"apps" articles

Companies are waging platform wars on a variety of fronts: digital media and apps, social networking and messaging, commerce and advertising, payment and artificial intelligence. Each player is fighting hard because it knows each new product and feature, each device iteration and software upgrade, along with related content and service updates, are critical to the end user's experience. The richer the experience, the higher the value a company can earn from its loyalists. But how...

Powered by BrightLine ’s interactive TV and advertising technology, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts released a branded smart TV app  available on Samsung and LG smart TV sets. The app allows consumers to check out Disney theme parks and vacation packages right from their living room, on the big screen. The app offers a wealth of information, including videos, photographs, and interactive maps of Disney theme parks and resort properties. The app also includes...

Another day, another major investment in a messaging app brand. Alibaba announced that it led a group of investors in a $280 million funding round in Tango, a mobile messaging app maker with about 200 million users globally. Alibaba alone contributed $215 million for a minority stake around 20-25%, which puts the valuation of Tango north of $1 billion. This is the continuation of intense market interest in messaging solutions since mid-2013. Before Facebook snatched WhatsApp, Genband...

Parks Associates President, Stuart Sikes , will be presenting new consumer survey results on smart home systems at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, TX. Sikes will be speaking at the Connected Home Developers Garage , taking place March 8-9. Among the research Sikes will be presenting include potential revenue sources for smart home system developers. Parks Associates finds that between 57% and 73% of likely smart home buyers are interested in purchasing upgrades or...

While the Android-based Nokia X smartphone stole the attention at MWC, everyone knows that for any Nokia smartphones to be successful, the phone maker needs to do more and fast in the app and content space. In a close-door meeting with industry analyst, Nokia’s two leaders, Bryan Biniak and Amit Patel detailed Nokia’s app ecosystem initiatives and answered our questions. I left the meeting with an overall feeling that these two Nokia leaders know where the gaps are between...

Facebook opens its checkbook again. This time, it spends $16 billion on WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app with a staggering user base and only a couple of years ago valued at $1 billion. What is most surprising from Facebook’s press release is the stat that WhatsApp’s volume of messages is “approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume.” If the WhatsApp buy is Facebook’s own recognition of the slow traction of its Facebook messenger app, it is also a smart move to acquire a...