Apps are a part of our lives today. The traditional use of a mobile, that is calling and texting, has been taken over by the use of various apps! Consumers today prefer a smartphone, which helps them use their choice of apps efficiently. A large variety of apps are available for every OS (iOS, Android, Windows, etc). The number of android applications releasing every month is staggering but not all of these apps that are available are up to the mark. In our research we have chosen the following five as our top choices this month for Android.

#1. Frontback
First up is the app, Frontback. Now, taking a selfie could not get any better! With Frontback you click a picture with the front camera and another with the back camera. The pictures can be shared into one single image. Frontback is an exciting app to speak about your life with photos. It is also an online community with over 1 Million users who enjoy being creative or just sharing their daily life.

Features:
• Instant sharing of photos via SMS, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.
• Adds location to your images.
• Use of captions with @friends and #hashtags.

#2. ESPN FC Football & World Cup
Second in line is the ESPN FC Football & World Cup app. The World Cup is just around the corner! And who better than ESPN can give you live content of all the breaking news and analysis of every team directly on your phone, on the go! All football fans must have this app on their phones.

Features:
• Comprehensive coverage of all the major club leagues
• Alerts for game starts, goals, final scores and more.

#3. Timehop
Want to be reminded of your good old days? Our third chosen app, Timehop is just the one for you! It’s basically an app goes back into time and gives you a new old photo everyday! This app is more useful for people who have shared many photos in the past few years.

Features:
• Simple log in with your Facebook account
• Syncs with your different social networking sites.

#4. Yahoo News Digest

This is a brilliant app for those who wish a more handy way to catch up on the news. Yahoo News Digest, which gets all the news from different sources, is in our top four favourite apps for the month. This app sums up all the news, summarizes it with short “atoms” of quotes, images, videos and background information and delivers it as a package twice a day.

Features:
• Posts feature with beautiful photographs and colorful quotations.
• Trending tweets about article.
• Wikipedia entries to build background knowledge.

#5. Word Monsters
The last but definitely not the least by any means is the app, Word Monsters. From the makers of Angry Birds’ Rovio publishing division, comes an interesting new word game developed by experienced the industry professionals for use at home or in a school setting. This exciting and accessible word game involves swiping words off the screen and also competing against friends from social networks. The core word puzzles are fleshed out with different themes.

Features:
• Richly designed visuals and engaging stories featuring 5 quirky fun-loving monster characters, each with their own special ability
• Synchronized professional voiceover audio with text highlighting
• Character speech and accompanying speech bubbles for richer reading.

These five apps made an impact on us and on all their users. But, we do recommend you try the following ones as well. We have a feeling you will love them as well.

Now don’t be shy, give them a try!
• Waygo [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.waygoapp.waygo] • Mubi [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sk.jfox.weather.niger_mubi] • Aliens Drive Me Crazy (game) [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rebeltwins.aliensdrivemecrazy] • 1849 (game) [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.somasim.fortynine]

It’s fascinating how not too long time ago we once envisioned a future like how people in science fiction movies did. Today, we are almost living it! But this is not it; technology will continue to get much better. The past few years have seen great leaps in technology. Many innovations we use today have revolutionized the way we live and work. One of the most revolutionary innovations that have completely changed our lives is the “mobile”. Mobiles today have become a necessity. They are equivalent to oxygen for a human! What differentiates one mobile phone to another is its “operating system”.

One of the most popular operating systems in the market today is Google’s Android.

 But what sets Android apart from the rest? Open source. It’s a software that makes the source code freely available, for anyone to see and use. Google has opened up the software to all who have a spirit to create and provide applications and programs to others. Competitors like Apple and Blackberry have limited their system to developers by safekeeping some of its computer code. This limits creativity, as it puts restrictions and limitations as to what exactly what one can create. Thus, Android boosts a plethora of apps. Any kind of application one desires may already be in the Android play store. While creating an app, the developer must ensure a fantastic user interface. Why? A good user interface and user experience (UX) enhances the aesthetic appeal of the app, making the user use the app more often. The goal of developer is to create an app with a user interface, which makes it easy, efficient, and enjoyable in a way, which produces the desired result.

What makes Android more desirable is the security it offers to its users. It is designed with security as one of its cornerstone principles. Without comparing it to any other platform, it does a fantastic job of making sure processes don’t collect too much information. It has multiple layers of protection to keep malware at bay, and it requires the user’s specific permission to do almost anything that could lead to one’s data or the system being compromised. The user is generally always aware of what’s happening behind the scenes.

An Android phone is generally backed up with a RAM, ranging from 512MB to 4GB, the latter being rare. So, the developer must keep in mind that any app he creates must not consume a considerable amount of space, that ends up making the phone slower, and which ultimately results in a bad experience. A good app is one that takes the least space possible yet provides an enjoyable experience to the user. In terms of performance, Android never backs down. It constantly releases periodic updates to make the existing OS more efficient! New phones in the market come pre-installed with the latest Android OS.

Android is a system that allows one to constantly be in the loop. It automatically synchronizes Facebook, Twitter, emails, and numerous other accounts that are integrated into the system via apps or at stock for the user. Live widgets that monitor in real time, accounts, any and all social networks, social feeds, and business/personal accounts are updated instantly. In addition to that, its flexibility and power to design impactful user-interfaces build compelling, user-friendly applications that will look great on any device.

Android is only progressing. The future for it is bright and promising. It has shattered mobile systems realm, and will continue to do so. And its decision to be an open-source software, has made a bigger difference in the world of mobile operating systems. In a short span of time, Android has given other operating systems a run for their money.

In a hyper connected marketplace it has become necessary for any business to stay connected with the consumers on the go and all the time. Having a website or being present on social media platforms is just not enough. The profusion of personal mobile devices has multiplied the expectations of the consumers about access to information. We expect to find information on products anytime, anywhere. It is a challenge for the businesses to cope up with such dynamics of communication – but it’s also an opportunity.

In the current scenario, we cannot imagine the world without iPhones and they cannot be imagined without their applications. The Apple app store might be the busiest online store in the world and a variant number of apps are available, just about to cater to every tiny need in every walk of life or industry.

We discuss here, the top 5 reasons on why you must join the bandwagon and how will your business benefit. (We are sure there are plenty of other reasons, but here’s a start)

Reach

Mobile Internet as a platform has great potential in terms of reach. It has been estimated that 1 in 5 people uses a smartphone.  Of these numbers, IPhone users are about 22 – 30 % of the market. Which may not be the lion’s share yet but when seen in numbers, the total potential of the reach can be very easily seen. And this market is growing. Not to forget that if your business is to cater to developed nations or top-of-the-pyramid products/services, iPhone app is a must for your business because your customers are most likely to own an iPhone.

Revenue

An IPhone app is a good source of revenue. If a user in his capacity finds your app relevant, he/she may conduct business then and there. It adds another medium of generating revenue. The market of IPhone is huge, thus the market for the application also becomes bigger. The app may fetch more customers leading to a bigger market and eventually, more revenue. Most applications are chargeable on the app store making sure that the app developer earns the right amount of revenue through their apps. Market research shows that 4 out of 5 Iphone app users trust the app store and are willingly to pay for them. This is the trust that the Apple as a company and a brand has been able to bring forth.

Even though Android has more market share when it comes to numbers, Apple iPhone apps is where majority of app developers make money. So, to make money, iPhone app is a must!

Customer loyalty and keeping them up to date

 The biggest challenge for any business is to sustain its customers and their loyalty. A mobile app will also speak for the brand and builds a relationship between you and your customers. Your customers can receive the latest information from you, be it latest products, discounts, offers, newsletters, etc. through push notifications or in-app notifications. Make your app engaging and your customers will never leave you.

User Experience

 The iOS platform is a very simple, beautiful and user-friendly interface. Thanks to the genius of Mr. Jobs the interface is fast and easy to use. The iPhone has a great hardware with one of the fastest running RAM and amazing display. This is the plus that an app maker looks for in a phone. You can give an unparalleled experience to your clients on your app.

 Security

 To create an iOS app, one has to go through layers of internal and external approvals from Apple App Store, which ensures that when an app is being made, it is 100% full proof and secure. Hence, clients trust Apple and feel secure and are open to doing transactions on your app and paying for your services or products.

To create a beautiful and useful app for your business, connect with GoodWorkLabs today. Contact us.

In continuation of our Series ‘Choosing The Right Outsourced Product Development Partner – Part 1‘, here’s the Part 2 where we will try to understand what is the strategic advantage one should seek before choosing an outsourced-product-development partner.

Part 2 – 

Today, if I am outsourcing a function of my business I am looking forward to reap much greater benefits than the cost advantages. I want “Strategic Advantage” out of my outsourcing partners. What do I mean by “Strategic Advantage”? As a modern business when I think about Outsourcing Partners, I am thinking about all of the following aspects and many more depending on my business context.

• Will the partner bring the product, markets, and technology know-how related knowledge on table? Especially, knowledge related to the domains where I possess limited understanding.
• Will I be strongly positioned against the competition after this partnership?
• What is the labor cost arbitrage? How much can I save while keeping my quality and time line goals intact?
• Does this partner understand user-experience and creating beautiful yet meaningful user interfaces?
• Can I change or enhance my requirements mid-way when the partner is building my product with minimal impact?
• Am I improving my supply chain through this partnership?
• Will this partnership help me enter new markets?
• Will I be able to pacify factors like geographic recessions, seasonality in product life cycle, etc.?
• Will this partnership help me innovate and stay ahead in market?
• Will this partner provide great tech support, maintenance and enhancements in our growth phase?

When you outsource a function of your business, especially a product, you are not deploying tasks. You are letting an outside organization enter into your overall vision of how you want to grow.  You have to trust them enough to be a part of your value delivery system.

Undoubtedly, in outsourcing a lot rides on the partner you choose to develop the outsourced product.

Choosing a Right Outsourcing Partner:

Clearly there are two major yardsticks to choose the right outsourcing partner: Fit and Trust. No partnership can be formed without the foundation of trust and you also need a partner who fits your outsourcing related business objectives and philosophies.

In the next part, we will get into a detailed analysis of Fit and Trust factors. Read Part 3 here.

Garden City RubyConf that was held at Hotel Atria, Bangalore, was a major success with a packed house. Ruby developers and enthusiasts came in from around the globe.

GoodWorkLabs was a sponsor of the conference.

Check out some of the pics taken during the event, along with GoodWork team.

Via Flickr:
GoodWorkLabs was a proud sponsor of Garden City Ruby Conf 2014 held in Bangalore. Check out some pics.

Part 2 of  Confluence Of Big Data and Mobile – The Next Revolution by Vishwas Mudagal, CEO of GoodWorkLabs

Internet of Things

Mobile Big Data doesn’t always have to come from people, it also comes from background services and devices themselves that leave a trail of information capturing our every action. We call it Internet of Things (IoT). IoT has the ability to effectively ease the current big data projects. The IoT is a concept which explains how Internet will expand itself when the physical objects, like healthcare sensors, wristwatch displays, home entertainment systems, smart posters and many more, will be connected to the Internet.

(image courtesy)

As experts describe the IoT, actuators and sensors embedded in the physical objects – from racing cars to pacemakers, are linked through resourceful networks (both wired & wireless), often using the similar  IP (Internet Protocol), which power the Internet. When objects will start sensing the environment and communication, they will become valuable tools for understanding the complexity and responding to it hastily.

It’s predicted that The Internet of Things has the power to make the current big data projects look tiny and miniscule. Paul Bachteal, the senior director of the Americas technology practice for business intelligence vendor SAS, said that “billion is the new million” when IoT moves from a concept to reality.

Applications of Mobile Big Data in diverse industries  

Let’s take a look at some of the hot trends in a few industry sectors.

Retail

Big data has started to play a significant role in delivering insights into shopping behaviour of consumers and many smart retailers are introducing changes in their stores in order to deliver what the customers expect from them. Mobile Big Data has started giving retailers a factual and precise understanding of the buying patterns of different shoppers, how they move around in their stores, what they look out for and what attracts them. Social media inputs through location enabled services provide valuable data as well. Utilising this information, retailers can benefit more from their existing and potential customers while improving their bottom line.

To be concluded in Part 3.