Sprint (NYSE: S) subsidiary Pinsight Media may not be a household name for developers, but the unit wants to change that. Pinsight was designed to help the carrier build new kinds of opportunities in mobile advertising, mobile analytics and mobile commerce. Last year, Pinsight Media grew substantially via the acquisition of Handmark/OneLouder, a former partner that developed both apps and mobile advertising services.
Kevin McGinnis, vice president at Pinsight Media, said Sprint realized it needed to start approaching developers differently as far back as 2007, when the rise of smartphones meant platform companies were largely responsible for managing the selling of apps through app stores. In an interview with FierceDeveloper, McGinnis discussed the carrier's change in attitude toward the application market, what Pinsight is doing to help developers with discoverability, engagement and monetization, and where the app market is going from here. Hot Seat