Jul 12, 2008 Jul 14, 2008 Sunday July 13, 2008
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The Loopt app: A loopy privacy dilema
The privacy considerations of this iPhone 3G application
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Blackberry steals iPhone’s virtual keyboard
What a minute. I thought that the Blackberry keyboard was the reference design that high-volume tappers preferred for their littany of email, SMS and IM communication? In an apparent nod to the iPhone, the forthcoming Blackberry Thunder dispenses with their iconic, hardware QWERTY keyboard for – GASP, get this – an on-screen virtual keyboard. It’s not [...]
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The iPhone 3G’s yellow screen of warmth explained
Many people who purchased the new iPhone 3G on Friday noticed that it’s got a noticeably yellower tint to the screen than the iPhone 2G. The yellow cast on the iPhone 3G screen was explained this way by Bob Borchers, senior director of product marketing for the iPhone: the screen’s color temperature has been purposely [...]
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Talkcast is back Sunday 10pm ET with special guest Ged Maheux
Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts This week has no doubt been a busy one. So to kick the new week off right, we've got a special guest for you: Gedeon Maheux from the Icon Factory will join us to talk about Twitterrific mobile and we will also get his thoughts on the iPhone 3G. We will also be talking about MobileMe and iPhone applications. In addition, we will be taking your questions, so be sure to join us tonight at 10 p.m. ET on Talkshoe. You can also catch up on the past few weeks' worth of shows (including our show last week) from Talkshoe, play them from the Flash player in the continuation of this post, if you like, or pick them up on iTunes. Read on for details on how to join in for tonight's call.Continue reading Talkcast is back Sunday 10pm ET with special guest Ged MaheuxRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Jirbo Jerkos
The App Store is filling up with scammy-looking apps with names that start with spaces or punctuation marks so as to sort to the top of the lists. Apple needs to put an end to this; it already looks junky, and it’s just going to get worse as jackasses prepend their app names with more trick characters. Update: On Twitter, Tim Wood points out that the problem is endemic to alphabetical sorting — if Apple merely disallows spaces and punctuation, the scammers will just switch to “AAAA Solitaire” to get to the top. Dave Dribin points out that Amazon avoids this by not even offering alphabetical sorting as an option. Apple should let you choose between popularity, release date (newest on top), and user ratings. In the meantime, it also occurs to me that a few zero-star ratings from DF readers might help discourage the practice. ★
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Unfair practices in the App Store?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Developer, App StoreThe App Store might be only a few days old, but it has already proven itself to be a viable and potentially lucrative outlet for developers. With so many apps (and more being added all the time) for sale, getting exposure is extremely important if a developer wants to stand out in the crowd. Unsurprisingly, the market, especially in the games sector, is very competitive. But is the quest to compete leading to some unfair, and ultimately consumer unfriendly practices? Note: All of this data refers to the U.S. App Store, I'm unsure of the situation in other parts of the world.We got a tip from an iPhone developer, who requested anonymity, about some shady techniques being employed by some developers to obtain a higher app ranking in the App Store. As it stands right now, if you choose to browse the App Store in iTunes, not using the search but using the "All iPhone Applications" category, apps are visually displayed in alphabetical order. Well, they are supposed to be displayed in alphabetical order. As it stands right now, only five of the 21 titles displayed on the first page actually fit that criteria -- and they are the last five apps on that page.Some developers have figured out that adding a symbol or space before the game name will promote the app to the first page. Thus, Solitaire City, which alphabetically should be on page 26, is the very first app listed in the store. Other tiles like Whack the Groundhog, $0.99 Sudoku and 'ColorRise 3D' are all listed on the first page, instead of where they should be cataloged.Gallery: App Store HijinxContinue reading Unfair practices in the App Store?Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Tom Insam on the iPhone’s Three Different Sliders
It’s not so much that one of them looks different that’s odd, but that they act differently. ★
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TUAW Best of the Week
Filed under: Features, TUAW Business, Weekend ReviewWelcome to the latest installment of TUAW's best of the week, where we gather up our favorite posts for your easy clicking enjoyment. Apparently, there was some phone released this week, but we didn't get the memo on it. Apple and Rogers falling out?Apparently Apple is a little mad after the charges Rogers would be putting on the iPhone customers. So what does Apple do? They divert shipments of iPhones. Brilliant! Now all of Canada is mad about not getting a 3G, eh? Apple, Amazon offer boxed versions of MobileMeBoth Apple and Amazon started selling/shipping boxed version of MobileMe this week. Even though you probably weren't able to use MobileMe until after the 48 hour maintenance was cleared up. However, Amazon is giving MobileMe hopefuls a small discount. WWDC '08: Charlie Wood (Spanning Sync)Brett finished up his latest awesome interview video from WWDC. In this video, he talks with Charlie Wood from Spanning Sync about the newest version. Why you shouldn't buy the iPhone 3G on FridayIn the midst of everyone hurrying to by the latest iPhone, Erica would like to take a moment to share this public service message with you. Saying "goodbye" to .MacThis week ushered in the .Mac replacement we had all been waiting for. Too bad we had to wait even longer once the maintenance had started. Five ways the App Store will change the worldMike gives us five reasons of how the App Store will change the world. Not mentioned? World domination -- I was always hoping for this one for some reason. iPod touch 2.0 update now for sale, for realIf you've heard about the iPhone 2.0 firmware and have an iPod touch, chances are you totally wanted it! Well, iPod touch users, your dream has finally come true. iTunes: Free TuesdayGet some free tunes. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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iPhoto 7.1.4Â soon?
So a little earlier I was filling out a support request form for MobileMe because when I try to send invitations to friends for my MobileMie Web Gallery, Mail spits back a MobileMe promo page, minus the CSS layout. While filling out the form, I ran across a reference to iPhoto 7.1.4. Perusing the iPhoto support site indicted that iPhoto 7.1.3 is still the current version. I guess it's safe to say we'll be seeing an update soon; my guess is that it will improve compatibility with MobileMe.
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A Small Change
In horizontal mode, the iPhone 2.0 keyboard is about 30 pixels shorter, which leaves more room for content above. That’s the good news. The bad news: you still can’t use horizontal mode in typing-heavy apps like Mail and Notes. ★
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iPhone 3G Display’s Color Temperature Is Warmer by Design
Interesting, but I’m not sure it’s software. The speaker died on my original iPhone and I got it replaced under warranty in late May. The color temperature of my “new” original iPhone is far warmer than my original one from a year ago, and when I compare it side-by-side with my wife’s year-old iPhone, it looks similar to Macworld’s example picture here. This makes me think it’s hardware, not software. ★
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Apple's Bluetooth headset gets price reduction
Filed under: Apple, Deals, iPhoneIf you've been looking to get the Apple Bluetooth headset for your iPhone (really, it works on any Bluetooth enabled phone/device/computer) then now is the perfect time to buy. That's because Apple has lowered the price by $30 (US). So you can now pick up a Bluetooth headset for $99 instead of the previous $129. However, Apple did make some sacrifices to get the price down: they no longer include the Dual Dock that allows you to dock both your iPhone and Bluetooth headset for charging/pairing. This is a huge bummer seeing as the Dual Dock now sells for $49. Apple does still include the docking travel cable, which allows you to charge your iPhone/headset, however, it is definitely not as nice to look at as the Dual Dock.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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TUAW Video: Aspen Grove Apple Store on 3G Day
Filed under: Retail, Found Footage, iPhone Last year, I put together a little 10-minute movie about the iPhone lovefest on June 29, 2007. This year, I did the same in between talking with Erica on the phone, and cleaning all the comments out of my email -- after reading them, of course. All of this was done in line at the Aspen Grove Apple Store in Littleton, Colorado. I know some people were critical of the employees at other Apple Stores, but this team is very professional and courteous, and I thought they did a great job considering the pressure they were under.This video was literally thrown together in about 30 minutes, so don't expect a potential Academy Award nominee. You've been forewarned! Direct link to video here.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Scarcity
One day, you may be lucky enough to have a scarcity problem. A product or a service or even a job that's in such high demand that people are clamoring for more than you can make. We can learn a lot from the abysmal performance of Apple this weekend. They took a hot product and totally botched the launch because of a misunderstanding of the benefits and uses of scarcity. First, understand that scarcity is a choice. If you raise your price, scarcity goes away. If your product is going to be scarce, it's either because you benefit from that or because your organization is forbidden to use price as a demand-adjustment tool. I'm going to assume the former. (But I riff a bit on the latter toward the end) Why be scarce? Scarcity creates fashion. People want something that others can't have. Lines create demand. People want something that others want. Scarcity also creates word of mouth, because people talk about lines and shortages and hot products. And finally, scarcity drives your product to the true believers, the ones most likely to spread the word and ignite the ideavirus. Because they expended effort to acquire your product or service, they're not only more likely to talk about it, but they've self-selected as the sort of person likely to talk about it. The danger is that you can kill long-term loyalty. You can annoy your best customers. You can spread negative word of mouth. You can train people to hate your scarcity strategy (Apple did all four this weekend). Take a look at the guy in the photo. That's the goal. He feels great. He's a hero, at least for a moment, all because he stood in line all night. He gets to talk about it and others (not everyone, but enough) aspire to be him next time. You reward the tribe and you build the tribe at the same time. The problem is that our kneejerk way of dealing with scarcity is to treat everyone the same and to have people 'pay' by spending time to indicate their desire. Waiting in line is a very old-school way of dealing with scarcity. And treating new customers like old customers, treating unknown customers the same as high-value customers is painful and unnecessary. Principle 1: Use the internet to form a queue. If you have a scarce product, you almost certainly know it's scarce in advance. Instead of taxing customers by wasting their time, reward the early shoppers by taking orders online. A month before sale date, for example, tell them it's coming. If you sell out before ship date, that's great, because next time people will be even quicker to order when they hear about what you've got. (And you can do this in the real world, too--postcards with numbers or even playing cards work just fine.) A hot band that regularly sells out on the road, for example, could put a VIP serial number inside every CD or t-shirt they sell. Use that to pre-order your tix. Principle 2: Give the early adopters a reward. In the case of Apple, I would have made the first 100,000 phones a different color. Then, instead of the buyer being a hero for ten seconds, he gets to be a hero for a year. Principle 3: Treat different customers differently. Apple, for example, knows how to contact every single existing customer. Why not offer VIP status to big spenders? Or to those that make a lot of calls? Let them cut the line. It's not fair? What's fair mean? I can't think of anything more fair than treating the people who treat you well, better. Principle 4: When things happen in real time, you're way more likely to screw up. One of the giant advantages of the Net is that you can fix things before the whole world notices. Try to do your rollout in small sections, so you can fix mistakes before you hurt the very people you're trying to embrace. Principle 5: Give your early adopters a forum to celebrate. A place to brag or demonstrate or show off or share insights and ideas. Amplify the heroes, which is far better than amplifying the pain of standing in line. Imagine what the Apple and AT&T stores would have been like this weekend if they were filled with happy customers who had pre-paid, pre-registered and were just dropping in for three minutes to pick up their (very coveted) phones, walking up the VIP line, past all the others just waiting for a chance to buy one... Hot restaurants in New York violate all five of these principles on a regular basis. So do sports teams and stores that have lines out front in the middle of winter. What a waste. Even colleges do it. They pretend they've got a meritocracy, but in practice, it's a high-pressure lottery with enormous financial and stress overhead involved. Yes, there are times when scarcity is mandated (the TSA at airports, for example, or food rations at an emergency site). I know that there are plenty of ways to deal with this scarcity as well. Ways to treat your customers (and yes, they are customers) with more respect, to communicate the situation more clearly and to architect the environment so that people are grateful, not stressed out. Smart marketers understand that scarcity (intentional or not) is a tool, one that can be used to enhance the story, not detract from it.