15 Billion Downloads - have you got an app?

Apple have recently announced that they have had 15,000,000,000 application downloads and this makes you realise the power of the phone applications knowing that this is no longer a FAD but the way we will consume information globally in the years to come.

So are you involved? I think it is important now for every business to make themselves accessible via an "app" to  engage your customers through mobile because they'l see you everyday. We recently wrote about QR codes and how they can be used to take a user to a website on the go. Applications however give users the choice to see what your business is doing everyday. The problem is they can be expensive to make for the more complicated applications.

Their is a lot of competition in the Apple "app" store with over 425,000 of them to choose. Their are places which allow you to make applications for Androids and Ovi. Ovi App Wizard is in its beta stage and allows you to make an app in minutes for Nokia phones - not doing too well.  Android from Google has an app inventor in Google Labs. Will the other operating systems catch up?

Tell us what you think...

Dropbox - in case you drop your device.

Have you come across Dropbox yet because it's quite a nifty tool and simple to use. Basically you have three options 2GB Free, 50GB $9.99 and 100GB $19.99. This allows you to access your files from any your different devices such as a PC, Mac and your mobile. Its was founded in 2007 and received funding from Y-combinator who have also "funded over 300 startups" such as Scribd and Airbnb.

Dropbox revealed that it had over 25million users and it serves over 175 countries. They have "over 200 Million files saved daily" according to their website. Their mobile app is free on Android, BlackBerry and iPhone. It also allows you to share files using a link by email or on your social networks etc...

Box.net is a competitor but there are many different solutions to choose from and they have integrations with some of your other business tools such as Salesforce and your Google Apps. Their is obviously more focus around larger organisations with companies such as Dell and Virgin using them. So Box.net has a free plan which gives you around 5GB storage and then 25GB = $9.99 and 50GB = $19.99. If your a big file saver you may need 500GB for 3 or more users at $15 per user/month.

Tell us what you think...

Foursquare...check it out!

Launched in 2009 and its growing users base suggests you should check it out. "Foursquare is a location-based mobile platform" as foursquare.com says. With that in mind what can you do? well if your at a location you are able to "check in" using a smartphone app or by text. The platform currently has an app on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm, Ovi & Windows Phone. The growth in use of mobiles makes it an attractive choice for users to get rewards. The site claims to have over 10million users and 3million "checking in" each day so the site is still growing. In comparison to its counterparts it has a long way to go, but as we've seen before it doesn't always take that long. Foursquare also already has over 400,000 businesses using the merchant platform - the benefits??

So what is the use for businesses? well the person who checks in most to a location becomes a "mayor" and you could reward this person each week with something free - just an example. But the application will allow you to see who checks in and how frequently and offer discounts to those who "check in" a number of times.

Can I use it to get new customers? yes you can offer discounts or freebies for those who check in and get your existing users to share their location on Twitter and Facebook. It also has a stats feature to look at how effective your campaign is.

Let us know what you think of foursquare and how you use it...