Improving app discovery the social way

I love to discover apps for my mobile, tablet, ipod touch, etc and I'm sure most of the others who have such handheld devices feel the same way. While the current app engines like "Google Play", "ITunes Store", "Amazon Apps", "Samsung Apps" etc try to fulfill this in some way or another, it still doesn't fully meet my/everyone's requirements.

For long, I've wanted the ability to know what apps are popular with my friends, and for me to publish what I use in an easy way so that others can see what I've discovered (other than me having to write about it).

Would it be possible for Google/Apple to aid app discovery by allowing my phone/tablet/... to publish the list of (my selected) apps that I have installed on my phone/tablet/... to Google+, Facebook, Twitter (via some URL), etc?

Google+/FB/ (or Google/Apple) then in turn needs to have a way for users to discover the popular apps, categories (and such) in their circles at the aggregate level and even deep dive to individual users.

I terribly miss the capability to share my list of apps in an easy way and/or discover what others are using.

Is this already available and I'm somehow missing it? Or do you know if there are such plans on the cards and it's on its way? If so, when? If not, do you know how it can be brought to the attention of the powers that be?

I feel that it may also be worthwhile to provide a mechanism to indicate the phone manufacturer, model, OS, etc in FB, G+ posts - if users wish to include it - and provide a similar mechanism for discover.

My next phone - looking always to the future :)

I've been tempted long enough. The first two are what are available in the Indian market now. While the others are those on the global list.
Samsung Galaxy S
HTC Desire
HTC Desire HD
IPhone 4
Nexus S

Thanks to the IPod Touch 4 that I got about a month ago, I'm quite impressed with the IPhone apps platform and the number of "useful" apps on it. Not sure how the android market stacks up to that for those apps that I seek now and possibly want in the future.

The Indian market unfortunately has no "real sale" even during peak holiday seasons for things such as these. Given that this is already year end and there are rumors about dual core mobile processors (from Samsung, Qualcomm, ARM, Intel) hitting the market in Q1 of 2011, I'm tempted to postpone the "always in the future" purchase decision. But then, there's also the thought that with more powerful processors, battery may be a bigger problem and hence possibly not worth it.

Let's see how this goes.

Kindle 3 WiFi, e-readers, touchscreen tablets

So, I got Kindle 3 WiFi for Krish, still to get to Chennai with it. I like the concept of e-readers, but I'm aghast at the prices at which books sell legally :) IMHO, many product prices do not take PPP into consideration and there are possibly some valid reasons for it as well in the context of "e-goods". However, they do lose out on a large market for this very reason as well.

Well, FWIW, I'm quite tempted with the concept of touchscreen tablet when compared to a plain e-reader. I'd like to gift one to my parents who'll appreciate the ease of using a touchscreen device when compared to a regular desktop/laptop. However, I'm also sure that I'd be hogging the device if that was the only touchscreen tablet device at home :)

Samsung Galaxy Tab with 7" touchscreen, camera, wifi and android is a step in right direction - however I'm not fully convinced about screen size. I'd rather take the ~10" Apple iPad - however that's still missing camera (front & back) and is also exorbitantly priced without an external/SD card storage mechanism. I'll probably wait for the next gen tablets to make entry into the market. Apple can be quite greedy at times - afterall the 16GB iPad sells at $500 while 64GB sells at $700. $200 difference for 48GB! But then, the Samsung Galaxy Tab at $600 isn't a very inspiring price either for a 7" device. There was mention of a $500 variant with just Wi-Fi, but I can't seem to find enough information on it on the net - they mostly talk about the 3G+WiFi variant.

I do like Krish's take that a reader like kindle without extra-ordinary capabilities will keep him less distracted and dedicated to the task of reading! I couldn't agree more :) Will be interesting to see how HTC Nook Color (Barnes & Noble) stands up against Kindle.

In the meanwhile, if any of the readers are interested in gifting me one (either the tablet or e-reader), thanks in advance :)

Find the most happening phone in your part of the world

Crisp version for those in the US: iPhone More Global Than Android — for Now

Or better still, look at the data yourself in the report (recommended) after a read of the blog from AdMob!

Weird Problem with Itunes - no podcasts for me

I remember that I didn't accept the Apple Itune Store Application Agreement (or something to that effect) while installing Itunes. As a result, I'm not able to see the podcast, movies, music tabs on Itunes. To understand what I mean, see my Itunes tab below.



See, it doesn't show the movies/music/podcasts tab. In fact there's no way I can subscribe to new podcasts from the podcast directory. Clicking the "podcasts directory" button takes me to the application store, not podcast directory!

No amount of uninstalling/reinstalling ITunes asks me that Licensing question nor does it bring on the movies/music/podcasts tab.

Does anyone know what I'm missing in getting this to work?

Why Apple iPhone3g doesn't make any sense in India

Offered with no comments.

1. There are no 3G networks in India, YET.
2. iPhone retails in US between $199 to $299 for the 8GB and 16GB phone. That works out to about Rs.8000 to Rs.12000 (approx) in India (at simple conversion of 1USD = Rs.40). However, the two "exclusive" providers, Airtel and Vodafone want between Rs.31000 to Rs.36000 for these models.
3. iPhone3G is going to operate on GPRS network at the moment. Both Airtel and Vodafone, have unlimited GPRS plans for as "low" as Rs.199 per month. However, for iPhone, they are not looking at this unlimited plan, but want to sell separate data plans with following "features"
* plans priced anywhere between Rs.500 to Rs.100
* "free" data downloads from 0 (zero) kb to 500MB
* additional downloads between 30paise/50kb to 5paise/10kb
4. 12 month warranty as long as one sticks with the service provider and these plans

While there will be some fanatics who may buy the iPhone, I think for vast majority price of the handset has to drop and so does data plan price.