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iOS Developers Making Leap to the Mac→

iOS Developers Making Leap to the Mac

Chris Foreman at Ars Technica reports about several iOS developers porting their apps to the Mac App Store:

These developers warned, however, that it wasn’t fair to make direct comparisons with the iOS App Store at this early stage. For one, every iOS device has access to the iOS App Store, while only those who applied the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update can access the Mac App Store. And, as Crawford pointed out, there are more iOS devices in active use than there are Macs.

Frampton compared initial sales volumes to the early days of the App Store on the iPhone. “The overall size of the market seems very similar to the early days of the iOS App Store, and in fact I get a very distinct feeling of déjà vu,” he said. “The Mac App Store market may never catch up, but it certainly has a lot of room to grow.”

“Sales tend to eventually level out and that’s yet to happen on the Mac App Store,” Comi agreed.

As more users upgrade to 10.6.6 (a friend of mine ran Software Update a week ago, almost a month after the Mac App Store introduction), there will still be a considerable userbase stuck on previous versions of Snow Leopard. That’s the problem with the Mac App Store coming as an “add-on” to the OS. However, I believe that, in the end, apps will be the reason why these people will be “forced” to upgrade to the latest SL version. The more great apps are released in the Mac App Store, the more people will say “Hey, maybe I really need to update”.

It’s not the Mac App Store as a “feature” by itself, it’s the ecosystem of a platform for great software.

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Could Nokia - Microsoft Partnership Lead To A Patent Settlement with Apple?→

Could Nokia - Microsoft Partnership Lead To A Patent Settlement with Apple?

Earlier today, Microsoft and Nokia announced a partnership to bring Windows Phone 7 to Nokia’s smartphones. Intellectual property activist Florian Mueller speculates this could facilitate the settlement of patent disputes between Apple and Nokia.

I can’t imagine that Apple would assert any of its patents against Windows Phone 7. Nokia is now covered by Microsoft as far as Windows Phone-based devices are concerned, and it’s been a long time since Apple and Microsoft had (and settled) a patent dispute. They need each other.

In the past months, the two companies fired back at each other with a series of lawsuits. I don’t know how much Apple “needs” Microsoft at the end of the day, but I do agree that resources would be better spent going after Android rather than Nokia’s alleged patent infringements.

Read the whole story here.

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IconBox for Mac: 50% Off Today Only→

IconBox for Mac: 50% Off Today Only

IconBox, icon organizer and customization tool for Mac, is available at $12.49 (50% off) at MacUpdate today only. From our review:

I really like IconBox. It’s akin to what LittleSnapper did for me for Flickr photos; IconBox is a library chock-full of considerate features that helps me organize interesting findings. While it may look intimidating at first glance due to its large feature set, there’s nothing to be afraid of. IconBox provides icon lovers new and old with a great toolset that’s persuaded me to use it over Panic’s own CandyBar 3.

If you’re that kind of user who customizes his Mac a lot, you should give IconBox a try.

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iOS and App Backups→

iOS and App Backups

Craig Grannell is right about iOS lacking an option to easily restore game backups:

That Apple doesn’t provide a workaround for this is inexcusable now that we’ve reached iOS 4.x. In the days of 10 MB iOS games, it wasn’t a problem: you could stuff dozens on a device without problem. But in this age of Rivens and Puzzle Quest 2s, Apple’s (from a gaming standpoint) fast turning its high-end devices into the equivalent of crappy cartridges without battery back-up. The only difference is that an iOS device can hold a bunch of ‘cartridges’, but when one’s removed, the result is the same: all your progress is lost.

Game Center could have been a solution with cloud-based backups for gamers, but I think this is a wider issue. Apple should provide single backups for any app, not just games. Either cloud-based (tied to your MobileMe account, would be nice) or local, users could restore an app’s library after an OS update in seconds. The problem with the current iTunes backups is that they keep everything in a single package that’s often incompatible with updates / downgrades because, again, apps aren’t separated from system files in the backup file.

A single-app backup method would make everything much easier.

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Nokia CEO’s Leaked Memo Mentions Apple, iPhone Marketshare→

Nokia CEO’s Leaked Memo Mentions Apple, iPhone Marketshare

An allegedly leaked memo of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop sets the record straight on Nokia’s position on a “burning platform” and the success of Apple in the past three years:

In 2008, Apple’s market share in the $300+ price range was 25 percent; by 2010 it escalated to 61 percent. They are enjoying a tremendous growth trajectory with a 78 percent earnings growth year over year in Q4 2010. Apple demonstrated that if designed well, consumers would buy a high-priced phone with a great experience and developers would build applications. They changed the game, and today, Apple owns the high-end range.

The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don’t have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.

Awareness is the first step to build better products. Full memo available here.

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Angry Birds “Valentine’s Day Edition” Now Available→

Angry Birds Seasons “Valentine’s Edition” Now Available

The much anticipated Valentine’s Day update for Angry Birds Seasons just went live in the App Store. It includes 15 “lovely” new levels, a Valentine’s Day theme, new achievements. Oh, and a new icon featuring a sexy female Angry Bird.

Get ready for the most heartfelt episode in Angry Birds Seasons so far: the Valentine’s Day edition! After the shenanigans of Halloween and Christmas, Angry Birds Seasons continue in the spirit of Love! As usual, Angry Birds gives the most generous updates of any app!

Go download the update here. Seasons HD for iPad is also available.

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A Typographic Review Of The Daily→

A Typographic Review Of The Daily

Fonts In Use shares our same views on the problems with text in The Daily:

Text typography is still the weakness of nearly every iPad publication. Presented with a device that echoes the dimensions of a printed page, designers — especially those in the news world — feel obligated to stick with print conventions: static text set in justified columns. The Daily suffers the same shortcomings. When the columns are wide enough (see above) full justification works. When columns are any narrower (see below), letter- and word-spacing stretches to distraction, even with hyphenation. I admire the way text layouts change when switching between vertical and horizontal orientation — pull quotes often pop in when appropriate — but the typesetting requires more attention. Articles rarely scroll, but when they do, it works just fine. It makes one wonder whether the very short story lengths are a preference of the design staff or an editorial staff unwilling to put more meat on the table.

It also makes me wonder: will we ever see an iPad newspaper / magazine with proper text manipulation? Does’t that fall under the “interactivity” promised by many publications? [via]

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Angry Birds Gets 15 New Levels→

Angry Birds Gets 15 New Levels

An Angry Birds update for iPhone and iPad just went live in the App Store, bringing 15 new levels and a new golden egg that, according to Rovio, is “as mad as a bag of hammers”.

The update, version 1.5.1, also adds compatibility for the secret code that will be given away during a Super Bowl commercial, which will let users  unlock another additional level which, once completed, will give every Angry Birds fan a chance to win a ticket to Fox’s premiere of the animated film “Rio” in Rio de Janeiro.

A special version of Rovio’s game, Angry Birds Rio, will be released in March.

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Digital Magazines for iPad: An Example Of Bulkiness→

Digital Magazines for iPad: An Example Of Bulkiness

Nick Bilton, reporting for The New York Times:

This morning I decide to try a little experiment: I opened up my iPad, clicked on the little Wired icon and purchased the magazine’s latest digital issue. After I agreed to fork over $4, it began downloading. For the next phase of the experiment, I grabbed my car keys, left my apartment and drove about 12 blocks to a local magazine store in Brooklyn, where I also purchased the latest issue of Wired magazine, this time in print.

I didn’t run any red lights, or speed, or park illegally during my shopping expedition. Yet when I returned home with the glossy paper product in hand, the digital iPad version still hadn’t finished downloading to my iPad. Anybody who reads Wired would call this an Epic Fail.

I couldn’t agree more. Having to download hundreds of megabytes, and having to wait several minutes (hours, for many) for the download and install processes to finish doesn’t simply make sense. Especially when the digital magazine you’ve purchased is nothing but a series of static images with no interaction at all. Digital magazines need to be more than this.

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