So this has been rumoured for some time with all the iPhones.There has been some patents revealed that apple has some interest in the nfc technology it’s not that surprising as competitors like Blackberry has nfc in their latest release the 9900.

With the new iPhone having this technology the possibilities are endless im not going to go into detail but one thing that would be good that is when going to the apple store you could scan your iPhone at the entrance jus an idea but it would make life easier or would it?

looking at the image about we can see a new design mixed up with the back of the 9900 and the iPad2  Whats your thought on this ?

Net income at companies from Apple Inc. to Oracle Corp. will rise 11 percent in 2012 on average, according to more than 2,900 analyst projections compiled by Bloomberg. The profit estimate is down 2.3 percent from its peak this year, the smallest reduction of any industry in the MSCI World Index. Utility forecasts were cut the most at 29 percent.

The resilience in technology, which accounts for more of the U.S. market than any other industry, underscores optimism that the American economy is recovering even as Europe’s debt crisis spreads and China’s growth slows. Bears say estimates for record profits are too high and investors risk the same losses they suffered in 2000 and 2007, when computer-related shares began declines exceeding 56 percent.

“Technology companies are being helped by the dramatic improvement in the health and profitability of corporations,� Stephen Wood, who helps oversee about $163 billion as the New York-based chief market strategist for Russell Investments, said in a telephone interview on Dec. 9. “When the market finally has the time to assess fundamentals, IT stocks will be one of the sectors that will benefit.�

Capital spending at U.S. companies is the highest since 2008 and investment in equipment and software climbed at a 15.6 percent annual pace in the third quarter, according to the Commerce Department. Technology expenditures may climb 3.9 percent to $2.7 trillion in 2012, research firm Gartner Inc. said Oct. 17.

Concern Europe’s debt crisis would trigger a global recession dragged equity markets in 37 of the 45 countries in the MSCI All-Country World Index into bear markets in 2011, or declines of 20 percent from a peak. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 19 percent between April 29 and Oct. 3 before paring the decrease to 8 percent.

Technology stocks are trading at lower valuations than drugmakers or housewares suppliers. Computer and software makers in the MSCI World are priced at 14.6 times reported earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The industry has a so- called PEG ratio, an indicator popularized by Fidelity Investments’ Peter Lynch, of 0.87.

The PEG ratio, found by dividing the price-earnings multiple by estimates for profit growth over the next three years, for health-care providers in the MSCI gauge is 1.11. Household product-makers trade at 1.49 and the full index is valued at 1.11. The closer the ratio is to 0, the cheaper the company.

“They’re at very reasonable valuations,� Tom Wirth, who helps manage $1.5 billion as senior investment officer for Chemung Canal Trust Co., in Elmira, New York, said in a telephone interview on Dec. 7. “The outlook is fabulous for the tech group, mainly because this is the one area where businesses feel they need to invest.�

The MSCI World slipped less than 0.1 percent last week to 1,187.29 after the European Central Bank damped speculation it would boost sovereign-debt purchases. The gauge of computer- related shares increased 0.7 percent in the past five days, the second-biggest advance among 10 industries, to pare its decline for the year to 0.8 percent.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5 percent to 1,236.53 at 10:07 a.m. in New York today, and the MSCI World lost 1.5 percent to 1,170.08 as Moody’s Investors Service will review the ratings of all European Union countries and Intel Corp. cut its revenue forecast. The world’s largest chipmaker dropped 4 percent.

Some of the smartest investors are buying technology companies. Warren Buffett, the billionaire chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska, spent more than $10 billion on shares of International Business Machines Corp., making the company his second-biggest holding.

While analysts have boosted 2012 profit estimates for the world’s largest computer-services provider by 6.5 percent, the shares are valued at 9.5 percent below the average from the past decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Armonk, New York-based IBM climbed 2.6 percent last week to a record $194.56, bringing its 2011 gain to 33 percent.

Estimates for 2012 income at Redwood City, California-based Oracle and SAP AG, which develop business software, have increased more than 4.6 percent this year, according to analysts’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. SAP is poised to meet earnings targets, Bill McDermott, the Walldorf, Germany-based company’s co-chief executive officer, said in a Nov. 29 webcast.

Projections for technology companies have fallen less than any other group in the MSCI World this year amid increased spending on iPhones, tablet computers and digital cameras. Forecasts for telephone-service operators dropped 9.7 percent since peaking on May 2, and estimates for raw-material producers and oil suppliers were reduced more than 10.8 percent.

Analysts say computer companies will post more growth next year than drugmakers or producers of household goods, the only MSCI World industries with rising share prices this year. Health-care providers in the global equity benchmark may increase income by 4.5 percent in 2012, while an index of grocery store operators, foodmakers and tobacco companies will earn 9.3 percent more, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“People may reduce spending in other places, but they won’t cut their smartphone,� said Arthur Kwong, the head of Asia Pacific equities for BNP Paribas Investment Partners, in an interview from his Hong Kong office on Nov. 22. The firm oversees about $740 billion. “It’s something people can’t live without.�

Technology stocks tumbled during the last two bear markets. The industry lost 56 percent in the 16-month decline triggered by the U.S. financial crisis beginning in October 2007, about the same as the MSCI World Index. The group plunged 83 percent, more than any other industry, as the Internet bubble burst from March 2000 to October 2002.

“If Europe has a really bad outcome, then all bets are off because then it’s still only the basic consumer staples, utilities, things that people can’t live without,� Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of asset allocation for ING Investment Management, said in a telephone interview on Dec. 7. His firm oversees $550 billion. “It’s going to be a very, very dire economic environment.�

Germany, France and four other nations may lose their AAA credit ratings depending on the result of a summit of European Union leaders on Dec. 9, S&P said on Dec. 5. The European Central Bank lowered borrowing costs and introduced measures to stimulate bank lending and fight off a recession after policy makers met to lay the foundation for closer fiscal union. Texas Instruments Inc. predicted fourth-quarter sales last week that fell short of analysts’ estimates. Shares of the Dallas- based company have slumped 7.9 percent in 2011. The second- largest U.S. chipmaker gets most of its revenue from semiconductors that are key components in everything from missiles to washing machines.

Sales at electronics stores advanced 3.7 percent in October, the most since 2009, according to a report last month from the Commerce Department in Washington. Expectations for technology spending among U.S. shoppers in November reached the highest level in 11 months, a gauge compiled by the Arlington, Virginia-based Consumer Electronics Association showed.

Apple sold more than 4 million iPhone 4S devices in the first three days after it was introduced in October, more than double the number sold last year during the introduction of the previous model. Analysts’ estimates for the Cupertino, California-based company’s 2012 profit have risen 54 percent this year, pushing valuations to 11.3 times projected income. That’s about 22 percent below the four-year average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Cambiar Investors LLC’s Brian Barish said he’s buying industrials, energy and technology stocks on speculation European leaders will prevent the region’s debt crisis from worsening into financial turmoil similar to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008.

“It seems pretty clear that the euro zone is going to prevent a Lehman-type situation from happening,� Barish, who helps oversee about $8 billion as Denver-based president of Cambiar, said in a Dec. 6 Bloomberg Television interview. “To the extent they’re able to avoid that, we see a lot of value.�

Bloomberg.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUnXeBbkX00&hl=en

Image via CrunchBase

The sale of global HTML5 phones is set to raise to  one billion units by 2013 from 336 million units in 2011. The forecast has been made by Strategy Analytics, a global consultancy on the future of HMTL5 capable mobile phones which expects a surge of 365 per cent between 2011 and 2016.

According to the official release from the company ‘HTML5 has quickly become a high-growth technology that will help smart phones, feature phones, tablets, notebooks, desktop PCs, television and vehicles to converge through cloud services.’

According to Neil Shah, Analyst at Strategy Analytics, has been quoted in the report, saying that “we forecast worldwide HTML5 phone sales to surge from 336 million units in 2011 to one billion in 2013. The growth for HTML5 phones is being driven by robust demand from multiple hardware vendors and software developers in North America, Europe and Asia who want to develop rich media services across multiple platforms, including companies like Adobe, Apple, Google and Microsoft. We define an HTML5 phone as a mobile handset with partial or full support for HTML5 technology in the browser, such as the Apple iPhone 4S.�

The consultancy considers HTML5 to play a pivotal role in the emergence of technology for ‘mobile operators, device makers, car manufacturers, component vendors and Web application developers’. HTML5 has been hailed as potentially capable of ‘transcend some of the barriers faced by native applications, such as cross-platform usability, HTML5 is a market that no mobile stakeholder can afford to ignore.’

The six major regions for which the forecast has been done include North America, Central & Latin America, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, Africa Middle East and Asia Pacific.

In an earlier report, ABI Research had reported that by 2016 there would be more than 2.1 billion devices empowered with HTML 5 in comparison to 109 million in 2010. These research forecasts would give an impetus to companies like Abode which last month announce that the company would discontinue the use of flash for mobile stating that ‘HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively.  This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms.’

Apple for long has dissuaded the use of Flash for iOS that has driven developers towards HTML5 use, which has also contributed towards wide adaptation of HTML5. ‘

Thomas Kang, Director at Strategy Analytics, suggested caution when it comes to HTML5. ‘Despite surging growth of HTML5 phone sales, we caution that HTML5 is still a relatively immature technology. HTML5 currently has limited APIs and feature-sets to include compared with native applications on platforms such as Android or Apple iOS. It will require several years of further development and standards-setting before HTML5 can fully mature to reach its potential as a unified, multi-platform content-enabler,’ Thomas was quoted.

Above is my article originally published in Daily Post on Oct 7, 2011, view it here

Related articles

• HTML5-enabled phones to hit 1 billion in sales in 2013 (news.cnet.com)
• Forecast: 1 Billion HTML5 Phones By 2013 – TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)
• What is HTML5? (infographic) & Ultimate HTML5 Cheatsheet (gabrielcatalano.com)

I imagine that many developers and even more entrepreneurs on the verge of creating a mobile application are contemplating whether to build it using native SDKs or using only HTML5. If you are having the same doubts, this article might help you. I will explain what both options mean, what are the implications of each, the pros and cons of each, and even some hybrid options.

Image via Wikipedia

lllaass has a workaround.

Yes. that is no abnormal after updating to iOS 4.2.1. After that update many processes can occur with the iPad sleeping and those drain the battery. To reduce battery drain I leave my Ipad in airplane mode when sleeping overnight.

via Apple – Support – Discussions – Battery: significant drain while ….

hought I’d create a ‘how-to’ setup guide for iOS devices to AirPrint to any Windows printer via WiFi network.
PLEASE NOTE: The PC/Server/Laptop sharing the printer must be powered on for this to work obviously. You must also have admin rights to install the service on your PC.

1. First, ensure your printer is in a working state on your Windows PC.
2. Download ‘AirPrint Installer.zip’ from here http://elpamsoft.com/Downloads/AirPrint%20Installer.zip

3. Run the program (it run’s from the exe, no installation required) and click ‘Install AirPrint Service’ (Ensure Service Startup is AUTO)

• This will install the AirPrint service on your Windows PC which works with the Bonjour service which enables your iOS device to ‘see’ your shared printer on your WiFi network

4. Share your printer. Open Your Printers folder, Right-Click your printer and click ‘share/sharing’.

• Tick ‘Share this printer’
• Click OK

5. Now attempt to printer a document/photo from iOS device.

6. If you get a box asking for a username and password, this HAS to be a local account on the PC/Server that your sharing the printer from NOT a Domain account.

• I had no luck with using the Guest account, so to make things easier, I created a new account (Right Click My Computer > Manage > Local Users & Groups > Users) called ‘print’ (Username & Password both ‘print’)
• You may need to make sure that the newly created account has ‘print’ privelages to your shared printer (Check this within the properties of your shared printer > Security tab). If not, add the user.

If your having problems with printer discovery from your iOS device, restart the Bonjour & AirPrint service
(Start > Run > (type) services.msc (Click OK) > Right Click ‘Bonjour Service’ > Click Restart. (Same for AirPrint Service)

Good Luck!

The report could signal particularly grim news for Research in Motion, as BlackBerry users demonstrated higher interest in switching to the iPhone, with 66 percent indicating a probable switch, compared to 44 percent of Android users. RIM’s BlackBerry has lost significant share on Verizon as the carrier has heavily promoted its Android offerings. With the arrival of the iPhone, the BlackBerry on Verizon has been relegated to third place.

Also of note, 26 percent of AT&T customers reported plans to purchase the Verizon iPhone on launch day. A larger survey from ChangeWave in January found that 16 percent of AT&T users were planning to switch, though 26 percent of AT&T iPhone users said they would change to Verizon.

For AT&T users intending to jumping ship, dropped calls were the main reason for leaving, with 48 percent of AT&T customers who plan to buy the Verizon iPhone citing dropped calls as the cause.

When the first reviews of the Verizon iPhone emerged Wednesday, reviewers indicated that the Verizon iPhone drops significantly less calls than the AT&T iPhone.

uSamp’s survey also found that men are more likely to switch to the Verizon iPhone: 32 percent of males compared to 20 percent of females. As expected, younger respondents indicated they were more willing to wait in line on launch day, as well as more likely to switch overall. According to the report, among Verizon BlackBerry and Android smartphone owners, 71 percent of respondents aged 18-24 and 60 percent of those aged 25-34 are planning to switch.

uSamp reports a 3.6 percent margin of error for their results.

link to article:  http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/02/03/54_of_verizons_android_blackberry_users_to_switch_to_iphone_survey_says.html

Gail Davis is the winner, and will be receiving an iTunes gift card valued at $10,000.  But the process of getting the gift card is a maze.

One thing about Gail Davis is that she hates telemarketers.  When the phone rings, if there is any suspicion of a telemarketer, she hangs up immediately.  Well, one day when an Apple representative called her house, they were hung up on shortly after Gail Davis picked up the phone.

Gail’s daughters second-guessed this decision, thinking that they were winners of the promotion.  Why else would Apple be calling them?

Gail tried calling Apple back, but hope was lost.  Until the Vice President of…not the United States…but iTunes, learned of what happened.  He personally called Gail back to straighten everything out and to make arrangements for getting the gift card.

If anyone is interested, the 10 billionth app that was downloaded from the Apple App Store was Paper Glider.

Build it today, test on your iPhone today. (Release to app store 10 Days)

So I have wanted to build an iPhone app for about a year now and received several cost estimates from excellent companies SubSplash, MobileRoadie and a few others. We will most likely move ahead and invest a bit in the next year for mobile media but before we totally took the plunge I wanted to test just how popular and useful an iPhone mobile app would be.

If you have been looking for a simple way to build and fairly simple way to publish an iPhone app and really don’t want to invest thousands just yet, I would recommend AppMakr for you. You can design and build straight forward apps pretty quick and if you know some HTML and CSS you can push the functionality a bit.

Building is the easy part actually, it’s connecting and publishing to the Apple iTunes App Store that’s a bit complex, at least at first. I’ll outline that process in a future post. If you don’t want to figure the second part out AppMakr will publish for you at $1,000.00 (each release).

Give it a try, I think you’ll dig it. Here is the direct link to the Grace Fellowship Church app. Released today to our church. Looking forward to checking out the stats. Have fun.

These figures are so much bigger that we ever expected so we can only send you a BIG THANK YOU!

One million downloads already.
That didn’t take long.
Apple’s Mac App Store tallied 1 million downloads in its first day of availability, the company announced today.
“We’re amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. “Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is.”
Apple launched its Mac App Store yesterday to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard users. It was made available in the free Mac OS X 10.6.6 software update. According to Apple, the store currently has over 1,000 free and paid apps in categories ranging from education to games.
But the Mac App Store’s first day didn’t bring only good news for Apple.
A reported Mac App Store hack being shared across the Web allows users to take digital receipts from free applications and use them on pirated copies of a paid app. The receipts effectively fool the paid app into believing use has been authorized, thus allowing users to run the programs and pay nothing for them. Apple has yet to comment on the problem.

When you log into the app, you’re presented with a summary screen with a search field at the top.
It also shows the numbers of items you’re watching, buying (or bidding on), selling, any reminders and messages you have, easy access to your saved searches and your profile. A nice touch is the Deals button at the bottom of the welcome screen which will list the current daily and weekly deals.
Lastly, next to the search field is a barcode button which allows you to use your iPod camera to scan the barcode of any items you’re selling. The neat thing about this is that it will do some of the work for you, such as the name of the item you’re selling and it will even provide a stock photo of the item so you don’t have to use your own.
One problem with this, though, was that the majority of DVDs and video games I scanned showed no results, even though the barcodes were recognized correctly (out of the 5 or 6 I tried, my Family Guy boxset was the only one that turned up a match).

Speaking of selling, they’ve also tried to make the process a little quicker with the ability to take photos direct from your iPod (either a new photo or from the camera roll) and also to automate the seller settings (so you don’t have to state the handling time or the return policy every time you sell an item).
Likewise, you can configure the app to keep you logged in to eBay and Paypal at all times (or to log you out). The app can also be configured to give you push notifications for outbidding, best offers and even when a watched item is ending (and you can decide how far from the end of the auction you would like to be notified).
When auctions are over, you can mark items as dispatched from your iPod and you can also relist items or leave feedback. It will also show you which items have been paid for.

One omission that I did notice was less category options when you’re refining search results down
(for example, you can select video games under category but you can’t narrow that down to say, Playstation 2 games). Other than that though, the eBay application is a worthy port of it’s desktop counterpart and is definitely recommended to anyone who uses the site even semi-regularly. The ability to manage your account on the move is a welcome one, and the way it’s been implemented works great.

The thing about the iPad is that it’s an amazing device… if you know how to take advantage of it. For example, I was chatting with an attending at the hospital about the iPad and he said he thought it “sucked” because he was unable to do some things he wanted with it. It turned out he just didn’t know how and, after explaining the functions, he couldn’t be happier with it.

Apart from the incredible medical software available for the iPad, one of the other remarkable features of the iPad is all the available video and entertainment software. Apple’s advertising goes something along the lines of “you get one device and 200,000 possibilities” (or maybe I just thought that, I don’t know). One of those possibilities is to open your iPad up to streaming video. That’s right – movies that resides on your computer can be watched on your iPad without needed to copy anything to your device and use up space. Now that you know where we’re going in this article, let me introduce you to Air Video.

Air Video has a number of great features including, as you may guess, video streaming but it can also do a couple other great tricks such as converting video on-the-fly so that it can be watched immediately and doing offline conversion to iOS-compatible formats. Air Video can recognize and play the following formats: mp4, m4v, mov, avi, wmv, asf, mpg, mpeg, mkv, 3gp, dmf, divx, and flv. While this article is written with the iPad in mind (all screenshots are taken from the iPad version), this software also runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

From the description in iTunes:

Enjoy your entire video collection everywhere! *
Get more of your video library on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Air Video is a great solution to watch your AVI, DivX, MKV and other videos.

★ Video Streaming ★

Don’t synchronize your videos, watch them over air! Suddenly the capacity of your devices is infinite!

★ Live Conversion ★

Air Video supports almost all video formats and performs the conversion “on-the-fly”. No waiting for files to convert, they are done in real time as you watch!

★ One Touch Offline Conversion ★

If you want to store your video inside the device instead of streaming it, Air Video will convert it for you to iPhone friendly format. Forget the hassle with conversion settings, just one tap and the video conversion is on.

Air Video comes packed with features. It can share folders on your hard drive as well as iTunes playlists. It supports live conversion and offline conversion where the entire file is converted upfront. It lets you customize the conversion settings, zoom and crop the video.* Air Video works over local network and over internet (including 3G). However to enjoy streaming over internet your router must support UPnP or NAT-PMP protocols so that Air Video can setup the port forwarding for you. Otherwise you will need to configure the port forwarding manually.

* Air Video will not play DRM protected videos. All video content purchased through iTunes includes DRM. Video podcast content is free and does not include DRM protection.

Below are four screenshots detailing the features of Air Video and one screenshot showing the server GUI running on Windows 7. The server GUI allows the user to specify shared folders, monitor video conversions, change settings (Start with Windows, password protection, etc.), remote access over the internet, display subtitles with language limits and view server and conversion logs. Unfortunately, conversions can not currently be started from the server GUI and still have to be initiated on the iOS device.

In the first Air Video screenshot running on the iPad, the server selection can be seen. Each computer runs a local copy of the Air Video server (available for Mac and Windows). Subsequent screenshots show how video folders can be browsed, video playback options can be changed and video conversion status on the server can be monitored.

Windows Air Video Server

Server selection screen

Video folder selection

Playback options

Converstion status on the server

Overall, Air Video is a 4.5/5 star product. It does everything one could hope for except for allowing conversions to be initiated on the server. Videos play fast and the software is stable. After using this software for the past several months, I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

Air Video is available in the App Store for free as the free version or $2.99 for the full version. The free version is limited to 3 to 5 videos per folder but it otherwise fully functional.

Air Video: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-video-watch-your-videos/id306550020?mt=8

Air Video Free: http://itunes.apple.com/app/air-video-free-watch-your/id313056918?mt=8#

Although most of the headlines have focused on new functionality Apple has introduced, such as bringing folders and multi-tasking to the iPad, there’s a much more important reason why you should be considering updating your Apple iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Security.

According to an Apple e article" rel="nofollow">knowledgebase article, iOS 4.2 includes more than 40 security fixes designed to better protect iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users.

It’s critical that users of Apple’s popular gadgets update their operating system as soon as possible. Fixes included in the iOS 4.2 update include patches for the web browser. Without these users could be at risk when they visit booby-trapped websites – code embedded on the website could cause iOS applications to crash, or even plant and run malicious code on the device.

In addition, iOS 4.2 fixes a flaw which made it possible for hackers to push malicious configuration files onto iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, and a problem with the way Excel files can be imported that could lead to malicious code being executed.

Users of the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad can receive their iOS 4.2 update via the normal route – downloading it as an update via iTunes.

Google today has finally brought the popular Android app named Google Goggles to the iPhone. Google Goggles was first introduced for Android platform in December last year.

For those of you who don't know, Google Goggles lets you search the web using images without having to speak or write anything. You can simply take a picture with the camera on your phone, Goggles will then analyze and process your image, and then it will return a relevant search results page from Google. Currently, Goggles identifies landmarks, books, logos, business cards, places, wine bottles and works of art. Support for things like food, plants, and animals will be added in future releases.

Google Goggles is available as of today for free as a feature of Google Mobile App for iPhone. It will work only with iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS.

WTF I thought this wasn’t coming out until next year?! Oh well. It appears that Sonic 4 is slated to come out for the iphone sometime this week and consoles next Monday.

Depending on how broke I am I might get it for the PS3. What about you guys?

A new report today suggests that Apple (s aapl) may be planning to add more options to its iPhone line. Currently, Cupertino only offers either current gen or last gen tech, in a variety of storage sizes. It’s less of a choice, really, and more of an ultimatum.

The source of the rumors is Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. Wu performed supply chain checks that revealed Apple was sourcing parts for touchscreens both larger and smaller than the current iPhone 4′s 3.5-inch display. Specific sizes weren’t mentioned, but Kaufman Bros. suggests that the new touchscreens could be for use in a new high- and low-end models of iPhone, and that the new models could ship before Apple’s annual late spring/early summer iPhone refresh date.

But is such a move likely from a company that has, for the last four iterations of the iPhone, stuck with the same formula and only released one version of its handset? If this was last year or the year before that, I’d easily dismiss these rumors as idle speculation. However, this isn’t those years. This is the year of Android (s goog).

Android devices come in a wide range of configurations, because it’s just a software platform that any hardware manufacturer can use. While Apple maintains quality control by building its own hardware, Google offers the benefit of choice to consumers, so they can pick a phone that fits their lifestyle. The iPhone, on the other hand, is almost a lifestyle unto itself.

With Android actually surging ahead of iOS in terms of new device sales, Apple must be feeling the heat. At this point in the year, the company is still at least eight months out from new hardware, following its usual schedule, which normally provides it with a big sales boost.

The iPad also showed that demand was there for different configurations of iOS devices. Its success could provide Cupertino with the impetus to try other form factors. A smaller iPhone has long been rumored, but if released now and sold for next to nothing on contract, it would take a lot of the wind out of Google’s sails. A larger screen, with a 4-inch or more Retina Display would easily beat out its big-screen competition from the Android camp.

One final thing to keep in mind is that Apple’s build cost for these devices continues to drop, thanks to the A4 chip, which the company makes itself. Leveraging that chip into as many devices as possible is just good business.

What do you think? Would a smaller or larger iPhone interest you? Could they stem the tide of Android?

It’s a big day for iPhone users.  Google just released their ‘Google Goggles’ app that basically makes you cooler and smarter than everyone else at the party.

I wonder what happens if you snap a photo of a street walker?  You’d probably reconsider being her friend that night.

Seems like any company with a strong brand and customer base can be a hardware vendor. Hot on the heels of Amazon apparently launching its own tablet, clothing retailer Next is quietly offering a cut-price iPad wannabe.

Amazon has form with the brilliant Kindle eBook but Next has come a little out of left field. It’s all thanks to Android of course, the iPad-baiting open source OS that’s garnering millions of fans and users around the world.

Android’s modus operandi is the opposite to Apple. Android thrives on anyone and everyone playing with it whereas Apple thrives on being a closed shop,  locking users into its hardware, software, content and payment platforms.

Personally I think it’s a stroke of genius. The price point (£180) is massively undercutting the iPad as well as the sprinkling of Android tablets already announced by the bigger technology companies. Next customers get access to a global community of content as well as a (hopefully) decent device for enjoying media. Next gets the kudos of playing in the tablet market and, if it’s smart, a channel through which to pump content and hopefully generate sales. On this point, Next launched its own iPhone app back in February, and you can bet that feedback from that experience led to the development of its own tablet.

It makes you think who else could enter the tablet market. Banks, motoring organisations, football clubs, in fact any brand, company or organisation that has a decent brand, customer loyalty and a sales channel to get the product to market.

So, outside of the big tech hardware vendors, any guesses as to who will be next?

Future purchases have swayed heavily away from iPhone and to Android.

 According to recent surveys from Changewave, consumers have moved to Google’s (GOOG)Android in growing numbers in the period between June and September.  Seven percent more people plan on purchasing Android phones in September than the 30% did in June.  That’s up from single digits last year.

The iPhone conversely dropped 12 points from a high of 50%, likely as a result of a disproportionately large swath of people buying iPhone 4s at launch.

Changewave’s survey asks prospective smartphone buyers what phones they plan on buying over the next 90 days. Overall, Android phone purchases plans have been rising sharply from 6% on September of last year to this month’s 37%.

It isn’t all bad  for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone.  It still enjoys industry-wide high satisfaction rates, though Android is catching up in that area as well (below).

Reports from technology blog TechCrunch have indicated that we may well be about to witness the dawn of yet another Android App Store; this time from Amazon.

According to TechCrunch sources there will be a $99 fee to join the Amazon developer program. For each app that goes on sale, Amazon will pay developers “a royalty equal to the greater of 70% of the purchase price or 20% of the List Price as of the purchase date.”

There is speculation that the ‘List Price’ model may have been established to prevent developers from undercutting the price of their apps with other services. Amazon would retain the right to pull any of the apps they wished, and have requested that any app updates take place on all app stores at the same time.

The article indicates that apps could potentially appear on amazon.com, which could be a major sell for Amazon’s app store, due to the large amount of traffic the website pulls.

The news comes after Verizon’s decision to launch their own Android App Store just a few weeks ago. It is unclear whether the fragmentation of the Android Market will be a successful business model and whether developers are likely to utilise the services of app stores outside of Google’s jurisdiction.

Burgeoning application stores satisfying any possible consumer need seem to be the number one reason for the incredible success of products like iPad tablets and iPhone and Android smartphones. What is it that does not let Microsoft provide the same application distribution for Windows consumers? Surprisignly, it increasingly seems that Microsoft has all the technology it needs and it is a matter of just connecting the dots rather than dramatically changing the way that the operating system is designed.

Let’s see of what it would take to get a Windows Marketplace rolled out. There is actually not that much involved – Microsoft is almost there:

1. Popular platform – it is the exposure to consumers that makes marketplaces attractive to developers. There are more applications created for iPhone and Android than for, say, Palm WebOS simply because there are more iPhone and Android users so a bigger addressable market. With the 91%+ marketshare that Windows still enjoys – I bet you can put check for that one.

2. Developer community and tools – again – clear check here: there are many .NET developers out there and Microsoft’s development tools such as Visual Studio are great and spawn all groups of developers from enthusiasts who can download Express edition for free to big teams which can get all the high-end features one can think of.

3. Marketplace application or portal – you know the actual site with stars, reviewers, popularity index, ability to buy an application, application submission process and so on. Microsoft clearly did not have this a year ago – but guess what – now they do. Windows Phone 7 Marketplace is launching and all the technology and processes used there are going to be totally applicable for any application store. Another check.

4. Application and data isolation – this is probably the hardest one. Windows was not designed with portable applications in mind, and if you really want applications to be easy to find, install, use, upgrade and remove you really need each application to be self-contained. Each application on iPad or Android comes with all it needs, can self-update and can never affect any other installations.

Windows on the other hand was designed as a file-oriented operating system in which you have the files: some with data such as your pictures or documents and some with with executable code – and all of them, as well as application and user settings in the Windows registry – are shared among applications and introduce potential dependencies and ability to negatively impact the operating system and other applications.

So is Windows hopeless? Not at all! Microsoft actually owns application isolation technology it acquired back in 2006 (more than 4 years ago!) from SoftGrid – called Microsoft Application Virtualization or App-V. It makes all applications totally isolated from others, not affected by any compatibility issues, easily upgradeable and removable. And it even natively supports streaming of the application packages from network. So what is the reason why it has not revolutionized the way we run applications on our PCs?

Seems like the Microsoft’s size and org chart are the answers. App-V is part of Systems Center (Microsoft’s division selling management tools to enterprises) and not Windows client OS. And it is not free either – and even enterprises only get it if they buy Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack or Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services.

Seems to me that if Microsoft really wants to fight the iPad and Android tablet battle and not let Windows get marginalized to professional workstation use only this needs to be changed. App-V should be made a standard component of Windows 8 and App-V package creation tools standard part of developer tools.

That, in combination with a more touch-oriented graphical user interface and nice hardware from partners, will immediately make Microsoft big in the consumer tablet market – which seems to be the consumer PC market of the future.

Come on, Microsoft! You are almost there. Just make the teams talk and make it happen.

Hey guys, Some of the apps are basic, like twitter. But some are cool like AppBox and FreeMemory. In a few days I will have a long list of my favorite apps, app store, and cydia. And I will also be making a video this week, on some of my favorite apps.

Twitter-

The twitter app is great for all your twitter needs! it lets you manage multiple twitter accounts. You can see trending topics, and more!

Free Memory-

This app allows you to free up memory just by opening the app. You can see your tasks too!

Google Voice-

This app allows you to manage your Google Voice account, you can make calls, and send texts.

Facebook-

This app allows you to manage your facebook account, you can post pictures, and videos. You can share your locations with friends. and a lot more.

AppBoxPro-

This app is a lot of other apps and utilities in one, it allows you to do a lot, and it only costs 99

cents. Its one of the most helpful apps i have.

“I have been saying for years,” said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Qualys, “that we are simply not meant to be dependent on a huge complex operating system like Windows on the desktop; and that in the future, most of our computing will be done in the cloud.”

Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO, Qualys

That prediction is now coming true with shrinking clients and expanding clouds. “Look at the audience of technology professionals in any conference,” he continued. “They’ve all got their iPads and or their smartphones; and nothing else. You can get your email on your smartphone; and if you need to write a longer report you can use your iPad and Google Apps.” We no longer need, and probably never wanted, bloated operating systems on huge desktop computers that served primarily to shackle us to our desks.

We were actually talking about security and the cloud. Courtot’s point here is that because of the cloud, we now only need thin clients. This has two ramifications. Firstly, use of the cloud will, counterintuitively, make us more secure since thin clients can more easily be hardened; and secondly, tied-down clients have a head-start on open clients.

Think of this last point. As we enter the Second Computer Wars (the First Computer Wars was 25 years ago between Apple and Microsoft, and the theatre was The Desktop; this one is between Apple and Google, and the theatre is The Internet), we must remember that weapons have changed. In the first war, Apple lost because it was closed. But in this war we must ask ourselves whether that very closed nature is now an advantage. Philippe Courtot certainly seems to think so.

Today it is closed Apple versus open Android/Chrome. “Microsoft and Nokia will be left in the dust,” adds Courtot; they each took wrong turnings. Microsoft thought it could carry on with its old philosophy while Nokia never really committed itself one way or the other.

Android versus iOS. Open versus closed. Logic leans towards closed; my heart hopes for open.

There are lot’s of articles floating around these days that point out how bad the “paid app” situation on the Android market is.

As a quick recap, there are several major components to this:

• paid apps are not available in all markets
• paid apps are not available in all configurations
• downloads “hang” in significant numbers and e-advanced-task-manager/">cause support problems when the customer paid for the app
• payment is mainly tied to Google Checkout, which is, let’s phrase it like this, not the most popular virtual payment system out there

So I can see why this is a problem for some. But you know what, I think it is mainly a problem for a certain group: The larger companies, and the inflexible ones. Folks who think duplicating their iOS success in a 1:1 way is all it takes.

We are the robots

Here are some thoughts and subjective opinions that might help you understand the Android marketplace better:

• Android is a mass business. Android is geared to win by “mass”. That’s neither good nor bad in itself, it’s just what it is. Your challenge: Deal with the mass. Your reward: Massive exposure potential for your apps
• Android users hunger for good games. Gap is closing, but the selection of games is still way smaller than on iOS
• some Android users can not purchase apps but only have access to free apps
• the stickiness of good games seems much higher than on the iOS, meaning games that get downloaded x times on Android vs games that get downloaded x times on iOS get played more often on Android. If you would ask me for a guestimate, I’d say that a game that get’s downloaded 500,000 times on Android get’s played as often as a game that get’s downloaded 2 million times on iOS. There are much more download&erase users on iOS and again, a much broader selection on iOS that triggers that. Is 4x the factor? Probably not. But you get the idea
• when capitalizing on a free app with advertisement, the above number is pretty important so make sure you know what you compare when you evaluate reports about download numbers on Android

It’s more fun to compute

There is still not much out there at this point. Some precious posts about Android sales data, one about an app where 50% comes from paid and 50% from free, one that shows pretty nice numbers from a paid app. But let me share two more things I learnt from fellow developers.

1. Chris Pruitt mentions in his (excellent) Google IO talk about making Android games that his little experiment “Replica Island” was able to book 700k downloads between the release in March 2010 and May 2010. I think he also mentioned that it went up all the way to rank 15 in Top Free.

2. A fellow Android developer who has a word game out told me at IO that he had 700k downloads of his word game over the course of one year and he makes on average $600/day with ad revenue. He showed me his (adsense) dashboard

Both numbers should feel very comfortable for the Indie who is looking to make a living of mobile apps.

Here are my thoughts for a successful Android app:

• make it free. If you want to go Android, throw your sentiments about ads over board and go “free with ads” if your app somehow allows it
• make a paid version, ad free. Why not, it’s typically not a big deal to make that. Give the ad-haters a way out. Just don’t count on it to carry the majority of your revenue
• mind I’m not saying you can’t make money off a paid version. But I think on Android your focus should be on your free app. My future Android apps will come with full(!) content. And ads. While on iOS the difference typically is (and should be) that with the paid versions you get NO ads and MORE content, on Android you “only” get “no ads”. Just so that you can push your free app as much as you can
• don’t whine

On the latter point, my glorified idea of an Indie developer is that they run in circles around the dinosaurs out there. If you are an Indie developer, there is an opportunity open for you on Android, if you are able to be nimble and adopt to the environment. Not more, not less.

Take it or leave it, your choice. If you are an iOS guy by heart or nature, fine. No problem with that, quite the opposite. iOS is a beautiful ecosystem with amazing devices and a powerful team behind it pushing the roadmap for developer tools and SDK and there is merit to focus on one platform. Again, no problem.

But if you still try to find the right time to start looking over the fence and let only the problems with the paid apps prevent you or the old thought that there is no money to be made on Android, maybe it is time for you to step on your own tail and see if it takes ten minutes until you feel the pain.

This came a quite a shock to me, since it seems so impervious to the wailing of developers and consumers alike, but Apple announced today via an official press release that it would be relaxing some of its iOS development restrictions. In a move toward greater transparency, it’ll also publish its App Store Review Guidelines for the first time.

To quote Apple:

We are continually trying to make the App Store even better. We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart. Based on their input, today we are making some important changes to our iOS Developer Program license in sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.9 to relax some restrictions we put in place earlier this year.

Sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.9 of the iOS Developer Program license focused on using third-party tools to develop iPhone applications. One very noteworthy example of such a tool wasAdobe’s Flash to iPhone packager, which it created to allow Flash developers access to the lucrative iOS market.

Adobe’s website lists the packager product as being dead in the water, likely due to the original introduction of Apple’s restrictions in April 2010. It remains to be seen whether Adobe will resume development of the tool or if the company prefers to stay away now that it’s been burned before. On the other hand, appealing to cross-platform devs is a very good thing for Adobe.

Updated: Here’s a quote from Adobe when asked about the Flash to iPhone packager’s future:

We are encouraged to see Apple lifting its restrictions on its licensing terms, giving developers the freedom to choose what tools they use to develop applications for Apple devices.

So long as Adobe does continue its work with the app packager, this is great news for Flash developers. Cross-platform development is always a sticky mess, but tools like Adobe’s iOS packager take a lot of the sting out of the process, making it much easier to broaden the appeal of your product while keeping costs down. It keeps the door open for easier cross-platform development between iOS and Android, which is bound to be high on dev wish lists in the near future.

The second revelation of the press release is the pulling back of the review process curtain:

In addition, for the first time we are publishing the App Store Review Guidelines to help developers understand how we review submitted apps. We hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store.

Anyone who’s either had an app rejected themselves or who’s read about that frustrating experience will welcome this change. Apple’s often inscrutable policies regarding what does and what doesn’t get posted for sale in the App Store have been confusing, and often cause for complaint. In contrast, the newly-published Guidelines are surprisingly concise, covering only a little over six pages worth of material, and are essentially listed in bullet form organized around categories.

The document begins with an explanation of the basic tenets of the review process. Essentially, Apple lays out that it has kids in mind, doesn’t want any more fart apps, doesn’t want amateurish efforts, and will reject anything that goes “over the line” (which it claims reviewers will know when they see it). It also points out that a Review Board is in place, and that complaining to press outlets doesn’t help your case in this regard. Finally, it concludes that the Guidelines represent a living document, so it can essentially be changed at will in response to new situations.

The tone is almost defensive in a number of places, almost bullying in others, and in general, very conversational. It makes the Guidelines seem much less like a straightforward list document, and much more like a concerted effort on Apple’s part to compel developer cooperation and silence. Still, it also does what it claims, and it’s good to have a resource on the books to go to whenever developers cry foul.

It also means developers will have far less cause to cry foul in the first place. A careful examination of the guidelines document should make it much more clear how likely an app is to be approved at the concept stage, allowing studios and devs to make much more informed decisions about which projects they decide to take on. That should lead to less wasted money and effort, and to more apps of higher quality making it to the App Store intact.

NUU have created a nifty little accessorie that turns your iPhone 4 into a QWERTY Slider.  It is both a protective case and a backlit keyboard which is individually powered..  It looks like it uses Bluetooth, but this is not really clear on the site.  Click the picture below to be taken to the site.