The mobile industry seems to be in a major transformation over the past few years. If a few years ago, the “in” thing was to have a cool looking cellphone, one that was as thin as lets say, a razor blade, the new greatest thing in today’s mobile arena is of course mobile apps. Which platform has the most, coolest, and easiest to install apps? Which app interface meets my needs the best, the Apple App Store, the Blackberry App World, or the Android App Market? Software is what it is all about in the cellular world.

Now, lets shift to another hot topic, the Web. If two years ago, the big thing was Web 2.0 and user generated content, today, it is all about Social Media, not to say that these two things are not connected because they are. Who has not heard of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to just name the main ones. New social networks are starting daily and most failing before they even launch. Most people think there is no more need/room for another social network like Facebook and Twitter, and they are right.

What we may need, however, is a social network that meets certain needs that are not met by the existing sites of today. If, just hypothetically (or not) there was a site that merged the two buzz words mentioned above and gave mobile app developers and mobile entrepreneurs a platform to communicate with other developers, receive feedback  from users, or hear new ideas for apps, such an initiative would take off in my opinion. We already discussed a service that merges apps and social media, but how about a full fledged social network?

As of a few days ago, AppBoy fills that gap. It is a full fledged social network that provides a comfortable environment in which to work, where anyone can suggest an idea for mobile development, get feedback from the site’s users in the form of votes, and receive compensation for their idea in the form of an initial bonus, as well as a revenue sharing model.

AppBoy also enables developers to host their very own app store on their site with a custom URL at Appboy.com/<your username>. So if you are a BlackBerry developer for example, you do not need to worry about whether the App World is available in a certain country, you can just send a link to your personal App Store on AppBoy.

If you are an iPhone developer, you do not need to send the person searching in iTunes or send an annoyingly long link, you can direct them to your AppBoy app store. Pretty convenient.  The site is well organized and is split into categories of Apps and Ideas. In the Apps section, you can browse all the apps by category or suggest an app for development. In the Ideas category, you can view all the ideas people have submitted by categories. and vote on them. You can also submit an idea and if the AppBoy community likes your idea for an app, you will be compensated accordingly.

The concept is really simple and in my opinion, groundbreaking. How many times did you think of an idea for a mobile app, but not know how to go about implementing it? I know I have had quite a few.I do not need to tell anyone the amount of money to be made in the mobile app industry, but the numbers are absolutely insane. With the use of social media and the potential in mobile apps, anyone with an idea, can make it big in a very short period of time.

With social media becoming more and more mainstream and the rapid distribution growth of mobile apps, AppBoy fills a very important gap, and I really think if the developers of AppBoy (follow him here) market themselves properly, they can have the next big thing. I already signed up and am going to be submitting my first idea very soon.

Please tell me what you think of the concept and their implementation, in the comments!

-Hillel