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The fabulous Technology For Marketing & Advertising blog posted a nice piece recommending 5 articles on mCommerce. I think these could be interesting reading for all app entrepreneurs and developers:

1. Mobile Web: the game changed
2. Understanding and tackling consumers’ high expectations of mobile
3. What do users want from mCommerce sites?
4. ASOS voted as the best mCommerce site… what are they doing so right?
5. Mobile marketing: stop thinking sales and start thinking experience

Click here to read the TFMA article.

As you know, AppsArabia works closely with all the platforms and telcos, and we can now share with you that Nokia’s Ovi Store is about to launch operator billing in UAE with Etisalat. (They are already live with operator billing in KSA with STC).

This is massive news! Many smartphone users in MENA do not have credit/debit cards or else they do not want to use them to buy apps from the app stores, either online or via their devices.

Operator billing means that app entrepreneurs can collect payments from consumers easily and efficiently for things like app sales and in-app purchases. The payments get charged directly to the consumer’s Etisalat account – post paid customers will see the charges on their monthly bill and pre-paid customers will have the charges deducted from their credit.

AppsArabia believes that operator billing is an effective solution to the biggest challenge in this region … how to collect money from consumers. Congratulations to Nokia and Etisalat for leading the way here in the UAE and we hope that operator billing will be rolled out across the whole region with all platforms and all telcos soon.

I was delighted when Integrated Applications, a Saudi app development company, asked if AppsArabia would be interested in taking part in a promotional campaign they wanted to run …

Great initiative guys Thanks!

I simply had to publish this great article by Natasha Stokes at Mobile Choice because it perfectly summarises the new iOS from Apple – it isn’t ground breaking but it will be a huge success because of its simplicity.

In my view, Apple now need to look at consumer payment mechanisms – their competitors are busy rolling out operator billing … but will Apple every do this?

Click here to read the full article at Mobile Choice.

Here’s the first edition of a digital magazine called Technode from Shiny Media. It is 36 pages long and has features like …

• the top 20 gadgets of summer 2011
• the three key gadget trends for the year (3D, in car gadgetry & tablets)
• 4G mobile phones
• how technology is changing art
• … and much more!

Click here to download the first edition of Technode.

Got an iPad or iPhone? Then click here to download an interactive version with video & extra features.

I recommend you subscribe to Technode. Just email them.

Edge Magazine interviewed four successful indie app entrepreneurs/developers and I respect their advice on how to find success in developing your own iOS games.

Click here to read the article.

MEF have invited all AppsArabia members to a webinar on 1st June 2011 to hear about how apps, smartphones and context are changing the mobile commerce landscape.

The panel of industry experts will debate strategy, opportunity and consider where the changing landscape is taking us. Analytics will be presented on the webinar providing you with unique insights in terms of what is happening in M-commerce globally.

The Moderator will be Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chair and Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at mBlox.

Panelists will be:

• Irfan Goandal, Associate Director of Group Product Development at Qtel International
• Limvirak Chea, Head of BD Europe & Middle East at InMobi
• Bruno Coindre, COO at TransferTo
• Suhail Bhat, Policy & Initiative Director at MEF

Click here for more information and to register.

Our friends at VisionMobile have published a great new infographic & asked us to share it with you all.

A few months ago, VisionMobile published Developer Economics 2010 & Beyond, a research report that tracked the entire mobile developer journey – from app design & platform selection to market delivery and monetization.

Now they’ve presented the entire Mobile Developer Journey in a single graphic – brilliant!

Click here to get the infographic.

The world’s most widely used smartphone platform lives on so there’s every reason to develop for this platform.

Nokia has recently decided to focus on Qt as their sole application development framework to simplify things for developers.

Read the statement from Nokia’s CTO, Rich Green.

PC World Middle East asked AppsArabia to write an article about what it takes to become an app entrepreneur in the middle east and how to succeed.

The 10 steps detailed in the article are:

1. What value will you provide?
2. Keep it simple
3. Who are you targeting?
4. Select your platform
5. Consider all revenue streams, pricing, forecast
6. Understand the costs & risks
7. Choose the right development partner
8. Quality, quality, quality
9. Plan the promotion
10. Launch, learn & evolve

Click here to read the article.

SyndiGate is a digital content syndication service provided by Al Bawaba Middle East Limited. SyndiGate licenses multi-lingual content in electronic format from 1,500+ publishers and creators of text, photo, video, audio, games and applications and provides this content to a broad range of global customers.

Right now, SyndiGate is seeking cross platform mobile app entrepreneurs/developers to come up with a bright idea for a revenue generating app, utilizing the huge pool of third party content licensed to SyndiGate. Click here to view the current content catalogue.

SyndiGate is interested in projects that are most commercially attractive for the MENA region (e.g. using Apple and Nokia platforms). However, SyndiGate is also very interested in Android apps, specifically for Google TV (launching at the beginning of 2011), whereby an app could be developed comprising multiple sources of Arabic and English language IPTV and Video on Demand (VoD) content, on or about the MENA region. Another app idea for example could involve any or all of the MENA newspaper content SyndiGate has the rights to.

To contact SyndiGate with your app ideas or with any questions, please send an email to Dubai based Mark Gatty Saunt at mark@syndigate.info or call him on +971 50 8405686.

Great article from Wayne Bishop @ The Apple Blog geared towards iPhone app beginners.

He considers the following fundamental points:

• will there be a demand for your app?
• how will it make the most out of iPhone features?
• will your app work on iPod Touch too?
• how to ensure a killer user experience
• how to manage memory and battery life
• what sort of data management does your app require?

Read the full article here.