So by now you’ve probably heard that there have been 10, 000 iPhone applications available in the app store–minus a few that have been removed. Seizing on the moment, Apple released the top downloads since the app store launched with the 3G iPhone on July 11. But I have to agree with Gizmodo’s Adam Frucci when he says the lists are “full of frivolous crap”. As a huge proponent of location-based services, I was rather disappointed to see that the top paid application was Koi Pond, which involves nothing more than staring at a bunch of fish. No LBS application made the top 10. In the top 10 free downloads however, Google Earth sits in the number 7 spot, while shake-me-and-I’ll-find-a-restaurant-for-you Urbanspoon snuck in at number 10.
In the social networking space, Loopt was number 5 and Earthscape, which just received an update, came in at number 8. Not really a hugely impressive showing considering Skyhook Wireless provides positioning information for nearly 600 LBS apps available for the iPhone.
However, good old Robert Scoble put everything back into perspective with an article in Fast Company in which he puts forth an argument regarding Google’s impending mobile domination. I’ll let you read the article yourself, but a couple of paragraphs really stood out to me:
Luckily, you don’t need the coolest and latest device to use a bunch of services. Maps, Mail, Calendar, and Reader work in some form on a large number of handsets, but they can do so much more on a smartphone. With Maps, I love that you can get turn-by-turn driving directions and traffic info without having to enter where you are, because Google can figure it out even without GPS, by triangulating your position using Wi-Fi and cell towers.
So why would Google create its own phone platform? To take these services even further. For instance, the G1 includes a compass. Point in any direction to see maps of those streets. Android is also a lab to explore what the world looks like when all these apps will work together. Theoretically, Google will be able to analyze traffic, see you’re running 10 minutes late to an appointment, and prompt you to send a message to the person you’re meeting. “As you bring these different pieces together, the experience changes dramatically and usage skyrockets,” Agarwal says.
Whether or not LBS apps really hit the mainstream, eventually both desktop and mobile browsers will have some sort of geolocation features built-in. We’ve seen it this year with Firefox and its support for the W3C Geolocation Specification, and we’ll likely see it in a final version of the Mozilla’s mobile browser Fennec as well. Throw in Google’s Chrome, which I’ve long thought was built for eventual mobile use, and now will support third-party plug-ins. I’m sure someone will build a Geode-like plug-in for Chrome very soon.
Put this all together and you’ll realize that Scoble’s vision of a Google-dominated mobile future is likely correct, and location will be integrated into everything we do. Apps may one day be completely redundant and I won’t have to cry over the iPhone app rankings anymore.