:

• Be innovative and of high quality

• Have an attractive icon, great description and screenshots in the app store

• Have a well-conceived marketing and PR campaign that includes social media

As the Czech novelist and playwright Milan Kundera famously said, “Business has only two functions – innovation and marketing.” Those words were true when he said them decades ago, and they’re just as true now.  And with a well-conceived marketing program, your app could be the next one to innovate itself right to the top of the iPhone or Android app-store charts.

If you’re a mobile applications developer, your opportunities for creating revenue are expanding as quickly as Apple’s share of the smartphone market itself.  That’s because earlier this June, Apple announced the launch of its new iAd platform, which is being released in concert with its new iOS 4 operating system.

So what does all that mean for developers?

It means that advertisements will soon become a regular part of the thousands of apps being run on millions of iPhones (and other handheld devices).  It also means that 60% of the cash created by Apple’s advertising sales will belong to the developers of the apps, with the other 40% being retained by Apple.

All of this is being made possible through Apple’s innovative approach to mobile communications advertising.  In essence, the difference between an ad you’ll see on your phone versus one you’d encounter on your computer is this: the mobile version will happen without you ever having to exit whatever app you might be using.  This feature will make it possible to reach a whole lot of people, over 100 million of them soon enough, according to Steve Jobs’ recent announcement about Apple’s share of the smartphone market.   And with iAd, it will reach them in ways that are designed to make the commercials fit beautifully within the apps, creating a seamless experience that could transform the way people look at (and pay attention to) advertising.

According to BizReport.com, more than $60 million has already been assigned to iAd advertising through the end of 2010.  That’s six times the size of the entire global mobile applications market at the end of last year (source: marketingvox.com).  Put another way, mobile communications app developers could see their revenues more than triple in the coming year, thanks to their piece of the iAd pie.

Pretty tasty, huh?

If you rewind the clock back to the beginning of 2008, a ChangeWave Research survey indicated that  just 1% of people planning on buying a smartphone were considering a Google Android-driven device.  By the beginning of this year, that number had rocketed all the way up to 21%.

That’s a pretty hefty increase in Android interest, to say the least.

Now, with the first quarter of 2010 in the books, it appears that the Android operating system is chipping away at the solid grip of the Apple iPhone OS.  According to a June 4, 2010 study published by Nielson, the Android OS is up to 9% of the total smartphone market share, a number that has catapulted Android ahead of Symbian, Linux and Palm.  In fact, Android now enjoys over double the market share of Palm.

Among mobile users that currently carry an Android-powered gadget, Nielson says that 70% of them will stick with an Android device the next time they buy a smartphone.  This is an important development, since it reflects a significant and growing brand loyalty that simply wasn’t present just a year ago.

Android’s recent swell in popularity is making a dent in the iPhone platform’s stronghold, for sure.  Still, it would be a huge mistake to assume that Android will overtake iPhone any time soon.  Lest we forget, in late 2009 iPhone unseated Nokia as the most profitable handset supplier in the world (according to strategyanalytics.com).  Clearly, that is no small feat, given the fact that Nokia has a far more diverse list of cellular products than Apple does.

For now, the short answer is that the iPhone OS still has the edge.  But given the impressive surge in recent Android-driven device sales, iPhone might finally have a real contender to deal with in the fight for smartphone OS market share.

With the recent advent of the insanely popular iPad and the June 2010 release of  Apple’s new iOS 4 operating system, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that your business needs to create an iPhone app.

Before you take the plunge, hold the phone a second.

With thousands of applications available in the app store today, you might be thinking your business is missing a big opportunity if you don’t have an app.  But consider this:  without a significant “hook” that draws iPhone users to your app, you’re probably better off skipping the effort to develop one altogether.

Simply put, iPhone users aren’t going to waste their time downloading every new app that comes along.  This is especially true for apps that are developed by businesses who post them for the purpose of promoting their products or services.  See, no one who is used to applications that entertain, inform, excite or educate is going to be interested in one that merely schleps your company’s latest discounts or product improvements.

Instead, the typical iPhone user wants animated apps that stimulate and electrify.  That’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. (Mark Twain said that.  He’d probably say it all over again if he was comparing a boring idea for a “brochure-ware” style app to something like Trism or Tap Tap Revenge).

On the other hand, if the brianiacs in your company come up with an application that actually gives users a reason to download and frequently use it, then by all means it’s worth looking into.  Especially if it is inherently useful while giving customers a way to connect the dots between the app and your product offerings, without being too “commercial.”

iPhone app development can indeed be a worthy adventure.  But before you pull the trigger, make sure your company has a real application that is more appealing to the user than it is to your marketing manager.

With the June 22nd announcement that Apple is selling one every two seconds, (informationweek.com) it’s no wonder that everyone’s talking about the iPad.  But not every word you hear is a positive one.

Take the iPad user interface, for example.

Some product reviews (such as a recent one posted by Nielson) suggest that in Apple’s never-ending quest to be unique, a bit of user-friendliness gets lost in the mix.  Features that we’ve all grown accustomed to, like readily-visible navigation buttons or application home pages, aren’t universally available with every iPad app.

The lack of crystal-clear navigation appears to be the result of two main factors:

1) Apple’s published desire for app developers to adopt a “less clutter” policy that seems to emphasize a clean look rather than a clean experience.

2) The Apple M.O. itself.  All of Apple’s products are promoted with a cutting-edge, to-hell-with-conformity sort of style that sometimes betrays the consumer a little.

Most of the time with Apple products, different is good.  But being different should be all about delivering better products, not just better marketing.  And when it comes to the iPad UI, unfortunately, “different” is not always better.

OK, so the UI could use a little bit of attention.  That fact hasn’t stopped the iPad from flying off the shelves at a pace that approaches 40,000 units per day.  It’s clearly another spectacular Apple success, and it has provided app developers with a whole new platform of fresh opportunities. Hopefully, those opportunities won’t be affected over the long run by the compromises its UI presents.

Yes, the iPad may well be the new Sheriff in town.  But until its UI is a little more UF, it may also be a little more wild west than a lot of potential buyers would like it to be.

Internet access, everywhere.  Faster mobile networks.  Greater computing power in ever-smaller packages.  Unlimited data storage with still-faster retrieval.  Ask anybody with an ounce of knowledge about technology what the future holds for mobile devices, and you’ll get answers like these.

What does all of that mean for mobile apps?  It means a nearly infinite scope of opportunity for new ones.

For example, would you waste your time today on a smartphone app that gave frequent travelers something meaningful to use while strapped into an airplane seat?  Not if it required Internet access, because today there are very few domestic flights that offer Wi-Fi.  But fast-forward the clock just a few years into the future, and you may find that Internet access is just as common on airplanes as it is today in hotels.

Now, imagine an application that an iPhone user could access while he’s at 30,000 feet.  Perhaps it gives him real-time updates of weather and traffic conditions in his destination city.  Maybe it tells him which baggage claim conveyor he should walk to after he lands.  And of course, it will no doubt tailor a few advertisements for local businesses to his specific preferences.

Social gaming, networking and mobile entertainment in general will benefit greatly from future technical advancements.  The ability to download an entire full-length feature movie using a network faster than 3G (maybe they’ll call it something like Giga-G by then) to your phone, say, in two seconds flat?  Wouldn’t that kind of speed make a big difference in how people use their phones in the future?

Finally, with ongoing advancements in the storage and computing power of mobile devices, the obstacles to bigger and brighter apps will continue to be removed.

Better.  Stronger.  Faster.  That’s how the future of mobile applications will be built.

According to a recent study, mobile communications devices are now more likely to be used for socializing than just about anything else their owners do with them on the mobile Internet.

The study, published by Ruder Finn (an independent public relations firm) this past February, suggests that smartphone users are accessing the Internet less for instructional purposes and more for social ones.  These social activities take on several different forms, most notably instant messaging, forwarding of emails and multimedia videos or pictures, expressing advocacy for a cause and of course, accessing social media sites like Twitter, Facebook or MySpace.

Because mobile users are generally on-the-go, they are often pressed for time and thus more traditional Internet uses, such as research or educational reading, are less likely to be pursued on a mobile device than they are on a desktop.  Instead, mobile communications users are more apt to use their devices to stay connected with friends, manage finances, or post opinions on social blogs.

In addition to Ruder Finn’s research, comscore.com has come out with a study that indicates over half of smartphone users access the mobile Internet to visit social networking sites.  In fact, (back to Ruder Finn’s study, now) mobile users are more likely (by 12%) to use the Internet for online socializing than traditional users.  Perhaps that’s because the research also suggests that 79% of men and 61% of women use their smartphones to take a break from their everyday responsibilities via a bit of online escapism.

For people who have to keep moving, the value of the mobile Internet takes on many different shapes.  For now though, the trends point strongly toward entertainment and socializing, a fact that will no doubt drive the decisions of developers, advertisers, and device manufacturers for years to come.

Sources:

www.ruderfinn.com
www.comscore.com

For mobile applications developers, there is a lot to consider when it comes to the strategies they will choose for marketing iPhone apps.  As with most products or services, many marketing decisions are driven purely by money; the availability of marketing funds will often determine how, and to what extent, a given product will be advertised.

iPhone app development is no different.  For example, and for a fee, developers can choose to give their app greater exposure in the app store via sponsored listings. It works a lot like Google’s version, and it has brought good results for some developers because their app gets preferential treatment in app store search results.

Sponsored listings, among other things, can help to augment the arsenal of marketing tools available to iPhone app developers.  But if you’re serious about getting your app front and center, here are three essential iPhone marketing strategies you should consider:

•    Add Value to an Existing Product: If you offer a subscription-based blog, newsletter, iPhone accessories, electronics, or software solutions, consider throwing in an iPhone app to add more buying incentive to your existing product.

•    Use Mobile Advertising: With iAd’s soon to be unleashed potential, as well as existing advertising available through mobile blogs and websites, opportunities to advertise your app directly to its intended demographic are nearly limitless.

•    Try an Innovative Price Point: As in…free.  Many of the greatest iPhone app success stories started with offering the app for free.  Ever heard of Tap Tap Revenge?  After this now-famous game app attracted over a million players in its first month of (free) existence, the creators (Tapulous, Inc.) rode the wave straight into multi-million dollar success that today includes a partnership with Universal Records.

Whatever strategies for marketing your iPhone app you ultimately choose, true success is likely to include at least one of these three methods.  And with the right combination of technical expertise, anticipation of need and savvy marketing, you just might find yourself among the top of iPhone app store downloads sooner than you think.