Recently W3i released a new service, Apperang.com, for incentivizing users to download mobile apps for their iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod touch® devices

W3i was able to create this service in a couple of months because of some great industry leading tools. Apperang.com was built using Microsoft’s .NET framework and ASP.NET web application framework. ASP.NET provides many out of the box features that make creating sites quick and simple. Things like Site Membership and Forms Authentication, Session State management, Master Pages and customizable controls provide the fundamental pieces needed to build a robust web application.

Site Membership

ASP.NET provides an out of the box solution to provide membership to your site. With a few simple configuration settings and the use of the Web Site Administration Tool you can setup users and roles for your site. There are also a series of controls that ship with ASP.NET that allow you to provide login, registration, and password recover functionality to your own site with no extra coding. Even if you don’t use the built in ASP.Net Membership, Forms Authentication provides a quick way to manage users throughout the page life cycle and most authorization can be handled by setting up configuration settings in the Web.config file. If a page needs to display content differently based on whether or not a user is logged in or based on a role, the LoginView control can handle this declaratively, meaning no extra code needs to be written. All of this out of the box functionality is extendable. So even if you need more control over certain behaviors you can write you own custom code using defined extension points.

Session State

ASP.NET has a built in session management system. It’s part of the page life cycle and handles the loading and persisting of session data. You can store just about any kind of Object in session making it very easy to store and retrieve data. You can choose from five different modes Off, InProc, StateServer, SQLServer, and Custom. Each one has an advantage and disadvantage, mostly dealing with a balance between performance and the durability of the data after the applications and servers are no longer running. The Custom mode allows you to build your own Data Provider if you have specific needs on where and how your session data is stored.

WCF

In the near future W3i will be releasing the Apperang Mobile App into the App Store. Another great advantage to using the .NET Framework is access to the Windows Communication Foundation or WCF. WCF provides the ability to expose functionality in a Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) type fashion without being locked into a specific protocol for communication between systems. W3i has taken advantage of WCF by utilizing the RESTful services feature in order to expose key functionality to the Apperang Mobile App. In a matter of a few weeks we were able to expose a set of services with the same functionality that was built into the website by utilizing WCF. WCF also allows us to add or change protocols with simple configuration changes. So if at some point in the future we need to expose the service using SOAP we can do this by adding a new endpoint configuration. The other great advantage of WCF is that it is fully extendable and can be customized at about every point in the pipeline, though you probably won’t need to as it is full featured out of the box.

Expect to see W3i release some new sites and services in the upcoming months utilizing more of Microsoft’s .NET framework and ASP.NET.

Learn how mobile application developers can make money by listening to Rob Weber’s, Co-founder of W3i and Apperang, interview with Untether.TV. “Rob is articulate, knowledgeable and willing to share with everyone during this session – and share he does. This is a GREAT session chalk full of advice, suggestions and opinion” writes Rob Woodridge, Untether, TV.

Rob Weber, founder of W3i and Apperang, shares his thoughts on how to successfully promote iOS and other mobile applications.  Rob is a ten-year veteran of application marketing and believes in the freemium model to create a sustainable iOS application business.

Deborah Manthei, Director of Marketing Communications, W3i, LLC, evangelizing the use of consumer application marketing to engage brands’ essential users.

St. Cloud, MN, June 28, 2010 – W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the Internet industry, launches Apperang.com, a new Internet service where consumers get rewarded for discovering and sharing great mobile applications. 

“Apperang.com gives consumers a way to discover interesting apps and then get paid for each installation,” said Andy Johnson, CEO at W3i.  “By becoming members of Apperang and sharing their interests, consumers view applications that they find useful and get paid for installing them.  What could be better than that?”

Apperang.com works as follows:

1. User visits Apperang.com, consumer website
2. User views recommended apps
3. User installs app and syncs through iTunes®
4. User gets paid $.25 if the app is free or $.25 plus the cost of the application if it is a paid app

Apperang will initially support apps available on the App Store for iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod touch® devices.  Apperang launches as a desktop website and will be extended with an iPhone app at a later date.  Only US residents will find available apps, but additional markets will be added quickly.  Consumers in other countries can become a member and will be notified when apps become available for their country.  Users must be 13 years older to join.  Members get paid a 5% referral bonus for the first 2 years on all install revenues generated by their direct referrals.  

Apperang.com launches its public beta on June 28, 2010, at 6:00 a.m. CDT.  Participating apps in the beta include MyTown by Booyah, Inc., Fingerzilla by Inert Soap and Sigma by BigStack Studios.  To start earning cash, join Apperang.com today.

About W3i:
W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications.  On the desktop app side, app publishers get paid for recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance-driven distribution channel.  On the mobile side, W3i Mobile Solutions offers low-cost, targeted advertising campaigns for iOS app distribution on a pay-per-install basis with no integration.  W3i’s solutions use the company’s InstallIQ, intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value.  InstallIQ was optimized on more than 400 million app installs–including more than 100 million in 2009.  W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business.  W3i runs several owned-and-operated consumer sites including Apperang.com, Freeze.com, and Screensaver.com with more than 15 million unique visitors a month.  To learn more, visit www.W3i.com or view our W3i Mobile Press Kit.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of the companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

St. Cloud, MN, June  28, 2010 – W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the Internet industry, today announces the launch of W3i Mobile Solutions, a new mobile app distribution service delivering low-cost advertising campaigns for iOS apps on a pay-per-install basis with no integration.W3i Mobile is utilizing InstallIQ™, the intelligent installation technology, built by W3i and optimized on more than 400 million application installs, including 100 million in 2009 alone.  

“W3i is excited to extend its distribution solutions to now include iOS applications,” said Andy Johnson, CEO at W3i. “By using InstallIQ’s intelligent installer technology, W3i Mobile offers advertisers several benefits right out of the gate — speed-to-market with no integration, powerful targeting to increase relevancy for users, and sophisticated reporting to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns.” 

W3i Mobile distribution is initially available through W3i’s new consumer web site, Apperang.com and works as follows:  

1. User visits Apperang.com  website
2. User views recommended apps
3. User installs app(s) and syncs through iTunes®
4. App advertiser pays only for installs plus the cost of the application

One of the ways iPhone® app developers are using mobile distribution services is to increase their rankings in the App Store®, creating the critical mass necessary for a profitable app business.  With more than 225,000 apps in the App Store, and 15,000 submitted each week, the key to success for developers is to use mobile distribution services to get their apps into the hands of users to increase their rankings.   According to Pinch Media (as of March 2009), appearing on a Top-100 list increases daily new users by an average of 2.3 times.  Greater gains result from appearing in the Top-25 and Top-10 lists (more variable but often an order of magnitude). The private beta of W3i Mobile launched June 22^nd, and today the company launches a public beta.  Participating apps in the beta include, among others, MyTown by Booyah, Inc., Fingerzilla by Inert Soap and Sigma by BigStack Studios. To learn how you can participate in the W3i Mobile Solutions beta release, please contact W3i or call Thomas Heitz at 1-877-257-7025, ext. 7593.

About W3i:
W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications.  On the desktop app side, app publishers get paid for recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance-driven distribution channel.  On the mobile side, W3i Mobile Solutions offers low-cost, targeted advertising campaigns for iOS app distribution on a pay-per-install basis with no integration.  W3i’s solutions use the company’s InstallIQ, intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value.  InstallIQ was optimized on more than 400 million app installs–including more than 100 million in 2009.  W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business.  To learn more, visit www.w3i.com or view the W3i Mobile Press Kit.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of the companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

W3i is launching a new service that pays consumers to download iPhone apps

Just launched a new game on the iPhone?  

Prepare to join more than 200,000 applications battling it out to land on top download lists. If you’re not listed, it’s likely consumers won’t even be aware of your existence.

One new solution? Tell consumers that for every app of yours they download, they’ll receive 25 cents in their PayPal account.

Sartell, Minn.-based software distributor W3i says it’s a good way for new apps to attract attention. On Monday, W3i will launch an online service featuring dozens of iPhone applications, offering consumers real cash for every download while letting developers pay to gain the traffic they need.

“There is no easy way to discover apps that one might be interested in,” said Andy Johnson, CEO of W3i. “To get there you have to break through the clutter. This is what we do.”

W3i is launching its service, called Apperang, at a time when the number of mobile applications and the demand for them continue to grow. More than 4 billion iPhone applications have been downloaded since the app store launched in 2008, according to financial services firm Morgan Stanley.

But getting a share of those downloads can be difficult, developers said.

James DonFrancesco hopes that by using Apperang, his company’s 99-cent app that measures elevation will move up from its No. 30 ranking on the app store’s top navigations downloads list and generate more sales.

DonFrancesco, vice president and director of business for Eden Prairie-based Precognitive Research, said his company is paying W3i $500 for Apperang and estimates it will bring about 400 downloads.

Meanwhile, consumers will log onto www.apperang.com, plug their iPhone into their computers and download the app for free.

“It’s going to help us boost our ranking in the app store, and that’s the key,” DonFrancesco said. “When you get listed higher in the app store, consumers will see your application listed and more people will see it and more will buy it.”

Executives at W3i hope Apperang will provide an additional revenue stream for their company. It also makes software that helps Web developers attract more users for things like wallpaper and toolbars by giving people additional recommendations when they download something online.

The company said it has been profitable for 33 consecutive quarters and has 67 employees. In 2006, it said it had $26.8 million in revenue, but has not disclosed sales since then for competitive reasons.

W3i came up with the idea for Apperang in the first quarter of this year. As more people were buying smart phones and using the mobile Web to download applications, W3i wanted to get into that market, executives said.

“There is a bigger opportunity with this than our core business,” Johnson said.

Still, some industry analysts are skeptical whether there is enough incentive for consumers to go through Apperang to download an app.

“I’m not sure if I’m highly motivated by a quarter,” said Mark Beccue, a senior analyst at ABI Research. “It doesn’t buy me much these days.”

Nashville developer Jackson Miller, who helped launch the popular iPhone game gpsAssassin, said he’s not sure if he would use Apperang to advertise his apps because there’s no metric to track whether the consumer uses the app once it’s installed.

Giving away cash is easy

“Paying 25 cents to install it and delete it would do me no good,” said Miller, who plans to relaunch the game this year. “It’s really easy to give away cash. I don’t know if the people that you are going to get from giving away cash are going to then turn [that] into revenue dollars for me.”

iPhone applications can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000 to develop, according to Forrester Research. Some developers choose to charge money for their apps, while others offer them for free.

Free apps generally make money through virtual products bought inside a game, mobile advertisements or by encouraging customers to purchase other products. Apple retains 30 percent of app sales.

W3i will be selective as to which apps it features on Apperang, said Ryan Weber, vice president of corporate strategy and co-founder.

Weber said the company has had success in attracting customers to other recommended software and will select applications that are high quality. The company plans to promote Apperang through blogs, cross-promotions within its business and Apperang’s referral service.

“The cash incentive alone is not going to be significant enough,” Weber said.

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