#1 app in Kuwait

Everyday, we get a report by Apple showing our total number of downloads and the number of downloads for our top 10 countries. I noticed that Kuwait was really picking up a lot of momentum lately so I googled Tribair Kuwait. I found this amazing site, it lists all our rankings in every country:

http://www.appannie.com/tribair-free-phone-calls/ranking/

No wonder we are popular in Kuwait, we reached the #1 rank in the productivity apps category. We are also #3 overall for all free apps in all categories.

Thanks to everyone in Kuwait

Amazing video showing Android Epidemic

Same time one year ago, we were all getting prepared for the big hit: we were all watching anxiously the videos showing H1N1 spreading.

This year, it's another WorldWide phenomena we can watch, more peacefully: Android World Domination.

Google has produced an amazing video showing the build-up of global Android's phone activations since it was first introduced (2008), up to last month.

See for yourself the Android phenomenon.

Our android distribution

One of the big challenge in mobile development is to support the multiple versions of OS available on the market. The google Android OS is a good example for that. Actually, there are five major OS and the 3.0 won't make it easier.

For us, an important data to know is the distribution of our customer over the Android network in order to support the right versions. By looking at this graph from Wikipedia showing the distribution of the mobile accessing the Google Market between January 19 and February 2 and comparing it with our distribution, we notice it was almost exactly the same. In fact, we realized if we could support 1.5 and 1.6 OS, we would obtain the same result.

So our development team has started working on a new version that will allow that. With a lot more options (volume, better sound quality).

R&D blues

When a company is started from scratch, there is a long period where all activities are focused around product definition and R&D. It's a period of doubt, like organizing a big party and wondering if people will show up. On the good side, there is no user complaints and support. As the product starts to take life, beta testers are sought. We were very fortunate to find a travelling tester. A friend was leaving Montreal, traveling all the was down the Americas to the most southern part of Argentina, by motorcycle. He left in August 2010 and just got there a few weeks ago.

He wrote about is adventure in one of the most amazing blog I have read.
http://raymondchausse.blogspot.com
Lots of nice pictures also.

When he started, there were plenty of available free WiFi in the US and Mexico. But we didn't have that many WiFi hotspots available more to the south. We were wondering how much he could really use it. But as he approached South America, our database was getting bigger and bigger and we knew he could at least use it in all the major cities. In fact, it exceeded our expectations. He was able to use our app almost every day.

Thanks to all our early adopters for coming to the party, it's really just getting started.

Top 10 Telecom carriers in the World

I'm often considered as a KPI freak, someone who wants to measure everything...
When operating IT (and telecom. in particular), nothing, to me, is more true than the old management adage that says "you can't manage what you don't measure". On which I would add a "You cannot change what you do not acknowledge" (c) Dr Phil I guess and "What gets measured gets done" (c) myself.
This afternoon, I was wondering what could make me stop this continuous measuring madness.
I put together this document showing the top 10 Telecom carriers in the World and told my friends and colleagues that until Tribair makes it #1 on the list, they will have to get over it ;)

Day and night life of an entrepreneur at CES Las Vegas

The biggest takeaway from the first day was customer target. We could see exactly where people are from by looking at their badge.
Most people from the US didn't stop. Most americans have a mobile phone with local calls rates across the US. They don't need cheap rates and savings on roaming since everything in the US is local to them.
We attracted much more people from everywhere else. At the end of the first day, we had our pitch in our 4 supported languages: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, with a slightly different pitch for the americans: "Free phone calls, no roaming when traveling". Just saying the pitch in the language of the passer by really increased our hit rate.
We also found 3 potential partners the first day. At the end of the first day, we were exhausted but it was worth it. We felt our product was an easy sell, we were eager to find our ROI.
Day one of the CES was also our "official" launch, with an official press release and as much blogging as possible. It's hard to tell exactly what helped the most, but it worked. We had 5 times more downloads the next day.

The next day, we tried something different. We had our lab coat and stetoscope on. Looking like doctors trying to cure phone bills. The idea was good but it backfired. The problem was that we were getting over crowded by old folks. I have nothing against older people, it just that it was taking too much time to explain that there were no pills inside, that it was a smartphone solution and also to answer all their questions. We were missing too many other, probably more better potential customers. So off came the lab coat.

The following days were busy but uneventful, with slightly less people on Saturday and Sunday. Overall, it was a great show for us with many possible partnerships. Downloads per day have not only sustained but increased since. It's nice to see the "hockey curve" not only in a business plan but actually happening.

Las Vegas is amazing. It's big. Taxi drivers couldn't believe how many people were in this year for the CES. I heard several estimates saying over 150K. I tried to estimate the size of the big hotels, some looked like they had over 5,000 rooms. That's the size of a small village. The amount of food, laundry, water and the operation needed to run these hotels must be incredible. The number of big hotels, the shows, everything is big.

One of the things that impressed me the most was the food. Americans have really come a long way from the fried club sandwich I once saw. If you go t Vegas, try the buffet at Paris hotel. It's good french food at a very good price. And if you go to a show, I highly recommend Zumanity at the New-York. By far the best Cirque du Soleil show out there. Be there half an hour before actual show time, you won't regret it. Even more important, don't be late unless you want to end up on the stage.

A new icon

In our mobile application industry, a very important aspect of building a solid marketing message is having an icon that helps convey the meaning and purpose of the app.

We realized we could do better, and hopefully we came up with an idea that helps seeing visually what our app is about.