One topic that continues to intrigue the world is mobile, and with that brings mobile applications.  This post is meant to give a brief overview of the mobile realm, some of the ways in which applications can live in that ecosystem and a few tidbits of what the future holds from the perspective of a company trying to understand its minutia.

What is mobile?

For this discussion mobile is one of two things.

1. A “smartphone” – or a phone which has a large screen – at least 2” x 5”, access to the internet and some sort of keyboard.  Usually this phone will also work with WiFi.
2. A “regular” cell phone – small screen and internet only available via a cell company’s proprietary software and network.

The case could be made for many other things fitting into the mobile space – but for the sake of this discussion, we’ll stick to these.

What is the market penetration?

Mobile phone share in North America has been fairly flat since 2008.  In 2008 there were 182 million sold, 183 Million sold and 190 million predicted sales for 2010.

source 2009-12-16 – Tech Crunchies

An interesting point here is the US holds about 15% of the total mobile phone share world wide for 2008 and 2009 and a predicted 1% drop to 14% in 2010.

The next data we will look at is what  is the most popular handset.  Again – these are US numbers.
(Understand, this only one handset – so if you have a Motorola razor and a Motorola krazer – those are different.)

So even though these are not all smartphones (in bold), you can see they all have full keyboards for texting – with exception of the RAZR.

But we really need to look at smartphones – because those are the ones which will leverage mobile applications.

Here are the top US Smartphones, by share of smartphone traffic.  So this is the amount of use the phone actually gets and opposed tot he sheer number of a brandof phone int he wild.

And yet more interesting – we see the numbers with a 6 month change.

*Notice the big difference between RIM and the iPhone in the two charts.  One speculation is that RIM users are primarily using Blackberries for email.  Not web.  Therefore – not much overall usage from a web/apps perspective.

One more interesting stat from the US shows us the top 5 sites visited by mobile phone users.

The data team at our company provided me with stats from the internal sites – Gazette and KCRG

So this tells us, locally, we track the same with iPhone users – but RIM people in Eastern Iowa do not look at our sites much with their browser.

What options are there?

There are three options when it comes to mobile applications.

1. Purely software – an app is written exclusively for the mobile device.
2. Hybrid Software/Web – some of the app is written for the device, other parts come from the web.
3. Web – Use the browser from the device as the app.

All three have advantages and disadvantages.  Let’s take a closer look at all three to see the pro’s and con’s.

Purely Software

Usually the best of the three for appearance – if done properly.  Most of the cool games and tightly integrated apps are built on this model.  Can, if it chooses, use the web as a data source.

Pros:  Very slick.  Very tight and feel right.  Uses the built in development of the mobile device to have the feel of the app much like the feel of apps that came with the phone.

Cons:  Slow to develop.  May have to re-write the app three times for three different phone models.  Also – iPhone App store takes a long time to get approval.  Changes to the app must await App store approval.

Hybrid

Will use a mix of both web and software app.  Most of the time you will see links and things in the software app – then when it comes time for dynamic data it will turn to the browser.   This works good for apps which are already established on the web – but want a software type presence within the device.

Pros: Leverage the advantage of a software app by having presence and feel.  If changes to the app are made for the web – they occur instantly.

Cons: Usually (especially in the iPhone) leaves the user with a mixed state.  They start in the app then get moved to the browser…then if they try to go back to the app…it has forgotten where they were and must start over.  iPhone App store still takes a long time to get approval.  Changes to the app may require re-approval from the App Store police.

Web

This is the pure web play.  When you have a complete application written for the web already – sometimes this can be the easy and low cost way to get moved into mobile.

Pros: No wait for the iPhone App store or other store to approve your app.  Changes to app can be made anytime and data can be refreshed immediately.

Cons: Not the as slick as some of the native apps.  Buttons are web buttons – not the fun and pretty native app buttons.  Must play in the browser limitations for the device, which means you may not have access to the address book, phone or other tools.

The trick here to figure out what the purpose of the app is.  As with all types of development, looking at the end goal will tell us where we need to go.  Are we looking for a quick turn or is it a long term play?

What are any must have features?

There is really a few things which are really important when it comes to building mobile apps and sites.

1. Location Aware:
   The device must know where it is.  This is essential.  And will become more so as the mobile ad market grows.  We need to know where our users are standing at this moment in time.  We then need to couple that with real time advertiser information for the big play.  (See more soon in my upcoming guide to advertising in the next 10 years.)
2. No App Jumping:
   One of my favorite apps for the iPhone is my CraigsPro app.  It allows me to put any cities I want to include in and save them.  Then it allows me to browse or search those locations for items I am interested in.In version 1 of this app – each time I drilled down to an ad I wanted to contact the seller on, it kicked me over to my email application and allow me to email.  Cool.  But then I wanted to go back – to the list I was already at.  Nope.  I had to start over.  They came out with an update and integrated this – now I can email and go right back to where I was before.  Brilliant.Now what if they told me of some hot deals nearby where I am right now from recent searches…see, location aware!  Here is a quick tour of the CraigsPro app:

   Step 1:

   

   Click the CraigsPro icon in the left corner.

   Step 2:

   

   Notice my default location of Iowa City is up (plus 11 others) and I can now search “All for Sale” or drill down into a category first.

   Step 3:

   

   I’ll search for “gti” and see what it brings ups. Looks like a 2002 in Wisconsin.

   Step 4:

   

   Here the listing.

   Step 5:

   

   I’ll click the little arrow in the corner to bring up the email choices. Now I can email the poster and get a little more information.

   Step 6:

   

   Booya – we’re still in the CraigsPro app – but now I can send an email. When I am done, I get sent back to Step 3 and I can keep browsing.

   So this shows you how an app can be really helpful.  And the key in mobile is efficiency.  It is hard to navigate a phone if the interface has not been designed for a phone.

   One more example – hawkeyebowlgame.com

   

   Here is the site without a mobile theme

   With WordPress – there are plugins available which can tell what browser you are using.  If you come in with a mobile browser – it gives you a different theme.

   

   Voile, a very nice look and easy to manage with a phone.

   

   Here is the article level.

   The best part is you do nothing more than install the mobile theme and plugin.  The rest is taken care of automagically and with no additional cost.

3. Simple
   The last “must have” is simplicity.  These screens are small and they are hard to use (especially for new users – and let’s face it, there are many new smartphone users) – the apps much be intuitive and simple.  Apps are generally laid out in a specific way.  Functions are on the bottom, a thumb’s reach away at any time.  Then layout the 3 or 4 things that can be done at a given time.  Don’t over complicate it.

How do we get started?

There are some companies who have a quick to market solution by making iPhone app builders.  (I’m sure other platforms will have these when they get a bit more popular)  These can be one of two methods:

We build it – you own it:  This is the appmakr style which makes basic apps based on your sites RSS feeds and content.  These range from $99-$500 typically a onetime fee.  Another interesting looks to be buildanapp.

We build and “host” it: These sites charge a fee ($10-$200/month) and are a more quick to market mobile website.  KCRG has used a site called MoFuse for this.  These are quick to market – but add more complexity in that you have have two sites to update.

It really depends here, again, what the motivation is.  If you are looking for a mobile site, then the latter can be a good idea.  Unfortunately, the iPhone and Andriod market has been trained to look for apps, so that makes the mobile web a bit more difficult.

What do people do with these phones, what is the future?

Almost everything.  Obviously most people purchase phones to make calls.  But if you look at the steps many people go through – they start with free vanity apps, then move to games to pass time and then will move to productivity apps.  Like GPS, price searches and even taking payments.

Along those lines – more people are shopping on their mobiles.

• “about 37% of smartphone users have purchased something with their handset in the last six months”
• “41% of iPhone users and 43% of Android owners check sale prices while they are shopping”

from Red Write Web

What things are to come?

There are a lot interesting apps and “gimmicks” around in the mobile arena.  Two of the biggies are:

“Augmented Reality” is a popular and somewhat gimmicky feature/tool.  Look here for more information and it could be interesting – especially when everywhere internet evolves.

Mobile payments are an absolute.  Check out Square.