GigaOM

I would love to use my mobile for the internet and other cool stuff but it’s just to damn expensive at the moment.

Incompatibility is the main problem in mobile-downloads. e.g. Google maps supports both Windows Mobile 3 and 6. Whereas Gmail does not. (Yes I can go to mobile website).
Windows Mobile 2003 is not very old OS, still it is not widely supported. There has to be a common platform for mobile apps building that can support wide variety of mobile phones.

@spud: I pay 20 dollars per month for Cingular data service for unlimited data usage. There are other things though. Lots of mobile apps and services (like social networking) are text/sms based. So if you use them heavily, you might be interested in 5 dollar unlimited text’ing service. I would recommend you to give it a try since there is no contract. At the end of the month, you would know if it is worth those 25 bucks or not.

Downloading is too difficult for your regular mobile phone user - they just want sms and voice. Yes, early adopters will love to download stuff and try it out, but that’s as far as it will go. If it comes ready installed on the phone, then regular folks may use it.

I like Google Maps the most and use it 4-5 times a week. Best usage was when I was waiting for my wife in SFO and thought of having lunch at an Indian place and found tons of them around using gmaps. Navigation is pretty neat and you can call the phone number directly from the details screen.

• Pankaj

I installed tiny twitter on my blackberry… had to configure my device for direct TCP/IP connections, but having a full featured twitter client on my mobile is pretty cool and was worth taking a minute to install – tiny twitter keeps updating in the background and has a pretty good set of features

I’ve got Cingular’s Media Bundle that costs about $20 a month and allows unlimited data and text messaging. My two downloaded apps are Gmail and Google Maps and then I use Google Reader out of the mobile browser. All three work great on my Moto RAZR.

I use Maufait Mobile from http://www.maufait.com for local search, driving directions on my Blackberry. Its easy to use and is fast, try it out!

All these mobile download companies are destined to fail. You could have the development prowess of Google at your disposal and your application would only work on some of the handsets, on some of the networks, some of the time.

I’ve been doing mobile for 5+ years now. And by doing I mean writing applications, studying the platform and watching the business models (come and go).

The operators will never let a thick client on to the handset that will, in any way, shape or form, challenge their position or run the risk of turning them into a dumb-pipe. No single application is runnable on all phones on all carriers all the time. Even if you take the top 2 phones from each carrier. No application will run on all of them.

This is a bad thing? Right? Wrong. In 5 years mobile browsers will be near what browsers are on the desktop. What’s happening right now is there’s a swell getting higher and higher behind the carrier’s wall (and they just keep stacking the proverbial bricks). Other than drain that swell, they’re letting it just get taller and taller. They’re forcing any successful mobile company to think “browser”. If they were smart they would allow some drain off. Like Cingular, they allow third party apps to be installed on their phones, but if you look at like a Verizon - you can’t run code on a Verizon handset without a written contract with Verizon.

What the mobile carriers want is to install crippled browsers on to the handsets. But Nokia, Moto, Sony, & friends want the best browser on the phone so you’ll choose their’s over a competitor’s. Carrier’s are nothing without their fancy handsets.

And Internet access is ubiquitous among all carriers. Why? Because if they don’t allow access to the common Internet - customers just choose a competitor.

SO…downloadable content is doomed. The carriers are forcing the browser based solutions.

It really is quite expensive. I love how you click “download” and then they tell you that they will charge you another 3.50 for downloading fee’s and whatnot. It really is not worth it, i really don’t think a cell phone should be used for more than calling and the occasional song while ur bored.

Check out my blog whenever you guys get a chance

http://blog.eyebag.ca

Cheers

The EYEBAG Guy

The comments from Johnny Fry are interesting and i agree with him…

Quote “had to configure my device for direct TCP/IP connections” - a sign that downloadable apps are no go for the regular crowd.
What about ebuddy - made 60 different versions of their IM to support 250-300 phones. Nuts.
I agree with Johnny, the browser is the way to go - they’re just not very good yet.

The main restraint is the sheer cost of data on my phone plan. When Wi-Fi phones are at a decent price, downloading mobile apps will be more attractive.

The only programs I use at the moment are Opera and The Filter, which is a cool playlist making program from http://www.thefilter.com

The comments from Johnny Fry are interesting, but they are contrary to a number of applications and application platforms (those that allow for minimal development for many different handsets) that I’m aware of that claim support for 300+ phones on the market. I believe the real problem is just Verizon. Johnny even says this himself, “Like Cingular, they allow third party apps to be installed on their phones…”

J2ME has come a long way over the years and I think phone compatibility is not the issue. It is the carriers. They cause same problem for many “hardwired” features, such as WiFi.

I downloaded my first mobile application in 3 years ago….it was a SW-based mp3 player.

There are some successful mobile applications. Opera Mini and MXit are popular downloads. If the download rates on GetJar are accurate, downloading mobile applications appears to be a popular activity.

Although HostJ2ME is more of a developer tool than application download site, most of its traffic comes from outside of the US. Here is a partial list of user-agent vs count from HostJ2ME.com.

http://www.hostj2me.com/useragents.htm

Of course downloading is different than installing and running. Fragmentation is a problem. But things are much better today than they were just a few years ago.

Keep in mind mobiles have different platforms. Desktop applications are the same way. You would not expect to download a Mac or Linux version of a game to your Windows PC and start playing. You would not even expect some Vista programs to function correctly on XP machines. I am not saying this is a good thing or excusing it.

I am not sure about monetization. It would be interesting to see some numbers from Handango and Cellmania.

I think the lack of a killer app is part of the problem. Hopefully the carriers and oems will really open up and allow developers to fully utilize the hardware and networks. It is unlikely however, control is a hard thing to cede (or share).

I think Flash Lite looks promising. And Nokia recently introduced the idea of mobile widgets.

ahhh, wha? J2ME has proven quite inter-operable across numerous phones, and you suggest Flash lite? Or worse, widgets. I can count the compatible handsets on one hand.

The problem is the carriers!!!

We have the platform already…

Can you hear us MVNOs?

“ahhh, wha? J2ME has proven quite inter-operable across numerous phones, and you suggest Flash lite? Or worse, widgets. I can count the compatible handsets on one hand.”

I think I said Flash Lite looks promising. And I simply stated that Nokia introduced widgets. In addition I mentioned two J2ME sites and two successful J2ME applications in the beginning of my post.

I am a J2ME developer and support the platform. But J2ME is not without problems. From simple issues like softkey codes with different values across devices to questionable RTSP and support and implementations, not to mention media types and PDA serialization formats. What about the inconsistent and sometimes appalling look and feel of the high level UI components?

We could also talk about fragmented API support. Things that you would expect to be universally supported on phones, like accessing the phonebook, are optional APIs. You cannot write a Java ME application that, lets say synchronizes your phone calendar with your Google calendar, and guarantee it will run on all 2.x/1.x devices let alone 1.x/1.x devices.

These are not carrier issues. Device manufacturers bear some responsibility. I would like the ability to fully utilize the hardware. Can I build a screen saver in J2ME, access themes, change my ringtone, access my recent dialed or missed calls, intercept ALL sms messages, adjust to camera brightness (sans JSR234), switch from general to silent mode, change the system clock, select an AP,…And these things must be solved in a standardized way to prevent more fragmentation.

I will fault the carries for not providing services to access call data (full call history like seen on the carrier website), dynamic voice mail, GPS/AGPS, plain sockets, poor application signing and delivery processes, etc.

How about smart/proactive headless connected applications? I am on 101, driving to SFO trying to catch a flight. My phone, via my synchronized calendar, knows the time of my flight also knows there is a high probability that I will miss my flight based upon my location (GPS) and the location of the airport (GPS). It proactively searches my phonebook for records tagged as airlines, uses a webservice to find alternate flights on those airlines. The application could also adjust my meeting status, letting other participants know that I am running late.

How about an application that tells me, as soon as I pick up a product in a store, its rating and reviews or if I can find it cheaper in X distance from my location.

I am a J2ME advocate and I share your enthusiasm. But even if the carriers were to become completely open tomorrow, someone still needs to build an application compelling enough for a casual consumer to pay 3.50 a month+data.

Amigos, the end is near for downloadeble apps. Really, we have to “think different” in terms of how the mobile web will evolve in content distribution and the operators involvement.

Handsets manufacturers have been shaken to the core this year on crippling applications and limiting functionality. Wait and see all the functionality the mobile browsers will bring this year.

Some carriers are finally starting to get it, they can make more revenue if they stick to their core competency: Good service and a good network.

Content and app developers have to move away from the “Black Widow” addiction they have for repurposing web content for mobile and that java apps are they way forward.

Downloading apps on mobile is so 1999 thinking. I agree 100% with Johnny Fry’s comments. They are doomed……..

I can respect bdb’s opinion - thick client apps have come a long way since they early days of Nokia’s propriatary UI API. But anyone that has ever written a J2ME app knows the “just because it runs in the emulator doesn’t mean it will run on the phone the emulator is emulating” It’s a run once, fix everywhere business.

Now, Flash Lite on the other hand…that’s a different ballgame. API’s are standardized - as well as a way to check for a phones support of the particular API call. BUT…my hypothesis is the Flash app’s are going to be ran from a URL rather than a downloaded thick client. You’ll have an icon that you click on for an application, but other than running that app from a specific directory on the phone - that app will be initiated from a URL (version checking, et al built in).

Same hypothesis with Silverlight. Unless a Mozilla + Google really step up the mobile browser-as-a-platform game.

SaaS is going to really drive mobile applications. Not because there’s cost benefit, not because it’s easier - but because it’s the only choice.

And let us not forget, Verizon makes up ~40% of the wireless customers - that’s a HUGE percentage.

In a spree to capture 240 X 240 pixel space where different companies are rushing to set their own standards, different operating sytems, platform wars, which has put many mobile application developers to spend millions on compatability issues.

Here is a startup (maufait mobile- url http://www.maufait.com) that has made a smart move : combine J2ME midlet with wap. This startup has basically created a launcher for their wap site. The launcher saves the customer profile and send the info to the server everytime the user launches the app. Users can in one click experience a customized wap page.

Benefits for maufait: no worry about compatability issue, less development cost, faster turnaround of new feature. Wider audience base. Can automatically add new service and feature and offer it to users withought the user having to download everytime for minor enhancements.

Benefits for users: A productivity app that takes less memory space, fast to launch, takes very less battery power. One download and get it all. No repeat downloads for each enhancement. No new learning curve when you change devices.

This startup offers free 411 search, weather (local and international), Movie showtime, Flight Tracker, Driving directions, Stock Quotes.
I use maufait mobile in my blackberry. Works pretty cool.

Most importantly i wanted to share the approach this company has taken to stay away from compatability problems.

Thanks rashid, i was looking for exactly what you provided as far as the issues you’ve had to deal with for development. I wish flash was more widely supported, but you know the reality. Browsers may prove to be the best solution as johnny, luis, and monica seem to believe.

I have come across several companies claiming to have an IDE that will allow one to “develop once and deploy everywhere” (”over 400 phones supported”). We have just begun to research these IDEs in greater detail and are weary of vapor, guess we’ll see.

And carriers are moving towards a model where the end user cannot install a new application on the mobile handset without the carrier signing it. While I believe in digital certs as much as the next guy, this move ensures that the carrier is a middle man and makes money off any application the user wants to install. This is a flawed model.

BUT, with handsets morphing into full blown computing devices, carriers will be forced to back off and come up with a smarter way of making money.

I’ll definitely buy this mobile but have to wait for some time…..its costly one :)

There’s a value to downloadable apps, for now. But it is likely to dissapear over time as mobile browsers improve.

downloadable mobile apps are the future… what is necessary is for 3rd parties to commmunicate, cooperate, and move forward with open source api’s