Cullmann Design Blog

Swiss software development group Polar Rose is working with mobile experts TAT to develop a powerful facial recognition platform called Recognizr. The software analyzes facial features and attaches your social network profiles for real-time access. What does this mean? By simply snapping a picture of someone, you will be able to see their FaceBook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter or any other participating social media channel. The sample demonstration is an example of the technology platform in its most basic state, but even this preliminary demonstration shows the power of this kind of application.

The idea of being able to access an entire social library with your friends, family and co-workers is very exciting. Technology like this previously only existed in science fiction and extends the utility of mobile devices past its origins as Personal Information Managers like the original Palm, modern applications like Bump and even emerging technology like augmented reality. This application, the first of its kind, brings your online footprint, your brand, out into the open and accessible to everyone you come into contact with. Obviously, there are privacy concerns and personal preferences that need to be addressed before this is adopted by most people, but this is a tilt-point for personal identity and social networking.

Networking is now approaching an unprecedented level with the lines between public and personal space blurred. It’s crucial that we begin to look at what we are exposing to the world and become experts at managing technology and our actions online. I think that the coming years will bring a more liberal perspective on online behavior as today’s high school and college students enter the work-force with their social media baggage in-tow. Software like this, as creative and awesome as it is, should give everyone a some pause in defining their “appearance” and footprint online.

Apple’s announcement of the iPad this week and the incredible growth of Apple’s AppStore, I thought it would be appropriate to share my thoughts on software distribution and marketing in a closed eco-system for software. This post is the first half of a two part series on closed eco-systems, like the Apple AppStore, for application development and distribution and the effect that will have on customer adoption.

Last week, I had written the first in a two part series on software development and distribution on closed application store eco-systems. I had used Apple’s AppStore as an example partially due to the release on Apple’s newest device the iPad and also because the AppStore is by far the most successful example of a single distribution system for software developers. In part 1 I had outlined the benefits to consumers and developers in using a closed system like Apple’s. Part 2 will show some how control can negatively impact those who create content for AppStores and those who want to use software on their devices.

To be clear, Apple represents one of the most aggressively closed systems for both developers and consumers. The platform itself only allows for loading of native applications from the the Apple AppStore. Beyond creating a web-based application that is optimized for the device itself, there is no way to implement a solution that is not specifically endorsed by Apple. Other mobile platforms such as Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Palm all offer methods for users to install applications directly onto a device without the need to have their wares approved by a governing entity. Being able to distribute a piece for software on your own website, your own terms or with any licence agreement gives developers flexibility and channel that is better suited for innovation and support to the end-user.

The ability to work beyond confining terms and license agreements allow developers to push platforms and solutions that allow the the mobile industry to grow and be challenged. This was true with the explosion of Palm in the late 90′s and continued in a smaller scale with platforms like WindowsMobile, Symbian and recently with the open-source based Android operating system. The adoption of a popular piece of software can challenge manufacturers to change hardware, create a new use-case or even extend the life of a product. Software developers can also support a product far beyond the “end-of-life” that a manufacturers support. Ironically, Apple is a prime example with users of their Newton still supporting and improving the platform. If it were not for devoted developers still writing software and loading it directly onto the devices, many working Newtons would have long-ago become plastic paperweights.

AppStores are positioned as a solution to preserve quality and integrity for the end user. Each application is screened and tested to ensure that it is free from anything that may harm the end user or expose them to an unpleasant experience on a manufactured device. There are too many iFart applications or virtual lighters to allow one to speculate the definition of “quality in taste”, but the model holds true for most in maintaining security and safety for the end-user and their data. It does represent an issue that Apple (nor BlackBerry at the time of publishing) has disclosed the criteria for what parameters are used to judge if an application should be allowed or rejected from their AppStore. This presents several issues for application developers poised to pour many, many hours into an application’s development. The first is “how do I know if my application will be accepted?” the second “what do I do if my application is rejected?”. Neither of these are clear beyond the requirement of developers to adhere to the Software Development Kit (SDK) specifications provided. This is not a consequence of an open system where a developer has several solutions if the hardware manufacturer does not approve or endorse an application. For most devices, there are several methods to install or append software to a device by either I/O access (USB, FireWire, etc.,) or via a networked solution.

Having a focal rally point for comments would seem to be an ideal way to communicate with and distribute user feedback for a developer’s software. In an open system, comments and reviews are distributed all over the internet and users looking for a solution must sift through search-terms and potentially irrelevant material to discover a solution. AppStores put search-term results in logical formats and focus a single point-of-distribution with a link, install option and user reviews in once place. This may not be a good solution if your product is #2, or #3 (or lower) in the search results. Users searching for a solution via Google, Bing or any other search engine may find results different depending on their search history, the terms that are searched or how much they may have invested in their own marketing. An open-system gives a more fractured option list, but a better opportunity for the less popular, and potentially, more appropriate application or content for the searcher. Reviews can also be reached in this same matter rather than shown in aggregate in a single AppStore page.

As a follow-through thought on marketing, you have to think about the financial implications of participating in an AppStore. For some, BlackBerry and Android for instance, there is no commission taken for sales within their eco-systems. Both of these examples are not market-leaders and participation by developers are required to help build the brands. The developers are a corner stone in the platform’s infrastructure. Apple has a slightly different model. Developers pay a 30% charge for every sale. Apple, a market leader, presents a different marketing position. The Apple user base has only one choice to find and install applications: The Apple Store. If you are a developer for iPhone, iTouch and now iPad applications, the AppStore 30% is the only game in town. This is one of the more influential criteria driving developers to more open solutions like Android and, one can speculate, creating a market amongst thought-leaders and geeks to purchase more open-platform devices like the Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid. The popularity of the iPhone and it’s AppStore has set a president and a trend for software distribution that I hope will be contained to the mobile platform and not to the computer industry in general.

That same distribution method is also changing the model for how companies are using the web and “Apps” for marketing and customer conversion. Many of the most popular applications in the AppStore (and Android Portal) are no-cost solutions allowing customers to interface with paid-services or free-mium services. Pandora, DropBox, Box.net and Amazon are only a few examples. Many of these services leverage easy access to position advertising or easily provide consumers access to their content from anywhere they may be to monotize interactions. Native apps and even having an application, a brand footprint on an always-connected, intimate device like a mobile phone is ideal for encouraging interaction and brand loyalty. 2010 will show that there will be a saturating of the market with Apps and brand touch-points. Those not already in the market will have to fight against early incumbents for mind-share and a coveted place on the user’s home-screen (the new prize in marketing real-estate).

Dichotomy: As a developer I am frustrated by the confines that the AppStore represents. As a marketer, any AppStore can be a new distribution channel and focal point to drive customers to interact with your brand from anywhere at anytime. The Apple iPhone, a market-leader, and soon the iPad (success is to-be-determined!) will provide ambitious developers willing to work within Apple’s confines an opportunity at wealth. For those who want to think beyond those confines, platforms like Android and BlackBerry are an opportunity to spread their wings and push the devices they develop for to the limit.

The mobile marketing is expanding exponentially: 17% of mobile phones sold are smartphones according to a Forrester Research survey. That 17%, make up over half of cellular data traffic transmitted by US carriers. As a web developer and designer, it’s very important that the work I create for my clients as well s my own work is accessible to users regardless of how they are accessing content.

Although I am a huge proponent for web-standards and accessible design, sometimes, I’m glad to have a little help. Enter WordPress Mobile Edition. This WP plug-in is a theme designed to make your WP blog a pleasurable experience for mobile users, regardless of platform. It’s free, easy to install and from my tests seems to work on a wide range of mobile devices. You can download it from CrowdFavorite.

Mobile applications are quickly becoming a dominant vehicle for marketing. Any brand that is communicating with an audience and relying on the web as a vector, needs to begin to leverage this new channel. In the same way that web-pages became a requirement to communicate with an audience in the mid-nineties, applications and widgets are the new “cost-of-entry” for having an exchange with consumers.

The popularity of mobile applications are fueled by many factors, the most influential being the success of the Apple iPhone and the Apple AppStore. To compete with Apple, BlackBerry and Google have introduced similar solutions to market and sell applications for their mobile devices. There is little competition for Apple in the US market, but the competition in the mobile space has fueled innovation and a huge spike in the download and use of mobile applications. The market is hungry for applications with more than a billion apps sold in iTunes‘ application store alone.

The need for brands to allow access to their services and brands to users on the go is clear. Facebook alone has over 4 million visits a day from mobile device users. The BlackBerry application outlet reports that their most popular applications allow access to broadband based video entertainment (YouTube and Vimeo) as well as social media connection apps. When surveyed, people report that they use their mobile devices as a supplement to desktop-based interaction and while waiting for appointment, in transit or between meetings. A user’s search for interaction during these time periods and the intimacy of the device itself, give a strength to communication that has no parallel in other media. The advantage comes with several hurdles: App creators must respect the level of intimacy that is given and not waste a user’s time or be overtly promotional. Creators must also realize that they are competing for attention with friends and family members as all mobile platforms support and promote integration with FaceBook, MySpace, and a wide range of IM and chat applications. Apps must be engaging and offer an obvious offering for the opportunity to exist on a user’s mobile device. Third, and most importantly, the app must be cool. There are several examples, LastFM’s listening and music search application, or Allrecipe’s app to determine how to turn at-the-ready ingredients into an entree or the most ostentatious: I AM RICH app, sold in the Apple AppStore for $999.00. The viral aspect of an application that people are excited about will eclipse any media campaign to promote an app.

To have residence on a user’s mobile device is a commitment from the user and a level of brand engagement that is beyond comparison in the online space. Provided that the application is reliable and well constructed, having the intimate connection with users on a mobile device will shortly become the next milestone in brand identity. Companies hoping to promote themselves should not forgo their current effort or drop their current marketing successes for a new app-centric marketing model, but rather look for ways to drive traffic or have exchanges with their customers on the platforms they are using to run their lives with. Just as the web has matured since the first branded homepages, so should the integration of brands on mobile platforms.