According to eMarketer.com mobile apps are set to do better than social apps in 2010 with the iPhone being the platform of choice followed by Android. I find mobile apps especially useful when travelling and, keeping this in mind, I’ve decided to look at a few apps that might be useful to visitors to South Africa during the FIFA World Cup.

ShoZu

Share content easily with Shozu to a wide variety of social websites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Twitpic to name a few. This app is available for many different types of handsets, check here if the app is compatible with your phone.

A virtual cellar: Drync Wine

Whether you are a wine newbie or connoisseur Drync Wine for the iPhone is the perfect wine partner. Drync acts like a virtual cellar with reviews and ratings for over 800 000 wines. With integrated Twitter access, you can easily share your wines of choice with your followers. Buy Drync from iTunes for $3.99 and add all your favourite wines to your virtual cellar list. This is the perfect app for foreign visitors who want to try out the Western Cape’s famous wine routes.

Pano

This app for iPhone allows you to take “beautiful, seamless panoramic pictures” straight from your phone. Panoramic photos are created by taking multiple shots and then stitching them together in the app. No additional software is required. Pretty cool!

fring

Perfect for staying in touch with family and friends while you’re away, fring is an instant messenger mobile app. Social networks that work through fring include Skype, Google Talk, Twitter, Yahoo, AIM and MSN Messenger. You can also use fring to make affordable local and international calls via Skype.

amAze GPS

amAze GPS offer users turn-by-turn navigation and the latest, most detailed maps. Additional features include a 3D bird’s eye view over detailed satellite imagery in major cities. The app is available on a number of handsets and subscriptions are either $3.99 on a monthly basis or $33.99 per year.

Any favourite apps you would like to share?

Virgin Atlantic has released its first iPhone application aimed at nervous flyers.  Based on and named after the Flying Without Fear course the app was developed in partnership with Mental Workout, a company that specialises in designing software that helps people resolve stress issues.  According to Virgin Atlantic the Flying Without Fear course has a 98% success rate, and has even helped celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg.

Through mobile technology the Flying Without Fear app, the first of its kind, will put anxious travellers at ease.  The app features a personal introduction by Sir Richard Branson, a video explanation of the flight process from start to finish, an explanation of the aeroplane environment, frequently asked questions, relaxation exercises and a panic button for emergency breathing exercises.

According to Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, the app was designed to help people overcome the fear of the unfamiliar aircraft environment, the strange noises the plane makes and of losing control.

If you’re an anxious traveller, buy the app for your iPhone or iPod Touch from the iTunes App Store for $4.99.

Applications have seen a considerable rise in not only their adoption by users but also monetisation for developers.

There are 57,514 apps on Facebook with over 200,000 developers currently evaluating the platform. These applications were used 34,175,797 times in the last 24 hours and have a combined valuation of $269,323,488. [Source]

Adonomics™, formerly Appaholic, provides analytics for Facebook and provides a list of the Top 100 application developers which ranges from large development agencies to lone developers and are ranked, and valuated, on their daily active users. Currently ranked at number 1 is Zynga, with a company valuation of $121,986,913 driven by 28 application revenues.

Revenues from applications are obtained in many ways, as far as the consumer and the imagination will allow, and include users purchasing virtual currencies, like 750,000 poker chips for $100 in Texas HoldEm Poker and subscribing to offer-based advertising whereby the advertiser reserves space in the users application in return for “favors” like a bag of cash in Mob Wars.

Facebook is not alone on the applications front though. Smartphone users are showing confidence in application downloads too.

Downloading and installing apps is not the big surprise, as consumers are always on the lookout for new ways to entertain themselves as well as customise their devices, the interesting part is the amount of money that these consumers are paying and willing to pay for such applications.

Research done by Compete shows Smartphone users are comfortable to spend in the $5.00 - $9.99 vicinity with a slight drop when it comes to the $10.00 - $19.99 category.

Out of the Smartphone category, iPhone users are the early adopters and innovators when it comes to purchasing applications. These users have a focus on games, entertainment and music respectively and have spent mostly in the region of $2 - $4.99 with some even breaching the $50+ mark!

The monetisation model for apps is therefore based on 1) direct sales of the apps 2)virtual products like “favors” and 3) advertising, providing an opt-in option for marketing messages that are targeted as well as unavoidable in the user’s interaction with their chosen platform.

With the large adoption rate of apps and the possible ROI that they can deliver it would be worth your while to have an application developed to meet your specific marketing requirements or developing applications for creation of revenue. Either way, ensure your idea is well researched and that you seek advice from people with the right experience.