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Posted by on Jan 1, 2013 in Apps, Mobile | 1 comment

stats by Fiksu for ‘Power Week’ and the App Store Lockdown

stats by Fiksu for ‘Power Week’ and the App Store Lockdown

According to Fiksu, in November  cost per Loyal User Index increased 30% (32 cents), to $1.38, compared to October’s $1.06. Additionally, Fiksu’s November App Store Competitive Index decreased to 4.57 million daily downloads(down 15.4%) from October’s 5.4 million, which had been a seven-month high, primarily driven by new iPhone 5 owners. Unlike last year, when incentivized networks were still a bigger part of the mobile app marketing mix, marketers faced the reality of needing to pay more to get more during the competitive 2012 pre-holiday season. Fiksu Notes, “This year, updated App Store rules didn’t allow app developers to have offer walls in their apps that incentivized users to install them in exchange for free in-app purchases. Therefore, that consumer acquisition source was impacted. Though incentivized networks still exist, inventory has decreased, so costs have increased as app developers pay a premium for available inventory.” Additionally, confusion surrounding Apple’s App Store freeze surely prompted some app marketers to spend more money earlier instead of relying on the freeze. This...

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Posted by on Dec 29, 2012 in Apps, Mobile | 1 comment

Redesigning Walkthroughs for Mobile Apps

Redesigning Walkthroughs for Mobile Apps

Some are taking things way too far. Creating long, step-by-step tutorials are not always what users want to see when launching an app. That’s not to say that apps don’t need to explain their functions to users.  Some may ask, if a mobile app includes a “walkthrough,” has it already failed? That is the idea of an article trending on Hacker News, written by Visual and UI (User Interface) Designer Max Rudberg.   The problem in a nutshell, is that anything more than a couple of basic pointers indicates to users that this app is complex, it’s complicated, and now I need to go through this step-by-step guide or I won’t know how to use it.   Mobile is meant to be simple. Apps are meant to be accessible.   Needless to say, the majority of those using apps these days  grew up on a web where clicking “Next” and “I agree” and were natural and have become second nature to us.  If a developer thinks a walkthough is still...

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Posted by on Dec 28, 2012 in Random, Funny, or Cool | 0 comments

Gravity powered lamp for people in developing countries

Gravity powered lamp for people in developing countries

So every now and again I write about something that’s a little bit off topic from the mobile industry.  Something that I feel is pretty remarkable, and should have its whereabots spread far and wide. “..there ain’t no mountain high enough Ain’t no valley low enough, ain’t no river wide enough To keep me from getting this news to you..baby” Without further adue, I want to introduce the folks over at GravityLight GravityLight is a revolutionary new approach to storing energy and creating illumination. It takes only 3 seconds to lift the weight which powers GravityLight, creating 30 minutes of light on its descent. For free. A realistic alternative to Kerosene lamps. There are currently over 1.5 billion people in the World who have no reliable access to mains electricity. These people rely, instead, on biomass fuels (mostly kerosene) for lighting once the sun goes down. We propose a sustainable lighting solution powered by gravity.   You can check out there IndieGoGo Project here....

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Posted by on Dec 28, 2012 in Apps, Mobile | 0 comments

Christmas 2012 breaks Smart Device and App Download Records | Flurry Reports

Christmas 2012 breaks Smart Device and App Download Records | Flurry Reports

Needless to say, more iOS and Android devices are activated on Christmas Day than on any other day of the year. This year was no different. This Christmas, more iPhones, iPads, Galaxy’s, Kindle Fires, etc.. were activated than on any other day in history. AND, as soon as the wrapping was out of the picture, the downloads began pouring in.   Let’s talk Numbers.   The chart below shows newly activated iOS and Android devices detected worldwide by Flurry on Christmas Day. With over 260,000 apps using Flurry Analytics, Flurry is able to detect over 90% of all new iOS and Android devices activated each day. Additionally, Flurry regularly triangulates its device coverage with publicly announced figures from Google and Apple.   To understand the magnitude of new devices activated on Christmas Day, Flurry created a baseline using the average from the first 20 days of December. During this period, daily activations averaged around 4.0 million per day, plus or minus a few hundred thousand in either direction per day....

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Posted by on Dec 27, 2012 in Apps, Mobile | 0 comments

Cycloramic App gives your iPhone magical powers..and, provides a 360 degree hands free video.

Cycloramic App gives your iPhone magical powers..and, provides a 360 degree hands free video.

A new iPhone app called Cycloramic could be the coolest thing since, well, the last coolest thing I wrote about.  Normally, shooting 360-degree video hands-free would require the help of additional hardware. With the new Cycloramic app from Egos Ventures, the iPhone will self-spin (yes spin itself) around by vibrating at certain frequencies. Check out the video below. Developers warn that the iPhone must be placed upright on a flat, hard surface without a case or stand. Also noting, the iPhone 4s: “will only turn very slowly on perfectly level glass. This is really designed for iPhone 5.”   You can download the Cycloramic app from the App Store for 99 cents.  You’ll also find some demo videos from the developer’s YouTube page below....

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