Time 12:04

UPDATE 3/28/10; Since production of this podcast, I’ve learned of two other web-based platforms that have iPhone and Android services they are iSites and Motherapp

Mobile is everywhere and that means should your company be there? I hesitate to say yes because I don’t think mobile is a must be for every company. I think mobile is not a platform but a condition, a relationship between information, consumer, location, and reaction to that information based on when and where it is received. Now if you view your consumer in that light and you provide information that has value in a given time and space, then by all means proceed to go, collect $200 and give Mobile Roadie a look.

Mobile Roadie is the Microsoft BizSpark Accellerator winner for Business Social Media category at the 2010 South by Southwest Interactive Festival. I wrote about them last week. I find them to be newsworthy because they cover both the iPhone and Android platforms right now the only web-based development platform to do so. Android is the current darling platform, having gained market share against the iPhone in February

The research firm Quantcast says Android phones are taking off at a much faster pace. Android’s marketshare grew 44 percent during the past quarter and almost 100 percent the past year as reported by Ed Sutherland on the blog Cult of Mac.

Some developers will say that that iPhone platform is a tough nut to crack and the problem with being a successful application on iPhone is the platform’s success. It’s a cluttered space for a developer. They are looking at the Android platform as ideal to launch a blockbuster app because it’s hungry for apps. Andrew Kameka of Androinica has 11 apps on his wish list for Android this year.

Distimo an analyst firm that covers mobile applications has iPhone and Android as the two fastest growing applications stores with Android having 57% of its apps available for free. I’ve embedded a great presentation given by Distimo co-founder Remco van den Elzen at the CTIA Wireless Conference earlier this month.

Lastly, I readily admit, I was also impressed by Mobile Roadie’s team. Last week I sent a question to support during a very busy time of the South by Southwest music festival, they got back to me within the hour and when I asked about an interview, their CEO, Michael Schneider, contacted me the next day, so that’s a pretty responsive company.

What’s your take? Will a mobile application be this decade’s answer to another website or is mobile a unique platform that makes sense for a small segment of entities?

The Marketing Edge coverage of South by Southwest was supported by Verizon Wireless in the Midwest. Verizon Wireless participates in local social media organizations and is a sponsor of Mobile March held on March 27 in Minneapolis. The day long conference is sold out, but we’ll bring you coverage on the Marketing Edge podcast.

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