Posted on February 2, 2011, at 4:02 PM .
If you’ve got a killer BlackBerry app, chances are that you’re considering porting it over to other platforms in order to grab more users or maximize your revenue. The obvious platforms to choose are iPhone and Android, but Nokia seems to be an afterthought, not only in smartphone media coverage, but from a developer perspective as well. I recently attended an event hosted by Nokia in order to learn more about their platform and what they offer. If you’re considering Nokia’s Ovi app store and the Qt OS, read on to learn more about what they have to offer.
Continue reading ‘Considering Porting Your App for Nokia’s Ovi? A Few Things You Should Know’
Posted on February 2, 2011, at 3:04 PM .
There’s an interesting app in App World right now called ProOnGo that scans your business cards with the BlackBerry’s camera and emails you them in a vCard format. The app looks great and since it was free I gave it a try. The problem is that the EULA has some very strange/aggressive wording that makes it seem like the vendor is keeping your contacts and has the rights to any contacts added via the app (see above).
The app is free for the first 10 business cards and then is available based on subscription from $0.99 to $4.99 per month. Even with the paid subscription, it seems that your contacts are still the property of ProOnGo, who could be using them for anything from newsletter and direct marketing, to selling them to 3rd party services. There’s really no way to tell.
Continue reading ‘ProOnGo EULA Shows How Processing Business Cards Server Side Worries Users’
Posted on February 2, 2011, at 2:07 PM .
BlackBerry App World 2.1 is now live and official and the updates will roll out over the course of today. The biggest addition is the ability to offer in-app payments via the BlackBerry Payment Service. This new service is going to do great things for both games and apps, as developers will be able to leverage virtual goods and premium content from within the app. Imagine: you’re playing a game for free, and you can purchase an avatar, pay for more levels, upgrade your character etc.
Continue reading ‘BlackBerry App World 2.1 Live with Payment Service’
Posted on February 1, 2011, at 10:41 PM .
Something awesome to know about the PlayBook is that it will be able to play HTML5-based games right out of the box. In the most recent WebWorks SDK, we learned of an HTML5 game that’s really fun called Entanglement by Gopherwood Studios. It’s interesting to note that while RIM is promoting the fact that the BlackBerry developer community has 4,000 apps ready for the PlayBook launch, this obviously doesn’t include the thousands of HTML5 apps that will also be available through the browser. It’s a lot like how the media criticizes RIM for only having 16,000 or so apps in App World, when that doesn’t include all of the apps being distributed outside of RIM’s main channel. Again, openness will prevail.
Posted on February 1, 2011, at 9:40 PM .
While watching the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK Webcast, we learned about a cool game called Superheroes Alliance that uses WebWorks to bring a text-based web style game to BlackBerry. The game lets you build an empire, earn achievements, level up your character and fight battles in an epic story line. The best part of it all is that the game is free. Features include:
Continue reading ‘Free Superheroes Alliance Text-Based Game Made With WebWorks’
Posted on February 1, 2011, at 4:50 PM .
It’s no secret that Apple is constantly trying to create a closed system where it controls every aspect of the app ecosystem. From purchasing, downloading and developing apps, Apple wants to be the go-to provider of infrastructure and its in-app payment system is no exception.
Recently, the NYT printed an article about the Sony eReader’s rejection from App Store due to the fact that they didn’t use Apple’s in-app payment system, but rather their own to save themselves having to give 30% to Apple. An Apple spokesperson responded saying:
“We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines. We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase.”
Continue reading ‘Another Reason to Go BlackBerry: In-App Payments Are Open’
