Every week I will be bringing you what I think are the week’s biggest stories and articles. Let’s get started, after the break!
All Articles in Regular Features
Since our last Apps for Less post, price drops worth mentioning have been far and few between. Well today we finally have a notable mention for you. Especially if you are a fan of IM clients…
Today is the final day to get the best IM application available on the iPhone, BeejiveIM (iTunes Link), on sale for $3.00 off the normal price for $12.99. While that is still not the price you’d like to pick it up at, it’s better than the normal price of $15.99. So if you were waiting for a price drop be sure to head into the App Store today!
Once again, the sale ends TODAY! This is the IM client to get, you get what you pay for and you won’t be disappointed with this app. And if you are still on the fence, be sure to check out Dieter’s first look and Casey’s BeeJive vs. Palringo review showdown.
(Thanks to Mr. Hi-Definition for the tip!)
James Thomson is the acclaimed developer behind DragThing for Mac OS X and PCalc RPN Calculator for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Following up on his recent blog postings about the challenges involved navigating the still-nascent App Store business model for developers, and TiPb’s own look at whether or not there’s a “long tail” potential for the market, James was gracious enough to sit down (virtually) and share his thoughts with us about the issues facing 3rd party iPhone developers going forward.
TiPb: James, you recently blogged about PCalc in the context of a “postmortem”. What was the reaction like to that article, and did it bring about any changes in your current thinking or how you plan to proceed with PCalc going forward?
James Thomson: Reaction was interesting. Many iPhone developers contacted me privately, and via the blog, to say they had encountered similar problems with sales after the recent changes to the App Store.
Some pointed out the “Availability Trick” to change the App Store release date for your software when you do an update, to make it sort higher up in the listings. I talked about that a bit in a follow-up post here. It’s unclear whether it really is a trick, or just what you are supposed to do, but it does seem to work.
I’ve also tried a few other suggestions, like renaming the app to “PCalc RPN Calculator” to make sure it appears during searches for the word “calculator” which it didn’t before. So far, there has been a relatively small boost to sales, but I’m not sure how much of that is due to my changes, and how much is just down to the overall publicity that the article generated.
I’m working on a small 1.1.1 update at the moment to fix a few things, and I’ll likely add some more layouts and themes. The real question is what will happen to sales then. If they remain flat, with all the other changes, then I’m going to have to try some more traditional marketing beyond the Google AdWords adverts we are already running. To a certain extent, the blog itself /is/ a form of marketing – I don’t think I can really deny that, given it is raising the profile of our software.
Read the rest of the interview after the jump…
Every week I will be bringing you what I think are the week’s biggest stories and articles. Let’s get started, after the break!
[Here's a bonus TiPb of the Iceberg for you this week, courtesy of the humongous news coming out of Apple's Quarterly Conference Call]
Tuesday’s news that the iPhone has been selling well stupendously well, in case you weren’t paying attention, was really big. It’s tough to express how big. Some of the bullet points:
- They exceeded their sales goal of 10 million iPhones in 2008 already, with the holiday season still ahead of them
- They sold nearly 7 million iPhones in three months.
- They sold more iPhones than RIM sold BlackBerrys (yes, that’s the proper plural spelling)
- Based on revenue from iPhones, Apple was the #3 cellphone maker last quarter, behind only Nokia and Samsung.
- They achieved all this in 15 months.
Now, there are caveats to these numbers: there was pent-up demand for the iPhone 3G so these numbers almost surely won’t hold; RIM’s sales were depressed because of delays releasing the BlackBerry Bold. Don’t let these caveats mislead you, though, what Apple did with the iPhone 3G in the past three months is unprecedented in the mobile industry, it was pretty much unprecedented in any industry.
Our iPhone Forums have been busy as of late, so lets get things going…
Jailbreaking has been a very popular topic lately here on TiPb. So, it’s fitting that everyone interested in that topic check out the thread and click on the link. There are a few pieces of software out there today that allow you to Jailbreak. Personally and for most of the TiPb Team QuickPwn is the popular choice, and we tend to avoid “others” out there. This must-read link for iPhone jailbreakers will tell you why.
Forum member HymerSchmid, started an interesting thread a while ago wondering about a attachable keyboard for the iPhone? Or an iPhone with a physical keyboard? I don’t see it happening, but look at RIM and their new Blackberry Storm. (Thought they were all about the physical keyboards…)
Next up we have a fresh thread just started the other day. All iPhone owners are always craving a new updated firmware fix, so… when do you think the next firmware, 2.2, will actually be released? Next month? December – just in time for the holidays? In the new year? Will be interesting to see just how this all pans out won’t it? Make your voice heard and get in on the vote!
Ever need to copy music from your iPhone to your computer? I personally have not had that need but some of you may, so Wegmans brought it up in his own thread. Check that one out and get some answers!
Curious about a certain iPhone application? Have no idea if it is any good or not? Well if you really want to hear a quality review let cjvitek or msbaylor, our new TiPb iPhone Forum Reviewers, know about it right in the review request thread! If you app is reviewed you can be sure to check it out right here in the iPhone Apps forum!
Like I said, it has been busy in the forums… if you want in on the action, be sure to register here! You can do so here and it will only take a quick minute.
See you on the forums!
It’s time for App Avalanche 14, and this week we’re taking a look at the Finance category in the App Store and at what’s Good, Better, Best, and, of course, the CrApp. If you are looking for some good finance apps, there are a load of apps in the App Store in this category. Unfortunately, there seem to be a ton of very mediocre apps (according to reviews left by App Store visitors), and it takes a bit of sifting through the coal dust to find some diamonds. Read on to learn about some Finance apps you may want to try for yourself!
(“Unique” by Hamed Masoumi, licensed under Creative Commons)
[Introducing TiPb of the Iceberg, our new, bi-weekly column from TiPb Senior Editor, and all-around Smartphone Expert, Dieter Bohn.]
The recent news that development house Tap Tap Tap is breaking up has me thinking about the App Store and developers again. Partially it’s because Tap Tap Tap has previously been mentioned here at TiPb as an example of developers raking in the cash and as an example of developers being open about how much they’re making and what they think of the industry. The break-up is interesting for a few reasons in this context.
After the break, some ruminations and thoughts on the State of the Apps from this layman’s point of view. Warning: as you can see from the title, this post includes hackneyed references to the Long Tail
Just a reminder that voting ends tomorrow for TiPb at Work Week 3! Vote for your favorite remote desktop/VNC apps for your chance to win! Free apps people! What are you waiting for?! Go ahead and vote!
With all this talk about the economy being in the dumps lately, Rene wants to know what, if any, cutbacks will the economy make on your iPhone usage? There are some interesting replies in the thread so far, check it out and add your own opinion!
So you recently jailbroke your iPhone by following some of our “how to” guides and you installed Winterboard… well show us your creative side and post screen shots in the thread started by schartzr of the Winterboard iPhone themes you are sporting.
Having any issues with your iPhone or iPhone 3G and cant not seem to get a answer? Well have you tried our forum for iPhone related issues? Post your question here in the iPhone help forum and a friendly forum member will be sure to lend you a helping hand.
Before you can start posting the our forums be sure to register, it only takes a minute or two, very simple process. It’s about time you joined our growing community and get in on the action!
See you on the forums!
It’s been a while since our last Today on the Forums post, but hopefully today’s topics will make up for it.
Today on the forums we have some great ideas from Alienwhere, who would like to see some more integration with his iPhone and his Mac. I agree… Check out some of his ideas and add to them if you can.
Next up we have Reaktor5 who wants to know, do you feel inferior when a new Apple product comes out? Everyone who is in this game of electronic gadgets knows there is always something around the corner that will be better. That’s just the way it works. But do you care about the newer device?
How has MobileMe been treating you lately? Fed up to the point where you can not take it anymore? Well look no further than gymnofrool’s thread, MobileMe Alternatives. I recently made the switch to an Exchange account and it has been working perfectly for me. I’m actually getting all of my mail…
Lately there have been so many new devices being announced and released. Everyone here at TiPb is curious as to what you think about the latest and greatest. To comment about devices such as the Touch HD, Palm Treo Pro, Blackberry Storm, etc… head on into the Smartphone Different: Other Gadgets forum.
So what are you waiting for? To get in on the forum action be sure to register, only take a few minutes of your time!
See you on the forums!
