Distimo Blog – 2009

Archive for May, 2009

Confirmed: Palm App Catalog launching June 6

Friday, May 29th, 2009

It was very likely to happen, and now confirmed; the Palm App Catalog will launch June 6th. Yesterday at the New York Times all things digital conference, Palm announced the App Catalog will be launching in beta on the Palm Pre next week.

Palm will have just a dozen or so apps in the store when the Pre launches next week. The beta version will feature applications from developers such as AP News, Citysearch, Fandango, Pandora and uLocate.

Looking at the list of launching apps, it seems unlikely that the beta of the App Catalog will already offer billing. More details will follow next week when the Palm App Catalog joins the game.

Tags: app catalog, palm pre
Posted in Palm App Catalog | No Comments »

Android Market – 7 months by the numbers

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

There is a lot of Android news coming from the Google I/O Developer conference. In one of the presentations on Android, there was an interesting overview of the Android Market after 7 months:

Android: Seven months by the numbers

(via MobileCrunch)

The most interesting facts are 4,900+ apps in Android Market and 40+ app downloads per user. Last January there were only 800 apps in the market. Both developer and consumer interest is definitely growing.

We updated our mobile app store overview with these facts.

Tags: Android Market
Posted in Android Market | 1 Comment »

18 Android phones in 2009 and more countries get Market

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Right now the Google I/O Developer conference in San Francisco is being held. At this conference, Google announced that there will be 18 Android phones in the market by the end of 2009. With just two phones out, of which the HTC Magic is not even globally released yet, this is big.

These 18 phones will be made by 8 or 9 different manufacturers. So behind HTC and Samsung, a lot more is coming. Android now has a market share of 1%, but is already delivering 3% of all mobile internet usage. And this is with just 2 devices. Imagine what will happen with 18 phones in the next months.

Today, Google also added support for free apps in Android Market for Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Greece, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan:

Please note that these markets do not yet have Android devices but we expect them to become available soon. (Google’s Eric Chu)

So expect some of the 18 new devices going to market in these countries very soon. Developers can already make their applications available in Android Market, so there are present at launch in these countries.

Tags: android, google, htc magic
Posted in Android Market | 6 Comments »

Zune HD to compete with iPod Touch and Apple’s App Store?

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Zune HD

Microsoft just confirmed the Zune HD Portable Media Player. Interestingly, Zune will be a premium partner in the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace. This will bring a catalog of TV and movies to the portable player. Although it has not been mentioned yet, it seems a logical step for Microsoft to support the Xbox Game Marketplace (or a similar marketplace) in the future as well, bringing Games to the Zune platform. And why not support other applications as well?

We are looking forward to see how Microsoft will roll out its marketplace strategy. Will they integrate their Xbox and Zune Marketplace with Windows Mobile’s Marketplace? Will the Zune HD Portable Media Player merge into a device having the same abilities as the iPod Touch, with an App Store like Apple’s? We will keep you up to date.

Tags: microsoft, xbox marketplace, zund hd, zune
Posted in Windows Marketplace | 2 Comments »

Nokia Ovi Store first impression – 90% paid content

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

So there we are, Nokia Ovi Store is fully live in all countries. Of course we took it for a spin immediately at Distimo. Our most important findings:

Web & Mobile access
You can view the contents of the Ovi Store on any PC by going to http://store.ovi.com. So unlike Android, anyone can get a clear view on what is in there.

On a Nokia mobile phone you can also reach the store on http://store.ovi.com. Right now this is web-based for most countries. It’s not completely clear yet when Nokia will replace the current Download! client on most Nokia’s with a Ovi Store client.

What is in there?

Applications: right now there are 171 apps in here. 120 of them are paid. The apps are divided in the usual categories.
Games: also in the usual categories; 97 games are available, of which 93 are paid.
Audio & Video: at this moment only videos are available, 130 in total. Of these, 119 are paid.
Personalisation: contains ringtones, themes and wallpapers. In total 157 items, of which 153 are paid.

So in total, the store in launching with 555 items, of which 90% is paid.

Update: Nokia is adding more applications during the day. Right now there are 1263 items in the Store. Of these still 90% is paid. The number of items is different per phone.

(more…)

Tags: Nokia Ovi Store
Posted in Nokia Ovi Store | 5 Comments »

Nokia Ovi store is launching

Monday, May 25th, 2009

It has been buzzing around for weeks now, but the Nokia Ovi store launch has begun. It is now available in Australia, Ireland and Singapore. Nokia is soft launching the Store; a limited amount of Nokia users can get it via the Download! client, which will be replaced by Ovi Store.

Expect an official full launch soon!

If you see the Nokia Ovi Store appear, please let us know in the comments.

via Allaboutsymbian.com

Update: Ovi Store is live.
Check it out on your PC or Nokia phone on http://store.ovi.com/

Tags: nokia, ovi store
Posted in Nokia Ovi Store | No Comments »

App Stores getting into netbooks and Apple’s tablet?

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Apple Tablet

It is widely rumored that HP is considering Android for their new netbook, and consequently they may adopt Android Market for app distribution as well. Additionally, TechCrunch reported on the Apple Tablet, saying that the OS of this device Apple is rumored to be working on is likely to be based on the iPhone OS. That means that the App Store is a big part of the Apple Tablet, TechCrunch reports.

Netbooks and other smaller devices adopt operating systems currently working on mobile phones because these operating systems are more power efficient, require less resources and are made for smaller (touch) screens. We expect netbooks and other small devices to become very popular in the near future, and as these devices are likely to use operating systems used for mobile phones and smart phones right now (iPhone OS, Android and maybe others), app stores may become the channel of distribution for the majority of all applications in the future.

Image via TechCrunch

Posted in Android Market, Apple App Store, General | No Comments »

This week’s top downloads on Getjar

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

These are the 10 most downloaded applications on Getjar this week:

Top 10 downloads on Getjar this week

Most apps saw a small decrease in downloads compared to last week.

Applications that release updates on Getjar often see a large increase in downloads. Glassplayer’s downloads increased 20% last week after its update. eBuddy’s downloads increased 19% a week earlier.

Tags: ebuddy, Getjar, glassplayer
Posted in Getjar | 1 Comment »

Apple App Store Report April US

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

We just published our first free report: the Apple App Store Report US – April 2009. Our most important findings are:

o Price changes had a large and instant influence on ranking
o Prices of the most popular apps decreased 7.9%, mainly caused by the increased amount of apps priced $0.99
o Paid apps were able to maintain a top ranking much longer than free apps
o Among both paid and free apps, games were most popular
o 24% of the most popular apps have been updated in April
o Apps can quickly move in ranking, as extreme as going from ranking 100 to 1 and back to 53 in one month (app: Awesome Ball)

You can get this report here.

The report was covered by TechCrunch.

Posted in Apple App Store | No Comments »