developers | Internet Marketing Blog

Do Facebook apps need funding?

While browsing through my RSS reader earlier, I came across an interesting post on PaidContent: a Facebook app called Second Porch raised $1m in funding from an angel fund.

I immediately scratched my head and asked myself: do most entrepreneurs behind individual Facebook apps like Second Porch really need to raise funding for their app businesses? It's a question that I think is increasingly important as more and more entrepreneurs launch their ideas on Facebook, not as standalone websites.

by Patricio Robles 18 March 2010 09:02am 2 comments

Here comes the Android gold rush

Why is the iPhone so popular with developers? One word: money. The App Store is a developer's lottery ticket. All it takes is the right app at the right time and fortune can be yours.

The widely-publicized stories of developers who struck it rich with iPhone apps arguably did more for iPhone development in the early days than any developer-oriented sales pitch from Apple or Steve Jobs. It has been somewhat difficult, however, to find the same sort of stories about developers who struck it rich with Android apps.

by Patricio Robles 04 March 2010 09:22am 3 comments

Sex sells, except in the App Store

Apple is, for lack of a better word, an unconventional company. And in the past several days, it has apparently decided to take on the conventional wisdom that 'sex sells'.

In a publicly unannounced and unexplained move, several days ago Apple began a mass purge of the App Store. The target: iPhone apps that somebody, somewhere might find a sexual overtone in. From bikinis to ice skating tights to mere silhouettes, Apple is reportedly done with any apps whose purpose is to create "excitement or titillation" -- for both males and females alike.

by Patricio Robles 22 February 2010 09:09am 8 comments

24 mobile carriers team up to take on Apple

On the surface, it seems like an unfair fight -- 24 on one. But that's what it might take some of world's biggest mobile carriers if they hope to defeat the reigning king of mobile app distribution, Apple.

The carriers have banded together to create the 'Wholesale Applications Community'. The goal: make it possible for developers to build applications that work across handsets and carriers. The 24 carriers participating in the Wholesale Applications Community have three billion subscribers combined, and the initiative is also receiving support from the GSMA, which is made up of handset manufacturers LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

by Patricio Robles 16 February 2010 09:10am 1 comment

Apple to developers: iPhone GPS is only for "beneficial information"

When it comes to marketing, 'location, location, location' has always been important. But thanks to the rapid growth and maturity of mobile technologies, 'location, location, location' is taking on new meaning.

Location-based advertising is potentially the holy grail of mobile marketing. And it appears that Apple, which occupies an important position in the mobile market with the iPhone, apparently wants to keep location-based advertising opportunities to itself.

by Patricio Robles 05 February 2010 12:01pm 6 comments

Why app stores are the business model for the 21st century

Forget about the Apple's success with the App Store. According to an article by Farhad Manjoo in Fast Company magazine, the app store model may soon hit a "dead end".

That's because, he argues, developers don't need Apple. As Manjoo sees it, "in the age of the Web, developers can get their programs to end users without anyone intervening".

by Patricio Robles 22 January 2010 10:32am 5 comments

UK, Sir Tim team up to free UK government data

Following in the footsteps of the US government, which launched data.gov last year, the UK government has teamed up with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the 'inventor of the internet', to launch data.gov.uk.

As the domain suggests, data.gov.uk is an online repository for data the government has in its virtual vaults and wants to make more accessible to citizens. From the economy to education, data.gov.uk currently offers just under 3,000 datasets - nearly triple what's available across the pond on data.gov.

by Patricio Robles 21 January 2010 10:17am 2 comments

Is 2010 the year of the tablet?

Rumors are swirling around Apple's major product announcement later this month. According to a variety of sources, Apple is set to unveil the long-awaited tablet computing device that has been the subject of speculation for quite some time.

Many believe that an Apple tablet will be as revolutionary as the iPhone. Some go so far as to suggest that it could alter the computing landscape altogether.

by Patricio Robles 05 January 2010 10:24am 2 comments

Facebook's virtual currency conundrum

Social networking giant Facebook is reportedly going to pull in approximately half a billion dollars this year in advertising revenue. It's a significant amount, but hundreds of millions of dollars more are being made on Facebook through virtual currency transactions that Facebook has no part of.

Facebook, of course, has its own official virtual currency, Credits, but most Facebook app developers can't integrate them with their apps, and are not required to use them.

by Patricio Robles 27 November 2009 11:30am 4 comments

Is NDA culture hurting developers?

Ars Technica has an interesting post revealing some sordid tales from the world of iPhone development. The tales center on iPhone app developers who claim to have developed apps that they really didn't develop. And they're getting away with it because of an NDA culture that permeates much of the development world.

NDAs, or non-disclosure agreements, of course, are those pesky little agreements that you've probably asked been asked to sign a million times if you work in the world of technology. In some markets, just about everyone asks that an NDA be signed for the smallest of things. Sometimes I half expect to be asked to sign an NDA if I ask where the bathroom is when working on-site with a client.

by Patricio Robles 06 November 2009 08:59am 0 comments