When one of the most common phrases heard on the street is "there's an app for that", and you're an app developer, you know inherently that you face a real challenge. With Apple receiving over 10,000 application submissions per week, and an existence of over 150,000 apps in the App Store alone, the key question for developers isn't as much how to stand apart from the competition, but rather: how do we break the noise barrier?
Enter App Showcase, where the idea is to - you guessed it - showcase newsworthy apps, rising stars in the app world, and become the premier networking event to a room full of app developers and founders, investors, representatives of the media, influencers, corporations, and anyone interested in the mobile future.
Earlier today, I spoke with Seth Socolow, one of the partners involved, who said the idea to launch this app-centric event was actually self-serving. As an app developer himself, he and a few colleagues realized the need for the ability to show their stuff, live, and they came up with a solution.
Since launching in August 2009, there have been four San Francisco-based App Showcase events. The first one, fittingly, was held at the San Francisco Apple Store. However, since livestreaming and media attendance was of importance, the venue of choice then became 111 Minna Gallery.
The next event will be held on Tuesday, March 30th, and will feature guest host Robert Scoble. Some demos of the evening:
Pana.ma is an app that allows people to use their voice to message, rather than (or in addition to) text messaging. This has the potential of being incredibly efficient in business - for example, communication with groups of people, sales teams, etc. - and useful in one's personal life. Another benefit: it's free, while texting is not. They win the prize for the best tagline: Improve Your Text Life! Find them here on iTunes, here on Twitter. Price: Free
Moe's Notes is the latest thing cooking in Moe's Kitchen. It's a "multimedia note recorder, editor and organizer for creative and/or busy people." Some cool features include the ability to take photos and videos with geolocation data, a quick and simple interface to search and tag your notes, and the ability to instantly email your notes or upload them to Facebook. Find them here on iTunes. Price: $1.99
Line2 is a brilliant concept: alleviating the problem of poor cell phone reception by adding a second number to your phone. Here's the brilliant part: it works over 3G, Wifi, or cellular networks using the same number. This also comes in handy for anyone wanting to reduce their cell phone bills -- a pretty big market, I would say. They score extra points for also being BlackBerry compatible. Links: iTunes, Twitter, TechCrunch review. Price: free 30 day trial, then $14.95 monthly.
More to come on other presenters. For now, go here to register. Doors open at 5:30pm, and demos begin at 7pm. Follow the buzz on Twitter for the event here: #SFAppShow.
