The new mobile features include support for geolocation fields inside Force.com's database infrastructure, allowing developers to create "location-aware" applications.

Salesforce.com has also created a new Schema Builder toolset, which is generally available as part of Summer '12. Schema Builder provides a visual, drag-and-drop style interface for quickly building database schemas.

Another feature, push upgrades, automatically applies updates to applications and functionality built by ISVs using Force.com. "Very unique" features such as this are driving the momentum behind Force.com's AppExchange marketplace, said Mike Rosenbaum, senior vice president of AppExchange and Force.com operations.

The marketplace now includes more than 1,500 applications, but that number doesn't wholly represent growing loyalty to the Force.com platform's technology. As of Friday, the AppExchange's that were natively built on Force.com.

Critics such as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison on grounds it is proprietary and doesn't allow companies to move applications built there to other cloud infrastructures. Ellison is hoping to compete with Force.com through its own Java-based cloud service, which he launched at an event last week.