Large companies may dominate the headlines coming from CTIA Wireless when it comes to hardware releases, but mobile software is still very much an open field for smaller vendors. Mobile application makers were out in force at Monday evening's ShowStoppers event, showing off systems for finding your way around stores, turning phones into remote controls, and developing apps in new ways.
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A handful of emerging companies in the mobile space showed off their wares at a ShowStoppers event Monday night as a kickoff to this week's CTIA Wireless convention in Orlando, Fla.
From maps for the interiors of malls to an infrared device that turns your iPhone into a universal remote, there was no shortage of new ideas.
Making Apps Universal by Taking Them to the Web
One of the more intriguing showcase sat the event, however, centered on a technology that the vast majority of users may never even notice. Enter AppMobi.
Last year, AppMobi launched what it calls an "XDK," which stands for "cross-platform development kit. This is as opposed to the more traditional SDK (software development kit), which is customarily made for a proprietary development platform. What appMobi does is allow users to create an app using whatever program they want. Once it's finished, they upload the app to appMobi's cloud servers, where it is encoded into a universal format that can be experienced by millions of mobile users.
"The world of proprietary development platforms is dead," David Kennedy, the company's VP of business development, told TechNewsWorld. "Consumers want access to all the content that's out there, and developers want to make their content accessible by everyone."
The new platform has just come out of beta testing and is free for developers. Where the company hopes to make its money is by offering extra services like over-the-air app updates, in-app transactions, and mobile analytics.
"However, if a developer wanted to come in and use our platform for their app, they could foreseeably do it at no cost to them," noted Kennedy.
Wander No More, Weary Shopper
The idea of making apps more accessible for developers and users is a widespread goal, as ideas for apps dominated the ShowStoppers floor.
Apps have revolutionized the industry not only by making it easy to get content on a mobile device, but also because they've opened up imaginations like never before.
Case in point: There was not one, but two companies at ShowStoppers that took the idea of GPS technology and brought it into a retail environment. For example, when you're walking through the aisles of a Home Depot (NYSE: HD), how long does it take to find out where the small kitchen-appliances are?
That's the kind of problem targeted by Aisle 411, a new company that focuses exclusively on mapping the insides of stores, aisle for aisle. From the moment you pull into a parking lot, the Aisle 411 app knows what store you're shopping. When you walk in, you tell the app what you're looking for (e.g., "mouthwash"), and the app's voice recognition technology will immediately search and tell you the exact aisle -- along with a map of the store -- so you can find what you're looking for.
The Human Story of App Development
As Aisle 411 CEO Nathan Pettyjohn was getting the company off the ground, he would personally walk into stores and get the product information himself, he said.
"By using existing store directory information, we were able to map the entire store's inventory with 80 to 90 percent accuracy, without any direct involvement from the store" he told TechNewsWorld. "At that point, we would go to the retailer and show them what we were able to do, and that's when they started to want to be involved."
Aisle 411 is giving its app away for free on the iTunes App Store. The company earns its revenue from targeted ads and promotions embedded in the app. An Android Market version should be coming out soon.
Apps, Apps and More Apps
Right across the hall at ShowStoppers was Navteq, which is working in a somewhat similar field of technology. Already established in the market of GPS navigators, Navteq is now looking to sell 2D and 3D maps of malls and shopping centers. The company's vision is for users to be able to enter a mall and know where every store is instantly. Navteq is working with app developers to bring the vision to reality, and it already has complete map information for 200 shopping centers across the country.
Navteq also sees potential for stadiums and concert venues, allowing people to more easily find their seats. Museums, Las Vegas hotels, and other indoor locations add to the possibilities.
Other highlights at ShowStoppers included exercise-tracking apps, universal remote apps, and location-aware browser apps. There will likely be breaking hardware news coming from the actual CTIA show itself, which begins Tuesday, but for the emerging companies, software is the place to make a mark. Thanks to the mobile environment, the cost to entry is lower than ever, which expands the potential for all sorts of creativity.
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