Android » mobilegroove

In brief: This week we set the stage for a soon-to-be released Netsize report that reveals the business models and payments mechanisms necessary for app stores to achieve mass-market commercial success. Perfect timing to continue the Netsize Guide 2010 "Best Of" series with Patrick Mork, GetJar VP Marketing, and his sober look at the app store landscape.

With 75 app stores (and still counting) open for business it's clear that creating competitive differentiation is going to be critical in the next weeks. What will likely separate the leaders from the laggards? Choice? Ease of payment? Content discovery? Something else?

In brief: Steve Ives, Taptu CEO, recounts the key takeaways of the new report showing the growth of Mobile Touch Web sites outpaces the growth of apps in the Apple and Android app stores why commerce rocks on the Mobile Touch Web PLUS a look a the Virtual Roundtable and what mobile industry entrepreneurs, authorities and pundits think about the Mobile Touch Web and the potential impact on how we live, work and shop.

Taptu, the search and discovery engine that indexes touchscreen content, reports that the Mobile Touch Web – websites and destinations created specifically for access via touchscreen devices such as the Apple iPhone – has grown 35 percent since last quarter. Unlike other mobile Web content, this content stands out through finger-friendly layouts and light-weight pages that are faster to load over cellular networks. The report, which covers January 2010 thru April 2010, also shows Mobile Touch Web sites rose to 440,100 from 326,600 in January.

In brief: An exclusive interview with JumpTap CMO Paran Johar connects the dots in this week's announcement to support permission-based advertising with a new feature that lets consumers choose mobile display ads they will accept. PLUS a wider discussion of the value of

Mobile advertising is the hot topic today. Apple will likely take the wraps off its mobile ad platform and may even confirm analyst suspicions that Apple will use the event to at least announce its intention to integrate an advertising platform into the iPhone SDK. As the battle lines are being drawn between Apple/Quattro and Google/AdMob, this post from John Furrier via Silicon Angle points out the only major and neutral ad network left is Millennial Media.

Mobile 2D barcode scanning is paving the way for a range of exciting and lucrative schemes hyperlinking our physical world of things (all objects including product packaging, printed media, TV, billboards, equipment – the works!) with a digital world or websites and destinations filled with information, advertising, applications downloads, coupons, processes and special offers.

The last weeks have seen a slew of announcements in this space, heralding a new phase in market development, new thinking about the business models (particularly the value to the enterprise) and new urgency in the race among companies across the emerging business ecosystem to get barcode strategies in place – fast (!).

The Netsize Guide 2010 is also creating a stir at CTIA, where several fans have asked me for a copy. But at 200+ pages it really wasn't the ideal hand luggage to bring on the trip. Instead, MSG and Netsize move on to Part 2 in the ongoing series to showcase a “best of” selection of executive interviews and hot topics that have everyone talking. On the heels of the fantastically successful SXSW conference, there's a sharp focus on figuring out how companies can move from meeting place to market place – and make money in the process.

Flirtomatic is certainly a company that provides a blueprint.