Now, if the prediction of 300,000 iPhone apps by the end of 2010 is true, the problem of discovery and app management is only going to be exacerbated. That’s going to make users and developers frustrated, with Apple working around the clock to try to please both parties. Thus, I believe the best way for Apple to begin improving the App Store in 2010 is by learning from these different categories of iPhone apps about iPhone apps. While it may seem like I’m selling these developers out to Apple, what I actually would recommend to Apple is to buy the apps, assets, and the developers themselves because these issues are big problems to solve

Near the end of the posts, he also touches on some ways to improve the iPhone itself. It’s an interesting read, so check it out —

How Apple Can Improve the App Store (and iPhone) in 2010

Amazingly, despite the unprecedented upheaval and transformation in marketing strategies, techniques, channels and tactics during the last forty years—not to mention marketers’ penchant for postulating all manner of new philosophies, methodologies, rules and acronyms–the Four Ps of Marketing have remained unchanged.

But perhaps now there is good reason to revisit and refresh marketing’s Four Ps: the emergence of “applications” or “apps” as a new means for organizations to acquire, retain or otherwise engage customers and prospects.

What are “Apps”?

An app is a small, self-contained computer program that provides value or engagement to a mass or targeted audience in a community, marketplace or platform. Think of Scrabulous for Facebook; WeatherBug for the iPhone; NBC’s Saturday Night Live widgets; or the Wall Street Journal’s reader for the Blackberry. Apps are commonly grouped via their method of distribution and/or platform:

* Mobile apps: Designed to leverage the unique characteristics of mobile audiences and smartphones, such as the need for location-based information or lightweight, portable versions of larger, more complex services such as Salesforce.com

* Community- or platform-based apps: Those that are developed exclusively for and can only be used on a particular site such as Facebook; and

* Widgets: Portable apps that can reside on multiple third party sites and blogs.

The App Explosion

The proliferation in the use of apps by large and small businesses, as well as non-profit and government organizations is well-documented. Apps have been developed by brands of all stripes as standalone marketing tools or to target fast-growing, communities such as Facebook (350,000 apps used by more than 70% of Facebook’s 250 million users) or the iPhone (65,000 apps available; 1 billion downloads in first 9 months).

And due to their ability to achieve low-cost global or geographically-targeted distribution; their relatively inexpensive development; and rapid time to market—as well as their virtually unlimited potential for creating unique and valuable user experiences—apps have only begin to reach their potential as a new category of marketing tool.

Let’s examine the explosion of one type of app: mobile. The transformation of the mobile web landscape is reminiscent of the original trajectory of the World Wide Web. Very quickly, the consensus shifted from “Why does my company need a Web site?” to “Why don’t we have a Web site yet?” That shift was caused by the reduced cost of developing sites, their practical and proven use in engaging customers, the increase in available bandwidth; and technological advances that helped organizations deliver more useful and relevant user experiences.

The same phenomenon is occurring today with mobile apps: A recent New York Times article reports that nearly half (48 percent) of phone users shop for apps more than once a week and about the same number (49 percent) report using apps on their phone for more than 30 minutes a day; the cost of developing mobile apps has dropped dramatically; and technological improvements are enabling more speed and a better user experience.

How do “apps” relate to Marketing’s Four Ps?

Apps can deliver some portion of the product experience; promote the brand; place themselves wherever customers are; and/or be priced to stimulate trial or engagement. But while “apps” combine elements of each of the Four Ps, they’re neither fish nor fowl–they don’t neatly fit into any one category.

In other words, apps are not products, promotions, channels or pricing strategies. But an app can have some or all of these elements. Apps are…well, they’re apps. Simply put, apps have become a box you check in your marketing plan, right next to the other Four Ps. It’s hard to imagine a new brand launch, Hollywood film, ad campaign or even a fundraising push occurring without the question being asked, “Should we develop a mobile or Facebook app for this?”

Let us know what you think: Do apps deserve their own slot in the marketing mix pantheon, right alongside the traditional Four Ps? Please join the discussion by adding your comments below.

This article was co-written with our friend Bob London, president of London, Ink, a marketing and communications consulting firm headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area.

When I created the App Store content for our TrafficTweet application, I created a nice list of tags. I was disappointed to see that the App Store didn’t have an area to insert these tags in the submission forms. The iPhone analytics vendors like PinchMedia and Medialets already supported tags.

I was pleased that Apple finally added keywords field to the application submission form to improve the poor search feature. So I pasted my carefully crafted keywords (283 characters) into the field. It immediately rejected the entry for exceeding the 100 characters limit. So, I painstakingly prioritized and trimmed the keywords to 97 (an interesting exercise). Ok, this time, it took the values. I went back to change one of the keywords, but it wouldn’t let me edit. Lesson learned: you have only one shot at adding keywords. Also, I noticed you can’t change the app’s title anymore. One step forward, one step back!

The iPhone platform and the Apple App Store radically changed the way we work, live, and play. The massive iPhone success has resulted in other mobile vendors launching similar stores for their devices. In addition, the new generation of Software Development Kits (SDK) is making it much easier for developers to build and deploy applications and services for the mobile workforce. These mobile applications provide rich user experience by leveraging advanced device features such as multi-touch screens, GPS, compass, accelerometers, cameras, and other sensors.

At Mobomo, we are committed to building smart applications (simple, useful, interactive and beautiful) on these emerging platforms. Our applications will help the consumers to obtain real-time data, save money on shopping, and entertain you when you have some down time. So stay tuned for more details.

We would love to hear your thoughts; feel free to send us a note at: hello@mobomo.com