Must mobile operators open their own app stores?

If this will lead to a lock-in situation.... then no! If you are able to bypass the lekker-local stuff, then yes!

E.g.: Just imagine something like a Proudly South African "Twitter front-end".... "U can only tweet revolutionary twits if u r not a bloody agent. If u do, we will use teh long arm of da law to help us come hard on u. By order ANCYL" :)
 
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Obviously we don't need efficient networks with more than enough capacity, what we need is the ability to buy a piece of software and download an imitation of a song as a ringtone.

Because, software and bling is more visible than the network quality to the current paying network user.

Seriously, I am once again avoiding using the cellular networks as much as possible because th.. i.. an.. then whtn you least expect it th...g jumps in blurggural because m...lynch.
 
davemc said:
Seriously, I am once again avoiding using the cellular networks as much as possible because th.. i.. an.. then whtn you least expect it th...g jumps in blurggural because m...lynch.
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I'm with Dave on this, here's a 4 year old article condeming cell phone voice quality back then:

http://wistechnology.com/articles/3011/

I don't think there has been any improvement since.
 
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In theory it should work

It could actually make for a way better user experience if ou local operators make their own app stores, imagine apps like google maps, or foursquare etc. that is specifically designed for us South-Africans.

They would have a lot more features that we can actually use, i hate being told something is not available in my area..., and they can be made to tailor for the conditions that most of us are stuck with here.

Wouldn't it be great if vodacom or mtn could give you a VOIP app or service where you can make free calls as long as you use their data network? Or if there is a gps or maps app that would actually give you live traffic feeds.

Plus it would give rookie app developers in SA an easier way to submit their work and make money...

So ja, again in theory, there are a lot ways this could be really helpfull, but lets face it in SA the apps would crash every now and then because they weren't checked properly before being made available, etc. etc.
Our operators usually have a way of taking something great and ****ing it up
 
I don't need to be spammed 10 times a day offering some or other app that they think I might enjoy.
 
Me2 said:
Wouldn't it be great if vodacom or mtn could give you a VOIP app or service where you can make free calls as long as you use their data network? Or if there is a gps or maps app that would actually give you live traffic feeds.
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Because that's what carriers want to do, make less money from their customers.

Me2 said:
Plus it would give rookie app developers in SA an easier way to submit their work and make money...
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Seriously? The only apps that would be in a carrier created app store would be ones that squeeze more money out of customers. I doubt Joe Bloggs would be able to get his free SMS replacement app into Vodacom's store.
 
When the network operators reach market saturation then they need to start finding sources of new revenue. But, instead of innovating and improving the customer experience through better service, pricing and performance they simply copy someone else's successful business model, in this case Apple.

Look at it from the shareholders perspective. It's a low-risk low-cost investment, compared to doing what really needs to be done, so let's give those executives another bonus and the go-ahead to squeeze more money from the consumers.
 
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I feel it would be much more sensible if they simply opened up the international phone appstores per phone type. I.e. Nokia has free access to Ovi. If they really want to spend money on server costs as well, it would make more sense to me to simply cache the more popular content. Imagine phone updates being free OTA. They can easily add more value to their services by opening and caching certain services than by hosting their own appstores.
 
Would this make it difficult for Piet Pompies to sell his Stock Market Mobile software?
If the answer is yes, then legislation MUST be drawn up right now to prevent cell-phone companies from closing the door on Piet Pompies.
This is the job of our new MOC ... what'z his email address?
 
I say no, how does a carrier go about creating a piece of software for now 5? platforms and can promise that it will work, when the can barely get software updates approved in 2 months?
 
Mike43110 said:
I say no, how does a carrier go about creating a piece of software for now 5? platforms and can promise that it will work, when the can barely get software updates approved in 2 months?
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The carrier will make a deal with the hardware manufacturer and incorporate the software "configuration" into the price of a mobile phone sale.
This is already done to some extent, though the end customer is not told what these "configurations" are and the customer is given no idea on how long the network will be configured that way.
e.g. Blackbery.
 
True, but...

Rouxenator said:
App stores are for dumb people that don't know how google or have inferior devices.
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I agree, that is still one of the biggest letdowns of apple, according to me, the only problem is that more and more companies are forcing users to only download apps approved by them, the reason for this is as you mentioned dumb people who download crap apps or don't install them correctly, get problems on their phones and then make it the manufacturers problem
 
Also hate app stores. Even Windows is getting one. Sigh. Rather get us better mobile OS updates.
 
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