This paper formulates app store analysis as an instance of software repository mining. We use data mining to extract feature information, together with more readily available price and popularity information, to support analysis that combines technical, business and customer facing app store properties. We applied our approach to 32,108 non-zero priced apps available from the Blackberry app sto...

Each time a user installs an application on their Android phone they are presented with a full screen of information describing what access they will be granting that application. This information is intended to help them make two choices: whether or not they trust that the application will not damage the security of their device and whether or not they are willing to share their information wi...

Aged care is a significant issue which concerns all governments. In order to provide assistance and provide quality of life to senior citizens, enormous resources are invested by the government each year. A significant proportion of the investment is used to provide a range of services for senior citizens who stay at home. Since providing quality aged care is an ongoing and complex process, the...

KURZFASSUNG Ein Application Store (App Store) ist ein internetbasiertes Vertriebssystem für Software, das vor allem durch die steigende Verbreitung von Smartphones und Tablet-PCs Beliebtheit erlangt. Es ermöglicht dem Anwender sein Gerät mit zusätzlichen Programmen (Apps) funktional zu erweitern. Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt einzelne Bestandteile des Systems ” App Store” vor und geht auf Frage...

Consider trade conducted via a platform, such as an online app store or a farmers market. The quality sellers choose for their products affects the surplus trade generates. Because the platform’s profit depends on that surplus, the platform can have an incentive to regulate quality. This is true even if quality is observable at time of purchase or if sellers can develop reputations concerning q...

Multi-homing, a strategy where a developer is publishing products for multiple platforms, is studied in this paper using descriptive analysis. The data of over 850,000 applications and their developers were collected from Apple App Store, Google Play, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace. The developers publishing for several software ecosystems were then identified. The findings show that...

In this paper we introduce a feature migration theory and use it to study the migratory behaviour of 1,324 Blackberry features, finding that 68% die, 2% migrate and 30% are intransitive (they neither die nor migrate). Intransitive features have significantly higher prices (p<0.05), and higher popularity, while customers appear to be less sensitive to their price. By contrast, migratory features...

This paper assesses the regulation of smartphone ‘app stores’. At the outset, the adoption of smartphones and apps is noted, alongside the ways in which scholars and journalists have used these markets as the basis for the discussion of legal and economic issues. The importance (commercially and as a study in governance and control) of the iOS App Store (Apple) is highlighted. Part 2 deals with...

Business and academic research frequently highlights the power of electronic word of mouth, relying on the knowledge that online customer ratings and reviews influence consumer decision making. Numerous studies in different disciplines have been conducted to examine the effectiveness of electronic word of mouth communication. Previously, typically small sample studies suggest that positive elec...

In 2013, the global mobile app market was estimated at over US $50 billion and is expected to grow to $150 billion in the next 2 years. In this paper, we build a structural econometric model to quantify the vibrant platform competition between mobile (smartphone and tablet) apps on the Apple iOS and Google Android platforms and estimate consumer preferences towards different mobile app characte...