Considering the immense fragmentation that characterizes the mobile apps industry, it’s good to see decent research help us try and make sense of what’s going on in that particular part of the digital economy, one that is consistently growing in size and importance across the globe. Hence, I invite anyone with a vested interest in the mobile developer ecosystem to check out VisionMobile’s extensive research report (sponsored by Telefónica Developer Communities) on that very subject, because it’s easily one of the most profound I’ve read to date.

Dubbed Developer Economics 2010, the free research report delves into all aspects of mobile application development, across 400+ developers from around the world, segmented into eight major platforms: iOS (iPhone), Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Java ME, Windows Phone, Flash/Flash Lite and mobile web (WAP/XHTML/CSS/Javascript).

The report, which is based on extensive research conducted by a team of three researchers, five interviewers, and eight mobile application developers between January and June 2010, provides insights into all the touchpoints of mobile app development, from platform selection to distribution and monetization.

Some of the key findings:

MARKET PENETRATION AND MINDSHARE

- Market penetration is hands down the most important reason for selecting a mobile platform to develop for, chosen by over 75% of respondents across each and every platform. Clearly, developers care more about addressable market and monetization potential than any single technical aspect of a platform.

- Based on its sample of 400 respondents, VisionMobile found that most developers work on multiple platforms: 2.8 platforms per developer on average, even. Among iPhone and Android developers, one in five releases apps in both the App Store and Android Market.

- In the last two years, a mindshare migration has taken place (see details here), with mobile developers moving away from “incumbent” platforms, namely Symbian, Java ME and Windows Phone. The large minority (20-25 percent) of Symbian respondents who sell their apps via iPhone and Android app stores reveals the brain-drain that is taking place towards these newer platforms.

- According to VisionMobile, the vast majority of Java ME respondents have lost faith in the “write once, run anywhere” vision. Moreover, anecdotal developer testimonials suggest that half of Windows Phone MVP developers (valued for their commitment to the platform) carry an iPhone, and would think twice before re-investing in Windows Phone.

- Android stands out as the platform most popular among mobile developers. Survey results suggest nearly 60 percent of all mobile developers recently developed on Android, assuming an equal number of respondents with experience across each of eight major platforms. Second in terms of developer mindshare is iOS (iPhone), outranking Symbian and Java ME, which were in pole position in 2008.

- Platform characteristics reveal a disconnect between developer mindshare and addressable market for each platform. For example, the Symbian OS is deployed in around 390 million handsets (Q2 2010), and claims over 6,000 apps, while Apple’s iPhone has seen 30x more applications while being deployed at just 60 million units over the same period.

- Evidently, most developers have a strong affinity towards the platform(s) they have invested time in; across all eight major mobile platforms surveyed, respondents felt that the best aspect of their platform was the large market penetration, even if the actual market penetration was relatively small.

(Click for a larger-size image)

MARKETING, SALES AND MONETIZATION

- Market channels that were mainstream a couple of years back take only a small chunk of the go-to-market pie for mobile apps today. Operator portals and ondevice preloading through OEM or operator deals is the primary channel to market for fewer than five percent of mobile developers surveyed. Research findings show that developers resort to either ‘native’ app stores, or to direct download via their own websites – in addition to the traditional model of bespoke app development.

- App stores have reduced the average time-to-shelf by two thirds: from 68 days across traditional channels, to 22 days via an application store. Moreover, app stores have reduced the average time-to-payment by more than half; from 82 days across traditional channels, to 36 days via an app store. On average, it takes 55 days to get paid via an operator channel, or a staggering 168 days when on-device pre-loading via a handset manufacturer.

- There is little use or availability of app stores outside the Apple and Android platforms. Only five percent of Java and just over 10 percent of Windows Phone respondents reported using an app store as a primary distribution channel.

- The key challenge reported by mobile developers is the lack of effective marketing channels to increase application exposure and discovery. Moreover, half of respondents are willing to pay for premium app store placement.

- The most important challenge in app certification is its cost; more than 30 percent of respondents who certify their apps report the high cost of the certification process as the number one challenge. The economics do not work for low-cost apps, but only for megaproductions.

- The gold seems over-hyped: only five percent of respondents reported very good revenues, above their expectations. Moreover, nearly 60 percent of iPhone respondents had not reached their revenue targets.

- Ad-funded models are only secondary revenue sources for developers employing app store and portal-based channels, lagging behind tried and tested pay-per-download models. Subscription models, meanwhile, mainly apply where the application is distributed via an operator or content aggregator portal; they have made limited inroads into app stores.

- Mobile developers view network operators as bit-pipes. Nearly 80 percent of respondents think that the role of network operators should be to deliver data access anywhere/anytime, while only 53 percent considered their role to be delivering voice calls.

TECHNOLOGICAL ASPECTS

- The learning curve varies greatly across mobile platforms. On average, the Symbian platform takes 15 months or more to learn, while for Android the average reported time is less than six months. Moreover, Symbian is much more difficult and time consuming to program than iOS (iPhone), Android or Java ME; benchmarks show that for developing nine different typical applications, a Symbian developer needs to write almost three times more code than an Android developer, and twice as much code as an iPhone developer.

- From a technical perspective, top pain points for mobile emulators and debuggers are slow speed and poor target device mirroring. Top pain points for development environments (IDEs) are the absence of an app porting framework, and poor emulator integration.

- In terms of debugging, ourbenchmarking shows that Android has the fastest debugging process, compared with iPhone, Symbian and Java ME. Debugging in Symbian takes up more than twice the time it takes on Android.

- Ability to build compelling UIs is still far from the reach of most mobile developers. Around 50 out of 100 Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Phone per platform respondents are annoyed with the difficulty in creating great UIs.

- VisionMobile’s research indicates that the majority of developers – more than 80 percent of respondents – rely on community or unofficial forums for support during software development, while websites are used for support by only 40 percent of respondents.

- Access to unpublished or ‘hidden’ device APIs is a control point for platform vendors, but it is also what developers seem to be willing to pay for – in fact, more so than any other type of technical support. Hence, platform vendors could benefit from tiered SDK programs, where privileged SDKs are available to developers on a subscription plan.

- Operator network API programs have so far failed to appeal to developers. Only five percent of respondents thought that the role of network operators should be to expose network APIs. Yet more than half would pay for billing APIs, followed by messaging and location APIs.

- On average, 86 percent of respondents who use open source at work use it within development tools such as Eclipse. Android and iPhone developers are three times more likely to lead open source communities, compared to Symbian, revealing the contrasting pedigree of the developer communities. The single key drawback to open source reported by 60 percent of respondents was the confusion created by open source licenses.

The full report is available for free at DeveloperEconomics.com.

Google-powered Android phones and iPhones are both gobbling up market share. The combined worldwide market share of both operating systems reached 25 percent in the first quarter, up from 12 percent the year before, according to Gartner. The iPhone still has a bigger share, at 15.4 percent (up 5 points), but Android is catching up fast with 9.6 percent (up 8 points). All other smartphones lost relative share during the quarter, even RIM Blackberries, although they still grew in absolute numbers (see table below)

Android is now the fourth largest smartphone operating system, displacing Windows Mobile, which is now No. 5. The iPhone OS is No. 3, RIM is No. 2, and Symbian is still No. 1 on a worldwide basis. If you look at all mobile phone sales, RIM is No. 4 with 3.4 percent share, and the iPhone is No. 7 with 2.7 percent share.

While Android is rising faster than the iPhone in relative share, it is still trailing in absolute numbers. Gartner estimates consumers bought about 8.4 million iPhones in the first quarter, compared to 5.2 million Android phones. Apple sold 4.9 million more iPhones in the first quarter than the year before, while Android sales were up by 4.6 million units.

Can Android sales catch up to the iPhone?

Table 2
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 1Q10 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (May 2010)

Mobile advertising and ad optimization company Smaato has released its March figures on mobile ad click-through rates around the world, and some of its findings are quite surprising.

According to Smaato, Symbian still reigns supreme in its global OS click-through rate index, outshining feature phones (non-smartphones with a proprietary operating system), Windows Phones and Apple iPhone and iPod touch devices, in that order. Android, at the number 2 spot in both January and February 2010, has dropped by around 50% and into fifth place. The only operating systems with lower CTR are those of Palm and RIM (Blackberry).

The index consists of the average click-through rates across all devices (set to 100).

Smaato’s metrics are based upon 36 mobile ad networks and over 4 billion ad requests served in the Smaato Network of more than 3,300 registered mobile publishers in March 2010. According to its report, Android has dropped fast in the past few months on a global level, although it still “outshines competition” in terms of click-through rates in South East Asia.

The biggest increased in mobile ad CTR actually come from feature phones and Windows Phones, which is upbeat news for the likes of Nokia and Microsoft.

Symbian’s lead has shortened in the CTR Index table yet remains the OS to beat with regards to CTR performance in mobile advertising. Feature phones have been making steady ground ever since since the first Smaato Metrics Report was released in December 2009, whereas Apple has remained consistent across February and March.

The system needs a little more computing power than is available in the average smartphone so you need a local PC to help ID some things. The machine learning works like this:

Users running the LookTel Mobile software, which runs on compatible Windows Mobile Smartphones, use the cell phone’s touch-screen interface to navigate and the cell phone’s camera to recognize objects. The LookTel Mobile software transmits the live images from the cell phone to a PC running LookTel BaseStation, our sophisticated recognition software. When the PC receives a request to look up an image, it sorts through the image library to find the matching image stored in the database. It then sends back the information that permits the Smartphone to speak the description of the item to you.

LookTel “learns” to recognize new items by storing an image of the item, captured by the Smartphone, and matching it with a tag. The tag can be your own voice or a text tag that is read by the text-to-speech engine, similar to what your home PC can do.

There is also a live-assistant portion that lets human beings tell you what’s going on around you as you point your phone’s camera at the scene. It works with Windows smartphones and MIDs.

There is no current pricing – I have an email into the company – but I looks like a great idea. Considering my eyes will probably eventually go from all this monitor usage, I may need this sooner than later.

No wonder Apple is suing HTC for patent infringement over its Android phones. In the three months between October and January, Android’s overall share of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. rose 4.3 points to 7.1 percent, according to mobile market share data released by comScore.  Android showed the biggest single gain of any of the top five smartphone platforms.  Apple’s share was virtually flat at 25.2 percent (up 0.3 percent), while RIM’s Blackberries saw a 1.7 percent gain to 43 percent.

Overall, 42.7 million people in the U.S. owned a  smartphone during the period, up 18 percent. So even though Apple’s relative share didn’t go anywhere, it still grew with the market.  But watching RIM and Android phones take share cannot be pleasant for the folks at Cupertino.  The iPhone still rules the mobile Web, but again here Android is catching up fast.  Time to release a new iPhone.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Palm saw drops in their shares.  Windows Mobile was down 4 percent and Palm was down 2.1 percent.

Photo credit: Flickr/svensonsan.

Interestingly, the new WinMo version of Opera Mini does not require Java. That basically means any Windows Mobile phone can accommodate the app.

Despite not requiring Java, Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile includes the same feature set as the Java-based version. That means features like tabbed browsing, speed dial, bookmarks and the password manager are built right in (also see video below).

To download, simply point your current mobile browser to m.opera.com/next.

(Press release)

Earlier this week we told you guys that Windows Mobile 6.5 was going to stick around after Windows Phone 7 hits the masses. It would even take on a new name — Windows Phone Classic. With everyone sticking around and playing nice at this party, you’d think that maybe current WinMo 6.5 handsets might get a little Windows Phone 7 love. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Microsoft Mobile Communications Business Director Aaron Woodman told CNET Asia, “I don’t know if any Windows Mobile 6.5 device today meets those specifications.” It sounds like your average Microsoft move: if you want the new software, you’ll also have to get new hardware because your old junk just isn’t gonna cut it, baby.

The new handsets are getting primo parts such as Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor (no Tegra, sorry). WinPho 7, being a fresh OS and more intensive than its predecessors, will undoubtedly need hardware resources that most 6.5 devices just don’t have, but don’t fret. Unlike everyone staying on Windows XP when Vista came out, upgrading to WinPho 7 out of WinMo 6.5 is definitely a move in the right direction. WinMo 6.5 is going to stick around for enterprise and developing countries, so unless you’re tied to the OS for those reasons, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind ditching your current 6.5 handset for a shiny new WinPho 7 device when it comes out.

[via WMPoweruser]

Are you a cook? Use the RPDA37 as a chopping block! Then crack eggs on it! That last part may not show just how strong it is, but really is a demonstration of how useful a portable corner can be. Devices rarely have corners any more, and that is a goddamn shame. Here are its specs:

• Processor: 624MHz Marvell PXA270 (reliable, you could choke a horse with it)
• Screen: 3.7-inch QVGA/VGA resistive touchscreen
• RAM: 256MB
• I/O: 3 USB, 1 RJ-45, 1 CF slot, 3.5mm headphone, 3.5mm mic, MicroSD, and some other hardcore stuff
• Wireless: Wi-Fi (b/g/n), 3G, Bluetooth (v1.2, baby)
• GPS: hell yes
• Removable battery? Ah jeah.
• SO BIG
• SO RUGGED

It runs Windows Mobile 6.1. None of that pansy 6.5 stuff, this is a no-nonsense machine that can be yours for the low, low price of $1899. I’m so pumped!

In all seriousness, though. This thing would be pretty awesome to have around.

[via Windows Phone Mix and Engadget]

If you thought that Windows Mobile 6 would fade into oblivion because Windows Phone 7 is coming soon, think again. Not only will the OS stick around for a while longer, but it’s getting a name change, too: Windows Phone Classic. Of course, we all knew this was going to happen, so no surprises here, right?

Smart move by Microsoft here in letting go of the name that brings antiquity and cumbersome to mind. However, Windows Mobile 6.5 Windows Phone Classic will take a back seat to Windows Phone 7, which we’ll refer to henceforth as WinPho 7,  and will only be available to the developing world and big businesses. The move also helps to keep Windows Mobile applications around since they are incompatible with WinPho 7.

So, we bid adieu to Windows Mobile. It was somewhat nice while the OS was in the mainstream, but we’re moving on to bigger and better things.

Last week, T-Mobile teased us all with a little jab on Twitter about the HTC HD2 that it will be shipping soon. It was exciting and, to be frank, it made me a little antsy. As promised, T-Mobile announced new features for the HD2 at Mobile World Congress today and I’ve gotta say, it isn’t all that thrilling.

If you’ve ever held the HD2 in your hands as I have (jealous much?), you’ll notice that the screen is unusually huge and vivid. The 4.3-inch WVGA display is perfect for games and movies. Coupled with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, this phone has a lot of multimedia potential. So that’s exactly what T-Mobile is doing — pumping up the media and fun.

The HD2 will come with Blockbuster On Demand so you can download videos wherever you are, and you’ll also be able to view that content on your TV, Blu-ray player and PC with Blockbuster software. To get the ball rolling, the HD2 will come pre-loaded with “Transformers” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” right on the 16GB memory card.

Goodies thrown into the package are MobiTV, free Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi for up to six months, and Barnes & Noble’s e-Reader app. Did I say this device wasn’t that thrilling? I take that back. The only reason not to get one of these bad boys is if you have a serious aversion to Windows Mobile, especially with Windows Phone 7 coming later this year. Otherwise, if you find yourself drooling over this phone’s features, you’ll be waiting in anticipation until an official release date is announced.

[via CNet]

Devin: I’m impressed with how serious a departure 7 is from 6.5. Having used a Zune HD for a while now, I can tell you that the UI is likely to be as functional as it is good looking, and hopefully they’ve made it even more so with the phone, without compromising its usability. I also think it’s pretty good-looking. I can actually see people picking this up and saying “wow, this is cooler than an iPhone” (maybe) — but of course, the only thing that can save Microsoft is a raftload of awesome apps, and both Apple and Google have a huge lead on them there. But good job, MS.

Nicholas: I really don’t pay much attention to phones the way that Greg does, so I’m not sure how much insight I can give here. (That hasn’t stopped me before, of course.) I do, however, use my Zune HD every single day, and I think it’s pretty great. I’d be happy with nothing more than a Zune HD + phone. I couldn’t give a toss about Apps.

Matt: I’m most curious to see how the Windows Mobile community reacts to the new platform. Surely they must feel either betrayed from the massive changes or they’ll embrace what’s new. But from just the videos and reading other people’s hands-on impressions, I’m not that impressed. Maybe Windows Phone is one of those things you need to see to believe.

Doug: Microsoft is smart to have started from scratch instead of updating the aging Windows Mobile operating system. It’s also smart to leverage two of the projects that many would agree have been done well so far: the Zune interface and Xbox Live. Like all smartphone platforms nowadays, though, the success of Windows Phone 7 will ultimately come down to the basics: fluid and easy to use interface, great web browser, and plenty of quality applications. Microsoft has to do each of these things correctly. It can’t afford to miss a single one since it’s so late to market.

Jimin: Phone OSes always seemed too low on Microsoft’s totem pole. So it’s nice to see Windows Mobile getting a decent push with Phone 7. But we’ll just have to wait and see if it gives us anything that iPhone and Android aren’t already doing. Seems that the Xbox Live integration might be what sets Phone 7 apart from everything else.

Marc: I’m glad to see that Windows Mobile isn’t going to fade into oblivion thanks to Windows Phone 7. The interface and design have finally caught up with the times and Windows Mobile users have something to look forward to. The old Windows Mobile seems so antiquated, ugly and sluggish. So far Windows Phone 7 fixes all of that. The only thing is that it doesn’t seem to offer anything beyond what others do. The UI and animation are nice, and so is the media and social networking integration. Whether it will actually hold its own against Android and the coming update to the iPhone OS remains to be seen.

Acer isn’t showing any signs of slowing down at Mobile World Congress this week. Just this morning, the manufacturer announced the Liquid e and now we have the neoTouch and beTouch. A little strange with the name scheme, but let’s see just what these devices are packing, shall we?

Acer’s neoTouch P300, which has a 3.2″ touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard, and P400 are running Windows Mobile 6.5.3, the stepping-stone OS between 6.5 and 7. With Windows Phone 7 coming later this year, it’s hard to see why one would choose the P300 or P400 over the latest and greatest. Perhaps it could just be a matter of patience.

If Windows Mobile isn’t your thing, the beTouch series are running Android. The beTouch E110 is dragging Android Cupcake (1.5) along – an odd, bare-bones choice given what’s already out there for Android. It’s also sporting a small, 2.8″ QVGA touch screen which tells me that this is more of a minor step up from a feature phone. Acer’s beTouch E400 has a 3.2″ HVGA touch screen, a little nicer than the E110, and is dressed in Android Eclair or 2.1.

Having more options is always nice, but Acer really could have stepped things up a little more for its latest crop. We’ll see if it has any tricks left in its sleeve for MWC.

[via SlashGear]

In case you didn’t know, snappy processors are all the rage these days. When I think of fast processors, the first one that comes to mind is Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor which is currently found on devices like the Nexus One, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the LG eXpo. After Microsoft made its Windows Phone 7 announcement this morning, Qualcomm has come out and said that it will be the first chipset manufacturer to support the new handsets.

The Windows Phone 7 devices that are slated for arrival just before the holidays will feature the Snapdragon platform from Qualcomm. These chips integrate custom CPUs and 3G as well as multimedia features all into a tiny, single package.

Microsoft says of Qualcomm, “We’ve worked closely with Qualcomm on Windows Phone 7 Series software and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets are an integral part of bringing to life the rich, integrated experiences on a Windows Phone in a way that conserves battery life and provides always-on connectivity.”

I, for one, am really looking forward to the next evolution in Windows Mobile Phone. Fingers are crossed that we’ll see NVIDIA Tegra systems, like the ones on the Microsoft Zune HD, find their way onto Windows Phone 7 devices as well.

[via Qualcomm]

It’s finally happening. Maybe. According to sources close to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is going to make a pretty big announcement at Mobile World Congress on February 15. After acknowledging that Windows Mobile isn’t exactly where it should be in terms of development and platform progression, Microsoft appears to be ready to announce and unveil Windows Mobile 7. But what happened to WinMo 6.5.3?

Microsoft’s bridge between WinMo 6.5 and WinMo 7 is 6.5.3, but if 7 will be announced and ready to go soon, I doubt anyone will be sore about missing an inconsequential update to the latest version of the OS. After all, according to WSJ, Windows Mobile 7 is a slick operating system that “sports a revamped user interface that resembles the look of Microsoft’s Zune HD music player.” If you’re the impatient type who needs time frames, Windows 7 devices are slated to be released later this year.

Windows Mobile 7 isn’t all Microsoft has up its sleeve. Although we’ve been hearing about project Pink for months now, to the point where I’ve personally given up hope, MWC just might be the venue for another surprise. Apparently, Pink is going to be announced as a youth-oriented device geared toward the Sidekick crowd. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t suffer the same fate that Sidekick users did a few months ago.

Be sure to stay tuned for our coverage of Mobile World Congress 2010!

If there is one rumor that tends to come and go and agonizes Windows Mobile fans, it’s the one about a Zune phone. Although it’s not officially confirmed, Gizmodo has it on good word that Microsoft will be introducing a Zune phone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. More specifically, it will be a Windows Mobile 7 phone with Zune features and capabilities, so it’s not a Zune phone, per se.

Giz says their source confirmed that “the Zune Phone presentation at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress 2010 is 100% confirmed.” Details are scant, but the new phone is said to have an Nvidia Tegra series chip, 480×272 screen, HDMI out and weighs in at a lightweight 2.45 ounces. We’re certainly looking forward to what Microsoft has in store for MWC and hoping that WinMo 7 takes off on some killer hardware.

[Via MuyComputer]

To be clear, this app is only meant for touch screen Windows phones, and you need to be running either Windows Mobile 6.1 or 6.5. But if you have those, you can submit your email address here to be let into the beta. Once they kick the tires in beta for a bit, the plan is to submit the app to the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Windows Mobile Sr. Product Manager Anand Iyer writes today on his personal blog. Iyer has been working on this project on the side for a few months now, and made the app along with the help of development house Touchality.

This isn’t (yet) an officially sanctioned Foursquare app, but Iyer and crew have been working with the Foursquare team since before the public APIs were made available to get it done. Foursquare itself made its iPhone app and the just-launched BlackBerry app, but the Android app and the WebOS app (that works on the Palm Pre) were also done by a team outside the company. This addition of a Windows Mobile app leaves Symbian as the only major mobile OS with a native client, but work is also being done on that front. Foursquare also offers a limited mobile web version.

Foursquare itself is hard at work on a complete revamping of their main website. While it currently serves as a way to view some of your location data, you can’t do things such as check-in from the site. For that, I’d recommend using the excellent FoursquareX application. Unfortunately, that is Mac-only for now.

It’s the case of the missing money. Or, less dumb, it’s a case of nobody knowing what’s going on. Several Windows Mobile developers have complained loudly that they’re owed monies by Microsoft. Microsoft is all, “Don’t worry about it, we’ll get it sorted out,” but then doesn’t, in fact, sort it.

The deal is that several developers are owed, or at least feel that they’re owed, money for applications they’ve sold on the Windows Marketplace of Mobile store. The store launched last October. (You don’t remember everyone dancing in the streets, celebrating its launch?) The rules are such that, once you’ve sold more than $200 worth of applications, calculated after Microsoft takes its cut, then Redmond sends you an electronic transfer payment. Nothing too fancy for a gigantic corporation like Microsoft.

Unless… Well, a number of developers have claimed that, despite crossing the dollar amount threshold, they still haven’t received payment. And yes, these developers have already read Microsoft’s explanation as to what’s going on, and they’re still asking questions. Mainly, “where’s my money? Food doesn’t grow on trees.” Oh, wait: it does. Imagine that.

To its credit, Microsoft does appear to be trying to rectify the issue, and is posting on the relevant message board that it’s looking into the situation, but “try” probably isn’t a word you want to hear when there’s money at stake.