The iTunes App Store's control over developers is notoriously binding, so none of them really expected any fancy business model to emerge. Online, nobody knows you are a dog, and people are OK to pop $.99 for something with a funny name and a promising screen cap. If you actually plan to make a living from more than $5, and you're a developer and you were not one of the three games featured at the Jobsian App Store launch... Too bad!
Apple
Cydia Store Applications vs. The App Store – The Download Showdown
[digg-me]UPDATE: The Cydia Store is now open! I invite you to read this post for more details.
If you didn't read the title to this article in the deep voice of the movie previews guy, please go back and do so at this time, just to give you an idea of how huge this is. Now, if you've navigated to our blog and are reading this article, hopefully you have some idea of what Cydia and the App Store are. For those of you who don't, I will provide a brief breakdown of each program before I list their stand out features.
Both programs offer a sizeable library of applications and games that can be downloaded directly onto the phone from virtually anywhere you can get a cell phone or wifi signal. Please no hate mail from Installer fans, as it's obvious it has not garnered near as much support as Cydia since the iPhone was updated in firmware over the summer. But now to the main event, the Download Showdown. Who will take home the title as the Champion of iPhone applications? Let's get it on.
You've seen the commercials, you've seen it in the world-reknowned iTunes software, heck you see the icon everytime you look at your iPhone, it's the App Store. Riding the coat tails of success of Apple's enormous online music store, is the online application store that has redefined software distribution for the mobile market. Never before has an online library of mobile software been so accessible, as it can be reached from any mac or pc, or from any iPhone or ipod touch with web connection.
Another reason it is so groundbreaking is the 70/30 deal it has made with iPhone platform developers. That means that Apple keeps 30% of the profit from the software sales, and gives the remaining 70% to the people that make them. On top of attracting big name software companies like EA and THQ, this 70/30 deal has made several independent companies like Tappulous and The Blimp Pilots (koi pond creators) extremely wealthy.
The App Store's main advantages have got to be it's stability and ease of use, two of the most important things you can find in any software. I can't tell you the last time my App Store crashed or froze, and its interface is about as simple as you can get. You'll also find that most applications fall in the $0.99 - $9.99 price range, keeping purchases from breaking your bank. For the froogle audience, there is also a large FREE section of applications and games that has yet to disappoint me.
Finally, the fact that Apple, is the company behind the App store has its ups and downs. For example, Apple pre screens all apps submitted to the App Store, minimizing malicious code and low quality software epedimics. This also prevents very good software from reaching the App Store due to opinions held by Apple (see R.I.P article). Downloading is also kept very quick and simple by Apple, as typing in your iTunes password, ok's any download, free or not. You also don't have to jailbreak or "hack" your iPhone to access the App Store, how charming. So bottom line here is that the App Store is easy to use, extremely reliable, has a huge library of free and non-free applications, and it's not against AT&T's TOS (terms of service) to access.
Now for the challenger. A product of James Freeman, or Saurik, Cydia has been around since the original jailbreaking days of Ziphone and iBrickr. Originally, Cydia stood in the shadow of the Installer application by the Dev Team, which did the exact same thing (offered 3rd party downloads). Now, thanks to its I-got-to-firmware-2.1-before-you-did attitude, Cydia is flourishing.
But these guys [devteam, Saurik, Spazio, etc.] really opened the eyes of the world to the possibilities of the iPhone, and let users unlock their iPhone's potential with 3rd party applications, a touchy subject in the beginning of the life of the iPhone due to Apple's lack of 3rd party support.
Enough history, how does it stack up today against the colussal App Store. Size? Nope. The size of Cydia's library of software doesn't hold a candle to Apple's App Store. Price? Nope. While a majority of Cydia downloads are free, some are only trial versions that demand paypal payments to continue using them. So then why in the world would you even want Cydia? Exclusivity. Boom. Cydia is the only place to download applications like Winterboard and Cycorder, software that goes against Apple's guidelines for App Store approval. I couldn't have a see-through dock with a customized icon set without Cydia. I couldn't have recorded a video of my dog doing cart wheels without Cycorder, and it's only available through Cydia. Is VIP access to cool customizeables enough to make this underdog a Champ? Let's review.
It seems on paper Apple's App Store should win by a landslide. Thousands of more software titles, the technical and customer support of a Fortune 500 company, and its overall ease of use should give Apple the belt hands down. But you can't forget about the little guy. If a firmware update prevented the downloading of Cydia or a similar program, how many users would be devastated? How many would avoid updating? If you're like me, chances are you have App Store, Cydia, and Installer (at least the first 2) icons sitting on your springboard right now, and aren't likely to delete any of them any time soon. I like having all 3 for the simple fact that if I read about an application and want to download, I know I am covered, and can find it in one of the 3 libraries.
It looks like a split decision here, but I am going to give the nod to Apple's App Store for a number of reasons I already listed. Once again in an ideal world we could have a united application that would offer the best of both worlds. For now, it seems the App Store will hold the download Showdown title. Thanks for reading, this article is a treasure, so digg it!
MenuLizard
Menulizard is a Web App that lets you search for restaurants by name, by state, or by zipcode and displays the location, phone number, restaurant hours, and menu for each restaurant it returns. There are other apps that do some of this, but the menu feature just really hits it home for me.
It has a very simple, straightforward interface and works just like it should. The address links you to google maps, the phone number lets you dial it, etc.
But what I like most about it is that it let's your average Joe send them menus. This will help them grow their database organically. Too many restaurant guides on the web rely on restaurant owners or their staff to keep their database current and they just don't succeed. To upload a menu, simply mail it to them.
I live in Connecticut and currently there aren't any restaurants loaded for my state, but I have a whole drawer full of local menus that just take up valuable kitchen drawer space so I think I am going to pack them up this weekend and send them to MenuLizard.
They also have a trends menu that lets you see some top lists and metrics about their database. You can look up 20 biggest menus, 20 newest menus, etc. Very interesting.
The only suggestion I have for them is to let people email them menus. They explain why faxes are really hard for them to read and I get that, but their are really good quality scanners out there today and an email attachment would work pretty well for them too. Snail mail is so last decade :) It would also be great if they would let people upload pictures of food to associate with menu items.
For small changes to the menu, they request an email message.
New Apple ad: Game Changer
Have you guys seen the new Apple ad that started airing today? It's called Game Changer and it features MLB at Bat application bragging about how it can be "a score checker, live pitch updater, a video highlight player".
As usual, the ad ends up with someone calling and this time, the caller is named Max Julius.
Watch the video below and tell us what you think of this new ad.
It seems everyone wants a Piece of Apple’s Pie
With 10,000,000+ units sold, Apple has without a doubt one of the hottest products this year with the iPhone. That's a lot of merchandise to push through small Apple and AT&T retail stores. That's why this summer, Apple enlisted the help of Best Buy, a nation-wide retail electronics chain, to move the new iPhone 3g.
What you might not have known, was that self-proclaimed retail giant Radio Shack was also in discussions to be apart of this exclusive product distribution.But, after a few months it seems as if Radio Shack has fallen from the lime light and a new retail heavyweight has entered the picture.
According to Boy Genius, Walmart will begin selling the iPhone 3g starting November 15. (2 weeks before black Friday?) Obviously the more retailers you have selling your product, the more money you are going to make. But after reading through a few blogs it seems that some members of the iPhone community are offended by such a "sell out" move, and the 199$ price tag and Walmart availability may make the community a lot less exclusive.
Well as a member of that community, I say, GO Apple. They stand to gain a lot of ground in the mobile market by advertising in "The most visited daily store in America." AT&T stands to make a killing as well, as each iPhone sold carries a 2 year contract agreement to their wireless service.
Hopefully this will open up doors for other retail chains vying for a piece of Apple's pie. Hah, I guess with over 10,000,000 sold, it would seem there will be enough to go around.
Apple’s Dropping of the NDA Has Echoing Effects
For a long time, developing software for the iPhone seemed like a members-only activity. Even when Apple introduced the App Store and released the SDK for public download, the iPhone developing club still seemed pretty exclusive.
A majority of this secrecy was forced upon developers by way of Apple's Non Disclosure Agreement: a binding contract that said anything developers came across while programming iPhone software 'better not leave the room'. Apple claims this was to protect many inventions and innovations embedded into the iPhone software.
But as we all know, after hearing all the moans and groans from developers, and probably reading thousands of angry blog posts, Apple has removed the NDA. In fact, Apple is now planning to tour the world with seminars and workshops for iPhone developers of any skill level from independent game developers, to IT professionals.
But the benefits don't stop there. Now with the NDA lifted, several Authors are given the green light to publish books on iPhone developing. Alicia mentions one of the more popular ones here, set to be released the 15th of this month. Another one, Beginning iPhone Development, is due out the 27th. In fact, a quick search in Amazon for the topic 'iPhone development' brings up a long list of new iPhone-programming-related books due to release in the next month.
I can't imagine the improvements we'll see in the quality and complexity of future iPhone applications. Hopefully this will encourage Apple to drop another rediculous App Store practice ::cough:: App store rejection policy ::cough::
iPhone 3G named 2008 Gadget of the Year
iPhone was named 2008 Gadget of the Year in the 2008 British Technology Awards, sponsored by Incisive Media. The iPhone also won the Best Mobile Technology, Most Stylish Technology, and Technological Innovation of the Year awards. iTunes also won honors, winning the Best Music Technology award for 2008.
According to the BTA website, the contest, the British Technology Awards, was designed to
celebrate our national love of technology and gives you the chance to decide what technology is deserving of recognition – all of this years winners were chosen by the great British public
Apple released this information in a press release on their web site.
iPhone Tech Talk World Tour
I just got an email saying that apple will soon be "traveling the globe" to talk about technology and the iPhone. According to the email:
Learn about the tools and technologies you'll use to create great iPhone applications, then work with the experts to optimize your code, refine your user interface, and apply the knowledge you gain from the sessions.
Whether you're new to iPhone development, a seasoned professional, or an IT pro, you'll find a session designed just for you. Plus, learn how to get your application in front of millions of users on the App Store. Don't miss this unique opportunity. The event is free, but space is limited. Register for an iPhone Tech Talk today.Apple and Starbucks – Honeymoon Over?
Something is going on between Apple and Starbucks. For a while, it seemed that they seemed to be getting closer, but now I think there might be trouble in paradise.
The Starbucks Icon in the iTunes WIFI store seems to be broken. For those of you who haven't tried this feature, you get an extra Starbucks icon in iTunes whenever you are in a participating Starbucks. When I first got my iPhone, I went to a Starbucks and tried it out. The Starbucks page showed me the name of the Currently Playing song, a history of the last songs played, and links to find out more about the Song and Artists, and links to buy these songs in the iTunes WIFI store.
Users are reporting in many support forums and discussions that instead of seeing the Now Playing Starbucks screen when they touch the Starbucks Icon in iTunes WIFI Store, they see a never ending "Loading..." Screen.
Apple not only seems to be ignoring these threads, they seem to even be trying to remove Starbucks References on their Web pages. Even the links to the Starbucks agreement on Apple.com are no longer there (www.apple.com/itunes/starbucks) and reroute you here instead. A search on "Starbucks" on the Apple site shows you the preferred link to iTunes WIFI store, but takes you back to the same place as before. In fact if say "View All Search Results" after searching on the Apple page, all four top links take your right back to the same place. It's as if they had removed references to Starbucks from everywhere but their support forum.
And there are lot of links there. All where people are saying that instead of getting a Starbucks page in the iTunes Store, their iPhone is just showing a screen with the word "Loading..." that goes on and on.
There are many other forums out there with people talking about this problem. So far, I haven't seen a published work-around or response from Apple.
After my first upgrade to 2.0.1, it stopped working. Each time I go into Starbucks now the endless "Loading..." screen. Every 30 seconds or so I see a flash of the screen that is supposed to be showing, but it quickly goes right back to "Loading..." again.
I have been trying to pin point the issue. I have read that the older iTouch's don't seem to have this problem, but I have tested on both the iPhone 3G and the iTouch 2G and they both have the same issue.
Talking to support on both sides of this is getting me nowhere. Support on both sides of this issue don't seem to be aware of the feature, never mind the problem. I talked to the Manager at the local Starbucks and they had no idea that the feature was even available. They had a "guy" that they used to fix their network problems, but he only came in when they called him. They seemed to think it was a non-issue and I could tell fixing this wasn't there first priority. So I called the Starbucks customer support and they said that it was an iPhone issue, not a Starbucks issue. They said they would talk to the local manager of my Starbucks and have them see what they could do. The follow up phone call I was promised never happened.
So then I tried calling Apple support. At first, they too were confused about the feature even existing. After explaining it to the Customer Support rep, they switched me to the iTunes Support group. This person said that it was a known problem and had to do with the way the network was configured at the Starbucks. They sent me some links and encouraged me to go back to the Starbucks and get the Network Administrator to call Apple. I printed out the links (which really said nothing much) and tried again with the Starbucks. No Joy! This was about two weeks ago and it still is saying "Loading" each time I go.
Anyone else have any experiences to report on this? Please let us hear about it.
Creating an iPhone-Controlled Wireless Home Audio System
I am a bit of an audio geek and I have been longingly looking at the multi-room music systems for years. They have really started to get a lot cheaper lately but the price for most systems still start at $1,000.00. It is hard to convince my spouse that the idea of having a central music server and music piped into other rooms is $1,000 cool. So when I got the Remote [iTunes link] Application for my iPhone, i started to think about what I could do for a lot less money. Remote lets you control your iTunes library using wifi anywhere in your house.
We had already encoded all our music into MP3 and placed it on a central computer in our kitchen. We installed some really great speakers there, but what happens if we want to listen in the bedroom or living room? We could run speaker wires throughout the house, but we have an older house and it is expensive and/or unsightly to run speaker wires throughout the house. Also if we did have speakers wired in, we would need a multi-room receiver and we would still have to run back to the kitchen to change the song or pick another playlist.
I had looked in the Apple Store at Airport Express recently and read about how you could use it to create "wireless" speakers and noticed in my iTunes settings dialog box, the ability to send music to these "Airtunes" speakers. After purchasing a refurbished Airport Express from Apple Store, and a few hours fiddling with them, I came up with a pretty nice and cheap solution.
I used Airport Express and a pair of old but cute PC speakers to create a remote speaker set. I bought and installed Remote on my iPhone, configured it and now I am able to control my iTunes, sitting right next to the remote speakers.
It works pretty great so I thought I could share with you what worked for me. These instructions will let you broadcast music in iTunes. You can use Airfoil to broadcast music from other music players to your Airtunes Speakers.
What you you'll need to get started:
Apple Airport Express Airport Express Stereo connection kit (or a Monster mini-to-RCA left/right audio cable or Monster mini-to-optical digital Toslink audio cable A Mac or PC with wireless connectivity (Mac with AirPort or AirPort Extreme wireless capability - PC with 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11g card) Powered speakers (computer speakers work great!) or a local amplifier and non-powered speakers. iPhone or iTouch with Remote [iTunes link] application installed.Getting started:
Plug in the airport express wherever you want to place your remote speakers. Install the Airport Utility application on your Mac or PC. You can either download it at this link or use the accompanying CD to install it. Use the Airport Utility to scan for the Airport Express Hub. When it is located, click Continue to set it up. The Utility will read the configuration information and prompt you for a name and password. Name it something that will instantly let you know which speakers you are turning on and off. For example, "Downstair speakers" or "Kitchen Speakers" works well. Click Continue. Use this guide to continue making choices as you set up the Airport Express. The easiest path is to just add it to an existing wifi network, but if you don't have one you can set up one between your pc/mac and the Airport Express. When done, the airport Express lcd light should be a solid green. Plug in your speakers and then using either the Airport Express Stereo Connection Kit or individual connectors you can purchase at Radio Shack, connect the Airport Express to your speakers. Repeat steps 1 through 6 for each airport Express you want to install (ie for each set of speakers you want). Test that you can broadcast to your remote speakers from iTunes. Go to iTunes and purchase Remote application. Follow these steps to set it up and connect it iTunes on your PC or Mac. Launch Remote on your iPhones. Using Remote Settings, turn on the speakers you want to control. Sit back on your couch and pick playlists and songs to play.The house that Apple built
[digg-me]For the last couple years, Apple's iTunes Store has taken center stage as the Internet's most used online music store. After the rise and fall of such "illegal" online music sources such as Napster and other P2P networks, Apple decided to give the rough, uncharted market of online music purchasing a shot.
You see, Napster and other peer to peer file sharing networks either charged no fee, or a low monthly fee, and none of that money made it back to the music labels, publishers, and producers. But in its usual pioneering way (see the Apple II, iPod, iPhone, etc...) Apple came up with a solution that would please the record companies, and the consumers who sought cheaper alternatives to buying music other than their local record store.
Enter The Apple iTunes Store! All songs were available for download at $0.99 from a library big enough to make CD Warehouse jealous. And from then on, it was an unstoppable monster, gaining momentum when the video iPod was released and agreements were made with movie and television production studios, giving users the option to download their favorite TV shows, and movies as well.
Then came application and game downloads for your iPod and iPhones, another revolutionary online method of distribution, and made Apple and a lot of small time developers fairly wealthy (well, wealthier in Apple's case). Nothing seemed like it could stop the download colossus until the National Music Publishers Association started kicking up dust around Washington asking that its record companies and producers receive more royalties than it's current $0.09 a track from Apple's iTunes profit.
Apparently they made enough noise for the Copyright Royalty Board to hear them, and the three judge panel is expected to make a ruling very soon. Now, what does that mean to all of us outside of the industry politics? There are a few possible scenarios if the board votes in favor of the NMPA.
The $0.99 standard price tag on mp3s would have to be raised to keep up Apple's profitablity while giving the Music Publishers a raise in the royalties. Or secondly, and hopefully this could only happen in another demension, Apple would shut down iTunes, explained fairly well in this comment by Eddie Cue in today's CNN Money article by writer Devin Leonard:
If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the ... royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss - which is no alternative at all, Cue wrote. Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably.
Once again, only time can tell what will be decided, or if Apple really has the gall to upset millions of iTunes users in shutting down the Internet's largest online media download store. How would that effect their iPod/iPhone sales? What would the rest of us do to quench our thirst for cheap media downloads? Start using Amazon's music service? Rhapsody? [shudders] Maybe Apple needs to just start its own record label and hire the top talent in the industry and cut out the middle man. Then they'd probably have an anti trust lawsuit on their hands. Oh the tangled webs we weave...
Apple drops its NDA on released apps
Apple announed today that it is dropping its very controversial Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for released iPhone softwares.
From Apple:
We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.
And who's going to protect developers from YOU, Apple, stealing their work?
However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software.
Oh, really? What makes you think that? Could that be the thousands of bloggers and newspapers talking crap about your legal grip on developers??
They also highlight the fact that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released, which makes sense.
It took a while but you finally listened to us, Apple.