2013 Mobile Apps Showdown at CES
Woody Zantzinger
Voting has begun for the top mobile app of 2013!
The Mobile App Showdown is a yearly contest for consumers to pick the app most likely to succeed in the coming year. The finalists and winners are then presented at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Check out the list of best apps and then don’t forget to vote for your favorite!
WillowTree Apps Principals Named to Top 50 Entrepreneurs in Virginia
Thomas Chen
Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology named both Tobias Dengel and Michael Prichard to its prestigious list of Top 50 Entrepreneurs in the State of Virginia, for their work in developing WillowTree Apps into one of the leading mobile development companies in the United States, as well as previous entrepreneurial ventures.
The GAP 50 Entrepreneur Awards are part of Governor Bob McDonnell’s “Year of the Entrepreneur” initiative, and recognized 50 awardees out of 800 nominees. In focusing on mobile development, WillowTree Apps’ has grown its iOS and Android development teams to over 10 people each and is always looking to hire talent. In September, WillowTree Apps also made it to the 2012 INC. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in America as one of two mobile app development companies.
You can check out the GAP 50 Entrepreneur Awardees list here.
This Week in Mobile: December 10th – December 17th
Woody Zantzinger
This Week in Mobile December 10th – December 17th – Our weekly post on mobile news. You can expect a new post every Monday morning giving a brief summary of what happened the previous week in the mobile space along with links for more information. If you think we missed anything important, leave a comment or send us a tweet @willowtreeapps. Here’s what happened this week…
- NYC voted Yes on a 1 year trial of Taxi hailing apps giving support to apps like Uber, who have had legal trouble in may cities.
- A new report this week confirmed that Apple’s iPhone and iPad are the first platform most developers are targeting, followed closely by Android.
Apple:
- The iPhone 5 was released in China this week, and has already sold over 2 million devices despite long lines.
Sina Tech’s photo of the iPhone 5 launch at the Beijing Wangfujing Apple Store this morning.
- Google Maps is now back on iOS devices.
- Apple won a victory over Alcatel Lucent when the court decided Apple did not infringe certain patents, but lost a similar case this week to MobileMedia.
Google:
- A new vulnerability was outed this week for Android which could allow downloaded apps to access users data on many popular devices. Adding to Google’s security problems, a independent test found that Android’s malware scanner only catches 15% of malicious code.
- More devices are getting Android 4.1 this week, including the Galaxy S III on Verizon.
Windows Phone:
- Microsoft announced a 40% increase in app store submissions since the release of WP8, prompting it to keep the app submissions open during the holidays while also adding 37 more countries to the marketplace.
New and Notable Apps:
- In an attempt to compete with Instagram, Flickr and Twitter (Who also released a cartoon embedded above explaining the update) both added photo filters to their apps this week.
This Week in Mobile: December 3rd – December 10th
Woody Zantzinger
This Week in Mobile December 3rd – December 10th – Our weekly post on mobile news. You can expect a new post every Monday morning giving a brief summary of what happened the previous week in the mobile space along with links for more information. If you think we missed anything important, leave a comment or send us a tweet @willowtreeapps. Here’s what happened this week…
- Nelson released new statistics on Tablet and smartphone usage, showing that 85% of people use their devices’ while watching TV, and 40% do so daily.
- Mobile Advertising company Chitika released the results of a 6 month study on mobile browsing showing that iOS is still way ahead of Android in mobile web browsing.
Apple:
- Discover Card began rolling out Passbook integration this week, the second credit card company after AmEx to take advantage of Apple’s new system. RE/MAX has also begun equipping its agents with Passbook business cards.
- USPTO has raised concerns over Apple’s multi-touch patent, which could lead to its invalidation if Apple is unable to answer to the USPTO’s concerns.
- The iPhone 5 is back in stock in many major countries.
Security staff watch over a crowd gathered for the opening of a new Apple store in Beijing’s Wangfujing shopping district October 20, 2012. REUTERS/David Gray
- Apple fell to 6th place in the Chinese Smartphone market, behind local names like Samsung and Huawei.
- T-Mobile will start carrying Apple products after the two reached an agreement.
Google:
- The Premium Suite Upgrade for Galaxy S III devices launched this week, allowing users to run two windowed apps at the same time among other features.
Windows Phone:
- Nokia revealed the Lumia 620 this week, a low cost option for WP8.
The new Lumia 620 is Nokia’s newest low entry level smartphone.
- Microsoft’s #DroidRage compaign, which rewards tweets complaining about Android phones, has begun backfiring on Twitter.
- Nokia sold its headquarters to bolster its company’s finances.
New and Notable Apps:
- Twitter plans on releasing photo filters before the Holidays to compete with Instagram. This news comes after Instagram made changes to be less compatible with Twitter.
- Square added Gift Cards and Passbook functionality this week.
iPad: The Beginning of the End for Desktop-Based Purchases?
Thomas Chen
A new study by Monetate, an e-commerce SaaS provider, is claiming that the tablets are driving e-commerce, and traditional retailers are reacting by accommodating the iPad for their online stores.
It’s no surprise that Apple’s iPad is leading this shift, as websites tracked by Monetate saw traditional visits (desktop & laptop) drop by more than 10 perent from 92.33 percent to 81.60 percent. To shed some further light, for the three month period ending in September, tablets and smartphone-accounted visits to websites both jumped by more than 100 percent from the previous year. Conversions were also nearly equal between tablets and traditional desktops in this quarter. While there is insufficient data for the new iPad mini, Monetate believes that it has the potential to surpass that of the iPad.
More info here: http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/11/27/apples-ipad-driving-e-commerce-as-market-shifts-from-desktop-based-purchases
Did you, or will you shop for gifts this Holiday season from your tablet device? What are your thoughts on the future of e-commerce?
Is 2013 the year for Business Apps?
Woody Zantzinger
A new article from TabTimes discusses how businesses are just starting to realize the potential for Mobile apps in a corporate setting. Many companies are already letting employees to bring their own devices, encouraging businesses to create more internal apps to increase productivity with a mobile focused workforce. Some figures include 90% of Fortune 500 companies testing the iPad, and 73% of businesses rating “increased efficiency” a key benefit of mobile computing.
Companies are now focusing on apps targeted internally as well as for consumers. The challenge now is for their IT departments to support these applications.
Read the full overview of why 2013 is going to be all about business apps here.
This Week in Mobile: November 19th – November 26th
Woody Zantzinger
This Week in Mobile November 19th – November 26th – Our weekly post on mobile news. You can expect a new post every Monday morning giving a brief summary of what happened the previous week in the mobile space along with links for more information. If you think we missed anything important, leave a comment or send us a tweet @willowtreeapps. Besides Thanksgiving it was a quiet week, but here’s what happened…
- BlackBerry CEO admits in an interview that BB 10 is its last shot at recovering in the smartphone market.
Google:
- While Samsung adds the iPad Mini to its lawsuit against Apple, Apple and HTC will have to give Samsung the terms of their licensing agreement.
- Samsung’s Galaxy Note II has officially sold more than 5 million units.
Windows Phone:
- Windows Phone 7.8 could release in the coming weeks according to Microsoft China.
- Windows Phone 8 officially launched this week, but some users are already reporting problems.
New and Notable Apps:
- Verizon fiOS released a iOS tablet app this week enabling users to watch select content on their devices.
- Nokia Here, a map and navigation app for iOS, was released this week. The Verge has a hands on with the new app.
This Week in Mobile: November 5th – November 12th
Woody Zantzinger
This Week in Mobile November 5th – November 12th – Our weekly post on mobile news. You can expect a new post every Monday morning giving a brief summary of what happened the previous week in the mobile space along with links for more information. If you think we missed anything important, leave a comment or send us a tweet @willowtreeapps. Here’s what happened this week…
- RIM will be holding a BlackBerry 10 Launch event on January 10th, and has begun offering incentives for developers who port their games.
- AT&T has changed its decision on using Apple’s Facetime on its cell network.
Google:
– Google is launching a new service that will provide free access to Google’s online products via mobile in developing areas.
- Samsung Galaxy S III was the most popular phone for Q3, overtaking the iPhone 4S.
Apple:
– HTC and Apple reached a licensing agreement on all patent issues this week.
- After winning 368 million dollars earlier this year in a patent dispute, VirenetX is taking Apple back to court.
- A Chinese paper is reporting that Apple is already testing an iPhone 5S.
Windows Phone:
- While no official numbers are available, Steve Balmer said Microsoft Surface sales are “modest.”
- Windows Phone 8 officially went on sale this week.
New and Notable Apps:
- Skype and Microsoft have released a new version of Skype for Windows Phone 8.
- Google Shopper has been updated for Android, with a new UI and features.
- Tumblr has transitioned its iOS app from HTML5 to native.
Passbook UI PSD
Tes Tabilas
Passbook is one of the most revolutionary software releases in the history of mobile e-commerce. We wanted to create a comprehensive Passbook UI PSD to help ourselves, our clients, and other designers figure out how to best leverage the framework.
The PSD is designed using vector shapes, so it is fully editable and scalable. It includes an overlay guide that should be helpful in becoming familiar with Pass Kit layouts and terminology for each kind of pass available.
It is 1.0 so it’s very likely that we’ll notice missing elements as we begin to really use it on a daily basis. We’ll update it periodically to include new elements as we notice them or as they become available through iOS updates.
We simply ask that you do not repurpose this file or its contents as your own work. The iPhone 5 frame and status bar used in our PSD is sourced from the iOS 6 GUI PSD, created by the amazing teehan+lax team.
We wanted to share this file freely and we hope you design some great passes with it. If you like it and use it, we encourage you to tweet it and reblog it. Download it here: Passbook UI PSD.
You can follow WillowTree on Twitter at @willowtreeapps.
This Week in Mobile: October 29th – November 5th
Woody Zantzinger
This Week in Mobile October 29th – November 5th – Our weekly post on mobile news. You can expect a new post every Monday morning giving a brief summary of what happened the previous week in the mobile space along with links for more information. If you think we missed anything important, leave a comment or send us a tweet @willowtreeapps. Here’s what happened this week…
- According to the New York Times, Twitter is developing new photo filters to compete with Instagram.
Illustration by Nick Bilton/The New York Times
- The Pentagon is loosening restrictions preventing employees from using iPhones and Android devices.
Android:
- ComputerWorld provided a detailed look at the new Anti Malware features Google has implemented in the Google Play Store.
- A leaked version of Google Wallet shows that Google is planning to release a physical card that would be tied to your phone.
- Google released Android 4.2 alongside its new Nexus 10 tablet and Nexus 4 Phone this week.
- Google announced the Play Store has passed 700,000 apps.
- Samsung announced it has shipped 30 million Galaxy S III smartphones.
Samsung Passes 30 million S III devices shipped.
Apple:
- Chinese regulators have approved versions of the iPhone 5 for sale in China.
Windows Phone:
- Microsoft revealed the final version of Windows Phone 8.
- The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft is testing its own smartphone design.
- Microsoft has released the Windows Phone 8 SDK, letting app developers build for the newest version of Windows Phone.
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