We already know of the iTunes App Store and theAndroid Market, but when competitors like RIM’s AppWorld, the Windows Phone Marketplace and Amazon’s Appstore emerge, it’s obvious that the mobile app development is growing big time. Today, two other future key players join the brood: Appia and Ericsson.

Knowing the wicked competition that they will have to hurdle in this industry, PocketGear underwent some reimaging and rebranding, and changed its name to Appia. The official launch made Appia the largest open app marketplace in the world and partners with 40 major businesses and other mobile giants including Android, BlackBerry, Java, Symbian, Windows,  Samsung, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless. However, what used to be a consumer-driven paradigm will now be more focused on a pure-play, white-label app store platform dedicated for third party mobile stores, operators, mobile portals and handset manufacturers.

Jud Bowman, CEO of Appia explains the decision to shift to a different business model and repackaging their services to catch up with the mobile app development that is set to reach peaks this 2011. He said, “Over the past few years we’ve been focused on building out an end-to-end application store platform for carriers and handset manufacturers, and supplying content developers with the tools they need to take control of the marketing and distribution of their apps to as many consumer touch points as possible. As consumers increasingly look for alternatives to the native app stores, Appia intends to power those other stores and enable app creators to easily reach new customers.”

While Appia concentrates on reaching global third party app stores, Ericsson introduced Ericsson Money Services, with the hopes of making a huge impact into the global mobile money ecosystem.  But, this is not a product of an overnight discussion; this is two-years in the making.  It is an end-to-end solution that can easily be tailored to varied requirements.

We’ve seen a number of currency-driven solutions emrge onto the mobile scene in the past year, with Google’s recent support of in-app payments marking the mainstream push for easy integration.  Third parties like Super Rewards, and other industry giants like PayPal and Visa are all looking for ways to monetize the digital revolution, finding that mobile apps provide direct access to consumers at the location and time of their purchasing decisions.