Thoughts on iPad

After almost 2 years of speculation, Apple Inc released their first product in a new category called the iPad. With so much hype and anticipation, it was almost impossible for Steve Jobs and company to fulfill everyones expectation of what this device could/should be. It wasn't very long before comparisons to ...

Categories: Jailbreak App To Organize iPhone Apps On Your iPhone’s Home Screen Gets Revamped GUI And New Features

Media Houses Embrace iPad, Working To Bring Publications To Apple’s Tablet

Paid app upgrades coming to App Store?

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Developer Fraser Speirs came across an unexpected iTunes dialog earlier today that could be a hint of a new, long-sought App Store feature: the ability to offer for-fee upgrades to apps, complete with discounts for those who bought older versions.

Up until now, App Store vendors have worked around the lack of a paid upgrade feature by offering different "versions" of their apps, but this has also meant there's been no ability to offer discounts to loyal purchasers of the previous version of the app, short of applying a temporary price discount to everyone and raising the price later on. Assuming this dialog box isn't a simple error (notice that it asks you to click OK, even though the button says Buy) and is an indication of the future direction of App Store purchases, it's indicative of far greater pricing flexibility for App Store vendors, and it could also mean the App Store won't be cluttered with old versions of apps that are no longer updated. Developers have been asking for an option like this since the beginning of the App Store -- it looks like Apple might finally be listening.

Paid app upgrades coming to App Store? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Paid app upgrades coming to App Store? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Review: Reef Fish Hawaii for iPhone

If you plan on doing any snorkeling on your next visit to Hawaii, this reference guide's vivid pictures and information will prove to be a worthy travel companion.

Thursday Fun Video — EveryDay Looper – Les Ramens

Marc Flores tweeted this video’s awesomeness and we tend to agree — EveryDay Looper [$4.99 - iTunes link] – Les Ramens is a whole lotta iPhone musical goodness. But don’t take our word for it, check it out after the break and let us know what you think!

YouTube link

Thursday Fun Video — EveryDay Looper – Les Ramens is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Dunnit provides to-do lists that both work and play

Runloop Ltd on Monday released its first productivity app, Dunnit. Utilizing OpenFeint technology, the program organizes to-do lists and allows you to compete against your friends for unlockable achievements.

100 sci-fi stories in your pocket

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

If you're an unabashed science fiction fan it's probably worth taking a look at 100 SciFi Stories for your iPhone or iPod touch. The app is US$0.99. All the stories are in the public domain, and many are true classics. Other selections are less well-known, but worth a read.

You can adjust the text size, and when you relaunch the app, it picks up where you left off. Books you've already started are also marked on the contents page.

The developer claims future updates will include more books at no additional cost. You can scroll the pages continuously, or page by page. The app includes authors like H.G. Wells (of course) and S.P. Meek, George Griffith, Ray Cummings, Edgar Rice Burroughs and many others.

Are there any downsides? A few. When the app first came up I thought it had frozen at the splash screen, but I had to touch on the word 'stories' to actually get to the contents. I think the app should just go directly to the contents page. I'd like to get the text size even bigger, and I'd like to see a landscape mode for reading. I couldn't find a complete list of all the titles included, which I think is a rather big omission.

If you want to give the app a try there is a free 'lite' version with 7 stories. It will give you an idea how the app behaves.

I think 100 SciFi Stories is reasonably priced and could be nice on an overnight or even a long trip. All these books can be found online and downloaded for free, but it's nice to have them grouped together in one app.

100 sci-fi stories in your pocket originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

100 sci-fi stories in your pocket originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Enjoy background audio with MLB’s At Bat

Filed under: Multimedia, iPhone, iPod touch

As if I weren't excited enough to buy Major League Baseball's (MLB) iPhone app At Bat (here's an example of my previous gushing), they've added a new feature that makes it easy to listen to games while using other apps.

While Apple doesn't allow 3rd party apps to run in the background on the iPhone or iPod touch,* Silicon Alley Insider notes that you can listen to audio in Mobile Safari while using other applications. It's this trick that MLB exploited with At Bat 2010. With the tap of a button, At Bat will push an audio stream to Mobile Safari.

Note that MLB didn't come up with this trick, nor is their app the first to exploit it. ESPN Radio does it, as well as Scanner911 and FlyCast. Still, it's nice that MLB's devs acknowledged that some users might want to check email or hop onto Twitter while listening to game, and made it easy to do so.

Now if only Pandora would follow suit.

*Yes, you can enjoy the benefits of background apps with a jailbroken iPhone, but that's a different post entirely.

Enjoy background audio with MLB's At Bat originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Enjoy background audio with MLB's At Bat originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sony Preparing New Handheld Devices to Take On Apple

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) on Sony's plans to develop a new lineup of handheld devices to compete against Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

Threatened by A...

Apple Bans Wi-Fi Stumbler iPhone Apps - Blames Use Of Private APIs

iPhone dev center down today

Filed under: Developer, iPhone, SDK, iPad

Developers who try to log into the iPhone dev center this afternoon are being greeted with the traditional yellow sticky note, indicating that some sort of update effort is underway. With the on-again, off-again release of the 3.2 beta 3 version of the SDK in late February, and the unconfirmed-but-likely launch of the iPad on March 26th, no surprise that there are fixes and finish to take care of on the site.

When it comes back up, we'll let you know; if you spot anything of consequence when it does, please let us know.

iPhone dev center down today originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone dev center down today originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Google responds to Apple lawsuit against HTC

Filed under: OS, Software, Apple, iPhone

There's one more player in the ongoing the Apple/HTC lawsuit announced the other day. It's Google, which yesterday admitted that it wasn't a party to the lawsuit, but that it would "stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it."

Lots of analysts and pundits have pegged the lawsuit as a direct shot across the bow from Apple at the Android OS (and the breakdown of patent claims that our colleagues at Engadget did seems to confirm that, with both old-school and wide-reaching patents matched up with brand new narrow UI claims), and it looks like Google will be coming to the rescue for its OS, if it has to.

What form that rescue might take, we don't know -- it's possible that Google could provide money, advice, or even lawyers to HTC if it feels that any part of its operating system might be threatened legally. But of course, that all depends on where the case goes -- we're still a long way away from the point where these companies would have to go before a judge and make their case. It certainly seems like Apple is in this one for the long haul, but if it all comes down to a check, Google may end up signing it as well.

Google responds to Apple lawsuit against HTC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google responds to Apple lawsuit against HTC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

developer.apple.com/iphone Down!

It’s not the Apple Store, but 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple’s iPhone SDK developer portal, developer.apple.com is down:

We are busy updating the site. Please check back soon.

We know it won’t be new MacBooks, so any guesses as to what it will be? We’ll update as soon as we know!!

developer.apple.com/iphone Down! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

TiPb Live #89 — Apple vs. HTC

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

Dieter, Chad, Mickey (The Cell Phone Junkie), and Rene discuss the Apple vs. HTC patent lawsuit, iPad release rumors, the next-generation iPhone, and all the week’s news. Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

TiPb Live #89 — Apple vs. HTC is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Should you be building universal apps for App Store?

Filed under: Apple, Developer, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

Universal apps. They're the solution for delivering your iPhone OS application to both the iPhone and the iPad and having it run natively on each without silly make-do's like pixel doubling. It's a way to ensure that your app "fits" each platform, providing art and interfaces that match the target screen. Or, as Apple puts it, "Developers can now start planning for universal applications, allowing them to take full advantage of the technologies found on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch with a single binary."

Right now, I've got a bug up my sleeve about the whole issue. I'm not convinced that it's the right solution for a lot of apps. Just because you *can* merge an iPhone app with an iPad app, and sell one product, you shouldn't -- unless the functionality is significantly the same for both platforms.

Continue reading Should you be building universal apps for App Store?

Should you be building universal apps for App Store? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Should you be building universal apps for App Store? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Review: Resident Evil 4 for iPhone

Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition embodies a lot of the original Resident Evil spirit in its debut for the iPhone and iPod Touch. While the controls handicap an otherwise smooth transition to the new platform, fans of the series and those seeking a brutally difficult challenge should still give this title a look.

UPDATED: Upgrade Pricing Finally Coming to App Store?

UPDATE: Or not, as this dialog’s been around for a while as per 9to5Mac’s @llsethj. Sad now.

ORIGINAL: Developer Frasier Spears posted the above “curious” iTunes dialog to Twitter. It appeared when he hit “Update All”. We have no way of knowing exactly it means, but we’re hoping it means upgrade pricing is finally coming to the app store.

As background, one of the problems still facing developers has been the inability to offer paid upgrades. Either they had to give away new versions for free, or they had to create new apps with no way to discount the price to existing users.

That’s led some developers to slow down or stop making major improvements to their apps (since they can’t count on upgrade revenue), and it’s led to backlashes when releasing new versions as new apps.

In an ideal App Store, developers could choose to give existing users a discount when they upgraded.

UPDATED: Upgrade Pricing Finally Coming to App Store? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

AT&T CEO Claims Variable Pricing Model Is The Future, Sees Less Demand For iPad 3G

Apple Removing Wi-Fi Scanning Apps from App Store

Cult of Mac reports that Apple has begun removing apps from the iTunes App Store that scan for Wi-Fi access points. It looks like these apps are being removed due to their use of private APIs, which is prohibited by the iPhone SDK agreement. This would make it similar to the recent removal of apps that misused the iPhone camera DCIM folder to store and exchange documents.

There’s been some suggestion, however, that list reflects a policy change from Apple closer to the recent removal of sex-based apps.

Our speculation is that Apple has either added the Wi-Fi private APIs to their static analysis tool, or has just finally gotten around to checking for them. That would make it appear like a new policy when it’s actually the originally agreement finally being enforced.

Some developers believe long term lack of action by Apple equals tacit approval for private API use. Those beliefs likely have to start changing. When Apple makes an API public, they’re guaranteeing that developers can use them and have faith Apple won’t break them (and the apps built on them) in a future update. Private APIs are the opposite — Apple can and will change them at any point, breaking apps that try to use them when they shouldn’t. In some cases Apple is working on public versions of private APIs and will release them in future versions of the iPhone OS. In other cases they aren’t — sometimes for security, other times just for proprietary reasons.

In either case, this isn’t the first and likely won’t be last set of rejections. While we feel for developers, we feel more for users who may have come to depend on the functionality of these apps.

If you’re a developer who’s dealing with this and have a better take on the situation, please let us know!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Apple Removing Wi-Fi Scanning Apps from App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog