4th Infocom Apps 2014: Moving App-wards: The Multi Screen Challenge!
The general feeling is that the Smartphone applications development is already at a very high level. Some may actually believe that it touches the limits of commodity. Obviously, there are many approaches: Some believe that we have moved from “revolution” to “evolution”, while some expect many, not so much from the technological “revolution” of the application itself, which are just the means, but the revolution that brings in the way of our life and our work.
Finally, there are those who say that this is nothing more than an illusion, which is expressed and reproduced from those who are within the applications ecosystem.
As usual, the reality of numbers has more right than anyone! Everything indicates that there is large room for “evolution». The Smartphones do not occupy more than 30% of the customer’s mobile network base, while tablets are only just starting to get in the minds of consumers as a “must have device” and it is expected to record excellent sales within the next three years, at the same time that Smart TVs multiply at the stores and the “Multiscreen” theorem does its comeback.
The signs are therefore excellent for the applications, which are the favorites in a technology race that has already begun, changing the rules of the game and constantly creating new needs, providing “out of the box” solutions at both consumers’ as and enterprises’ levels. The goal, however, is much larger, since the whole structure is based on the concept of mobile broadband, which interacts with the applications: supporting, but also being empowered by them.
All the stakeholders of the Mobile market look to the development of Apps, because through applications we have solutions that make easier the work or the life of their user, increasing sales of the devices and creating data traffic for the networks.
Apps for Business: The mobile Company era!
The big change that is recorded progressively, regards the adoption of the applications as a tools that increases the productivity of employees, as they -through applications- are able to carry the corporate environment on their Smartphone or tablet screen.
More an d more businesses and organizations are evolving, using on their functional model solutions of infrastructure dematerialization with the help of the cloud, maximizing the staff’s flexibility, by focusing on the elimination of territorial restrictions and idle times. Because, it is proven that those two factors reduce the productivity of the workers who are outside of the main workspace for many hours.
It may sound simple, but the challenge is huge, especially in the sector of maintained of the balance of standardization and adaptability. Same are the challenges between online and offline applications, while the security sector has now evolved from “crucial” to “decisive” factor.
There several Greek companies that are distinguished in these areas. In fact, most believe that this is the sector with the highest growth in the coming years, as in addition to the basic applications or platforms, there are needs for specialized business applications.
At this section, representatives from the companies that develop Enterprise Mobility applications will present the challenges that they face in the corporate environment and the solutions that they propose, highlighting the advantages of their implementations.
What’s App? Apps for People!
However, these applications are designed for real people with a variety o f needs in a vast range of interests. The applications are what drive the e-world to the mobility and the m-world. Practically, they connect the supply of information with the immediate demand of mobility.
And as it happens to the web for many years, the applications have already started setting trends and distinct categories.
The games, of course, are leading the preferences, being ahead at a global scale, however, the m-health saves lives…The educational applications are being used in Greece by educational institutions, even at the level of basic education, while the payment and the administration of the accounts are now completed with just a few taps on the tablet or Smartphone screen.
Finally, the environment of mobile commutation would not be the same without the “The Queen of Coffee”, the television which always manages to fit the lifestyle and routine of the modern viewer.
Sophisticated TV, apart from bringing a massive change to portable devices, offers a new revenue stream for both the content and the network providers.
The StartApp Nation: The fable and the reality!
Apart the established players that are mainly active in the b2b sector, most of the applications are produced by small companies companies to the extent the development of applications is largely intertwined with the concept of startups.
So basically we are talking about ideas – at least initially – that seek a roof and basic physical infrastructure to make the first steps towards implementation. In the last year several initiatives have launched regarding the philosophy of creating common spaces, in which several start up groups co-exist and share basic infrastructure. Representatives of these initiatives will analyze to the attendees, by participating in a panel , the reasons, considerations and advantages that require such forms of organization.
Of course, apart from any good intention, good ideas and collaborative models the ultimate goal is the added value that can be produced and, of course, business profit, to which aims every existing or aspiring entrepreneur.
Is there a specific and safe way for this? And what are the steps an idea needs to follow in order to develop into a successful business? To which extend a particular idea meets real needs? Is the creation of applications inseparable from the concept of to start up? And if yes, what are the roads to development; How do we choose to provide our creation? Free, Premium or Fremium? What is the model that connects downloads and revenue? And finally, is for Greece the proper place where entrepreneurship can flourish?
The questions are many … The invitees of the final module will be called upon to give answers and to disclose (to the extent possible) to the delegates the best directions, contributing decisively to the evolution of the most vibrant and dynamic sector of the market.
Parallel events:
Alongside the main the sessions there will be plenty workshops and presentations, there will be held the AppsLand exhibition and in cooperation with ΣΕΚΕΕ there will be an announcement regarding Greece’s participation at MWC at Barcelona.