**As published in RCR Wireless News**

For a community that clamors around the word “open” like a proverbial up-for-grabs ticket to the next Super Bowl, there are some surprisingly closed aspects of the world of mobile app development. With an equal mix of the-sky’s-the-limit mentality and hesitation, there’s an uncertainty surrounding the mobile developer community for good reason.

The incredible, ongoing success stories built on the shoulders of giant business models online – think Google, eBay, Amazon, Salesforce.com, etc. — have not be replicated several times over yet on mobile. Missing from mobile still are the several revolutionary business models and teams of successful entrepreneurs and developers who follow. With large purses following online ad networks moving to mobile, for example, like AdMob and Quattro, mobile has had its share of success stories of late, albeit they are more limited and evolutionary. Read the full story

**As published in digiday:DAILY**

Publisher: GetFugu Inc.
Price: Free
Platform: tested on BlackBerry and iPod Touch
Advertising: ads in the form of logos for major brands appear in search results
Functionality: C
Fun Factor: B-
Overall: C

All too often in the mobile app space, users are “getting abused by ads from AdMob,” John Basile, chief software engineer said at CTIA last week. He was demonstrating some new features coming to the GetFugu search app, and compared the company’s zip-code based approach to mobile as akin to a more refined Yellow Pages model. The direct-to-consumer marketing opportunity here is quite obvious, and if GetFugu can prove its value as a mobile search provider, it could spur a renewed interest from brands to gain preferred placement with consumers at a price.

It’s still early days for the company, and after spending the better part of an hour with the app on a BlackBerry Bold 9700 and iPod Touch, it shows. The company is not only building a vast database of searchable logos and voice tags, but it’s simultaneously trying to convince large and small businesses to make a play in the visual and voice search game for a fee. With packages ranging from $9.99 to over $99 per month, depending on how many zip codes the business wants to be associated with, GetFugu will build WAP pages, register a company’s name and logo, provide real-time analytics and more. Read the full story

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LAS VEGAS –- It may not have the benefit of an incredibly well executed and colossal ad campaign like Apple Inc.’s App Store, but GetJar continues to ride a wave of momentum. The application storefront, which is geared toward the massive installed base of feature phones, announced a partnership with Rogers in Canada today on the heels of a significant and similar deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. last month.

With more than 67,000 apps on hand now and compatibility with more than 2,000 handhelds, GetJar is all systems go as it continues to build what VP of marketing, Patrick Mork, called the “Wal-Mart of app stores for developers.” Read the full story

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

To say America’s labor force is going through hard times would be an understatement. With unemployment rates in many states near or below levels unseen since World War II, it’s almost impossible to find anyone who hasn’t been affected by America’s latest economic malaise.

You know things are especially bad when state and federal agencies are trumpeting the latest batch of unemployment statistics simply because fewer jobs were lost in that month-long period than was expected.

Never mind adding to the total number of jobs — the only positive to cling to these days is the size of that negative tally each month. For now, smaller numbers are a good thing. Only after the bleeding stops can we begin to turn momentum in the other direction. Read the full story