Mobile Groove

At M-Pulse we make the transition to an all-app show, using our platform to bring our growing audience of mobile app developers and brands the information and insights essential to produce and promote engaging and effective applications. We kick off with a look at design and why it comes first — full stop — and connect with Arturo Toldeo, Senior User Experience Designer in the Windows Phone Design Studio in Redmond.

His advice to everyone, everywhere in mobile to put the experience (and the pers…

At M-Pulse Rob Woodbridge and I catch up with Itay Gadot, VP Marketing at inneractive, to dissect app monetization models, debate the realistic range of eCPMs (and revenues) developers can expect and discuss the increasing (and surprising!) importance of rich media ads in the marketing mix.

The interview is entertaining and hands-on, in part because Innteractive has seen the market from all the angles. Founded in 2007 as an in-game ad network, inneractive has since evolved into a mobile app monetization exchange that pulls together the resources (and reach) of 100+ ad networks and local premium agencies.

At M-Pulse it’s a month dedicated to mobile developer issues and we talk mobile app business basics opportunities with Ray Anderson, co-founder and CEO of Bango, a U.K.-based billing and analytics company that enables mobile developers to collect money for their apps.

But it’s not just about providing a platform that makes it possible for mobile app developers to sell apps and collect payments using carrier billing. Bango has cleverly inserted itself at the center of the burgeoning App Economy, collecting data and insights (about how users pay and how they prefer to be treated when they make their next purchase). It’s a stockpile of anonymized data that allows app

In episode #9 of M-Pulse I examine a recent report from analysis firm Ovum that claims social messaging applications cost mobile network operators US$13.9 billion in lost SMS revenue last year.

Ovum expects the decline (nearly 6 percent of total messaging revenue in 2010 and 9 percent in 2011) to continue as the popularity of messaging apps continues to grow. Ovum warns operators to rework their legacy services if they want to secure their future position in the messaging market.

How can mobile operators hold their ground? Neha Dharia, consumer analyst at Ovum and author of the report tells us collaboration, not competition is the way to succeed.

At M-Pulse we continue our month-long look at mobile developer issues and opportunities, and focus on the practical marketing ‘stuff’ developers should master if they are serious about marketing and making money from their apps. We connect with Caroline Lewko, CEO and founder of WIP (Wireless Industry Partnership) and walk through the Mobile Developer’s Guide To The Parallel Universe, a new resource from WIP that lays out the business basics developers need to follow.

In other segments:

Co-host Rob Woodbridge raises his Goblet of Rock to salute Snackr– the company disrupting terrestrial radio by delivering us personalized audio bite-size. Rob also looks backs on the ‘social discovery’ startups that left their mark on SXSW.

At m-pulse we kick off a month looking at the App Economy and what developers need to know to turn building apps into a viable and thriving business. To set the stage for a discussion of wider industry trends we go to the ‘go-to’ market analysis and strategy firm VisionMobile and its founder Andreas Constantinou.

VisionMobile, which consistently delivers the industry actionable insights and definitive reports on all things mobile, just last week released the Cross-Platform Developer Tools 2012 report. This ambitious work analyzes the complex cross-platform tools landscape and — more importantly