The Rise of the App Store
October 01, 2009
Did you know mobile apps can turn your BlackBerry into a ruler or protractor? Or with the download of a construction calculator app you can calculate volumes and dimensions of concrete and lumber on your iPhone?
Mobile technology providers such as Apple, www.apple.com, Cupertino, Calif., and RIM (Research In Motion), www.blackberry.com, Waterloo, Ont., among others, have made some of the first steps toward creating and developing ‘app stores’ for customers to download user-specific applications on mobile devices. This week, Intuit, www.intuit.com, Mountain View, Calif., announced it is taking QuickBooks beyond accounting, and is now offering an app center.
With QuickBooks 2010, small companies can take advantage of new online connected services including sharing documents online, scanning and sending check information to the bank through the Internet, and developing email marketing campaigns.
One of the biggest announcements with this release is that QuickBooks users now have the ability to access Web-based applications through the App Center. While these apps are not specific to mobile devices—and can be used on any device with an Internet connection—the Intuit App Center is designed and developed in the same vein as mobile app stores.
Intuit or members of the Intuit Developer Network can create these business apps. Currently, there are approximately 25 applications available in this store. According to Intuit, builders can try all the applications in a free trial and many of the applications integrate with QuickBooks software.
Some apps that might apply to residential construction are Advantage SmartRoutes for navigation, Project Manager, Document Manager, Scheduler, VerticalResponse for email marketing, Fuel Manager for marketing campaigns, and ActiveContact for CRM (customer-relationship management).
For builders using QuickBooks, this new release offers an opportunity to test some additional applications for CRM and marketing, among others. For builders using smartphones from Apple, RIM, or other hardware providers, mobile app stores offer user-specific applications that are designed specifically to work on mobile devices in the field.
According to Yankee Group, www.yankeegroup.com, Boston, Mass., smartphone users in the U.S. will download nearly 7 billion mobile apps by 2013, showing the use of mobile apps will grow in the coming years. For builders, it might be a good time to look at app stores to help improve business process in the field.