Before starting with the core topic I would like to ask you a question. Tell me the name of your three friends/close ones who had never used a mobile? ; Really difficult to figure out right? Ok let’s talk about our generation. We all had a mobile device but how many of us use our mobile phone just to attend or make a call?
Gone are the days when the definition of mobile was used to be ‘a portable device by which you can receive and make a voice call’ , it is now transformed into ‘ a portable world that can easily fit in your hands and Is capable to do everything you know and the tasks you don’t even know’. According to the Global mobile statistic 2012 there are almost 5,981 million mobile cellular subscriptions in the world that means 1 person in every 10 has a mobile on this blue planet.
Mobile phones are not just boring ‘tring-tring’ devices; they had embedded a wide spectrum in the entertainment globe. You can listen to your favorite songs, watch the movies and videos, capture the amazing moments of your life with integrated camera, get connected to the world of internet, play games and 1170000000 more tasks (search the Google with the keyword ‘uses of mobile’ and you will get these digits of results).
History-Mystery
The rapidly growing figures of the mobile users attracted all the business machines and they were forced to pay special attention to this section of mass crowd. To make their services easily accessible to the user; they were searching for a perfect magic rhythm and on 10th July 2008 Apple chanted that rhythm with the name of ‘App store’. The App store was so much popular in its early stage that even the term ‘App’ was listed as ‘Word of the Year’ in 2010 by the American Dialect Society.
To provide a much more brief history about the mobile Application; I am providing you a infographic below:
Mobile Application Development: Mobile application development is the process of designing mobile applications for a particular mobile platform. These specially designed small software applications can be run on Smartphone, tablets, iPads and other handy devices.
Now you may come across two different questions:-
Why to have a mobile application when we can use the service directly from the internet?
Can you tell me the reason why you go to buy the vegetables from the shop when you can get it directly from the farms? Similarly every user wants to use a tailor made service for which he didn’t have to click or explore buzzing websites. No one wants to use a service which is too complicated to reach. Mobile applications are swift and compact way to get the best out from the provided traits.
Ok I agree that mobile application is a shining path to reach the maximum traffic but what now? Which is the most prefect application for my business; how to choose it? And how could I get revenue from the Application?
Choosing a perfect mobile application is the most crucial part of Mobile App development. You can never promote your gaming business by providing weather forecasting application. To choose the most perfect application you must target about these three key factors
Target Taste – In this factor you try to calculate the expectation of the targeted crowd. Who is searching for and what he is searching for? For example if you are localizing to the college going students than providing them the application based on share market couldn’t be called a wise statement. You should always try to hit the bull’s eyes with your available product or service.
Mobile Platform – Every mobile company is providing a different operating system for its product. A mobile application which is working on a Symbian Platform could show the message of ‘unsupported format’ on the Android or Window Platform. So it is always worthy to spend some time while choosing a working platform. Go through the data sheets, survey reports before making a hard decision (I know it is really a BORING job but I promise its WORTHY).
Name of Platform
|
Programming language
|
Debuggers available
|
Emulator Available
|
Integrated development environment available
|
Cross-platform deployment
|
Installer packaging options
|
Development tool cost
|
Android
|
Java but portions of code can be in C, C++
|
Debugger integrated in Eclipse, standalone debugging monitor available
|
Yes
|
Eclipse,IntelliJ IDEA, Project Kenai Android plugin for NetBeans
|
Android only, because of Dalvik VM, March 2009
|
apk
|
Free, IntelliJ IDEACommunity Edition – Free
|
BlackBerry
|
Java
|
Debugger integrated in IDE
|
Yes
|
Eclipse
|
BlackBerry only, because of RIM API
|
alx, cod
|
Free
|
Symbian
|
C++
|
Yes
|
Free Emulator
|
Many choices
|
Compile per target
|
SIS deployment
|
Commercial and free tools available
|
Windows Mobile
|
C, C++
|
Yes
|
Free emulator (source code available), also bundled with IDE
|
Visual Studio 2010, 2008, 2005, eMbedded VC++ (free), Satellite Forms
|
Windows Mobile, Windows FU, Windows CE
|
OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync
|
Free command-line tools or eMbedded VC++, or Visual Studio (Standard edition or better)
|
Mobile Application Developer-This is the last and most dominant point among the key factors. After deciding the Mobile Application and Working Platform you are encountered with the last question; from where or by whom to get the job done?
How to choose the most promising mobile application developer from the stack of options?
To save you from the confusing hassle of selecting the best; below are some of the indigents you should look upon before ordering for the recipe of Mobile Application Development.
N.D.A (Non Disclosure Agreement)– Before saying a yes to the App Developer always ask for a Non Disclosure agreement that ensures that your Project’s Details and information will be highly confidential from the unauthorized access.
Money Back Guarantee- It is always safe to have a handful of options. Money back guarantee is the most promising Safeguard against any fraud or dissatisfaction. Always try to put those App Developer on the chart that provides a money back guarantee.
Upfront Payment- It is old sayings that ‘trust the quality not the efficiency’. So get stick with the company that offers the least upfront payment.
Technical support- The job of an application developer is not just centralized to the development of the application. You will surely be In the need of your service provider for any troubleshoot or other technical issues. So always try to clear the ‘after development’ technical support issues to your developer and prefer the one who has a sound online technical support.
Generating revenue from your Application?
Isn’t it interesting to think why people are providing their applications free of cost? After paying a bundle of fee to the developer; could it be called a wise business to make that service available to the user without taking even a single penny? Are the App stores running on the ‘non-profit’ algorithm?
‘Business is all about the Money’. The total revenue from the mobile application was reported as $3.8 billion in 2011 and which is expected to rise by $9.6 billion in 2012 as by the report of Gartner. The revenue from the mobile applications is not visible from their front face but the backend of these applications has a bag full of revenues.
Let’s discuss about some ways from which your mobile App can make Dollar’s smile on your face.
Ads Hit The Peak
Providing the Ads with your mobile application could make unexpected revenue to you. You can collect the fee under two different modes in this section:-
- ECPM – Effective Cost Per Mille (Mille is a Latin word that means thousand) is the revenue that you will receive from the Ad Company after every 1000 impressions.
- CTR – Click Through Rate can be calculated by dividing the total no. of clicks on the Ad to the total effective impressions. This criterion is best suited for the App owner when their application has a mass traffic.
‘Free’ is not a Word in Business Dictionary
Most of the application providers are using this step to earn the profit. They first provide a free ‘Basic’ version so that the user can be addicted to the service and then ask for some fee for the ‘premium’ version of the application. This step gives the best effect when your app posts a big name in the market.
I hope that this data and information will surely help you to make a precise decision about the mobile Application development. In my upcoming posts I would like to put spotlight on individual mobile application development that would comprises of sections like iPhone Apps Development, iPad Apps Development, BlackBerry Apps Development, Android Apps Development and some more. I would really like to hear the comments and reviews about my work so that I can refine my future posts; keep supporting.