SXSW has officially started! To kick off this annual event, it was only fitting to feature The FADER as our App of the Week. FADER magazine has put on one of the most epic events at the SXSW music festival- FADER FORT, an annual four-day party held in Austin, Texas. This year, FADER has teamed up with Converse and SXSW to build The FADER FORT Presented by Converse, an official SXSW event for the first time this year. Running from March 14th to the 17th, RSVPs are now closed, but you can still view the live stream of the entire show on FUSE TV.

Inside the app, you can listen to music and podcasts, check the event schedule, watch FADER TV, get sneak peeks of the latest issues, and much more. FADER magazine recently updated their app’s background with a photo of Kendrick Lamar, which they promoted on their Instagram feed. They also promoted their app in their latest print issue (see below for the ad).

Last year, The FADER FORT brought “in a record number of attendees from across the world to discover dozens of new and emerging artists in one spot,” said Andy Cohn, President and Publisher of The FADER, Inc. This year marks The FADER, Inc.’s 11th year in Austin. And according to Cohn, the partnership with SXSW “really ties everything together perfectly, and we’re looking forward to another historic year at The FORT.”

Download the official The FADER mobile app at http://road.ie/the-fader

Our App of the Week is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.

From kickoff, the app received cheers around the world. Revealed in an exclusive Mashable article Tuesday morning, it wasn’t long before other media outlets caught on. socalTech, Rant Sports, Digital Media Wire, Perez Hilton’s FitPerez, and the Brandenton Herald all released articles that same day.

The next day Cristiano Ronaldo posted about the app on his social networks, and that’s when the app flew into hyper-speed. In under an hour, his FB post attracted close to 20,000 likes and 2,000 comments. Downloads for that day were double the number of downloads in the first day. His app reached the number one spot on our Top Downloaded Apps, and reached the Top 10 of Top Free Sports App in the App Store. If that wasn’t enough, media outlets like The Guardian, Arab News, KickOff, Tech Taffy, and Android Central posted about the app as well.

Fans can’t get enough of Ronaldo and his official app. They’re filling his Fan Wall with comments expressing their admiration for the soccer sensation; they’re also loving the exclusive photos of Ronaldo just for app users.

To download the official Cristiano Ronaldo app, available for iPhone and Android, visit http://road.ie/cristiano

Spider-Man is one of the world’s most beloved superheroes. And he’s looking to add “App Phenom” to his résumé with the official app for his Broadway show. “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” is the surprise hit on Broadway, breaking records and being touted as “Broadway’s most popular new show!”

Released only a few weeks ago, the “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” app has been swinging into the mobile devices of tens of thousands of fans. In addition to News, Photos, Store, and Top Users, there’s also an Exclusives section of the app. In Exclusives, fans can access videos, a NYC city guide from the perspective of Spider-Man, and a special ticket discount which app users can redeem right through the app.

And in time for Valentine’s Day, the Spidey team released 4 special PhotoCards this week. One of the photocards features the iconic kissing scene of Spider-Man hanging upside down, but instead of Mary Jane Watson, you get to be the star. Another photocard is perfect to send as a Valentine’s card to the special “Super Hero” in your life. When you’ve chosen your photocard frame and taken a picture, you can email it, post it to the gallery, share it to with friends, or save it to your phone. The choice is yours.

With great success comes even greater success for a superhero like Spider-Man. To download the official Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark app powered by Mobile Roadie, visit http://road.ie/spidey-bway

But leave it to Foo Fighters to make the most out of GRAMMY Week. They officially promoted their mobile app powered by Mobile Roadie for the first time in a Facebook post on Monday, and saw downloads skyrocket in less than 24 hours. The Foo Fighters app was the most downloaded Mobile Roadie app that day as well. To maintain this momentum, they released custom-themed PhotoCards in the app the next day for their fans.

Fans can also get the latest tour news, behind the scene exclusives, watch videos, see photos, and connect with other Foo Fighters fans from all over the world. They can also listen to sample tracks from the Foo Fighters latest album Wasting Light,in addition to hits like “The Pretender” and “Best of You.” Needless to say, fans can’t get enough of the app!

Tune into the GRAMMYs this Sunday to watch your favorite artists win a gramaphone or two. Best of luck to all the nominees!

And stay tuned for more Foo Fighters buzz; we’re betting they’ll be creating more very soon. To download the official Foo Fighters mobile app, visit http://road.ie/foofighters

Nowadays, it seems like taking pictures of food is the norm. Instead of waiting for your food to arrive at the table to eat, now the eating occurs after a picture is taken. And why shouldn’t it be? Humans are visual beings. A picture of a piece of cake is more tantalizing to the taste buds than a simple description.

Realizing this, Andy Wong founded Shoutters in 2011 with the hopes of revolutionizing “food reviews by making it simple and straight to the point with a visual guide.” Instead of reading long reviews, Shoutters fans can choose their next meal based on how delicious the food looks.

And what better way to reach on-the-go diners than by creating a mobile app? After shopping around, Andy chose Mobile Roadie to create the Shoutter app, as our platform features matched perfectly with his needs. In the app, Shoutters fans can upload their pictures, check out the Shout Spots, favorite their favorite photos, calculate tips with the Tip Calculator, and keep up with the latest Shoutters news.

The Shoutter app is unique in that it is one of the only Mobile Roadie apps to be the actual product of the brand.

Andy tested out this concept with a Mobile Roadie app for iPhone, and he’s planning to expand to Android as well.

To download the Shoutter app, visit http://road.ie/shoutter

midem is just one day away! For those of you who don’t know, midem is an annual event held in the city of Cannes, France where “artists, technology and brands are connected by music.” Last year, 6,850 participants from 3,120 companies spanning 77 countries attended midem.

If you’re attending midem this year, don’t forget to download the official midem app powered by Mobile Roadie. Available for iPhone, Android, and even iPad, the official midem app allows you to “consult the conference & festival schedule, discover speakers & artists line up, access a practical guide to Cannes, and view official photos & videos.” App users can also “read the latest industry news and see what companies & partners are at midem.” It’s the only thing you need to get around smoothly during the 4-day event.

To download the official midem app, visit http://road.ie/MIDEM

And don’t forget to RSVP for the Music Tech Meetup that we’re co-hosting with SoundCloud, Spotify, Topspin, Webdoc, MXP4, Musixmatch, Next Big Sound, The Orchard, and midem.

Ready for a night out on the town but don’t know what to do? With the official sbe app powered by Mobile Roadie, you don’t have to look further to find the hottest restaurant, hotel, and nightlife brands in North America. The sbe app gives you a comprehensive overview of each of their fine establishments, so you can pick and choose the places that reflect your personality.

And if you’re planning a vacay to one of the hottest entertainment cities in the country, the sbe app is the perfect companion. With their multiple establishments in LA, Las Vegas, NYC, and Miami, sbe has something for everyone. And with multiple features on the app, including photos, videos, music, news, and the ability to shop for sbe packages and gift cards, you’ll be fully prepared to have fun.

Download the official sbe mobile app at http://road.ie/sbe

1. By the end of November, there were over 234 million Americans (age 13 and older) who used mobile devices.

2. Over 91.4 million people owned smartphones in the US compared to the 63.2 million in 2010, an increase of over 44% (study by comScore).

3. Smartphone penetration in the US was close to 44%, up from 25% in 2010.

4. Over 62% of 25-34 year olds who owned mobile phones owned smartphones in 2011, up from 41% in 2010. Following behind, 54% of 18-24 year olds owned smartphones in 2011 (study by Nielsen).

5. Google Android was the most popular OS claiming 46% market share, followed by Apple iOS with 28%.

6. The Apple iPhone was the most sought-after smartphone device based on the fact that the only phones that are powered by iOS are iPhones. In the third quarter of 2011, the top 3 best-selling phones in the US were the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and HTC EVO 4G, according to The NPD Group.

7. Close to 7% of all US Web traffic was from smartphones and tablets, with smartphones accounting for about 2/3 of this figure (study by comScore). iOS  devices accounted for around 58% of non-computer online traffic while Android accounted for 32%.

8. In 2011, the most popular activity amongst smartphone users was texting or messaging (70%), followed by emailing (60%),  social networking (50%), talking on the phone (43%), and then surfing the Web (40%) (study by CloudTalk).

9. 38% of mobile subscribers downloaded apps. Among the smartphone users who downloaded apps, 83% had either an Android or iPhone device.

10. In December 2011, an average of 1.5 million smartphones were downloaded each day. On December 25th, however, it was estimated that more than 6.8 million iOS & Android devices were activated (study from Flurry).

The smartphone industry flourished in 2011, and will continue to experience growth in the new year; it is predicted that smartphones will outsell PCs in 2012 (according to multiple industry sources). So here’s to another great year in mobile!

Pandas, and polar bears, and animals galore, oh my!

If we could only use one word to describe this week’s App of the Week, it would have to be “AMAZING”. The official San Diego Zoo mobile app launched last week, and the response has been nothing short of amazing- press coverage from dozens and dozens of sources across the world, including VentureBeat, New York Daily News, The Guardian, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), and San Diego Reader, and App Store and Android Market ratings of 4 stars.

Fans can’t get enough of all the features this app has to offer, but one section of the app that they keep going back to is the Animal Cam, where fans can view live streams of the famous giant pandas and polar bears who live and play at the Zoo. The Panda LiveCam has been played close to 10,000 times, while the Polar Bear LiveCam has been played nearly 8,000 times, which brings the total of LiveCam plays to nearly 20,000- and this is just in a week!

And just in time for the holidays, San Diego Zoo is highlighting their Jungle Bells celebration right on their app’s homepage. By clicking the home screen image, fans will be redirected to the Jungle Bells section of the app where they can learn about this holiday celebration and see the events going on.

To download the San Diego Zoo app, go to http://road.ie/sandiegozoo

Today, there are more than 1 million apps in the major app stores, according to Mobilewalla, with Apple App Store and Android Market accounting for around 91%. The App Store leads with over 590,000 apps, followed closely behind by Android Market with over 380,000 apps. Apps in Amazon Appstore, Blackberry App World, Nokia Ovi Store, and Windows Phone Marketplace account for the remaining 9% of apps.

Image courtesy of Apple

Apple App Store
The popularity of apps has grown tremendously in a short period of time. It was only three years ago in July 2008 that Apple released their App Store, the first of its kind, with 500 apps and 0 downloads. In one year, the App Store grew over 10,000% to have over 55,000 apps and over 1 billion downloads. And in two years, the App Store grew to have over 225,000 apps and over 5 billion downloads. In July 2011, the App Store had over 425,000 apps and over 15 billion downloads worldwide. According to Mobilewalla, an average of 745 apps are released daily.

Currently, there are over 590,000 apps which have been downloaded over 18 billion times in the App Store- an increase of 162% and 260% in App Store size and downloads, respectively, in a little over a year.

Image courtesy of Google

Android Market
Android Market, on the other hand, was released by Google in October 2008. In March 2009, Android Market had around 2,300 apps available. A little over a year later in August 2010, there were over 80,000 apps available and 1 billion downloads. In July 2011, the Android Market grew to 250,000 apps and over 6 billion downloads. 543 apps on average are released daily, according to Mobilewalla.

Currently, there are over 380,000 apps and over 10 billion downloads in the Android Market- an increase of 375% and 900% in Android Market size and downloads, respectively, in a little over a year.

Free Apps
While the App Store leads in the number of apps and downloads, Android Market is a leader in free apps. Out of the hundreds of thousands of apps in the Android Market, over 67% are free compared to the 37% of apps in the App Store. In fact, Windows Phone Marketplace follows behind the Android Market with 52%.

Revenue
A recent study conducted by Distimo, an app store analytics firm, found that iPhone apps in the App Store generate 4 times as much revenue as apps in the Android Market do. They found this figure by examining the top 200 grossing apps of 2011. Distimo also found that half of the revenue from the top 200 grossing apps in the App Store came from apps that follow the “freemium” business model- free apps that collect revenue by offering exclusive or advanced content- compared to the 65% of revenue that “freemium” apps in the Android Market produced.

Another study from Piper Jaffray, a leading middle-market investment bank, concluded that the App Store controls around 85 to 90% of total app revenue market share, producing around $3.4 billion in revenue for developers compared to the $240 million in revenue in the Android Market.

While results may vary, what is known is that the mobile app industry is lucrative.

What’s Next for Mobile Apps
It’s truly amazing to see how fast apps have grown in these few years- from zero apps to over one million, from no app stores to dozens, and from zero app downloads to over tens of billions, the popularity and profitability of mobile apps is undeniable. We’re looking forward to what lies ahead for the mobile industry in 2012.