AppUp Your Netbook

The other day, someone told me there were over 40 million netbooks sold.  Wow!  Phenomenal! It seems like netbooks really only hit the scene about a year-and-a-half ago.  I wonder what that number will be by the end of 2010.

On Day Two of the Consumer Electronics Show, I got to join dozens of consumer technology experts and software developers at a gathering to celebrate the launch of Intel’s AppUp Center, the online application store build by Intel’s Software and Services Group.

The meetup was a chance to meet the software wizards who have been working behind-the-scenes to build the app store in just little over a 100 days.  The concept was first introduced during the Intel Developer Forum in September as part of the Intel Atom Developer Program. 

The meetup during CES was impressive, and there was a genuine call to action:  test it out AppUp and tell us the truth about how we can make it better…quickly.

People like Intel Insider Steve “Chippy” Paine, Sascha Pallenberg and Nicole Scott of Netbook News and jkkmobile were there.  I also met with Scott Schaen of Chip Chick.  We all got our own hands-on access to the store and key apps through demo stations set up in real-life settings:  kitchen, home office and bedroom.

Intel’s beta program for Intel AppUp Center Beta is the first software application storefront aimed at the popular category of Intel Atom processor based netbook computers, including ones shown at the Intel booth during CES.

The first applications from entertainment, social networking, gaming, and other categories are now available for free download or purchase. 

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) Acer, Asus, Dell and Samsung are collaborating with Intel to bring innovative applications to consumers.

Over time, Intel and partner stores are aiming to host applications for Intel Atom processor-based handheld devices, smartphones, consumer electronic appliances, TVs, and other devices.

Opportunities behind AppUp including providing smaller software developers help with:

• Distribution — getting apps delivered to the millions of netbooks.
• Compatibility – ensuring apps can properly run on consumer netbooks
• Marketing — differentiating particular apps and helping make sure people can easily find and download them 

So far, there are more than 400 applications available inside AppUp, and during the meetup we got to try them out in real-life settings: 

• In the “living room” there was Boxee, and Arnold Palmer Golf connected to a large TV
• In the “kid’s room” there was Fun with Letters
• In the “kitchen” there was V.E.E.P. and iEat for Life
• In the “office” there was Yoono (see photo by Netbooknews)

Here is a collection of initial feedback from the meetup during CES:

Engadget, which had a cool branded trailer parked at CES, shared their experience in this post: Intel launches AppUp Center app store for Atom-powered devices (updated with hands-on impressions)  

On the ChipChick blog, Scott Schaen wrote a post titled Intel AppUp Center Beta is an App Store for Netbooks, where he provided this feedback:

Don’t use a fixed window size for the application, even if it is optimized for netbooks. It seems to only have a 10″ diagonal on my regular laptop. Introduce a performance rating for applications. This can be based on my netbook specs, which could be entered manually. Brand AppUp for netbooks specifically – nowhere in the AppUp center does it say it’s optimized for netbooks. I’d prefer not to create a log in to download apps. Don’t require billing information until I choose to download a paid application 

Steve “Chippy” Paine, whose travel to CES was sponsored by Intel, wrote in MIDMoves:

I spoke with Peter Biddle, Director of  the Intel Application Developer Program about a number of aspects of the program and it’s clear that this isn’t just a skin-deep effort. They’re thinking about everything from affiliate programs to tailored stores. Naturally I’ve installed the store on my netbook here and i’ll be giving it a test over the coming weeks. It will be insteresting to see the rate at which applications start flowing into the system! Note that Dell, Asus, Samsung and Acer are building storefronts which I can only assume will be pre-installed on netbooks soon. The end-user base is likely to grow very quickly.

I’m planning to spend more time with AppsUp as I process through all of the great things I collected during CES.  AppUp will be something I’ll experiment with using a variety of Intel Atom powered devices as I prepare for South by Southwest in Austin, TX this March.

Meantime, the possibilities seem endless when developers from anywhere can jump in and add their creative skills to the mix. 

I’m excited because from what I know through my pals inside Intel’s Software Network, there’s a lot of energy focused on gathering feedback and improving AppUp quickly in the months to come.

If you have an Intel Atom powered netbook, sign up for an AppUp account. 

If you’re a developer, tune in and get involved with the Intel Atom Developer Program so you can help keep AppUp innovative and valuable to all of us who enjoy mobile computing. 

All the while, please share your feedback on ways to improve the AppUp experience.

In this video from CES, Intel engineer Peter Biddle shares more insight into the making of AppUp and how it works.