Apple iPhone Apps Have Huge Lead Over BlackBerry, Android

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tHIS PHONE IS AOUSOM

MICHAIL JACKSOM of CT 5:07AM September 24, 2009

tHIS PHONE IS AOUSOM

MICHAIL JACKSOM of CT 5:07AM September 24, 2009

KjtxKs

Komdhjib of AK 2:03PM July 14, 2009

Hi,

Well the security system in blackberry is main function through which we can lock our cell phone without any serious problem.

Blackberry of AK 4:38AM June 17, 2009

doesn't have the biggest member, they just have the biggest tape measure.

One day the iPhone may have the same features other phones had 5 years ago, one day.

Albert of NY 11:26AM April 26, 2009

... plenty of mention of who apple is beating, but none of those that have beaten it. Symbian and Windows Mobile apps are still years ahead, even at this rate. The iPhone has a respectable amount of the market for its age, but it has a decade of development for other platforms to catch up on, which it likely never will given that technologies like adobe's flash are not allowed on the iPhone as all revenue for app sales must be funnelled through Apple. It's certainly a great revenue success story, but an application development and consumer success story it isn't.

Apple isn't first or even second, Windows Mobile and Symbian OS far exceed iPhone sales, naturally they do have an advantage in their longer establishment, more handset choice and richer applications for power users. The iPhone is a great success in marketing to users who traditionally would not choose a smartphone, people that only need to run 1 app at a time and find the choice of handsets others offer overwhelming.

Rod Rye of NY 11:22AM April 26, 2009

I am one of the developers that have been wooed by the iPhone: it is a great programming environment to work on, but more importantly, it is capable of delivering products that people actually want to buy. It is hard to imagine buying apps for other phones that do not provide the same high level of user experience.

It will be interesting to see how other smart phones fare - if my friends who are porting their apps to other platforms are any indication then the iPhone has a very very wide lead.

Matt Campbell

How to Make iPhone Apps

http://howtomakeiphoneapps.com

MattjDrake of PA 3:06PM April 21, 2009

Hi David,

The game/platform war has been won! Apple are killing the competition left, right and centre - Androids way out is to become a netbook style OS & integrate it heavily with Google Enterprise offerings (docs, email etc) - saying that I'm sure Apple have their eyes on this market too. Going beyond the smartphone with their software/OS onto the World's desktops & laptops. The smartphone battle has been won - next up the netbook...

Sean,

iPhone Evangalist,

http://www.theiphonedevelopers.co.uk

Sean (The iPhone Developers) 10:21AM April 21, 2009

It is going to be very difficult for any competing smartphone OS to catch up to the iPhone in applications. There are many reasons including:

1. The iPhone OS is not just a smartphone OS. It is a platform. It is available in non-smartphone gadgets - such as the iPod Touch. Apple sells almost as many iPod Touches as iPhones. This automatically doubles the market for iPhone Apps. If Apple further extends the iPhone App market by creating an iPhone Tablet and/or iPod Touch Tablet with 10-inch screen as an answer to the netbook, then the market for developers' applications just got even larger. A large market means more profits for developers. The iPhone may only be second in sales to Blackberry. But the iPhone plus iPod Touch sales dwarf Blackberry.

2. Hardware and Accessories. The iPhone OS is not just a platform. It is also an ecosystem. The iPhone is part of the iPhone/iPod ecosystem of customized hardware and accessories for the iPhone/iPod which forms a $3 Billion market for manufacturers, which makes a huge profit for various companies. With the iPhone OS 3.0, this market just got bigger. With hardware integration with applications, the iPhone OS can go places where the other smartphone OS's can't go. The iPhone has a standardized interface which can create new markets - such as medical devices, POS devices, and other vertically marketted devices and applications sold only for the iPhone.

The iPhone much, much, much more than a smartphone. This is why it will be extremely difficult for competitors to catch up.

James Katt of CA 7:30AM April 21, 2009

I have 2 apps in the store, 1 free and one $1.99 which I have no (as in zero) interest in porting to any other handset and my small group of fellow iPhone developers mostly agree. Some of it is sheer laziness but most of the low interest level is down to previous experiences with handset makers and a spaghetti heap of interface API's.

For instance, RIM refused to allow some calls(UI modifications) for many years that are now suddenly ok... wtf. I've got news for you RIM, you can stuff your 'new, improved' open-ness and the Blackberry market. You are now a bit more encouraging, but only because Apple did it first, not because you want to play nice with developers.

Symbian is largely a geek paradise where nothing moves forward, with too many ways to do simple things... a result of having so many handsets doing different things. Depending on where you draw the line, just here in the EU there are over 40 different handsets spread over 17 telcos, each with a different basic subset of functions with very little carry over from carrier to carrier or between price plans.

Windows mobile is now too expensive in licensing terms and has absolutely no chance as it stands. I can see MS releasing their own phone as a way to rekindle interest but there's very little joy there for developers and compared with Apple's efforts it's too little, too late with the same multiplicity of handset problems again.

Linux is going nowhere.

Android has lots of possibilities but seems stuck at that stage with no unified handset sales volume to boost developers interest - again hamstrung by the telcos.

Which brings us to iPhone 3.0. The possibilities here make you goggle-eyed.

Sad thing is, we could have had a lot of these capabilities 5 years ago except nobody had the clout to make it happen. I for one am delighted the iPhone has shown the way and its easier to see where your revenue is. That's the one big factor in favour of the iphone platform. I'm having a holiday for the first time in 5 years and the bank has stopped hassling me.

Oh joy.

ardaz 6:19AM April 21, 2009

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Our in-house gadget guru, Senior Writer David LaGesse, checks out the latest technologies and gizmos, from computer software to GPS systems -- and reports back to you in plain English.

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