The iTunes app store is reportedly worth $2.5 billion and this is bringing more and more developers to the platform. If your a develop the first thing you do is sit down and sketch out your idea.
Introducing the iPhone Design Template Sketchbook:
Now available in “most countries” for $16,99 at appsketchbook.com.
Alternatively take a look at how the people at CulturedCode solved this ‘problem’:
We recently reported here on Crenk that the iPhone’s first ever augmented reality (AR) app had been officially released to the iPhone. This was called Metro Paris Subway. It was widely believed that this would be the only AR app released until the new iPhone OS came out in a month or so. But now, two more AR apps are live in the app store causing people to rush in to snap them up.
Basically, these three developers have found a way around the supposedly necessary jailbreak that the new OS was going to remove. So naturally seeing apps that shouldn’t even be released yet is pretty cool.
One of the new apps is from the popular app company Yelp and the other is from the same company that made Metro Paris Subway – Presslite. Now, Presslite have made a similar app for London that allows users to point their iPhone camera at a location in London and an overlay of information (primarily public transport) will pop up on the screen. This app is suitably named ‘London Bus’.
It’s important that we remember that there are dozens of AR developers who have already developed their apps for the new OS so in a couple of months we here at Crenk are expecting a rush of AR apps into the marketplace.
So you want an app, where do you go? The Apple App Store of Course. It’s been running now for a little over a year and there has already been over 50,000 apps added with over one billion downloads. Without any shred of doubt, it’s the market leader in the app world. However, now, Verizon have announced that they too will be launching an App store in the fourth quarter of this year to compete with Apple.
They, in the past, have been criticized for blocking certain apps and having limited selections for their phones. They have indeed seen the error of their ways. Speaking at their first ever developers conference in San Jose, California.
“It’s a new day (in wireless),” McAdam, Verizon CEO said in the opening address of the developer conference which was also Webcast. “And our future success is no longer in the walled-garden. Our success is tied to you (developers).
This would make for a nice touch to the current Verizon services. By giving users an app store you’re giving them one more reason to stay with you rather than search for greener pastures. I can’t see there being as many apps as the Apple App Store simply because Verizon don’t have the same kind of image that Apple has –sleek, cool and ultra-modern. However, their users will most certainly be impressed. Let’s hope us critics are too when it launches. Keep checking Crenk for updates on this story.
All of us with an iPhone or iTouch know the addiction of downloading applications. For those of us with the 1-click purchase mode have probably found ourselves just clicking away before we realize we’ve spent some major money on what we think are useful applications.
For the rest of us that don’t have that luxury and are happy to play with free apps, perhaps this site is for you. AppGiveaway is a site that offers you promo codes to get iPhone apps for free or at deeply discounted prices. This is a great site to be introduced to apps that perhaps don’t get a lot of press, or get lost in the shuffle. The site introduces its readers to unique games, productivity apps, financial apps, etc.
Give the site a try and explore what they offer. I won’t say every app they offer promos for are worth it, but it’s a matter of introduction and taste, what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa.
Give it a try and let us know what you think!
I’ve been a big fan of Behance products offline, for my meetings, site sketches, and to-do list from time to time. Now they are tackling productivity online with their new online app and comparable mobile app to always stay on top of the things that you need to do daily.
Action Method was introduced this year as the premiere application to manage your projects, tasks, planning, and meetings. The application allows you to create projects, create tasks, assign tasks, and manage a calendar. If tasks are falling behind you can nudge the people to whom you assigned them to in order to remind them of deadlines. Color coding is a big winner for this app as it’s easy to find what you’re looking for with alternating colors.
Have an iPhone or iTouch? No problem, your web application syncs with your mobile app so your to-do list is never far away. Incredibly useful and sure to improve with future updates, the app is free to download, and free for up to 50 tasks, premium service for unlimited tasks comes in at $12/month or $99/year.
Do you ever wish you could DJ some of the hottest clubs from around the world? Spinning tracks and creating beats that livened up the party and got the people dancing? Not all of us have that opportunity to be an infamous DJ, but thanks to Grammy-nominated artist, DJ, and label owner, Paul van Dyk, his mobile application can put you on a global stage to make your own hot tracks.
There is no doubt that van Dyk is one of the hottest DJ’s around, appearing on Top 10 lists, featured in some of the biggest music publications, and with popularity the world over. His new iPhone/iTouch app gives you the controls that he uses to make your music on the go. Paul van Dyk’s specially created application by Zip Design, developed by Yuza Mobile will appeal to fans, music enthusiasts and professional DJs alike, featuring a BPM Counter, Frequency Analyser, Decibel Meter, Seismic Reader, Virtual Glow Stick, DJ Check List and an Itinerary Manager. This is no doubt the biggest iPhone app for DJ’s, artists, and music enthusiasts to hit the market, and with over 1 Billion apps already sold in the iPhone App Store, there is definitely going to be increasing demand for this product.
“I have had great fun being a part of the development team for my app over the past few months and think that both aspiring and professional DJs will have great fun using it. On a practical level, it includes everything that a DJ needs.”
(Paul van Dyk)
Watch Paul van Dyk’s introduction to the app here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES8Km5UUn8U
A few days ago we wrote a quick article about the release of the video for the new Spotify Android App. Today we thought we would post about the other Spotify app that hasnt been talked about so much and that is the iPhone Spotify application.
Below is a quick video of the application in action. Enjoy!
iPhones seem to be everywhere these days and even the release of the G1 phone hasn’t really had an impact on their growing marketshare. Palm have also announced that they will soon be launching their new smartphone called the Palm Pre, which is getting a huge amount of buzz at the moment. Thus bringing us to the final major player in the market who is yet to release a smartphone that can actually take marketshare and thats Nokia.
Nokia announced about three months ago that they will be releasing the N97 which is their rival to the iPhone. The N97 will be release in the 2nd quarter of 2009 and its sure to raise some eyebrows.
Here at Crenk we are still yet to get our hands on a new N97 test version, but I thought I would provide our readers with a basic overview of the phone and how it compares to iPhone and G1.
Nokia N97 – compared to the iPhone3G and G1
3.5 inches screen size
( iPhone3G : 3.5 inch ; G1 : 3.2 inch )
640 x 360 pixel resolution
(iPhone3G : 320×480 pixels ; G1 : 480×320 pixels resolution)
16:9 Aspect ratio,the same as that of TV,PC Monitors etc
(both iPhone and G1 have aspect ratio of 3:2 )
Resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback
(both iPhone & G1 boast a capacitive touchscreen(feather touch sensitive) )
Sliding QWERTY Keyboard
( iPhone : No physical keyboard ; G1 : Sliding QWERTY Keyboard )
Inbuilt WiFi,Bluetooth,HSDPA,A-GPS,3G
( Both iPhone and G1 have it )
32GB Onboard memory (expandable through microSD card upto 48GB as total capacity)
(neither iPhone nor G1 go beyond 32 GB as total capacity )
Battery : 1500 mAh (Heavy duty ! )
(iPhone : 1400 mAh ; G1 : 1150 mAh )
5 MP Digital Camera (DVD quality video capture)
(iPhone : 2.0 MP ; G1 : 3.2 MP )
OS : S60 5th Edition
(iPhone : iPhone OS 2.2 ; G1 : Android 1.0 )
Weight : 150 g (approx.)
( iPhone : 133 g ; G1 : 158 g )
Price : $550 (before network subsidies so expect it to go way cheaper than this)
(iPhone : $199(min.) ; G1 : $179(min.) )
Conclusions:
After a direct comparison with all the feature of the n97, G1 and iPhone3G the Nokia is by far the leader from a hardware perspective. However, it terms of the software and the OS, Nokia is a long way behind Google and Apple but this is expected.
The key also is that the App Store has made a huge impact on making the iPhone such a big success, and with the Android Market just being launched I’m sure that the G1 will slowly gain more and more marketshare. Where does this leave Nokia? Nokia really need to think hard and long about how they are going to open up their software to outside developers and then allow the average user the ability to pick and choose the applications that are right for them. OS has never been a strong point for Nokia, but it is about time they actually improved this sector if they are going to continue to be a major player in the smartphone market.
Also that the ‘App Store’ is something that has played a very critical role in making iPhone a worldwide success and now the same thing is occurring in the form of ’Android Market’ for G1, Nokia(being ‘new’ to open developer support for apps) can’t afford to reach the standards set by the other two veteran smartphones(specially iPhone)
Remember Palm?
You know the mobile device kings from long ago, yep, they are still around. Palm has attempted many times to reinvent itself with new products, and over time they’ve had a few hits every now and then. I remember when the Z22 came out, I bought one for my wife. When the Centro came out, I got one for a friend as well. But in the grand scheme of things Palm has remained relatively unknown in the battle of the three giants, Apple, Blackberry, and now Google, in the mobile device wars.
The Palm users I have met are adamant users of the product and will defend it despite its lackluster performance as a whole over the years. Despite the ups and down Palm is now on the verge of becoming a player in the online software arena.
Last night Palm released an online software store in an effort to not get left behind. The interesting moved was launched for all of its devices on both the Windows Mobile and the Palm OS platform, which will enable the company to reach out to a wider market, especially with their inclusion of the Windows Mobile users.
Can Palm remain relevant? Every time I think they are going down, they seem to jump right back into the fray. There’s definitely something to be said of an underdog like Palm. We’ll have to see how this works out for them.
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Users of the iPhone have long been looking for ways to utilize their powerful mobile phone as a portal to access internet from their laptops. Most cell phone by the major providers make it it possible to tap into the phone’s network and access it through the user’s laptop. Unfortunately the iPhone was never given such an ability so it fell to the development community to create their own applications.
It was not long that homebrew applications were created to tether the iPhone to a laptop, but Apple heavy handedly shut down the application and refused to support such an application, more because of the contract with AT&T rather then outright unhappiness of what the application did. Still, when the iPhone was “jail broken” tethering became an option and users were frantically trying to share the information with the masses and get them on board in support of jail breaking the iPhone. Apple turned around and said that no Apple store or mail location would support an iPhone out of service due to a botched jail break attempt. Such attempts would be consider a breach of agreement and null and void any support from Apple.
Until now most non-tech savvy users were unawares of jail breaking an iPhone and simply settled for the inability to link up service with their mobile computers. Until now…
The Announcement
On Thursday Nov. 6th, AT&T Mobility Chief, Ralph de la Vega announced that users of the iPhone 3G would be able to tether their phones to their laptops and use them as modems for internet service. The remarkable service will not be available until 2009, but users were left wondering just how it would be implemented, and how much it was going to cost.
Reports state that AT&T was afraid to offer tethering believing that the major influx of users would bring down the network, and thus frustrate customers from purchasing an iPhone. What they failed to realize is that customers were finding work arounds, and even while Apple was shutting applications like NetShare down for providing modem compatibility, AT&T remained deaf to user’s needs.
Information on Apple’s and AT&T’s tethering option became available six days later with costs of $30/month and a 5GB cap on data usage being the key release information. Already users of iPhone with bloated bills are complaining about the cost saying that applications like NetShare are offering their services free of charge. Why would you pay $30 if you know a tried and true app can provide you the same service for free? That seems to be a question AT&T won’t answer for now, but the real question is if tethering is now legitimate, will NetShare be allowed to offer its alternative on Apple’s App Store?
Still, to AT&T’s benefit, after acquiring Wi-Fi provider Wayport, the network is boasting another 20,000 locations to access the network. Could AT&T become successful in having iPhone users pay the monthly fee for the benefit of tethering. With so many access points now added to the already expansive network, only time will tell.
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