'Appvolution': Your destiny in your hand

Today, over half of India’s population carries a mobile phone. And, as these devices get both smarter and cheaper, there is a new world of apps that awaits them. The app store revolution came about with the launch of the first iPhone in the US. Around that time, games and music were the only things that were downloaded on mobile phones. But, in the last two years, a lot has changed in terms of availability of apps and also the accessibility that users have to them.

Today, in India, large telecom operators like Reliance and Airtel have app stores of their own. Airtel has named its app store ‘App Central’, while Reliance has tied up with Getjar to bring over 65,000 mobile applications to Indian consumers. And, in addition to the big, established mobile operators, even new players have taken the plunge. Aircel, for instance, has partnered with Infosys to launch its own app stores.

Apart from operators, there are handset makers in this segment, too. Apple has its own app store, while Nokia has Ovi for music and apps, and Blackberry also has its own app world, which gives access to a plethora of business applications, too.

Most of these apps use the internet and fulfil some specific user needs. The most used apps usually are those that enable social networking, be it Twitter, Facebook or instant messaging (IM) apps. One of the popular apps across platforms is Snaptu (a fast, stylish all-in-one app that includes all mobile essentials in one place — Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and even news feed from all major networks).

It’s not only international handset makers that are powering these apps. Even Indian developers and companies are venturing into the mobile app space. One such player is Rocketalk. It provides IM, social networking and photo-sharing features via mobiles.

The question now is whether these apps are even being downloaded by mobile users? Well, an indication of the demand could well be the recent statistics shared by Airtel, which claims that its four-month-old App Central has already clocked 13 million downloads at the rate of 1.2 downloads each second! Furthermore, the app store has grown to offer 71,000-plus apps. And, if you thought such apps worked only on a few devices, you would be mistaken. Airtel’s apps are compatible across no less than 780 devices.

There is a saying: “Our destiny is in our own hands”. In light of all the information pertaining to apps and their availability, this saying couldn’t be more apt in today’s mobile world. Our destiny sure is in our own hands, and how we use these apps — be it for entertainment, productivity or even m-commerce — will define our future.

(The writer is the founder and CEO of WATConsult, a social media agency. He also founded WATBlog.com, a leading digital media blog)