There have been many music making and recording apps made for the iPhone, and since that ground has been covered, many developers are starting to create more specific pieces of software that specialise in certain musical areas. MobileMix ($3.99, App Store) is such an app, and focuses on creating tracks from overlaying loops of recordings.

Related posts

• My comments on “The Economics of Giving It Away” (Chris Anderson in the WSJ) (0)
• Making music with Melody Man on iPhone (0)
• Smule raises $3.9 million in funding (0)
• myHomework keeps track of your assignments (0)
• Insta Camera for iPhone prints photos as you take ‘em (0)

In one corner, iFart Mobile and Joel Comm, who are now suing to have a judge rule that “pull my finger” can’t be trademarked (honest, we couldn’t make this stuff up):

In my app description on iTunes, I have testimonials. One of them is direct from my site, WorldVillage.com, in which I give the opinion, “Way better than Pull My Finger!” Of course, I have the right to state my opinion, especially one I believe to be true! [...] I also used Twitter to search for people who were discussing any of the competing fart apps and engaged in conversation with them. Air-O-Matic didn’t like that. Perhaps they believe they own Twitter and the people using it?

In the other, Pull My Finger and Air-O-Matic, who wants to get paid:

we estimate he cost us about $500K in sales. His app leapfrogged ours immediately after he started doing these things. That happened to be Christmas week. He sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of his app in the next month, in the spot he kicked us off of. We talked to our attorney, and decided to try to end this swiftly by asking for 1/10 of our estimated lost sales, plus attorney fees. $50K is about one week in the top spot in the App Store. We thought that was about right.

In the audience, whole heaps of developers wondering if the App Store is viable in the face of “gaming”, and millions of users who chuckle at cheap flatulence rather than voting with their wallets for innovative, world-changing mobile applications.

(via @chockenberry)

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

App-ocolypse Now: iPhone Fart-App Wars have Begun. Seriously.

Related posts

• Smule raises $3.9 million in funding (0)
• My comments on “The Economics of Giving It Away” (Chris Anderson in the WSJ) (0)
• There’s an app for that: Casinos on alert for card counters using iPhones (0)
• How to make an iPhone game (0)
• Google Latitude: location-sharing is here. Think. Again. And Again. (0)

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store

File under "It was only a matter of time": The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Nevada gaming authorities are warning casinos to be on the lookout for blackjack card counters getting an assist from their iPhones. While card counting itself is not banned in Nevada, the use of an assistive technology is a felony (!), and apps like Card Counter or A Blackjack Card Counter make it much easier for the math-impaired. ABCC's 'stealth mode,' which uses vibration to alert the user when the time is right for a big bet, is particularly head-achey for casino security.

Nevada casinos don't have any instances yet of gamblers being kicked out or arrested for iPhone use -- the initial warning was from California authorities, who spotted card-counter apps in use at a Northern California casino and thought it prudent to raise the alarm. The lure of easier blackjack winnings may be too tempting for some people to pass up, but the consequence of this iCheating may be that we all have to check our iPhones before heading to the blackjack tables.

Aside from the logistical challenges of an iPhone ban in casinos ("Sure, I don't need my phone, my family knows that I'll be here at the quarter slots for the next five hours"), this is a fascinating example of how the App Store is turning us all into denizens of the Matrix, with skills and information on demand and jacked in, literally at our fingertips. Need to level a bookshelf? Fine. Want to identify local birds? Done. Get your garage mojo in gear? Can do. Learn a language? Of course. Adding the ability to move money from the casino's pocket into yours with better odds than usual seems like a natural next step... and another 'disruptive technology' is going to come into conflict with a long-established, politically and economically powerful industry. Let's watch.

Update: Commenter 'brainopera' contributed his "Matrix moment" -- have you had yours yet?

Thanks Matt

TUAWThere's an app for that: Casinos on alert for card counters using iPhones originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Related posts

• Smule raises $3.9 million in funding (0)
• How to make an iPhone game (0)
• Nothing can go wrong…. Hal 9000 is on the iPhone (0)
• AP looks at our favorite major label bully (0)
• AIM for Mac releases version 1.1 (0)

Image by christophercarfi via Flickr

Chris 'LongTail & Free' Anderson has dished up another great op-ed in the WSJ. Note: this link keeps having problems... maybe try this one, instead, or this. Below are some of the best snippets - and my comments.

Chris writes: "Gratis can be a good business. How? Pretty simple: The minority of customers who pay subsidize the majority who do not. Sometimes that's two different sets of customers, as in the traditional media model: A few advertisers pay for content so lots of consumers can get it cheap or free..."

Back in late 2008, I wrote something very closely related to what Chris is saying, here: "To me, the bottom line is that most of what used to work just fine in a disconnected world of 'totally segregated consumers and producers' will simply not work in the future". In other words, the traditional media model will not work in Online Media, going forward - the mechanics are entirely different. And this is where Free or Freemium plays a crucial role - and it's a huge mission to figure out how this ecosystem will generate rivers of cash, not just data. And it will involve Collaboration between content companies and creators, telecoms, social networks, search engines and device makers.

Chris goes on: "With physical stuff, samples must be doled out sparingly -- there are real costs to be paid. With bits, the free versions are too cheap to meter and can be spread far and wide. That's why so many people businesses (expensive!) are turning into software businesses (cheap!), which is why your cranky tax accountant has morphed into free TurboTax online, your stockbroker is now a trading Web site and your travel agent is more likely a glorified search engine..."

Yes, indeed: this is why I think that the content business - starting with music - is turning into a software business, too - witness the explosion of app stores for mobile devices, and how much $$ people are paying for iPhone apps. Now imagine that content (starting with music) will be bundled into such apps, and people will perceive it as BUYING SOFTWARE or buying a cool app for their phone but in fact the content is included (yet paid for  i.e. packaged).  I think that if permitted by the rights-holders Pandora could easily sell a mobile device application that could include video, audio, feeds and images - I am dead certain people will pay for that.  I will have a separate post on this sometime later this week. 

Chris then hits the nail on the head:  "Expect the shift toward open source software (which is free) and Web-based productivity tools such as Google Docs (also free) to accelerate". 

Totally. Then, Chris warns (and I agree - that's why I am also hard at work on next-generation advertising models): "The standard business model for Web companies that don't actually have a business model is advertising...Two problems have emerged with that model: the price of online ads and click-through rates. Facebook is an amazingly popular service, but it also an amazingly ineffective advertising platform..."

And I also like his conclusion (and this is the first time that I see it spelled out like this, from Chris):  "Does this mean that Free will retreat in a down economy? Probably not... "Free" has as much power over the consumer psyche as ever. But it does mean that Free is not enough. It also has to be matched with Paid. Just as King Gillette's free razors only made business sense paired with expensive blades, so will today's Web entrepreneurs have to not just invent products that people love, but also those that they will pay for. Not all of the people or even most of them -- free is still great marketing and bits are still too cheap to meter -- but enough to pay the bills. Free may be the best price, but it can't be the only one"

I call this challenge the '21st century content economics' challenge (yes... borrowed from Umair Hague's brilliant post on this topic), and it's the main topic for my work this year. If we can figure out how to generate many new revenue streams based on Feels Like Free access to content, then we can start modeling the business plans for the next 5 years. More soon!  But what do you think? Comment below.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Futurist Gerd Leonhard "Open is King" CMW 2008 Keynote (youtube.com)
• Should software face the flat-rate music future? (Gerd quoted in CNET News) (mediafuturist.com)
• The Future Of Media And Content Gerd Leonhard at TIME 08 Istanbul (slideshare.net)

Related posts

• Marketing Music, 2.0: the declining importance of traditional Air-Play (Radio) versus Net-Play (0)
• Meet me in San Francisco, March 4: Presentation on The Future of Content & Telecoms: Flat Rate Content Bundle & Social Media? – eComm2009 Conference (0)
• Compensation not Control – The Future of Music: video & audio versions of my presentation at MidemNet 2009 (*one of my best ;) (0)
• Retail experience draws women to AAPL? (0)
• Google Latitude: location-sharing is here. Think. Again. And Again. (0)

Copyright © 2009 PatrickJ. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2009/02/15/doh-homer-simpson-app-hits-app-store-gets-nixed-by-fox/.

Doh, and oops. I had just been looking at the new (and already soon to be deceased) iHomer iPhone app tonight, and wondering whether it was ‘legal’ or would be allowed to fly by the makers of The Simpsons. Looks like that would be a big NO. The screencap above is from the home page of the app developers’ site (the one listed on its App Store page).

This app provide classic quotes from Homer Simpson - some as just text, and some with audio. Something that would prove immensely popular probably. But it looks like its creators didn’t get their ducks in a row in terms of permissions to use the content included in it. Shame, hopefully Homer will get to the App Store for keeps sometime soon …

 

---

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: app store, banned apps, iHomer

Related posts

• Recommended: Newbie iPhone Dev’s App Store Tale from the Trenches (0)
• New: Teaser Video for Tap Tap Revenge 2 (0)
• How Do You Shop for Apps – Help an iPhone Publisher Learn More About Your Habits & Preferences (0)
• Turn-by-Turn Voice Directions Coming Soon to (jailbroken) iPhones (0)
• RSS Player Test Drive (free version) Is Out (0)

Copyright © 2009 PatrickJ. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2009/02/15/recommended-newbie-iphone-devs-app-store-tale-from-the-trenches/.

Techcrunch has got a great post up tonight, from guest author Noel Hartshorn, who is the developer of the i-Doodz app for iPhone. Here’s the Techcrunch intro to his post, which is a sort of straight-from-the-trenches view of how the App Store experience has been:

Noel Hartshorn (left in the picture) is a 37 year old Wales (UK) based iPhone developer, working in partnership with illustrator Dennis Harrison (on the right). Formerly a contract technical writer, Noel became one of the many casualties of the global economic crisis. With the IT contract market in decline, and with a lot more time on his hands than anticipated, Noel decided to take the plunge into iPhone development. This is his story.

The article is a very interesting - and very funny - look at how things went from looking for iPhone devs to make an app for these guys, to realizing their budget wouldn’t cover that and they’d have to do it themselves, to the vagaries of App Store pricing strategies. It’s told with much style and wit …

Next, the tried and trusted Lite version strategy. Tried and trusted?! Despite the description of our no-cost Lite version stating its inadequacies, it received the apparently to-be-expected “needs more!”, “is that it?!” and “it should have….” comments. It seems all apps should be free and make you cups of tea whilst implementing global peace and eradicating Third World debt. Our Lite version does none of that. It simply provides a taster of the paid version. Apparently, this was naïve.

I won’t spoil too much here, but it’s a great read, especially for aspiring iPhone devs, as it sounds like Noel and his partner will be sticking round in the App Store for a while. Here’s wishing them very good luck with that too. Check out Noel’s full post HERE…

 

---

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iDoodz, iPhone developers

Related posts

• OmniFocus iPhone App Updated (0)
• New: Teaser Video for Tap Tap Revenge 2 (0)
• How Do You Shop for Apps – Help an iPhone Publisher Learn More About Your Habits & Preferences (0)
• Doh! Homer Simpson App Hits App Store, Gets Nixed by Fox (0)
• Turn-by-Turn Voice Directions Coming Soon to (jailbroken) iPhones (0)

Copyright © 2009 PatrickJ. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2009/02/15/bizarro-iphone-apps-jules-verne/.

So I spotted the recently added Jules Verne app for iPhone, and thought it might be a collection of his works or similar. Way off. Instead, it’s a calculator app. Huh? Well, here’s the description, which may leave you feeling more, or less, informed about this app in just a sec:

When Jules Verne was journeying to the center of the earth and he needed to do a quick sum do you think he grabbed a $5 plastic calculator. No! He picked up a solid well built device like this. Enjoy the craftsman ship of days gone by. Even though it’s free it’s far from valueless. Grab it now, while you’re here.

Easily, no contest, favorite part of that description: ‘craftsman ship’ - two words baby. It’s a calculator and it’s a ship!

If you need it - and there’s absolutely no reason I can think of that you would, as there is pretty much zero description of the calculator - you can find Jules Verne in the App Store, and it’s free.

 

---

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bizarro iPhone apps, Jules Verne

Related posts

• RSS Player Test Drive (free version) Is Out (0)
• Recommended: Newbie iPhone Dev’s App Store Tale from the Trenches (0)
• OmniFocus iPhone App Updated (0)
• Nozbe Get It Done = New Native GTD Tasks App for iPhone (0)
• New: Teaser Video for Tap Tap Revenge 2 (0)

With our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn off in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, the inmates site editors are left running Around SPE this week. So, while he’ll be breaking news and giving us some hands-on observations on all the new software and hardware on display, we’ll be keeping you covered here at home, starting with a quick recap of where we are right now:

CrackBerry.com

In the world of BlackBerry, T-Mobile customers were happy to see the official roll out of the next-generation BlackBerry Curve 8900 this week. With AT&T said to be dropping support for 2G phones, there has been some worry that this new Curve wouldn’t come to AT&T, but with the 8900 SKU now showing up on AT&T systems, it’s likely the device will launch there in the next month.

The BIG new this week comes from the CrackBerry Podcast. Kevin was in NYC on for a RIM Business Solutions Press Preview. While there, him and Craig recorded a podcast and for the first time had an employee from Research in Motion on the show. Joined by Mike Kirkup, Manager of Developer Relations, they tackle a bunch of topics from the upcoming App Store to OS 5.0 and whether or not Flash support will appear in a BlackBerry browser and more! Listen Here.

More after the break!

Android Central

This week Android Central reported that Android Market was leaving beta and finally receiving paid applications. Hopefully we’ll see even more amazing applications such as this recently announced TeleNav turn-by-turn GPS application.

We also wondered why Google would comply with Apple’s request to leave multi-touch out of the G1. Hint: It has something to do with maintaining a great relationship with Apple. Read: Google still wants to play nice with Apple to get iPhone eyes on Google AdSense.

Nokia Experts

News was a bit slow this week as everyone in the mobile space waits for big announcements from Mobile World Congress next week, including some announcements about devices and services from Nokia. We are in our third week of the the launch contest so make sure to get your entry in and look for week four’s entry task. Great input and information is coming in from the contest entries. Also, check out our SBSH Reminders giveaway for a chance to win a free registration code.

Some topics of interest this week on Nokia Experts includes the amazing Nokia Maps 3.0 beta update, Nokia 5800 firmware update, Nokia E63 availability in the US for just $279, and the announcement of the Nokia 5630 with 600 MHz processor.

PreCentral

Over at PreCentral this week, we learned that Bell Canada will be launching the Palm Pre. We heard conflicting launch dates of late Q2 or early Q3 and also the end of Q3-Q4. 

We also had more Touchstone details to emerge when Adam Kaufman, a Product Manager at Palm started answering questions on Facebook.  Plus, many people are wondering if the Palm Pre made an appearance on the TV show “Knight Rider”.  

The iPhone Blog

Is this the first glimpse of the 3rd Gen iPhone? Looks pretty much the same as the iPhone 3G, but then Apple brass re-affirmed that the iPhone market is strong, and they won’t be diluting it with an iPhone nano or keyboard slider any time soon. What with 20,000 Apps in the store, and the iPhone and the iPod touch now owning 51% of the mobile browser space… and growing, who can blame them?

Maybe jailbreakers, as the EFF asking the US government to grant it an exemption from the DMCA has Apple declaring jailbreaking illegal. (Oops, we just jailbroke live for xGPS on the last podcast!). Lastly, Google gave us Spreadsheet editing, but did Apple deny the Android multi-touch and… a 3.5mm headphone jack?!

TreoCentral

This week when Ed Colligan spoke to investors at the Thomas Weisel Partners Technology, Telecom & Internet Conference, he announced that there will be no more PalmOS devices released by Palm (excepting the Centro getting released on other carriers) as they’re focused on WebOS and Windows Mobile. He also said that not only will Palm have an app store when the Pre launches, but Palm isn’t locking down the device so you can only install apps from their app store.

We also learned this week that the Sprint Treo Pro is now targeted for a March 15th launch, and that some Sprint stores are now getting re-stocked with new Treo Pro’s with the new ROM on board. And even though the Sprint Treo Pro is delayed, it was great to hear that Palm’s stock has neared double-digits.

WMExperts

It’s been the calm before the storm over at WMExperts while we wait for Mobile World Congress to get under way, but that doesn’t mean it was a quiet week. We saw more information surface on Windows Mobile 6.5 including a new video, an updated version of Skyfire Beta released while Opera Mobile plans to go turbo. Google offered up contact and calendar sync and brought public-domain books to mobile devices. Mozilla’s Fennec mobile browser hit pre-alpha, and we got a sit-down with developer Brad Lassey. On the hardware side, new Windows Mobile devices were spotted from Garmin-Asus, Gigabyte, as well as the “Hummer” of Windows Mobile Devices from I-Mate.

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

Around SPE for February 15, 2009

Related posts

• My comments on “The Economics of Giving It Away” (Chris Anderson in the WSJ) (0)
• Is it Time for Apple to Switch From Dock Connector to USB? (0)
• The iPhone Blog Week in Review for February 16, 2009 (0)
• How to Guides Galore: Jailbreaking iPhone 2.2.1 (0)
• Apple says jailbreaking is illegal (0)

Filed under: Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch

Last month I wrote about some resources for learning Objective-C that I was using to learn how to write iPhone applications. Judging by the number of comments on that article, I thought that I should write a follow-up post about my progress and the status of my first iPhone application.

Since I had a few programming classes in college (VB, C++), the logic of loops and decision statements was not a big hurdle. By using the learning resources like screencasts and books, I was able to get a better grasp of object-oriented programming (OOP) in general, and of course the syntax specific to Obj-C. I became familiar enough with Xcode just by using it for demo programs, and I used the wealth of iPhone developer resources from Apple to use the iPhone SDK. After paying $99 to Apple to enter into the iPhone Developer program, I was then able to access the forums; they were helpful in figuring out specific things (like how to preset a UIPickerView object).

Continue reading My first iPhone application

TUAWMy first iPhone application originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Related posts

• Smule raises $3.9 million in funding (0)
• Magic for your iPhone (0)
• How to make an iPhone game (0)
• Ripdev launches anti-piracy service for iPhone developers (0)
• Nothing can go wrong…. Hal 9000 is on the iPhone (0)

Filed under: iPhone, App Store

The tricks just keep on comin' for the iPhone. Magicard [App Store link] is a good head scratcher that is always ready to perform. Have your assistant cut the cards a few times and select a card. (The method to do this is provided with a built-in tutorial video.) You keep the selected card face down, and place it on top of the iPhone screen. When the card is removed, a mirror image of the card is on the screen. The card can be any number or suit.

The app normally starts up with a screen that includes a clickable link to a video tutorial that shows how the trick works. It wouldn't be good for people to see that, so in your iPhone settings menu you can tell the Magicard not to display any of that information when you are about to perform.

Magicard also lets you select a plain black background for the trick, or you can use something from your photo roll. You can even snap a picture with the iPhone camera and use that. Unfortunately, this menu comes up every time you try the trick, and it is an annoyance. You should be able to set the background from the settings menu and forget it until you want to change it.

The trick does not require a lot of skill, but you will need to do one common thing magicians know how to do. If you don't know how, the video tutorial will walk you through the simple steps. I don't think David Blaine will lose any sleep over you performing this trick around town, but it is worth the US $0.99 asking price to see some surprised faces on your friends when you pull this little effect out.

Note: This trick is iPhone only. It will not work on the iPod touch. You can see some videos of the trick in action at the developer web site, along with some variations on the basic trick.

Continue reading Magic for your iPhone

TUAWMagic for your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Related posts

• Smule raises $3.9 million in funding (0)
• 3D Realm: Prey coming to the iPhone (0)
• Nothing can go wrong…. Hal 9000 is on the iPhone (0)
• My first iPhone application (0)
• Letting the iPhone read to you (0)