Innovations Around Mobile Applications: Scope for Indian Developers

Abstract

This paper explores innovations around mobile applications, globally, and brings out the scope for monetization of these trends, by Indian Application Developers. The paper is based on qualitative research and utilizes Content Analysis Technique for tabulating and reporting the data. A thorough literature review has been conducted to understand the innovations around mobile applications globally and to identify the top 5 categories of mobile applications. These categories serve as variables for understanding the scope for Indian mobile application developers. Data on Indian Mobile application market has been sourced from mass media: Top 3 English newspapers (Indian) and 6 online sources. Recommendations for Indian developers have been generated on the basis on data which was reported under 5 identified categories of mobile applications. Scope for Indian Mobile application developers is in (but not limited to) the following areas; Developing cloud enabled applications, developing customised Indian applications, working on innovations based on global acceptability through multi-language apps., synchronising data with backend systems and addressing security threats, reducing costs through prudent locations and newer API’s (Application Programming Interface), beta testing applications and appropriate keyword tagging for marketing and making applications oriented towards customer delight so that in the process of diffusion of the innovation, the application becomes an integral part of the customer’s life. Methodical content analysis brings out the scope for Indian application developers and offers them valuable insights on monetization tactics. Since the findings are based on published data from Indian Mass Media, it makes the paper very contemporary and the recommendations very implementable for the industry. Academicians working in this area too, will also find an avenue for further exploration. This research work is distinctive because of the lack of scholarly studies in this area, especially in the Indian context. Data from mass media and use of content analysis – a widely used qualitative analytic method for a scholarly study, increases its value by making the work recent, contemporary and worthy of further scholarly explorations.

  • Page Number : 119-136

  • Keywords
    Technology Management, Mobile Application, Content Analysis, Smartphone, India, Software Development, Marketing, Indian Innovations, Indian Developers

  • DOI Number
    https://doi.org/10.15415/jtmge.2012.32010

  • Authors

    • Meghna RishiLal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New Delhi

References

  • Accenture (2012), ‘Mobile Application Development: Challenges and Best Practises’, Accenture, USA.
  • Anonomous (2009) Mobile phones empower Uganda, Appropriate Technology, 36: 4, pp. 36.
  • Berg, R( 2011), ‘Industry Innovations: A mobile application interview with Bob Evans’, The Journal of Insurance Operations, March 2011.
  • Berger, A. A. ( 2012), ‘Media Analysis Techniques’( 4th Ed.), Sage Publication, USA, pp. 135
  • Biztech2 ( 2012), ‘India App development market to reach $227 mn in 2012’, Online. Biztech2.com. Available at http://biztech2.in.com/news/applications/india-app-development-mktto-reach-$227-mn-in-2012/142002/0. Cited on 27-8-12.
  • Bloch, J. ( 2006), How to design a good API and why it matters, Key note in Conference on Object Oriented Programming Systems Languages and Applications, NewYork.
  • Cnet Reviews (2020). Best Smartphones. Accessed on 15th September 2010. Available at http://reviews.cnet.com/best-smartphones/.
  • ComScore, 2010 (Online), “ The State of the Global Internet – with a Focus on Asia”. Webnair accessed on Wednesday, 2nd July 2010 at 10:00 am. Report available at http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2008/06/Top_Asia-Pacific_Search_Engines.
  • Daily Nation (2012), ‘Privacy and security in the era of mobile applications and multiple stores’. Online. Accessed from http://www.nation.co.ke/Tech/Privacy+and+security+in+the+era+of+mobile+apps/-/1017288/1487706/-/y3kd0c/-/index.html. Cited on 27-8-12 .
  • ECMA International(2002), Near Field Communication. Accessed on 14th September 2010. Available at http://www.ecma-international.org/activities/Communications/2002tg19-010.pdf
  • Edwards, N. H. ( 2002), Priorities for future research in privacy and security for mobile applications( Internet). PAMPAS project funded by EU’s Fifth Framework Programme. Cited on 7th Oct 2010. Available at http://www.pampas.eu.org/Position_Papers/BTexact.pdf
  • Ericsson ConsumerLab Report (2012), ‘Emerging App Culture’, pp. 3-4
  • Euzenat, Jerome; Pierson Jerome and Ramparany Fano( 2008), Dynamic context management for pervasive applications, The Knowledge Engineering Review, 23:1, pp. 21-49.
  • Flurry Analytics( 2011), ‘Mobile App Growth Led by Video Sharing: YouTube in the Crosshairs?’. Online. Accessed on http://blog.flurry.com/bid/84831/Mobile-App-GrowthLed-by-Video-Sharing-YouTube-in-the-Crosshairs. Cited on 26/8/12.
  • Gartner Research (2012), ‘Mobile Insight: Ten Consumer Mobile Applications to Watch in 2012’, Online. Accessed from http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1544815. Cited on 27-8-12.
  • Google developers (2012), ‘Google I/O 2012 - Developing for a Global Audience: Tools for Localization and Internationalization’. Online Video. Accessed on 5th Sept. 2012. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSGA19rG_D8.
  • Guo, B., Fujimura R., Zhang, D. and Imai, M. (2012), ‘Design- in-play: Improving the variability of indoor pervasive games’, Multimedia Tools and Applications, 59:1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-010-0711-z.
  • Gupta, M. P., Sahu, G. P. and Gauri, S. (2005), Assessing Impact of mobile communications on organisations: A Flexibility Analysis, Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 6:3/4, pp. 11
  • Gyorbiro, N., Fabian, A. and Homanyi, G. ( 2008), An activity recognistion system for mobile phones, Springer Science+Business Media, Published Online, November 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11036-008-0112-Y.
  • Hindu BusinessLine(2012)A, ‘Indian app software market will cross $227 m this year: Gartner’.Online. Accessed from http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/infotech/article3817096.ece. Cited on 29-8-12.
  • Hindu BusinessLine(2012)B, ‘Makemytrip launches comprehensive mobile suite’, Accessed from http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/marketing/article3627559.ece. Cited on 30-8-12 .
  • Indian Readership Survey Q4(2011), Online. Accessed from http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2012/03/irs-q4-2011-top-10-english-dailies/. Cited on 26th Aug 2012.
  • Iyer, KSS (2012), ‘7Seas launches teh Dark man for Android Devices’. Online. Accessed from http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/7seas-launches-the-dark-man-for-android-devices-256153. Cited on 31-8-12.
  • Johnson, S. P. (2008), Google earth, Microsoft Virtual Earth and Yahoo Maps dictate global mapping models, The Business Review Cambridge, 11:1.
  • Jones, V., Gay, V. and Leijdekkers, P. (2010), Body Sensor networks for Mobile Health Monitoring: Experience in Europe and Australia, Accepted for: The Fourth International Conference on Digital Society, ICDS 2010, February 10-16, 2010 - St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, CPS 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICDS.2010.41.
  • Kenney, B. (2007) Apple’s iPhone: Technology Product of the Year (online) Accessed on 23rd September, 2010. available at http://www.industryweek.com/articles/apples_iphone_technology_product_of_the_year_15288.aspx.
  • Krazit, T. and Shankland, S. (2009), Google launches Real Time Search, Cnet News (Online).7th December 2009. Accessed on 12th September 2010. Available at http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10410599-265.html.
  • Krishnaswami, N( 2012), ‘ App Stores: What Indian developers need to know’. Online. Accessed fromhttp://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-06/computing/31126609_1_appstores-google-s-android-market-app-developer/2 Cited on 31-8-12.
  • Law, A. (2012), ‘Developing India’s App Market’. Hindu Business Line. Online. Available at http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/eworld/article3266515.ece. Cited on 5th Sep 2012.
  • Lee, C. and Shim, J. (2006), An empirical research on user satisfaction with mobile business applications use and hedonism, JITTA : Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 8:3, pp. 57.
  • Lobo, A. (2011), ‘The Great Indian Mobile App’, Accessed from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-08-19/news/29905434_1_mobile-apps-app-store-informate-mobileintelligence. Cited on 31-8-12.
  • Maamar, Z. (2006), A Mobile Application based on Software Agents and mobile web services, Business Process Management Journal, 12:3, pp. 311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14637150610667980.
  • MChek( 2010). Accessed on 14th September 2010. Available at http://main.mchek.com/.
  • McLean, P. ( 2009), Canalys: iPhone outsold all windows mobile phones in Q2 2009, AppleInsider( online). Accessed on 12th September 2009. Available at http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/08/21/canalys_iphone_outsold_all_windows_mobile_phones_in_q2_2009.html.
  • Meier, R. ( 2010), On Event Based Middleware for Location Aware Mobile Applications, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 36;3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2009.90.
  • Miettinen, A.P., and Nurminen, J.K. (2010) Energy efficiency of mobile clients in cloud computing. Online accessed on September 18, 2010. Available from www.usenix.org/event/hotcloud10/tech/slides/miettinen.pdf
  • Miller, M, ( 2010), Top 10 SmartPhones of 2010...for now. ZNet( Online).21st May 2010., Accessed on 15th September 2010. Available at http://www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phones/top-10-smartphones-of-2010-for-now/3854.
  • Morgan Stanley( 2010), Internet Trends report, April 12, 2010, pp. 13.
  • MSN Gadgets( 2010), Sub Rs 6000 Smartphones: Nokia takes on local Indian rivals. Online.msn.com. Accessed on 6th Oct 2010. Available at http://computing.in.msn.com/gadgets/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3863835.
  • Nandi, S. ( 2012), ‘Youth channels crack teh digital code’. Online, Accessed from http://www.exchange4media.com/47639_youth-channels-crack-the-digital-code.html. Cited on 31-8-12.
  • NDTV (2012), ‘Indian’s “Smart Rickshaw Mobile app wins innovative prize’. Online. Accessed from http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/indians-smart-rickshaw-mobile-app-wins-innovation-prize-223314. Cited on 31-8-12.
  • Neuendorf, KA ( 2002), ‘The Content Analysis Guidebook’, Sage Publication, UK, pp 49- 50Ongraph (2012), ‘On Graph Technologies’. Online. Available at http://www.ongraph.com/. Cited on 5th Sep. 2012.
  • Pain, P. (2012), ‘Now the Blind and Deaf can read and send SMS’, Online. The Hindu. Accessed from http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article3318264.ece. Cited on 30-8012.
  • Palmer, J. (2009) Second Google Phone is Unveiled. BBC News. Posted on 17th Feb 2009. Online accessed on 30th September, 2010. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7894516.stm.
  • PC World( 2012), ‘The 101 best mobile applications’. Accessed on http://www.pcworld.com/article/203633/the_101_best_mobile_apps.html. cited on 26/8/12.
  • Poitou, Jean-Laurent, (August 2011), Emerging markets fuel demands for smartphones,
  • Rasheed, H( 2012), ‘Innovation Strategy’, iUniverse Publishing, NY, pp. 188.
  • Rediff (2009), ‘Mobile apps prove a boon for Indian developers’. Online. Accessed from http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/19/tech-mobile-apps-prove-a-boon-for-indiandevelopers.htm. Cited on 31-8-12.
  • ResearchonIndia (2012), ‘ Mobile Application Market in India’. Online Video. Accessed from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cGTdPqk7cw. Cited on 5th Sep, 2012.
  • Ryan, PK( 2011), ‘Digital and Information Literacy: Social Networking’, The Rosen Publishing Group, NY, pp. 7-8.
  • Sapolsky, BS; Molitor F and Luque S( 2003), ‘Sex and violence in Slasher Films: Re-Examining the assumptions’, ‘Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly’, 80:1, pp. 28- 38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/107769900308000103.
  • Satyanarayanan, M and Narayanan, Dushyanth (2001), Multi Fidelity Algorithms for Interactive Mobile Applications, Wireless Networks, 7: 6, pp. 601. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1012315301312.
  • Scmitt, J., Hollick, M., Roos, C. and Steinmetz, R. (2008), Adapting the user context in realtime: Tailoring online machine learning algorithms to ambient computing, Springer Science+Business Media (Published Online), October 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11036-008-0095-8.
  • Shinde, S. ( 2012), ‘Think innovation: Mobile apps ride on rural India’. Online. Accessed from http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/think-innovation-mobile-apps-rideruralindia-/449592/. Cited on 31-8-12.
  • Shrivastava I (2011), ‘ Cricket apps ride WorldCup wave’. Time of India Online.. Available at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Cricket-apps-ride-World-Cupwave/articleshow/7566288.cms. Cited on 5th Sep 2012.
  • Syal, S. ( 2012), ‘Mobile apps developed by Indian ventures notching up millions of downloads on global stores’. Online. Economic Times. Cited from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07-27/news/32889364_1_mobile-application-mobile-devicesmobile-game. Cited on 29th Aug 2012.
  • Tarnacha, A. and Maitland, C. (2008), Structural Effects of Platform Certification on a Complementary Product Market: The case of Mobile Applications, Journal of IT Standards and Standardisation Research, 6:2, pp. 48- 65. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-946-5.ch015.
  • Tejaswni, M. J. (2012), ‘Cloud is changing the way applications are designed, tested and deployed’. Online. Times Of India. Available at http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-24/bangalore/33365906_1_open-source-software-asheesh-raina-gartner. Cited on 26-8-12.
  • The Economic Times (2011), ‘The Great Indian Mobile App’. Online. Available at nextwavemultimedia.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/et-19jan113.jpg. Cited on 5th Sep 2012.
  • The Times of India ( 2006). Mobile IM, The SMS alternative?( Online). Accessed on 20th September 2010. Available at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Mobile-IM-The-SMS-alternative-/articleshow/291568.cms.
  • Wimmer, RD and Dominick, JR( 2011), ‘Mass Media Research: An Introduction’, Cengage learning, USA, pp. 157-158.

  • Published Date : --