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Consumers now know they can do much more than just phone and text – Mark Beccue ABI Research

We now live in a world that is awash in smart phones that are faster, cost less and let people do a whole lot more.

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“App” – end-user software applications that are designed for a cell phone operating system and which extend the phone’s capabilities by enabling users to perform particular tasks – Pew Research Center

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Apps can be novelties and games, as well as media sites, navigation tools, price aggregators, personal finance trackers, religious offering and even adult-related apps.

Smart-phones are changing the way people communicate, share creations and use information on the internet.

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The virtual market is worth almost $7 billion and will balloon to nearly $30 billion by 2013 – Research Firm Gartner Inc.

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Apps aren’t just for grown-ups.

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Preschoolers can use apps to learn to count, recognize colours, shapes, sounds and patterns.

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App users are younger, more educated, and more affluent than other cell phone users – Pew Research Center

Smart phone owners downloaded 4.5 billion apps in 2010 – Research Firm Gartner Inc.

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Image: Photogen

Among adult cell phone users with apps, the average adult has 18 apps on his or her phone – Pew Research Center.

58% of Canadians Smartphone users are downloading apps.

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Travelers have discovered that traveling to a strange place is much less daunting with mobile apps and social networks – Jennifer Preston NY Times

Apps can inform you of nearby places that offer rewards and challenges.

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Location-based social apps are gaining popularity as a way for merchants to drive up

sales and encourage customer loyalty.

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Check in, share your experience, and in some cases, you can earn points

toward discounts and free stuff by competing basic challenges.

Hotels are using Facebook and smartphone apps to take bookings directly from customers, rather than

relying on travel websites – Julie Weed NY Times

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Apps are allowing gamers to play anytime and anywhere they want to.

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Image: Photogen

“Natalie MacLean Wine Picks and Pairing” is the first app of its kind that actually scans bar codes to search wines, instead of having to type various descriptions – Claire Sibonney The Globe and Mail

The convenience of the app is allowing people to do things on their smart phones that were never possible before. Apps have made the internet mobile. The imagination of software designers and app users is opening up new possibilities for creativity and social connectivity, ranging from early childhood education, to gaming, to marketing. The app ship has set sail. Are you going to join the cruise?

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CreditsAll images are licensed under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 agreement and sourcedFrom Flickr and Photogen.

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