GetJar Passes 500m Downloads

Independent app store GetJar has revaled that more than a half billion applications have been downloaded from its store. The milestone is significant, says GetJar, because it proves that consumer demand for apps is becoming a truly global phenomenon. The company hosts almost 50,000 mobile applications, which are available in more than 200 countries.
The top apps downloaded from the site include the Opera Mini web browser, with almost 17 million downloads; eBuddy instant messaging (over 16 million); Nimbuzz mobile messaging (almost 14 million); mig33 mobile community (over 10 million); and Google Maps for mobile (over 5 million).
“GetJar’s success to date is the product of the innovation, hard work, and loyalty of our developer community – from small, two man teams in India to large-scale developers in the US or Europe,” says GetJar CEO and Founder, Ilja Laurs. “Making sure these developers have an open, free and quick way to get their content distributed globally is essential to provide the widest offering of quality apps to consumers.”

Nimbuzz Updates iPhone App

Nimbuzz has announced updates to its iPhone & iPod touch application, as well as a new desktop client for Apple Mac computers. Nimbuzz enables friends to call and chat with each other for free. They can access their favorite instant messaging and social networks with one login and from one location, using the internet or wi-fi. Today’s announcement brings Nimbuzz’ product to Mac desktops and laptops, in addition to the iPhone, iPod touch and a wide range of other handsets.
Nimbuzz says it has seen an average 848% growth in downloads of its iPhone & iPod touch apps in key European markets since the iPhone OS 3.0 update. It is one of just 5% of apps to boast more than 100,000 active users. Nimbuzz says the launch of its comprehensive Apple suite underlines its commitment to the Apple platform.
The iPhone and iPod touch app upgrade enables iPhone users to share photos, music and videos with their contacts. Files are stored online, saving device memory and making them easily accessible from different access points. They can also be saved on the device, on demand and for free.
Nimbuzz has also integrated Push Notification into the update, with home screen alerts of incoming calls or chats, effectively keeping users available to the rest of the world, even though the app itself has been closed. There’s also a new buddy list layout, featuring an intelligent display of avatars and presence information, including which community a friend belongs to and if that person is currently online on a mobile phone or computer. Location Sharing is also now  available on the iPhone application, allowing Nimbuzz buddies to share and retrieve their physical locations on a map.
“We love the design and the flawless usability of Apple products,” says Nimbuzz CEO, Evert-Jaap Lugt, CEO of Nimbuzz. “A large proportion of our already substantial iPhone fan base are also Mac users and have been asking for a bespoke version of Nimbuzz for their desktop and laptop Macs. As a result, we have worked closely with our users to ensure our suite of iPhone & Mac products work seamlessly together, matching the familiar design and UI style of Apple products.”

PR Firm Launches Mobile Apps Division

US PR firm VSC Consulting, which represents AdMob and Greystripe among others, has announced the launch of a new division focusing exclusively on iPhone, Blackberry, Android and other mobile application developers in need of mass market awareness “at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising”.
With over 250,000 applications now available on major platforms, VSC says its new division, ApplaunchPR, will use sound creative programs to cut through the noise and raise visibility surrounding an application’s launch and distribution.VSC has handled well over a dozen mobile application launches since 2002.
“VSC's Applaunch program provides a critical promotional service missing in the ecosystem today,” says Jason Spero, General Manager, North America at AdMob. “They secured strong media coverage and speaking opportunities for AdMob when we launched our iPhone advertising network. This was a critical moment for AdMob and the quality work from VSC played an important role in our success.”
According to Vijay Chattha, “Chief Talker” of VSC's AppLaunchPR division, the days of relying on carriers or major distributors for marketing are gone. He says:
“The most successful apps are built by small teams who create highly interactive applications, but need major marketing and PR muscle to get recognized.”We’ve seen the dramatic impact that the right marketing program can have on individual apps and it’s often cited as the difference between success and failure.”

Shazam Goes Down a Storm

Shazam has launched its mobile music discovery application on the BlackBerry Storm. The app features full SurePress touchscreen support and is available to BlackBerry Storm users in the UK, US and Canada. Users can choose from a free, basic version of Shazam with limited functionality, or a full-featured version for $4.99 or £5 one-off fee. The full-featured version includes unlimited Tags, Tag charts, recommendations for similar tracks, biographies of artists, reviews of tagged music, discographies and the option to buy and share discovered music.
Shazam is currently offering a free, seven-day trial of the full-featured version.  All of Shazam’s applications for BlackBerry phones are now available for download directly from Shazam’s mobile website (http://is.gd/IWHh on the BlackBerry browser) and on BlackBerry App World.

Apple Celebrates 1.5bn Downloads

Apple is celebrating more than 1.5 billion applications in the first year from its App Store. The App Store is also growing fast, with more than 65,000 apps and more than 100,000 developers now in the iPhone Developer Program.
“The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality,” says Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. “With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up.”
The App Store has more than 65,000 apps to consumers in 77 countries. It works with both iPod touch and the iPhone. Apple has so far shipped over 40 million of both device types.

Touchnote Up For MobileBeat Prize

Touchnote, the company that turns mobile photos into real postcards, has been selected as a finalist for the MobileBeat2009 Top Startup Competition for its yet-to-be-unveiled ‘TouchnoteThis for Mobile’ service. Touchnote is one of 14 companies shortlisted for the prize.
Touchnote will be unveiling the application at MobileBeat2009, which takes place this Thursday, 16 July, at Parc 55 hotel in San Francisco
“As a company which has only been around since October 2008, and only launched its first mobile application in April 2009, it’s extremely exciting to be shortlisted at such a prestigious event,” says Touchnote CEO, Raam Thakrar. “We’re very proud of the strides we’ve made in just nine months.”

Admob Stats Reveal Extent of iPhone Browsing

With the Apple App Store celebrating its first anniversary this Saturday, 11 July, mobile ad network AdMob has released figures showing Apple’s share of the global, UK and US mobile markets, and consumer usage of iPhone apps. The latest stats reveal that the iPhone now accounts for almost half of all mobile web traffic in the UK.

iPhone Apps:

• The top iPhone apps had more than one million users in the UK in May 2009
• 5% of iPhone apps in AdMob's network had more than 100,000 active users in May 2009
• 14% of iPhone apps in AdMob's network had between 10,000 - 100,000 active users in May 2009
• 27% of iPhone apps in AdMob's network had between 1,000 - 10,000 active users in May 2009

Thomas Schulz, MD EMEA for AdMob, says that with more than 50,000 apps added to the App Store in the first 12 months, it is becoming increasingly hard for developers to capture the attention of consumers.
“Many developers are now using mobile advertising to drive downloads of their applications,” says Schulz. “Not only is this boosting sales of paid-for apps, it is also helping developers to monetise the traffic generated by their free applications.”

AdMob’s traffic figures reveal the massive disparity between Apple’s share of the Smartphone market – around 8% globally – and its share of the mobile web browsing market in May 2009, as detailed below:

UK:

• 48.7% of ad requests came from Apple handsets (iPhone and iPod Touch)
• 28.4% of ad requests came from the iPhone
• 282,493,761 ad requests from users in the UK

US:

• 45.1% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
• 25.7% of ad requests came from the iPhone
• 3,804,373,544 ad requests from users in the US

Global:

• 31.4% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
• 18.6% of ad requests came from the iPhone
• 7,997,946,483 ad requests from users around the world

With operators and handset makers launching App Stores, some question whether Apple's domainance will continue. Andrew Bud, Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum, told Mobile Marketing Magazine recently:
"I believe Nokia’s Ovi store will be far more significant. With the App Store, you can reach 2% of the population; the Ovi store can reach something like 40%. One is a nice boutique, the other is Tesco.”
Given the way in which Apple has singlehandledly created the mobile apps market, however, it would be a brave man to bet against them.

HulloMail Celebrates T-Mobile Success

T-Mobile has abolished premium call divert charges to customers using the HulloMail voicemail service. The network droped the charges on 29 June after prolonged pressure from Hullomail itself, and from customers incensed at being penalised for opting out of T-Mobile’s own voicemail service. T-Mobile had been the only operator to levy a premium of 17p or 26p depending on the customer’s tariff. The change means diverts will be considered as part of bundled minutes.    
HulloMail, the British company whose free downloadable voicemail app for the G1 phone was one of the early star performers on Android Marketplace, was T-Mobile’s most vociferous lobbyist. Given T-Mobile’s UK exclusivity over the G1, HulloMail boss Andy Munarriz had been lobbying the operator for several months. His calls had also been echoed by online petitions, with customers complaining of being penalised for using an otherwise free solution which was felt to be against the spirit of an open marketplace.
“These days, people expect voicemail to be as flexible as any other form of digital communications and our service allows precisely that,” says Munarriz. “I’m therefore delighted that when T-Mobile saw the advantages of our solution and how strongly users felt about it, they agreed to change their divert charge policy for HulloMail users.”
Currently, all mobile operators handle voicemail messages in much the same way, with all messages being stored on a central server, offering little flexibility in how they are then used. HulloMail says it plans to liberate UK consumers from archaic voicemail usage, allowing them to enjoy a fully integrated, free digital voice-email experience. Munarriz believes that, where users have a better choice, they should be able to use it.       
 “It always seemed unfair that our users should be penalised for wanting the best voicemail solution,” he says. “T-Mobile have shown they are willing to embrace developers who are striving to make mobile usage easier and cheaper, not putting barriers in our way. Hopefully, this is now what will happen.”

Amadeus Launches Mobile Travel Solutions

Amadeus, a global technology and distribution partner to the travel industry, has announced that a suite of mobile solutions for the business traveler, which will run on all major mobile operating systems, including Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry. 
Amadeus Mobile Partner enables travelers to store complete itineraries on their mobile device at the push of a button. They can access everything from flight schedules and hotel addresses, to car-rental and check-in information, even when they do not have network connectivity. It also means that these details can be checked while abroad without incurring any roaming fees.
Amadeus Mobile Partner has an additional function for travel approvers within a company, which allows them to confirm or reject trip requests via their mobile, thus avoiding bottlenecks when they are away from their desk. Approvers see the full list of trips waiting to be approved, and can quickly endorse or reject them directly from their mobile.
Amadeus SMS Traveller Contact is a traveller tracking and security tool to facilitate ad hoc communication with travelling employees before, during and after they travel. It enables the travel manager to reach out to travellers who may be at risk during an emergency; send SMS notifications before, during and after a trip; and quickly send information via email to all those employees with planned trips for a given destination.
Amadeus has also teamed up with mobile technology company ConTgo to offer an additional mobile solution, Mobile Travel Assistant (MTA). Its main feature, known as the
Follow-Me Itinerary, delivers relevant information directly to the traveller’s mobile phone using SMS messages only when they need it. The information sent is based on the traveller’s itinerary, and the content can be customised and controlled by the corporation, based on location-specific rules. Secondly, the MTA’s Travel Alert functionality helps locate travellers by SMS and keeps track of their responses, so that the travel manager can keep a clear view of those who may be in need of assistance during a travel security incident.
“Amadeus continues to invest in innovation and to believe in R&D, particularly during a period of financial crisis when companies are looking to improve their business,” says Amadeus Vice President, Business & Corporate Travel, Albert Pozo. “We plan to bring our customers next generation travel technology that will help the traveller be more productive and efficient while on the road. After initiating joint research with ACTE last year which evaluated the mobile needs of corporations, Amadeus is now delivering a portfolio of mobile services for the business traveller, helping corporations better support their employees who are on the move.”
Earlier this year, Amadeus teamed up with Air France, IER and Nice Airport to pilot a mobile boarding pass that allows travellers to board their planes with three swipes of their mobile phons. The project is currently being piloted at Nice Cote d’Azur Airport for travellers flying with Air France to Paris Orly.

weComm Powers BBC Radio Mobile App

weComm, which specializes in interactive mobile data solutions, has revealed that it was behind the design of the downloadable mobile application currently being used in the BBC's ‘radio visualisation’ trial, giving users synchronised access to relevant images, ‘now playing’ and artist information, news, entertainment and sports feeds on thier mobile, as well as the ability to interact directly with the programme.
The mobile application, which is built on weComm’s wave On-Demand Mobile Application Platform, delivers live radio broadcast for radio shows involved in the trial. The trial includes The Chris Moyles Show, Zane Lowe and Switch on BBC Radio 1, Material World on BBC Radio 4, and a selection of The Hub sessions on BBC 6 Music.
weComm’s wave platform uses a client-server infrastructure to deliver high-quality, interactive mobile data services, optimized to all major mobile operating systems. The technology delivers content and applications to handsets on-demand, giving the richness and interactivity of an on-device application combined with the flexibility and freshness of an online service.
“The radio visualisation trial is ideally mapped to weComm’s push technology, highlighting our ability to deliver synchronised real-time interactivity in a rich and compelling manner,” says weComm VP, Business Solutions, Steven Tan.

Last-minute Call for App Contest Entries

Forum Nokia, Nokia’s global developer programme is chasing up last-minute entries for its "Calling All Innovators" contest for apps that run on Nokia devices, with cash prizes of up to $30,000 and business opportunities with Nokia.
There are four categories: Flash; Internet Innovation; Emerging Markets and Mobile Necessities; and Apps on Maps, but the closing date for entries is today, which begs the question, how long does it take to design a decent mobile app? We assume Nokia is look for apps that are already in existence from developers who didn’t know about the competition. In any event, there’s more information here.

BrandZ Report Launches as an iPhone App

Research company Millward Brown Optimor has released its ‘The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2009’ report, which is published annually, as a free iPhone app. The company says this is the first time that a major research study has been available in this format. Within hours of its release, the app went to number nine in the free business applications rankings. 
The iPhone app, created by iconmobile, contains the standard listings for the Top 100 brands across 17 categories. By shaking the iPhone, the user is presented with a brand cluster for a particular category, which they can then drill down into for further detail.
“The BrandZ Top 100 study is an essential benchmark for business leaders about the value of their brands,” says Millward Brown Optimor Global CEO, Joanna Seddon. “I’m delighted that by partnering with iconmobile, we are able to put our research into people’s pockets in this new and innovative format.”
Plans are now in place to develop the application for other mobile platforms, including BlackBerry. The iPhone app can be found by searching “BrandZ Top 100” on the iPhone/iPod Touch, or by visiting Apple’s App Store.

AdMob Report Examines Apps Usage

Mobile ad network AdMob has released its Mobile Metrics Report for May 2009. The report examines the distribution of consumer usage of iPhone applications, noting that in less than one year, the Apple App Store has grown to more than 50,000 applications and given consumers access to applications with broad consumer appeal, as well as a long tail of niche applications that serve specific segments.
The report reveals that some of the top apps were accessed by more than 1 million users in May.  Few applications may reach this level of success, says AdMob, but there is also significant percentage of popular applications have built a strong base of tens of thousands of users. The long tail of applications that make up the majority of the App Store generated a minority of the total usage. 
“While the growth in the number of applications in the Apple App Store over the past year has been nothing short of dramatic, it has made it increasingly difficult for iPhone developers to drive consumer discoverability of their apps,” says Thomas Schulz, AdMob’s Vice President and Managing Director, EMEA. “AdMob offers developers the ability to monetise their application, and to create awareness of it with a targeted ad campaign.”  
Highlights from the report include:

• 5% of applications had more than 100,000 active users in May 2009, representing 116 applications in AdMob’s iPhone network.
• 14% of applications had between 10,000 - 100,000 active users, representing 322 applications.
• 54% of applications had less than 1,000 active users, representing 1,244 applications. 
• The average iPhone user in AdMob’s network accessed four applications in May.
• Five days after its launch, the iPhone 3.0 Operating System (OS) represented 44% of iPhone ad requests. In contrast, only 1% of iPod Touch requests came from devices running the iPhone 3.0 OS.
• AdMob reached 15.1 million unique users on iPhone and iPod touch devices on 2,309 applications in its network in May, the vast majority of which were free to download. 

You can access the full report here.

 

Shamzam Updates iPhone App for 3.0

Mobile music discovery provider Shazam has released an updated version of its popular music discovery application on the App Store. The new version uses the iPhone OS 3.0 enhancements to offer iPhone and iPod touch Shazamers expanded features, enhanced functionality and added social networking capability, including access to Twitter. 
Shazam was present at the launch of Apple’s App Store last summer and now has over 7 million users and has accrued over 100,000 user reviews worldwide. The Shazam iPhone app enables users to identify music playing on a hi-fi system, the radio or TV by holding the iPhone towards the music and tapping 'Tag'. Users can buy  music they hear through a link from the tagged songs to iTunes. They can also view related videos and other music content on YouTube; personalize their Tags with a picture; learn more about the music; organise Tags by artist, title, or date; and store  pending Tags for when they don't have a data connection.
The new features include:

• Tweet your Tag: Users can share the tagged song with their followers – enabling them stay up to date with the artist and track details they discover.
• Share a music moment: users can send their Tags as a Postcard to friends who share their musical taste so they can add the Tag to their own collection in Shazam, as well as preview and buy direct in iTunes.
• Track your music journey: Users can see their Tag on Maps inside Shazam, along with their Tag history, to remind them where they were when they tagged the song.

“Since launching on the App Store last year, Shazam has achieved a huge following with iPhone and iPod touch users” says Shazam CEO, Andrew Fisher. “We have listened and learned from our iPhone and iPod touch users over the past year and we are confident that the millions of Shazamers around the world will enjoy the enhanced functionality of this latest release.”
Shazam is available from the Apple App Store. 

Flash Cell Takes GetJar Developer Prize for Movie App

GetJar has unveiled Flash Cell as the winner of its $100,000 (£60,000) Adobe Flash Mobile Developer Contest. The company’s prize is $30,000 worth of premium placement for its app, ‘Microfilm’ on GetJar, the world’s largest independent app store, which has over 450 million downloads to date.
The contest was launched on 16 February, 2009 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Sponsored by Adobe, GetJar, and Thumbplay, the challenge helps fuel the development of compelling mobile applications, working with the Adobe Flash Platform. Developers were encouraged to submit mobile applications in one of five categories: Lifestyle, Games, Infotainment, Social Networking and Sports.
Premium placement for the winners on GetJar means that the winning developers will have their applications placed in either the ‘New & Cool’, ‘Featured’ or ‘Recommended’ areas on GetJar.com and m.getjar.com for a duration equivalent to the value of their cash prize. With only about 100 total slots available per month, this gives each developer guaranteed visibility among the more than 45,000 apps on GetJar, which has over 10 million unique app-hungry consumers in 200 countries. Their apps will also be visible across all the channels GetJar works with, including stores on Opera Mini, 3UK, Virgin Mobile in France and Vodafone Ireland.
“Premium visibility on GetJar gives the developers of these great new applications a quick and easy way for consumers to find and download their apps,” says GetJar CEO, Ilja Laurs. “We fully support the developer community and continually look for ways to partner with companies like Adobe to put great opportunities like this in front of the developers themselves.”

The full list of winners and their apps is:

Grand Prize (Prize: $15,000) – Microfilm by Flash Cell
Watch the latest film releases, book tickets, rent and buy DVDs - Find out what your friends are watching - Discover like minded neighbors - Browse through films using a tag cloud interface - Use genres and user generated tags to sort through films.

Infotainment Category ($15,000) - Microfilm by Flash Cell  

People’s Choice (Prize: A copy of Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection) –  Cubic Republic by IKS Mobile
Cubic Republic is a place of original and highly interactive quests. Intuitive game play makes it easy to grasp and simple to play. Multiplayer gaming on different devices lets the user engage anytime, anywhere. 

Most Innovative ($10,000) – Big Game Huntr by Mobile Radicals
A location-based hunting game populated by user generated content based around communities of players. The premise of the game is to allow users to generate their own communities of hunts and promote social networking.

Lifestyle Category ($15,000) – Little Spender by Ribot 
The aim is to enable even the most casual of Little Spenders to see where exactly their hard-earned cash goes every month. Along with a bit of fun and simplicity along the way, they'll hopefully save a little money too.

Games Category ($15,000) - Ficklebox by Bluesky North
Block matching puzzle with extra “flash-enabled” personality as the Blox come to life.
Make chains or groups of matching coloured blox to score points.

Social Networking Category ($15,000) – Mr. Postman by Ian Moreira de Andrade.
Based on a timeline concept, Mr. Postman won't let you miss a tweet: access the most important features with a single click, keep up with your friends, celebs or news live updates and send yours. No mess. No crowded information.

Sports Category ($15,000) – Golfbox by Little Big Ideas 
A golfers’ management app. Book tee-times, invite friends to play, view leaderboards, track handicaps, read golf news and more for local Danish golf courses.

There’s information about the contest here.

Orange Launches Improved GlastoNav App

Orange has launched a new and improved version of its ‘Orange GlastoNav’ application, a free mobile download that provides Glastonbury revellers with the ultimate interactive festival planner.
The free service, in association with the Guardian Guide, gives Glastonbury-goers information and stage times for the full Glastonbury line-up, the ability to personalise their own artist schedule for the whole weekend, plus an interactive map of the site, as well as essential festival news, advice and alerts. Everyone who downloads Orange GlastoNav will also be eligible to receive a half-price annual subscription to Q Magazine.
In addition this year, there will be competitions running throughout the festival weekend giving Glastonbury revellers the chance to win money-can't-buy side-of-stage access to the Pyramid Stage.  At 12pm every day, a bull icon will appear on the GlastoNav map showing where you need to go to find a life-size bull on site. Once at the secret location, revellers need to click the icon on the map and enter a code word written on the bull to be in with a chance of winning exclusive side-of-stage access for one of the featured performances.
“Orange GlastoNav is the best way to plan the perfect Glastonbury weekend,” says
Orange UK Brand Director, Spencer McHugh. “Sharing your schedule with friends means you will never miss meeting up for your favourite bands and GlastoNav will keep you up to date with the latest news and the chance to win side of pPyramid Stage passes everyday.”
From today, those lucky enough to have a ticket to the most loved UK festival can download the application from www.orange.co.uk/glastonav or by texting GLASTO to 64446.

IBM Unveils Smart Wimbledon Apps

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and IBM have unveiled two smart mobile applications developed by IBM to transform how fans access information and keep up with the action at Wimbledon 2009. Since 1990, IBM has worked with the Wimbledon team to send the captured score and statistical data around the world in an instant, keeping on-site broadcasters, media and tennis fans up to date with all the latest scores and statistics.
The Seer Android beta application features location-aware visualisation technology developed for the T-Mobile G1 Android phone. The augmented reality application acts as a real-time guide and interactive map of the 2009 tournament, allowing selected users to see what others can’t, as well as providing up-to-the-second scores.
The second app, the Seer Aggregator, is a downloadable Twitter app, enabling fans to receive specific Wimbledon real-time ‘tweets’ from a variety sources, including players, commentators and a team of IBM scouts at the event. 

Seer Android beta
The Seer Android Beta is an innovative application being trialled at Wimbledon 2009, that takes a live video feed from the handset’s camera, and superimposes content and data associated with various points of interest into that video stream.
From tennis to food courts, points of interest throughout the Wimbledon grounds have been plotted using GPS. By making use of the T-Mobile G1’s digital compass and precise GPS coordinates, the application offers a ‘heads up display’ to show the user what they are looking at. It augments this with other live data from the scoring systems and IBM scouts reporting from around the grounds, to give the user a comprehensive and dynamic insight into their surroundings. For instance, pointing the camera lens towards a court will not only identify the court number, but also display details about the current and subsequent matches.
Seer Android beta users can also use the phones’ Map view, which pinpoints their location on a detailed map of the grounds, and can be used as a way finder. The Timeline view is an aggregation of news feeds and updates from IBM scouts, and allows users to see in real-time what is happening around the site. And a handy ‘Radar’ function indicates the user’s current position and nearby points of interest within range. IBM will be demonstrating the application using the T-Mobile G1 during the tournament. G1 owners can download the beta version of the appvia Android Market from 22 June. Search for ‘IBMSeer’.

Seer Aggregator
The Seer Aggregator is a Twitter application that aggregates all Wimbledon-based content into one channel. It’s a straightforward but intuitive way for fans to make sense of all the action taking place during the two weeks of the tournament. 
IBM scouts will be onsite throughout the duration of the tournament, providing firsthand accounts and real-time updates regarding queues, seat availability, taxis, general travel information, live match updates and order of play. 
The Twitter Aggregator will work with most Java-enabled mobile handsets and is available for download via the IBM section of the Wimbledon website from 22 June, or by texting SMART to 60999.These tweets will also be available to all Twitter users here. 
“These smart applications were designed with tennis fans in mind and add a whole new dimension to the event, whether you are attending in person or sitting in your garden 5,000 miles away,” says Rob McCowen, Marketing Director at the AELTC. “I can see the incredible potential here to change the way people will engage with major sporting and other events both now and in the future, as the applications help address common challenges such as getting lost, encountering queues or momentarily missing some of the action.”

Taptu Launches iPhone App

Mobile search specialist Taptu has announced the availability of its iPhone app. The company notes that performing a search on an iPhone can be a frustrating task, as the results are the same as those received on a desktop search and may not be viewable on a phone, for example a web site running on Flash.  Additionally, results are provided in long lists and multiple pages.
Taptu’s iPhone app only provides results that are iPhone-optimized, which eliminates the hassle of resizing, pinching and refocusing sites. Instead of scrolling down a list of search results as they would on a desktop PC, Taptu iPhone app users flick through the visual previews of the results produced by Taptu horizontally (the same way that photos are viewed on the iPhone). The visual preview slides lets users quickly navigate through results and select the most relevant one.
In addition to providing comprehensive search engine results, the app also enables  users to filter search results and find information from specific source or types, for example Twitter, Wikipedia, blogs or videos. Results can be shared via Twitter, Facebook and email, and to help users expand their outlook, the app presents recommended and related searches including charts, lists and “also try’s.”
“With iPhone-search continuing to grow, it is vital to make search as simple as possible, while providing users with the most relevant content on their devices,” says Taptu CEO, Steve Ives. “Taptu’s iPhone app allows users to quickly and easily search through iPhone-optimized results in an intuitive and visual interface. The launch of the iPhone app is a huge step for Taptu, as the app addresses a key need for iPhone users.”
The Taptu iPhone app is available now as a free download in the iPhone App Store and is compatible with all versions of iPhone and iPod touch. Owners of mobile or iPhone-optimized sites can ensure they are on Taptu by submitting their site here.
Taptu’s mobile search engine is available in English, Spanish, Italian, French and German and generates in excess of 1 million searches a day. Taptu is available via mobile browsers and now via the Taptu iPhone app.

Virgin Mobile France Hands Apps Task to GetJar

Virgin Mobile France, the 4th French mobile operator, has appointed GetJar to provide its entire catalogue of free mobile applications for its newly announced mobile app store to be launched this Wednesday. The launch of Virgin’s app store coincides with the release of Virgin’s new unlimited voice, SMS and data plans. The announcement further broadens GetJar’s range of industry partnerships, which already includes Sony Ericsson and 3 UK. Consumers in France will be offered access to over 45,000 free apps via the Virgin Mobile portal, alongside other content including ringtones and premium games.
As the world’s largest independent app store, GetJar has been providing mobile applications to consumers since 2005 and now receives over 1 million downloads a day across more than 200 countries.  The company boasts over 200,000 developer accounts and has been delivering millions of downloads for leading applications developers and content owners such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Nimbuzz, and eBuddy among others
“GetJar’s track record, extensive cross platform catalogue, scale and expertise were really what we were looking for in an app store partner,” says Virgin Mobile France Marketing and Communication Director, Julien Allisy. “We can immediately offer our consumers who subscribed to our new unlimited data plans the largest range of apps on the largest range of handsets, via a platform which is trusted around the world.”

Lonely Planet Launches iPhone City Guides

Lonely Planet has launched a range of iPhone City Guides for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The guides are now available for sale globally from the iTunes App Store.
20 Lonely Planet City Guides are currently available, including London, New York, Melbourne, Dublin, Barcelona, Rome, Tokyo, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Bangkok, Madrid, Miami, Seoul, Dubai, Berlin, Cape Town, Singapore and Mexico City - with the San Francisco City Guide offered free for a limited time.
“To celebrate the launch, we wanted to give everyone a chance to experience our new guides so downloads of the San Francisco guide are free for a limited time,” says Chris Boden, Head of Wireless & Innovation at Lonely Planet.
With Lonely Planet City Guides, the GPS and scrolling touch-screen facilities of the iPhone and iPod Touch enable travellers to access dynamic, interactive maps offline for plotting itineraries and current location. Hundreds of personally-vetted venues can be filtered, marked as favourites and keyword located, while detailed chapters on a city’s culture, history, food and art give the best introduction to the local scene, and images from Lonely Planet’s award-winning photographers bring the city to life. Lonely Planet says the City Guides have been designed for use offline, so travellers can save avoiding expensive international data  roaming charges.
“As the needs of our travellers have changed over the last 35 years, we’ve adapted our printed guidebook products accordingly, with new formats, series and destinations. The iPhone heralds a new class of handheld devices with capabilities that enable a next generation guidebook,” says Boden. “We’ve tried to take advantage of the iPhone’s location awareness, vast data storage and simple user interface to re-imagine our city guidebook series to help travellers get to the heart of some of the world’s most exciting cities from the convenience of their hip pocket.”
Lonely Planet’s Audio Phrasebooks were some of the first travel products available in the App Store and have generated over 300,000 downloads since their launch. The City Guides are available for £9.49 each.

peoplesound Launched as an iPhone App

Buongiorno has launched an iPhone app version of its peoplesound mobile social networking service. Buongiorno says the peoplesound application is the first social network to concentrate on true relationships between real friends. At any one time, a user’s ‘friends list’ is limited to 20 friends only, creating a more personal network for a more personal device.
peoplesound  is available free of charge at the Apple App Store for use on all 3G and 2G iPhone and iPod Touch devices. iPhone users can access all peoplesound features with a mere touch of their finger, to update their status, upload photos, and simultaneously share these quickly and easily with their 20 friends.
According to a recent comScore M:Metrics study, 15% of iPhone and Smartphone users connect to social networking sites “almost every day”, while the percentage of people connecting through less advanced handsets is just 3.6%.
You can join peoplesound online or via your mobile's browser at: http://m.peoplesound.com

Pulse Celebrates Lions Tour App Success

Production company Pulse Films reports that its ‘2009 Lions Tour’ iPhone app has stormed the iPhone charts to become the world’s most downloaded sports application.
The application offer users exclusive behind-the-scenes video clips from within the Lions camp as well as all the fixtures and venue info, latest news, live match commentary, live score updates, squad profiles and match reports form the Lions Tour.
Pulse Films was appointed as the official production company of the 2009 Lions Tour to South Africa in January 2009, and its behind-the-scenes tour DVD is due for release in the autumn. The company says the  addition of the iPhone app and online content for the Lions website cement the 2009 Lions tour as a landmark cross-platform sports package for Pulse Films and the Lions. The Lions Tour iPhone app is priced at £1.19 through the iTunes store.
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The Lions comprise a team which currently only[update] tours three southern-hemisphere teams; Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Tours take place every four years. South Africa are the current world champions.
Jonathan Stadlen, Pulse Films Creative Director, says:
“With this iPhone app and online content, we are fulfilling our ambition of creating a cross-platform, ‘integrated content’ package that delivers the most faithfully produced documentary, the most interacted with online and mobile presence and the most in-depth rugby package ever created.”

Always Take the Weather With You

So sang Crowded House a few years ago. Now, thanks to Foreca and Rapid Mobile Media, you can. The two companies have teamed up to launch Foreca’s mobile weather service through an interactive application available on a wide range of handsets. The application delivers detailed weather information for global locations in real time, including current conditions, satellite and radar images, and weather forecasts.
Rapid Mobile ’s ThinkPhone delivery platforms and Ad360 mobile advertising server will maximise reach for Foreca’s service, and provide additional branding and monetisation opportunities, while adapting the application to ensure the best user experience across different handsets. The Rapid platforms can also automatically deliver multi-lingual versions of the application.
“With an ever increasing appetite from a mobile audience for accurate, up-to-date weather information, it was important for us at Foreca to be able to rapidly address the broadest possible audience of mobile phone users with our application,” says Foreca VP, Business Development, Marko Moilanen. “Rapid Mobile’s automatic provisioning platform capabilities mean that we are able to achieve this market reach through the development of only one version of the application, minimising engineering costs and time to market, whilst meeting our stringent requirements for quality.”
You can download a free, 3-day trial version of the application at http://getfw.com via your mobile or web browser. The full version costs €19.95 (£17.40) per year or €4.95 per 30 days.

Sony Ericsson Partners with GetJar for Mobile Apps

GetJar has revealed that its library of over 45,000 free applications will soon be linked directly through Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena, following the handset maker’s decision to offer apps via its  mobile content service. GetJar’s catalogue of ‘long tail’ apps will complement a series of premium apps from Sony Ericsson in the PlayNow arena. Additionally, GetJar’s proven upload infrastructure will be used by Sony Ericsson to make the submission process for new applications easy for developers.
Through the partnership, GetJar will provide a high performance platform that will give Sony Ericsson’s millions of customers easy access to a broad range of free applications available for its handsets globally.
“With its experience in delivering mobile applications to a wide consumer base, GetJar has demonstrated the value of choice, quality and performance when it comes to distributing mobile content,” says Christopher David, Head of Developer & Partner Engagement at Sony Ericsson.  “In the rapidly growing mobile content market, partnering with GetJar will allow us to complement the quality application offerings of our mobile content and entertainment service PlayNow arena.”
GetJar, the world largest independent app store, has been providing mobile applications to consumers since 2005, and now receives over 1 million downloads a day across more than 200 countries. The company boasts over 200,000 developer accounts and has been delivering millions of downloads for leading applications developers and content owners such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Nimbuzz, and eBuddy among others. It was recently nominated as one of 2009’s Hottest Start-ups by TieCon50 and is backed by Accel Partners.
GetJar provides an open and free environment for application developers and consumers, with its catalogue of free applications available for anyone with a Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Palm, BlackBerry, or Flash Lite-compatible phone. GetJar’s ‘Mobile Ecosystem’ connects consumers to developers through free access to applications, and connects developers to their market quickly, easily, and free of charge.

Mobile Distillery Launches Celsius Android

Mobile technology firm Mobile Distillery has launched its Celsius Android solution to optimise and port mobile applications to Android phones. The company says the solution will help developers overcome inherent platform fragmentation issues they face when launching new mobile content and services to the wider market, which now also includes Android phones.
In this fast-moving and rapidly expanding industry, it has become very important to develop and implement mobile applications across all platforms time efficiently to ensure a quick return on investment, the company notes. Having simplified the porting process for mobile applications to native Brew, WindowsMobile and BlackBerry, Mobile Distillery now aims to speed up application development cycles for Google’s Android phones with Celsius Android, automatically from JavaME source code, or semi-automatically from iPhone.
“We recognise that Android is becoming a platform of choice for mobile application developers and end users,” says Mobile Distillery CEO, Vincent Berge. “We wanted to lend our expertise to Android applications and so developed Celsius Android. Using Celsius, all aspects of mobile application development are optimised, and most importantly, porting cycles are faster. This in turn reduces the time to market of new mobile applications on any Android phone.”
Celsius Android takes advantage of Micro Emu and native Android features included within the Celsius solution and easily ports optimised applications to the widest range of devices possible. Applications on the Android platform also benefit from the Celsius plug-in architecture, which encompasses Location-based Services (LBS), Near Field Communications (NFC), Bluetooth and SIM features among others.

Apps The Way To Do It

Hot on the heels of the launch of Nokia’s Ovi Store earlier this week, Jay Seaton, Chief Marketing Officer at Airwide Solutions offers operators 10 tips on how to successfully enter into the App Store market, without suffering some of the limitations the current app store models present

On Tuesday, Nokia launched the Ovi Store, its answer to Apple’s App Store. It was the latest in a string of similar announcements made recently by players across many aspects of the mobile value chain, from device manufacturers through to application developers and mobile operators, all looking to follow Apple’s lead and capitalise on the growing consumer demand for mobile Internet services.
When you look at the statistics, it’s easy to see why. A recent announcement by Vodafone anticipated that the operator would take a 30% share of revenues generated through consumers downloading apps on its network.
Yet while the app store phenomenon is clearly good news for the industry, for any app store to become a mainstay, operators must play a part in ensuring that the applications can be accessed by the mass market - despite handset fragmentation and existing limitations imposed on consumers without high-end Smartphones.
At Airwide Solutions, we’ve come up with a 10-point plan to help mobile operators make their play in the apps game, without suffering some of the limitations the current App Store models present. We're happy to share it with you.

1. Is the App Store model open for debate? 
Operators talk about replicating the App Store model, but can that be done when the model is still in its infancy? The reality is that there is no set model and no right way to go about it. The market will continue to see the model evolve over the next few months and years, and carriers should focus on enhancing app stores, rather than re-engineering them.

2. What does “enhancing” actually mean?
In order to stimulate additional revenue opportunities and reduce churn, operators should not only offer their customers a range of applications and services, but should also consider using the unique network assets, context and intelligence they have at their disposal to enhance those applications and services, helping them avoid being cut out of the revenue loop.

3. Should all apps be available to all subscribers or should carriers target apps for enterprise users and apps for consumers differently? 
A successful app store will be one that offers innovative applications to users no matter what their device or what their function. App offerings should not be limited to business (i.e.
Smartphone) users. Carriers must establish a model that offers device-agnostic, service-enhanced apps.

4. Relevance is king
Similarly, mobile operators should be careful to ensure the mobile applications and services they offer are cleverly targeted to subscribers, based on network intelligence such as information on location, devices and subscriber preferences.

5. How much is too much?
Operators shouldn’t underestimate their customer base. While there is a lot of competition among carriers, device manufacturers and developers to hook the subscriber on an initial app sale, all customers want the same things: ease-of-use, uncomplicated purchasing agreements, and most importantly, personalisation and customisation. Flooding the web and consumers with new app options is only as good as the services delivered with them, and that is the differentiator that carrier-driven app stores offer.

6. How do operators negotiate a revenue share with application developers to make an app store worthwhile?
Operators should think outside the box when it comes to mobile applications and find a way to layer services on top of third party apps for maximum revenue potential. Developers want viable entry points to subscribers and realise it’s ultimately the pathway to success, but mobile operators shouldn’t be afraid to break away from traditional service and content delivery models to make the collaboration with developers work.

7. Set the right foundations
Operators should be mindful of the mistakes of the past when deploying monolithic, technology-based infrastructure, and instead seek out flexible solutions to network upgrades which will enable them to seamlessly roll out services, without negatively impacting upon their current network architecture or services. It is this modular approach that will enable operators to pick and choose the services they want to roll out - and when - while also ensuring they future-proof their architecture.

8. AP-why?
Central to the success of building a long-term ecosystem for applications and services are open APIs that enable third-party application developers to integrate their services with an operator’s architecture. Truly open APIs for developer communities are likely to drive substantial application-based revenues.

9. Does it all come down to trust?
Carriers have an incredible advantage in the app store business to leverage the trust and loyalty of subscribers. Recent reports suggest that while Apple’s App Store saw a record number of downloads, most free apps eventually get deleted after the first download. There’s no staying power. Factor into that there is little tying a subscriber to third party app, and you have a very tenuous basis for repeat purchasing. Carriers, on the other hand, with long-term relationships and a trust factor unlike that on the web, can bring a new level of engagement between consumers and the apps they purchase. This is good for everyone. 

10. Sound the alarm!
As the number of applications and services increases, so too will the levels of spam and viruses. Mobile operators must therefore be careful to secure their networks and subscriber relationships by enabling a range of security services and parental control.

DK Travel Launches iPhone City Guides

DK Eyewitness Travel has launched its Top 10 Travel Guides for the iPhone and iPod touch on the Apple App Store.
The DK Top 10 Travel apps have been developed in association with Coolgorilla and feature trusted DK content from the bestselling Top 10 city guidebook series. Users can browse top attractions, places to eat, maps, shopping, museums and many others things to do for each destination. There’s also a ‘Favourites’ tool and a currency converter. The 10 destinations covered are: New York, London, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Paris, Rome, Dubai, Barcelona, Cancun and Bangkok.
“We are delighted to be launching DK’s Top 10 guides for iPhone and iPod touch users,” says
Tom Hall, Head of Digital Licensing for DK Publishing. “The series is hugely successful in print, and the clear, structured format of its content lends itself perfectly to digital platforms in this manner.  iPhone offers a user-friendly, streamlined route into our trusted content, providing travellers with exactly what they need to know, right when they need to know it.”
The DK Top 10 Travel apps are available for £4.99/$7.99 from Apple’s App Store. There’s more information here.

FunMobility Launches Ringtone Recorder Pro

FunMobility has announced the launch of Ringtone Recorder Pro, a premium version of its popular Ringtone Recorder application, which is currently a free Top 20 application available in the iTunes Store. According to FunMobility, Ringtone Recorder Pro is the first and only iPhone application that lets users record original ringtones for themselves or friends.
Based on customer feedback, several improvements have been made to Ringtone Recorder Pro, including significantly higher-quality audio resolution, the ability to store unlimited ringtones, ringtone sharing, and a new, animated user interface.
To date, more than 1 million users have downloaded the free application since its launch in late February, and with a relatively modest $0.99 price point for Ringtone Recorder Pro, FunMobility expects the new app will be a huge hit among existing and new customers.
“We received many positive responses about the original Ringtone Recorder, but we also listened to what people were saying, and it made a lot of sense to go back to the drawing board and give users enhanced tools to do a more professional recording,” says FunMobility CEO, Adam Lavine. “At the end of the day, it’s all about giving consumers what they want, and we think that’s the same reason the app was so successful in the first place. We’re very pleased with how our enhanced version turned out, and believe that people who try Ringtone Recorder Pro will love it.”
FunMobility has served more than 55 million customers and more than 1 billion pieces of content since 2002. In addition to its direct-to-consumer website, FunMo.com, FunMobility is available through 27 carriers and more than 400 handsets around the world. For directions on how to download the Ringtone Recorder Pro application to your iPhone, click here, or you can download it directly from the iTunes Store.

Ovi Store Opens for Business

Nokia has finally launched its Ovi Store globally to an estimated 50 million Nokia device owners across more than 50 Nokia devices including the forthcoming flagship device, the Nokia N97. Customers can access the store on their Nokia device browser at: store.ovi.com
“Ovi Store is open for business and we've stocked the shelves with both local and global content for a broad range of Nokia devices,” says Tero Ojanperä, Executive Vice President, Nokia Services. “Ovi Store makes shopping for content and applications easy and fun for feature phone and Smartphone owners alike.”
In available countries, customers can update their devices with the Ovi Store mobile application by selecting the Ovi Store icon in the Download! folder on their device. The mobile client is available in English, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish, and supports operator billing in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the UK. Globally, credit card billing is available through the mobile application and the mobile website. Additional countries, languages, devices and features will be added throughout the year. AT&T plans to make Ovi Store available to its customers in the US later this year.   
Ovi Store is an evolving media service that consolidates Nokia's existing content services into a one-stop-shop for free and paid content. Content providers and application developers can continue to sign up to distribute their content through Ovi Store by visiting publish.ovi.com

Spb Launches Sub-free Symbian TV Solution

Spb Software has announced the release of Spb TV for Symbian S60 phones. Spb TV is a subscription-free mobile IPTV viewer, designed for tuning in to publicly-available digital TV channels from all over the world. Spb TV features exclusive and patent-pending usability innovations, and gives the mobile subscribers easy access to over 100 international TV channels, directly from their phones. The company says that Spb TV gives viewers an unprecedented degree of control over the entire live Mobile TV experience, with onscreen controls for volume and brightness, a TV guide, picture-in-picture previews for all offered channels, quick channels switching, and more.
Spb TV is optimized for fast, new-generation mobile networks and requires 3G, WiMax, or a wi-fi data connection. The majority of TV channels offered were suggested by users of Spb TV for Windows phones. You can propose new channels to be added to the Spb TV catalogue here.
Spb TV 1.0 is available for Smartphones running S60 3d edition FP1 (Symbian 9.1) or higher, as well as Windows phones running Windows Mobile 5 and later Professional and Standard editions.  qVGA, VGA, Square QVGA, and WVGA screen resolutions are supported. The solution comes in full and freeware versions, with the freeware version limited in features and the number of channels available. The full version costs $14.95 and can be downloaded here.

Apple App Store Takes 12% of Mobile Apps Market

Research from Strategy Analytics shows that the Apple App Store captured a 12% volume share of the mobile applications market in 2008. The finding is part of a report from Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Strategies service: ‘How Apple Changed the Market for Mobile Applications.’
However, the analyst says, the App Store’s value is significantly lower, due to intense competition between developers, which has pushed down application prices.
“The Apple App Store’s favourable revenue share for developers has created a tremendous buzz and fostered innovation,” says Report Author David MacQueen. “This has excited consumers, inspiring an unprecedented volume of downloaded applications. The downside to this popularity is that with so many developers rushing on board, competition has become fierce and the majority of applications are downloaded for free, or at a very low cost.”
Strategy Analytics Vice President David Kerr, notes that other handset manufacturers have reacted to Apple’s success by launching their own stores, but adds that in the past, it has been the carriers which dominated application distribution.
“Carriers are now changing tactics, hoping to re-attract developers - leading to a rapidly changing environment where each company category has its own strengths and weaknesses,” says Kerr. “Apple has won the initial skirmishes but the war is far from over.”

Apple Tests Push Notification Service

According to MacUser magazine, Apple has begun testing the new push notification service that will be introduced with the next version of the iPhone and iPod touch OS. The service will allow apps to send notifications to applications on the handset to keep the user informed about newcontent. Sports applications could update the app with the latest scores, for example.
The magazine says the service is Apple’s way of solving the problems of allowing apps to run in the background, where they eat into the handset’s limited memory. It goes on to say that according to information leaked by an iPhone developer, Apple is distributing a version of the Associated Press app in order to create a high-volume test environment for its servers. Developers who install the app on an iPhone running the latest OS 3.0 beta, they will receive live news alerts using the push notification technology.
The finished version of iPhone OS 3.0 will be unveiled at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference on 8 June.

Scoot Launches Local Business Finder iPhone App

Online business directory Scoot.co.uk has launched a location-based iPhone app that helps mobile users find information about local businesses. Scoot uses the iPhone’s GPS capability to locate the user, then find the nearest cafe, bank, restaurant, petrol station and other businesses.
“It’s so quick and easy to use when you’re on the move”, says Scoot Managing Director, Sue Barnes. “There’s no need to type anything in: you just open the app and tap the relevant icon – cafe, for example. Scoot will then show your nearest cafes with name, address, phone number and distance from your current location.”
The user can tap the ‘More’ button on each business listed to see further information, such as descriptions, opening times, payment methods, pictures and videos. They can see the business on a map, get directions, click to call or view the company’s website. The application also has an ‘Offers’ icon to see a list of nearby businesses that have posted a special offer or coupon on Scoot.
The application includes a number of standard icons, representing some of the more popular business categories within the Scoot UK business directory. These include banks, cafes, car repair centres, chemists, dentists, doctors, estate agents, hospitals, hotels, newsagents, petrol stations, post offices and supermarkets. Users can customise the application by using the ‘On/Off’ toggle button to add search icons for more categories or their favourite brands. Scoot says it will add more categories and brands in future releases of the application.
The application is UK-based and gives mobile users information about businesses in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. If used outside these areas, the application will warn the user that Scoot is only available in the UK.
There’s more information here. And you can download the application from the Apple App Store here.

Yahoo! Adds Voice Search to iPhone App

Yahoo! has upgraded its Yahoo! Mobile iPhone app to include voice search, which enables consumers to speak their search queries to get quick, relevant answers simply by speaking their query.
Yahoo! notes that while most mobile voice recognition systems are specific to vertical categories such as local listings, oneSearch with voice lets consumers perform searches for virtually any kind of query.
The Yahoo! oneSearch with voice application is currently available on more than 80 different devices and across platforms including Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and the iPhone, with support in eight languages.
As mobile devices become more sophisticated, mobile media consumption is increasing, the company says. Over 45% of people who have bought a device in the last six months have browsed the Internet or downloaded an application, according to comScore. As this penetration continues, mobile search is playing an increasingly important part of people’s mobile Internet experience, with ease-of-access and discoverability a key factor in consumers getting what they want, when they want it.
 oneSearch returns results in categories rather than a list of links. For example, search for ‘Formula 1’ and results are divided into the latest race results, the drivers’ table, the constructors’ table, images, web pages and so on.
The Yahoo! Mobile iPhone app can be downloaded through the iPhone app store. Users with devices on other platforms can download the app by visiting http://m.yahoo.com/voice on their  mobile browser.
Additionally, Yahoo! has also announced a Yahoo! oneSearch shortcut for Windows Mobile in 21 countries, providing mobile users with one-click access to the search box.

Hotel Booking App Makes Euro Debut

Cardiff-based mobile marketing firm Greenfield Media has secured an agreement to market HotelMate, a hotel-booking application, to hotel groups across Europe. The app was developed by Spain-based Media Delivery Technologies (MDTEC), which provides mobile applications for the travel and tourism industries.
“The HotelMate concept is simple – to give anyone the ability to find and book hotel accommodation through their mobile phone simply and securely,” says Greenfield Media, Managing Director, Wyn Innes. “Once the application is downloaded to an individual’s handset it can be accessed on the go, and uses proprietary technology to provide an unprecedented ability to confirm and complete secure hotel reservations.”
In addition to licensing the HotelMate app, Greenfield is also working with hotels and resorts to provide Bluetooth proximity marketing for the distribution of content directly to phones, as well as SMS text CRM solutions.

Backhaul to the Future

Viplob Syngal, General Manager, Carrier Networks, at NEC Europe, urges mobile operators to ensure their network infrastructure can cope with the seemingly insatiable trend towards launching app stores

Vodafone recently announced plans to launch an online application store this autumn. The store will offer software applications to its 256 million customers.
It is now clear that operators must provide their customers with mobile applications in order to remain competitive and create additional revenue streams. Not only that, but we will soon be seeing an evolution in the kinds of mobile applications demanded by consumers. Today, applications are centred around themes related to Mobile TV, simple games and multimedia, MMS, SMS, email, and Internet browsing. Over the next few years, however, we will see demand increase for more sophisticated premium applications, based on machine-to-machine interactions such as telematics, enriched navigation experiences and interactive gaming.
This is great news for operators, whose ARPU and voice revenue has been dwindling over the years, but they must appreciate the implications for the mobile network, and move to protect their customers from a second rate experience, whilst at the same time creating brand loyalty.

Achilles heel
The mobile backhaul network could prove to be the operators’ Achilles heel, and hinder the success of these app stores. Increasing backhaul capacity is imperative, and will allow operators to engage their customers, as well as keep data traffic costs in check. The speed of connecting to the Internet is a function of both the individual user's connectivity, and of the infrastructure. Fixed network operators have been caught out by this in the past, and mobile operators need to learn from their experience
Another area operators need to consider before counting their chickens, is that the Internet has created a whole new expectation around global connectivity, and if this is to be translated to the mobile world, users must be able to use the applications on all devices. Such openness will broaden the range of applications and services that can be shared, creating an enriched mobile broadband experience.
If Nielsen’s Law of Internet bandwidth, and Moore’s Law of computer power are to be translated to the mobile broadband world, then we should ensure, from the outset, that the overall mobile broadband ecosystem is ready to support the massive growth of mobile applications. In return, this will create the need for economies of scale and lower cost per bit.

eBuddy Launches on Android

Web and mobile Instant Messaging (IM) platform eBuddy has launched eBuddy for Android, a free IM application that enables users with AIM, Facebook, ICQ, Google Talk, Yahoo! or MSN Windows Live Messenger to have multiple chats in one interface, and which, the company says, provides a high quality, fast and reliable ‘on-the-go’ chat experience.
The eBuddy for Android multi-language IM application is available as a phone download via Android Market.
Features include eBuddy ID, which provides a single one log-in to access multiple IM networks; new message notifications in the Android status bar; emoticons for every IM network; buddy list grouping, profile viewing and account management; auto reconnect; the ability to receive offline messages, and to to run in the background. The application is compatible with Android 1.1 and 1.5 (Cupcake).
“eBuddy Mobile Messenger has been downloaded over 20 million times and is one of the world’s fastest growing mobile IM services, with over 5 million unique monthly users,” says eBuddy CEO and Foudner, Jan-Joost “JJ” Rueb. “We believe the global market for Android-powered phones and applications is primed for exponential growth, and we’re excited to give eBuddy users and Android enthusiasts around the world access to eBuddy whenever and wherever they want.”

WeFi Arrives on Android

Community-based global wi-fi network WeFi has launched a version of its free software for Android devices, offering Android users automatic access to the best wi-fi connection available. Users can download the free WeFi software either directly from the WeFi website, or by searching for WeFi in Android Market on their Android phone. WeFi is listed under ‘Applications/Communication’. 
WeFi automatically connects the user to the best open wi-fi connection available. If the connection is lost, WeFi automatically reconnects to another available open wi-fi hotspot. Since it is a community-generated network, with many of the access points provided by the users themselves, if the open hotspot detected was previously unknown to the network, it is added, so that other users can automatically connect to it when they are in the area.
WeFi always seeks to connect users to wi-fi hotspots where Internet access has already been verified by other WeFi-enabled devices – dubbed ‘community-verified spots’” - in a growing network of over 21 million access points worldwide.  
“The launch of WeFi on Android demonstrates our commitment to creating a truly seamless wi-fi experience,” says WeFi CEO,  Zur Feldman. “Thanks to WeFi, the growing number of Android users around the world can now forget about a long and complicated manual search for a wi-fi hotspot, and benefit from a simple one-step process to launch any application, wherever they are.”

Vodafone Opens the Door to Mobile Apps

Vodafone says it will stimulate a new generation of mobile Internet applications by providing Internet service developers with a single point of access to its global customer base. Developers will only need to create Internet applications once in order to reach millions of Vodafone customers on any device, and will be able to charge for it directly through Vodafone’s billing system. This, the company says, will provide Internet content partners, such as the media or game developers, with a cost-efficient and effective micro-payments system to reach all customers on mobile devices.
Vodafone will also provide partners and developers with customer-controlled access to other network capabilities, such as location awareness, enabling them to create even more innovative mobile Internet services and applications. The move will be accompanied by a framework to provide customers with transparency and control over how their information is accessed and used.
The scale of the initiative will provide partners and developers with an unparalleled opportunity to increase their revenues from the mobile Internet, while delivering services to Vodafone’s 289 million customers. Vodafone will also benefit from any uplift in sales under a revenue-share model.
According to Vodafone, the benefits to third-party developers and Internet companies include:

• A single point of access to millions of Vodafone customers across the globe
• Faster time to market for new products and services across several operating systems and handsets
• Enhanced revenue stream opportunities
• Simplified micro-payments for services through the use of Vodafone’s existing billing systems

 The benefits to customers include:

• A greater selection of more compelling Internet applications and services
• More convenience and greater flexibility in paying for new services
• A simpler and more intuitive mobile Internet experience
• Consistent quality of service across the entire Vodafone footprint

Vodafone will enable developers to use its direct billing capabilities to enable customers to pay for services wirelessly through their existing Vodafone pre- and post-paid accounts, rather than having to input sensitive credit card data into multiple application stores. Vodafone says this should give customers a convenient and highly secure payment option for the different services on offer, as well as encouraging greater take-up.
By giving developers access to location awareness capabilities, Vodafone believes it will enable a new generation of highly personalised user-activated and controlled services and applications that are tailored to meet the customer’s immediate requirements.
Vodafone is making the enhancements through the creation of a set of network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) which will enable developers to build capabilities such as direct billing and location awareness into their services.
The APIs, which provide a link between the applications and the Vodafone network capabilities, will work across the entire Vodafone footprint, thanks to a new layer of management technology based on Service Oriented Architecture.
Vodafone will start to offer access to selected network enablers through the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) initiative, which is designed to help developers create useful widgets for a combined audience of up to 1 billion customers (across the four JIL partner networks). JIL is due to release a website and a Software Developer Kit in the summer. Vodafone says it is also exploring a range of other ways to expose its network enablers to the broadest possible audience.
“Vodafone is making these changes to make it easier for third parties to develop attractive new services, as well as bill and support our customers through our network capabilities in all markets,” says Vodafone CEO, Vittorio Colao. “By giving them simple access to our global customer base and network assets, such as direct billing and location awareness, we will help them to make more money, while providing our customers with the innovative services that they want.”

Mobile Apps Under the Spotlight

Juniper Research has published its report, ‘Mobile Applications & Apps Stores: Business Models, Opportunities & Forecasts 2009-2014’. The study finds that direct and indirect revenues from mobile applications are expected to exceed $25 billion (£16.5 billion) by 2014, with growth fuelled by a raft of store launches targeting both high-end and mass market handsets.
According to the report, while the overwhelming majority of application revenues are currently accrued from one-off downloads, the increasing utilisation of in-app billing to enable incremental revenues from additional mobile content will see value-added services (VAS) providing the dominant revenue stream by 2011. It also notes that many Tier 1 operators will seek to deploy their own app stores in a bid to maintain content revenue share.
The report stresses, however, that in the longer term, the greatest benefits to operators will be derived from data revenues associated with app usage, rather than from the retail price of apps and content, so long as operators reject the walled garden approach. The report also concludes that mobile games will remain the largest category in terms of overall app downloads and revenues, although multimedia and entertainment apps will attract the greatest share of VAS revenues from 2009 onwards.
The report provides an analysis of the opportunity for mobile applications and app stores, forecasting the market for six years and breaking down usage, download volumes and revenues by category of application (mobile game applications, lifestyle and healthcare apps, multimedia & entertainment apps, education & reference, finance & productivity and social networking).
Forecasts for app-billed value added services, including subscriptions, premium events and additional content, reveal a market value well in excess of standalone app downloads. The report also includes an investigation as to how apps are delivered both on-store and across traditional channels.
In addition, the report explains how developers, operators and OS providers have responded to the challenges laid down by Apple’s App Store, including a discussion of how Apple differentiated itself from traditional models of content distribution, monetisation and revenue share.
Questions answered by the report include:

• How will the mass deployment of app stores impact upon existing distribution content channels?
• How will the market for mobile applications develop over the next five years, and to what extent will growth be dependent upon onstore sales?
• What revenue streams will accrue from value-added services enabled by in-app billing?
• What opportunities do app stores offer for players across the mobile value chain?
• Which categories of mobile application will generate the largest revenues?
• How will app stores effect the distribution of entertainment and content revenues within the mobile ecosystem?
• Which players are poised to launch app stores in the short and medium term?

The report costs £1,750 for a single-user PDF or hardback copy; £2,500 for a multi- user licence; or £3,750 for an enterprise-wide licence. There’s more information here.

Sharpcards Signs Sony Ericsson Deal

Rich media messaging firm Sharpcards has struck a deal with Sony Ericsson Iberia that will see Sharpcards’ enhanced mobile messaging application (EMMA) integrated into the main messaging menu of new Sony Ericsson handsets in Spain and Portugal, allowing users to send Ecards almost as easily as a text.
Users will have instant access to premium-branded Ecards, developed in partnership with media owners including Disney, Hallmark, King Features and Cartoon Network. The service enables a richer, more intimate way of communicating with friends, says Sharpcards. Ecards are dynamically updated to give customers access to time-relevant and seasonal content, as well as everyday favourites for fun and flirting.
“Sony Ericsson is a very young and dynamic brand that enjoys a great reputation within the Spanish market, thanks to its continuous innovation,” says Magnus Ahlqvist, General Director of Sony Ericsson Iberia. “The new agreement with Sharpcards fortifies this strategy to offer to our users this type of added value on our handsets.”

Softtrends Launches LivePVR Call Screening Solution

Softtrends has launched its LivePVR call-screening and voicemail solution for Symbian Series 60 users. The on-device voicemail feature in LivePVR picks up a call (based on user settings), allows the caller to leave voice message and stores it on the device. A Series 60 device user can listen to the voice message when it is being recorded by the caller, and pick up the call to start talking to the caller if so desired. The LivePVR voicemail feature can be enabled and disabled from the main screen, and the user can record multiple greetings and switch between them easily. If a call is picked up after screening, user can start a Phone call recording just by pressing a button.
When using LivePVR’s on-device voicemail feature, users can listen to voicemail messages without having to dial the operator’s voicemail number. LivePVR also provides a backup option to automatically back up or archive all voicemail messages, or manually back up selected messages to a server. A free Desktop application LivePVRSync, enables the user to copy or move recorded messages to a Windows PC. In addition to on-device voicemail, LivePVR also offers automatic phone call recording; audio recording (which can be used as a dictation tool);  and meeting notes recording, with an audio buffer to record something that was said before the recording started. 
On-device voicemail is available in LivePVR 3.00 Professional and Enterprise Editions for Symbian Series 60 devices. A fully-functional trial version of LivePVR 3.00 is available for download here.

cellity Ports Communicator to the iPhone and G1

cellity has optimized its free Communicator mobile communication suite for the iPhone. It will enable iPhone users to synchronize and manage contacts from social networks and other sources (Outlook, webmail providers etc.) at one central interface, using the iPhone or the Safari Browser on the Mac.
cellity is also extending its service, with the integration of the Google Android G1 handset. iPhone and G1 users will profit from cellity's growing range of products which aggregate social network messages, and from recently included address sources, such as the evaluation forum, QYPE.
“Increasing mobile data volumes require intelligent solutions which concentrate all relevant messages and contacts from the mobile device, social networks and webmail accounts at one central interface - like the address book 2.0.”, says cellity Founder and CMO, Sarik Weber. “iPhone and G1 users can download the new cellity Communicator in the iTunes App Store and Android App Store. The user will always have an updated version of the software, because updates are being made right away.”

1bn and Counting for Apple's App Store

Apple has confirmed that its App Store has achieved 1 billion downloads, nine months after launch. The 1 billionth app, Bump, created by Bump Technologies, was downloaded by Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT on Friday. As the grand prize winner of Apple’s one billion app countdown contest, Connor will receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro.
The App Store currently has more than 35,000 applications available to consumers in 77 countries. This summer, the iPhone OS 3.0 software update will provide developers with over 1,000 new developer APIs, enabling in-app purchases, peer-to-peer connections, app control of accessories, and push notifications. The iPhone OS 3.0 release will also add over 100 customer features, including cut, copy and paste; ‘Spotlight’ search; landscape keyboard and view for all key iPhone apps; MMS support for the iPhone 3G, where available; and expanded parental controls for apps, TV shows, and movies from the App Store.
 “The revolutionary App Store has been a phenomenal hit with iPhone and iPod touch users around the world, and we’d like to thank our customers and developers for helping us achieve the astonishing milestone of one billion apps downloaded,” says Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip Schiller. “In nine months, the App Store has completely revolutionised the mobile industry and this is only the beginning.”

Nimbuzz Hits 10m on GetJar

Independent app store GetJar has revealed that VoIP, presence and IM (Instant Messaging) provider Nimbuzz has achieved 10 million downloads on its network. GetJar says that Nimbuzz achieved this milestone through strong brand recognition, an award winning application design and by effectively using GetJar’s Pay-Per-Download service to gain prominent visibility and significantly increase its downloads.
Nimbuzz is a mobile social messenger, combining IM, (geo) presence, and VoIP. The free app supports communities including Skype, Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, GoogleTalk and AIM, and social networks including Facebook and MySpace.
The GetJar pay-per-download solution is a cost-per-acquisition (CPA)-based service that enables developers and brand owners to bid for premium catalogue placement per download and set their own maximum daily budgets.
“As consumer’s recognition and use of app stores to personalise their mobile begins to soar, gaining visibility within an extensive app store, filled with tens of thousands of apps, is a challenge for companies in the mobile space,” says Nimbuzz CEO, Evert Jaap Lugt. “We have always looked for ways to differentiate our brand from competitors, and GetJar’s Pay-Per-Download (PPD) service presents an opportunity to do just that. GetJar is our top outside source to increase mobile downloads and using their PPD service has exponentially increased our download rate since we started working with them two years ago. To be specific, GetJar PPD lets us acquire users at 10% of the cost of any CPM banner campaign we have ever undertaken internationally.”

Airwide Pinpoints App Store Success Factors

Airwide Solutions, which provides next generation mobile messaging and mobile Internet infrastructure, applications and solutions, has revealed the results of an independent survey conducted among mobile operators into the rise of mobile applications and services. The study shows that despite consumer enthusiasm for mobile applications, operators could risk failure if they try to replicate the model pioneered by Apple. The study, which was conducted by the independent analyst house mobilesquared on behalf of Airwide, reveals overwhelming enthusiasm for the App Store concept, with all operators questioned planning to keep a degree of control in their own app store environments.
When asked how much control they thought they could exert over which applications their subscribers could access, operators demonstrated a surprisingly pragmatic and realistic approach. 45% said they would expect to directly control less than 10% of the apps and services launched, while 36% said they would expect to control between 20 and 30%.
Airwide believes that this dynamic could significantly increase the amount of fragmentation that application developers and publishers will need to address if they want to deploy services across multiple operators and on multiple handsets. Until real standards evolve, the company says, operators need a consistent platform to be able to roll-out enhanced applications and services.
Airwide is aiming to address this issue with the launch of its Open Services Framework.This, it says, represents the latest phase of the evolution away from existing monolithic messaging infrastructure, and has been designed to enable operators to use network intelligence on messaging and browsing, location, user profiling, presence, security, micropayments and more, to create and enhance high quality, relevant applications, without disrupting existing infrastructure. It is designed to work across multiple networks and is open, powerful, intelligent and flexible, helping operators cut the amount of time necessary to roll out new and enhanced services by up to 75%. As a result, says Airwide, operators can secure the appropriate share of untapped revenue opportunities, generate more interactive engagement with subscribers, and regain control of the subscriber.
Airwide says it is launching the solution because the rise of the app store model depends on robust and powerful messaging infrastructure, which can efficiently support multiple media types, while remaining flexible enough to enable the rapid rollout of new services that use location, presence, subscriber profiles, the mobile Internet, or any other of a range of operator assets to enhance their functionality.
The Open Services Framework does this through two modules that can be used together or independently. The Service Innovation Module enables the rapid introduction of high-quality service enhancements by exposing value-adding operator assets and capabilities, independent from the delivery infrastructure. The Delivery Optimization Module enables high-reliability, low-latency, secure, handset- and network-optimized delivery of services.
Airwide says this approach is supported by the survey, which also revealed that operators believe that relevance – or the lack thereof – is the most important factor in creating a successful app store, with 55% of operators ranking it the biggest factor in a successful download. By enhancing mobile applications with their unique assets, context and intelligence, while minimizing cost and without disruption to the existing infrastructure, Airwide says its Open Services Framework can help operators can realize significant cost savings, jump-start additional revenue generation, and play a more significant role in mobile data services.
Cost was also cited as a major factor by 18% of respondents, and a number of operators also said that effective marketing is also crucial for the success of the app store model. The marketing campaign by Apple, which focuses on how to discover and download applications to the iPhone, was seen as an example of how good marketing can overcome many of the education issues faced by operators when launching new services.
Clearly education is indeed an important factor which must be addressed, as a separate survey of mobile subscribers conducted by mobilesquared revealed a lack of widespread awareness of the app store concept. Only 24% of respondents knew what an app store was, yet when the benefits of an app store-like experience were explained, over 50% of respondents said they would want to have an app store accessible from their phone. The survey, which asked 1,000 UK mobile subscribers their opinions on the app store concept, shows that there is clear demand from consumers for applications from operators beyond the current triumvirate of games, music and video. However, with less than 25% of UK subscribers currently owning a high-end handset or Smartphone, one of the major challenges faced by operators in the short term will be how they can deliver an app store experience to mass-market handsets.
“The study we have conducted highlights that there is a clear demand from both operators and subscribers for a centralized content and services solution… that will help operators to deliver relevant, high quality applications quickly to the end user,” says Airwide CMO, Jay Seaton. “We’ve designed our Open Services Framework with this need for versatility, speed and quality in mind so that operators can enhance virtually any application with contextual information and support as well as quickly rollout the new mobile applications their subscribers demand without risking disruption to the underlying infrastructure.”

We’ll have an interview with Jay Seaton about the Open Services Framework concept next week. A detailed whitepaper outlining the results of the research in more detail can be requested by emailing Gemma Yates at: airwidepr@miliberty.com

Spb Launches Mobile Shell 3.0

Spb Software has released Spb Mobile Shell 3.0, which it describes as “the next-generation user interface for Windows phones”. According to Handango Yardstick, Spb Mobile Shell was the world's number one bestselling application of 2008 among all mobile platforms.
Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 accounts for two different Smartphone use scenarios: at work and at play. The application offers distinctive 'professional' and 'lifestyle' desktops; integration of picture contacts with Facebook; account-sensitive email indicators; time and weather screens; widgets; responsive kinetic scrolling; a 3D animation engine; and other assets that change the way a Windows phone is used.
Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 is available in 24 languages, and is compatible with Windows phones running Windows Mobile 5 and later Professional platforms. qVGA, VGA, Square QVGA, and WVGA screen resolutions are supported. You can download the software on a free 15-day trial, or buy it for $29.95 (£21) here. 
Users of any 2x versions of Spb Mobile Shell can upgrade to Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 for $14.95 USD. According to Spb Software's upgrades policy, all Spb Mobile Shell users who have bought the product within the last 90 days are invited to exchange the previous version of software for the newly released one, for free. You can get a video tour of the software here.

Apple On Target for 1 Billion Downloads

Apple is on target to pass the 1 billion app downloads in the afternoon (GMT) of 23 April, according to research firm, mobileSQUARED. Presently, the company is experiencing average daily downloads of 5.1 million apps and requires another 38 million apps to reach 1 billion (as of yesterday). At this existing download rate that will take another six days.
At the start of December, Apple announced that it has passed the 200 million download mark. This was promptly followed by the announcement that it had reached 500 million downloads by 19 January.
“It took Apple almost six months to reach its first 500 million app downloads and the following 500 million downloads (have taken) just 94 days,” says Nick Lane, Chief rResearcher at mobileSQUARED. “That equates to an improved average daily download figure of 2.98 million for the first 500 million to 5.32 million per day for the second 500 million downloads.”
Research by mobileSQUARED has revealed that around 75% of apps downloaded are free. Of those apps that are paid for, price ranges from $0.99 - £999, with an average cost per download of around $2.20. On 23 April, the average number of paid-for downloads will reach 250 million, generating revenues of $550 million. Based on Apple’s 30-70 revenue share model, apps have generated an additional $165 million for Apple and $385 million for the developer and publisher community.
One of the major drawbacks of the App Store, however, is that it has a restricted market. Globally, the iPhone accounts for 0.4% of the total mobile market and around 2% in the UK. But consumer research by mobileSQUARED has revealed a growing awareness of the App Store concept among UK mobile citizens.
A survey of 1,000 UK consumers, conducted by Lightspeed Research for mobile SQUARED, revealed that 24.2% of respondents knew what an App Store was, with awareness higher among males (35.1%) than females (14.5%). 52% of respondents aged between 18-24 years knew what an App Store was, as did 45.1% of 25-34 year olds, 30% of 35-44 year olds, and 18% of 45-54 year olds. What’s more, this awareness correlates to Smartphone penetration in the UK.
When the phrase ‘App Store’was swapped with ‘one area’ housing content and Internet bookmarks, in total 45.8% of respondents said they would use this ‘one area’ (ie app store), greatly exceeding the number of Smartphone users in the UK. Again, the concept is more appealing to males (48%) than females (43.8%). What’s more, the appeal of this ‘one area’ also  crosses demographic boundaries, with 68% of 18-24 year olds and 69% of 25-34 year olds expressing an interest, as well as almost 50% of respondents aged 35-54.
“This demonstrates that the appeal of the app store is not, and should not be, restricted to just the high-end phone users,” says Lane. “There is a compelling case to ensure app stores achieve mass market distribution.”
The mobile SQUARED sector report on the mobile applications market will be available from the end of April.

WIT Unveils Live TV App for the iPhone

WIT Software has unveiled its ‘Live TV’ application for the iPhone, enabling Vodafone Portugal iPhone 3G users to watch live TV. According to WIT, this is one of the first live TV applications for the iPhone to be launched commercially in a mobile operator. It was developed by WIT, in close cooperation with Vodafone Portugal.
What makes the application unique, according to WIT Software CEO Luis Silva is: “The use of mobile standards, commonly used by mobile operators, and the ability to use 3G. With this application, mobile operators do not have to change anything on their network and subscribers can use the service anywhere in the country, as long as they have 3G coverage”.
The application is available for free on the Portuguese AppStore as “Vodafone Mobile TV’ and can be used by any Vodafone Portugal customer. The application is also  available for licensing for other mobile operators willing to extend its Mobile TV offering to iPhone 3G subscribers. Among other features, it supports fast channel switching, enabling the user to ‘zap’ TV channels as they do at home..
WIT has developed a competence centre for iPhone Application Development. Live TV is its third application certified by Apple recently. The iPhone MMS Client and ‘Mobile ATM’ application are also available on the AppStore, also for Vodafone Portugal iPhone 3G customers.

Funambol Launches on the Storm

Funambol, which provides open source mobile cloud sync and push email solutions, has announced the availability of its software for the BlackBerry Storm. The Funambol BlackBerry Storm sync client enables users to keep their contacts, calendars, tasks and notes in sync between the Storm, a Funambol server, and email systems and desktop apps. The Funambol BlackBerry Storm push email client lets users get free push email on their handset from popular email systems. Storm users can use the software for free by signing up for an account on the myFUNAMBOL Portal here.
“The BlackBerry Storm touchscreen handset, like iPhone and Android, raises the bar for Smartphone manufacturers,” says Funambol CEO, Fabrizio Capobianco. “At the same time, users increasingly expect to seamlessly access their contacts, calendars, email, and more, on their phone, the web and desktops. We are excited that Funambol now enables Storm users to access this information, anytime, anywhere.”
The Funambol BlackBerry Storm sync and push email clients enable users to sync contacts, calendars, tasks, notes and email with a Funambol server, including myFUNAMBOL. The Funambol server can sync with Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail and Hotmail, and desktop apps such as Outlook and Thunderbird. The sync client is part of the latest Funambol monthly phone pack that is in Funambol's commercial Carrier Edition software and that has been deployed on myFUNAMBOL. This phone pack also includes the latest Funambol Symbian sync client that supports new Nokia phones, enabling users to keep PIM data in sync between their phones, the web and desktops.