Posted 11/12/09 at 06:44:14 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Mozilla today unveiled the Jetpack Gallery, a place for developers to showcase their Jetpack add-ons.  Jetpack is a Mozilla Labs project that lets developers build Firefox add-ons using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. While the newly launched gallery – still in beta - gives developers the opportunity to host and promote their Jetpacks, it lets Firefox users browse, install and rate Jetpacks. Installing Jetpacks is quite easy and doesn’t even require a browser restart, save for the very first Jetpack that a user installs. The Jetpack Gallery currently features over 30 add-ons.

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Posted 11/11/09 at 08:42:14 PM by Ryan Whitwam

It’s no secret that the approval process for iPhone apps is a little ridiculous at times. Apple is totally aware of that, though. So they’ve decided to make the whole process just a tiny bit more transparent. When app developers log into the Dev Center site, they will see a new area for status updates. Apps will be listed as “waiting for review”, “in review”, or “ready for sale”.

You don’t have to look far on the web to find a developer with a heartbreaking story of how they poured their savings into making an app, only to have it held in limbo for weeks or months. While the new policy doesn’t necessarily do anything about the actual delays, devs will at least know where in the process it’s held up.

For its part, Apple claims that 96% of iPhone apps are approved in less than two weeks. Now that we know that a lot of those apps are just repackaged eBooks, that figure seems less impressive. The closed nature of the App Store hasn’t hurt its growth so far. Should Apple even be worried about the process?

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Posted 08/20/09 at 04:06:56 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Apart from the eight uncanny people who bought the $999.99 “I Am Rich” app – an underwhelming screensaver - from the iTunes App Store last year, a vast majority happily devours the free and 99-cent apps. But the preponderance of 99-cent apps has made the App Store a cluttered warehouse, banished many quality apps to oblivion, and increased redundancy.  Furthermore, many top-notch developers are finding it difficult to set an honest price on premium apps, for they fear their honesty might render these apps unattractive. 

Microsoft plans to roll out Windows Marketplace for Mobile in October, 2009. The Redmond-based giant doesn’t want developers to lose out on revenue in a bid to maximize application downloads. According to a Tech Flash report, Loke Uei of Microsoft's mobile developer team feels the popularity of 99-cent apps doesn’t imply that 99 cents is a fair price. "I know, 99 cents is interesting -- yes, consumers like to pay 99 cents for applications. But 99 cents, come on, I think your app is worth more than that," Uei told developers at the inaugural WinMoDevCamp in Redmond.

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Posted 07/22/09 at 10:01:14 AM by Paul Lilly

Adobe this week anounced two open-source initiatives designed to help media companies and publishers build better Flash applications.

The first is the Open Source Media Framework (OSMF), which paves the way for more sophisticated media players to run Adobe Flash content. Formerly known as Strobe, the OSMF offers advanced playback and navigation controls, as well as plug-ins for advertising and tracking. It can also work with any kind of Flash content.

The other open-source project is the Text Layout Framework (TLF), which will help developers add advanced typography and font layouts to their Flash applications. When combined with the new text engine in Flash Player 10, TLF makes possible vertical and bidirectional text, flowing text around images, and multiple language support.

As Microsoft's Silverlight continues to gain traction and HTML 5 adding another dimension to the Web 2.0 war, don't be surprised to see an even bigger push from Adobe in expanding upon Flash's capabilities.

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Posted 03/12/09 at 04:38:45 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Microsoft has posted a "coming soon" message on its mobile application store (due to launch when Windows Mobile 6.5 launches later this year), but you can't have an application store without applications. Cnet's Ina Friend reports that Microsoft is offering some attractive deals for developers:

• Regular price: $99/year, plus $99 per application submitted for the store
• Special through the end of 2009: $99/year, plus the first five apps are free

To learn how much of a cut developers will get from app store sales, join us after the jump.

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Posted 12/10/08 at 01:30:35 PM by Pulkit Chandna

In a bid to woo more developers towards its vernal Android platform, Google has begun offering a Sim-and hardware-unlocked G1 phone to developers. The unlocked version not only opens the floodgates for developers from around the globe, but it also presents an alternative to those US-based developers who have been resisting the retail version.

Google has confirmed the availability of the unlocked phone in 18 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Hungary. Although the unlocked G1 costs only $399, developers will have to part with $25 to register themselves on the Android Market site before they can order the phone.

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Posted 03/25/08 at 12:15:52 PM by Thomas McDonald

The Independent Games Festival is chock-full of inventive indie fare.

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Posted 02/22/08 at 09:10:52 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

This week, Dave, Will, Gordon, and Andy spend hours upon hours dissecting all the hot news from this week's Game Developers Conference. We also chat about all the fun stuff we're doing in the Lab--including media streaming and virtual machines--and answer your crazy reader questions!

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