98 billion mobile applications will be downloaded in 2015

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of mobile application downloads worldwide will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 56.6 percent between 2010 and 2015 to reach 98 billion at the end of the period. Berg Insight estimates that revenues from paid applications, in-app purchases and subscription services – so called direct revenues – reached € 1.6 billion in 2010. Berg Insight forecasts direct app store revenues to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 40.7 percent to reach € 8.8 billion in 2015. Apple’s iOS is the current leader in direct monetisation of mobile applications and will keep the number one position during the forecast period. The Android and Windows Phone operating systems are anticipated to be number two and three respectively in 2015. "Even though the download numbers will increase during the forecast period, most apps are free to download and app monetisation will be a challenge for developers", said Johan Svanberg, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. "Free to download monetisation strategies such as in-app advertising and in-app purchasing will be increasingly important. This is especially true in the APAC region, which will account for over 40 percent of all mobile app downloads in 2015." He adds that for the next coming years, the native mobile app is here to stay. New web technologies such as HTML5 are promising and will eventually be relevant alternatives to native apps. It is also important to remember that web apps and native apps are not mutual exclusives and publishers looking for maximizing reach should develop for the web as well as for the major mobile platforms.

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If "4G" could be licensed as a trademarked term, its pitch might be "4G: Whatever you want it to be." AT&T's rebranding this week of its formerly 3G network as 4G because of a broadening of what can be termed a fourth-generation wireless service is only the latest and starkest example of how meaningless the label has become.

Two months ago, T-Mobile USA began running ads boasting it operated "America's Largest 4G Network" and mocking the speed of AT&T's 3G service. AT&T and other critics complained that T-Mobile's HSPA+ network--which the carrier had previously touted as "the fastest 3G network--shouldn't be characterized as 4G at all.

Then last month, the International Telecommunications Union, the wireless standards setting body, announced that the term 4G could be applied to advanced 3G network technologies such as HSPA+, Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax, even while acknowledging 4G remains "undefined." Of course, Sprint had long since billed the HTC Evo smartphone running on its WiMax network as "America's First 4G Phone," and Verizon Wireless had been flogging the rollout of its LTE-based 4G network.

Never mind that none of the commercially available wireless services come close to meeting the 100 megabits-per-second download speed set by ITU as a requirement for 4G. As an agency of the United Nations, the ITU seems to have taken a diplomatic approach by easing the rules for what can be called 4G.

AT&T has taken full advantage. After criticizing T-Mobile last year for marketing its HSPA+ network as 4G, the nation's No. 2 carrier is now doing the same thing. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that AT&T "has subtly shifted its marketing message since [September], now proclaiming 'the nation's fastest mobile broadband network' instead of the fastest 3G network."

But did that fool anybody? AT&T was rated the worst among the major U.S. carriers in the latest Consumer Reports cell service survey. It doesn't matter how fast the network is if you can't get a connection in the first place or consistently. On Wednesday, AT&T announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the rollout of its LTE-powered 4G network beginning this year will be completed by the end of 2013. This year it promises to release 20 4G devices, including both HSPA+ and LTE phones.

But if LTE is faster than HSPA+, shouldn't it be called a 5G network, according to the expedient marketing logic followed by the carriers? It will only take a suggestion by some penetrating marketing mind at one of the wireless operators to come up with that idea and touch off a new round of competing ad campaigns in which the carriers all claim to offer 5G service. Since there aren't any specifications or standards yet for 5G, what's to stop them?

Android users just gained a new way to broadcast themselves. San Francisco-based live video platform Justin.tv has launched a straightforward new Android app that allows video bloggers or social butterflies to shoot and upload live fluid video to Twitter or Facebook with a simple click. (The interface borrows from the design of Cisco's popular Flip video cameras with a single red button to upload, a chat button for dialogue and a sharing button for posting comments.)

Anyone who tends to procrastinate when it comes to uploading video they've shot to their social networking sites will appreciate how simple the app is to use. Justin.tv has come along way from its "lifecasting" roots, expanding to include live channels from dozens of premium broadcasters. A recent homepage redesign automatically aggregates recent uploads from people you follow and recommends content you might be interested in.

The site was also one of the first live video platforms to launch an iPhone app and it proved to be a big hit - it was downloaded more than 1.4 million times in April, its first month of availability, and was responsible for 20% of the site's new sign ups that month.