So..I've caught a lot of flack internally for not updating the blog and quite frankly that could only mean one thing.  We've been busy!  In the last two quarters, we've developed over ten mobile applications or mobile websites.  I can tell you that we are currently seeing several app requests for the medical and retail industry.  Of those requests, seventy five percent of them have been for hybrid apps (native apps that pull real-time data from an online database or cloud).  Hybrid apps are currently being used by your big Banks, Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Twitter, Google and etc. Hybrid or Native Web Applications are somewhat a new phenomenon at this point.  However, I really think they will become the standard in the next year or two.

Seeing as how there has been a major boom in the development of mobile applications, I figured what the heck - why not take some time out to shed a small candle flicker of my own on the subject?:

Queue up the clouds, soft music and here we go...

It all started with that big rectangular box that was held proudly next to our favorite actor's ear lobe while watching our favorite late eighties or early nineties movie.  Something we all joke about now in the present tense.

What seemed like a great tool for on-the-go conversations (and possibly anchoring a small boat, holding a door open, or an excellent paper weight) then, has now morphed into a high powered communication and information equipped weapon that is capable of dwarfing most PCs that were put out only a year or two ago.  That's right - we're talking smart phones and tablets.

I look back to a video of a forum that I had watched a few years back in which the late Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were invited to discuss not only their competition with one another and their accomplishments but to also discuss what they thought the PC would eventually end up evolving into.  In short: They both described it as evolving into a hand held device - that may be slightly larger than a smart phone and so on....  Needless to say, I think we are right on track and in-line with their theories.

Some Interesting Info:  As smartphones begin to outsell feature phones, the number of mobile Internet users in the U.S. will grow by 16.6% between 2010 and 2015, according to a new report from IDC. This market-analysis firm predicts that by 2015 more people in the U.S. will access the Internet through a phone or a tablet than through a desktop or laptop. - Source IDC

Why are smartphones important?  Because communication, identity and information is important!  So long as that remains the focus, the smart phone will continue to thrive and evolve.

What this means to you - The Business Owner.  It means that with 3G, 4G and who knows what's next, your customer is a smarter, more well informed consumer and has more information readily available about your products and services than ever before. It also means that if you are not prepared to meet the mobile and technological demands of your consumer, they will find someone else who is. I promise you! (Think Wal-Mart)

What you can do: You can start by having a website for your business that can be easily found on Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Call us - We can help!.
 
Secondly, you should have a professionally built mobile website (not a template*) that fits on the screen of a smart phone or tablet. Call us - We can help with that as well!

For the record, a mobile business site or application should be custom tailored around your businesses' services and products - much like your website is.  It should contain simple features that can be accomplished by locating a business locally on Google - e.g. "Click-to-Call", "Get Directions", and etc. On the other hand, it should be designed or developed to actually help your business and the consumer accomplish goals mutually.

Consider this example:  You run a automotive clinic, your business runs off appointments and turn-around time.  Imagine a mobile site or web application that could actually show a customer your current availability, get a quote, allow them to make appointments, and could even notify a customer when their vehicle service is complete.

That's what we do.  That's what makes us different right there ^.  Want to learn more?  Call us today - "We are the app makers!"


*Several design companies claim to build mobile sites.  However, they are really just ulitizing 3rd party mobile templates fashioned with a few standard features like "Click to Call, Click to Email and etc".  Compare our proposal with theirs and you'll see that there is no comparison.