Left your mobile phone at home but need to call a friend? Don't worry, Facebook has an app for that. Want to know what the weather will be like in Outer Mongolia next week? There's an app for that too. Have a burning desire to monitor your sleep patterns? Guess what...
With the rise of the smartphone (it's predicted that half of US mobile phone users will own a smartphone by the end of 2011) has come an increase in jobs in the sector. Smart young developers are needed who can understand both the technology and what makes an app a "must have" from a user's point of view. As one young developer pointed out in a recent article on Guardian Careers, those graduating now are the first generation "to have grown up with mobile phones and to use them as our primary form of communication", making mobile technology one of the few areas where being young and inexperienced doesn't have to count against you.
Our panel of industry experts will be discussing the roles available in the sector and how to break into it. Post your questions here.
The panel:
Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA — the trade body with represents the UK games industry. Richard is knowledgeable about the industry as a whole, including areas such as the skills shortages and industry trends.
Sanjay Mistry, technical director of InfoMedia. InfoMedia handles mobile content and delivery for the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea FC, Tesco Mobile and Play.com
Alistair Crane, CEO and founder of Grapple Mobile. Grapple work with brands, agencies and businesses to develop cross platform mobile applications that run on all the leading smartphone handsets
Matt Brooke-Smith, CEO of Future Workshops, designers of cutting edge iOS apps.
Georgina MacKenzie, managing director of ToyTech, an independent games development company.
Maxwell Scott Slade, co-founder of Johnny Two Shoes, game designers and app developers.
Clifford Bailey, mobile development team leader at Ocado
