The next generation of apps will not be an afterthought that comes after a company's Web site.
They will be the main product -- and they will know a lot about you, says a source close to Apple.
Your phone will let your mom see photos of you and your friends at a party, it will let you buy gifts, it will automatically know where you are even if you don't -- and it will let your friends know you slept well last night.
It may seem like too much information, and even a bit creepy -- but that's the future of apps, according to our source.
Out of the 500,000 apps in the App Store, our person says to keep a close eye on these ones:
- Path is an intimate social mobile app, a live journal if you will.
- Giftly allows you to make gift cards for businesses that are on Yelp.
- Envizio is developing electronic wallets to deliver more just electronic payments -- offering coupons and loyalty programs to your phone.
- Oink is a niche social network that lets you rate the things you love.
- Airtime will offer video chat like Chatroulette (without the obvious problems). Sean Parker of Facebook fame behind this app. The still-in-stealth social network is all about helping you meet new people. Coming soon...
Our source also mentioned Twilio, which isn't an app, but it has built an ecosystem that lets developers build SMS text messaging and voice chat into apps. And now, it's going international.
