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.

If you would like to get into moblogging, blogging from your mobile device, have a look at these 7 options to get you started.

Apps for your mobile, like the iPhone, are a great way to use your device to its full potential.

The iPhone is on its way to sunny South Africa and the excitement is already beginning to build. The news that the iPhone would be available in South Africa spread rapidly through the MSM and the local blogosphere. Some, however, have been sceptical as to the magnitude of the potential impact the release of the iPhone here will have – here is why they should be as excited as everyone else!

The iPhone has sold exceptionally well, with approx. 6 million units moved by its first anniversary this Sunday, the 29th. While perhaps not as incredible as a Steve Jobs keynote might imply this is still a serious feat – going from 0 to 6 million units shipped in 1 year is no joke – and the impact of the iPhone has been very significant. It has changed the way consumers who have experienced its interface perceive the mobile web (no longer clunky WAP but rather slick browsing via a small version of Safari) and stimulated significant innovation in the mobile device space. Furthermore, the new version of the iPhone which is to be released locally also sports 3G connectivity – making rich media browsing from a mobile device sound very attractive! Allan Kent (of Saatchi and Saatchi’s At Play) articulated his feeling that the iPhone is going to change the game for mobile applications: “The most important thing that I mentioned earlier is that I believe the iPhone interface will make mobile applications a lot more accessible to people.” This is definitely going to be the case, in fact we here at FormFunction would contend that it’s going to change more than just the game, but the entire context in which mobile application development takes place. Both web apps developed specifically for iPhones and native apps that are able to leverage the unique featureset provided by the iPhone SDK are going to finally start delivering on the promises of convergence that have been floating around for years.

Thus a large part of what the iPhone represents has yet to be unlocked: there is going to be an explosion of fascinating new applications for the device as the second year of the device’s existence unfolds. An interesting example of what can be achieved with a little work is Patrick Collison’s wikipedia on the iPhone project which yields as he says “the warm fuzzy feeling of having the sum of all human knowledge in your pocket.” Social functionality on the iPhone has already been shown to be successful with the widely acclaimed Facebook iPhone portal and much more innovation on this front is to be expected – some of which will certainly be coming from FormFunction’s side of the ring We’re looking forward to the South African iPhone launch and are excited to be part of SA’s next wave of mobile innovation: there’s no doubt that Apple’s device is a winner!

PS: Vodacom has set up a microsite for people interested in getting an iPhone when it launches locally to leave their details. Vodacom says it will get back to those who sign up “as soon as [the iPhone] becomes available.”