Found two great pieces of info today. The first statistic explains part of the problem that Android developers are having monetizing their apps compared to their iOS compatriots. According to Fierce Mobile Content, which is quoting a research report from Allot Communications,
The question is will Google’s slow but steady way match Apple’s huge head start in mobile?
Google and Apple have very different business models where mobile is concerned. Apple makes their money selling hardware. Google makes their money displaying ads. Apple can change more for their hardware if it is exclusive to them. Google makes more money if they can expand their reach. This is a lesson that Apple is well-aware of.
The latest from Bloomberg is that iAds are selling at steep discounts to what they were at launch. We talking 50 to 70% off. Everyone agrees that advertisers are not interested in high costs, just results. iAds is also at a disadvantage in that they only target Apple devices. Google does not care if its ads are displayed on its Android platform or Apple’s iOS or Blackberry or anywhere else. It just cares about the quality of the ad and the user’s interaction. This different attitude puts Google more in line with the advertiser.
Apple iAds can certainly come back, as long as the customer come first.
Geogad has just released a new improved version of its Android app, Geogad Tours. This new, revised version now includes
Geogad had the privilege of launching the improved Geogad Tours app at at the 4G Symposium held at Stanford University yesterday. The app was presented to a packed auditorium filled with industry reps from across Silicon Valley. The demo was well-received and went on to win the ”Best 4G Mobile Consumer Application” award. Our thanks to both the judges from Intel, Sprint, Clear, Cisco, Comcast and for Stanford, Sprint, and Clearwire for organizing this wonderful events.
Developers at the Informal Android Developer Meetup occasionally ask about the future of Android,especially in comparison to iPhone. The latest news shows that Google’s efforts and Android’s open source programming are paying off. Third party counts of the apps on the Android Market peg the number at 50K, which is quite a nice boost from the 40K or so apps on it last month. The iPhone apps still number around 200K, but many of these apps are probably being converted right now.
The number of iPhone devices are three, the iPhone, the iTouch, and the new iPad. Currently, there are 36 devices running Android. Forecasts have said that there will be about 50 Android devices released this year, about 1 a week, which will keep Android developers busy.
The future of Android looks bright. I have always thought of iPhone as a cell phone on training wheels. It taught people, especially Americans, how to use a smartphone and the potential that smartphones had. Now that people are familiar with smartphones, they can graduate to more advanced smartphones that fit their personalities. We are seeing the past playing out again. Like the PC vs. Mac arguments, the open nature of the Android OS will result in a large number of devices that have a wide range of capabilites and prices. The closed nature of the iPhone will result in a beautiful, well-thought out device that is extremely expensive compared to others and slowly adds new features.
As regular readers of this blog know, Geogad has been a big supporter of the Android ecosystem and is available to travelers through its own Android app. It has also been a big supporter of the upcoming Android Hackathon, the first Android hackathon in Silicon Valley. This event will take place on March 13 at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View.
The best feature of hackathons is the way that programmer spontaneously come together to form teams to transform an idea into a working app. To help beginning Android programmers pick up the basics on Android, Geogad will be presenting some introductory classes on Android in the weeks before the hackathon.
The first class is scheduled for Feb. 16 from 6:00 to 8:30 PM. The class will take place at Access Growth in Santa Clara. Two instructors will teach up to 20 students on the basics of Android including
Since this is a good bit of material to cover in a relatively short time, all students are required to have downloaded and installed the latest versions of Eclipse, Sun’s JDK 6, and the Android SDK before arriving at the class. Students must already know how to programming in the Java programming language on which Android is based.
This class will cost $25 per person and is limited to 20 students. You can register here. For more information, contact service at geogad.com
Introductory Android Class
February 16, 2010 6:00 to 8:30PM Access Growth 2953 Bunker Hill Lane, Suite 400 Santa Clara, CA 95054 Map
Before the hackathon begins, Geogad will be helping beginning Android programmers learn some of the basics to allow them to contribute to the team projects.
