Posts Tagged ‘Demographics’

Motally analytics have big implications for BlackBerry apps

motally_analytics

Motally provides analytics for mobile web sites and applications, making it somewhat like Google Analytics for mobile devices. The service applies to both web and applications, but the implications for apps is most impressive. The service lets customers track their users’ demographics or watch whether users complete certain actions within the app.

With Motally, you get the following additional analytics regarding your application:

  • Flexible API for endless tracking possibilities.
  • Track specific event types for more granular reporting.
  • Capture demographic data.
  • Control what, when, and how to send tracking events.
  • Supports iPhone, Blackberry and Android.

With analytics about your users, you can better design user interfaces, streamline the application for what your users require, as well as find new uses for your application derived from user interactions you may not have anticipated.

Motally offers both a community and an enterprise version of their service. See their site for more details.

[TechCrunch 50]

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2009



Smartphone research comparing iPhone and BlackBerry often flawed

competesept2009-lg

The research behind iPhone and BlackBerry comparisons that is making its way into the mainstream media is almost always flawed. The media loves to talk about the prolific nature of the iPhone and how technologically advanced its users are, while almost implicitly ragging on BlackBerry.

A recent study claims that iPhone owners are much more likely to download apps and get involved with social networking than their BlackBerry-owning counterparts.

The study shows that about 72% of iPhone users are likely to have downloaded at least 10 third-party apps, but 73% of BlackBerry users have picked up five apps or less. The researchers add that iPhone owners are more willing to buy their apps than BlackBerry owners.

When it comes to downloading third party apps, this study failed to recognize that bulk apps, shouldn’t be recognized as multiple applications. They are essentially the same app, templated and replicated by changing a few small pieces of data. This is where RIM shines in that App World isn’t filled with the same amount of useless garbage.

With regards to social networking, the researchers found that roughly 71% of Apple users have a Facebook account versus 44% of BlackBerry users. Twitter follows a similar trend with 26% for iPhone versus 15% for BlackBerry.

Social networking discrepancies is a demographics issue, not a device issue as the research implies. While BlackBerry is moving its focus to the consumer market, it still has years of enterprise users behind it and this could be skewing the numbers. In the end, we all know that the BlackBerry is an incredibly powerful social networking tool. Whether or not the older BlackBerry demographic is using these services is another matter.

One element of the research that I find particularly flawed, is the research that says 83 percent of users prefer apps that cost below $5. This is a consistent mistake that researchers make. They think that just because you have asked someone what they want to pay for something, that that information is somehow valuable. The truth is that everyone wants to pay the minimum, and if possible, get it for free. The reality of the situation is that if your app is well designed and provides a tangible benefit to the user, the $5 benchmark is meaningless. Just look at TetherBerry, it’s a $50 application that is one of Mobihand’s best sellers.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009

BlackBerry user poll: what iPhone apps would you like for BlackBerry?

storm and iphone

The developer community around the iPhone is fairly different from that of the BlackBerry developer community in that iPhone developers have OpenGL at their disposal, allowing them to create visually rich applications, as well as as the marketplace and demographics are slightly different. While the BlackBerry Storm is capable of running OpenGL hardware-wise, we have yet to see the API’s unlocked.

Lets assume for a moment, and this might be a crazy assumption, that BlackBerry had OpenGL API’s (possibly with the Storm 2?), and that any iPhone app you see could be ported to BlackBerry. For this to be true, we would also need to see device memory increase, as well as perhaps a built-in compass.

With those assumptions, and there may be a few more, what applications have you seen for iPhone, that you would like for BlackBerry? Or rather, what are your favorite iPhone apps that aren’t available for BlackBerry?

Here are some that I would like to see, and they’re mostly for entertainment. I’m sure there are a ton of apps out there in various categories so share what you find.

Birdhouse
“Ever think of something for your Twitter that you don’t want to post right away? Birdhouse is the perfect place to put it.”

OldBooth
“Have you ever wondered what you’d have looked like in another era? How about your friends? Be a lady from 20s or a funky hairy hippie. Now you can turn into in the fastest way ever.”

Yelp Augmented Reality Easter Egg feature
“Download the new Yelp app (came out yesterday). So you shake your iPhone 3 times. That activates a feature called Monocle. A message should come up if you activated it. A blue box will come up saying “the Monocle has been activated.” It will create a button in the top right corner. Now you should be able to look at the bars, restaurants, etc. Only works on iPhone 3GS.”

Ocarina
“Ocarina is the first true musical instrument created for the iPhone. Both experts and beginners will be amazed by this innovative player. Ocarina is sensitive to your breath, touch and movements, making it even more versatile than the original.”

TapTapRevenge
“Tap Tap Revenge is a rhythm game similar in concept to games like Phase for the iPod, or the console titles FreQuency and Amplitude, all developed by Harmonix, which also makes Guitar Hero and Rock Band.”

Google Earth
“Hold the world in the palm of your hand. With Google Earth for iPhone and iPod touch, you can fly to far corners of the planet with just the swipe of a finger.”

Crayon Physics
“Crayon Physics is a 2D physics puzzle / sandbox game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects.”

iEmoji
The Japanese are really into Emoji and it’s a fun way to make your SMS and BBM messages more fun. With iEmoji for BlackBerry, you would have access to a much broader range of cartoons to express yourself with.

Real Racing
“This new racing game is looking to add even more content to the racing genre for the iPhone and does this wonderfully.”

MouthOff
“MouthOff is a simple mouth simulation app for the iPhone. The idea behind the app is to provide a silly way to express yourself.”

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009



BlackBerry user poll: what iPhone apps would you like for BlackBerry?

storm and iphone

The developer community around the iPhone is fairly different from that of the BlackBerry developer community in that iPhone developers have OpenGL at their disposal, allowing them to create visually rich applications, as well as as the marketplace and demographics are slightly different. While the BlackBerry Storm is capable of running OpenGL hardware-wise, we have yet to see the API’s unlocked.

Lets assume for a moment, and this might be a crazy assumption, that BlackBerry had OpenGL API’s (possibly with the Storm 2?), and that any iPhone app you see could be ported to BlackBerry. For this to be true, we would also need to see device memory increase, as well as perhaps a built-in compass.

With those assumptions, and there may be a few more, what applications have you seen for iPhone, that you would like for BlackBerry? Or rather, what are your favorite iPhone apps that aren’t available for BlackBerry?

Here are some that I would like to see, and they’re mostly for entertainment. I’m sure there are a ton of apps out there in various categories so share what you find.

Birdhouse
“Ever think of something for your Twitter that you don’t want to post right away? Birdhouse is the perfect place to put it.”

OldBooth
“Have you ever wondered what you’d have looked like in another era? How about your friends? Be a lady from 20s or a funky hairy hippie. Now you can turn into in the fastest way ever.”

Yelp Augmented Reality Easter Egg feature
“Download the new Yelp app (came out yesterday). So you shake your iPhone 3 times. That activates a feature called Monocle. A message should come up if you activated it. A blue box will come up saying “the Monocle has been activated.” It will create a button in the top right corner. Now you should be able to look at the bars, restaurants, etc. Only works on iPhone 3GS.”

Ocarina
“Ocarina is the first true musical instrument created for the iPhone. Both experts and beginners will be amazed by this innovative player. Ocarina is sensitive to your breath, touch and movements, making it even more versatile than the original.”

TapTapRevenge
“Tap Tap Revenge is a rhythm game similar in concept to games like Phase for the iPod, or the console titles FreQuency and Amplitude, all developed by Harmonix, which also makes Guitar Hero and Rock Band.”

Google Earth
“Hold the world in the palm of your hand. With Google Earth for iPhone and iPod touch, you can fly to far corners of the planet with just the swipe of a finger.”

Crayon Physics
“Crayon Physics is a 2D physics puzzle / sandbox game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects.”

iEmoji
The Japanese are really into Emoji and it’s a fun way to make your SMS and BBM messages more fun. With iEmoji for BlackBerry, you would have access to a much broader range of cartoons to express yourself with.

Real Racing
“This new racing game is looking to add even more content to the racing genre for the iPhone and does this wonderfully.”

MouthOff
“MouthOff is a simple mouth simulation app for the iPhone. The idea behind the app is to provide a silly way to express yourself.”

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009



BlackBerry user poll: what iPhone apps would you like for BlackBerry?

storm and iphone

The developer community around the iPhone is fairly different from that of the BlackBerry developer community in that iPhone developers have OpenGL at their disposal, allowing them to create visually rich applications, as well as as the marketplace and demographics are slightly different. While the BlackBerry Storm is capable of running OpenGL hardware-wise, we have yet to see the API’s unlocked.

Lets assume for a moment, and this might be a crazy assumption, that BlackBerry had OpenGL API’s (possibly with the Storm 2?), and that any iPhone app you see could be ported to BlackBerry. For this to be true, we would also need to see device memory increase, as well as perhaps a built-in compass.

With those assumptions, and there may be a few more, what applications have you seen for iPhone, that you would like for BlackBerry? Or rather, what are your favorite iPhone apps that aren’t available for BlackBerry?

Here are some that I would like to see, and they’re mostly for entertainment. I’m sure there are a ton of apps out there in various categories so share what you find.

Birdhouse
“Ever think of something for your Twitter that you don’t want to post right away? Birdhouse is the perfect place to put it.”

OldBooth
“Have you ever wondered what you’d have looked like in another era? How about your friends? Be a lady from 20s or a funky hairy hippie. Now you can turn into in the fastest way ever.”

Yelp Augmented Reality Easter Egg feature
“Download the new Yelp app (came out yesterday). So you shake your iPhone 3 times. That activates a feature called Monocle. A message should come up if you activated it. A blue box will come up saying “the Monocle has been activated.” It will create a button in the top right corner. Now you should be able to look at the bars, restaurants, etc. Only works on iPhone 3GS.”

Ocarina
“Ocarina is the first true musical instrument created for the iPhone. Both experts and beginners will be amazed by this innovative player. Ocarina is sensitive to your breath, touch and movements, making it even more versatile than the original.”

TapTapRevenge
“Tap Tap Revenge is a rhythm game similar in concept to games like Phase for the iPod, or the console titles FreQuency and Amplitude, all developed by Harmonix, which also makes Guitar Hero and Rock Band.”

Google Earth
“Hold the world in the palm of your hand. With Google Earth for iPhone and iPod touch, you can fly to far corners of the planet with just the swipe of a finger.”

Crayon Physics
“Crayon Physics is a 2D physics puzzle / sandbox game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects.”

iEmoji
The Japanese are really into Emoji and it’s a fun way to make your SMS and BBM messages more fun. With iEmoji for BlackBerry, you would have access to a much broader range of cartoons to express yourself with.

Real Racing
“This new racing game is looking to add even more content to the racing genre for the iPhone and does this wonderfully.”

MouthOff
“MouthOff is a simple mouth simulation app for the iPhone. The idea behind the app is to provide a silly way to express yourself.”

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009