This was the second demo night at MoMoLo I had attended and it was a pleasant surprise. I was disappointed last year at the lack of ideas for monetisation with the fallback being ‘mobile advertising’. Thankfully this year the quality was good and hopefully the business models of these companies actually have some longevity. Sorry if I missed any of you, there were lots of people talking that night, maybe next time. Also I have seen some of these apps demoed before.
Orange – Orange Vallee Team – O(PE)N
A phonebook concept, ON, that enabled functionality for groups of people that you would speak to, think T-Mob’s ‘My Faves’ with social networking and presence thrown in. You can determine how groups can contact you depending on your status etc. How new is this stuff? More of a mash up of things that have been done before unless I missed the point.
Currently on Android with iPhone to follow. Interestingly they said that for them the economics of Android made sense with the number of OEM’s that would be releasing Android handsets in the (near) future.
Interestingly this was aimed at what they termed ‘digital adults’ – mobile centric 19-40 year olds, obviously only those with iPhones and Android handsets for now.
I have tried to look it up on the web since and cannot seem to find a thing?
Future Platforms – Guardian Anywhere
Unofficial Guardian app for Android devices that was born out of a research project. Works with RSS feeds (Guardians is quite rich) and can download content overnight on WiFi if you want to save on your data bill. Has SQL database for local storage. Guardian have written about it so have sort of given their blessing.
They have ported to 12 Android devices. Given all the stories about fragmentation you hear on Android they said it was easier than porting to J2ME devices.
No revenue model but will offer to other publications.
Hiplogic – Snaplife
A virtual runtime for Symbian and Windows Mobile devices that provides widgets, notifications and search. It also provides presence and location integration into the phonebook. It was termed a ‘rich phone top’ that is executed on startup. The application is also useful for application and service discovery. <- are they a bit of a mashup of Mippin and Surfkitchen or am I getting it wrong? Looking at their website they have secured a decent amount of funding so they must be doing something right.
Lastminute Labs – Topsee
This app provided you with info on places to ‘eat, drink, see, do or buy in London zone 1′. This was done with photo’s of said things to do laid out of the screen like Microsoft Surface. Photo’s can float around over and under one another etc. Currently runs on iPhone and Android devices. looking at getting other cities involved built from content provided by the public. Any content contributors would get a 50/50 share of any revenue made (through advertising??)
RIM – eBay Super App
RIM were showing off their eBay super app. What is a super app you say? Well its an app that ins integrated into the other functions of the handset. If you have a watch on an item on eBay it will automatically remind you via the calendar that the item is coming up to be sold etc. Another example was being able to find items within your own Zip/Postcode using location. I like the concept but how many apps is this truly relevant to? Also they have just released their notifications API that should be available to the public soon.This is push notifications done from the Blackberry server for apps not just for mail.
I am sure that someone asked the question of who did the app for the device and it was RIM themselves. Which I though was interesting that they were bothering with this sort of thing and not letting either eBay or a third party develop it for them. Another example is a Facebook app which will be released.
Ocasta Labs – Agora
Agora is a project being run in conjunction with Vodafone R&D. Mashup of mobile eBay, Swap Shop and location. It looked well implemented but I can’t help but think they are just a little bit behind the market leader. Another Android app. And…I learnt something, Agora is the middle eastern word for marketplace.
This was a platform for contextual applications. Context -> Awareness, Engagement, Transaction, Research (their terms). Two models B2B and B2C <- would sell content to advertisers and marketeers. So context could be an app triggered by location, an action (shake the phone), an incoming call etc. Custodian is an application of another technology ‘MoBots‘. When this part was demonstrated everyone ‘got it’. MoBots is the cool bit and has loads of scope.
Toytek – The Ultimate Alphabet
Toytek have produced an iPhone app of Mike Wilks’s ‘The Ultimate Alphabet’. Think intricate picture with lots of words hidden in it, one picture for each letter of the alphabet. The letter ‘A’ was demonstrated, with apparently 360 (I think I heard that right) objects hidden in it starting with the letter ‘A’. This was a gorgeous implementation, it was one of the apps that the iPhone was made for. I will not say any more, check it out when it appears on the app store, ‘A’ is free then you have to pay for the other letters. I will be purchasing.
Another two to mention are Touchnote and their cool postcard app (£1.50 from anywhere in the world!) and UsTwo, and their PositionApp, that lets you know where you are onthe app store (come on there is only one) by country etc.
On show were a group of innovative apps with a strategy and either making money or a realistic plan to do so. Obviously only time will tell. Shouldn’t there be a ‘where are they now?’ MoMo night to see how some of the ex-demoers are getting on? Wouldn’t that be good?
Best MoMo night I have attended.
