Expert Voices
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Wednesday 20 May 2009, 2:03 PM
Is it an app...or is it a WAP...and does it matter?
Alex Farber’s (NMA.co.uk) report of the mobile app versus mobile web browsing quotes a number of industry experts who (with the exception of Google) are either handset manufacturers or airtime sellers. However Google alone stands up for mobile websites.
So where does that leave brands and the people who advise them?
Like so many other things, there are pros and cons of brands using either a mobile application or a mobile website. This is when wise brands must consider applications and WAP sites and always look to the future.
It’s easy to see why applications have made a big comeback. It’s not just the immense presence of Apple’s iPhone App Store but the ease at which it is accessed and the way products are presented. It is also very easy for a brand to be seduced by the application ‘model’ as the quoted download figures and related revenue simply cannot be ignored. As with all industry ‘booms’ however, it pays to take a closer look…
Firstly the term “Application” is very generic and it covers a huge range of products with differing functionality. Applications also apply to a massive range of handsets including Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry and LG to name but a few. The iPhone has arrived at the Application party very late, but like all late arrivers it has made a very grand entrance!
The glamour of the iPhone combined with the renewed vigour for premium downloads is clearly why the likes of Nokia, Microsoft and Orange are focusing their efforts towards application stores.
Marketing and hype aside, we should look at what is being downloaded and what it actually being used by the consumer. For many, the best applications have been the light sabre and the iPint but these can really only be showcases for the handset and are the modern day equivalents of Newton’s cradle.
Beyond these the most used (not necessarily the most downloaded) applications are those that accompany fixed line internet sites. You know the ones, the ones with global appeal and staggering usage figures. Facebook, YouTube, My Space, and eBay all have ‘supporting’ applications that make staying connected via mobile quick and easy. What these applications provide is a pre-loaded Mobile friendly ‘framework’ for information that is already available on the Internet.
This is ideal for sites of such magnitude, but should other brands really be investing in what is effectively a one site web browser?
So where does that leave brands and the people who advise them?
Like so many other things, there are pros and cons of brands using either a mobile application or a mobile website. This is when wise brands must consider applications and WAP sites and always look to the future.
It’s easy to see why applications have made a big comeback. It’s not just the immense presence of Apple’s iPhone App Store but the ease at which it is accessed and the way products are presented. It is also very easy for a brand to be seduced by the application ‘model’ as the quoted download figures and related revenue simply cannot be ignored. As with all industry ‘booms’ however, it pays to take a closer look…
Firstly the term “Application” is very generic and it covers a huge range of products with differing functionality. Applications also apply to a massive range of handsets including Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry and LG to name but a few. The iPhone has arrived at the Application party very late, but like all late arrivers it has made a very grand entrance!
The glamour of the iPhone combined with the renewed vigour for premium downloads is clearly why the likes of Nokia, Microsoft and Orange are focusing their efforts towards application stores.
Marketing and hype aside, we should look at what is being downloaded and what it actually being used by the consumer. For many, the best applications have been the light sabre and the iPint but these can really only be showcases for the handset and are the modern day equivalents of Newton’s cradle.
Beyond these the most used (not necessarily the most downloaded) applications are those that accompany fixed line internet sites. You know the ones, the ones with global appeal and staggering usage figures. Facebook, YouTube, My Space, and eBay all have ‘supporting’ applications that make staying connected via mobile quick and easy. What these applications provide is a pre-loaded Mobile friendly ‘framework’ for information that is already available on the Internet.
This is ideal for sites of such magnitude, but should other brands really be investing in what is effectively a one site web browser?
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