There’s has been a huge amount of hype around mobile apps since the New York Times declared a Gold Rush two years ago. Clients are being quoted absurdly high prices for apps. Businesses are developing them purely on the basis that ‘we need an app’ without thinking of how to promote them.

The reality is that they are important. They’re not expensive. They do require a little thought though. Here are two of the best companies active in this sector at the moment.

Mobile Roadie

As their name suggest, Mobile Roadie started out as a business that focused on the music industry. Over the last two years, they’ve grown considerably and are now working with authors, sports teams, festival organizers and many others.

At its core, Mobile Roadie is a simple proposition. It allows you to create really high spec applications for iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices from as little as £500. You can choose to make the app as complicated or as simple as you want. It allows you to incorporate news and Twitter feeds, video and audio content, tour dates, excerpts, location based services and a whole lot more. It’s easy to use. You don’t really need any technical knowledge to get an app up and running. The annual or monthly costs include all sorts of updates and upgrades. They also include hosting. It’s a much cheaper solution than getting an application built from scratch.

Onswipe

Onswipe are a really hot startup at the moment. They’ve been talked up in industry circles for the last while, and their full official launch will happen on the 21st of June. Onswipe is great because it allows you to create magazine style tablet apps using tools like Wordpress. Expect great things from these guys.

Coming up tomorrow – rewarding your readers.

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Eamonn Carey is a digital media entrepreneur and consultant who lives in London. He’s worked on digital, social and mobile strategies and applications with companies like 3, O2, Diageo and many others. If you want to know more about Eamonn’s work, or if you’re interested in talking to him about consultancy or ideas, feel free to contact him at his website. He also has an idea for a book if anyone is interested. But then, who doesn’t.