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There's a middle ground between <keyword id="427868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="HTML5">HTML5</keyword> and native <keyword id="6354741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apps">apps</keyword>. They're called hybrid apps and they fuse the best of both approaches: The cost-effectiveness and flexibility of HTML5, along with the performance, distribution, and monetization advantages of native apps.
In a <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">new report</a> from <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a>, <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/categories/html5?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile" target="_blank">part of our series on HTML5 and mobile</a>, we explain the state of HTML5 and hybrid apps, look at the different development platforms such as Sencha, <keyword id="1813414" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="PhoneGap">PhoneGap</keyword> and Titanium, explore the reasons why hybrid app development has taken off, and discuss how hybrid approaches are shaping the app ecosystem's future.
<a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Access The Full Report By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today &gt;&gt;</a>
<div class="image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="BII" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/520a3d3769bedd1758000001-960/bii_hybrid_html5-1.png"></a>BII</div></div> 
 Subscribers also gain full access to our HTML5 coverage, data, charts, and PowerPoint presentations, which they can download and use. In-depth reports include, <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/the-state-of-html5-and-mobiles-future-2013-3?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile" target="_blank">HTML5 vs. Native Apps: Where The Debate Stands Now, And Why It Matters</a>, and our slide deck, <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/html5-vs-native-apps-go-head-to-head-2013-4?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile" target="_blank">HTML5 vs. Native Apps: Head-to-Head</a>. 
Here are a few of the reasons why hybrid apps are accelerating HTML5 adoption:
<ul>
<li>Hybrid approaches are time- and cost-effective: Rather than build an app from the ground up for each <keyword id="6354485" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile">mobile</keyword> platform, <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">developers can write HTML5-based code once and tweak it to redeploy for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, etc.</a></li>
<li>Hybrid apps are perfect for enterprise and business clients: Many enterprises need to develop scores of apps, including consumer-facing apps, employee apps, even client-targeted apps. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Hybrid allows them to scale their app strategy without breaking the bank.</a></li>
<li>The popularity of hybrid app solutions and services: <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Going hybrid has been aided by the wide adoption of technologies such as PhoneGap</a> and <keyword id="1813416" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Appcelerator">Appcelerator</keyword>'s Titanium — app builders that wrap HTML5 in a native "container" so that the resulting app can enter popular app stores.</li>
<li>The success of certain hybrid strategies: <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">A case study focused on Untappd, "the FourSquare for beer drinkers" with over 300,000 users, illustrates how hybrid apps have been successfully deployed.</a> Breweries can also plug into Untappd in order to curate information about their brand and products, communicate with consumers, and track feedback. It's all packaged in a graphically attractive interface, and to end users looks and feels like a native app.</li>
</ul>
In full,<a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile"> the report on Hybrid Apps explains:</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Why hybrid app development has taken off</a></li>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">How 'going hybrid' works </a></li>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">How enterprises are beginning to see the benefits of hybrid apps </a></li>
<li><a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/hybrid-apps-accelerate-html5-adoption-2012-11?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">What all the best and popular hybrid app-building tools are </a></li>
</ul>
<a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=HTML9&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">To access BI Intelligence's full reports on HTML5 and Hybrid Apps, sign up for a free trial subscription here.</a>

HTML5 Adoption Ramps Up Thanks To Mobile 'Hybrid Apps,' The Easier Alternative To Native

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.appcelerator.com/">Jeff Haynie</a>Cofounder Jeff Haynie Appcelerator</div>We keep hearing that <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> will soon snap up mobile app cloud company <a href="http://www.appcelerator.com/">Appcelerator</a>.
Sources close to the company have told Business Insider that "there's been dialog at various levels with Microsoft," but that the two are not yet in final talks.
The acqusition would likely be to beef up Microsoft's own cloud service, Azure.
CEO and cofounder Jeff Haynie won't publicly comment, saying that his goal is to build a long-term company.
But if the price was right? Note that this is Haynie and cofounder CEO Nolan Wright's second startup together. They sold their previous venture, Vocalocity, to another service provider and it is still in operation today.
The closer you look at Appcelerator, the more you can see why Microsoft would be sniffing around.
Appcelerator, makes a popular mobile app development product called Titanium which lets app developers write apps for all the smartphone mobile operating systems including iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and HTML5.
After writing their apps, Appcelerator hosts them and tracks usage and other stats. Because its basic service is free, it built an enormous following of 418,731 developers customers. It hosts some 50,208 applications deployed on 111 million devices, or about 10% of the world's smartphones.
Owning Appcelerator would give Microsoft access to a huge network of developers to encourage them to write Windows Phone apps.
Haynie and Wright are well-known in the app development world. Wright once worked at Marc Andreessen's Netscape. Haynie is an angel investor, known for his work on the web app hosting product JBoss, now owned by Red Hat. Red Hat even has a minor stake in Appcelerator, but not enough to block a sale to its rival Microsoft, sources say.
Appcelerator has become so popular, that Intel paid Appcelerator to support Tizen, sources close to the company say. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsungs-plan-to-ditch-google-and-apple-2012-12">Tizen is a new smartphone operating system</a> that Intel and Samsung are developing to compete with Android and the iPhone.
Haynie has no urgent need to sell. Appcelerator is well-funded. It's landed $50 million in venture funds, enough money to make four acquisitions itself.
Don't miss:<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/software-defined-networking-startups-2013-1" class="title"> 8 Enterprise Startups Creating A Brand-New, $4 Billion Market</a>
Have you got insight into acquisitions of hot startups? We want to hear! We are discreet. <a href="mailto:jbort@businessinsider.com">jbort@businessinsider.com</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/julie188">@Julie188</a> on Twitter.

Microsoft Might Buy A Startup That Powers 10 Percent Of The World's Smartphones 

<keyword id="1738613" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mobile-Insights">Mobile Insights</keyword> is a daily newsletter from <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> delivered first thing every morning exclusively to <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> subscribers. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today</a>. 

<a href="http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/rkg-digital-marketing-report-q2-2013-released/10072013/" target="_blank" title="RKG: Digital Marketing Report q2">Tablet Cost-Per-Clicks Near The Desktop</a> (RKG) This is not necessarily surprising, since the screen real estate of a tablet approximates the desktop's. Smartphone ad rates still badly lag the desktop, partly as a result of smartphones' continued traffic surge, leading to a glut in supply. <a href="http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/rkg-digital-marketing-report-q2-2013-released/10072013/" target="_blank" title="RKG: Digital Marketing Report q2">Read &gt;</a>
<div class="image-container" style="width:620px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/rkg-digital-marketing-report-q2-2013-released/10072013/">RKG</a></div></div> 
<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/pandora-drops-as-analyst-warns-of-apple-advantage-in-cars.html" target="_blank" title="Bloomberg: Pandora Drops as Analyst Warns of Apple Advantage in Cars">Analysts Think Apple Has The Edge Over Pandora In Cars</a> (Bloomberg) They think that Apple's new iTunes Radio will gain listener's favor in connected cars. However, their analysis seems to assume a mutually exclusive environment (car manufacturers may not want to lock customers into the Apple operating system, and in any case <keyword id="107171" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pandora">Pandora</keyword> will be available on iOS in the Car) and puts a lot of confidence in Apple's still-unreleased in-car product against a much-beloved service. <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/pandora-drops-as-analyst-warns-of-apple-advantage-in-cars.html" target="_blank" title="Bloomberg: Pandora Drops as Analyst Warns of Apple Advantage in Cars">Read &gt;</a>
<a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/11/firefox-os-receipt-simulator/" target="_blank" title="VentureBeat: Firefox OS apps now have a new tool for money-making ">Firefox OS Apps Get A Monetization Tool</a> (VentureBeat) The new Firefox OS simulator includes a new feature for receipts. <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/11/firefox-os-receipt-simulator/" target="_blank" title="VentureBeat: Firefox OS apps now have a new tool for money-making ">Read &gt;</a> 
<a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/14/apple-aggressively-hiring-for-smart-watch-project-looking-toward-late-2014-launch/">More News Emerges Regarding Apple iWatch</a> (Financial Times via MacRumors) Apple is hiring new talent aggressively in order to ready the iWatch, but it may not be ready until late next year, reports the FT. Earlier this month it was revealed that Apple had hired Paul Deneve, former CEO of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/14/apple-aggressively-hiring-for-smart-watch-project-looking-toward-late-2014-launch/">Read &gt;</a> 
<a href="https://pages.appcelerator.com/Q22013DeveloperSurveyReport.html%20%20" target="_blank" title="Appcelerator: Developer Report">Developers Turn To Tablets As Their Next Major Platform</a> (Appcelerator) Nearly as many developers want to build for <keyword id="6361927" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tablets">tablets</keyword> as smartphones, a nod to tablets' increased popularity and prevalence. From the looks of it, most of those apps will be built on the iPad, which is only surpassed by the iPhone in terms of its popularity among developers. <a href="https://pages.appcelerator.com/Q22013DeveloperSurveyReport.html%20%20" target="_blank" title="Appcelerator: Developer Report">Read &gt;</a> 
<div class="image-container" style="width:620px"><div class="image"><a href="https://pages.appcelerator.com/Q22013DeveloperSurveyReport.html">Appcelerator</a></div></div> 
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/business/attention-shopper-stores-are-tracking-your-cell.html?_r=0">Retailers Track In-Store Shoppers Via Wi-Fi</a> (The New York Times) Nordstrom began tracking customers in-store as they logged on to Wi-Fi networks, and other retailers are doing the same. The main purpose is to track their paths through stores, and offer them coupons based on location. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/business/attention-shopper-stores-are-tracking-your-cell.html?_r=0">Read &gt;</a> 
<a href="http://english.hankyung.com/news/apps/news.view?c1=&amp;newscate=1&amp;nkey=201307150718011">Samsung Regains Apple Chip Business Lost During Patent Dispute</a> (The Korea Economic Daily) According to the report, mobile application processors or A9 chips supplied by Samsung will go into an Apple device to be launched in the second half of 2015. <a href="http://english.hankyung.com/news/apps/news.view?c1=&amp;newscate=1&amp;nkey=201307150718011">Read &gt;</a> 
<a href="http://www.mmaglobal.com/smartgraphic/mobile-retail-opportunity-are-you-ready?ns_campaign=comscore_general&amp;ns_source=social&amp;ns_mchannel=social_post&amp;ns_linkname=link_name&amp;ns_fee=0&amp;piCId=77724" target="_blank" title="Mobile Marketing Association: Mobile Retail Infographic">The Mobile Retail Opportunity</a> (Mobile Marketing Association) An infographic by <a href="http://www.somoglobal.com/">Somo</a> for the MMA, with research partners <a href="http://www.comscore.com/" target="_blank">comScore</a> and <a href="http://www.gmi-mr.com/solutions/mobile-surveys/">GMI</a>. 
<div class="image-container" style="width:620px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.mmaglobal.com/smartgraphic/mobile-retail-opportunity-are-you-ready?ns_campaign=comscore_general&amp;ns_source=social&amp;ns_mchannel=social_post&amp;ns_linkname=link_name&amp;ns_fee=0&amp;piCId=77724">Mobile Marketing Association</a></div></div>

Tablet-Based Ads Close The Gap With Desktop Ad Rates

Please note: The Social Media Insights morning email will no longer be free beginning January 2, 2014. It will be delivered exclusively to subscribers of <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=SMINSIGHTS&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Business Insider Intelligence</a>. Non-subscribers will receive a shorter afternoon version. Sign up for a free two-week trial to BI Intelligence<a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=SMINSIGHTS&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile" target="_blank"> here</a>.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="Foursquare" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/526ea08069beddf91b8b456a-960/foursquare%20flat%20logo.png"></a>Foursquare</div></div>Foursquare announced that it now has 45 million registered users. The announcement did not say how many of those users are active each month. 
Back in September, the app had 40 million registered users. 
More interestingly, Foursquare touts the fact that it has surpassed 5 billion check-ins. 
Foursquare is one of the more compelling social apps on the market from a big data perspective. Not only does it have a lot of hard location-based data in the form of check-ins, it's also now collecting large swaths of passive location data on its users. 
According to Digiday, <a href="http://digiday.com/platforms/foursquare-longer-needs-check-ins-track-store-visits/">Foursquare briefed ad executives</a> recently on its new initiative to track the location of users' phones, without requiring them to check-in. The app is able to do this by taking advantage of the "Background App Refresh" feature on iOS7 devices. On Android devices, Foursquare is pinging smartphones "every few minutes" to determine a user's location.
In addition to announcing these updated usage figures, Foursquare said that it had raised $35 million in new funding. (<a href="http://blog.foursquare.com/post/70494343901/ending-the-year-on-a-great-note-and-with-a-huge-thanks">Foursquare Blog</a>)

In Other News …
POTENTIAL UPSIDE FOR TWITTER: Twitter's revenue per user is approximately half of what Facebook's is and one-third of what LinkedIn's is. Analyst Ian Maude uses that as evidence that Twitter has headroom for monetization growth. (<a href="https://twitter.com/IanMaude/status/413745716771950592">Ian Maude</a>)
WHATSAPP PULLS AWAY FROM THE COMPETITION: WhatsApp announced that it has surpassed 400 million monthly active users. The app added 100 million active users in the last four months alone. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-blows-past-400-million-monthly-active-users-2013-12">BI Intelligence published a chart this morning showing the historical user growth of WhatsApp compared to other popular messaging apps</a>. (<a href="http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2013/12/400-million-stories/">WhatsApp</a>)
MOBILE DEVELOPERS LIKE FACEBOOK: In a survey released yesterday, mobile app development platform Appcelerator found that 66% of developers said they connect their mobile apps to Facebook. Twitter was at a distant second at 53%. (<a href="http://www.appcelerator.com/blog/2013/12/is-facebook-the-new-model-for-enterprise-mobility/" target="_blank">Appcelerator</a>)
INSTAGRAM ADS: The first ad campaigns to run on Instagram appear to have been a huge success. Levi's reached 7.4 million people in the U.S. during a nine-day period, while Ben &amp; Jerry's reached 9.8 million people in the U.S. during an eight-day period. (<a href="http://instagram-business.tumblr.com/post/70498340316/first-look-measuring-the-effectiveness-of-brand">Instagram Blog</a>)
LINKEDIN IN CHINA: Ad Age looks at the complicated social media ecosystem in China and why LinkedIn is struggling to gain a foothold in the relatively untapped, but massive market. (Ad Age)

What You May Have Missed On BI Intelligence …
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/linkedin-desktop-usage-per-unique-visitor-in-the-us-is-frighteningly-low-2013-12">LinkedIn's Desktop-Based Usage In The U.S. Is Frighteningly Low</a>
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/the-smart-tv-market-is-already-massive-2013-12">The Number Of Smart TV Devices On Earth Will Reach 400 Million In 2014, But They're Overlooked As App Platforms</a>
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/more-people-use-facebook-than-google-search-on-phones-2013-12">More People Use The Facebook App Than Google Search App On Smartphones In The U.S.</a>
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/half-of-global-internet-users-are-on-facebook-2013-12">Nearly Half The World's Internet Users Are Active On Facebook Each Month, One-Fifth Use YouTube</a>
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/more-mobile-traffic-to-e-commerce-2013-12">Mobile Drives One In Four Visits To E-Commerce Sites, With Tablets Driving More Traffic Than Smartphones</a> 
[REPORT] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/a-social-engagement-primer-2013-12">A Social Engagement Primer: A Portrait Of Time-Spend And Activity On The Top Social Networks</a>
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/line-provides-a-great-example-of-how-mobile-messaging-apps-can-monetize-2013-12">LINE Provides A Great Example Of How Mobile Messaging Apps Can Make Money</a>
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/a-majority-of-global-citizens-use-social-media-once-a-week-or-more-2013-12">The Average Global Internet User Spends Two And A Half Hours Daily On Social Media</a>
[CHART] <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/smartphone-sales-will-cross-1-billion-in-2014-2-billion-in-2017-2013-12">The Global Smartphone Market Is Still Accelerating, And Will End The Year Just Shy Of 1 Billion Units Shipped</a>

Foursquare Is Becoming Relevant Again

<table class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><a title_source="Ellis Hamburger, Business Insider" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4f393a486bb3f7d147000000-960/clear to do list app.jpg"></a></div>Ellis Hamburger, Business Insider</td></tr></table><keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword>'s <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="IOS">iOS</keyword> platform is typically the first choice for app developers.
While <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> is right behind iOS in terms of developer preference, <a href="http://www.appcelerator.com.s3.amazonaws.com/web/enterprise/Appcelerator-IDC-Report-Q4-2012.pdf">according to a December report from Appcelerator and IDC</a>, it still lacks some popular apps. 
Some of these iPhone-exclusive apps have recently launched, meaning that there's still hope for Android users. But some apps, like the Infinity Blade fighting game franchise, have been around for a couple of years and have no plans to launch on Android. 
Still, that doesn't mean Apple's App Store will always be the first choice for developers. 
Even though Apple is the leader in app revenue, Google Play is growing at a faster rate, <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/01/30/app-store-google-play-revenue/">according to a recent App Annie report</a>. In fact, Google Play seems to be on track to hit one million apps in June, months before Apple, <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/01/08/google-play-to-hit-1-million-apps-before-apple-app-store">Dan Rowinski of ReadWrite recently predicted</a>. 
Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2335616">Android is dominating consumer smartphone sales</a> with a nearly 70 percent market share compared to iOS' 20 percent.

10 Great Apps That Are Still Exclusive To The iPhone

<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div>SugarCRMSugarCRM CEO Larry Augustin </td></tr></table>There's a new trend in the venture funding world where <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> are landing really big seed rounds of well over $1 million.
They're doing this by getting handfuls of angel investors involved, says Larry Augustin, a longtime angel and CEO of <keyword id="998204" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="SugarCRM">SugarCRM</keyword>, a maker of business-application software.
Huge seed rounds are driven in part by social networks like LinkedIn, he believes, because it's become so much easier to find angels or stay in touch with the ones you know.
While this sounds like good news, a large seed round "changes the dynamics of how those companies get built," Augustin told Business Insider.
Specifically, he said:
<ul>
<li>With more angels giving money to the same company, fewer get personally involved, so there's less handholding.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Investors have higher expectations of the founders and how fast they can show success.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>When more funds are needed, a venture capitalist will want the business to be in good shape, commanding a high valuation, before it invests.</li>
</ul>
It's an interesting observation. A quick search on CrunchBase showed 65 seed deals of $1 million or more since the start of 2012.
There is an upside. With smaller investments spread over more people, more startups are getting funded.
That's good for "fostering innovation," Augustin says.
But, he adds, "My guess is that failure rates are going to be higher as well."
Augustin is both a former venture capitalist and a famous angel. He's been a big name in the open-source software world since founding SourceForge in the Internet bubble days.
He's funded lots of companies including SugarCRM before he became CEO. He's currently invested in and/or on the boards of startups like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-eyes-appcelerator-acquisition-2013-2">Appcelerator</a>, DotNetNuke, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zenpayroll-joshua-reeves-2012-12">ZenPayRoll</a>. His previous startups include Pentaho, JBoss, and XenSource.

LinkedIn Is A Reason Startups Raise More Money, Angel Investor Says

<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/superamit/4569922802/in/photostream/">Flickr / @superamit</a></td></tr></table>The idea of developing a <keyword id="6354485" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile">mobile</keyword> <keyword id="235499" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="APP">app</keyword> can be intimidating for <keyword id="6359222" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="small-business">small business</keyword> owners. It's a big undertaking, and the amount of jargon and level of expertise required to develop one can scare people off. 
However, it's increasingly important for businesses to have an intuitive and useful mobile presence as smartphones and tablets <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-the-workplace-slide-deck-2013-2#-22">overtake PCs</a> in the marketplace, and become the most common way to access the internet. 
The first question to ask is whether it's worth it for your business. The number of apps in Apple's <keyword id="115504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="App-Store">App Store</keyword> alone <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/report-1-million-apps/">passed one million last year</a>, so unless you can bring real value to customers with mobile technology, creating an app is unlikely to be worth the expense. It's an intensely competitive and increasingly saturated market. 
There are much less expensive and involved tools to test or engage with an online audience. A business can, for example, expand their Twitter use to see if they have a responsive and active online audience. 
If the goal is just outreach and exposure, an app is unlikely to be the answer. Sharing content on other platforms that have a significant mobile reach, like Facebook and Yelp, can be a far less expensive option.
If a business thinks they can deliver real value with an app, the key is to start simple. Starting out with a big investment in a fully formed, professionally produced app is a mistake. The first step is to produce the simplest possible app, see how the audience reacts, and build form there. Experiment before committing.
There are two major decisions businesses have to make before getting started — on platform and price. The mobile world is fragmented, meaning an app built for Apple devices won't work for Android. Businesses with audiences that mostly use iPhones should stick to iOS. 
As for pricing, free apps are generally ad supported. Businesses have to decide which ad network to go with to maximize revenue. The largest player <a href="http://www.google.com/ads/mobile/">is Google</a>, but there are other large competitors like <a href="http://www.millennialmedia.com/">Millennial Media</a>, and <a href="https://www.jumptap.com/">JumpTap</a>, as well as others that serve particular niches. 
Paid apps have to carefully consider their pricing strategy. You have to consider the value proposition, and compare to other, similar apps to get a baseline to price against. 
When it comes to actually creating the app, there are a number of options. <a href="http://www.eachscape.com/">Eachscape</a>, for example, is a platform deliberately designed for non-developers. It uses an intuitive drag-drop interface to let the less technically savvy put together an app. 
Platforms like <a href="http://phonegap.com/">Phonegap</a>, <a href="http://www.appcelerator.com/">Appcelerator</a>, and <a href="http://www.sencha.com/">Sencha</a> offer ways to create universal apps without committing to a single platform or language. 
For people looking to get more involved, there are a number of options. Apple <a href="https://developer.apple.com/programs/start/standard/">offers programs for developers</a>, Google offers a <a href="http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html">set of tools</a> for Android, MIT has a tool <a href="http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/content/what-app-inventor.html">called App Inventor</a> that walks developers through creating Android apps, and Stanford <a href="http://itunes.stanford.edu/">offers an online course</a> on iOS development.
For others, there are a large number of tools that make the process of finding a partner and developing an app relatively painless. You can outsource to a freelance developer and have them bid on your project on a <a href="https://www.elance.com/">site like Elance</a>, which is the largest of them. This can cost anywhere from $500 to $5,000, depending on the complexity of the project. <a href="http://theymakeapps.com/">They Make Apps</a> has a large database of developers and companies at different price points. <a href="http://www.appmakr.com/">AppMakr</a> helps you develop limited apps for free, or, for $29 dollars a month <a href="http://myappbuilder.com/">My App Builder</a> helps people develop apps, taking them from a blueprint to the app store. 
It's not enough to be technically experienced. The most important thing is the user experience. Apps need to be easy to use, fun, and intuitive because the audience is so unforgiving. They have limited space on their mobile device, so the experience is even more important than it is on the web. 
Finally, be aware that developing a mobile app is not a one-shot affair. The capabilities of apps, and what consumers expect from them, continues to evolve rapidly. Just because something's cutting edge now, like HTML5, doesn't mean that it isn't going to be obsolete in the future, or that it won't interact strangely with what's currently standard.

How Small Businesses Can Avoid Being Overwhelmed By Making An App

<keyword id="6354485" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile">Mobile</keyword> Insights is a daily newsletter from <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> delivered first thing every morning exclusively to <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> subscribers. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today</a>. 

<a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/02/21/qualcomms-new-radio-chip-gets-us-one-step-closer-to-a-global-4g-phone/">Qualcomm Gets Us Closer To A Global 4G Phone</a> (GigaOM) <div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/12/09/with-38-frequency-flavors-lte-wont-unify-4g/2011-12-08-spectrum-fragmentation-2011-15/">GigaOM</a></div><keyword id="104695" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Qualcomm">Qualcomm</keyword>’s new RF360 radio chip could be the answer to the problem of 4G fragmentation. It won’t produce a universal LTE phone just yet, but with 40 bands supported, it will get the industry close. The new chip can supposedly support up to 40 LTE bands, both the time division and frequency division variants of LTE and all legacy 3G and 2G technologies to boot. Qualcomm created a 3D chip that utilizes a separate sophisticated antenna tuner that can latch onto any of 40 LTE frequencies between 600 MHz and 2.7 GHz. That's pretty much the entire range of current 4G spectrum. <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/02/21/qualcomms-new-radio-chip-gets-us-one-step-closer-to-a-global-4g-phone/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://mashable.com/2013/02/21/tumblr-mobile-traffic/">Tumblr's Mobile Traffic To Overtake Desktop Soon</a> (Mashable) <keyword id="279713" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tumblr">Tumblr</keyword>'s mobile traffic will overtake its desktop traffic "either later this year or early next year ... it's accelerating." The company is "seeing 3X the growth on mobile vs. desktop," according to CEO David Karp. Last year was a pivotal one for Tumblr. The blogging network, which now has 170 million monthly visitors, for the first time began running ads last year. While Karp declined to discuss what kind of revenues Tumblr is making off of advertising, he did offer a few hints about Tumblr's direction this year. Mobile ad products, for instance, seem to be on the horizon as is a greater emphasis on search. <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/02/21/tumblr-mobile-traffic/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/21/app-annie-idc-mobile-handheld-game-spending/">Spending On Mobile Games Surpasses Handheld Titles</a> (IDC and App Annie via TechCrunch) IDC and app tracking service App Annie are reporting that spending on <keyword id="642643" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile-games">mobile games</keyword> finally outpaced spending on dedicated handheld titles this year (Nintendo and Sony handheld devices). App Annie reported that if you add up spending on mobile games on both iOS and Android, it now exceeds spending on handheld games.
<div class="image-container center" style="width:600px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-idc-portable-gaming-report/">IDC / App Annie</a></div>
It’s not surprising, as revenues for individual smartphone and tablet gaming businesses are now exceeding $100 million and even touching around $200 million per year now. So the question becomes, how long can Nintendo hold on? <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/21/app-annie-idc-mobile-handheld-game-spending/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://thinkmobile.appcelerator.com/blog/bid/262361/Why-Mobile-App-Testing-Requires-a-New-Approach-and-How-We-re-Doing-It">Why Mobile App Testing Requires A New Approach</a> (Appcelerator) There are some fundamental differences between the testing of the business processes of applications like SAP and Oracle for enterprise (desktop) users, and today’s <keyword id="383661" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mobile-Apps">mobile apps</keyword>. Sure, the underlying technology today is different, as is the delivery mode (now via the cloud) and the user experience, but there are more substantive ones too:
<ul>
<li>Testing vs. quality</li>
<li>Release cycles: months vs. days</li>
<li>Desktop vs. mobile devices</li>
</ul>
Requirements for testing today’s mobile apps therefore need to be suited for this new world. The key requirements include:
<ol>
<li>Automated capture/replay (without jail-breaking)</li>
<li>Support for multiple platforms and device types</li>
<li>Integration with the development environment for rapid and continuous testing</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://thinkmobile.appcelerator.com/blog/bid/262361/Why-Mobile-App-Testing-Requires-a-New-Approach-and-How-We-re-Doing-It">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/multiple-phone-use-is-rising-in-bric-markets/">Multiple Phone Use is Rising in BRIC Markets</a> (Nielsen) How many phones does the average consumer use to stay connected? In three of the high-growth <keyword id="55357" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="BRIC">BRIC</keyword> (Brazil, Russia, India and <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>) markets, using multiple mobile devices is becoming the new norm. In India, however, the overwhelming majority (89 percent) of mobile owners still only carry one device, much like in the U.S., where only 17 percent of mobile subscribers own more than one phone.
<div class="image-container center" style="width:580px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/multiple-phone-use-is-rising-in-bric-markets/">Nielsen</a></div>
More than half of the mobile owners in Russia (51 percent) own two or more mobile phones, and nearly half in Brazil (48 percent) use multiple phones. In fact, ownership of three or more phones is highest in Brazil at 15 percent. The use of multiple phones is also a growing trend in China, where more than one in three mobile subscribers owns multiple phones. <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/multiple-phone-use-is-rising-in-bric-markets/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://www.techinasia.com/china-adds-13-million-3g-subscribers-january-china-mobile-sees-big-jump/">China Adds 13 Million New 3G Subscribers In January</a> (Tech In Asia) China’s big telecoms are reporting their final user numbers for January. And, as you would expect, 3G user subscriptions continue to climb across the board. In total, China gained more than 13 million new 3G subscribers. But here’s something a bit surprising: more than half of them signed up for China Mobile.
<div class="image-container center" style="width:595px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.techinasia.com/china-adds-13-million-3g-subscribers-january-china-mobile-sees-big-jump/">Tech In Asia</a></div>
China Mobile reports that it gained 7.05 million new 3G subscribers in January, pushing its total 3G user count to nearly 95 million. China Unicom picked up 3.67 million new 3G subscribers, bringing its total 3G users above 80 million. China Telecom just barely broke the 3 million mark with its new 3G users, which puts its latest 3G user count at just above 72 million. <a href="http://www.techinasia.com/china-adds-13-million-3g-subscribers-january-china-mobile-sees-big-jump/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://edudemic.com/2013/02/students-and-parents/">What Students And Parents Think About Mobile</a> (Everyday Family via Edudemic) As mobile technology becomes even more ingrained in our lives, what can we expect for our children? Studies show that – used wisely – mobile technology can be an important part of their everyday lives as well. <a href="http://edudemic.com/2013/02/students-and-parents/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<div class="image-container center" style="width:600px"><div class="image"></div>EverydayFamily</div>

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