My father is a huge Google fan. He showed me his shiny new Android phone when he visited me last month. I am not jealous. Since I knew I will soon have an iPad. We went to Griffith Observatory together. It was a clear night. I was using his cell phone to play with the Sky Map, an Android app helping me search the night sky for my favorite constellations. I have been wondering long time how it differs from the similar Star Walk app on my iTouch.
Demo for Sky Map
Demo for Star Walk
Since when? Every night before sleep, I will log on to the iTune store, to check if there is any thing new I can download. Yes, apps work. I use them to read news every morning. I browse the apparel catalogs to see if there are sales. Veggie Samurai is my favorite. Since it kills vegetables and also the time.
Apps matter. Google knows that. Last month, Google places joined iPhone. People can use it to search and rate restaurants, bars and hotels. It puts pressure on those existing navigation/life apps. Recently, Google launched its new web-based Android Market. It first allowed users to search and download apps by website. Before, they can only download apps by phone.
To be more specific, now, if a user wants to download apps for his/her phone on computer, their paths should be:
1. Apple devices –download/open iTunes – iTune account – apps
2. Android devices –website – Google account –apps
As we can see, while apple uses iTunes as the medium platform, Android decides to move to website, which is its turf. Obviously, going to a website is easier than downloading/opening a software. This convenience might be inspired by the philosophy of the search engine: giving people what they want when they want it.
Why apps become the battle of smartphone? Perhaps there lie niches. It will not cost much to post an app on the iTune/Android store. It can be either a product or a promotion of the product ─ a Japanese brand “MUJI” recently did both. Also, $0.99 apps are not expensive. But Tons of $0.99 apps make “the long tail”. As Chris Anderson suggests, due to the low cost of drawing or paying attention in the new (digital) environment, people concern more about the ‘long tail’ of the demand curve where lying numerous niches. For those who want to make profits, occupy markets and amass capital, it is necessary to pay attention to those fragmented, specialized and flexible niches, for its particular attraction to advertisers. In other words, a clear vision of users of a certain sharing taste, hobby or lifestyle can help to predict potential consumers.
MUJI app: http://www.muji.com/app/
Reference: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20030589-265.html
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