More apps may be coming for feature phones, too

There was a great article in CNN Online International Edition yesterday, which you can read at http://bit.ly/eJOlS5, titled "More apps may be coming for feature phones, too."

We like Apps - we now provide iPhone and Android Apps to complement our Mobile Web and mobile marketing platforms. The article points out that "According to comScore, as of January 2011 only about 28% of all mobile phones in the U.S. were smartphones. This means 72% of U.S. cell phones are feature phones, most of which have a broad array of features, including the ability to run Java-based apps." So we're struck by the hype over Apps for recording artists and bands, since they don't reach 72% of your audience.

Article author Amy Garham poinsts out that "One of the great strengths of smartphones is their fully featured, easy-to-use Web browsers. Increasingly these will support HTML5 functionality, which allows Web pages to work more like apps. Since it's much easier and cheaper to develop for the mobile Web than for several native app platforms, a lot of smartphone services that are delivered mainly via apps today probably will migrate to a mobile browser experience."

One question to ask is if the App needs to take advantage of the smartphone feature set to work. If you need access to the phone book, or camera, for example, then a native App is the way to go go. For bands that want to provide what fans are looking for - music, videos, tour dates, news, social net links, etc., you don't need anything the phone offers except the browser. The Adva Mobile platform leverages this strength, providing a consistent experience for fans, whether on iPhone App, Android App or Mobile Web.