I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Where is the puck going? In this case the "app" puck?

RIM is betting on "SuperApps"

http://us.blackberry.com/developers/started/super_apps.jsp

What are some characteristics of superApps? As defined by RIM this includes the following features (drawn from their website):

When running in the background, a Super App can pull down critical data, update its Home screen icon and register custom menu items with the native BlackBerry smartphone applications. A Super App can also:

• Start when the BlackBerry smartphone is powered up
• Listen and react to events
• Listen for inbound push data
• Download content before the user needs it
• Generate notifications
• Share data with other third-party apps

Windows Mobile 7, as seen by anyone who has not been hiding in a cave for the past few weeks, is also pushing a similar concept with their always updating tiles

I think the concept of a SuperApp, Utility or Whatyoumightcallit is pointing towards where the Puck is moving next. My definition would include something similar to RIM's:

- Always on, always useful even without always having network access

- Pushed to you, before you ask for it

- Context, location and occasion aware

- Portable across devices

- Seamlessly moving across heterogenous networks

Mobile Utilities

I have been thinking a lot about the concept of a "mobile utility". I think Blackberry e-mail is a great example: once you have set the service up, you just wait and your e-mail just comes to you, alerts you through vibration and maybe some lights on the phone, you click on it and you see it. Why can't more things be like that? We have been experimenting at MobileAware with the notion of taking airline check-in to the level of "utility". Same deal as with email, with a bit of set-up, the expectation is that when you are due to check-in, the service would complete 99% of the check-in process for you and send a text asking you to confirm.

(by the way, I am reviving the blog after almost a year of disuse) - let me know if the content is interesting