April 2009

A new industry report from mobile analytics firm Flurry reveals some unique insights into the smartphone industry as of right now. Because their firm focuses not just on iPhone, but also on Android, RIM Blackberry, and JavaME, they have the ability to see platform-spanning trends, instead of just those tied to Apple. So what can we learn from their deep dive into their company's data? Anything surprising? Actually, what the report confirms is what we've been hearing for some time now: the iPhone is king, smartphones are the new laptops, and iPhone applications can and do make money.

Rated Five Stars at Amazon.com since the day it was published, “Taking Your Talent to the Web” is now a free downloadable book from zeldman.com

Gizmodo has an excellent post up today giving a rundown and comparison of all the new and upcoming smartphone mobile app stores – covering the iPhone’s App Store as well as the offerings for Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm’s upcoming webOS, and Nokia’s Ovi Store.

Jyri Engeström, co-founder of Jaiku and now Google employee, spoke about building sites around social objects. What this means is that the social sites we visit today are not just friend networks – they're also built around objects that connect people with shared interests. These social objects could be anything from a photo on flickr to a video on YouTube or a track on Last.fm. This concept may not be new information to some of you – Jyri has been talking "social objects" for years now. What is interesting, though, is how well this information has held up over time.

IS there a good way to nail down a steady income? In this economy? Try writing a successful program for the iPhone.