I love the smartphone mobile APP’s revolution going on today. There are so many great APP’s on the market. Just last week I took my heart rate from a mobile APP on my Smartphone! Last count I had 46 on my smartphone and look for new ones frequently. APP’s have made a smartphone more than just a PDA ~ they have made it fun!

June 2010 Apple reported that they had reached the 100th million OS system sold and 16 billion APP’s downloaded. This report is not solely smartphones but all Apple OS systems. iPhone accounts for about 1/3 of the OS systems. This figure is not adding in Blackberry, Android or Microsoft but you can be assured that it more than doubles the 1/3 smartphone estimate. The smartphone market is exploding. Even with the large numbers reported it is only 34% of all Smartphones on the market. It has been predicted that by the end of 2011 there will be close to 100 million iPhones in service. Adding in the estimated Blackberry, Android and Microsoft it can easily be predicted that the number for all smartphones could reach 300 million. The APP world has a lot to do with this prediction.

My company has been calling corporations for the past six weeks. APP fever has been caught. Every business who wants to succeed and grow are looking at how a mobile APP could fit into their budget and business plan. Many are unsure of what an APP should do. Many are unsure of how to market an APP once it has been created. Many are unsure of what their ROI would be. Plain and simple ~ most corporations are just unsure of the what, when, where, why and how but they are sure about the need to be on the wave that is beginning to crest. Just last evening I watched the TV sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and the four main characters decided to create an APP to make their job easier. So everyone is getting in on the wave.

Creating an APP is fast becoming the norm for IT departments and many are running into issues. The concept for business sounds greats but the implementation can be a little tricky. I have heard stories about what has been tried and how they failed because it was just too much for the smaller smartphones. So these companies decided that ordering an iPad would be their answer only to find other issues. What seems to have worked overall is the aPad’s with the Android OS because with the open source code writing a functional APP becomes reasonable.

So I have a few suggestions for businesses who are ready to dive into the APP world. Start slow. Do not design a huge APP for the consumer up front. APP’s are easy to upgrade and upgrading keeps your audience interested. One issue that needs to be addressed is the consumers attention span. Right now it is very limited due to the APP’s being small and stagnates. Use this to your advantage. Should your company choose to create an inside APP for the warehouse or receiving needs I recommend using the Android OS and a tablet over the iPad. You will have more success and be able to create, test and modify easier and in more detail. But again. . .design a plan of implementation and test in stages.

For the consumer, I encourage you to fully understand the APP’s you are downloading. Make sure you know where and how your data is stored. For example, the Daily Journal APP is great and easy to use. . .until you do an upgrade. When you do an upgrade it wipes out ALL the data you entered without saying a word! If you are using the APP make sure it is storing the data on a server and not in your mobile phone. I would also encourage you to write the stores and businesses with what you would like them to supply for you. They need to hear from you to understand what you might want to do with an APP. This is especially important when you consider the smaller businesses like your favorite quilt or scrapbook store.

Please see below some articles I have links to below. The webpage I have placed there will have various images on the right side. Click on these to take you to some key charts. They tell you all the predictions for 2011. And if you have not purchased your Smartphone (PDA0 yet go out and get one! You will be glad you did.