Recently the research firm ComScore has affirmed what we have seen on the streets : touch-based phones are selling like hotcakes.  According to the figures, touch-based mobile phone adoption grew at an alarming 159% year over year between August 2008 and August 2009.

What phone is leading the way?  The obvious answer is the Apple iPhone, claiming the top touch-screen device spot for users aged 13+.  The iPhone accounted for almost 33% of all touch-screen purchases in the time frame.  The second place device was the LG Dare, claiming a mere 8.7% of the touch-screen phone market.

ComScore’s Mark Donovan doesn’t expect this fast moving smartphone adoption trend to continue, although it might look a bit different going forward.  According to Donovan, additional touchscreen devices will be sold with more and more running the Android operating system.  With all the Android devices including the HTC Hero, Motorola CLIQ (known as DEXT internationally) and the Droid, this Android prediction is not hard to fathom.

It is astounding to note that, as of August 2009, there are 23.8 million touch-phone users in the United States, up from just 9.2 million touch users in August 2008.  This is a huge market opportunity that is just now being realized.

A year ago, it used to be that the iPhone was main touch phone to pay attention to, with many wannabees vying for the rest of the market.  However, with Android now maturing and seeing vast hardware support from multiple manufacturers, along with some great new touch devices from Nokia including the N97, XpressMusic 5800 and N900 tablet, it is apparent that touch devices are here to stay with continued growth being a sure thing.

(Photo Credit: Daniel^1977)

Our Taptu Search App, version 1.4.3, has been released into the wild iTunes App Store.  This new release addresses a few issues and harnesses some exciting changes on the backend as well.

Here’s what to expect in the newest version:

• 1.4.3 fixes a few memory leaks associated with prior versions.
• Minor design tweaks
• Bug fixes.

On the backend of our search service, we’ve made some more hearty changes that will improve your Taptu user experience.  First of all, we have added thousands and thousands of sites that are touch friendly, making your search results richer.

Also, we have tweaked our engine to allow genre searches.  To check this new feature out – check out our Halloween special that will show you apps and other touch-friendly content with a spooky feel.

As always, we absolutely crave feedback.  Please get back to us if you have any comments or questions.  You can email me at jason@taptu.com or catch us on Twitter as well.

Have fun with the new version of the Taptu Search App!  To give it a whirl, go to the iTunes App Store.

Cloud computing is a  that describes a model of computing where by your data is kept on servers that are outside your control and out on the Internet (hence, in the cloud).  According to Wikipedia, cloud computing is:

Cloud computing services often provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.

Cloud-based services are ideal with devices such as Netbooks and mobile handsets because the mobile devices have little computational horsepower, meager storage, and are typically connected to the ‘Net via data connections, either Wi-Fi or 3G data networks.

The promise of cloud computing for users lies in the assumption that our data is safely held in professionally-managed data centers somewhere in the world.  But as recent events show, this isn’t always the case.  Last week, Microsoft/Danger lost millions of Sidekick users’ data in a botched storage area network upgrade.

Microsoft is supposedly working around the clock to bring back the data.  But, as it stands, millions of Sidekick users are without their contacts, photos, emails, notes, and other valuable data they depend on when utilizing their mobile devices.  Because the Sidekick uses RAM to store all this data, any user who power cycles or lets the battery run out on their device will lose all their data until Microsoft/Danger can recover it – if at all.

What is the lesson here? If you have a device you care about that contains data you find valuable, you must seek and constantly update your backups.  If you rely upon hosted services to house your data in the cloud, I suggest seeking ways to backup your phone’s data locally as well.

For example, iPhone users are in luck because of the way iTunes is structured.  In addition to the availability of Apple’s MobileMe service, the iPhone/iPod Touch is automatically backed up each time you sync your phone with iTunes.  Likewise, Nokia N Series and E Series users have access to some Ovi services that back up your photos/contacts and other data, but if you want a local copy of these types of data – Nokia users must use PC Suite on a regular basis.

There are services for many platforms that allow you to backup and maintain your data and I suggest you evaluate our options.  Blackberry users have online and offline backup options and using Google’s mobile web services, you can backup your contacts to their services as well.

Don’t take the Sidekick data loss and assume this type of catastrophe couldn’t happen to you.  With mobile devices becoming a part of our daily lives, there are likely contacts, photos and videos you care about.  Take a minute to back up and ensure your data is safe! 

(Photo credit: Flickr User kevindooley)

The Android mobile OS from the Open Handset Alliance represents a great promise  for the mobile world.  Like the insanely popular Symbian operating system, Android is an open source project that any handset maker can take and implement on their hardware stack, free of charge.

Android has been available for the better part of the year and the handsets that have come to market thus far have been from well-respected handset maker HTC.  The G1 came first and in the US we now have the MyTouch3G from T-Mobile USA.

By paying attention to recent announcements in the mobile handset world, it’s apparent that Android has garnered attention from a growing list of device manufacturers.  Just last week at the Mobilize Conference, which I attended along with Taptu CEO Steve Ives, Motorola announced the Cliq handset.

The Motorla Cliq is an attractive handset features full GSM/3G and Wi-Fi Internet connectivity, a 5 Megapizel camera, full QWERTY keyboard, and media playback, all running on the Android 1.5 (Cupcake) operating system.

Also at Mobilize I had the opportunity to sit down with Frank Meehan, the CEO of INQ Mobile.  He told me (and the rest of the Mobilize conference) that INQ will enhance their existing handset palette with the addition of Android based handsets.  The new line will INQ’s premium offering, leaving the BREW platform to power their low-cost models.

These developments, along with the addition of LG and Samsung embracing Android make me think that Android is finally come around and will soon be a force to recon with in the mobile world.  The iPhone is currently the darling of the mobile world, but I know of many who are looking for an another option.

Android, with its native web functionality, touch interface, and attractive user experience might be the alternative some are looking for.  Also, for app devleopers, the Android platform is attractive.  You see, in the Android Marketplace, there aren’t as many restrictive practices that limit the publication of applications, unlike the App Store from iTunes.

If you’re already an Android user – you should check out our Wapedia app for browsing Wikipedia content.  To find Wapedia – just search for us in the Marketplace.

We have been working hard at Taptu to refine our application on the iPhone and iPod Touch platform.  We believe our app is a great addition to the touch web and brings all the highlights of touch-friendly content to your fingertips.

With that in mind, we’ve released a new version of the application into Apple iTunes App Store.  There are a few notable changes.

User Interface Improvements:

These include a few minor changes to make it easier to utilize all the functionality of the Taptu Search Application. The most notable change is that the “Orbital” function is now an actual button.  This feature was present in the last version of the application, but many users missed it because it wasn’t visibly noticeable as a click-able (tap-able) button.

Now, if you click on the button in the upper right – you can see the awesome functionality which lets you refine the scope of your search by just searching images, twitter, and so on.  Also, you can see related search terms based on what you enter.

Finally, we’ve implemented a new Settings tab in the App that lets you refine how the Taptu Search App behaves.  The new tab will allow you to set user preferences in the App, without having to go to the iPhone’s settings bar.

Other Changes

We have also made an effort to tidy up the Sharing options. As before, you can still share out your results via email and SMS, or on your favorite social network such as Facebook or Twitter.  We just cleaned up the interface a bit.

In another change, if you launch the App after having it closed – it will load up the last search you executed.  This change is a direct result from user feedback we’ve attained since the App debuted in July.

Please Give Us Feedback!

As you can see, this minor update addresses a few of the concerns our users have given us since the launch of our iPhone/iPod Touch application.  In fact, two of the changed items mentioned above came about because of feedback I’ve received from our user community.

So, the bottom line is – we’re here and we’re listening.  So please connect if you have issues, comments, or concerns about our application.  We’re always looking for ways to make our applications and service better!

To grab the latest version of the Taptu iPhone App, follow this link.

Get in touch with us by emailing me at jason <at> taptu <dot> com or via our Twitter account.

Jason

US Community Manager – Taptu

In using the Taptu Search App on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you’ve seen that we have done away with traditional search engine results and given then a new visual representation that utilizes the beautiful touch interface that is native to the iPhone.  We’ve done away with result lists and replaced them with visual ‘cards’.

We think it’s a pretty novel way to surf through search results. Each result is presented in a card format. You can flick horizontally through the cards, in order of relevancy.

This interface is brand new and is something we at Taptu have been working hard on. In fact, it’s a key differentiator between our search results and other options available on the mobile web.  Granted, flicking through search results may not be a way to research your college thesis, but flicking is a fun and functional way of navigating search results on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

As always, we’re looking for ways to improve our apps and core search service.  If you have feedback, please reach out to us by leaving a comment below, via Twitter.

So, you’ve spent months working on your iPhone app and are finally ready to release it to the showcase that is the App Store. But wait – have you considered how it will look against your competitors in the App Store list view?

If you have  high-hopes, then you won’t just be competing against apps that provide a similar feature-set to yours – you’ll be competing against a diverse range of apps on the Top 25 page for a fraction of the user’s attention. We already know the App’s name, star rating & price have a big impact on downloads. But what about the Icon?

No doubt, a lot of the decision process is subjective. If you’re after a specific app then you’re going to try it out no matter how it appears in the App Store. The ‘A Fake Caller’ app is successful because it provides utility, but it’s no beaut. A quick once-over from a visual designer and the app would get even more downloads.

Differentiation from competing apps is key here – what’s going to make someone download your amazing Touch app from the ten other Touch apps that are out there? It must be stressed that first impressions are key. As with the packaging of food goods, a quality icon will yield a higher perception of quality of the product itself.

Of course, we still need to think about how the icon will look on the Home Screen.
iPhone app icons are like pin-badges on your jacket – they add a touch of decoration and add personality. They are digital jewelry – gems that I love to leave installed on my iPhone, even if just for cosmetics.

Need some help designing an app icon in context of the App Store or Home Screen? Here are some Photoshop templates we use when designing our app icons.

We spend a lot of time looking at iPhone apps these days and it’s very clear that the user experience can be the difference between someone buying an app or not.

Marc posted about the importance of creating the right impression within the App Store . I wanted to write here briefly about how the app itself then needs to continue with creating the right impression through its UX.

As example, lets take the simple ‘converter’ app – you know, the one you download because you need to convert Fahrenheit to Centigrade, or Miles to Kilometers? It could be seen as a ‘boring utility’ by many, but user experience design can still make one app stand out over another.

I’ve downloaded a couple of converters and one that I really liked was Convertbot. With Convertbot the designers have really crafted the user experience. They have considered everything from the icon onwards and made it feel seamless and clean to use.

When you start the app, the loading screen is a metallic/industrial-feeling ‘shutter’ with animation – this then leads nicely into a main screen which maintains the industrial feel and where users simply spin a wheel of icons to choose what type of conversion they want to make – length, weight, etc.

Putting that in the context of other converter apps its clear to see that Converbot user experience is more considered from a design perspective.

Take a look at the two screens here from two different converter apps. This is the main screen where the user chooses their conversion and enters what they want to convert.

Convertbot keeps it very simple – the user just flicks the wheel to select what they want to convert. Convertbot also reduces complexity by offering the user either the wheel or the keypad – depending on the context they are in. This reveals the complexity as needed rather than attempting to fit everything onto one screen.

As you all know, we’re really excited about the utilizing the touch interface to it’s fullest extent.  To this end, we’ve taken a project of ours, The Music Cube, and ported it to the iPhone.  Our new application is now available in the iTunes App store.

How does The Music Cube work?  It’s a fun game whereby you analyze an image puzzle and try to guess the artist/band/song  based on the visual image(s) you see.  It’s challenging, addictive and works  well on the touch interface. So if you have an iPhone or Touch and love music then give it a spin.

Music Cube on the iPhone was a little side project here at Taptu.  As linked above, the desktop web version was produced a while back and proved so popular we just couldn’t resist porting it to the iPhone.  When so many Taptuans rally behind an effort, its hard to hold them back.  Our lead engineer on the project was Telmo Menezes (since crowned King of Open GL) with Matt and Marc on the design side.

Astonishingly, the Music Cube iPhone app was pumped out in just four weeks.  Pretty cool, I think!

The intent of the Music Cube is to provide a fun game to pass the time while you’re waiting in a line, riding the bus, or otherwise have a few spare moments to challenge your music knowledge.  Also, if you get stuck, you an always rely upon Taptu Mobile Search to help guide your way

Be sure to check out upcoming versions of the Music Cube app for additional, more challenging questions.

Earlier this week, we launched our iPhone app with much excitement – it was the culmination of many months of work, so we couldn’t help being curious to see what people thought.

Ewan at Mobile Industry Review says:

“[Ed note: In the context of your average mobile search engine] It’s incredibly annoying to have to click, click, click on a mobile device, irrespective what type. There’s a cost in terms of time and battery (assuming you’re on an unlimited data plan) to every single tap or click.

So they’ve tried really hard to get it right first time. A total godsend for any mobile user. [...] Nice work Taptu!”

Scott at MobileCrunch says:

“Another great feature of the current version of the Taptu app are context sensitive search filters included beneath the default search filters. As you can see, my search for beer produced a number of beer-related links. Mmmmm…beeer.

Bottom line: Taptu is a pretty slick mobile search solution.”

What’s On iPhone says:

“Google works just fine on the iPhone, especially now that iGoogle is back on line. But is it the only choice of search engines for the device? NO WAY!

Taptu brings a unique aproach to web searches on the iPhone with its new search engine. Designed to be finger friendly, it is intended for small screen. And it shows.”

Now, we have also had a few bits of criticism from some iTunes reviewers, who have flagged up that our index isn’t up to scratch for every type of search term. That’s a fair comment – our index is growing every day and will continue to improve as we keep plowing more material into it. In fact, you can help improve our index by recommending the best mobile sites out there if we don’t already list them.

Our thanks go out to everyone who’s taken time to look at the app, reviewed or commented (positively or negatively constructively) over the past few months. Now, how about I go get one of ‘em new 3GS iPhones and test that Taptu works properly on it? Oooh shiny!