Danny Whatmough.com

Everyone that knows me well, knows that I am slightly addicted to my iPhone. And, Nexus One withstanding (it’s not a game changer), I’m looking forward to upgrading to the iPhone 4G when it likely comes out later this year.

With Apple set to announce the iSlate next Wednesday, combined possibly with an upgrade to the iPhone’s OS, it’s set to be an exciting year for Apple fanboys.

So I was intrigued to see this little infographic yesterday from French website Nowhere Else – it’s enough to whet my appetite…!

Anyone that knows me, reads this blog or follows me on Twitter will know I’m addicted to my iPhone. Why is it so great? Simple; it’s all about the apps.

The iPhone isn’t a phone at all really, it’s a mini computer giving me access to the web, Twitter, games, news etc.

The Guardian iPhone App

So the launch today of the Guardian’s iPhone app is exciting (especially as this is my paper of choice).

And the app is great. The Guardian have been a bit late to this game, with other national newspapers releasing apps a while ago, but it seems they have been using the time to create an app that is slick, very functional and user friendly, packed with a range of great features.

There is offline reading and audio playback, the ability to favourite articles and even customise the homepage, picture galleries with full screen viewing and the option to browse by subject and author or look at ‘trending articles’.

There are some aspects missing. I’d love to see a ’share on Twitter’ function and also the inclusion of article comments - however, in an interview I did with him over on the Wildfire blog, Guardian Product Manager Jonathon Moore advised this will come.

There is a cost however: £2.39. For me, this is a small amount to pay. I know that all this content is available for free online via a browser, but there are additional features (e.g. offline browsing) and a better interface that I would happily pay for.

The ‘free’ debate

So how does this affect the paid-for debate around news content. I’m happy to pay the equivalent of three print newspapers for this app – for me, that equals value. And surely value is the key thing here. I’ll pay for something if I attach value to it (as long as the value assigned equals the value I attach to it).

The Guardian has said it is unlikely to put up a paywall and I would support this strategy. I don’t think across-the-board paywalls are the answer for newspapers. And I think the Times will suffer with theirs.

Papers needs to work out where they can really add value in contrast to their competition (other papers, bloggers etc.).  The Guardian app seems like a good example of how this can happen in practice.

Twitter has been simmering this morning with news that Orange is going to be selling the iPhone 3GS in the UK by the end of the year.

Now, despite numerous complaints about the service that iPhone users have received under O2, their use of Twitter to quickly respond to and work with users has been pretty impressive: http://twitter.com/o2.

But Orange doesn’t seem to be too far behind. Only hours after the announcement, @conorfromorange has been tweeting and keeping excited iPhone fans abreast of latest developments.

And the iPhone microsite he mentions is a smart move from the carrier, building on the social media buzz that has accompanied the announcement and capturing data about potential customers, even though the phone isn’t available yet.

Personally, as someone that moved from Orange (the only carrier I had ever had a phone with) to O2 when the iPhone launched, I don’t really have any complaints with O2.

But the competition can only be a good thing and will hopefully push prices down.

A few weeks ago, Sky revealed a new iPhone app that will allow users to set Sky+ recordings remotely. Its a great example of how mobile applications can be used to make life that little bit easier. (And yes, I’m jealous that Virgin Media haven’t done the same)

With Android, Blackberry and Nokia all either launching or set to launch their own versions of the Apple App store, mobile applications have really come of age.

The Guardian wrote a big piece on iPhone apps recently, covering the fact that Nine Inch Nails are set to launch their own app allowing their fans and followers better access to music, downloads and everything else they could possibly want. App-mania is upon us.

For those that haven’t experienced apps so far, the obsession may seem odd. After all, aren’t we supposed to moving away from ’software’ towards cloud computing and web-based applications like Gmail and Salesforce? Well, it seems that mobile apps offer a good comprise between the two, especially on mobiles where, despite improvements, browsers still lack the ease-of-use experienced elsewhere.

Many apps are still dependent on internet access and the best (other than games for obvious reasons) do still embody key ‘cloud’ features. But, as Salesforce demonstrates, creating an app rather than merely an optimised mobile site, does make sense. And when the iPhone 3.0 software launches this summer, iPhone apps will go to the next level.

Having said all of this, there is a flipside. Google has been quite resolute in failing to really support a push into mobile apps, on the iPhone at least. Here, the Google app is nothing more than a portal, linking to the various web pages of Google services – search, Reader, Mail etc. – and whilst you can understand their focus on the ‘web’ it does render the application itself rather useless. Having said that, the new mobile version of Gmail is fantastic and possibly demonstrates that application functionality through mobile browsers is perhaps not as far away as we might imagine.

But until this happens, I hope that more big businesses take the plunge and join fantastic apps like National Rail (despite the price/downtime), Tube Deluxe, Shazam, the New York Times, WSJ etc.

Imagine a BBC or Guardian iPhone app for example. I’m surprised more haven’t followed suit. And yet, you do fear that as more and more app stores open on more and more platforms, the ‘bigger players’ may be forced to focus more on platform-neutral websites (despite handset and browser quirks) and leave app development to independent specialists armed with APIs to create some really exciting and productive tools.

[Few caveats: I've never tried an electronic book reader thingy, I've never seen a Kindle in real life]

Amazon has proudly announced Kindle 2.0 – the electronic book reader which allows you to read books without carrying them all around etc. etc.

But I just don’t really get the appeal. Surely it is just a matter of time until one of the big players puts the ability to read books like this onto an iPhone or equivalent device? Why would I want to pay $300+ to buy something like this this when it could be integrated?

Ok, ok, I hear your shouting – the iPhone is too small, not enough battery and doesn’t have the nicely designed screen that makes reading easy…

I say: all problems that can be overcome.

So come on Amazon, Apple, Nokia, Microsoft – let’s sort it out! There’s surely money to be made… (& I don’t want yet another device I have to carry around with me.