Research Appendix

References

Android Marketplace https://market.android.com/  [Accessed 20 May 2011]

Apple Apps Store http://store.apple.com/uk  [Accessed 20 May 2011]

Chatterjee, R., 5^th May 2011. The Economic Times, Mobile apps to increase as smart-phone and tablet user bases grow exponentially http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-05/news/29512915_1_mobile-apps-google-s-android-market-apps-market [Accessed 10 June 2011]

Mobile app design and development, company http://www.ymedialabs.com/iphoneportfolio.htm#portfoliosample  [Accessed 20 May 2011]

The Independent, Gadgets and Tech, online newspaper 8^th February 2011, Smartphone usage in the US jumps by 60 percent: comScore http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/smartphone-usage-in-the-us-jumps-by-60-percent-comscore-2208069.html [Accessed 10 June 2011]

United States Patent and Trademark Office, 35 U.S.C. 101 Inventions patentable; Patent Laws, 2011. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxl_35_U_S_C_101.htm [Accessed 10 June 2011]

Use of animation to boost your sales up ! Hey men use extreme power to increase sales http://karachi.olx.com.pk/use-of-animation-to-boost-your-sales-up-hey-men-use-extreme-power-to-increase-sales-iid-181403581 [Accessed 10 June 2011]

Waugh, R., 2011. How to be an appmillionaire. The Mail on Sunday ‘live’ June 5 2011. Pages 20-25    

Action Plan and Gantt Chart

The sequence of events for the production of an app are as follows:

1. The idea
2. Making the app, which will require a developer, probably either paying them a development fee or a percentage of the profits (in some cases this is up to 75% of the profits)
3. Submission of the app to the Apple Store or Android Marketplace
4. Promotion and marketing
5. Making money from the app
6. Refining the product and development of new ideas

Below is a Gantt chart for the production of an app



Basic Cash Flow Budget

There are a number of known cash outlays in the production of a mobile app.



Cash Flow Budget
Cash Inflow	First Q	Second Q	Third Q	Fourth Q
Initial Cash Balance/loan	£15,000	£3,128	£2,915	£3,002
Sales of app		£300	£600	£1,200
Advertising revenue				£50
Cash Expenditures
Developer	£10,000
Website	£300
Patent	£250
Office/ equipment	£1,000	£250	£250	£250
Licence	£59
Loan repayment	£263	£263	£263	£263
Running Total	£3,128	£2,915	£3,002	£3,789

Distribution and Selling

Further Development of this App

• The application has been decided upon
• Market research has been carried out to determine the target market and desirability
• Developers have been identified to carry the project forward which should only take a few weeks/ months. An example of an apps developer is 'Ymedia'
• Some work will be carried out by our team as we have some expertise in the area and this will reduce costs
• The prototype will be simple as it is software based, rather than an actual tangible item
• After development of the app it will it be submitted to the Apple and the Android marketplaces

Details of Development

The app will be produced with the help of a developer. A charge of £59 is made by Apple apps for a licence. At present Android apps are free.

Distribution and Selling

The product will be sold through the Apple iTunes and Andriod market place.
We are going to sell the app for £3. We may investigate giving away a limited version of the app free.

Marketing (see also Powerpoint Presentation)

• Advertising on animation websites
• KeyMe Facebook page
• KeyMe own website
• Contacts with university animation courses and animation companies
• Promotion of app in iTunes

Competitors and concept

There are no direct competitors but:

• Animation Creator from Aple App store allows you to create animations
• Animation Desk for the ipad is an animation app
• Someone who has bought these apps above may be interested in buying our app as well

Our concept is different from the competition as it just produces key frames that are very important in the production of an animation, but is not in direct competition to the animation programmes.
It uses the film camera option on the phone or a similar devise, which is a different concept to any other animation app.
It allows the animator to find the extreme key poses which is very useful in animation and drawing.

Intellectual Property Rights/ Patents

These include branding goods (registered trade mark), the way a product looks (registered design), how the technology works (patent) and any literature or artistic work (copyright).
Patents protect the features and the processes that make things work. They are therefore able to be used for mobile phone apps. They therefore allow inventors to profit from their inventions. It is important not to publicly reveal your product before you apply for a patent.
It is possible to patent software inventions under section 35 USC section 101.

Shaping the idea into a business proposal

The Opportunity/Setting (Trends and Fads)

The mobile phone app industry is growing fast in line with the increasing number of smart phones.
In 2010, 8 billion mobile phone apps were downloaded. Research from May 2011 has a conservative estimate of 44 billion apps being downloaded by 2016. This figure could be as high as 100 billion as stated by Gangadhar Sulkunte. From http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-05/news/29512915_1_mobile-apps-google-s-android-market-apps-market

The target market for our animation mobile phone app is for students, professional animators and enthusiasts. They will be people who are computer literate with either android smart phones, tablets, iphones ipads or Macs. Therefore they must have a disposable income large enough to afford this type of phone. The 'Indepent' newspaper in February 2011 quoted that in the US, smartphone usage was up by 60%. This is an indication of the increase in smart phones and the growing market for apps. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/smartphone-usage-in-the-us-jumps-by-60-percent-comscore-2208069.html.
The age group for this application is from 16 years upwards. This app should appeal to both male and female and anyone who is interested in animation.

The advent of Pixar films and the development of CGI has seen a resurgence in anything to do with animation. It is now commonly found in films, advertisements on the TV and on the web. Animation is a boom area at present with many seeking the opportunity to increase sales with animation. http://karachi.olx.com.pk/use-of-animation-to-boost-your-sales-up-hey-men-use-extreme-power-to-increase-sales-iid-181403581. The linking of the growth in phone apps and of animation means that an animation app should be an area of opportunity.

Identification of an innovative product

My group got together and thought about some new ideas. We wanted to come up with something completely new.We considered both products and services.
One area of expansion where there are a number of new possibilities are in phone applications.
We decided on an animation app that would help both student and professional animators alike as well as be useful for those people that animate for a hobby.
We looked at what was already on the market as did not want to produce anything similar to what was already available. These apps would already be well established and well produced, so we looked for gaps in the market.
We considered a number of options for animation apps.  We thought of an application that involved mapping someones face and then using 'lip sync'. In the end we did some market research and looked at the competition. In the end we came up with an application that was easy to produce and simple. It involved taking a film of a person moving and from that film working out the key frames.We called our app KeyMe.