Mobile Apps for the Other 98%

6/29/2010

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7:10 AM -- Data-heavy, battery-draining applications are what will continue to steal most of the attention in the wireless world, but AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) wasn’t off base when it said that only 2 percent or so of its subscribers are the guilty data hogs. (See 5 Mobile Apps That Bust Data Caps and Mobile’s Top 5 Battery Killers.)

According to Distimo -- which tracks mobile app downloads by popularity, a measure of total downloads, ranking, and other factors -- users are primarily downloading relatively low-bandwidth (although battery taxing) games and productivity apps on the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android phones.

Table 1: App Stores' Top Selling Paid Apps

Apple App Store for iPhone	Android Marketplace	BlackBerry App World
Doodle Jump (Lima Sky)	Beautiful Widgets (LevelUp Studio)	Upgrade your homescreen to Sky2 LiveScreen (DreamTheme)
RedLaser (Occipital)	MyBackup Pro (rerware.com)	MemoryBooster - RAM Optimizer (S4BB)
The Simpsons Arcade (Electronic Arts)	ServiceTIME (TPC Solutions)	BeBuzz - LED Colors and Audible Reminders (Bellshare)
Angry Birds (Clickgamer.com)	Weather & Toggle Widget (Android Apps)	Tranquil Garden (Magmic)
ZombieSmash (gamedoctors)	NewsRob Pro (Mariano Kamp)	Personal Assistant Premium (Pageonce)
Source: Distimo, April 2010

Distimo’s latest numbers are coming out at the end of this week, so we'll see how the tides have changed. Going forward, the iPhone 4 and Android’s slew of highly capable Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC) phones could also change the game as developers tap their native video capabilities and users discover the extent of what their smartphones can do. (See Samsung Gets Epic With WiMax Smarty for Sprint and Apple Outdoes Itself with iPhone 4.) — Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile