With Instagram recently having been acquired by Facebook for $1 billion and OMGPOP, makers of Draw Something, cashing in for $200 million, developers are attacking the mobile app space with a renewed vigor. Before jumping head first into a new project aiming to be the next big acquisition target, developers might be wise to look over a white paper recently put together by App Promo.

App Promo conducted a study last month in an effort to investigate how well mobile developers are performing in this crowded space. In its survey, the company found that a staggering 59% of mobile apps do not generate enough money to break even. Only 12% of developers earn $50,000 or more from their apps, and these developers were found to have big marketing budgets of $30,000 or more. They also spend about 14% of their time focusing on marketing on average.

“With over a million applications in the market across platforms, app publishers are finding it increasingly challenging to cut through the noise and get their apps discovered and downloaded,” the firm wrote in its white paper. “Those developers that spend money and time on marketing outside of the app stores found the most success based on the revenue they had earned for their app. This core finding echoes what we believe as a leading app marketing and strategy firm, that in order to make an app a successful business you need to ensure that you have a budget and time allocated to marketing and promoting your app.”

The firm concludes that application discovery is a huge barrier in the crowded mobile software space, and a solid marketing strategy is of the utmost importance as a result. App Promo’s research is based on data collected from a survey of “over 100 qualified app developers,” and an infographic outlining key data points from App Promo’s study follows below.

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Amazon on Tuesday announced a new mechanism that will facilitate in-app purchases within mobile applications available for download in the Amazon Appstore. Much like the services currently offered in iOS apps by Apple, in BlackBerry apps by RIM and in Android apps by Google, Amazon’s new system will allow developers to sell additional content, level packs, new features and more from within their apps. ”Amazon Appstore’s In-App Purchasing service enables developers to generate more revenue from their apps,” Amazon Appstore director Aaron Rubenson said in a statement. “In-App Purchasing is simple to integrate and gives developers access to millions of Amazon customers who are already familiar with Amazon’s 1-Click payment system. Many of Amazon Appstore’s customers have shopped with Amazon before and they trust Amazon’s easy payment process, which leads to higher conversion of developers’ in-app content and subscriptions.” Amazon’s press release follows below, along with a video detailing the new service.

Amazon Appstore Announces In-App Purchasing Service for Kindle Fire and Other Android Devices
Developers can now offer digital content and subscriptions within apps and games using Amazon’s
1-Click purchasing

SEATTLE – April 10, 2012 – (NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced an In-App Purchasing (IAP) service, making it easy for Amazon Appstore developers to offer digital content and subscriptions for purchase within apps and games that are available on millions of Kindle Fires and other Android devices.

Amazon Appstore’s In-App Purchasing service is simple for developers to integrate and helps monetize their apps and games, while offering customers a seamless and secure 1-Click purchasing experience.  Top developers including ZeptoLab, Disney, Glu Mobile Inc., Storm8, Social Gaming Network, Gameloft, G5 Entertainment Inc,. and top publishers like Condé Nast, Dow Jones and New York Post have already integrated Amazon Appstore’s In-App Purchasing API and are offering millions of Amazon customers in-app content and subscriptions.  To learn more, developers can watch a video about Amazon’s In-App Purchasing service at  http://www.youtube.com/amazonappstoredev.  To find the Quick Start Guide, sample code, tutorials and FAQs, visit the Amazon Appstore Developer Portal at http://developer.amazon.com/appstore.

“Amazon Appstore’s In-App Purchasing service enables developers to generate more revenue from their apps,” said Aaron Rubenson, Director of Amazon Appstore. “In-App Purchasing is simple to integrate and gives developers access to millions of Amazon customers who are already familiar with Amazon’s 1-Click payment system. Many of Amazon Appstore’s customers have shopped with Amazon before and they trust Amazon’s easy payment process, which leads to higher conversion of developers’ in-app content and subscriptions.”

G5 Entertainment

“We found that by offering a product with IAP, rather than other monetization types, our conversion rates went up as did our revenue on a per title basis,” said Larissa McCleary, Director of Marketing at G5 Entertainment, Inc., creator of Virtual City Playground and Mahjong Artifacts. “Although our experience on Amazon has always been great, we are thrilled now that IAP is available.”

Social Gaming Network

“Amazon’s in-app purchasing solution created a great way for us to reduce friction and drive more revenue from our games, as millions of people already have Amazon accounts,” said Michael Ritter, Senior Vice President Licensing & Distribution at Social Gaming Network, maker of Warp Rush, Dress Up Fashion, Bird’s the Word, and Night of the Living Dead Defense.  “Kindle Fire already has a well-integrated store front and marketplace to distribute mobile games.  By enabling in-app purchases we are able to be more flexible in pricing. We can release free games, provide updates and enhancements, and continue to monetize.”

Storm8

“With Amazon’s impressive track record and tremendous success with the Kindle, we knew the Appstore would be a hit, so we signed up right away. And when we heard that Amazon was launching the SDK with in-app purchasing, it was a no-brainer for us to integrate,” said Perry Tam, CEO and Co-Founder at Storm8, producer of games such as Restaurant Story, Bakery Story, Farm Story, Fashion Story.  “Our experience with the Amazon Appstore has been great. We were thrilled when they decided to add in-app purchasing support to their SDK, and the Amazon team worked closely with us throughout the beta test for this feature. Our games quickly gained traction on the platform; all of the Storm8 apps hit the Appstore’s Top 10 list within a week of launching.”

New York Post

“By integrating In-App Purchasing, our goal was to offer Amazon’s frictionless purchasing experience to our customers. This includes the ability for customers to easily subscribe using 1-Click, take advantage of a 14-day free trial, and to auto-renew,” said David Rozzi, Director of Digital Projects at New York Post.  “We’re excited about the results so far, and we look forward to continuing to provide content to customers on Kindle Fire and other Android devices.”

Mobile Deluxe

“Implementing the Amazon Appstore for Android In-App Purchasing solution was a piece of cake.  We were able to turn it around and get it into internal testing within a few days’ time,” said Sean Thompson, Vice President of Production, Mobile Deluxe. “The documentation was top notch and the SDK contained everything we needed to test the implementation.”

Adobe

“The Amazon Appstore SDK made it easy for us to enable Digital Publishing Suite to support in application purchasing of both single issues and subscriptions of digital magazines on Kindle Fire,” said Zeke Koch, Senior Director, Product Management, Digital Publishing at Adobe. “Amazon’s well-designed API and rapid support allowed us to help our enterprise publishing customers be first on the Fire.”

To see how simple it is to integrate, developers can watch a video about Amazon’s In-App Purchasing service at www.youtube.com/amazonappstoreforandroid.  Several of the In-App Purchasing beta test participants will share best practices via the Amazon Appstore Developer Blog at www.amazonappstoredev.com and on Twitter (@amznappstoredev). Learn more about Amazon Appstore Developer Services and submit apps online through the Amazon Appstore Developer Portal at http://developer.amazon.com/appstore.

The iPhone’s unprecedented success stems from the combination of multiple factors, not the least of which are Apple’s industry-leading design prowess and its ability to make software that appeals to enthusiasts and mass-market users alike. The culture and hype surrounding Apple products doesn’t hurt either, of course. Where the overall experience is concerned, Apple wisely created a scenario that gives it control of both hardware and software, removing carriers from the equation to an extent and ensuring the end user enjoys the experience Apple envisions without any substantial impediments. Despite this ideal scenario, some industry watchers maintain that fragmentation is unavoidable to some degree, and this issue exists in the iOS ecosystem just as it does with Android.

In the case of Google’s mobile operating system, a number of factors cause fragmentation. For one thing, Android is open source and key partners such as Samsung, HTC and LG modify the OS in a number of ways. While proprietary OS enhancements do not necessarily have a direct impact where fragmentation is concerned, they do slow the development process at the vendor level, thus increasing the amount of time users must wait to receive updates.

Industrial and graphic designer Chris Sauve recently published an in-depth analysis of Android fragmentation, and he determined that while Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was unveiled in late 2011 and Android 5.0 Jelly Bean is coming later this year, 2012 is actually the year of Gingerbread, which was unveiled 15 months ago in late 2010.

Conversations surrounding whether or not iOS is fragmented date back several years and persist to this day, and Sauve revisited the issue of fragmentation in March. This time, however, he looked at the issue as it may or may not apply to Apple’s mobile platform.

Using data points obtained from 50 different mobile software developers, Sauve analyzed iOS version adoption over the past 21 months since iOS 3.0 was introduced.

He also looked at iOS adoption relative to each version’s launch to see how quickly each build was adopted by end users.

Finally, this data was plotted against Sauve’s earlier Android adoption data.

Complaints of fragmentation in Apple’s mobile ecosystem were most prominent in early- and mid-2010, and iOS 3.0′s adoption rate shows us why. Since then, however, the adoption rate of Apple’s major new OS builds has been remarkable.

“iOS 5 captured approximately 75% of all iOS users in the same amount of time it took Gingerbread to get 4% of all Android users,” Sauve wrote in his analysis on pxldot. “Even more astounding is that 15 weeks after launch iOS 4 was at 70% and iOS 5 was at 60% while Ice Cream Sandwich got to just 1% share at the same age. If there were any question as to whether iOS had a less fragmented ecosystem than Android, the past two charts provide a fairly definitive answer.”

Sauve continued, “iOS devices have, on average, reached 10% version share 300 times faster than Android versions, 30% share 19 times faster, and 50% share 7 times faster.”

The adoption rate of future major iOS builds will likely be even more impressive thanks to the introduction of an over-the-air update mechanism Apple added in iOS 5. With iCloud backing up data, on-device notifications when updates become available, and the requirement of connecting to a PC to update no longer a factor, the major barriers standing between mass-market users and software updates have been eliminated.

This ensures that users have access to the most current iOS features as quickly as possible, and it also means developers don’t need to worry about old iOS versions as much while they shift focus to new builds.

Many industry watchers argue that software ecosystems now present one of the biggest hurdles to mobile platform owners looking to combat the mobile juggernauts that iOS and Android have become. BGR has been covering the issue for years, and in November 2010 we said that absent apps were a huge barrier for Microsoft as it re-entered the mobile space with Windows Phone. Now, nearly a year and a half later, the Windows Phone platform is being taken a bit more seriously by mobile developers, however the issue of getting premium apps onto the platform in a timely fashion persists. In an effort to combat this problem, Microsoft and Nokia have launched a new program aimed at attracting attention from emerging developers. Read on for more.

Nokia and Microsoft recently announced a new program called AppCampus. In association with Aalto University in Finland, the companies have devoted up to $12 million each that will fund developers at the university who build apps for Windows Phone and other Nokia platforms.

“The AppCampus program has been set up to foster the creation of innovative mobile applications for the Windows Phone ecosystem, and in addition, Nokia platforms, including Symbian and Series 40, to create a new generation of self-sustaining mobile startups,” the companies noted on the AppCampus website.

The program will kick off in May and will be managed by Aalto University, which Nokia has identified as a hotbed for new startups. “We are proud to announce this new program, which will enable new and existing developers to create next-generation mobile apps and unique user experiences,” Nokia EVP Kai Öistämö said in a statement. “The partnership will allow developers to ideate and monetize business opportunities globally, via both Windows Phone Marketplace and Nokia Store.”

Google on Tuesday announced on the company’s developer blog that it has updated its Android Application Statistics tool in an effort to provide more detailed information to developers. The tool originally provided apps’ performance throughout various countries, system versions and device models, among other data. The update brings a new way to analyze data as well as a redesigned user interface and new installation metrics that can measure unique user and device stats. Developers can view active installs, total installs and daily installs of their applications along with unique user and device data, and they have access to uninstall data as well. Additionally, developers will be able to monitor which carrier customers are on and which version of each app customers are using.

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To say that the past 12 months have been a bit rocky for RIM and the Blackberry eco-system in general would be grossly understating the obvious. The once great manufacturer has seen record capitol losses and watched its market share slide at an increasing rate. One of several reasons for the slip has been a lack of developers attention for the BlackBerry platform, especially relative to competitors such as iOS and Android. The Blackberry Playbook, RIM’s attempt at entering the tablet world, has floundered for just this reason. Ignoring the myriad other concerns about the company’s current state for the current moment, the lack of apps available for the PlayBook rendered it more or less DOA. Read on for more.

As just one of its many attempts to plug a hole (or 20) in a sinking ship, RIM put together a small panel today at Mobile World Congress to outline some of its plans for both the upcoming BlackBerry OS 10 in general and, more specifically, future plans to reinforce and improve the PlayBook itself.

The company spoke specifically about its excitement over Cascades, the TAT-built development GUI for OS 10, and it noted that many developers are currently being included in conversations about specific plans for the next-gen operating system. While we didn’t hear many specific promises with regard to improvements or OS evolution, RIM does seem committed to listening to its user base as the company presses forward.

Gaming and social features will, of course, remain paramount, and RIM plans to enhance existing staples such as BBM with a more robust feature set. For example, BMM will soon include a “share page,” allowing users to share a page of an eBooks with a connected BBM friend. Social reading, if you will. A cool touch, but nothing terribly revolutionary. As we said, however, this is just one example of how RIM is trying to re-embrace social.

All told, we certainly didn’t see anything that screamed “RIM is saved!” but we are comforted a bit by the company’s seemingly genuine understanding of its mistakes, a willingness to acknowledge errors, and a desire to improve relations with both consumers and, most importantly, developers. This latter point is crucial, as the potential extinction of the BlackBerry brand has scared off developers wary of pouring time into programming complex apps for an eco-system that may or may not still be around in 12 months.

The message from RIM seems to be this: be patient with us and we will reward you with a stable, well supported, and complex platform to showcase your apps. Great message, but as always, implementation and follow through is the challenge. Will RIM rise to the occasion? That remains to be seen.

AT&T is preparing a service that will let mobile app developers pay for the mobile data used by their applications, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. AT&T’s network and technology head John Donovan compared the service to toll-free calling for the mobile-broadband world. “A feature that we’re hoping to have out sometime next year is the equivalent of 800 numbers that would say, if you take this app, this app will come without any network usage,” said Donovan. Customers are now more concerned than ever when it comes to monthly data allowances, and they might be more likely to purchase an app or a movie if the content provider covered the price of the data associated with using the app or streaming content. “It’d be like freight included,” Donovan noted.

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Earlier this month, Research in Motion began to offer free BlackBerry PlayBook tablets to any Android developers that repackaged their apps for App World. Due to overwhelming interest, the Monday deadline for registration has been extended to February 15th and all developers will have until March 2nd to submit their apps. As of last Friday, there had been more than 1,500 app submissions and over 6,600 new developers registered in the BlackBerry App World according to RIM. According to a post on its blog late Monday, the company is “working around the clock to approve vendor registrations and app submissions.”

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Over the next 12 months, Google’s Android operating system will become the favorite platform among mobile developers, according to research firm Ovum. Nearly all developers, however, will support both mobile platforms. While Apple’s iOS and Android have long been the favorites, Ovum said there is growing developer interest in both Windows Phone and BlackBerry operating systems. “The growing momentum behind Windows Phone indicates that Microsoft has managed to convince developers that its platform is worthy of investment; its challenge now is to persuade consumers,” said Ovum analyst Adam Leach. The research also showed that developers are moving away from traditional mobile development applications such as Java and Flash. Developers are instead focusing their efforts on the web-based HTML5 standard, which is becoming the preferred approach to building cross-platform applications. “A smartphone platform’s success is dictated not only by the pull of consumers and the push of both handset vendors and mobile operators but also a healthy economy of applications delivered by third-party developers,” said Leach. “Therefore, it is important for all players in the smartphone ecosystem to understand the choices developers are making today and the downstream impact of those choices.”

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Microsoft recently revealed a number of details on its Windows 8 Windows Store, an application storefront that will launch in February in tandem with Windows 8 Beta. Microsoft corporate vice president Antoine Leblond explained that developers will receive 80% of all revenues from applications sold after earning $25,000 in revenue, before which developers will receive a 70% cut. Apple, by contrast, offers developers 70% of app revenues. Microsoft is also taking a different approach to subscription models. The Daily Telegraph, for example, will offer a subscription option to its daily newspaper but will use its own existing authentication system to allow its users to log-in. Apple and Google typically force developers to use proprietary subscription systems. Read on for more.

“Lots of apps already have business models that depend on a particular transaction provider or that benefit from ties to other lines of business,” Ted Dworkin, partner program manager for Windows 8 Windows Store explained in a blog post. “Customers of those businesses want the trust and efficiency of a familiar, trusted transaction experience.” Developers can also choose “whatever ad platform they prefer, whether it’s from Microsoft or someone else.” Microsoft recently published its app certification policies and said that its goal is to be transparent by using “plain language” in its approval process and that it will provide feedback to developers whose apps are rejected.The Windows 8 Windows Store will have a global reach, allowing software companies to publish applications in 231 markets and in more than 100 languages.

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We’re live from Spotify’s New York City press conference where CEO and founder Daniel Ek took the stage to announce several new Spotify features, most notably applications. Ek confirmed that Spotify will launch a “truly integrated” application platform inside Spotify that will be “tailored to you and your user tastes.” Third party developers can easily build HTML5 apps using a simple API. The first generation of applications will be featured within the “Spotify platform.” Read on for more.

Examples of the capabilities apps might feature include the ability to automatically find song lyrics from a track that is currently playing, or the ability to find upcoming concert dates and locations without ever leaving Spotify. The company has partnered with Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard and more for additional applications. Rolling Stone, for example, will help users find new music and albums from staff recommendations and even essential daily playlists.

The application platform is just one way Spotify is adding an edge to its software in an effort to compete with services from Apple, Rhapsody, Google and Amazon. Spotify first launched in the United States in June and Ek said his company is adding more than 20,000 new tracks every day. It now has more than 10 million active users, 2.5 million of which are subscribers to its pay-for services. It’s so popular, in fact, that Ek said piracy has decreased by 25% since Spotify launched.

Spotify’s press release follows below.

Spotify: A Perfect Platform for Apps

Spotify, the largest and fastest-growing music service of its kind, today opens up a new world of possibilities with Spotify Platform.

Spotify Platform gives third party developers the opportunity to build innovative, engaging music-based apps. To us, it’s the next big step in musical enjoyment.

These free apps integrate beautifully with Spotify, both visually and functionally, and can be accessed and shared by millions of Spotify users through the new App Finder, launching today as a preview at www.spotify.com/us/download/previews/

The first generation of Spotify Apps features 16 partner apps, with 12 available from launch today. We’ve been lucky to partner with some of the brightest and best brands in the world to create engaging, fun, and social apps.

The 13 global partners launching on the Spotify App Finder include Billboard, Fuse, The Guardian, Last.fm, Moodagent, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Songkick, Soundrop, TuneWiki and We Are Hunted, with Top10 and ShareMyPlaylists apps coming soon. We also have three Nordic partners launching local apps, including Tunigo in Sweden which launches today, Gaffa in Denmark and Dagbladet in Norway, which will be launching local Nordic apps soon.

Our integration with Facebook in September has made more people than ever excited about sharing music again, adding more than 7 million new Spotify users in just over two months. And our users have now created more than 500 million playlists, a number which has doubled since just July.

With Spotify Platform, we want to enable innovation on top of music and add many more layers of music enjoyment. We want DJs to create the best lists, and virtual clubs where people can gather together to hear them, dance, and sing along. We want fans to get closer to their favorite artists, and give great editorial partners and tastemakers a way to recommend music to you.

It’s also what Spotify users have been asking for. Now anyone can enjoy great music reviews, buy tickets for gigs, sing along with the lyrics, all inside Spotify. In addition, you can curate the apps you want and make Spotify yours… and the launch apps are just the beginning.

Music is many things to many people. With Spotify Platform and a whole bunch of clever apps, we hope we can all get more out of music than ever before.

Speaking at the conference, Spotify CEO and Founder Daniel Ek commented:

“Once you take a look, you’ll see why we believe this is truly the beginning of something game-changing for digital music. We think this will lead to integrations that keep Spotify beautiful and simple, but layer in great musical experiences designed to be social and fun. It’s what our users have been asking us for.”

Spotify Platform beta goes live later today as a preview, at:  www.spotify.com/us/download/previews/. For more information about the apps please visit www.spotify.com/apps. The full consumer rollout will take place later in December.

Apple just started seeding iOS 5.1 moments ago to iOS developers. The new build is available for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad and third and fourth-generation iPod touch devices. We’ll let you know if this new release further fixes battery life and if we find any other changes. Apple’s full change log for this release follows below.

Notes and Known Issues

The following issues relate to using the 5.1 SDK to develop code.

Apple began seeding OS X Lion 10.7.3 to developers on Tuesday. In its release notes, Apple said there are no known issues and that the update focuses on iCloud document storage, AddressBook, iCal and Mail. As is typical, developers who choose to upgrade will not be able to revert back to the previous build after updating to OS X Lion 10.7.3. Apple’s full release notes follow after the break.

OS X Lion 10.7.3 build 11D16 Seed Note

OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 is an update to OS X Lion 10.7.

Installation Instructions

The OS X Lion 10.7.3 Update (Combo) updates

- OS X Lion 10.7, 10.7.1 or 10.7.2 GM builds.

The OS X Lion 10.7.3 Update (Delta) updates

- OS X Lion 10.7.2 GM builds.

Please be aware that you will not be able to revert back to your previous system after updating. Please install this update on a system you are prepared to erase if necessary.

Known Issues

- None

Focus Areas

- iCloud document storage

- AddressBook

- iCal

- Mail

Bug Reporting 

This build is being provided to you for testing and development purposes. Should you encounter any problems, please submit a bug report using the online Bug Reporter at <http://bugreporter.apple.com/>. Please make sure to include “10.7.3 (11D16)” in the bug title and description. This information will ensure that your bug is processed quickly.

When submitting a bug report, please make sure to include a Summary, Steps to Reproduce, Actual Results, Expected Results, the System Profile Report, and any other relevant information that is necessary to process the report.

IMPORTANT: Engineering requires additional information for crashing bugs, kernel panics, and hanging issues.

Crashing Bugs: Crash logs are required for crashing bugs. Crash logs can be located in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports

Kernel Panics: Backtraces, which contain vital information for investigating kernel panics, are required for kernel panic issues. Backtraces can be saved to nvram on restart shutdown, then copied to the panic.log file on restart. The panic.log file can be found in /Library/Logs/PanicReporter.

Hanging Issues: When an application is hung, a Sample should be provided. This can be done using the Activity Monitor (/Applications/Utilities/). To generate a Sample using this utility, click on the hung application name, then from the View Menu select “Sample Process”.

Developers are now more compelled to build apps for Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system than for RIM’s aging BlackBerry OS, new research from Appcelerator and IDC revealed Monday. “The third major mobile OS after iOS and Android is now clearly Windows [Phone], driven largely by the Microsoft/Nokia partnership and underscored by the new Nokia Lumia 800,” IDC vice president of mobile and connected consumer platforms Scott Ellisson explained. 38% of survey respondents said they are “very interested” in Windows Phone, which IDC noted is the greatest amount of interest in the platform ever for Microsoft. The same can’t be said for RIM. Only 21% of developers said they were “very interested” in developing for BlackBerry OS and just 13% said they were “very interested” in creating QNX-based apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Read on for more.

Apple’s iOS continues to be the most attractive mobile OS for developers. 91% of those surveyed said they are “very interested” in iPhone development and 88% are just as excited to create apps for the iPad. In addition, the report, which compiled survey responses from 2,160 developers around the world, found that developers are quite excited to create new Android applications for the Amazon Kindle Fire.

“Findings reveal that Amazon’s new Kindle Fire edged Samsung’s Galaxy Tab as the number one most popular Android Tablet in North America, on par with interest for the iPad prior to its launch in April 2010, and second only to the Galaxy Tab globally with developers,” the study said. 49% of North American developers surveyed said they were “very interested” in the Kindle Fire.

The survey also suggests that overall developer interest in Android is fading a bit. 83% were “very interested” in developing Android apps for smartphones, down 4 percentage points from the last survey. 68% were “very interested” in creating apps for Android tablets, down 6 points from the last survey. The full press release from Appcelerator and IDC follows below.

Appcelerator–IDC Mobile Report Finds Amazon Kindle Launching as Leading Android Tablet for Developers in North America

14 Nov 2011

Survey of 2,160 Developers Sees Kindle Fire Interest on Par with iPad in April 2010; Microsoft Moves Decisively Ahead of RIM Through Nokia Partnership to Challenge Apple

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – November 14, 2011 – Appcelerator, the leading integrated mobile platform for rapidly developing native and HTML5 mobile Web applications using open Web technologies, and industry-leading analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC), today announced results from a new joint survey of 2,160 Appcelerator developers around the world. Findings reveal that Amazon’s new Kindle Fire edged Samsung Galaxy Tab as the number one most popular Android Tablet in North America, on par with interest for the iPad prior to its launch in April 2010, and second only to the Galaxy Tab globally with developers. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 also decisively moved ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry OS to become the clear number three mobile OS behind iOS and Android.

Appcelerator and IDC also continued their research into how companies are making the move from the Web to mobile. This quarter the report dives deep into understanding the priorities companies are making with their mobile strategy and how mobile is fundamentally transforming customer relationships. The full report is available free for download:http://appcel.us/q4_2011_report.

“The third major mobile OS after iOS and Android is now clearly Windows, driven largely by the Microsoft/Nokia partnership and underscored by the new Nokia Lumia 800,” noted Scott Ellison, vice president, Mobile & Connected Consumer Platforms at IDC. “Amazon has shown exceptional early success in appealing to developers with the Kindle Fire showing that price and differentiation are keys to competing in the crowded Android tablet space, rather than simply chasing the iPad market.”

The Rise of Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung … and an Improved Outlook for Nokia

As the mobile industry advances, contenders are finding success by securing new footholds and partnerships to compete against Apple’s dominance. Amazon announced the Kindle Fire, a smaller, cheaper Android-based tablet that leverages its large content library while Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is building strong European developer enthusiasm thanks to its Nokia partnership. Developers and businesses gave high marks to these moves, which contrast sharply against BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry’s QNX-based PlayBook, and webOS, all of which collapsed in interest with developers this past quarter. Below are the topline findings from this quarter’s report:

• Amazon’s new Kindle Fire ignites developer interest. When surveyed among 15 Android Tablets, the low-cost, content-rich eReader was second only to the Samsung Galaxy Tab globally in developer interest. A regional breakdown shows Amazon edging Samsung in North America for the top slot. At 49% very interested in North America, the Kindle Fire is just 4 points less than where interest was in the iPad prior to its launch in April 2010.

• Appcelerator and IDC found in January 2011 that among developers price was the single most important factor for Android Tablets to compete successfully against the iPad. Fast forward to November and developers cite price again as the leading reason for interest in the Kindle Fire. Rounding out the top 5 tablets, respondents eye Amazon’s rich content ecosystem, Appstore, target demographic, and eCommerce integration as the key reasons for interest in the new eReader.

• When considering Kindle Fire’s potential drawbacks, fragmentation and lack of features like camera and geo-location were the two top concerns cited by developers.Assuming Amazon sells well this holiday season, Android developers will need to consider yet another set of different capabilities. The difference this time? Google will be less able to exert control over Amazon’s divergent Android path.

• Windows Phone 7 separated from the pack to become the clear number 3 mobile OS this quarter. The OS climbed 8 points to 38% of respondents saying they are “very interested” in the platform — the highest ever for Microsoft.

• Microsoft is enjoying symbiotic success with Nokia. When asked why developers are more interested in Windows Phone 7 now than a year ago, a plurality (48%) are saying it is the Microsoft/Nokia partnership. Nokia also received high marks for its new Lumia Windows Phone 7 smartphone announcement last month. Twenty-eight percent of developers said they are “very interested” in developing for the device. This is more than double the interest in Nokia’s own Symbian and MeeGo OSes since Appcelerator began reporting mobile platform interest in January 2010.

• This quarter saw a sharp fall-off in developers reporting that they are “very interested” in RIM offerings with BlackBerry OS phones dropping 7 points to 21% and PlayBook QNX-based tablets dropping 6 points to 13%. Put another way, there is now more interest in Nokia’s new Lumia Windows Phone lineup than RIM’s smartphones.

• HTML5 continues to keep developer interest. Sixty-six percent of developers are very interested in building HTML5 mobile Web sites, the same as last quarter.

• Connected TV app development interest continues to slide. A year ago, 44% of developers were very interested in developing for Google TV. Even with a second version announced last month, only 20% expressed the same enthusiasm for Google TV this round. Apple TV, however, saw a smaller decline from 40% a year ago to 27% today.

• iOS continues to reign at number 1 with 91% of respondents saying they are very interested” in developing for the iPhone, followed by the iPad at 88%. Apple continued to hold onto its number 1 position in part due to iOS 5, which was cited as the most significant announcement this past quarter.

• Android phones fell nearly 4 points to 83% while tablets fell nearly 6 points to 68%. While the drop was likely due in part to renewed interest in iOS 5, developers nevertheless saw Samsung’s rise to the number 1 smartphone manufacturer as the second most significant development of the past quarter after iOS 5.

A Deeper Look at Mobile Priorities Across the Mobile Relationship Lifecycle

Over the past couple quarters, Appcelerator and IDC have been analyzing how businesses are making the move from the Web to mobile. Earlier this year, we discussed how companies were maturing through several phases of adoption. This quarter, we asked developers and businesses to rank 24 mobile objectives for their most recent application. We then clustered this analysis into what we call the “mobile relationship lifecycle” to define objectives in four areas: reach, engagement, loyalty, and monetization.

• Reach: Businesses view deploying to multiple devices with native applications and mobile websites as the number one priority. Making the transition more efficient by leveraging a company’s resources also ranked high.

• Engagement: Building applications that are easy to use with a native-user interface was the next most important objective, followed by application performance. Both are seen as key to driving engagement with users and echo the general sentiment that application utility is critical. These core concerns trumped even media, location and social features in priority.

• Loyalty: Application notifications and using analytics to measure application feature usage ranked in the middle of the pack for most respondents.

• Monetization: Advertising still trumps in-application purchasing as a preferred monetization model. When it comes to mobile commerce, the top priority is making payments easy.

A complete breakdown of these trends and a more detailed analysis is available online. To access the Appcelerator/IDC Q4 2011 Mobile Report, please visit: http://appcel.us/q4_2011_report.

About Appcelerator

Appcelerator is the leading enterprise-grade, cross-platform development solution on the market today, with over 1.6 million developers using its software to power over 30,000 cloud-connected mobile, desktop, and web applications used on 30 million devices every day. The company’s flagship offering, Appcelerator Titanium, is the only mobile cloud platform to enable fully native, cross-platform mobile app and HTML5 web development, from a single codebase. Appcelerator’s customers can leverage their existing skills and open, industry standard technologies to decrease time-to-market and development costs, increase customer adoption and revenues, and enjoy greater flexibility and control. For more information, please visitwww.appcelerator.com.