Appitalism launches a social community for discovering apps (exclusive)
Finding the right app is getting hard in an age of app overkill. That’s why Appitalism has started a social community, combined with an online store, to help consumers quickly discover, discuss, and download the best digital content.
The Appitalism site has a wide catalog of apps that work on a variety of smartphones, tablets, PCs, and eBook readers. In a cross-platform world, that’s important, giving access to more than 10 million premium apps, songs, … Continue Reading
DiscoveryBeat 2010 photo gallery: a summary of tips and tricks, with pictures
Who will be the Google of discovery? VentureBeat tackled that tantalizing question at our DiscoveryBeat 2010 event in San Francisco on Monday. More than 200 attendees listened to talks on how to get apps noticed. We had the full ecosystem of discovery there, from successful app developers to PR folks to social game platform makers.
Above, Sebastien DeHalleux, co-founder of Electronics Arts’ Playfish social game division, kicked off the day with a fireside chat. He … Continue Reading
Why Foursquare doesn't owe its success to the iPhone
Location-based check-in service Foursquare saw a massive amount of success, both globally and in the United States, because it focused on multiple mobile platforms rather than a single one like Apple’s iPhone operating system or Google’s Android, according to Foursquare executive Holger Luedorf.
Foursquare went against the grain in embracing the fragmentation of the smartphone marketplace, said said Luedorf (pictured left), vice president of mobile partnerships with Foursquare, in an interview with VentureBeat editor-in-chief Matt … Continue Reading
Gaming legend Brian Reynolds on how FrontierVille might change Zynga
Veteran game designer Brian Reynolds said today that FrontierVille, the game that launched earlier this year, was a way for Zynga to experiment with a new kind of social game design. And the experiment paid off.
Unlike Zynga’s previous games, FrontierVille was put together by the company’s new Zynga East team, which consisted of more traditional game designers and was under the leadership of Reynolds, whose background was in traditional PC strategy games.
Reynolds was … Continue Reading
Kleiner's Bing Gordon: "The most promiscuous app audience" in history
Bing Gordon, who has invested in hot gaming companies like Zynga and just-acquired Ngmoco, said today that for app developers, just getting discovered is overrated. What’s important, he said, is making sure users keep coming back.
Gordon is a former Electronic Arts executive and now a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He spoke this morning at VentureBeat’s DiscoveryBeat conference in San Francisco, and said that discovery has a “constrained” value, while retention is … Continue Reading
PapayaMobile creates partnerships to help developers make money on Android apps
When it comes to making money on apps, Apple developers are far ahead of Google Android developers. But PapayaMobile is announcing today that it has set up key partners to enable in-app purchases for Android apps.
If developers support it and consumers take to it, it could be a big deal. We’ll hear more about this development from Si Shen, chief executive of Beijing-based PapayaMobile, at DiscoveryBeat 2010, where she is a panel speaker today.… Continue Reading
Unsocial broadcasts your business identity to those around you
Unsocial, a mobile app that helps people find potential business connections in their immediate vicinity, came out of stealth mode today at VentureBeat’s DiscoveryBeat 2010 conference in San Francisco.
Unsocial users can connect their LinkedIn accounts, or create a unique account for the application, and immediately find others using unsocial within a few miles. They can also find events in the area — such as DiscoveryBeat — and see an attendee list and announce their … Continue Reading
YD Online's Angel's Choice app to help with iPhone discovery
Getting stuff discovered on the App Store is pretty tough, considering there are about 300,000 apps available. But there’s an app for that. YD Online is launching its Angel’s Choice app today at the DiscoveryBeat 2010 conference in San Francisco.
Angel’s Choice is a game with a venture capital theme, allowing you to invest in your favorite apps. If lots of other players also vote for your app, then the value of the app goes … Continue Reading
AppStoreHQ introduces appESP for personalized recommendations on Android apps
Discovering new and useful Android apps isn’t easy. That’s why AppStoreHQ is introducing appESP, a personalized discovery platform for finding new apps on Android phones.
The company is releasing the app today at DiscoveryBeat 2010, our conference on getting apps noticed. The appESP “discovery engine” generates recommended apps using three sources: statistical analysis, or comparing installed apps across all Android users; social, leveraging your own friends to boost recommended apps your friends use; and something … Continue Reading
What you'll hear at DiscoveryBeat 2010: the unexplored territory of finding apps
DiscoveryBeat 2010 is just a day away. The conference at the Mission Bay conference center in San Francisco will have a single-minded focus on the problem of discovery, or finding the content that you want.
Like in the early days of the internet, finding what you want with the fewest steps possible is a problem that is only getting worse as more and more apps are piling into the Apple, Android and other app stores. … Continue Reading
Who can help you get your app discovered? 3 more experts at DiscoveryBeat 2010
We’re excited that DiscoveryBeat 2010 is coming up on Monday. And it’s about time we posted our final speakers.
DiscoveryBeat 2010 is an event focused on the secret recipes for application discovery and monetization. Our newest speakers represent vital parts of the ecosystem, from investors to app creators and experts who cover the space. Due to its success in 2009, the conference has expanded to a full-day event and will be held on October 18… Continue Reading
DiscoveryBeat 2010's latest speakers: Kleiner Perkins' Bing Gordon and more
Bing Gordon is sitting pretty in the new gaming gold rush that’s all social and mobile. A partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, he has been the critical consigliere for sizzling startups Ngmoco and Zynga, which have already generated big scores for his venture-capital firm. We hope to hear some insights from him on the state of mobile and social game investments when he speaks on a panel at DiscoveryBeat 2010, which will take … Continue Reading
Contest winner Infrinity snags a speaking spot at DiscoveryBeat 2010
To Infrinity and beyond! That’s the battle cry for Infrinity, the startup that has won our Needle in the Haystack business contest for DiscoveryBeat 2010.
Infrinity attacks the problem of discovery — how to get your apps noticed when there are tons of competitors available — through the use of inference, friends and affinity (that’s where it gets its name from). It helps developers find like-minded users for effective cross-promotion opportunities. Infrinity has created a … Continue Reading
7 new experts who will share their app secrets at DiscoveryBeat 2010
We’re entering the home stretch in preparations for DiscoveryBeat 2010, our conference about how to get apps noticed. DiscoveryBeat 2010 is an event focused on the secret recipes for application discovery and monetization. Our newest speakers represent vital parts of the ecosystem, from investors to app creators and experts who cover the space. Due to its success in 2009, the conference has expanded to a full-day event and will be held on October 18 at … Continue Reading
33 ways to make your app a hit: VentureBeat's Discovery Directory
As app stores multiply and the number of publicly released apps — just the ones we can see and count — approaches 1 million, content developers are having a hard time standing out from the crowd.
That process is known in the app world as discovery, and it’s getting harder with every new app, as developers fight for the attention of consumers and app-store managers.
“This is one of the key problems of our time,” … Continue Reading
Zynga buys Bonfire Studios and sets up Dallas game studio
Zynga‘s acquisition spree continues as the social game company announced today it has acquired Bonfire Studios, a Dallas-based social game startup. The price wasn’t disclosed.
The new studio will be called Zynga Dallas. The company’s three founders — David Rippy, Bill Jackson and Scott Winsett — started the company in November, 2008, after Microsoft shut down Ensemble Studios, the legendary maker of the Age of Empire games.
Dismantling Ensemble Studios was likely one of the … Continue Reading
DiscoveryBeat 2010 drumbeat continues with latest speaker additions
The list of great speakers for DiscoveryBeat 2010 keeps growing. DiscoveryBeat 2010 is an event focused on the “secret recipe” for application discovery and monetization. Our newest speakers represent vital parts of the ecosystem for getting content noticed.
Due to its success in 2009, the conference has expanded to a full-day event and will be held on October 18th at The Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Get your tickets here.
For publishers or … Continue Reading
GetJar to give mobile games away to millions of users for free
Mobile app store operator GetJar plans to shake up the mobile game industry by giving away millions of copies of mobile games for free.
That’s going to make it tough on companies that are trying to sell high-quality mobile games, but it will also give GetJar a shot at higher revenue by encouraging players to sample free games and then buy later.
San Mateo, Calif.-based GetJar runs what it calls the world’s second largest app … Continue Reading
Deadline approaches for DiscoveryBeat 2010 Needle in the Haystack business idea contest
We’ve got just a couple of hours left until the deadline for our Needle in the Haystack business idea contest for DiscoveryBeat 2010.
At our first DiscoveryBeat event last December, Ge Wang, chief technology officer and co-founder of Smule spoke about how his company made a deliberate effort to create humorous videos of people using Smule’s apps for the iPhone. Some were so entertaining they were viewed millions of times, giving Smule great exposure for … Continue Reading
DiscoveryBeat 2010 speakers: More top thinkers to delve into art of discovery
We’re pleased to announce some more big thinkers slated to speak at DiscoveryBeat 2010, the conference addressing the evolving problem of discovery in an era full of app stores and content. Our newest speakers represent vital parts of the ecosystem for getting content noticed.
DiscoveryBeat 2010 is an event focused on the “secret recipe” for application discovery and monetization. Due to its success in 2009, the conference has expanded to a full day event and … Continue Reading
