It’s hard to believe that the iPhone launched without an application store but it did. If you’ve lived with ‘apps’ for any length of time you’ll appreciate the advantages and probably won’t want to go back to a place without an integrated app store right?

• Discovery
• Try-and-Buy
• Unified Billing
• Discussion / Comment / Sharing
• Developer opportunity (money, fame!)
• Diversity / Niche applications
• Device Customisation
• Application control and conformity
• Centralised security checks
• One-stop-shop
• Competition / Comparison of similar applications
• 3rd-party Curation

Yes, apps have been around for a long time but the app store brings many important advantages. It’s big business.

Wipconnector now lists over 100 app stores and in the latest report (PDF) asks the question – “How Many App Stores is Too Many. inch It’s almost the same question as “How Many Blogs is Too Many? inch and we all know that there’s enough desire, demand and advertising out there to drive a scary number. My prediction is that the number of store ‘fronts’ will continue to rise but we might see consolidation on the back end. API’s, SDK’s and submission processes that align and then offer multiple store fronts (based on device type, software brand or genre) seem the perfect solution to applications stores with huge numbers of apps. Actually, blogs and app store fronts could link up very well with blogs driving the SEO and readership to a niche audience and then offering a tailored application store with reviews and a percentage of revenue. It’s certainly something I want to do in the mobile computing niche when possible.

Maybe I’ll have a different view at the end of next week though as I expect to learn a lot more at two Intel-sponsored sessions. The first is App World at Olympia in London. On the 1st Dec (Wednesday) I’ll be hosting a 4-hour session where Intel representatives will talk about the Intel AppUp Developer Program, the AppUp store for Windows and MeeGo, the opportunities and software engineers will be present to help developers get started.

“We’ll be discussing revenue opportunities for Adobe AIR* and Windows* C/C++ developers, as well as how you can optimise existing iOS, Windows and runtime applications for netbooks. inch

I’ll be around for the day so if you’re at the event, drop by and say hi!

After App World I’ll be flying over to Berlin for the Intel App Lab to practice my ‘Denglisch.’  Again, I’m introducing speakers at the event and looking forward to meeting people in what has to be one of the hottest cities in Europe for new media software and services.

“Hear why you should develop for the Intel AppUpSM center, learn about the monetization opportunities, see live coding demonstrations and talk to Intel experts in our staffed hands on training session. Bring your code and questions! inch

You can find information and register here. The event is free and there’s a chance to win a netbook along with other prizes. Beer, pizza and chat after the event too!

See you there.
Chippy