My Four Kids
A “father’s” viewpoint on iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, and BlackBerry
I’m the CIO at Amadeus Consulting, a law program growth association formed in Boulder, Colorado. I’m advantageous because we get to work every day with my 4 adopted children: BlackBerry®, iPhone™, Android™ and Windows® Phone 7. Of course they are not my genuine tellurian children, but they all have their own personalities and characteristics that make them as singular as any two people.
As CIO we manage many projects that engage formulating law mobile apps for these platforms and we continually assistance clients confirm which platforms will best fit their needs. This is a short ubiquitous outlook of “my children” and how they are matched to law mobile app development.
BlackBerry
Brief History: Created by Research in Motion, BlackBerry has been around since 1996 and was the widespread player in the smartphone marketplace for some time. However, newer and more nimble competitors have since overtaken BlackBerry’s market, forcing it to reevaluate many of a pass functions and capabilities and yield better collection to eccentric developers.
Most Current Major Version: BlackBerry OS 6.0, launched Aug 12, 2010
Demographics: BlackBerry creatively appealed to commercial operation users who indispensable to stay continuous to email while on the go. Over time it stretched a operation to embody many students and more infrequent users, but it has regularly remained a essentially business-oriented device.
Distribution: 100 Million units sold
Share: Approximately 27% of the Smartphone market, 8% of the sum US dungeon phone market
The Good and Bad: BlackBerry has not long ago reorganized some of a inner structures to make it more developer friendly, as well as mutated pricing stipulations and standardised the share it receives for app sales. This creates it more permitted for consumer apps, but it still presents hurdles as mixed versions and varying device capabilities bluster harmony and mystify development.
Also, BlackBerry is fast losing belligerent to the iPhone and Android platforms as people replenish their mobile conduit contracts and are equates to to ascent their phones to a newer model. This presents a hard box to those seeking to deposit in mobile concentration growth for their association since they will be rising in a timorous marketplace by rising in BlackBerry first.
Even so, BlackBerry has a very clever confidence background, together with complicated mobile email encryption, which creates it preferable to security-conscious individuals. Also, the inclusion of a earthy set of keys and other facilities make it in all renouned and utilitarian in many situations.
App Recommendations: BlackBerry is still a very clever height and the new OS chronicle does yield some engaging features. In other words, if not for the recognition of the iPhone and Android, BlackBerry would still be a clever preference for app developers. For BlackBerry app development, we in all suggest rising new apps on a different height and then porting them over to the BlackBerry once the direct and marketplace have been established, since the app store is still in all weaker, and other platforms yield incomparable placement potential.
This might not be loyal in all cases, as some commercial operation and capacity apps are very well matched for the BlackBerry (and now Windows Phone 7 too), and the BlackBerry audience, and we would be happy to make recommendations on a case-by-case basis, if you would like to hit us.
iPhone
Brief History: The iPhone was creatively launched in 2007 and has been flourishing fast ever since. In further to a modernized facilities and palliate of use, it also brought the judgment of the “app” into mainstream use.
Now developers could rise and easily discharge single-purpose apps to a very extended audience. This meant that for a comparatively small investment (ranging in the tens of thousands, rsther than than in the hundreds of thousands or millions, in most cases) companies could emanate consumer-ready program and be equates to to reap a distinction from it.
Also, it meant that Apple® only indispensable to concentration on formulating a good sourroundings for eccentric developers, rsther than than perplexing to emanate every underline itself. Subsequent versions of the iPhone, and OS upgrades, have supposing one more facilities and capabilities but causing serious fragmenting (yet) as is seen on many other platforms.
Current Version: iOS 4
Demographics: The iPhone proposed out as being characterized as a product for the immature and rich, which has made a picture ever since. However, as distant as smartphones go, it is at vast distributed between different audiences and is very renouned internationally. For app publishers, the capacity to strech younger audiences through the iPod and wealthier audiences through the iPad are also a bonus.
Distribution: Approximately 10 million iPads, 74 Million iPhones (all types), 50 million iPod Touches sole to date.
Share: Approximately 28% of the smartphone market, or 8.2% of the complete US dungeon phone market.
Good and Bad: Although pang from some critique of problematic app store rules, Apple has responded by clarifying acquiescence guidelines, and upon condition that better feedback to apps that are rejected. However, Apple’s discipline are still the most difficult of any app store, which equates to that sure sorts of apps will not be accepted.
The iPhone also suffers by being unconditionally scored equally to AT&T, which equates to that many intensity commercial operation do not squeeze the iPhone simply because they cite their stream carrier. This might be solved in 2011 with a new iPhone indication that will run on other carriers, but for now it is rsther than limited. Even so, app harmony on other OS4 inclination (the iPod and iPad specifically) yield softened accessibility to teenage markets, and singular media opportunities on the iPad.
Another plea to the iPhone marketplace is that there are already hundreds of thousands of apps on the market, which creates it harder for your app to mount out but offered your product. However, iPhone app growth is still a very absolute and capable option, and has been very successful for many app developers and publishers.
App Recommendations: The iPhone is an glorious place to launch an application, in all a paid application. Users are more in the habit of to profitable for apps, and are much more peaceful to buy apps than they are on other platforms. Apple also has the largest intensity marketplace for app distribution, nonetheless Android is throwing up, which provides a very vast intensity audience.
There are some technical stipulations that in some cases make other platforms more tasteful (such as being equates to to run apps in the background), but really the iPhone has the recognition and opening most publishers need for a plain launch.
Android
Brief History: Originally independent, Android Inc. was purchased by Google™ in 2005. However, it wasn’t until the end of 2007 that the mobile OS was announced, and inclination using Android didn’t really begin looming in mainstream markets until 2009.
Even with a comparatively late begin removing a product to market, Android is fast apropos the largest player with dozens of devices, and is expected to pass Apple in 2011. However, this is often completed by receiving marketplace share divided from BlackBerry, rsther than than from Apple, and by converting a incomparable share of former underline phone users as they upgrade.
Current Version: Android 2.2
Demographics: Thanks to a far-reaching accumulation of devices, together with many low price options, Android has the broadest placement of any smartphone OS.
Distribution: Approximately 70,000,000 Android phones have been sole to date, and Google is now offered over 200,000 phones per day, which creates it the fastest offered mobile OS on the marketplace today.
Share: Approximately 23% of the smartphone market, or 6.7% of the complete US dungeon phone market. It is projected that Android will pass the iPhone in 2011.
Good and Bad: The Android height is by distant the most open mobile height with very few calm restrictions, nonetheless a majority rating system is being implemented to yield age-appropriate levels for some apps. Android also allows “beta” apps to be uploaded to the marketplace and tested, and allows users to implement non-market apps but hacking the phone. This can be beneficial for development, but it also equates to that there are a lot of very bad peculiarity apps in the market.
Also, Android comes in many shapes and sizes definition that there are a lot of options for consumers, but different shade sizes, different resolutions, and varying capabilities make growth challenging. Even so, most phones fit inside of 3 or so categories, so for most applications very few changes or modifications need to be made to embody most new Android devices.
Another singular evil of Android is that users are much more in the habit of to giveaway apps, and on normal download distant fewer paid apps, and fewer apps in general. This is because Android comes preloaded with many of the most renouned apps (Google Maps, Gmail, Web Browser, YouTube, and in some cases Facebook and Twitter), all of which are giveaway anyways. This leads to a lot of free/trial chronicle apps with upgradeable options, as well as more ad upheld apps.
App Recommendations: As Android fast becomes the largest smartphone platform, Android app developers are anticipating that they have a outrageous marketplace for rising new apps. Its open inlet and vast demographic operation make it delectable to a extended operation of apps. Android is also very receptive to tall peculiarity growth in all since there is a vast volume of bad peculiarity apps on the market. This benefits peculiarity developers and designers who can furnish tall peculiarity apps and interfaces because they rught away mount out over others. However, there is still a lot of foe on the app store and so it is a good thought to devise out your mobile app offered plan prior to launch.
Windows Phone 7
Brief History: Launched in 2010, Microsoft® is revamping a mobile handling system to sojourn rival in today’s market. Microsoft has been in the mobile marketplace since 1996 with assorted versions of Windows Mobile and Windows CE, which still sojourn renouned in attention specific inclination and kiosks.
However, Microsoft seems to have schooled the most from a competitors and has attempted to take the best of all that the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry systems have to offer.
Current Version: Windows Phone 7
Demographics: Unknown at this point, but it is written to interest to a operation of people from commercial operation professionals to gamers
Distribution: Windows Phone 7 reportedly sole 40,000 phones a first day, with solid but delayed sales since. Distribution might be singular by accessibility issues as many retailers reportedly do not have any in stock, but it might also be impacted by the large numbers of people in the US who have already renewed their contracts this year to take value of new iPhone and Android models, and who are now reluctant to switch inclination again.
Share: Currently reduction than 1% of the smartphone market.
Good and Bad: Windows Phone 7 is a good further to the phone marketplace and we privately have very tall hopes for Windows Phone 7 in 2011 and beyond. WP7 also benefits from integrating of course into Microsoft’s other products, together with Office, Outlook, Windows, XBOX, and many others. For users, this equates to that they can easily set up and sync their device to their mechanism but the need for one more dongles, interpretation charges, or a tech degree.
For Windows Phone 7 app developers this also presents many opportunities to yield capacity applications which take value of a cranky height syncing ability. Microsoft has also set despotic device mandate for manufacturers which will assistance extent fragmentation in the future. In fact, the stream smallest customary for WP7 phones now exceeds the tender energy and capacity of most of the phones on the market. In other words, these phones will all be very absolute and capable.
App Recommendations: Launching into a new height is regularly a little bit unsure since your app’s success depends heavily on the success of the platform, which has only been out for a month as of this writing. We’re assured that it will do well because of how well it incorporates stream technologies and brings them together into a very serviceable interface. By using informed technologies such as .NET and Silverlight growth languages, Microsoft has made it very easily permitted to a outrageous operation of developers, which will assistance a success.
For new app publishers, Windows Phone 7 is really a height to keep an eye on. Its capacity to easily interface with most Microsoft technologies creates it very appealing, as well as the capacity to tell in isolation apps (apps for only your employees, for example) make it the only phone that can do exclusive industry apps.