Posts in iPhone

Munster’s WWDC 2011 Survey: Developers Choose iOS and Android Before Mac

Among the 5000 developers crowding Apple’s WWDC 2011 this year, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster was on the scene, surveying a small pool developers on platform related questions. Munster’s sample of 45 participants consisted of only iOS developers, who’d naturally favor Apple’s development platforms over Microsoft or RIM. The results of the survey were published in a note to clients that compared these 45 responses to 20 he gathered in 2008, when the iPad and Android markets were non-existant. Of the developers sampled, Munster found that the pool of iOS developers typically favored smartphone development over desktop development, and that iOS was best for monetization. Philip Elmer-DeWitt highlights some of the findings:

  • Only 7% are also developing apps for the Mac, down from 50% in 2008.
  • Nearly half (47%) write apps for Android, 36% for Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry, 13% for Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Phone 7 and 7% for Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) WebOS.
  • Asked which platform had the highest potential for future growth, none mentioned the BlackBerry, WebOS or Nokia’s (NOK) Symbian.
  • Although 100% preferred iOS for ease of development and monetization, they did have some complaints, chief among them Apple’s “strict limitations” (38%) and the App Store approval process (11%).

Lion, iOS 5, and Apple’s iCloud were hot topics of WWDC 2011 this year, and while Munster only surveyed a handful of developers, there’s a lot to be excited about for both Mac and iPhone development. Scott Forstall announced on stage that iOS development in particular is still a hot market with over 200 million iOS devices sold. iOS’ installed base is leading the market at 44%, compared to 28% for Android and 19% for RIM. Total, Apple has paid developers $2.5 million dollars for apps marketed in the App Store.

Desktop development is still strong, as showcased in Apple’s Design Awards this year, featuring amazing apps like Pixelmator and Capo. Many developers are going to be updating or releasing new versions of theirs apps for Lion through the Mac App Store, and if Reeder is any indication, I have a feeling Mac development is as strong as it’s ever been. Survey results have been posted after the break.

[via Fortune Tech]

image via Aaron Ash

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#MacStoriesDeals - Friday

Here are today’s @MacStoriesDeals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get them before they end!

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Apple Files Motion To Intervene In Lodsys Suit

According to FOSS Patents, Apple has filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings between Lodsys and several app developers. Lodsys nine days ago filed a civil suit against several app developers including Iconfactory, Illusion Labs and Quickoffice in East Texas over patents it owns.

Whilst Lodsys can oppose Apple’s attempt to intervene in the case, FOSS Patents says that “Apple is fairly likely to be admitted as an intervenor”. In Apple’s proposed defence, it is argued that Apple’s existing license agreement with Lodsys covers the third party developers being sued – an argument Apple made with Lodsys in its letter to them. Contrary to what some might have presumed would happen, Apple does not claim any other defences such as disputing the validity of the patents – but the third party developers could still do so.

I’m reasonably optimistic that Apple will get to intervene. There appears to be precedent for that. Apple cites three interventions admitted in more or less comparable cases (Intel against Negotiated Data Solutions, Intel against U.S. Ethernet Innovations, and Microsoft against TiVo).

It isn’t clear what Apple’s relationship with the developers is (likely under a non-disclosure agreement) but more than likely is that Apple will help them with financial costs and perhaps even the potential risks. In its motion, Apple states that those developers being sued by Lodsys are “are individuals or small entities with far fewer resources than Apple and […] lack the technical information, ability, and incentive to adequately protect Apple’s rights under its license agreement”.

In its post, FOSS Patents also shares some screenshots of the developers iTunesConnect app management service which asks developers about potential legal issues with their apps. If a developer says “yes” to legal issues, that app will become “unavailable to be restored and/or downloaded as a previous purchase by App Store customers” through the new iCloud service.

If you want a full rundown of Apple’s motion to intervene, FOSS Patents has an excellent run down, along with questions that the motion does not answer. If you feel brave enough you can also read the official motion here.

[Via FOSS Patents]

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More than Twitter: iOS 5 Built With Social Contact Integration

While Twitter integration is engrained in iOS 5 (heck, Apple even lets you know whether you have Twitter’s official app installed or not), All Things D reports that Contacts has received a small update which includes support for adding friend’s handles on Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, and Flickr. When you add a contact to your iPhone, you can link that person to all of their social accounts. If you tap the handle in your contacts list, you’ll be take to that person’s user profile page.

The inclusion of the feature shows Apple’s acknowledgement of the importance of Web presences and contact information. But it could be much more useful if users don’t have to enter each of their friends’ handles manually, as appears to be the case at least in this release.

There’s also an inactive “add custom service” button that may allow you to add someone’s Instagram or MLKSHK account in the future - currently I found this particular feature wasn’t working. To access these additional profiles, edit a contact, and add a Profile field. If tap on the word Profile, you can select between the various social networks.

[via All Things D]

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#MacStoriesDeals - Thursday

Here are today’s @MacStoriesDeals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get them before they end!

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#MacStoriesDeals - Wednesday

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iCloud: Photo Stream

Another cornerstone feature of iCloud that was just unveiled was ‘Photo Stream’ which will bring all your photos to the cloud. It works so that as soon as you take a photo with your iPhone, that photo will instantly be whisked away to the cloud and then pushed back to all of your other devices - whether it be a Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or even a Windows PC!

How many times have we taken photos on our iPhone and wanted to share them on the iPad. Wouldn’t it be great if they were already there?

Photo Stream is built right into the iOS Photos app so there is “nothing new to learn” and on the Mac it is built right into iPhoto whilst on a PC it integrates with the ‘Pictures’ folder. The Apple TV won’t miss out either, Photo Stream is integrated straight into it.

Each photo will survive on iCloud for 30 days, at which point old photos will no longer be pushed to devices. iOS devices will be able to keep the last 1,000 photos but Macs and PCs will keep all photos.

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Apple Unveils iMessage For iOS 5

A new service to hit iOS 5 is iMessage, a service that will allow any user on an iOS 5 device to send text, photos, videos, contacts and more to any other iOS 5 user. It’ll work fine regardless of whether they are using an iPhone, iPad, iPad Touch or even a mixture of those devices.

Our customers have been asking us for a new messaging solution. We’re launching a service that works for all iOS 5 customers

iMessages has support for delivery receipts, optionally read receipts, typing notifications and all messages will be pushed to all devices you own, “so that you can pick up where you left off”. It’ll work on 3G and WiFi and everything will be encrypted.

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iOS 5: Newsstand, Subscription Magazines and Newspapers In One Place

New to iOS 5 will be a feature dubbed “Newsstand” which promises to put together all your digital Newspapers and Magazines together in one easy to find place. Scott Forstall, who introduced the feature, said that Magazines from the National Geographic to Vanity Fair to Popular Science will be available whilst Newspapers such as the New York Times and the Daily Telegraph will be available in Newsstand.

Read all about it. All in one place. iOS 5 organizes your magazine and newspaper app subscriptions in Newsstand: a folder that lets you access your favorite publications quickly and easily.

You get the Magazines from the App Store but once added will live in your ‘Newstand’ which lives as an icon on your Homescreen. New issues will be downloaded in the background so that when you pick up “your iPad, the newspaper is ready for you to read it offline”.

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