Not content with having only sold 37 million iPhone OS-based devices (which includes the iPod touch), Apple has set about stalking and capturing a whole new class of prey: our moms.

Fiendishly clever, Apple. Who’s mom wouldn’t want all those pictures of the kids (and maybe grandkids), home movies, email and chat access, and multitouch gaming hardcore enough to put the curl back in her beehive.

Only one problem, Apple. Our moms may jailbreak!

(Joking, we still have to help them start “the internet” with that little compass or curled fox icon… Sigh…)

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

Apple Wants You to Give Mom an iPod touch!

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CD Freaks.com

Samsung NV4 CD Freaks.com, Netherlands AUTO, P Mode: After the brightness distribution in a shooting scene is measured, the exposure and focus are automatically adjusted (P Mode: user-controllable). DIS Mode: A shooting mode intended for low light conditions where digital correction of ...

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The Case-Mate Dockster Leather Case for iPhone 3G is available and can be purchased in TiPb Store for $34.95. If you are looking for a case that is slim and dockable, then this case might be for you. Let’s see how it measures up after the break!

Design

If there is one thing that bothers me with cases, it’s the fact that most are not dockable. That issue goes away with Case-Mate’s Dockster brand case for iPhone 3G. The case is composed of a hard plastic frame that separates into two halves. The case is very strong and has openings for all of the usual suspects including camera, volume controls/ silent switch, headphone jack, sleep/wake button, front sensors and 30-pin connector on the bottom. The outside of the case is covered with a soft leather. This case also comes with a screen protector too, if you need one.

Daily Use

Like some people, my iPhone 3G is always with me. So, it has it’s fair share of battle scares from the last 7 months. I use a variety of cases for the iPhone, some good and others not so good. I was not sure what to expect from the Dockster. I can say I am quite pleased.

Placing the case on your iPhone could not be any easier; simply slide the top end on, then slide the bottom end. There are no buttons to snap, no clips to latch; they just slide together easily. Once the two pieces of the car are together, they are secure. I did not have to worry about one side slipping or falling off. The other benefit of this case is it adds a little extra grip too without become too think. The leather feels really nice in your hands and solid plastic frame adds piece of mind if it is dropped.

Docking the iPhone is easy, simply slip off the bottom end and yo are in business. I was very surprised at how easy it was to do.

Conclusion

Using this case daily, I really, really like it. The case is non-obtrusive and it looks good (to be honest, I would like it more if I had a black iPhone; the white kind of sticks out; Case-Mate, how about a white case?). There are not that many dockable case solutions on the market for the iPhone that are thin and attractive. This one really is a great solution!

Pros:

• It is dockable!
• Attractive leather finish
• Sturdy plastic supportive frame
• Thin
• All ports are very easily accessible

Cons:

• I really can’t find any pertinent negatives with this case
• A variety of colors, currently black-only

TiPb’s Rating:

         

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

Review: The Case-Mate Dockster Leather Case for iPhone 3G

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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.

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Copyright © 2009 PatrickJ. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2009/02/16/nabbit-like-shazam-but-different/.

Sorry for the slightly dopey post title, but I have a couple good reasons for it: I couldn’t think of a better one, and it’s probably the quickest way to get across the type of application that Nabbit for the iPhone is.

Shazam is the enormously popular iPhone application that takes a quick sample of any song playing around you (close enough to the iPhone’s speakers) and identifies the track’s artist and title for you. It’s one of those ‘wow factor’ iPhone apps that you just have to show to all your friends.

Nabbit also helps identify songs (and who sings them) for you, but only from radio stations. It may not have quite the same wow factor as Shazam - since it doesn’t listen to and analyze music playing near it - but if you’re a big radio listener, it may be even ore useful.

(...)
Read the rest of Nabbit = Like Shazam, But Different …

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Post tags:

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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 …

 

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

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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…

 

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

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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.

 

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

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Copyright © 2009 PatrickJ. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2009/02/15/quick-look-smashword-for-iphone/.

SmashWord is a different and fun word game for the iPhone, that is described as ‘a fast-paced blend of speed and vocabulary’. Here’s an idea how it works:

Connect the letters Boggle-style - vertically, horizontally, or diagonally - to form words of three letters or longer by dragging your finger from one tile to the next. Valid words are removed and new letters fall into place when you lift your finger.

I’ve never played Boggle, but have been enjoying SmashWord a lot on the iPhone. To me, this game feels like word search on steroids - because you can go in all directions, and combinations of directions, to form words.

(...)
Read the rest of Quick Look: SmashWord for iPhone

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Post tags: iPhone word search games, SmashWord, SmashWord Lite

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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

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