Archive for the ‘iphone’ Category

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10 Myths about iPhone Development

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Apple has set lots of trends lately and one of the most popular is iPhone application development. Thousands of people all over the world create new apps for the iPhone or the newest Apple gadget iPad. An enormous number of apps created just in several years as well as rumors of some developers’ success who delivered to the market an especially popular application and earned a fortune excite people’s imagination. So there are always common opinions on iPhone application development and some of them have very little in common with the reality. In fact, users know very little about how the app is created and how it appears at the App Store, though most of them share a range of popular myths and delusions. Let’s highlight some of them.

Myth 1. Everybody who is engaged in iPhone application development likes Apple and adores Steve Jobs, otherwise they would develop for the Android platform.

In fact, most developers share the same emotions on the walled garden as many consumers do. They can admire refined design of Apple’s gadgets and sleek system performance, though at the same time can grumble over strict development policies and inabilities to use some cross-platform environments.

Myth 2. There are really many good iPhone developers, as it’s quite easy to learn Objective C and in general the quality of their work is higher than those of Android.

In fact, to read several manuals which are really numerous these days in the Net is not enough, as well as simply to know how to apply the techniques mentioned there. Experience is necessary in any field and unfortunately it comes only with mistakes and failures. If all iPhone apps were of the utmost quality, there would not be millions of complains from iPhone users that Apple should make accepting policies more severe and not allow low-quality apps to the App Store.

Myth 3. Most people believe that to create an app costs a buck.

In fact, iPhone application development is a whole new branch of outsourcing programming and the competition at the market is quite severe. Of course, some top-developers will demand more for their work but, in general, market costs are really modest and offers are abundant.

Myth 4. Apple has provided its developers with all the necessary tools and have facilitated the development process as much as possible. It’s no problem to make a good iPhone application in a day.

In fact, it’s not possible to create an app in a day or two. To make all the refinements Apple products boast of, you need a splendid design, everything must really be sleek and posh. So, lots of actual developers and designers’ work is required rather than simple automatical building with the help of the provided tools.

Myth 5. It takes ages to develop an app.

In fact, apps with relatively simple functionality can be created in a week, but more complex ones may take up to several months of designing and developing. The greatest part of time is spent on numerous sessions and meetings with the client when the app design and technical specification are being worked out and are awaiting the client’s approval. In a similar way the client may change his or her mind in the process and ask for some alterations. And it also takes time. After submittal to the App Store it usually takes one to two weeks to get an approval from the company.

Myth 6. Most iPhone and iPad apps suffer from lack of essential features which would be quite reasonable to have on the gadget. It’s definitely developer’s fault. They must have though of them.

In fact, lack of functionality or some features which a user would like to have in its gadget is caused rather by inner Apple’s limitations than by bad developing and lack of developers’ imagination.

Myth 7. The iPhone supports the most popular video formats. If a format is not supported, it’s developers’ fault.

In fact, the .avi format is not supported as a range of other video formats, which, though, are not that popular.

Myth 8. Apple supplied its developers with the best tools possible including Objective C which is a very elegant programming language.

In fact, there is much disagreement whether to consider Obj-C a splendid programming tool. Some developers consider the language very redundant. It causes lots of work which is done automatically in other programming languages.

Myth 9. There is no difference in programming for the iPhone or the iPad. It is the same thing.

In fact, the iPad development demands a completely different layout elements and a more refined design which is ensured by the iPad’s bigger screen. So, it is not possible just make an app for the iPad in the way we make it for the iPhone. It is a bit different, though the difference is not that great.

Myth 10. The more apps the platform has the better, as all iPhone and iPad apps are extremely essential.

In fact, a common iPhone holder has about 20 apps which he or she uses regularly, while others are downloaded just because they seem too appealing and luring or just in fashion at the moment. May be it’s time to add a word appoholic to the dictionary.

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Apple Steps Up Its Expansion Into China

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

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China market is really a juicy pie. No surprise, smartphone companies are striving to soak into it and gain some ground there. Blackberry is going to deliver a new line-up of its smartphones at lower prices targeting a middle-class, while Apple wants its own piece of the pie. However, Jobs’ company is not going to adjust to the market, planning to keep the area of luxury and image that the iPhone brand enjoys.

Apple started its sales in China last October. And though it is not common for the company to reveal the country sales number, Apple’s representatives however shared the sales figures which were not something extraordinary. iPhone sales start was nothing exceptional: 5,000 phones sold at launch which should be really disappointing for the company. But its representatives state that Apple is now building Apple brand for the long haul and at the moment the company is more interested in the quality of the point of sale and consumer experience.

Several days ago Apple opened a new retail store in Shanghai, signifying that the company has made itself at home in the country and is ready to step up its expansion into the nation. No doubt, the more retail stores Apple will have in the mainland, the more sales of Macs, iPhones and iPads will grow. 25 new retailing stores which are to be opened according to the company’s plans should foster the brand building even more.

Promoting to the Chinese market will positively influence Apple’s revenues and turnover, especially now when Google’s positions at the Chinese advertising market are severely damaged because of the recent problems with the Chinese government. Thus, Apple receives the area stripped of its main competitor and thousands if not millions of consumers who will want to have a symbol of Western style and way of life – an iPhone or an iPad. In addition, Apple will get a new pool of iPhone developers as China is one of the countries famous for outsourcing programming. So, more new apps and more money for Jobs.

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Apple’s Sales Rocket Start

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

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Apple’s gadgets are always sold like hot cakes and always excel cautious analysts’ forecasts, but the recent launch has set new records even for the company itself. The sales of iPhone 4 began last week and on Monday after only 3 days of sales the company’s representatives claimed that the company had sold more than 1.7 million units of the iPhone 4. The number turned to be the company’s new record, exceeding last year’s sales of iPhone 3GS which topped a million in its first three days. The breathtaking effect of the recent launch is even more fascinating when compared to the sales of the first iPhone in 2007. It took about 74 days to hit the line and reach one million mark.

Unlike iPad international sales which were delayed because of a great domestic market demand, iPhone 4 was launched in several overseas countries besides the U.S. France, Germany, the U.K. and Japan were among the lucky ones. But Apple is going to deploy the gadget in 87 other countries by September. And this deployment seems to be the quickest in the company’s history.

Though there were lots of rumors as to the tremendous success of the new gadget before the launch, most analysts remained very cautious, presenting quite modest forecasts which were easily excelled. But some analysts are sure that if more supplies were available, the total number of gadgets sold would have been bigger. In some places preorders have been stopped and sales representatives began the campaign first in, first out, granting more abilities to direct customers to get the new device.

Taking into consideration that the sales as well as the demand for the iPad are also growing, at the moment everybody from Foxconn workers at assembling lines to iPad and iPhone developers are busy trying to saturate the endless market. Steve Jobs is busy too, counting money.

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Another Record from Apple

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

AppleLogo

Apple stated on their website that the sales of the iPad have recently topped 3 million and all that happened only 80 days since the launch of the gadget in the US. Besides, starting the international sales in the end of May Apple has not delivered the device to a range of countries yet. Not long ago the company also claimed that the number of apps the iPad developers had submitted to the App Store had reached 11,000 titles making the iPad the third most popular platform with mobile developers.

The surprising demand for anything Apple touches has forced world analysts review their projections for Apple’s stock providing even more venturous forecasts. The company is reported to be experiencing the strongest product cycle in its history: successful sales of the magic toy will be followed by the newest iPhone launch, which together will bring considerable revenues to Cupertino company, great dividends to its shareholders and loads of satisfaction to Apple’s CEO.

The only thing to spoil the fun is that analysts can be really mistaken sometimes. After all, in January there were lots of them who did not believe the new gadget will become one of the crowd’s favorites, predicting a million of devices as an ultimate sales limit that would be reached by the end of the year. Besides, Apple has an extremely talented PR department which is really good at positioning the iPad not just as a harbinger of change in mobile computing but as something “defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.” So, no cheating, just pure magic.

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100M iPhone Subscribers by End of 2011

Friday, June 18th, 2010

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The iPhone platform is really expanding in all its segments and directions: the number of sold iPads, the numbers of apps for the both gadgets at the App Store, the number of iPhone subscribers is also growing. Some analysts consider it will reach 100 million by the end of 2011.

At the end of 2009 according to Apple’s unbiased estimates, its total number of users amounted to 30 million. Some analysts suggest that more than half of all iPhone users will upgrade to Apple’s latest gadget. And according to some estimates Apple is going to sell more than 40 million handsets till the end of the year, which means that the iPhone active subscriber base will grow immensely. The latest figures submitted by Apple this year report about 85 million total iOS-based devices sold by the company. But in relation to the discussed topic the mentioned figures must be treated with a grain of salt as the number also includes sold iPod devices which do not require a subscription as well as devices bought by users who wanted to upgrade their iPhones of previous versions, while deactivating their old gadgets.

In general, due to fabulous features delivered by the latest iPhone, the upgrade that will take place this summer and fall will be bigger than the previous ones. According to some researches more that half of the surveyed iPhone users intended to upgrade their handsets this year waiting for the beginning of sales. The percentage is rather high even for a preliminary estimate, previous figures being much lower, about 18 % in November 2008.

Analysts, in general, predict only a positive growth of the iPhone subscription base as the abyss of apps created by iPhone developers creates some kind of “stickiness” with consumers. A person who has already heavily invested in its app package for an iPhone handset will hardly dump all of them marching to buy some Android or Blackberry device. Thus, Apple is supplied with customer for the next several years.

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iPhone 4 Key Presentation

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

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Being released at the WWDC 2010, iPhone 4 has become a must-have gadget of today for millions of Apple fans all over the world. The key presentation of the gadget was as usual delivered by Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself, who called the device “the biggest leap since the original iPhone”. The greatest advantages of the model as well as technical innovations of the smartphone market in general are FaceTime video calling format which sets a new standard for mobile video communication, and a new Retina display, which enjoys the highest resolution ever seen in a phone. According to the CEO, the input text looks like a fine printed page. But the gadget shares a bunch of other efficient features making millions of people drooling over its pictures on the Net as well as thousands of iPhone developers eager to create new apps for them. The phone is a snazzily posh, glass-backed slab that offers dual cameras, an operating system with multitasking and video chat, among other things.

The new iPhone is only 9.3mm thick and 24 percent thinner than the iPhone 3GS, which makes it the thinnest smartphone on the planet. The CNC-machined band, created from a unique alloy and said to be five times stronger than standard steel is the mounting point for all the components of the gadget. It contributes both to the thin refined design of the gadget and the overall communication performance as it functions as iPhone antennas.

The front and back of the phone are made of special aluminosilcate glass, which is harder than plastic and more scratch resistant. An oil-resistant coating for the front and back glass keeps it shiny and clean. The exterior design also brings a LED camera flash and a micro-SIM slot.

The phone new display is 960 by 640 pixels, a contrast ratio being 800-to-1. The new Retina Display is one of the innovative breakthroughs of the company. The name is brought by the fact that 326 pixels per inch (which is technical characteristics of the phone) are beyond the display capabilities of the human retina. So a new Retina Display should make reading books on the iPhone’s screen a lot easier on the eyeballs. Following the iPad path, the new iPhone also has an LCD screen with IPS technology to optimize angles viewing.

A larger battery, which was possible due to a smaller A4 CPU, offers longer entertainment, which is now equal to 7 hours of talk time 3G, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 40 hours of music, 10 hours of video, and 300 hours of standby. A two-axis gyroscope, combined with the accelerometer, contributes to “much more precise movement” while a second microphone is indispensable for noise canceling.

The new camera system of the iPhone consists of LED flash with a 5 megapixel lens that can record HD video. The forward facing camera brings a completely new experience of video chatting with anyone who has another iPhone 4 or in future some other phones provided the open FaceTime format will be adopted by other smartphone manufacturers.

Another fabulous gadget by Apple will be available on AT&T’s network (the tradition has remained unchanged) starting June 24, while preorders begin on June 15. Prices and capacities range between $199 for 16GB, and $299 for 32GB.

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Old Enemies Now Friends

Monday, May 31st, 2010

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Everything is quite relative in our life. Einstein has proved it quite well. And old enemies quite easily become best friends. The only condition is to find some common places to share, such as aversion to Google.

Apple is trying to decrease its dependence over Google Search, which seems to be quite a wise move taking into consideration the companies relations. Now Jobs’ company is said to be working with Microsoft to broaden the iPhone’s search and related web services using Microsoft’s search engine Bing. The company doesn’t imply that it is going to entirely change Google for Bing but the expansion of search options will benefit the end-users in the long run. Though there are some rumors that Google Search will be replaced in iPhone OS 4, Apple is not ready to take such drastic moves so it won’t remove support for Google search.

Bing is not the first search engine available for the iPhone. Apple already provides Yahoo for web searches in Safari, though that option is not obvious and requires system settings adjustments. Microsoft seems to be ready to deliver its search engine into the iPhone, provided the search option is visible and obvious.

The search engine is not the only thing Apple wants to differentiate from Google. The company is rumored to negotiate with Microsoft about a possibility to get its mapping services integrated into the iPhone. So far there has only been created a number of apps that make use of Microsoft’s mapping services but the majority of iPhone developers keep to Google apps as well as Apple itself hardwiring original Maps app on the iPhone and iPad to Google’s mapping services.

It seems that the war between the two platforms and some borderline encounters between the companies’ allies can be replaced by full scale escalation of the war actions, and the first to suffer will be consumers and iPhone developers.

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HTC Hits Back

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

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On Wednesday Taiwanese smartphone company HTC presented its own response to Apple’s patent suit – another lawsuit accusing Job’s company of violating five HTC’s patents. The countersuit was filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission and asks to halt the import and sale of all iPhones, iPods and iPads, which is a standard pattern request in patent violation suits.

As earlier Apple, HTC is deeply concerned with “healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible”. But no doubt HTC’s attack is caused by the previous Apple’s assault.

Apple was the first to start the legal games and sued HTC in early March, accusing it of violating 20 patents related to the iPhone’s UI, architecture and hardware. Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs was also especially concerned with healthy competition and extremely worried by the fact that Apple’s competitors had stolen its intellectual property. Though the suit was aimed at biting HTC, it also mentioned a range of Android smartphones thus sending a warning shot towards Google. The latter seemed quite receptive to hints and fought back stating it was going to stand behind its partners. Now HTC is claiming Apple has infringed 5 its patents dealing with power management, personalized phone dialers, a telephone dialer with easy access memory which make up a less substantial request when compared to Apple’s one.

The ITC seems to be very busy these days dealing with Apple’s suits and countersuits, which are increasing in number: a suit from Nokia, claims made by Kodak, a suit from Elan Microelectronics and now another suit from HTC. Big Boys are having fun and it seems that the only to suffer in the Big Boys’ Game are common users and maybe iPhone developers. But who cares for their opinion when billions are at stake and the one who wins will lead the world to a happier future.

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Apple Might Face an Antitrust Inquiry

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

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The US government has finally taken notice of Apple’s attempts to block its competitors with all possible means and tools. The US Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice are likely to start antitrust proceedings against Apple for anti-competitive practices.

The antitrust inquiry focuses on Apple’s changes to its iPhone developer agreement which is enclosed in the upcoming iPhone OS 4 software upgrade. That addition specifically bans the development of applications using “an intermediary translation or compatibility layer”, which doesn’t allow the porting of software originally written for Adobe’s Flash, Sun’s Java or Microsoft’s Silverlight/Mono to the iPhone OS.

In general, it is quite a blow but focused not on iPhone and iPad developers who have always enjoyed extensive and quality care from Apple’s side. This is a direct attack on Adobe and its allies namely Google. The change resulted in Adobe giving up a recently released software Creative Suite 5 intended for iPhone developers to port Flash applications to the iPhone OS, which is according to new Apple’s rules a violation of the latest developer agreement.

Now developers are forced to choose between creating apps that can run only on Apple gadgets like iPod, iPhone and iPad or come up with platform neutral apps, which can be used in a variety of operating systems environments, such as those from rivals Google, Microsoft and RIM.

It’s quite ironic that having filed a suit against HTC several weeks ago, the company itself has become an object of regulators’ genuine interest. Though the Cupertino company can lull itself that an inquiry does not mean that any action will necessarily be taken, as usually it takes regulators months to come to some agreement and, no doubt, Apple has some parties lobbying its interests.

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Time of War: Apple VS Adobe

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

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Apple has changed the terms of its iPhone 4.0 software developer kit license thus leaving no place for Flash products at the iPhone and iPad devices.

Flash has become ubiquitous at the Internet, providing the environment for thousands of online games, and millions of video streams, as well as those annoying animations that ask if you would like to “skip intro”. Many will reveal a sign of relief “At last”, while others will say goodbye to their hope to play their favorite “Farmville” at their no-less favourite Apple’s gadget.

Despite numerous howls of despair from disappointed developers, Flash- admirers and Adobe supporters claiming Jobs’ insanity, there is quite a set of reasons behind the decision. There are definitely fewer technical reasons than business model ones thrown in it.

The main is evident: loosing control has always been one of the most obsessive Apple’s fears. Allowing Flash would mean ceding some aspect of control. If Flash were allowed on the iPhone or the iPad, iPhone developers could sell apps directly to consumers, escaping Apple’s cut of the sale. If Flash were on the iPhone, users could watch Hulu and play games on Mini-Clip rather than spending money in iTunes or the App store.

Apple may want to tie iPhone developers down to their platform as according to new regulations the use of Adobe’s Flash-to-iPhone compiler has been prohibited. The compiler is a clever way around the absence of a Flash interpreter on Apple’s smartphone OS. The company may think that iPhone developers should be more Apple loyal and release a quality unique product, not some cross-platform half-stuff. Apple’s decision seems to have met quite little understanding on the developers’ side. The latters claim that it infringes their freedom to choose their own tools of the development process.

But Apple’s main target was Adobe, which could not stand an obvious snub and promises to consider legal action against Apple but so far bursts out with severe critics of Jobs’ actions. Though in the latest SEC filing Adobe has already admitted that its business could be harmed due to Apple’s decision.

Apple has a long list of ex-friends turned into enemies. Thus, Adobe has some quite mighty allies, Google being the major one. But Google does not come alone. It leads a quite impressive set of Android-based tablets and smartphones, ensured by the success of Motorola Droid and Nexus One. It’s no secret that Adobe is working closely with Google to bring both Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2.0 to these devices.

The upcoming Flash Player 10.1 and related AIR 2.0 programming foundation, which are in private beta-testing for Android right now, will work on a variety of other phone operating systems, including Windows Phone 7, the BlackBerry OS, Symbian OS, and Palm’s WebOS.

Who will won, time will tell.

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