One-fifth of iPhone owners already use Passbook to download “passes”— coupons, gift and loyalty cards, airline boarding passes, and movie and event tickets. It’s Apple’s attempt at a virtual wallet.

Large retailers — from Sephora to Target — and restaurant chains and Major League Baseball are already using it as a channel for acquiring and retaining customers.

So why don’t we hear more about Passbook?

In a new report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s paid subscription service, we look at the trends and numbers behind the Passbook ecosystem.

• What brands and retailers are present?
• How effective have Passbook campaigns been in driving consumer activity and raising brand awareness?
• How does it work? 

Access The Full Report By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>>

The report includes over a half-dozen charts and datasets — and an ecosystem graphic — examining the intricacies of the Passbook ecosystem. Subscribers receive full access to the BI Intelligence library of over 100 in-depth reports on the mobile industry, and hundreds of datasets you can put to use.

In our report on Passbook, we also look at some misconceptions and underrated opportunities:

• The Passbook ecosystem is a valuable back-door for developers who would like to market their apps more aggressively, grab more visibility and achieve higher download numbers.
• Passbook passes can be generated by websites and/or with the help of third-party vendors, they don’t necessarily need to be created by custom Passbook-integrated apps.
• Passbook is well-positioned to seize on recent retailer and consumer enthusiasm for location-based services, mobile coupons, and mobile-powered loyalty programs.
• We include a handful of mini-case studies, and examine data that reveals how successful certain brands and retailers have been with Passbook.

We also discuss Passbook’s relationship with the burgeoning and competitive mobile payments space, and the uncertainty surrounding its future as a payments platform. 

Will Apple add a payment-processing capability, so that users can make “walletless” credit card payments with Passbook? Will it be joined with fingerprint-reading technology, the rumored authentication feature to be included in iPhone 5S?

Apple has over 500 million credit cards on file. We review what brands and retailers are doing to hook into the ecosystem and prepare for the possibility that Apple will one day leverage these credit card relationships and turn Passbook into a real transactions platform.

It also includes an examination of the top barriers to widespread Passbook adoption: namely, the chicken-and-egg problem that ties relatively low app publisher adoption to a lack of wider consumer awareness.

For full access to the report on Passbook sign up for a free trial subscription today.

You can simply use that iphone application on your iphone and that is stickNFind. All you have to do is just put the small bluetooth sticker on to a remote, or any important thing that you worried about, you can also put it to your childs backpack, or pet’s collar.

Then use your iphone to locate the item, when you will come close to the sticker it will start vibrate and showing the exact location of it. Isn’t it great thing. Its very easy to use this application, it has got the virtual leash feature that will let you know when one of your stickers gets too far away from you. Remember while using it that it only works within 100 feet of your iphone.

Like other software releases, the new “Spirit” jailbreak can be applied to any iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch running firmware 3.1.2, 3.1.3 or 3.2, enabling users to break into their own devices and run programs not otherwise approved by Apple.

The jailbreak hack was first discovered by Dev Team member “Comex,” who Tweeted that the “Spirit” jailbreak wasn’t based on a browser exploit in April. The jailbreak was also posted on YouTube, showing that the hack provides a root shell with full access to the iPad file system.

The Dev Team is notorious for breaking into the iPhone OS, and subsequently making the exploits public.

Apple has its Apple’s iTunes and App Store under lock and key, enabling users to only access “company approved” applications. Jailbreaking occurs when users unlock their mobile devices, allowing them to access and run hundreds more applications, while giving them greater control and freedom to install more features and functions onto their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

The latest jailbreak hack was first demonstrated on the iPad in early April, just three days after the release of the popular Apple tablet computer. Specifically, the latest jailbreaking program enables users to install an unauthorized digital equivalent to the Apple App Store called Cydia, which allows users to access unauthorized software such as “Backgrounder” — a program that gives users the ability to run more than one application at once. Cydia software was initially used in iPhone jailbreaks, but can be updated to run on the larger iPad.

Unlike previous exploits, the “Spirit” jailbreak is one that is untethered, meaning that users are not required to plug their devices into their computer every time they reboot. Up until now, hackers attempting to jailbreak the iPhone 3GS and latest iPod Touch could only apply a “tethered” jailbreak, which prohibited them from performing a hardware reset without connecting it to their computers via a USB cable.

There are some drawbacks for those who choose to go the jailbreaking route. For one, the warranties are voided once an Apple device is jailbroken. And users also eliminate any chance of receiving updates, patches or technical support from Cupertino.

However, this latest jailbreak release represents a big leg up for hackers in the continual volley between Apple and the jailbreaking community. But Apple will likely find other ways to thwart the Dev Team hacker community in their quest to fight piracy. In addition to running unauthorized third-party apps, jailbreaking can be used by hackers to steal software from the Apple App Store.

Resource:
http://www.crn.com/security/224700496

The fixes, however, are subtle. The most significant one rights a network issue that caused Opera Mini to freeze at start-up. This release also set the app’s fallback language to English rather than Arabic, as it previously was (in other words, an error with a language pack will now revert back to English.) Opera Mini is now also available in Hungarian, and the company says it has fixed backend bugs and stability soft spots.

However, Opera’s mini update may disappoint some users who are on the lookout for Opera Mini to adopt multitouch pinch-to-zoom capabilities, finer-detail zoom levels, improved page rendering, and support for iPhone-optimized Web pages.

The fact that Opera Mini is a proxy browser that more or less beams an image of a Web page to your screen courtesy of Opera’s servers, can account for some of the user grievances. For instance, Opera Mini isn’t a native iPhone app, and therefore doesn’t have access to the pinch-to-zoom technology of iPhone’s Safari browser.

In the meantime, a brand-new entrant into the mobile browser space should have Opera reconsidering its position.

Skyfire, a previous Opera Mobile competitor on Windows Mobile and Symbian phones, has also on Thursday introduced Skyfire beta browser for Android. Skyfire’s browser is based on the same open-source WebKit engine used to build Safari–as such, it already employs pinch-and-zoom. Skyfire definitely has its sights set on a version for iPhone, which would bring it into direct opposition with its Opera Mini rival.

While Opera has gone on record boasting that it’s found a way around Apple’s browser restrictions using its own software code, the company’s stubbornness could lose users who care more about pinching the screen than they do about how quickly pages load.

It’s also worth noting competitor Skyfire’s buzzed-about ability to transcode and stream Flash video through the company’s servers. That, combined with multitouch support, could give Skyfire, and not Opera Mini, the next iPhone edge. Flash video has been the hot topic in mobile of late, with Google affirming that its Android OS update 2.2 will carry it, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ going on record to bestow his kiss of death for Adobe Flash on iPhone.

Opera may yet have a little breathing room to rethink its strategy before Skyfire and others make their iPhone move. Skyfire’s CEO Jeff Glueck told CNET in an interview that while an iPhone version of their native/proxy browser hybrid is certainly in the works, the company wants to make sure it can handle server hits comparable to a million new users in one day, assuming their success were to follow Opera’s in the first full day of its iPhone release.

Resource:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20003802-233.html

Once derided for being too precious and fragile, the phone is making inroads into not-so-gentle environments thanks to a myriad of rugged covers and young labourers’ obsessions with the device.

Now David Campbell, owner of David Campbell Building, is banking on an app to help other builders become more efficient on and off the building site. He has commissioned the development of the Tradie’s App ($52.99 from iTunes) – an extensive collection of site diaries, purchase orders, pricing and subcontractor agreements to be used by foremen and licensed builders.

This saves tradesmen having to wait to get home after a day’s slog to record what happened on the job.

Campbell promises it gives builders everything they need to run a project on time and on budget, even down to making clients sign for agreed variations on the spot. He should know; he has been trialling it on his luxury home projects for the past six months. Seven of his staff have an iPhone with the app, which they use constantly to manage jobs and send reports back to the boss in the office.

“Without even being on site all day, I know the concreter was there, the brickies were there and built the wall they were meant to build and the client was on site and asked for the toilet to be moved. It saves the guys having to go back to the office to do their paperwork,” he says.

Campbell is no stranger to technology. His website makes use of videos, slideshows and podcast subscriptions to showcase some of his company’s work. The app is his new way to try to capitalise on it. It’s available on iTunes but was down at time of writing, given technical difficulties with an update download, he says.

Campbell says it’s been downloaded by builders in Australia, some in the United Arab Emirates, Canada and five in the US. “We’ve only had 72 downloads but it’s only been five weeks. Some builders have given me comments to say it saves them $50 a day,” he says.

An app for large sites

Another construction company is selling its own construction app, this time for foremen on large and multiple building sites.

Foreman’s Mate was built by All Over Geo for Kell & Rigby, a 100-year-old Australian construction company specialising in large projects. It’s available on the iPhone and will be available on the iPad when it is released in Australia. It costs $200 per month to subscribe from the iTunes store, although there’s currently a 30-day free trial.

“Builders would have to be one of the biggest users of phones. On site you’d rarely see a foreman without a phone glued to their ear. Now they can use a technology they’re already comfortable with to complete a job they might not like, but must be done,” Kell & Rigby chief executive James Kell said.

The company counts Qantas, Vodafone and Apple – including the Apple Store on Sydney’s George St – among its completed projects.

Resource:
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/building-an-app-for-builders-20100427-tnqz.html

Skin doctor Dr Greg Pearson claims that the revolutionary app can improve people’s skin by shining a special light on to the owner’s face while they chat on the phone, reports The Sun.

The light kills off bacteria and promotes collagen growth, claims the medic.

Dr Pearson said: “This would have to go through a lot more clinical study before I could quantify its efficiency.

“I am fascinated by the concept that users would potentially be able to treat their acne while talking on the phone.”

Resource:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100209/868/ttc-now-iphone-app-that-can-cure-acne_1.html

According to Engadget, the Android-powered Mini 5 just showed up in the FCC database with the WCDMA Band IV radios. Those radios only are used on one US network: T-Mobile’s (DT).

The Mini 5 is just a bit bigger than a big smartphone (HTC’s Evo will be 4.3 inches vs. the Mini’s 5 inches) but is being marketed more like a mini tablet — but one with significantly more screen size than the market leading iPod touch from Apple (AAPL). It is powered by the same Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon processor that powers HTC’s latest Android phones as well. Unfortunately for Dell, it’s been only show running an older version of the Android OS, version 1.6 (vs. 2.1 on the latest Android phones).

Perhaps most importantly however, the Mini 5 will launch with a big content partnership from Amazon (AMZN) which will provide the device with music, Video-on-Demand, eBooks and anything else Amazon sells.

The questions that remain are: When will this device be sold and for how much ?

• Dell (DELL) could sell this through the carriers (T-Mobile in this case) like most phones and some Netbooks are sold
• Google (GOOG) could sell it ad-hoc like it sells the Nexus One (also on T-Mobile) on its website?
• Dell could sell this like Apple sells the iPad — With specialized unlocked data-only plans (though the Mini 5 can make phone calls)
• Dell could just sell this outright on Dell.com and let customers find their own SIM / plan options.
• Any combination of the above.

The device itself is probably going to cost south of $500 (if it wants to have any chance vs. the iPad and iPod touch) and any carrier deals will just bring that down further.

The Mini 5 is a big deal for Dell, which is coming to the US with its first Android devices and first portable devices since it killed the Axiom and Dell DJ lines years ago. Dell also sells a smaller Mini 3 in Brazil and China.

The Dell Mini’ 5’s size might be a good differentiator vs. Apple and HP which both make significantly smaller phones and larger tablets.

Speaking of larger tablets, Dell is slated to have a 7-inch version of its Mini Tablet at the end of the year and a 10-inch variety at the beginning of 2011.

Resource:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/04/19/fcc-database-reveals-dells-mini-5-to-come-to-t-mobile/

On Monday evening, Opera Software announced that Apple had approved Opera Mini, the first alternative Web browser for its iPhone. After 24 hours, the free app was downloaded to 1,023,380 Apple devices, the company reported.

To get approval from Apple, however, Opera Mini could not be a true browser because Apple’s developer agreement forbids alternative JavaScript engines, and possibly Web rendering engines, from being released for the iPhone. But as Daring Fireball’s John Gruber pointed out, Opera Mini doesn’t actually render Web pages; it renders a compressed markup language called OBML, making Opera Mini more like a PDF reader than a Web browser.

Nonetheless, Opera said that iPhone users now “have a choice, and, as the numbers show, they are eager to explore new and faster ways to surf the Web on the iPhone – especially during heavy Web traffic,” according to Lars Boilesen, chief executive of Opera.

Resource:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362734,00.asp

This jailbreak will only work for iPhone 3G users on a Mac. It’s still in beta, so it’s very buggy. If you plan to jailbreak, know that your unlock will be compromised since Apple updated the baseband in the iPhone 4.0 beta firmware.

Resource:
http://www.iphonestalk.com/jailbreak-for-iphone-4-0-beta-1-available-now/

Did you know that you will soon get to load your mobile phone with an app (short for an application) that can kill mosquitoes?!! This particular mobile phone module will use light and sound generated at a specific frequency to repel mosquitoes.

Indeed, mobile apps today can take on just about any role, or even channel a recital for that matter. Take Shafeeq Khan, for instance. This 29-year-old mobile repair shop owner in Uttar Pradesh has close to 30,000 followers who listen to his shayari over a mobile app called RockeTalk in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan the US and UK.

Besides these two examples, there are thousands of more utility-based apps to be purchased — a combination of products and services that enhance personalised experience on mobile phones. Most utility or productivity apps, offer a blend of technologies with functional benefits that cater to various social or professional requirements. With over 500 million mobile subscribers, growing by approximately 10 million per month, mobile networks in India have undeniably become the country’s largest distribution platform for delivering information and services to the masses through innovative applications.

It sure explains how Rajiv Kumar, CEO and founder of RockeTalk, managed to get a subscriber-base of 1.5 million users for his mobile app, which runs on close to 550 models of mobile phones, mostly low-end ones (priced at about Rs 4,000). RockeTalk is a free mobile phone app that enables users to create text, voice, photo and video messages, and share them. It also enables users to join communities and chat with individuals and groups over GPRS (mobile internet). “Next step is to get the app on Apple’s iPhone and introduce it to 3G markets in the West. “In India, too, 3G will accelerate growth since it will enable real-time networking,” says Kumar. With no advertising budgets, RockeTalk was introduced to users by bundling it on LG and Samsung handsets and through tie-ups with operators like Idea and Airtel.

Innovation: Name of the game

Mobile device makers like Micromax believe a mosquito repelling app on its low-cost handsets would do well with consumers. Rohit Sharma, COO of Micromax, draws on Nokia’s torch-phone that became vastly popular among the masses, “If a torch-phone can work, then a mosquito-repelling phone can be a hit, too.”

Media, pharmaceutical, retail and even governments are asking app developers to create mobile apps. App developers like 2ergo, which have created iPhone apps for the UK-based newspaper The Guardian, have seen their apps being downloaded 70,000 times in just four weeks. Ramesh Krishnan, COO of 2ergo, explains how a pharmaceutical company approached the developer for an app that could prescribe a healthy diet to individual users to maintain the right body mass index (BMI). “We are developing this app for devices based on various mobile operating systems and it will be offered by the pharma company as an advisory app to healthy living,” adds Krishnan.

The company is also keen on developing a voice-based app, along with state governments and local governing institutions that will enable users to request a birth certificate, marriage licence or register real estate with just a click on their mobile phones. “This app needs extensive government support. We have received encouraging feedback from government bodies. We strongly believe that e-governance can take a new leap with mobile apps,” says Krishnan.

Companies call in

Krishnan’s confidence is shared by Infosys. The software major has forayed into developing mobile applications and is working with a large retail partner to launch an app that would manage your grocery list. Subhash Dhar, senior vice-president and head (communications, media and entertainment business) Infosys, explains: “Infosys is keenly following the mobile app economy and is working with partners on various productivity and utility- based apps.” The company is also developing apps that will allow users to book, rent and even schedule taxi pick-ups (GPS-controlled vehicles) from any part of the country.

With Nokia continuing to command 60 per cent of the handset market, the company is making sure that its users carry the ‘smartest’ phones. Soon, Nokia mobile phones will come with ‘Nokia Bots’, a collection of add-ons that autonomously learn a user’s personal preferences and improve experience with customised features and tricks. These add-ons observe how the phone is being used and automatically configure and activate themselves. So, for instance, if you are in a meeting, your phone can automatically set itself to silent mode or prompt you to activate the same.

With user spending an average seven minutes on apps on every usage, Jasmeet Gandhi, head (services marketing), Nokia, reckons the company needs to have apps that will deliver services within the stipulated time. “We are also hopeful of engaging our rural customers with transaction-based apps and services that work on the SMS platform.” For its urban consumer, Nokia hopes to put the mobile phone’s camera to good use. “We are experimenting with apps that will allow users to capture images, upload them directly and even search details of the captured visual images,” he explains.

‘Walmart of mobile apps’

CanvasM, the joint venture between Tech Mahindra and Motorola, is yet another company purely focusing on utility applications. The company has close to 6,000 applications still under wraps. Jagdish Mitra, CEO of CanvasM, is confident about apps meant for commercial transactions and mobile banking. Mitra’s aim is to be the “Walmart of mobile applications”. The company is also working on a project for a retail giant to deliver barcode-based discount coupons. “The idea is that the customer will just have to put their mobile’s screen in front of the scanner and the barcode will be read for earning discounts,” explains Mitra. Industry research suggests that mobile coupons can increase footfalls by almost 17 per cent.

Operators like Virgin Mobile, too, have caught on. Beginning with apps like Hatke Learning, Virgin Mobile provides insights into various alternative career options. Another app, called Hatke Naukri, developed with Naukri.com, informs users about openings.

Apps unbound

There are hundreds of utilities out there on app stores — some useful, some not. Here are a couple of our recommendations that we believe will give a bang for your buck:

Making mouse of an iPhone

For $1.99 (Rs 88), Air Mouse Pro (AMP) lets you convert your iPhone into a wireless mouse or trackpad. The app puts to use the phone’s built-in accelerometer to translate hand motions into mouse movements. AMP gives you two options to control your system. The first is via a touch-pad-style interface, where you drag your fingers around the screen in the same way you would on a notebook. The second mode is through the use of the accelerometer. The basic concept is that you press and hold the button in the middle of the mouse buttons and then tilt the phone in the direction you wish to move the mouse.

Do you have Wikitude?

Wikitude is a free, location-based Wikipedia app for mobile phones based on the Google Android platform. Aimed at tourists, this app superimposes information about points of interest on either a Google map or through the mobile camera’s viewfinder. The app calls this ‘augmented reality’, and it’s a pretty cool effect. If you’re looking for more information on where you’re located and the surrounding area, this app is perfect.

Readymade emails

If you want to cut short the time taken for emailing people you stay in touch with a lot, go to the Apple’s App Store and download the $0.99 (Rs 44) Mail Quick app. This allows a user to, with one or two clicks, open an e-mail template already addressed to a person on a favourites, list. Users can select a person they email often and, by clicking on the app icon, a mail already addressed to that person will open. They can also enter multiple addresses and have preset subject lines.

Location-based friendships

Affle, better known as creators of SMS 2.0, plan to have a location-sharing and -tracking service (for the Symbian platform) that lets members know where their friends are and share photos or notes about locations with others in an area. Members can post photos or comments about their location or activities and discover new people who use this niche app, ranging from within a few feet to an entire region. Affle has not indicated the app’s price.

Compile your own dictionary

Nokia is testing a new app for its mobile device, called the custom dictionary. This app can store user-defined words that are used frequently while typing. The words are then used in predictive text input. While price is undecided, the app will allow users to add and delete words from the dictionary, and even scan text files to add them to a text library. Other features include ability to transfer the dictionary to other devices.

Resource:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ringing-in-an-appday/391576/