App review: The Spectator for iPhone
Political magazine The Spectator has just launched an iPhone app with an interesting subscription model. Unlike recent apps released by other publishers such as FT.com and The Telegraph, The Spectator's version charges users 59p per week for access.
However, while the subscription model might be intriguing, and offers a glimpse of how publishers may make money from mobile apps, it fails to deliver on user experience...
How can you get your iPhone app featured by Apple?
The number of apps in the App Store now exceeds 80,000, and though it's safe to assume that there is a fair amount of dross there, it is still a daunting task to get your app noticed by users, however good it is.
This makes an appearance in one of the App Store's featured apps lists, or even better in a print or TV ad for the iPhone, all the more valuable. There is no guaranteed way to achieve this, but what can app developers do to maximise their chances?
How many iPhone users does your website get?
So how big a deal is iPhone adoption? Is it all about the apps? Or are increasing numbers of iPhone users using your website, just on their phones?
I took a quick look at the stats for Econsultancy.com...
Q&A: lastminute.com's Marko Balabanovic on innovation
Marko Balabanovic won an award for Innovation in Multichannel Marketing at Econsultancy's Innovation Awards last year, and this year he is a member of the judging panel.
I've been talking to Marko, who is Head of Innovation at lastminute.com, about lastminute.com labs, how the team looks to innovate, and some of the products it has created...
Chitika study: iPhone users hate ads
Local and time sensitive advertising opportunities on the iPhone may be getting a lot of people excited these days, but online ad company Chitika is not among those bullish about the burgeoning mobile ad market.
The Marlborough, Mass.-based company conducted a study that found people using mobile phone aren't clicking on ads — especially iPhone users.
Smartphone users are ready for more targeted ads
It's already been established that iPhone users are happy spending money on their phones. Just this week AppsFire, found that the average iPhone user has spent $80 on apps for their phone.
But the key to the mobile ad market rests in bringing relevant ads to people where they are, on the go. For marketers to succeed with location-based advertising, consumers have to cooperate. Luckily, mobile phone users are proving open to advertising on their phones — especially when they're relevant.
And a new survey from Compete has found that smartphone users are ready and willing to get more targeted ads on their phones.
Apple starts marketing paid apps
Today's big announcement from Apple had to do with the new iPod's video capabilities, but the company has also made a small tweak that could be incredibly useful to those trying to earn revenue from iPhone apps. Apple is launching a new section in the iTunes store that highlights paid apps.
I Am T-Pain shows brands and celebrities how to use the iPhone
Hip-hop star T-Pain's personal brand is based on his signature synthetic, modulated sound. It's the product of his unique use of the Auto-Tune audio processing technology developed by a company called Antares Audio Technologies.
The sound has earned T-Pain fame and fortune and Auto-Tune is now a prominent fixture in today's hip-hop music. It's also currently a prominent fixture in Apple's App Store thanks to T-Pain's new I Am T-Pain iPhone app.
Mobile app review: Flickr on iPhone
The Flickr iPhone app was released this week, with many of the features that are available on the main site, browsing photos as well as uploading and tagging photos taken on the phone.
We use Flickr for hosting the photos used on this blog, and to upload iPhone screenshots I've had the option of uploading via email, or plugging the phone into the laptop and uploading this way, which can take some time.
I'm hoping that the app can make this process a little easier...
Yelp embeds augmented reality into iPhone app
Yelp's has cunningly added augmented reality functionality as a hidden feature in its existing iPhone app, for iPhone 3Gs users.
The Easter egg can be unearthed by simply shaking the app a few times (actually, to the amusement of my colleagues, I shook my phone for about five minutes before it decided to work). It's only available for the newer version of the iPhone because it needs to use the compass.
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Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
