Advancing Mobile Investing One ETF App at a Time

Today was a big day at Plastic. The Marketing Intern brought in homemade chocolate chips cookies so we were all on a major sugar high for the launch of “ETF Central,” our latest app that was created in partnership with Claymore Investments, a subsidiary of Guggenheim Funds Services Group, Inc.

Because a part of our mandate is to pioneer innovative products and solutions that allow the financial industry to expand into the mobile space, we wanted to be sure that ETF (Exchange-traded Funds) Central met all of the user needs, in an engaging and easy-to-use format.

So, employing both tech and creative wizardry (our magical formula for super apps) we created a sophisticated tool that sets the bar for excellence in the financial space. Voila! ETF Central. A new, free, customized, dual-purpose mobile app available on BlackBerry, PlayBook, iPhone and iPad.

ETF Central satisfies both the need to better educate users unfamiliar with the relatively new exchange-traded funds, as well as allows them to manage their ETF investments easily and conveniently. The app puts all Canadian-listed ETFs into the user’s palm, allowing them to view market prices of all TSX listed ETFs, create and track their ETF portfolio, view ETF educational resources, link to all online brokerages to trade ETFs, track upcoming ETF events and more. Ultimately, it’s a pretty outstanding financial gadget.

The leading force behind the app creation, and our very own “Queen of Apps,” Melody Adhami was excited to launch ETF Central as ETFs represent a sizable industry, but public awareness about them has been limited. She and our team here at Plastic Mobile set out to create a tool that would both educate and manage ETFs for the average user/investor. To read the full media release, click here.

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The battle continues over which is the superior platform – Android or iOS. Everyone from users to marketers have weighed in with their future predictions, past musings and current praises and complaints. From a developer’s perspective, things remain uncertain and, at times, contradictory. Here’s the low down based on the latest research.

A couple of months back, the general opinion was that app developers were turning their attention to Android over iOS, because of its rapidly increasing market share. A survey from Appcelerator indicated that the momentum was shifting in favour of Android, closing the gap on current app development that traditionally favoured iOS. The idea behind the supposed shift was that the Android platform is considered to have the best long-term outlook.

The latest news, however, turns that theory upside down. It appears that Android continues to take a back seat to iOS, in part because, well, it’s not as mainstream cool (those Mac commercials still make us chuckle). While Android operating system is still the big winner on the charts (46.3% of US smartphone owners running the mobile operating system) according to the Strategy Analytics’ survey, “App Developer Attitudes and Behaviours,” it seems that Apple’s iOS platform remains near and dear to developers’ hearts, with 51% saying they plan to write for the “iTeam” (iPod, iPad and iTouch) platforms in 2012. Yes, Android is fast approaching a majority share in smartphones among US customers, but it now seems that the platform is suffering among its app builders, with interest rising only 30% from 23% in 2011. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

That being said, it seems that Apple’s status among the people writing app code comes from the multiple device types now using the operating system, with the iPhone down 26%. In fact, the real growth for iOS comes from the iPad, which attracted only 8% of developers last year, but will get 19% in 2012 (+138%). With more than half a million apps now cataloged in the Apple App Store, over 150,000 are compatible with or written specifically for the iPad.

Experts such as Strategy Analytics report author and Director of Apps Research, Josh Martin, expect that money will talk and developers will continue to favour platforms that offer the most diverse ways of generating revenue.

Piper Jaffrey recently estimated that Apple’s App Store substantially outperforms the Android marketplace for developers, with Apple responsible for about 80% to 90% of revenue generated by the app market.

What do you think? Will iOS continue to corner the market in app developers despite Android’s appetite for market share? Or will the interest in the iTeam fizzle out and watch Android steal their fan base?

Plastic Mobile team had a great trip to South by Southwest Interactive. Austin, TX was buzzing with over 20,000 people traveling from around the world to attend the festival. We hopped from one panel to the next keynote speech to the various industry parties. Most importantly, we enjoyed connecting with talents in the digital space.

Over the last few years, SXSW has become a launch pad for many start-ups. Social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc all got their popularity boost from this festival. For the sake of mobile, here are some highlights from this year’s SXSW:

1) Group Messaging: Before the festival began, the hot thing expected for 2011 was ability to message an exclusive group of people. After SXSW, we still don’t think group messaging got its sex appeal (yet). It’s still a tool that people will find useful on the specific occasions. Beluga, Fast Society, Kik, Yobongo, and GroupMe were all contenders in the group messaging app battle. According to an infographic published in TechCrunch, GroupMe won at SXSW. Now, I’m not sure if the results were skewed since GroupMe were serving free beer and yummy grilled cheese sandwiches. Marketing is king at SXSW.

2) iPad 2: Opening day of SXSW fell on the same day that the iPad 2 became available in the US. Apple made it convenient for the fellow SXSW tech aficionados to get their hands on the latest tablet by opening up a pop-up store in the heart of downtown Austin. Yes, iPad 2 was heavily talked about at the festival. Plus, we saw a lot of tablets being held up in the air, as people were testing out its camera feature. (I hope this doesn’t become a trend) As expected, the iPad 2 was pretty much sold out…well, they only had 64G version in Austin.

3) Mobile app creator. Everyone wants to create a mobile application. Many bloggers and online publications have the influence but not the budget to invest on a mobile application. New platforms are coming out help alleviate that problem – so people can produce high-quality apps at an affordable price. Plastic Mobile will soon be launching its mobile platform called Joomo (pronounced “You-Mo”). It’ll create applications for all platforms on smartphones and tablets based on a site or blog. Learn more about Joomo by checking out our site (it’s in beta): www.joomo.com

4) QR Codes: The movie Source Code with Jake Gyllenhaal premiered at SXSW. Microsoft was a sponsor and used its Tag technology to promote the film. Essentially, Microsoft Tag is a form of QR Code where you scan the barcode and it’ll direct you to a specific site. The Source Code tag, took its users to a social game on Facebook. The game itself was based on the movie. Are we seeing a new trend for Hollywood in order to promote its films?

5) Deals: As Groupon leads the race on the daily deals space many other mobile applications are jumping on the bandwagon. Facebook has announced that they are testing daily deals in a few US cities. The co-founder of Foursquare, the geo-location mobile app, said in a SXSW presentation that they are aggressively looking into offering more deals for its users. All I have to say, let’s move away from the discounts on spas, massages, or bootcamp sessions. New deals please!

Imagine how convenient it’ll be to make payments at restaurants or stores with your iPhone or iPad! Imagine how great it’ll be to have a fast checkout process and not have to wait in line. According to Bloomberg’s report, Apple’s next iPhone and iPad are expected to have NFC technology.

NFC technology (near field communication) that is gaining popularity, allows various forms of data transfer between the iPhone and other NFC capable devices. NFC technology receives and sends out information at distances up to 4 inches. This means iPhone and iPad users will soon be able to make payments using NFC.

The key to this is iTunes, or better say the payment system within iTunes that is already in use by millions and millions of people around the world. By entering the payment service market, Apple has a massive opportunity. By including NFC into its iPhone and iPad, Apple could use its existing iTunes accounts and give consumers an alternative to traditional financial services by Visa, MasterCard and PayPal.

Right now, Apple has launched a prototype for the payment services by allowing smaller businesses to scan NFC-enabled devices.  Upcoming versions of the AT&T iPhone and iPad 2 are expected to have the technology enabled and the technology is anticipated to be available by mid 2011.

If Apple can nail NFC and tie it directly into their iTunes payment system, it could change everything. This can be an evolution of the payment system within iTunes.

This could be the greatest tactic they’ve ever pulled. Is it possible that Apple and iTunes will replace Visa and Mastercard? From our perspective, it seems unlikely that they will go that far due to the complications and the financial burden associated with giving consumers credit.  But I guess we will never know how far they will go and we will just have to wait and see!

Happy Birthday to the Mac!

Apple introduced the very first Macintosh on January 24, 1984, beginning an era that is still going strong 27 years later. Steve Jobs introduced the Apple Macintosh on January 24, 1984 and received wild applause from the crowd of 3,000 people. It was originally introduced simply as the Apple Macintosh and was re-branded as the Macintosh 128K when its big brother, the Macintosh 512K, was introduced in September 1984.

Apple has evolved it’s business beyond the Macintosh computers and has revolutioned the music and mobile industries with the introduction of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. In the latest earnings release, apple revealed that their new iPad device has sold close to $15M.

The iPad is definitely a hit based on the reports & iPhone sales are coming in ahead of estimates. In addition to these, Apple’s App Store has just posted its 10 billionth download, just two and half years after the store opened in July 2008.

Up to this point, consumers have largely driven Apple’s iPhone & iPad growth, and these technologies are said to be creeping into corporate world.

For those that want to relive a piece of history, here is the demo of the first Apple Macintosh by Steve Jobs. Demo of the first Mac computer by Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder and chief executive of Apple Company hasn’t exactly been in the best shape for a while now. Mr. Jobs, 55, who recovered from pancreatic cancer after surgery in 2004, has not appeared at public events since October. He appears considerably skinnier these days & now he’s taking time out.

Steve Jobs sent out an e-mail message to all Apple employees saying that he is taking “a medical leave of absence”, so that he can focus on his health. He says that he will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company; only, he’ll do it from home. This is the third time he is taking a step back in less than a decade. Whether Steve Jobs returns or not, he will definitely be hard to replace; it was because of him & his extremely talented team that the company succeeded over the past years.

Steve Jobs’s perseverance, management style, innovative qualities, creativity, outlook on design, charisma, and overall business “know how” can’t simply be replaced. His unique & great qualities have made him the technological guru of his time and of technology today.

Steve Jobs kept the development of products like the iPhone 4 and iPad on track, increased Macintosh computers sales and improved Apple’s financial performance during an economic downturn; his performance has always been a heavy dose of reassurance for the investors. He succeeded many negotiating grounds because of the strength of his personality. The persuading & negotiating role that he has is very important, as Apple seeks to become a bigger power in media distribution. It would be hard for anyone in the industry to have a comparable level of influence as Steve Jobs does.

Of course no one expects Apple to suffer in the short term, as the company has a long product cycle. But we don’t know what will happen over the long term if Mr. Jobs does not return. The problem here isn’t the operations of Apple and their ability to keep doing what they’ve been doing; the problem here is that Steve Jobs’ inspiration is irreplaceable. With all his unique characteristics and talents, and the breakthrough innovation he introduced to Apple, we are not sure if anyone can fill his shoes.

He changed many lives for the better. We hope he’s back on his feet soon and returns to work at Apple.