With the easy accessibility and portability of the smartphones, these mobile devices have become the new tool for connecting to the Internet. The users opt for the mobile-friendly websites as they prefer browsing for information directly through their mobile devices. This makes it imperative for the companies to create websites that are mobile-friendly and develop mobile apps that are relevant to their websites.

The advantage of mobile apps is that they provide a much improved user experience than a mobile website. However, the price of a web app is something that is not well discussed and thought over. There are several companies that create and sell mobile apps, and most of their revenue comes from subscriptions and downloads by smartphone users. If the current trend is taken into account, the demand for innovative and new mobile apps is here to stay. And, as the smartphones get cheaper, there will be more users seeking smart apps to make their mobile device a more advanced gadget.

The advantage of using native applications is that you download a considerable part of the interface when you download the application originally, so when you use the application you are only loading the relevant data. Additionally, the native applications can also take the advantage of the platform’s integrated development features such as the standard UIs, which further help in boosting the performance.

The web apps for mobiles work in the similar fashion as a website. It loads the entire content of the page when you wish to access the site. You may use the browser cache to speed up things, but the images, content, graphics, data and scripts are all loaded from the web server. The user interface of the mobile web apps is customized in a way to suit the mobile platform. Sites like iPlayer and YouTube make use of more grid-based button layouts, presenting controls within the applications in the same way as native mobile apps.

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/10752-fresh-android-apps-for-jan-13-guard-my-angel-the-last-defender-run-like-hell-yeti-edition

The current figures show nearly a 37% jump from last year. The bottom line is that, more and more Internet users prefer accessing social networking and game apps review sites through their cell phones.

As per Mark Donovan, SVP at ComScore, this trend is more prevalent among the smartphone users who access social networking sites on their mobile devices, at least once a month. With a rapid rise in the mobile social activities, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are experiencing a considerable invasion in the mobile activity.

The monthly mobile audience of Facebook skyrocketed 50% over the year, Twitter’s mobile users jumped 75%, while LinkedIn also experienced a 69% growth over the last year.
According to ComScore, the most noticeable and major change in mobile social networking behaviors is that an increasing number of mobile devices users access social networking via mobile apps. As per recent statistics, over 38 million folks accessed a social networking blog or site via a mobile application.

A research firm had predicted that by the end of 2016, the number of Internet users who access social networks on smartphones or other mobile devices will exceed 1.7 billion worldwide.

That is more than triple the number (550 million) that was projected for 2011. The major social networking players such as Facebook, Google+, and Twitter will have to buck up and take the challenge to strengthen themselves and capture a larger share of the market.

According to a senior mobile apps analyst, the problem with Facebook is that it is a platform on the web, but on the mobile, it’s just a simple application. It may need to take some HTML5 help to build its own mobile operating system. It will be interesting to see how these networking sites take up the challenge and improve to meet the demands of time.

1) Google maps and Navigation – Needless to say this can be a lifesaver, without it I would have gotten lost more than a few times and have prior.  What this handy application does is provide you with the same Google Map system that you would otherwise have to search for from your desktop computer.

2) Battery indicator – does exactly what it says it does, tells you have much battery life you have left, yes you already have a battery indicatory on your phone, but the 3 little cubes it uses to measure it isn’t very precise and there’s quite a bit of margin between one green cube and no green cubes.

3) Photoshop mobile – This is great for editing photos on the go, it also makes a decent substitute for the hefty price tag you’d have to otherwise pay for the program.  It contains all the Photoshop essentials, and if you’re like me and you don’t have the several hundred dollars it costs to buy the actual Photoshop program or would rather buy something else, this is a gift for the gods…..or just Adobe.

4) Facebook – I think this one’s pretty obvious.  If you have a Facebook like all human beings on this planet, this basically allows you to access/receive notifications/messages from your Facebook anywhere.  You are always connected.

5) Bumb – it’s marketed itself as the business card for the future.  This nifty program allows you to upload all the information you wish to share with whoever you wish to shared it with and transfer that information to their phone simply by bumping your phone against theirs.  It sounds a bit homoerotic, but it’s highly pragmatic and there for worth the momentary awkwardness of “bumping phones”.

6) Shazam – If you like music, and who doesn’t?  This program is brilliant.  Shazam like it’s title implies is magical, it can actually identify a song anywhere it’s being played, whether on the elevator, in HMV, or wherever, Shazam will identify the song for you and even direct you to a location where you can download the song, the album and the discography of the artist.

7) Swype – if you have no keyboard on your mobile device, the Swype keyboard will enable you the option of having a keyboard on your touchscreen.  I find it easy than using the Blackberry’s small keys.

PDA net – This is a tremendously useful app that allows you to connect your mobile phone to your computer and gain access to the internet anywhere your mobile phone would have a signal.  Having the option of using your Mobile phone as a router is an invaluable tool.

9) DiskUsage – pretty self explanatory, this tells you how much space you have left on your mobile hard drive and also tells you what programs are taking up how much space so you can identify what useless programs are weighing you down.

10) Yelp – Yelp is basically a local business search engine that allows you to search whatever it is you’re looking for.  With both Yelp and Google maps installed on your mobile device you can rest assured that you will never get lost again……..unless of course you lose your phone.

3. Fackbook: Need I say more?.

4. Twitter: This Twitter apps gives you ability to tweet from anywhere and keeps you updated and current without having to wait till you get home to check on your computer. 

5. Angry Birds: If you’re a mobile phone user and you haven’t played this phenomenally addictive and refreshing game, you’re not getting the most out of your mobile, enough said.  This is the Super Mario of Mobile phones.

6. Adobe Photoshop Express: This is all the sophistication and options of Photoshop packed into one convenient and easy to use package, to top it all of it’s free.

7. Astro File Manager): Smartphones as you know generally don’t have a way to manage your files.  Astro File Manager gives you the scoop on what your iphone is doing, how much space certain Apps are taking up Etc.  This is the Windows Task manager for your Smartphone.

8. Firefox for Android: Until Google Chrome becomes available for your mobile device, Firefox for your Android is the best Mobile browser you’re going to get.  Not only does this app take mere seconds to download but it doesn’t suck like your default browser.

9. Advanced Task Killer: This program gives you the scoop on why your Android device might be crashing, freezing, lagging, or just not operating the way it did when you first got it. 

This program has come a long way over the last little while and although initially it was paradoxically like a bug itself, it now functions like you would expect an error fixer to function, error free.

You can also save playlists
to you device from offline listening.  With Spotify’s latest new Windows
Phone 7 addition Spotify claims it has apps for more mobile devices
than other music service, certainly a bold statement like this would
lend more credence to Spotify over its competitors, unfortunately
statistics suggest otherwise as the large majority of streaming services
are available for IOS, Symbian, WebOS and even the Windows 7 platform. 

The list of its competitors that surpass it in this department include
Rhapsody and Pandora among others which have apps available for
Blackberry devices which Spotify does not currently, however Spotify
does have a new app in development which is available for the beta.

Spotify’s new app for Windows Phone 7 comes just in time as Microsoft
recently announced the availability of four new phones running Mango on
AT&T and T-Mobile USA.

The new phones include Samsung’s Focus
Flash and a refreshed Focus S, and HTC’s Titan and Radar 4G. 
Microsoft’s latest update to Windows Phone 7 features a variety of
improvements including multitasking, voice commands, a revamped Web
browser and Wi-Fi hotspot mode.

Of course if there’s anything we can infer from looking at our technological history it’s that those who don’t adapt their business model to the fluctuations in the market don’t exist for very long. 

It is quite likely that Google has come to their senses and realized that mobile apps are simply better than web-based portals, it’s adjacent to Kodak’s too little too late realization that digital was simply better than film. 

It is not yet certain whether Google will provide applications exclusively for their Android Smartphone’s or also provide for the other popular interface’s such as Apple’s Iphone.  They have expressed their intention to develop third party applications which may or may not imply their intention to become an indiscriminate app developer.

What is clear is that mobile users have unveiled their preferences with the apps that they most frequently download, and the results show that Mobile users prefer mobile apps…..go figure. 

The user interface of mobile apps is more intuitive than Web based apps because they are designed specifically to be used with Mobile phones, Web Apps are not designed for Mobile devices rather adapted so that they CAN be used by a mobile devices, there is huge difference here. 

The downside to Web Apps, aside from the fact that their functionality is not nearly as intuitive as Mobile apps is that they require you to access the Web first in order to use the App, so it’s surprise why customers make a point of avoiding Web Apps.

So what are the most frequently used and installed apps? 

Generally those apps that allow us to routinely check up on the programs we also use with our desktop’s and Labtop’s…..Social Networking apps such as Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn, You tube etc.  It likely doesn’t come as a surprise that these are among the top most frequently used Mobile apps. 

Although the Facebook service is compatible with mobile web browsers such as Google’s web applications, users overwhelmingly prefer the improved mobile app version which was designed to be used specifically with mobile phones. 

Certainly it was the realization that even Google’s very own Gmail Website, despite being optimized for usage through mobile web browsers is still more frequently shown to be accessed through mobile apps, at least on the major mobile platforms that caused Google to make the leap in the first place. 

Google’s timeframe for completion is still pending, but Google is a company that’s known to move at startling speeds when it comes to such adaption’s, so it should be expected sooner than later. 

Certainly third part app developers are loosening their ties and starting to feel the sweat drip down their foreheads.  It is not clear if Google’s focus will be solely on Android Smartphone apps or also include tablet apps but certainly if Google decides to develop apps for other OS’s the markets saturation will increase noticeably.  

• Airhockey – If you’ve played any airhockey game before, you likely immediately understand what I’m talking about.  These games are addictive on any interface so it likely doesn’t come as a surprise that Airhockey took the number one spot here.  The gamic experience intuitive smooth and will keep you entranced for hours.
• Doodle Jump – $0.99 – Doodle Jump is a game where you have to get your little creature to the top while avoiding all the pitfalls that get in the way.   This game is super fun.
• Need for Speed Shift – $2.99 – this is surprisingly high quality and is an excellent adaption of the Need for Speed series onto the Mobile OS, it’s not surprise it’s one of the most popular games on the Android Market.  With up to 20 cars to choose from, eighteen locations, unlockable secret locations, this game is a little more than a time passer.
• UNO – $2.99 – This has always been a popular mobile game, for the Android it has multiple multi-player options, including the option of playing against your opponent, or even playing with your friends together on one device.  People love this game for a reason.
• Tetris – $2.99 – Nothing needs to be said here.
• Diner Dash – $4.99 – This is a very popular and well known game.  You basically have to greet, seat and do all the things a Waitress would have to do in a restaurant in order to keep your guests satisfied.  If you’re not fast enough you’ll loose, if you don’t seat your customers they leave and you lose business.  Great if you want to experience what it’s like to be a Waiter, maybe not so great if you already are one though….lol, of course it could also be good practice as well!
• Hotel Mogul – $2.99 – Buy property for you hotel business, build it up and resell the properties for profit.  You can build other amenities around your properties.  Hotel Mogul is for the business person in you.  It allows you to build in nearly five locations, there are also thirty-five levels of increasingly difficult gameplay.
• Angry Birds – Free – This is almost indisputably one of the greatest free mobile games on the market.  With over 240 levels and the need to adapt and use new skills and strategies makes this action packed game stimulating for everyone.
• Tap Tap Revenge 4 – Free – One of the most popular music game apps available for Smartphone’s today.
• Cube Runner – Free – The objective of this game is to move your plane through a course of aligned cubes.. This game is highly engaging and loads of fun, prepare to play this game for hours on end.

2. Angry Birds Seasons and the original.  – One of the best mobile games ever developed for any OS, enough said.

3. Gmail – Easily accessible, automatically logs into your account for you, it’s everything Windows Messenger could have been if it wasn’t loaded with bullshit.

4. Google Maps – This is one of those apps that you don’t think you need until you hop on the subway to get somewhere and you realize you forgot what station you were supposed to get off at, get it before this happens to you….. like it did to me.

5. Skype – Free Video calls, free video calls, and free video calls, skype to skype that is

6. Google Books – Choose between over three million Ebooks, all of which you can read on the go.

7. Adobe Flash Player 11 – This allows you to bring the entire web to your Android

8. Guns and Glory – this game kicks ass