Palm launches Hot Apps website, lets you track the competition yourself 32
Mon, 12 Apr 2010 5:40 pm EDT
Launched at the beginning of February, Palm’s Hot Apps competition promises to award $1 million to the top free and paid apps in the Palm App Catalog. Since then, the competition has chugged quietly along, but today got a boost in the arm from Palm. The newly-launched PalmHotApps.com lets you, me, and anybody else with one of those fancy-pants web browser things hop onto the interwebs and track the competition for themselves.
The website breaks down both halves of the competition, paid and free apps, listing the most-downloaded free apps since the start of the competition (currently lead by MojoJungle’s The Helicopter Game) and the highest-revenue paid apps since up to this point in the competition (YouView’s Visual Voicemail at the front). The site also tracks the progress of apps qualifying for the Hot Apps competition, rating their change in ranking from day-to-day and listing up-and-coming apps.
We also have gotten a better idea of what it’ll take to qualify for a piece of the Hot Apps pie: More than 11,625 downloads for a free app, or more than $513.81 in revenue for a paid app. Of course, that number is bound to rise over the remaining 78 days of the competition, but it seems that the barrier for entry is rather low for the time being.
A Hot Apps refresher: The most-downloaded free app between February 1 and June 30 will win $100,000, the #2-21 free apps will be awarded $10,000, and #22-221 will win $1,000. The highest-revenue paid app will net $100,000 at the end of the competition, while #2-21 will get $10,000, and #22-221 will win $1,000 apiece. That’s $1,000,000 total, split amongst 442 developers.
Oh, and if that June 30 date doesn't seem right, that's because Palm has extended the end of the Hot Apps competition from May 31 to June 30!
32 Comments
That figure at the top of the website depresses me. If you app has only made $513, you could win $1000 from Palm as one of the top paid apps. I am sorry but this is why app developers are not flocking to WebOS.
If you think about it, that means fewer than 100 people bought Let's Golf, which is a great damned game. How is it that there are no entries from Gameloft on that whole list, do they have some kind of side deal with Palm that got them disqualified from entering the contest?
What is really depressing is that the Paid app winner list includes TWO Hangover soundboards, a Project Gutenberg free book collection, and an Art of War ebook, among other completely useless entries.
I think ironically the free list is more compelling overall than the paid one
@ Complex Pants: The highest earning app wins $100,000! One hundred thousand!!! If I was a developer, this would entice me!
yes it would too. But out of 2000 apps, the top 221st paid app only made $513. If I was a serious developer, that would not entice me at all. It would mean I would be relying on Palm's handouts to make some my money.
The reason for this is the quality of apps being written. When you have a catalog flooded with apps such as those from Brighthouse Labs, don't expect to make a killing.
To be fair, the iPhone App Store has been similarly flooded. Making money is a measure of available customers, not the overall quality of apps.
Well it is both. There are lots of paid apps for the iPhone that are making no money. And there are free apps that are not getting that many downloads.
I know of one iphone app that has been given plenty of critical acclaim and on some "best of 2009" lists and the total number of downloads it received is paltry.
Yep. I have a friend who had an app in the top 10 entertainment apps for over a month and he made very little. He's been developing for the Apple store for a while and he's pretty down on it at this point.
an easy $1000 wouldn't entice you? besides if better apps started knocking the less useful apps of this list, the minimum requirements for making the list would be tougher....
It is a pity that PreWare ain't in the catalog cause it would probably be the winner - and we know (amongst others) WebOS-Internals deserve the price / a substantial price for their outstanding work!
you totally rite preware's developers rocks or pre and pluses
Was The Helicopter Game a Homebrew app?
And its breaks my heart that GDial Pro couldn't be on there
If YouView wins $100K they better get the $%&@# application to work like it is advertised.
I like seeing this now, now I can see Bad Kitty make its way to #1. It should be up there :D.
Um... Derek how are there 78 days left if this ends on the 31st of May. Last I checked the longest month was only 31 days and May is next month.
update: I get it now. The contest ends June 30th not May 31st.
You are correct. My math skills are still good. Reading comprehension, not so much. It's June 30th.
Yeah, you had me a little worried about my own math skills there for a bit. Thanks for fixing it so it doesn't drive me insane.
Guns of War in 4th?! What?!?! Is it being mistaken for a 3D game or do people really enjoy an app that plays gun noises?
That list is pathetic and depressing.
Dr. Podder is way way too low.
What is wrong with you people?
Paid apps are based on revenue, and not total sales. At 99
Yep, I expected and would have paid $3-4 for it.
I would paid the same had he asked for that much. It probably would be #1 if he had set it at that price. Hear that Jaime? RAISE THE PRICE! It's worth it.
Yeah, all you have to do is develop an app and set it's price at $75,000 USD. Then purchase the app yourself. Then sit back and collect your cool $100,000.
Can't believe no one did that yet...
You'd expect the whole site to have css better formatted for the Pre's browser!
I hope the winner is smart enough to ask for cash rather than a check.
Remmeber when some of us were concerned that a certain charity app appeared to be a scam? Well, what a surprise, an app with no actual function is nowhere on the list.
I guess it turns out that Chuq was right, that webOS users are smarter than that. :p
Smart idea by palm!
Not sure if this is so good... Now this page is like advertisement for the apps which are currently on the top. People may think "Hey, if Helicopter Game is at number 1 then it must be good, I download it, too". Let's call it a recursive winner. The winner wins because people download it because it is winning because people download it because it is winning because... You know.
I hope this is also the case for the top 20 because my Destroids is in it ;-)
Or maybe it'll make people root for the underdogs and download them - go Mazer at #6!! ;-)
More seriously, I'm pretty annoyed at the end date being pushed out by a month. Palm had an agreement with us developers. They broke it. This is very wrong, damaging our trust in them.
Many of us were looking forward to some extra money in June, and have planned our developement schedules around the original end date. Now we have to wait another month.
It's a stupendously idiotic move by Palm.
This is very cool to see the breakdown. I'm very lucky to have Paratrooper Mini in the left column and Paratrooper in the right! Fun.
It is me or is this page not updating day to day?