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Can anyone take a bite out of Apple?

Posted by Andrew Grant on Tuesday 07 Sep 2010, 10:21:00

So the big news last week in the land of digital stuff was that the competition have clubbed together to take on Apple.

The i-pod, pad, phone trio is going to be challenged head on by Samsung, Google and Sony.

Apple in the meantime looked to take a bite out of SkyTV and BT Vision with the launch of AppleTV(2) - shame some UK company already uses ITV. The first version was available before Christmas in the UK and received great reviews, but consumer take up was weak. The new version is only $99 and has greater connectivity.

Ive managed to bag myself AppleTV – and I have to say, as this platform (and internet based TV on demand – as opposed to a TV channel on demand like 4OD) evolves it offers advertisers a great opportunity to produce high quality branded content that sells as well as adds value. Watch this space. We will see far more big name brands launch their own TV quality content and the lines between advertorial/product placemen/TV show will start to get very blurry.

“Organisations should think of their mobile strategy ahead of their internet strategy. Mobile is the hottest area of computer technology. The smartest developers now are writing apps for mobile before they write for Windows or Apple Mac desktop operating systems. Part of that is because these devices are hugely personal to us when we use them.” Eric Schmidt CEO of Google
On the apps front, more and more firms are starting to offer mobile apps as alternatives to conventional sites, however many make the same mistake they made with their website: they forget to ask 'why would anyone want this?' Moreover once they've got it, why would they keep coming back.

The i-pad app IS the next big thing and expect to see one of these on just about everyone’s Christmas wish list to Santa, with bars, coffee shops and beaches awash with them next year.

The question every client asks is what hardware do I develop an app for? With over 22m smart phones in the UK, Android phones growing at a staggering 43% per month (and growing) and the launch of the new Samsung tablet PC to rival the i-pad, the only answer is whatever format best suits your target audience, or if in doubt cater for Apple and Android (and Blackberry for now - however they need to get their act together and address their sharp decline in sales, something the experts doubt the new touch version will address).

All this activity and growth around mobile has been the motivation for Nation1 launching an app team combining strategy, research, creative and development under one roof.

This week we launched the Style Mile app to critical acclaim with the client admitting they were 'blown away' by the app we created for them.

Download it for free here

To have a chat with me about how an app can improve your bottom line click here.