Posts Tagged iPhone
Apple’s success strategy: Build software that sells hardware
Posted by Melody Adhami in iPhone Blog on May 15th, 2009
From the early days of its computer business, Apple devised a strategy and under Steve Jobs’ rule, they have kept this strategy and it is finally paying off.
Although 10 years ago, many would have argued that Apple made a big mistake not opening and allowing external software onto their computers, people probably have a different opinion today. Apple believed and carried forward that hardware and software go hand-in-hand and only when one company builds both can they really get the right recipe.
So many years later and a few lessons learned along the way, Apple is still coupling hardware and software however they have reversed the strategy so that they are not selling hardware with a specific software installed but rather they are selling highly demanded software and lucky for them it only runs on their own hardware devices. The most recent and I would argue best example of this is the iPhone and the access to thousands of different “cool” applications that are tickling the curiosity of even the most skeptical of users. It’s brilliant! Developers make software that is highly demanded and Apple gets to sell their devices.
White Screen of Death on the iPhone 3G
Posted by Melody Adhami in Hardware on April 25th, 2009
One of our test iPhone devices is stuck with the white screen of death after trying restoring it a few times. Anybody got this before and able to get it out of it? Everything seems to work on it other than the screen. All we see is a white screen and occasionally some black lines.
It might be dead but we thought we see if anybody else has managed to fix this problem. Leave a comment… let us know.
iPhone App review of the week-Charmin
Posted by Melody Adhami in iPhone Application on April 20th, 2009
Proctor & Gamble’s Charmin brand has launched a mobile advertising sponsorship with a company by the name SitOrSquat Inc. The sponsorship and advertisement is both on the Web site and mobile applications. The sponsorship with SitOrSquat Inc is to help people find clean public washrooms around the world. Washroom users and people using the SitOrSquat website and applications have the ability to rate bathrooms throughout the world on the go and other can use this information to select a clean washroom.
If you are not familiar with SitOrSquat, it is a service (online and mobile) that is based on user generated information worldwide. Their service allows consumers to find 55,000 bathrooms in 32 countries. Chamin brand believes that SitOrSquat is the perfect partner as they feel that they share the same mission thus making for a great partnership.
Partnership with a great brand doesn’t necessarily mean that a service is particularly successful. I think in theory the idea is perfect and I would love to find a clean bathroom everywhere I go. But what is the likelihood that I would actually go as far as looking on my application for this information when all I can think about is how badly I need to go. And even more important, once I have actually used the restroom, how likely am I to report this information. I am a bit skeptical but the idea seems interesting.
iPhone app most people don’t know about and probably don’t appreciate
Posted by Melody Adhami in iPhone Application on April 9th, 2009
Here is my favourite iPhone application of the week- AllReicpes now for the iPhone. So anyone who has ever looked up a recipe (in North America at least) will probably have seen AllRecipes website and has probably used their recipe search. They have an extensive recipe database and their site is very well organized-well as organized as a recipe site can get. I had thought about recipe search applications but when I found AllRecipes app I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. The application is not like a typical search application and instead uses a cool rotating wheel concept to allow you to choose from a select number of categories. You can then narrow your results and look at your recipes. The application has done a great job paying attention to little details. The features that I find particularly tasteful and well done are the following:
- Ad serving is done really well. They do this during loading screens so the great thing is that you can’t avoid a load so why not fill it with some useful information or in this case some lucrative information.
- The transitions in the application are done really well. They use a fade between screens that works really well and makes the application extremely smooth as you are going through it.
- Usability is great- an example is the flagging of favourites. Similar to the delete function in mail on the iPhone, when you mark something as favourites, it folds up and drops into the favourites tab (iPhone does this with their garbage can tab and the delete function in mail)
- The illustrations and overall user interface is well done both graphically and functionally.
Overall I like the application and although I don’t often use recipe applications, I think I may put this one to more use. Come back next week for another great iPhone application of the week.
Don’t just launch an “answer to Apple’s App Store”
Posted by Melody Adhami in iPhone Blog on April 3rd, 2009
Yesterdays keynote speech by Mike Lazaridis seemed as though the BlackBerry App store was made as a response to the apple iPhone and the Apple app store. And if anyone thought that this may have always been in the plans, the title at the CTIA09 daily show guide said it right “Rim launches answer to the Apple App store”. That wasn’t the only place we heard about the “missing” iPhone and Apple at the CTIA09 event. In fact, they were the topic of most conversations.
At the WipJam developers event, the iPhone app store was a main topic and figuring out how to develop in such a fragmented environment was top of mind for developers. Most of the developers agreed that Apple has made it easy to develop and disctribute apps with the Apple app store. Rim is not the only one that needed to “answer” or respond to the app store. Some panelist and other phone manfacturers such as Sony Ericson opened the ground to the crowd to generate ideas about how to carve a space for their handsets. The discussion that was not brought forward that I find is the answer to these companies is that they need to stop playing catch up and they need to innovate. If Apple owns the music space and they have done a great job with applications, others should focus their efforts elsewhere. Why can’t LG or Sony or Motorrola look into building partnerships with banking or retail or other areas that would tempt users to switch to the handset that provides for their needs.
iPhone 3.0 Beta 2 out
Posted by Sep Seyedi in Uncategorized on April 2nd, 2009
iPhone 3.0 Beta 2 was released yesterday to iPhone developers. It seems to bring quite a few bug fixes and the new version of Interface Builder. We weren’t big fans of their previous version so it will be interesting to see if Apple has made it more useful. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to post some reviews shortly.
No iPhone at CTIA but its footprint has changed the industry
Posted by Melody Adhami in iPhone Blog on April 1st, 2009
Today was the first official day at the CTIA09 event in Las Vegas and the industry overall did not paint a gloomy economic picture like so many other areas of business in the US. Although 2 out of 3 keynote speakers spent half of their speeches discussing the economy and its effects, the industry news was all good. 270 Million wireless customers, 2.2 trillion minutes of use, 1 trillion SMS messages, impressive data usage increases and 1 out of 3 handsets are expected to be smartphones by the year 2011. As I was listening to the news, one thought repeatedly jumped to my mind. Apple has changed the rate at which the industry has progressed and I would argue that they have almost single-handedly brought the smartphone market to the masses and no longer are smartphones and data plans just for businesses.
Apple was not present at the event but their footprints can be seen all over the industry. Lets take the keynote speach of RIM (BlackBerry) CEO, Mike Lazaridis for example. The focus of the speach was obviously the new BlackBerry App World which many would tell you is a “me too” move to catch up to the iPhone App store. He then went on to discuss the importance of music and affiliating the BlackBerry with artists such as U2… again, isnt that just a way to catch up to the music and itunes capabilities of the iPhone? Then we saw some applications, most of which are already available on the iPhone application store and the trend continues. A similar story was seen in the speech for the Android platform (although the difference with Andriod is that it is open source and developers have much more flexibility).
The truth though was that there were a lot of people avoiding the topic of the iPhone (rightfully as they are direct competitors) but I find it difficult to ignore. The Apple iPhone has changed the expectations of users from their handsets and has opened up peoples minds to realize that data is not just for the rich or business people. The convenience of information on the go is and should be available to all. This has not only been a great profit for Apple and has helped them carve their name in the mobile space, it has also been great news for the industry as Apple has helped lead this growth.
Skype for iPhone not coming to Canada
Posted by Sep Seyedi in Canadian News on March 31st, 2009
This is definitely bad news!! That’s right, Skype for iPhone is NOT coming to Canada. According to Chaim Haas, a public relations representative acting on behalf of Skype, it’s going to be released in every country except for Canada. It’s still unclear as to why it’s not being released here and whether the CRTC is interfering.
This really needs to change! Canadians deserve to be able to use this application over WiFi in order to save costs - especially long distance charges. I really don’t see a reason why it’s not being permitted in Canada. Does it have anything to do with it not being able to connect to our 911 service? I am not sure but if it is the case - it’s just an application. Your main phone application on the iPhone is not being replaced and would still work and would allow you to make your emergency calls. Furthermore, could they not detect anyone dialing 911 and pass it through to the iPhone application? This is certainly doable using the iPhone SDK and the docs are right here.
I don’t get it… if anyone has a good explanation or knows why this it’s not being permitted here please do let us know and leave us a comment here on the Plastic Mobile Agency iPhone Corner. I just hope that it’s just a delay!!
This just in: Skype is coming to the iPhone
Posted by Melody Adhami in iPhone Application on March 30th, 2009
Speculations and rumors have been flying around for months and finally the news is confirmed and is set to be announced on Tuesday at the 2009 CTIA event. That is correct folks, Skype is coming to the iPhone. The details can be found in the Wall Street Journal and the summary is as follows:
- The way it will work is that the calls will be enable for use with Wi-Fi networks and calling over the 3G network will not be enabled
- Voice calling is free to other Skype users
- Any call made to a land-line will cost 2.1 cents per minute
- The application is a native iPhone app and will be available for the iPhone and iPod touch.
- You will see SkypeIn, SkypeOut and skype Chat
Although many new exciting features will be available, there will be some enjoyed features that will not be on the iPhone and may come in the next version. Setting up a conference calling group, purchasing SkypeOut credit directly, file transferring, Skype voice mail and being able to field a second incoming Skype call are some examples of missing features.
Plastic Mobile Agency will be at the CTIA this week and we are looking forward to the full details of this news. Check back during the event which takes place April 1-3 for the event updates.
Plastic Mobile Agency’s take on native iPhone apps Vs. web apps
Posted by Melody Adhami in iPhone Application on March 30th, 2009
We all know that that you can’t have a conversation about iPhones and not mention iPhone applications but we can’t help but wonder if there is a benefit to native application vs. web applications. Our view is that there are benefits to both native and web apps and we have listed them below:
Native Application benefits:
- Distribution channel through the iPhone application store
- The application can run faster
- Richer animation and games can better be done with native apps
- There is access to GPS unit and accelerometer which are pretty cool features
- Loading time is not as long
Web application benefits:
- Cross platform as you can support multiple browsers so your handset reach can be much greater
- Build process may be less challenging as experience in web development is much greater than iPhone development
- Barrier to entry is much lower as there is no need to download the application
- No need for the users to upgrade the applications as there is no downloading
The best way to determine which suits your needs is to really focus on understanding your target audience the use of the application. If your application is a game and you really need the rich graphics and downloading is not a barrier as most gamers are accustomed to downloading then a native application is probably best. If you are a news agency and your users are vast, your target audience does not have a narrow age range or a specific technical capability level, it would probably be best to go with mobile web. Your biggest challenge with the web app would be your distribution model as there is not a specific location to find your application. You would need to put forth a great effort to drive people to your web app through online, print and other such forms of marketing.
We, Plastic Mobile Agency, often find that an analysis of the desired application against the business requirements and target audience is the best way to determine which path to follow.