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Avoid the Mad Rush! Submit your iPad Apps Now

Arnold Zafra — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:02:18 +0000

Come April 3, there will definitely be an influx of iPad applications trying to gain exposure on the iPad App Store. So, if you are a developer and you want your apps to be among the iPad launch apps, you better start finalizing these apps now and submit it to Apple for approval. You only have until March 27 to ensure that your apps will be featured during the iPad launch on April 3, say Apple.

Apple has issued the following guidelines to help you with your plans of submitting your iPad applications:

Build and test your iPad application using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center. Only iPad apps built with SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.
Upload your distribution signed app through iTunes Connect by Saturday March 27, 5pm PDT.
The App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.
You wil also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships.
Only apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

So there. You’ve got a whole week to prepare your applications and submit them to Apple for review. Since the it will only be a fews before the iPad App launch there’s a pretty big chance that your application will make it on time. I mean common, can Apple really review all the apps that will be submitted on March 27 thoroughly?

Apple iPad Will Magically Read E-Books Aloud

Arnold Zafra — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:58:22 +0000

As soon as Apple started accepting pre-orders for the iPad, the product page for one of its most important component, iBooks was also updated. It’s not really surprising that Apple will highlight the iPad’s e-book reading features especially since this is a hot market right now. And besides how good is a new Apple product if it doesn’t have a competitor to taunt? Sorry Kindle fans, but whether you like it or not, Apple is taking on the Kindle’s dominance in the e-book market.

Anyway, so what’s up with iPad and iBooks. Nothing much really, except for the fact that apparently the iPad can actually read e-books to you aloud. Yes, I know Amazon Kindle has this. But we all know that this feature has been an issue before with the Kindle. So, it’s kind of surprising that Apple decided to have this feature in the iPad.

So, once the iPad starts rolling into the hands of those who pre-ordered it, expect some legal issues to arise once more. But I’m pretty sure Steve and his boys are more than ready for this.

In a related note, another indication that Apple is really prepping up the iPad as a fierce Kindle competitor is the fact that the device will be supporting e-books in EPUB format which will not be sold from the iBooks E-Bookstore. This simply means that you won’t be spending additional money to use your iPad as an e-book reader. You can practically load it up with free e-books that are freely available from various online sources.

This is a welcome feature and is good for both Apple and iPad users who are planning to use their iPad for e-book reading purposes. For Apple, it will be able to capture an already established market – the e-reader market. And for iPad owners, it’s one less cost.

iPad Pre-Order Limited to Two Per Customer

Arnold Zafra — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:48:09 +0000

In case you’re not aware, the Apple Store has just started accepting pre-orders for the highly anticipated and perhaps even highly ridiculed product – the Apple iPad. If you’re like me who have been waiting for this day and wants Apple to ship the iPad on April 3, then If I were you visit the U.S. Apple Store and look for the iPad pre-order page. I wouldn’t waste time especially because it seems that Apple will be running short of supply in no time at all.

In fact, Apple has limited the number of iPads that every customer can pre-order to two units only. This was probably decided upon to ensure that more people will be able to get their units and not just a few who might take advantage and purchase more with the objective of selling them in the black market.

Apple is accepting pre-orders for all the announced models of the iPad – Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi +3G and their respective variants with different storace capacity ranging from 16GB to 64GB. I had to contend with ordering the 16GB Wi-Fi version since based on my experience with the iPhone I could barely consumer 8GB of storage with several dozens of apps already installed. I’m hoping that my storage need for the iPad would be covered by the 16GB model.

While pre-ordering for all the units can be placed now, only the 16GB Wi-Fi model will be shipped on April 3. The rest of the other units will start shipping around last week of April. Prices for each of the models of the iPad vary and depend on their storage capacity.

So, are you placing an order today? Do you think there will be enough interests for the iPad that Apple will closed pre-order as earliest as possible?

iPad to Hit Apple Stores on April 3, Pre-Order Starts on March 12

Arnold Zafra — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:40:58 +0000

Apple finally dropped the bomb that many of us have been waiting for, the past couple of weeks. The iPad will start hitting Apple Retail Stores on April 3 and you better get yourself ready as early as now because the Apple.com will start accepting pre-orders seven days from now. You read it right folks, you can pre-order your iPad starting March 12. Did that get you excited?

Anyway, whether you’re excited or not, here are some major details that you should know in relation to Apple’s announcement today. First, the start of pre-order will be for all models of the iPad – Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi+3G and each of the various models that these two have that differs in storage capacity – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

Now, if you order the Wi-Fi only version, regardless of its storage capacity, you can either pick up your iPad at a designated Apple Store or have it ship directly to your home on April 3 only if you order the Wi-Fi model. If you order the Wi-Fi+3G model, you can only have your iPad later in April.

And those apply only if you are in the U.S. If you’re in any of these countries – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, all models of the iPad will be available in late April as well.

As for the iPad pricing, here goes - $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB for the Wi-Fi model, and $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB for the Wi-Fi+3G model.

So there you go. Are pre-ordering the iPad on March 12? Which one are you going to get, Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + 3G?

Via Apple Press

Apple iTunes Scores 10 Billionth Song Download

Arnold Zafra — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:26:16 +0000

Apple iTunes has just achieved a remarkable feat a moment ago, thanks to a user who just got the 10 billionth song ever downloaded from the music store. The countdown to the 10 billionth song was started earlier this month, and it was Apple’s way of celebrating such a remarkable experience. Meanwhile, whoever got to download the 10 billionth song from iTunes will win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.

So while we await for the announcement of the winner, why don’t we all take a look at some numbers after the iTunes was opened in 2003. Almost seven years, Apple has suceeded in making the iTunes as a premiere online music store despite its exlusivity to Apple music and mobile devices. It only goes to show that while Apple is making the iTunes popular and so were its products. And for that, we all should commend the company, no matter how much you may like or dislike iTunes.

Last quarter, iTunes generated some $520 million in revenues. In terms of profitability, total revenues generated so far by iTunes barely surpassed the break-even point. But that’s just beside the point since we all know that Apple created the iTunes to support its main business – selling hardwares. And it did while at the same time achieving a commendable feat in selling digital music.

Anyway, in case you’re interested to know the most downloaded song from iTunes happens to be Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling. Now this is another an interesting achievement for the band but that’s another story.

iPhone, Android Biggest Gainers in Smart Phone OS Market

Arnold Zafra — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:02:12 +0000

The latest report on the mobile phone industry released by Gartner clearly shows why iPhone and Android are the new mobile platform to beat as sales of their corresponding mobile handsets great significantly in 2009. Interestingly, both platform gain were at the expense of a decreasing market share of previous smartphone market leader – Symbian OS which is used by Nokia devices.

Actually 2009’s may be one of Nokia’s worst year as both its units sales as well as Symbian’s market share both suffered from significant lost last year. Is Nokia finally losing its clout on the mobile phone market? It may seem so, thanks to the growing market share of smartphones such as the iPhone and Android phones.

In fact, both iPhone and Android platforms market share in 2009 were up by 14.4% and 3.9% respectively. Symbian’s market share went down from 52.9% to 46.9%. RIM is at a steady spot with 19.95 market share while Windows Mobile’s market share also went down from 11.8% to 8.7%.

So what do all these figure mean? Several things actually. First, Apple has overtaken Windows Mobile in the smartphone market share. And this is bad news for Microsoft especially since impressions about the latest version of Windows Mobile was not quite good. Will Microsoft continue on a losing streak when it come sto its mobile product offerings? Second, the Android seems to be the OS to watch out for this year. Surely, Android’s market share will continue to grow this year as more Android devices are coming out.

And of course Nokia and Symbian badly need to rethink their marketing strategy this year. Specifically Nokia need to spark up user interest to its smartphone offering.

Adobe Demos AIR on DROID, Announces Flash 10.1 Support Soon

Arnold Zafra — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:18:19 +0000

Here we have Adobe’s contribution to the ongoing Mobile World Congress. And what contribution it is as Adobe demoes something that might possibly give the Android platform an edge over Apple’s iPhone OS – Adobe AIR running on Droid. Since the demo looks quite well, it follows that other Android devices including Google Nexus One will be to run Adobe AIR apps as well. Likewise, Adobe also announced that Flash 10.1 will soon be available for Android devices as well as iPhone.

With Adobe AIR, developers will have access to a feature-rich environment when developing their rich applications outside the mobile browser of Android devices and on multiple operating systems via individual marketplaces and applications stores. Adobe AIR will bring about mobile apps that are optimized for high performance on mobile screens and takes advantage of the capabilities of native devices.

Adobe AIR will also allow developers to include multi-touch, accelerometer, geolocation, and other functionality offered by existing mobile OS into their own mobile AIR apps. It also let developers to create contextual apps with different display screens, device-speficif interaction techniques, mobile platform specific functionality and network access and bandwidth differences.

In addition, Adobe also announced that Flash 10.1 will soon be available on Android devices such as DROID and Nexus One as well as other mobile platforms including the BlackBerry, Symbian, Palm webOS and Windows Mobile. Interestingly, while the iPhone was not mentioned as part of those mobile platforms that will support, Windows Mobile was included in the list despite the fact that Microsoft may not be supporting it on Windows Mobile 7.

Or perhaps this is just a miscommnication?

Google is Catching Up Fast with Palm’s Market Share Even Without the Nexus One

Arnold Zafra — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:04:31 +0000

The latest report by comScore on December 2009 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share shows some interesting trend among current top mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone OS platforms. The report was based on the share of current mobile subscribers with age ranging from 13 and older. Motorola was the top mobile OEM from September to December 2009. While RIM and Apple top the smartphone platforms in terms of market share during the said period.

Motorola’s market share from September to December slided down from 24.9% to 23.5%. Surprisingly following Motorola were LG and Samsung while Nokia and RIM land on 4th and 5th place. For awhile I thought Nokia is still the leader in terms of mobile OEMs although this is understandble since the data covers the U.S. market only. If other countries were included, I’m pretty sure Nokia would top the list.

Moving on to the market share of smartphone platforms, RIM leads the pack with a commanding 41.6% market in the period ending December 2009. Apple is at second place with 25.3%, Microsoft at third with 18%, Palm with 6.1% and Google with 5.2%.

This is quite surprising since the period does not cover sales of the Google Nexus One which was only released on January 6, 2010. Google’s 2009 market share were probably derived from sales of the Motorola Droid and other Android devices.

Moving on, for January to March data, this will definitely change and if sales of the latest Palm smartphones will not register significant marks, Google will easily dislodge it from the fourth position. Even at a comfortable lead against Google, Microsoft is still in danger of losing its position unless of course the Windows 7 mobile devices should come out sooner.

Tapulous Brings the Black Eyed Peas’ Music to its New iPhone Game, Riddim Ribbon

Arnold Zafra — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:39:03 +0000

You all remember Tapulous right? They are the creators of one of the most downloaded iPhone music games – the Tap Tap Revenge game series. Look what the game developer is up to right now. Another music game called Riddim Ribbon and it’s bringing along the music of one of the hottest music group right now, the Black Eyed Peas.

Riddim Ribbon is a music and racing game rolled into one. The objective of the game is to keep a ball from rolling down a curving ribbon. It uses the accelerometer as you tilt your iPhone to keep your rolling ball in the center of the ribbon it races down the road.

Avoid crashing the ball too much as it will slow down the music and will eventually make a screeching sound. And you also have to watch out for the B.E.P shout “Boom! Boom! as a signal for you make the ball jump through a couple of hoops.

It’s a pretty straightforward and simple ball racing game mixed with great music. Something which Tapulous has been known for. The game is currently available for download at the Apps Store for $2.99. For that price you’d get the full game with three of B.E.P’s music tracks – Boom Boom Pow!, I Gotta Feeling, Meet Me Halfway as well as 8 remix versions of the three songs.

If you get tired of the B.E.P. songs, you can download other tracks from Tiesto, Benny Bennesi and more artists for $0.99 each.

I’ve played the game for a couple of minutes and I would have to say that it’s a pretty good iPhone game. Not as great as Tap Tap Revenge but it certainly delivers some fun. If you’re both a Black Eye Peas and Tap Tap Revenge fan, you’ll definitely love this game.

Via Venture Beat

Fring Updates iPhone App to Allow Free Video Calls and VoIP via 3G

Arnold Zafra — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:36:10 +0000

If the idea of talking to the camera at the back of your iPhone and then turning your iPhone as soon as you’ve spoken to see the person you’re talking to, sounds cool to you, then you might be glad to know that Fring has just enabled video calling and VoIP through 3G on their iPhone app.

Actually, this was a result of the recent announcement made by Apple opening the iPhone’s gates to VoIP calling. Interestingly, Apple made this decision even if it will affect AT&T’s revenues.

To make free voice or video calls using Fring, you simply need to fire up your Fring iPhone app and hope that the message “voip calls are not allowed…” does not appear anymore. If it does, just click “more”, then “go offline” and then open Fring again.

Meanwhile, Fring was not the first iPhone app developer who immediately took advantage of iPhone’s decision to allow VoIP calls on the iPhone. A few days ago, iCall also went live, allowing free VoIP calls for iPhone users through 3G.

Both Fring and iCall if embraced by mobile phone users would definitely make the VoIP through 3G market more exciting. Expect more mobile apps that will allow VoIP through 3G to be developed and hope that mobile carriers will not disallow this feature even if it affects part of their revenues.