Content Discovery
There’s a very interesting article on SymbianOne on Epocware’s experiences and challenges. In particular…
"The number of Symbian smartphone owners buying software is still small compared to the total number of shipments," says Jeanne. "One reason for this is that many people are simply unaware that software is available and as a result aren’t searching for it."
I think both both Nokia and Sony Ericsson understand the problem. They have both recently implemented on-device catalogues to encourage people to add software. However, the contents of the catalogues tend to be limited in scope.
One problem I see with most current operator and phone manufacturer initiatives is that they outsource solutions. This means that the mechanism just ends up being another version of Motricity, Handango, Digital River or whoever with their existing problems and yet another party taking some commission.
One idea is to include a booklet of available software in the box. This is nothing new. Psion used to do this and I believe it helped to drive Psion ecosystem. I believe Symbian, S60, Nokia or Sony Ericsson could do this in-house at very little cost and the ‘platform’ and third party developers (and even network operators indirectly) would benefit.
Related Articles: