Category Archives: Mobile applications
AVAST Software shows how to launch a successful Android app
Rating: 10m downloads and highest ranking in class
It’s nice to see one of GoMobile News‘ favourite apps doing so well. AVAST Software has just informed us that its avast! Free Mobile Security app for Android passed an important milestone -10 million installations, by August 1st 2012. The company’s goal is to reach 20 million installations by Q1 2013. AVAST claims that avast! Free Mobile Security is the highest ranked security solution in the Google Play store (formerly Android Market) with 4.7 out of 5 stars. Continue reading
Guest Post: The reality of mobile phone tracking for businesses
What you can do with mobile spy software if it is legal
by Ricky Martin who works with Cellphone Tracking
The harsh reality is that the days of the ‘Ethical Work Culture’ have gone. This leads some employees to resort to unprofessional conduct like passing the secrets of the companies they work for to the rival companies. This led some companies to resort to advanced technologies to combat such problems timely. One such tool is mobile phone tracking software – often referred to as cellphone spyware. Continue reading
Guest Post: How C-level execs are going mobile
by Jeffrey Vocell, co-founder of Trendslide
Executives today are increasingly busy and getting pulled in all different directions. With ‘to do’ lists getting longer, and hours available in the day not following suit – the C-level exec is turning to mobile to keep up. Given the explosive growth of mobile (which for the sake of this post we’ll count as both tablets and smartphones) it’s apparent that life for the C-level exec will never be the same. According to a Dimensional Research Survey, 71 per cent of SMB’s [Small-to-Medium Businesses] surveyed are using tablets for work-productivity related tasks. Apps and the mobile web have been the biggest change allowing productivity related tasks that weren’t possible before to seamlessly be completed on a smartphone or tablet. Let’s look at some of the common tasks below to examine the impact of mobile on executives. Continue reading
Guest Post: Use of apps trumps mobile web around London 2012 Games
by Jenna Berger, research manager for global digital analytics, Nielsen
We learned recently that 28 per cent of mobile users around the globe admitted to watching video on their mobile device daily, so when the Olympics came about we wanted to take a look how UK residents were engaging with their mobile phones during London 2012 events. In preparation for the events, London 2012 launched two official mobile apps and one mobile game here, all available in the iTunes App Store and the Android Marketplace. The first app, called Join In, was promoted as a planning tool and the “essential companion” as a viewer’s go-to for information on the games. Continue reading
British Red Cross aims for mobile with HTML5
Rating: Better mobile experience plus younger audience
Well-known charity, British Red Cross, decided that it wanted to bring its mobile presence up to date – not only by reflecting the branding and style of the main British Red Cross website but also to attract a younger generation of visitor. The solution is has come up with has been developed by Eduserv (in HTML 5) – giving visitors an ‘app-like’ experience on their mobile phones, without needing to install a dedicated app. As you know HTML 5 automatically reconfigures the site to fit the type and style of the mobile device accessing it. But it also does away with the need to create and maintain separate apps for the leading mobile OS. The significant feature to British Red Cross sites is that even without native apps, it can still support geo-location. Which ends up raising footfalls to the charity’s High Street stores. Continue reading
Official National Rail Enquiries app clocks up 1m users in 10 weeks
Rating: BlackBerry & WP7 users must use 3rd party apps
How about this? In only 10 weeks over a million Brits have installed the official National Rail Enquiries (NRE) free smartphone app since its launch in May 2012. This instantly makes it one of the most popular travel apps in the UK. It’s even more remarkable since the app is only available for iOS and Android users. Tough luck BlackBerry OS and Windows Phone (W7 Mango) owners. Anyway, GoMobile News can exclusively reveal that the split in the usage base is 7:3 in favour of the iPhone with 70.5 per cent of downloads being iOS and the remaining 29.5 per cent being Android. The NRE is also a prime example of a mobile app which successfully leverages geolocation capabilities. Continue reading
RIM: we may let other makers use BB10
New op system could be phone maker’s last hurrah
Struggling Canadian phone maker RIM may licence its new BlackBerry 10 operating system to other manufacturers in a bid to plug the ever-deepening hole in its finances. CEO Thorsten Heins is reported to have told Bloomberg News that the new op, currently in the final phases of testing, may well be offered to other manufacturers even as RIM races to release its own devices based on BB10 early next year. Heins did not say whether those manufacturers might include other phone makers, but only last week it was reported that Samsung might be planning to buy RIM or at least licence the new OS – both claims which the South Korean manufacturer was itself quick to deny. RIM is hoping to turnaround its fortunes with BB10. Continue reading
Monetise mobile games in the desktop arena with Marmalade
Rating: Port mobile apps to PC and Mac in days
How things have changed. With thousands of downloads under your belt, how do you make even more money out of your existing mobile app/game? Simples. You produce a Windows and Mac OS X version of it. Hence Marmalade – which provides a cross-platform tool that enables app developers to produce software which runs on multiple mobile OS has introduced a beta release of its latest package (6.1) which enables developers to further monetise their content across. This will work over popular desktop channels such as Steam, Gamersgate and the Mac Store. As part of the 6.1 Beta program, Marmalade is now working closely with leading game studios – HotGen and Nomad Games to showcase the new support. Continue reading
Marmalade and Urban Airship Partner to offer richer and stickier native cross-platform apps
Target more platforms and engage more users, all from a single code base
Press release
July 26th 2012. Marmalade, provider of the world’s most powerful cross-platform SDK for native mobile apps, and Urban Airship, the leading provider of high-performance push messaging, have at Casual Connect announced a partnership combining their best-in-class products to help create apps that drive greater engagement, retention and monetisation. By making the Urban Airship APIs available as Marmalade extensions, Urban Airship and Marmalade are enabling all mobile app and game developers to use Urban Airship’s services such as push notifications, rich mobile messaging and engagement analytics, all within a cross-platform SDK that delivers native mobile apps from a single code base. Continue reading
Guest Post: Is your business really on the Web?
Just having a website isn’t enough anymore
By Christopher Wallace, vp for sales and marketing with Amsterdam Printing
From multinational companies to the local handyman who cleans gutters for $50, everyone has a website these days. And they should. According to the 2010 Local Search Usage Study, 70 per cent of consumers go online first to find out about local businesses. That’s seven per centage points up from the year before and the number is only growing. Continue reading
Interactive 3D specialist EON chooses Marmalade to take 3D to mobile
Rating: Win-win situation for both parties
Focussing on your core strengths really is the name of the game. That’s why EON Reality -which provides the software tools for creating interactive, 3D rich media (especially games) has decided to hook up with mobile specialist, Marmalade. Mobile games developers need to bring 3D to their mobile apps and 3D specialists, EON, has found a simple and comprehensive way of breaking into the mobile app market. As EON Reality says, by co-operating with Marmalade, it can focus on creating rich 3D mobile applications for their clients, without worrying about cross-platform complexities and future device compatibility. Continue reading
RIM provides kit to bloggers @ WOMAD UK festival
Rating: GoMo makes a guest appearance on Guardian site
Here’s an interesting piece of branding. The WOMAD (World Of Music And Dance) festival held over the last weekend [27th – 29th July 2012] had as its media partner, the UK national newspapers – the Guardian and the Observer [Sunday only]. Now the editors say they “are committed to an ‘Open’ form of journalism. So they invited readers to join in by contributing to its web site with their music reviews and festival observations. But it just so happens that the Guardian festivals are sponsored by BlackBerry. Notice how RIM at least acknowledges that the public only recognises its brand. Anyway, as a consequence RIM provided the full kit to enable bloggers to write directly from the event. Continue reading
The Geek Games – Friday’s Olympic story
Rating: Thinly veiled excuse for running a cartoon
It’s the official start of the Olympic Games 2012 in London today [July 27th 2012]. We couldn’t resist this Olympic themed story which is a comic cartoon from the guys at Cast. This software specialist offers a mobile app assessment tool for testing the code in Android apps and it is built into the standard CAST Highlight tool. More information here and here.
Enjoy! Continue reading
CAST &Dr. Dobb’s offer $10,000 prize for next BreakOut app
Rating: Run you app through CAST’s analysis to win
CAST, the software analysis specialist and Dr. Dobb’s have announced the BreakOut Award to search for the world’s best undiscovered new app, offering a $10,000 cash prize to the winner. This competition aims to support innovation and uncover the next rising star of the app world. The best news is that the BreakOut Award is open to a wide spectrum of developers, from individuals to corporate development teams. Continue reading
Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary becomes available for W7 Mango
Rating: Windows Phone 7.7 version compliments existing Android and iOS versions
The Paragon Software Group,the mobile app developer, and Oxford University Press, the respected publisher, have together brought the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 8th edition to Windows Phone devices. Boasting powerful learning features, the app offers full-sentence pronunciation; thousands of colour illustrations, and help with expanding vocabulary for anyone who needs to communicate in English. Continue reading
