Mobile Portland - Mobile Subscriptions: Controversy and Opportunity February 28, 2011

RSVP at http://www.mobileportland.com/events/mobile-subscriptions-controversy-or-opportunity

Apple's newly announced policies for subscriptions in iOS apps have the tech and publishing industry buzzing.

Ever since Rupert Murdoch announced that his new initiative, The Daily, would use the new subscription service, people have wondered how the service would work. Like many App Store announcements, the unveiling of the new policies seem to create more questions than they answer.

This month at Mobile Portland, we are pleased to have a distinguished panel of experts who will take a look at controversy, risks and opportunities associated with mobile subscriptions. They will cover questions like:

* Can publishers adjust their business models can survive Apple taking such a large percentage (30%) of their subscription fees and the fact that they will not have the demographic information about subscribers that they use to sell ads?

* Why do publishers want the subscriber information? How much of their revenue comes from selling subscriber data to direct mail companies? Are the policies important to protect consumer privacy?

* Will popular applications like Netflix, Kindle and Last.fm survive under these new rules?

* Will these new policies apply to software as a service as well? What about products like Dropbox and Basecamp?

* Do these changes make it more difficult for companies to innovate and disrupt existing industries?

Even with all of the controversy, many people see opportunities for new business models that were not possible before. The panel will explore what businesses may benefit the most from Apple's new subscription services as well as dive into some of the technical details on how they can be implemented.

Apple isn't the only game in town. Google has responded with it's One Pass service for Android that will allow publishers to keep 90 percent of revenue and access to more subscriber data. Will Android and other platforms put pressure on Apple to change it's policy?

Please join us for this free timely and informative discussion

Our Panelists

Sasha Mace

Sasha Mace is the Engineering Manager at Urban Airship. He has been working on Urban Airship's implementation of subscriptions for iOS and Android. Few people are in a better position to talk about the technical differences between the subscription services that each platform provides.

Jon Maroney

Jon Maroney is Senior VP Mobile Publishing for Handmark. Handmark specializes in delivering mobile application solutions for brands, publishers and media companies. Because of their extensive work with publishers, Jon has unique insight into how publishers are looking at the new subscription models.

Kiyo Kubo

Kiyo Kubo is the CEO of Spotlight Mobile. Spotlight Mobile has built many popular apps including apps for publishers like Vogue and GQ as well as Barnes and Noble. Kiyo will be able to talk about what his publishing customers are concerned about and how it may impact book publishers.

Elia Freedman, Moderator

Elia Freedman has spent over 14 years in the mobile industry as CEO of Infinity Softworks. In that time, Infinity Softworks has distributed more than 15 million software products and brokered major partnerships with mobile and industry heavyweights including Palm, Sony, Garmin, Viewsonic and others. Infinity Softworks iOS apps have been used more than a million times, has been an Apple staff pick and a Best of 2010 app. The industry analysis on his blog is a must read.

Official Website: http://www.mobileportland.com/events/mobile-subscriptions-controversy-or-opportunity