Microsoft Attempting to Lure Away Apple Retail Store Staff?

The Loop reports that Microsoft, which is preparing to open the first of its retail stores, has been contacting Apple retail store managers and attempting to lure them away with increased salaries to run its own stores.

People that ha...

Apple ‘iPhone Activation Zones’ Rolled Out in Retail Stores

Last week, we reported that Apple was about to roll out dedicated "iPhone Activation Zones" in its retail stores in order to provide dedicated points of contact for new customers looking to purchase, activate and receive initial set-up assistance wit...

Dine, Nature, Pass – Apple’s New 75,000 Apps for Just About Anything Commericals

Apple, evolving on the “App for That” theme that’s been the centerpiece of their iPhone commercials for over a year, has released 3 new ads called Dine, Nature, and Pass with the tag line “75,000 apps for just about anything”.

• Dine features Trip Case [Free - iTunes link], New York Subway ‘09 [$4.99 - iTunes link], Epicurious Recipes [Free - iTunes link], Zagat to Go ‘09 [$9.99 - iTunes link], QuickOffice Mobile Office Suite [$9.99 - iTunes link], GAP StyleMixer [Free - iTunes link]

• Nature features iXpenseIt [$4.99 - iTunes link], DailyFinance [Free - iTunes link], Guitar Toolkit [$9.99 - iTunes link], Lonely Planet Mandarin [$9.99 - iTunes link], iBird Explorer Plus [$19.99 - iTunes link], Pizza Hut [Free - iTunes link]

• Pass features Fandango [Free - iTunes link], G-Park [$0.99 - iTunes link], VocabWiz College Vocabulary [$4.99 - iTunes link], 365 Crosswords [$4.99 - iTunes link], Classics [$2.99 - iTunes link], ABC Animals [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Phew! We get it, Apple is turning up the dial on the app platform promotion. And why not? It’s their killer competitive advantage at this point.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Dine, Nature, Pass – Apple’s New 75,000 Apps for Just About Anything Commericals

AT&T Starts Trial of 3G MicroCell Service; Should Users Pay Extra For It?

TUAW Follow up-CoPilot Live missing features

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, App Review

Our Saturday review of CoPilot Live [iTunes Link] raised some interesting questions among users of the US$34.99 app.

TUAW reader Jeremy sent us an email this morning wondering why the Live Local Search feature of the app is now a paid feature, when it was free on the first version that was released. This clever feature used an internet connection to find nearby points of interest, even though the maps and bulk of the POI database are on the app itself. It was a great way to keep the app up to date, using a blend of static maps and info with an internet supplement.

With the latest update to the app (version 8.0.0.096) that feature is now part of a US$19.99 annual update that also adds real time traffic updates and gas price searches.

At first blush, it seems like features should not be taken away in an update. I contacted ALK, the app developer, and received a response from spokesperson Mary Kelly:

"Local Search was included in the first release of the App as a taster of this premium feature. We did not advertise it as being an included feature in our original App or at any time promote it as being included. In fact it was listed on the App description as a premium service 'coming soon'. We may offer similar trials for a limited period for other services in the future. The Live Services which we promote as 'included as standard' remain so, namely: LiveLink location sharing and Live Weather."

The company apologizes for any confusion. CoPilot Live still remains a pretty good deal for a low-end navigation service. I found quite a few map errors and omissions, but the company has set up a mechanism for people to report any problems with the accuracy of the maps.

I can understand users being upset at losing the feature, and ALK should have made it more clear that Live Local Search was just a temporary sampler of a future paid service.

TUAW Follow up-CoPilot Live missing features originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW Follow up-CoPilot Live missing features originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Contact Spy for iPhone

This app promises to look up data about your contacts via Web searches. But in our tests, Contact Spy was too hit-and-miss to provide consistently useful intelligence.

Will Carriers Ever Allow VoIP iPhone Apps Like Skype to Work Over 3G?

Pantone releases iPhone App

MyPantone lets designers work with the company's extensive color libraries anywhere they are.

Five things that drive iPhone users crazy

Create with Context recently brought iPhone users to its Silicon Valley lab to observe how they interacted with iPhone apps. Researchers found that users became confused due to app and button inconsistencies, buttons with graphic designs that didn't reveal their functions, poorly laid out buttons, screen layouts that lacked visual cues, and, of course, ugly icons that blemished the home screen. CIO looks at the five most annoying app design flaws.

Apple Moves Up to #20 on ‘Best Global Brands’ List

Macsimum News notes that Apple has moved up to #20 on market research firm Interbrand's annual 'Best Global Brands' list. Interbrand pegged Apple's "brand" at a value of $US15.4 billion, up 12% from 2008 and enough to boost Apple to #20 from #24 in ...

AT&T MicroCell Prices and Would You Pay Them?

What do you think about AT&T MicroCell Pricing?(surveys)

We all new AT&T’s MicroCell was coming, and we all knew the pricing was likely to be (what’s a more insane word for insane than insane?). Now Sascha Segan from Gearlog has word on the Charlotte, North Carolina launch, and just what those insanely insane prices are:

According to an AT&T rep in Charlotte, the MicroCell costs $150 and service is free (heck, you’re saving AT&T money by using it) unless you sign up for AT&T’s “unlimited talk” option, which gives you unlimited minutes of calling over your microcell. That costs an extortionate $20/month, though it also gets you a rebate on your device.

It uses GPS to verify your location during setup, so don’t try to use it out of AT&T coverage zones or internationally (you know, where the pricing may actually be worth it).

Is it just us or is this like going to MacDonald’s, not getting fries in your combo meal, and then being told if you really want them, bring your own potatoes and for a couple bucks extra they’ll let you cut and fry them up yourself?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T MicroCell Prices and Would You Pay Them?

In-app purchases not so hot for some developers

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store

PocketGamer.biz has an interesting interview up with Pangea, makers of the iPhone physics puzzle game Enigmo, and they say that so far, their experience with in-app purchases has been pretty lukewarm. The software itself has sold over a million copies, but only a very small number of those customers are going for the in-app purchases -- about 25 per day, according to Pangea's Brian Greenstone. 25 per day may not be bad for a smaller developer, but Greenstone says he "was expecting hundreds."

Why aren't the microtransactions doing so hot? It's going to take time, first of all -- customers need to learn the value of picking up content piece by piece, and developers need to learn exactly how to price and plan the stuff out. On an established download service like Xbox Live, add-ons and content packs have become de rigueur, though some of those battles are still being fought. But on the App Store, not only are prices still up in the air, but in-app purchases are hard to find, and they're all over the map in terms of value versus investment.

Greenstone seems to believe what I'd tend to agree with: that after all of the dust has settled, customers will pay for content that's worth paying for -- he's just given up on worrying about pricing, and is focused on delivering content that's worth whatever he wants to charge. Eventually, both devs and customers will settle on a fair price, and when that happens, I'm sure we'll see some major in-app purchase sales.

In-app purchases not so hot for some developers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In-app purchases not so hot for some developers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: ToyCamera for iPhone

This app, which replicates the random filter effect of a vintage toy camera, won't replace many of the other apps you use to tweak your iPhone photos, but it's not really trying to. If adding a different and vintage look to your photos sounds exciting to you, give it a shot

Apple investigates iPhone 3.1 OS battery problems

Apple is investigating reports of poor battery life problems from iPhone 3GS users after the iPhone 3.1 software upgrade.

Snapture - Popular Camera iPhone App for Jailbroken iPhone Now Available on App Store

iTunes LP and iTunes Extra First Step by Apple Towards User-Generated Media Store?

iTunes Extras was easy to see as a DVD extras competitor, offering a similar feature set to what’s already on the market, and users are already familiar with using. iTunes LP, on the other hand, harkened back to a time decades ago when vinyl albums and turn-tables were how people experienced music — something decidedly not familiar to modern MP3 and iTunes music listeners.

Why then — aside from Steve Jobs’ nostalgia, did Apple expend resources on iTunes LP? TNL.net, like us, saw the 720p resolution and immediately thought of the Apple TV — and TV in general. (We also thought of the rumored iTablet). Going further, however, they posit this might be the first step in a grander game. Could Apple be seeking to replicate the success of the App Store — tens of thousands of mostly independent developers creating mostly low cost, high volume content — for iTunes music and video? Could they be gearing up to give music and video creators the same easy distribution channel, and 30/70 split, they’ve given App developers?

The components all seem to be there and it seems to me that it won’t be long before Apple starts pushing the idea that we are all content producers (an old idea at Apple, which was at the source of their creating the iLife suite) and we can all make some money at producing that content. Having done so, Apple would not only have control of the music industry but could also assert itself in the TV and movie space.

Dr. Horrible was an experiment by Joss Whedon during the writers strike, and one that we enjoyed thoroughly. Could we see a world where the Dr. Horribles aren’t the experiment, but the norm? (And will they bring endless “cat on piano” videos — fart apps of the media space, the lot of them — along for the ride?)

Alex Lindsay from the PixelCorps has likewise been saying for a years that Apple now has everything in place, from Final Cut Pro on the backend through to Macs, Apple TVs, and iPods and iPhones on the front to offer a totally integrated media ecosystem with lower barriers of entry than have traditionally been in place.

Will Apple pull that trigger? Do we want them to?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iTunes LP and iTunes Extra First Step by Apple Towards User-Generated Media Store?

The Competition: On Pure Pink Turtles and Surface Tablets

So the Zune HD is out, Windows Mobile 6.5 is starting to come out, Windows Mobile 7 will come out end of next year, and all of this relates to project Pink and new rumors of device code-names Pure and Turtle, and a Surface-related tablet just how exactly?

Sigh. Microsoft is like that cousin that we just know could be great but somehow keeps getting turned around, lost, and otherwise just not-quite delivering on it’s amazing potential. Imagine if they had one division, making one platform, and all that effort and integration went into delivering a killer XboxPhone in time for the holidays this year? And don’t hate on us for saying that, even our sibling site WMExperts is pounding the integration drum.

Back in the real world, however, Microsoft is said to be using a 2-prong strategy, Windows Mobile 6.5 now to compete with Android, and Windows Mobile 7 next year to compete with the iPhone (which, if Apple keeps up with their own roadmap, will be on its 4th hardware revision and running iPhone OS 4.0 — a moving target indeed).

The Zune HD meanwhile is positioned somewhere between the original and current iPod touch.

Microsoft is also rumored to be working on a tablet, based on their big-@$$ Surface table, to market against Apple’s still unannounced iTablet/iPad. Surface uses infrared camera technology, and required a huge basin to house all that hardware, so no doubt this will be Surface in name only (because who wants a 4 foot thick tablet, right?)

And on top of that, Microsoft is still working on Project Pink, which is a giant unknown, except it might be using Danger (makers of the Sidekick, bought out by Microsoft), and might be a Microsoft phone (though Microsoft swears they aren’t making a phone — just like Steve Jobs said no one wanted video on an iPod).

Pure and Turtle would then be these Danger-developed, Sidekick-like handsets running Windows Mobile 7, with on-board Zune software to handle the media layer?

Yeah, we don’t know either. Would that — Sidekick hardware running WinMo7 and Zune HD interface — be competitive with an 4th gen iPhone running iPhone 4.0?

We’re only a year away from knowing….

[Via WMExperts via 9to5mac]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Competition: On Pure Pink Turtles and Surface Tablets

Novell offers solution to iPhone devs to program in C# and .Net

The Apple App store has proven to be a huge moneymaker for Apple and many of the developers who are writing software for the app store. As more and more developers, start writing applications for the iPhone the store will become even more important for devs and Apple. Novell is a ...

AT&T 3G MicroCell Site is Live

So you say you have horrible AT&T coverage in your home and you are about to leave your beloved carrier? Hold that thought for just one moment as AT&T’s 3G MicroCell website just went live with a launch right around the corner. We all knew this was coming when Apple released the carrier file that added MicroCell support for our iPhones. Unfortunately, unless you have AT&T internet or landline service you must pay more, rumored to be $19.99 a month for unlimited use, to have the service you should already expect to have.

This is a great option for those of you stuck with a garbage signal in your home or office but without a doubt this should be a free solution as you already pay good money for the AT&T service. Even Sprint has been known to give their MicroCell away for free to customers who have no other choice but to ditch the carrier for another because of subpar service. Is it possible for AT&T to be just as forgiving?

If you decide to give this a try please let us know how it goes!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T 3G MicroCell Site is Live

AT&T 3G MicroCell Site Goes Live, Monthly Fees to Be Up to $19.99? [Updatedx2]

Engadget Mobile reports that AT&T's 3G MicroCell site has gone live as the company is apparently preparing to launch its service that will allow wireless subscribers to utilize their home Internet connection for enhanced voice and data coverage. The...