Put simply, apps make things easier; they make accessing information quicker and more convenient for the user. The app market caters for everyone, from apps that help you find a bus to apps that let you book a table. Businesses are now putting faith in apps to generate revenue, raise brand awareness and increase user engagement.

Since the release of the Apple iPhone and app store back in 2008 apps have become the medium by which people access information on the move. Most businesses have probably asked themselves ‘do I need an app?’ but without fully understanding the benefits it’s hard...

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There are very few statistics available for iPhone app developers in Scotland. Often, clients will ask “how big is the market” or “how many scots own iPhones” and it is hard to give an accurate answer. Clients also ask about the OS market share to see if developing for Android, BlackBerry or Nokia would reach a wider audience.

Accurate data is hard to come by. Apple only release data for the UK and never break down app downloads or devices purchased for a specific country, such as Scotland. As Scotland’s leading app developers, we thought it was a good idea to...

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Waracle are pleased to announce the release of the Public Contracts Scotland iPhone app.  Commissioned by Millstream, an Aberdeen based e-procurement company, on behalf of the Scottish Government, Waracle developed the Public Contracts Scotland iPhone app which allows businesses to access public contract information quickly, easily and on the move.

http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/news/news_article.aspx?ID=482

A couple of weeks back I was asked by the Scottish Government to help launch the app at Procurex, an international procurement conference, alongside Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister. She credited the app for “playing a key role in achieving efficiency improvements” within the public sector. The video below...

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As proud Apple and Android developers, Waracle are keen to know how the fight for supremacy is shaping up!

Recent smartphone stats reflect the obvious – the Android OS is experiencing unprecedented growth. A quick look at the numbers reveals that 27% of all recent smartphone sales have been Android enabled devices. The same number for the Apple iPhone is 23%. But this isn’t too shocking when you consider that Android shipments have increased by886% worldwide from last year.

But the battle between iPhone and Android doesn’t stop there as iPhone 4 sales numbers have not been included in these stats. However when this data...

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2010 has seen a number of trends influencing the mobile apps market, according to a report from research2guidance. The main trends are as follows:

Improved market growth: The speed at which the market is growing has accelerated. Combined download numbers as well as revenue of all major application stores such as Apple, Android and Symbian reached 2009 levels in only five months. App revenue for 2010, which look certain to triple in relation to 2009 figures, are set to hit almost $US5bn.

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2010 has witnessed explosive growth across the mobile web. Android has continued to grow, successfully diminishing the market share of RIM (Blackberry), Apple and Symbian. With many mobile handset manufacturers jumping on the Google Android bandwagon in 2010, the trend looks set to continue into 2011.  This is not to suggest the mobile market was dominated by Google, but offered a sign of its growing strength.  In other events, Apple changed its name from OS to iOS, Blackberry makers RIM released a new version of its Blackberry operating system and Microsoft went back to school to create the Windows Phone...

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Even for the most avid Apple fan, the hype surrounding the release of the iPad must seem somewhat bemusing. If you already have a MacBook and an iPhone, buying an iPad seems like buying a scooter, when you already own a car and a motorbike. Clearly, almost 1 million people have found a compelling reason to purchase an iPad on the weekend of its maiden voyage. Apple predicted that the launch of the iPad in the USA would bring about between 200,000 and 300,000 unit sales. This target appears to have been obliterated with a reported 700,000 sales between its...

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The much loved Ruby-on-Rails web application development platform has approached a beta of version 3. The most streamlined and powerful version to date. We can expect to see this some time around late January. To add to the good news, the final version is expected to shuffle out during the first quarter of 2010.

Ruby-on-Rails is loved by developers worldwide, given its ability to let developers simply bash out applications rather than requiring they focusing on actual software architecture. This makes great use of developer time, but poor use of the hardware resources required to run such an application.

To address this,...

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The US patent and trademark office this morning published a patent revealing some of Apple’s grand designs for significant innovations in their already impressive touchscreen technology.  The application boasts crisper, brighter displays but most surprisingly talks about a touchscreen device that recognises when you touch the side of the device.

The patent boils down to three key innovations:

- The touchscreen is able to detect when you touch the sides on top of the screen

Each iPhone or iSlate would include metal traces in the border of each device.  This could be used to create actions when specific hand movements are made...

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Supermarket behemoth Tesco will join a growing list of distributors as it has today announced plans to stock and sell the Apple iPhone. With plans well underway, a spokesman for the firm suggested that the handset could be on Tesco shelves in time for the festive season.

At this stage, precise details of each available tariff have not been revealed, although prices are believed to be ‘competitive’.  However, as with all Apple products including iPhone’s and computer hardware such as the iMac, pricing between alternative distributors does not tend to vary a great deal. The difference between the O2 and Orange...

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