The Tortoise and The Hare

The old fable tells us that slow and steady wins the race. In the world of mobile apps, the reality is that fast and steady (and well-marketed) wins the race.


Quite often prospective clients come to us with a great idea for a mobile app. The first thing we do is conduct due diligence research to determine:


1) Is this a viable concept that people will be interested in buying or downloading?
2) Is the market for the app large enough to justify the time and money required to create it?
3) What is the pricing model? This means a free app that generates income from in-app ads or a paid ad. 
4) Has it been done before? How often and how well? Is there room in the market for another one?


If it is a viable concept, then the app must be created both quickly and with quality. And, in most cases, it must be marketed effectively. Many "idea guys" come to us with great ideas, but are often surprised by the size of the marketing budget needed to create buzz and generate sales. With hundreds of thousands of apps in the iTunes App Store and other similar app stores, your app must be both good and well-marketed to reach the Top 10 lists.


As an app company launched from the owners of a marketing firm, DLA Creative, our team provides the full offering of services to our mobile app clients. So, in 2011, the fable has changed – fast and steady, AND well-marketed wins the race.


So keep those ideas coming. And let's get 'em marketed!

It's up to us to turn the economy around!

"Generations X and Y will fuel the shopping growth needed to spur an economic recovery, according to a new study."

While Baby Boomers (ages 46 to 64) were largely responsible for the retail spending that fueled recoveries from previous recessions, this time the Boomers are rebuilding personal wealth lost during the recent recession and saving for their future.

Although Gen X is only 75 percent the size of the Baby Boom generation, 71 percent of them have children under the age of 18, which is a time of great spending. In addition, these individuals are approaching their peak earning years.

Generation Y members (ages 10 to 28) have plenty of time to earn and save for the future, and react less strongly to economic conditions. With 85 million people in this group, they outnumber the Boomers. And although 10-year-old children may not have jobs, they have purchasing influence. Have you seen a tween’s bedroom these days? It’s hard to maneuver through all of the stuff—Xbox, iPod, laptop, TV and more clothes than you can imagine.

The article further explains that Gen Y has always lived a life of instant gratification, and for them, a tech lifestyle is a need, not a want. Some of this tech “need” also bleeds over into the Gen Xers. In fact, I recently overheard someone talking about delaying a dishwasher repair so he could buy an iPad—that’s how people live today! Read the rest of the article from InterBusiness Issues here.

Wanna create apps? Are you the best at what you do?

With a strong background in data-driven technologies and the ability to provide cross-platform solutions, appitudez is well-positioned to partner with today’s leading corporations to meet their mobile technology needs – from smartphone apps to custom applications for tablets to cloud computing solutions for the mobile world.

We only want to work with the best … whether that’s our clients or our team members. That’s why we always keep our eyes open for qualified software engineers, especially those familiar with Objective-C, the XCode toolchain, mobile/embedded development and/or some form of native architecture development. If you have a passion for excellence, a vision for the future and thrive on being part of a winning team, submit your resumé here.

Innovative App Company Tells Its Story

I wanna be Steve Jobs...

Okay, not really. I like my life. I love my family. But this guy knows how to develop products and convince people that they need them. His latest, the iPad, is a runaway success. In fact, it has the fastest adoption rate of a non-phone electronic product…ever!

Let’s put that in perspective. According to CNBC, in the first 80 days, the iPad sold three million units. It took the DVD player five years to achieve the same adoption rate that the iPad reached in its first quarter. Colin McGranahan, retail analyst at Bernstein Research, states unequivocally, “The iPad is a runaway success of unprecedented proportion.”

Bring it Home
What does this mean for those of us who AREN'T Steve Jobs? For the individual user, the iPad is the current “it” product and is lots of fun to play with.

But for today’s corporations, it’s much more than that. The iPad, or other comparable device, is a powerful tool that can contain a custom enterprise solution. These proprietary apps enable organizations to improve efficiencies, provide instant access to data and increase their competitive advantage.

Here’s How It’s Done
John Prusnick, director of IT innovation and strategy for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, says that they’re all about “home away from home.” Now they take it one step further by even saving you a trip to the reservation desk. When guests walk into Hyatt’s boutique-style Andaz hotels, they’ll be greeted by hotel staff with iPads. “We can swipe your credit card, capture your signature and check you into the hotel,” Prusnick explains. “We even have the ability on iPad to encode your key so you can go directly into your room.

“Imagine a large convention center hotel where there are 1,000 people wanting to check out,” says Prusnick. “Now we’re able to empower hotel staff with iPads and allow them to quickly and easily check out guests.”

RehabCare in St. Louis, Mo., is able to document patient care more accurately in real time through the use of a custom iPad app. “Using a mobile device at point of care saves time,” says Jayson R. Chitwood, vice president of information services. “We’re capturing the treatment delivered, the time spent, and any other relevant clinical information, which makes documentation more accurate and increases compliance.”

With its large, easy-to-read screen and fast internet access, the iPad is an unbeatable mobile interface for clinical applications and documentation, from diagnostic and imaging tools to nursing notes and patient intake forms. “iPad will be the new workstation for healthcare workers,” says Jim O’Brien, assistant vice president of technology services at RehabCare. “With iPad and virtualization technologies, there is nothing we can’t do. It was all about the proper form factor, size and capabilities. And it’s all there, out of the box.”

Remember going to college and hauling around that huge backpack filled with textbooks? Not any more! Today, your entire library of texts can be included on a tablet device like the iPad. University apps also include custom maps, virtual tours, class schedules, homework assignments, freshmen orientation, athletic event information, emergency alerts. It’s all there!

Bottom line: If you can imagine it, it can be created.

What Now?
If your organization would benefit from improved efficiencies, instant access to data from any location or has a vision for a greater competitive advantage, the first step is to identify the specific need. Next, you need to locate an app development company that can create the software for the target device (i.e., iPad) that will effectively integrate with your organization’s existing technology systems. The right company will provide you with guidance regarding how the app can work within your current structure and help achieve your overall business objectives. iBi

Appitudez Inc., a division of DLA Creative, creates mobile applications and proprietary enterprise solutions and can be reached at appitudez.com. (From http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/2010/nov/i-wanna-be-steve-jobs.)

Business App Case Studies

The sky is the limit when it comes to the potential of business apps. So let's start there with an app from Virtual Aviation. At a the top level, business is always ready for take-off. That’s because iPhone helps the company’s small team stay connected and deliver 24/7.

And the bottom line. “What iPhone has really meant for us is that we can do everything at any time,” says Virtual Aviation founder James Stevenson. “So we save time, we’re more productive and we save money.” Read all about the app here.

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Many people think that mobile apps are just games or organizational systems for SmartPhones. Far from it! They are most often most powerful as proprietary enterprise-wide systems.

Learn how RehabCare achieves its most important goal: helping people regain their lives after medical treatment. They have turned to the iPhone and iPad to make both its caregiver services and its business operations faster, more accurate, and more responsive. Get the story here.

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"Welcome to college. Here's your paper map of the college campus, a list of of the books you'll need for your classes, a printout of your class schedule." WAIT!!!!! This is 2010!

Head to the nearest recycling bin and toss all that stuff. Today it's all about the app. Look at this case study from the University of Washington in Seattle.

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Want to know more? Check out this link to a list of both Enterprise and Small Business mobile app solutions. 

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A recent article from MacWorld on how iPhones are making their way into the business world.

The iPhone Goes to Work

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You know what to do next. Call appitudez! We'll help you take the next step into improved productivity, profitability and portability.