Posted 06/23/09 at 06:30:55 PM by Pulkit Chandna

The Palm Pre App Catalog currently features only thirty apps and excepting one all others are in beta mode. A lot of people are eagerly waiting for a deluge of Pre apps to overwhelm them. But apps will only dribble in for a few more months as the official SDK (software development kit) isn’t available as yet. Palm has announced it intends to have the SDK fully ready by the end of the summer.

"We've been working very hard on the SDK and are eager to open access on a wider scale, but the software and the developer services to support it just aren't ready yet,” Palm wrote rather apologetically on its developer blog. It is believed that since the Palm Pre doesn’t still have a huge installed base a la the iPhone, many app developers may stick to developing apps for more popular platforms like the iPhone. But who knows the number of Pres sold during the months leading up to the release of the SDK might allow Palm to woo some of the dithering developers.

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Software, iphone, Palm, SDK, developer, 3G, app store, app, palm pre, webos, app catalog, mojo sdk

Posted 06/18/09 at 09:00:37 AM by Paul Lilly

Apple this week released its iPhone OS 3.0 software update, the much anticipated upgrade that allows iPhone and iPod touch owners to run the next generation of iPhone apps, like peer-to-peer games. Over 100 new features find their way into the update, just a handful of which include:

• Copy & Paste text and photos
• New Spotlight allowing users to search across the entire information contained in the device
• Search in Mail, Calendar, and iPod
• Landscape keyboard
• Shake to shuffle music
• Improved parental controls
• Stereo Bluetooth

The new OS is free for all iPhone customers (both the original iPhone and iPhone 3G), while iPod touch customers will have to pony up $10 for the update.

iPhone Update
iPod Touch Update

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Software, mobile, apple, Smartphone, iphone, cellphone, 3.0

Posted 06/17/09 at 05:00:49 PM by Andy Salisbury

Most smart phones now days are run off of ARM processors (that includes the iPhone and the Palm Pre), and while their performance is already pretty slick, a new dual-core ARM processor is set to hit next year that promises to greatly increase their capabilities.

The new processor, also known as the ARM Cortex-A9, is set to release early 2010. ARM is stating that while the chip is dual-core, it’ll offer users increased battery life in daily usage compared to their current generation of single-core chips.

Reportedly, the A9 will also give smartphones the ability to play 1080p, as well as record HD video.

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processor, Smartphone, iphone, consumer electronics, palm pre, ARM

Posted 06/17/09 at 04:05:30 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Scandinavian developer SPRX mobile has developed Layar, an augmented reality browser for 3G phones, which it claims is unprecedented. Despite the company’s we-have-the-first-AR-browser rant, Layar is in fact the world’s second AR browser. The first being Wikitude AR, which provides users with location-based Wikipedia and Qype content using the phone’s GPS, camera and compass. But Wikitude AR is certainly short on features when compared with Layar. 

Layar lets users browse their milieu using their 3G handset’s GPS, compass and camera. It furnishes realtime information about the user’s surrounding, which is presented as screen overlays and can be used to find hotels, bars, ATMs, properties for sale, jobs and a lot more. The idea is that all that meets your phone’s camera has a story of its own. It is only available for Android devices in the Netherlands.

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Software, iphone, android, GPS, 3G, app, g1, augmented reality, layar, netherlands, ar browser, wikitude

Posted 06/09/09 at 10:30:00 AM by Florence Ion

Unless you spent this morning snoozing underneath a rock or immersed in your new Palm Pre, you are aware that Apple announced the impending release of a new mobile phone, the iPhone 3G S. The additional letter stands for Speed; the new iPhone boasts a longer battery life, environmentally friendly construction, voice commands, and a 3 megapixel camera with programmable macros, as well as the ability to record video. No doubt plenty of Apple fans have since been drooling uncontrollably over the announcement of yet another reason to empty their wallets on yet another Apple product – but not us, mind you, no siree. Here are five reasons why you won’t find us running to the Apple store on June 19th to upgrade our phones.

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mobile, apple, iphone, rant, iphone 3g s

Posted 06/02/09 at 09:23:54 AM by Paul Lilly

iPhone users beware. According to TheiPhoneBlog.com, some users running the 3.0 Beta firmware are finding out they're unable to redownload already purchased apps without paying for them all over again.

"You've already purchased this. You can redownload it for free on your computer, or tap Buy to buy it again," a message reads when attempting to redownload.

Coming to the iPhone (and available in the 3.0 Beta firmware) is the ability to manage and switch between iTunes accounts. Charging for redownloads might be the company's way of ensuring purchased content doesn't get shared between accounts. For example, logging into your account on a co-workers iPhone and 'redownloading' an app that was never purchased for it.

We'd like to know how you feel about this potential new policy. Hit the jump and sound off!

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Software, mobile, Smartphone, iphone, applications, app store, apps

Posted 05/26/09 at 08:30:06 AM by Paul Lilly

If you're a budding developer hoping to get rich by submitting a killer application to the iPhone App Store, keep reading. Or better yet, don't keep reading - far be it for us to take a pin to your balloon with silly statistics and likely scenarios.

For those of you still following along (and planning to retire in month or two once everyone buys your app), don't say you weren't warned. The cold reality is you're not likely to make much bank by selling apps, and what little you might make will take a lot of work. How hard can it possibly be? Just ask Rick Strom, one of the many registered iPhone developers with nearly 20 apps under his belt, three of which are on the chart. These include Zen Jar (#34, paid), Spirit Board (#36, free), and Spirit Board Pro (#95, paid).

"With two apps on the paid charts, one would assume I’m rolling in dough. After all, this is a gold rush, right?," Rick Strom wrote in his blog. "The reality is much more startling. In order to place #34 on the social networking charts, you need 30-35 downloads a day. At the standard app store pricing of .99, and after Apple takes its cut, that means your app needs to bring in a little over $20 a day to chart at that position."

By Strom's math, you'll need to make just $4/day to break into the top 100, and the overwhelming majority of the other 36,000 apps are doing "absolutely nothing. They aren't selling at all."

Strom has plenty more to say on the topic right here.

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Software, mobile, iphone, app

Posted 05/20/09 at 02:30:28 PM by Paul Lilly

A couple of announcements surfaced today, one each for both of the smartphone heavyweights - Apple's iPhone and T-Mobile's G1. If you own, or are considering, one or the other, keep reading.

Amazon Updates Kindle App for iPhone

Score a win for iPhone owners, who now have an improved Kindle app to mess around with. Now in version 1.1, the updated release addresses a few customer complaints, one of them being that users can now read in either portrait or landscape mode. And to make reading easier, you can now change the background and text color combination. Other changes include tap support for turning pages, and multi-touch pinch to zoom in on images.

G1 'Cupcake' Update Pushed Back Until June

G1 owners who have been anxiously awaiting the much anticipated  'Cupcake' update (Android 1.5) will have to wait a little longer. What was originally supposed to be an "early May" release looked like it was finally going to start trickling out this week in the U.S., but word has come down that the update has been delayed at least one more week.

"We are working diligently to get Android 1.5 out as soon as possible, while aiming to ensure a consistent, positive experience for our customers," a T-Mobile forum moderator announced. "We're finalizing this build this week to ensure optimal functionality and smooth delivery. Therefore, the rollout schedule has been reset by approximately a week, and we expect all G1 customers will have the update by early June."

Barring any last minute changes, Android 1.5 will add on-screen keyboard support with auto-correction, text prediction, user dictionaries, and third-party keyboard layouts, live folders, folder shortcuts for YouTube favorites, starred contacts, MPEG4 and 3GP video playback, stereo Bluetooth, a new Linux kernel, browser enhancements, and several other goodies.

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operating system, Software, apple, Smartphone, Google, iphone, OS, update, amazon, android, kindle, t-mobile, g1