Are Killer Apps No Longer Possible?

I think the number one, overwhelming problem with smartphone apps is their distribution. Apps could be the most desirable thing in the world and they will not sell well because they're so tricky to get hold of for most people.

Until there's an easy to use menu-driven application built into every single smartphone which lets people buy apps by just clicking on an icon (with the cost charged to their phone bill or credit card), smartphone apps will forever be the domain of techies and enthusiasts.

The idea that most normal people would buy apps that involve choosing a compatible file, downloading the file, transferring the file and then installing the file is completely mistaken. It ought to be totally automatic, their phone would show them a menu of compatible apps and let them buy them just by pressing a button.

As someone who would love to write apps for S60, I believe one of the main reasons is the lack of a robust, feature-rich rapid development tool. Obviously OPL is the main contender, but the present release just isn't up to it.

You fail to mention one other factor which contributes to poor software sales: lack of quality applications. I am yet to see one killer S60 app that will "blow" my mind away and make me reach for my wallet. Except for GPS navigation most of the software today is mediocre at best. Let's be honest here… who in their right mind will pay $$$ for a bluetooth detecting app ? (Think about it: for this app to be even remotely useful bluetooth on other devices has to be turned on, 90% of users leave bluetooth turned off). Here's another example: IR remote on your phone. I'm sorry but I'm not sitting one meter away from my tv just because I can turn channels from my phone. UTTERLY USELESS !

So… 99% of apps today fall into your (c) category: 'I made the program because I could do it but nobody needs it, even me' which should be called "the utterly useless" category.

You talk of modern day culture of 'take what you can for free on the Internet". The other side of the coin is the developer culture of 'make as much money and as quickly as possible on the internet from substandard product'.

The fact is: the market is plagued today with poorly designed, poorly coded and poorly implemented apps with tedious menus and childish-like user interface. Why should I pay money for sub-standard product?

One mans killer app is another mans boring piece of useless software. Mobiles are the ultimate personal device. People will never be truly happy with what they get out of the box. The killer app is being able to add software / customisation. It's easy to say there are no good application out there - there are, but it is still early days... The more phone are sold the more sense it make to do niche application - however it is a big chicken and egg in terms of distribution.

For some people Handy Weather may be brilliant, for other they don't care. For the connected business man push email and being able to access some corporate database might be essential. For you it might be programming the home PVR or watching movies from your set top box, or getting a continually updated trainspotter database...

People pay £3 for a ringtone so I don't see a problem with app pricing for the most part if it fills a customer customisation need. Yes of course there is room for improvement - there always is.

Now whether you can a) find/exists b) install c) use that application is another issue! The first two being a general problem, the third being something developers need to look at.

3rd party apps or no 3rd party apps I would not change my E61 for anything !

I disagree, Arthur, I don't think 99% of S60 apps are useless and in class c).

It's true there's more than the usual number of novelty apps, but I'd rate the existing S60 2nd Edition catalog as 10% class a), 50% class b) and 40% class c).

And the signal to noise ratio is even higher for S60 3rd Edition, so far, at least.

Steve

The mobile experience is very personal, as Rafe notes, but it is also very much about immediacy and instant gratification. Connected mobile devices let you get that sports result or weather report NOW, so you don't need to wait until you get back to your computer or to a newspaper.

I think this suggests a world of (a) class mobile apps that are "killer", but only for a limited time. There were a number of mobile apps for the World Cup, for example, that were vital last week, but pointless today.

I think people will pay for the right app at the right time.

I think the point is what on earth do I need that is not already there.

I've had a E61 for a couple of weeks now (very impressed overall) and the only app I've downloaded and paid for is the Advanced English Dictionary which is a goldmine of information and probably my most used app on my old P900.

The only other software I have installed and am likely to use regularly is the Mobipocket reader and Mini opera which are both free. Everything else I need came pre-installed on the phone Wap/Internet brower, Adobe Acrobat. Zip, Office stye applications, text editor etc, etc.

This is not particular to mobile phones. When I got my E61 I also brought a wireless router and installed it. The next reboot of my PC my PC died terminally. So I've been using my E61 (mainly wirelessly) as my main internet access for a week or so. Now my new PC has turned up. The amount of software I have installed on it that I have to pay for is zero! I use the Firefox web browser, Thunderbird email and Open office. and very little else. Oh that reminds me I must download a free zip file program.

The truth is the only additional stuff that I am liable to pay for (and I dont mind paying for something I will use) are a few games. Oh and on that point does anyone know of a good patience/solitare game for the E61 that is something I would pay for!

Can I join the E61 owners club? It is a great device but I agree with Arthur re. lack of quality applications. Ok, 3rd edition is a special case, but it seems to be more of a change than developers anticipated.
Applications that I would gladly pay money for:
Tom Tom - not available yet.
Database - not available.
Calendar/ToDo - the standard one is shocking for a business device and is far less functional than a Psion of ten years ago.

Here's something thatmay interest you - alternative calendar - http://www.pockettorch.net/forum/index.php?topic=363.30

It in beta which is why I have written about it on the front page yet.

Tom Tom should be avilable soon.

People has have already mentioned the big problems of distribution, public awarness and widely different ways in which people use their devices, which all prevent the third party application market to really take off.

But there's a major point that seems to have been forgotten here: smartphones are first and foremost communicating devices. Be it via voice calls, sms, GPRS. 3G, whatever, always-on connection is what makes smartphones different from traditional PDAs or laptop computers. And this is all controlled by mobile phone networks operators who are the only ones deciding what you are going to be able to do with your device and how much you'll have to pay for it.

If killer app there is, it is almost certainly going to be an application that leverages this communication abilty that smartphones have. And that's where one of the main problem lies. If somebody someday comes up with a killer idea, implements it brilliantly and releases his application, which requires, say, significant data transfer via 3G, this application is going to be THE killer app in countries where data tariffs are very low. But in other countries such as France, or to a lesser extent the UK, where mobile phone operators pretty much still live in the last century and charge a fortune for a mere few MB of data transfer, block ports and only allow certain protocols, this killer app is going to be a complete flop. Nobody is going to use it despite the fact that it would have the potential to be a killer app.

So a main factor in the current failure of third party applications is, i belive, the reluctance of mobile phone operators to accept that we are now in 2006 and that things just ain't as they were 10 years ago anymore. Once they'll all have accepted that and be offering reasonable data plans, i'm sure that we'll see a lot of changes happening in our little smartphone world.

I'm amazed you lot are just brushing off distribution problems like that, as if they're not problems.

It can't be a quality problem. Java games and apps are generally much worse than Symbian games and apps, yet they are sold (and I mean sold, not pirated) in vast quantities because it's so easy to buy them: just send a text to a particular number, and back comes the game or app which installs itself automatically, with the cost going on your phone bill. Until Symbian software is available just as easily, it will never do as well as Java.

Nokia did a really quality Symbian game, Snakes, and it got great reviews (80% and 90% across the board) and Nokia actually gave the game away for free to anyone with an N-Gage smartphone. Guess what? Lots of people were unable to download it, they posted on the N-Gage boards saying how they didn't have a memory card reader, or they didn't know how to work it, or they didn't know where the installer app was.

The product was right (it's a great game), the price was right (it's free), and in theory everyone with an N-Gage should have got this game, but it didn't happen that way because the distribution wasn't that good. All of the people who follow All About Symbian would be able to download it, but a lot of people who are new to smartphones (who are also probably the majority of Symbian owners right now thanks to its massive growth) can't cope with downloading, transferring and installing, let alone paying for something, inserting IMEI codes etc etc etc.

In response to the posts on the N-gage board I did a little web page for use with the Services browser which let people click on an icon and download and install Snakes straight onto their phone in a single click without any messing about with SIS files. About a thousand people downloaded it, just from me posting a single thread about it, even though I'd warned them they'd have to pay GPRS charges on it. They didn't care about paying connection charges, they just wanted the game as easily as possible.

--Why should I pay money for sub-standard product?--

If it's so bad, why should you pirate sub-standard product?

If it's so awful, just forget about it. If you use it though, is it really that awful?

You're talking as if piracy is justified if a product is bad enough, but if it's literally useless, as you say most of them are, you can't possibly even want to pirate it.

krisse - very interesting, it just shows how important it is to have perspective. I'm sure everyone in this thread is capable of downloading and installing applications (and are probably pickier about quality), but that doesn't mean everyone is.

I've got some interesting ideas about how to make it easier to download software from the AAS software directory. Will have to see how it goes.

Rafe - thanks for the calendar link.

This thread has got me looking through my (somewhat bare) applications folder. Surely the criteria for a quality application is 'is it of a quality that it could be a standard app - ie. delivered in ROM'? Three free apps I have meet this criteria: AutoLock, Scrnshot and Mobipocket. All *just work* (AutoLock actually should be in the standard ROM).
There are currently no purchased apps. I was hoping to use HandySafe - it seems to be considered to be 'best of breed' (well better than SplashId). Fortunately I was able to trial it first:
- no import/export (violating Schofield's law (http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1004367,00.html)
- huge 'toytown' font
- notes text truncated without warning
- to read notes text, you have to be in edit mode (yeah, right)
Pretty disappointing really, I wouldn't use it even if it was freeware. I'm interested in buying good, well-designed apps and that is surely where the market lies.

Lots of people compare the Symbian C++ market to the Java Games market. I do not know a lot about the Java games market, but from what I have heard I do not believe the situation is necessarily much better over there.

1) even though there are a lot of Java games out there, and a lot of money is being made, the average amount of money per game is not very much. I do not have the figures anymore, but it was only a few thousand euro's per game. And that was a bruto figure, i.e one had to subtract the costs for the operator, content aggregator and whatnot.

2) Few games sell in the millions, some more games in their thousands and most games hardly sell at all.

So even though certain issues are better taken care of in the Java Games market (fullfilment, for instance), that in itself wil not mean that Symbian C++ apps will sell much better when those issues have been resolved. The apps that sell well now will sell a lot better, and apps that hardly sell now will sell a little bit more but not much more.

Sander van der Wal
mBrain Software

Hi,

I tend to agree with Leszek.

My personal experience of phone users (friends and acquaintances, so probably not statistically accurate) fall into the following segments:

1. those that are cursing the new phone with the cameras etc and are just looking for a simple phone

2. Those that bought the Nokia 9500/9300 and SonyEricsson P800/900 series phones. These fall into 2 camps:

(i) Real users but non-power user i.e. like to have a place to jot their notes and check their emails and shoot off SMS quickly. i.e. a modern Filofax - a bit like the old Psion advert whereby this huge pile of filofaxes compiles into the Series 3. Not interested at all in connectivity since they do not even back up! (A bit like Psion the company I suppose). Believe me - I have seen the misery when they lose their life in the phone. Still they will buy a replacement immediately if they can afford it. These people are not bothered by the size of the phone (hey! the P900 series is quite small anyway) as they know what they want - a filofax replacement. They will never buy a S60 phone without decent input method as T9 or tap-tap-tap is a joke.

(ii) Real power users that require connectivity - i.e. they are corporate people e.g. merchant bankers, stockbrokers, etc - 100% replacement of Nokia 9500/9300 or P900 series phone to Microsoft based phones within a fortnight. They are OS agnostic i.e. they only want what works - sorry to say Symbian is unheard in the corporate world. Main complaint - does not synch well, pathetic web, crappy 3rd party software.

3. Microsoft phones buyers also fall into 2 camps:

(i) non power users that "accidentally" bought the phones because they are actually candidates for Nokia 9500/9300 and SonyEricsson P800/900 series phones - biggest complaint is that they can't dial easily as the keypad is the screen - O2XDA type phones, need to use the pen for everything.

(ii) Real power users who need to synch, need to connect to Microsoft Projects, need to be able to monitor the stock market, forex market, need to be coonected to exchange server etc,etc, these people will NEVER go to Symbian. They are the real power users that buy software as they KNOW that they bought the phone because it is a COMPUTER.

4. those that purchase a S60 phone whatever edition - MOST (90+% say they will never buy one again because they are poor phones e.g. no autokey lock, too many buttons for functions, bad navigation, crashes (hangs), extremely poor camera for the price and just plain big. NOTE: don't flame me please but these are real people, real users and not enthusiasts like us.

They ALL bought it because the Nokia adverts claims that they are good for photos, videos and video conferencing etc, note nothing in the adverts mentions it as a PDA tool! Conclusion - these people do not purchase software because they purchased the phones for lifestyle purposes.

5. those that buy other brands and proprietary OS e.g Samsung, Motorola, SonyEricsson K series etc.

I fall in that category. Used all the Symbian phones and found them all bitterly disappointing. Using a SonyE K750 because it connects beautifully with my Revo and I am yet to see a Symbian phone trump it in terms of camera capabilities, at half the price of most s60s Somebody better come out with a good smartphone as I am running out of Revos.

So to cut a long short at present the buyers of S60 phones are simply buying phones with cameras under having been deluded by Nokia that it is a superior phone for their lifestyle.

A few months a go I was having a conversation with a friend who using a Windows Mobile phone (Dopod?) and he was trying to convince me that his phone was a PDA phone and that Symbian was only a smartphone, thereby alluding to the fact that his phone was superior (it is for what he wanted as a General Manager of a bank).

I said there should not be any difference, different words, same meaning.

His reply was - so why does handango.com categorise it that way i.e. a smartphone section and a PDA phone section - implying that PDAs are more powerful than smartphones (they are).

I had no reply because he was simply correct as he represented the typical user and we are but just a small percentage.

Fruit for thought?

sovind - I think your a bit harsh on the Nokia phones myself. I think for the unhappy people there are lots of people who are very happy. The S60 Nokia phones are the best smartphones on the market (though in contrast to a few years ago there is some real competition), whether people take advantage of that is another matter. You obviously has bad experiences 'deluded by Nokia that it is a superior phone for their lifestyle'. I can honestly say having tried a lot of different phone I think the N70 is the best all round multimedia phone I have ever used. I think the N80 is great too, and the N73 promises much.

I think they are well specified and good multimedia devices. While I agree you can pick out problems with a lot of the devices I don't think this is something particular to S60 smartphones (e.g. AutoKeylock is hardly a standard Nokia feature - it some and some). I also think that the camera are, generally, as good as they get for cameraphones. I do think the K750 is a nice camera phone but I think the N70 beats it myself. The K750 is inherently limited too. If people aren't using the extra features of the phone I think its more to do with not realising what they might be able to do. I guess here the proof is in the numbers - S60 phones are still selling in record numbers.

But as you rightly say they are not for everyone - it is about the best for for the user, but I would add this caveat - the user does not necessairly know what is best for him. A good example is a friend who bought an N70 phone. Didn't know about 3rd part services and software - now uses Sky by Mobile and Tom Tom, I doubt he'll ever swap despite an initally poor experience.

The PDAphones / smartphone - my phone is better / more powerful that your will rage on and on. It doesn't really matter as long as the phone suits you I guess.

You also mention S60 be hard to use. While there is plenty of room for improvement I think it is one of the better phone UIs out there especially considering the multitude of features.

Power users are a small part of the overall market, and while they at the moment consume the most software, this is not the long term picture. The key is to get the mass market using platform phones. Until that happens the real advantages for operators don't kick in. 5% of users in the UK use a S60 phone. Imagine if that was say 20%, think of the potential savings for operators on launching services etc (and as pointed out earlier this reaches the buzz level too). Platforms are as much for operators and manufacturers as they are for users.

Its going to be very interesting to see how UIQ 3 does. There's some interesting potential there. UIQ phone have previously attracted power users and hence a has been the best platform for sales. Whether this will continue as UIQ 3 phones broaden there base remains to be seen.

Well, i think it simply that: the market is NOT that big. People buying cellphone just for calling or sending sms to others. Then they're happy with the hardware enhancements like camera, radio, tv, and maybe if you can add wheels so you can drive it 😃. Not much we can do in a tiny screen with tiny speakers, tiny camera, tiny batery etc.

At the time i started learning Symbian programming, i thought as someday i would make a revolution haha In the middle of development process i decided to release it as a freeware, just to make people's phone nicer 😊

Regards,
Edd

The market is THAT big. It's just a matter of getting it right. Yes the mobile has restrictions, but it also has extra features and possibilities.

If killer app there is, it is almost certainly going to be an application that leverages this communication abilty that smartphones have. And that's where one of the main problem lies. If somebody someday comes up with a killer idea, implements it brilliantly and releases his application, which requires, say, significant data transfer via 3G, this application is going to be THE killer app in countries where data tariffs are very low.

Exactly. Any killer apps is going to require some internet connectivity, and for most, that's still quite expensive. People have gotten used to browsing for free at home or at work, as soon as you start charging someone per minute or per MB, they won't bother, home/work is just a few short hours away.

Someone mentioned a pre-installed app that allows you to buy and download apps right from the phone. Don't the new Nokia devices have this already? Nokia catalog (although I think they just changed the name). I haven't really used it yet so I don't know much about it.