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The whole team is really excited as we start heading over to the valley this week for Google's announcment of new machines and jellybeans (I know, that was poor). We're also going to be hosting a WIP Demo Lounge (Google i/o passes not required) just across from Google i/o on Wednesday and Thursday  at Jillians and we hope you'll pop by to check out some cool demos, grab some grub, and win some prizes! Just let us know you'll be coming by signing up here. 

Here is some info about our sponsors and the demos they will be showing:

AT&T Application Resource Optimizer (ARO)
Do you know your app’s performance?  Is it ready to go up against the fastest apps, the apps your customers love to use again and again?

Get your app tested with ARO at the WIP Demo Lounge and see where it ranks.  Use the report to make some simple configuration changes, and watch it climb up the leaderboard for some great prizes, and bragging rights.

What is ARO?  It’s a free diagnostic tool for analyzing...

Vision Mobile just released it's latest report: Developer Economics 2012, focusing on five main topics: the redefinition of mobile ecosystems, developer segmentation, revenues vs. costs in the mobile economy, app marketing and distribution and regional supply versus demand of apps. The research was compiled from surveying over 1500 developers around the world. 

Here are some of the takeaways:

• The average per-app revenue is in the range of $1,200-$3,900 per month, depending on platform. 
• Irrespective of which platform they primarily use, the majority of developers (57%) plan to adopt Windows Phone (made even more interesting with today's Windows Phone 8 announcements)
• Tablets are now a mainstream screen for developers; more than 50% of developers are now targeting tablets, with iOS developers most likely (74%) to do so. 
• North America tops app demand with 41% of developers indicating this is a top-3 download region, irrespective of their region of origin

...

This is a guest post by Suzanne Nguyen. Suzanne is the Director of Developer Marketing for Immersion, a firm that provides haptics technology for mobile device. She also posts developer tips on their blog, and you can follow Suzanne and her team on twitter @HapticsDev. 

As the latest buzzword, 'gamification' has been the topic of every marketing organization. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, “gamification is the use of game design technique, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts”.  What’s the big deal, you might ask? Why would this be important to me as a developer? The short answer: because gamification creates high levels of engagement and encourages more active participation from your users.

The idea behind gamification is creating a game with set rules and rewards to transform  what would be an ordinary, boring task (sometimes considered a chore) into something fun and engaging.  It’s about building human psychology and behavioral science into...

One of the biggest challenges developers face is getting people to download your app. But how do you turn those downloaders into dedicated, loyal users of your app? Less than 5% of downloaded apps get used for more than 30 days, according to some data, and less than 10% get used for more than 10 days. WIth many app business models now shifting towards maximizing the lifetime value of a user through in-app purchasing or advertising, it's crucial that you keep your users coming back time and time again to your apps.

Join WIP and the Verizon Developer Community for a webinar on Thursday, June 22, at 2:30pm EDT to learn how you can keep engaging your users over time, and keep them coming back for more. We'll cover:

• the connection between loyal users and in-app purchases
• how to use tools like push notifications and social network integration to create stickiness and loyalty
• managing your app's lifecycle to keep user coming back with new features and updates
• how to use...

We've known James and Chris for a long time and have been featured in their web show in the past. Today we're excited to announce that we have become an official syndicator for Hashbang TV! Last week, the Hashbang team interviewed angel investor and startup mentor Muriel Devillers, where they mythbust the notion that startups need to go to the valley to succeed. Check out the video below!

For some time, we've been creating monthly State of the Developer Ecosystem reports for some of our top-level developer program members. These reports, targeted at operators, OEMs, tool providers, API providers and other companies seeking to understand the world of mobile developers, increase their knowledge and enhance their effectiveness, are now available for purchase by anyone through our WIPFactory.com site, for $395 per report, or as part of a yearly subscription or bundle.

We've just released the May edition for purchase, and this 22-page report includes:

• An in-depth assessment of cross-platform developer tools and how developers are using them
• An overview of major trends in the mobile developer market in China
• A deep dive into the mobile developer hub of Paris, France
• Reports from CTIA, AnDevCon, GMIC and other major mobile events during the month
• The WIPVine -- the latest gossip and insight straight from...

Chris has been writing mobile software in various forms since 2003. He was involved in several large-scale Brew projects, from MMS messaging to Major League Baseball. More recently, he was an early Android engineer behind the doubleTwist media player and is now the lead Android developer for Tumblr. He’s recently published "Creating Android Applications." with PeachPit Press. He lives in Manhattan, where he constantly debates shaving his beard. You can reach him on twitter @haseman.

Tell us a little about yourself:

I've been writing software that lives on mobile phones since they switched from black-and-white to color.  I'm a recent, if reluctant, New Yorker, and I already can't stand people who walk slowly 3 abreast on a crowded sidewalk.  I build mobile applications with an eye towards pixel perfection and I'm not very good at sitting still.

What is the difference between working at doubleTwist and at Tumblr?

In many ways, the major differences between these two great...

In-app purchases are overtaking paid downloads as the biggest source of app revenues. Consumers have a higher willingness to download free apps than paid ones, and the lifetime value of a user isn't capped with in-app purchases, as it is with paid downloads. For developers who can successfully utilize the model, in-app purchasing can significantly increase their earnings and success.

In a recent webinar, the first in a series hosted by the Verizon Developer Community, I explored in-app purchasing and was lucky to have Sean Thompson of MobileDeluxe come along to share some of the secrets of their success with it. You can view a video of the webinar above, or check out the slides below. Sean broke the economics of in-app purchasing down to a simple equation: LTV > CPA. Simply put, the lifetime value of one of your app's users needs to be higher than your cost per acquisition. The CPA side is an important one, Sean says, since you also need to BYOU -- bring your own users! But...