Posted on May 16, 2011, at 3:04 PM .
The Internet is on fire lately after several indie iOS developers received notices of infringement giving them 21 days to respond. The patent that these developers are being accused of infringing is US Patent 7222078 and it vaguely covers the in-app purchase or upgrade process. This sort of patent lawsuit is really worrying because mobile developers in general don’t make a lot of money and cutting into these revenues could stifle the software market. According to the patent firm Lodsys, they would be seeking 0.575% of US revenue. Here is the official statement:
In the case of an Application doing an in-application upgrade (and only this scenario), Lodsys is seeking 0.575% of US revenue over for the period of the notice letter to the expiration of the patent, plus applicable past usage. So on an application that sells US$1m worth of sales in a year, the licensee would have an economic exposure of $5,750 per year.
Continue reading ‘iOS Developers Targeted With Patent Lawsuits For In-App Payment Use’
Posted on May 16, 2011, at 11:29 AM .
RIM seems to be going the way of Apple in some respects by forcing all PlayBook downloads to go through App World. For developers and users who want to get the apps on their PlayBook without using App World, there’s a side loading process that should help you out. The following guide comes courtesy of CMY in the Support Forums, who has been gracious to type up some instructions and distribute a .bat file you’ll need. Click through for the guide. Remember, this is only for Windows.
Continue reading ‘How to Side Load PlayBook Apps (Windows Only)’
Posted on May 13, 2011, at 1:44 PM .
This year’s BlackBerry Developer Conference is going to be bigger than ever. With announcements around the fact that developers can write apps in HTML, Adobe AIR, Flash and Java, there is a wide pool of potential attendees. Will RIM give everyone at DevCon free PlayBooks like they did at BlackBerry World? That would be a lot PlayBooks out on the market with key influencers. We can only hope! Hit the jump for more details.
Continue reading ‘BlackBerry DevCon Registration Now Open with Early Bird Rate of $699 and $599′
Posted on May 12, 2011, at 9:27 PM .
RIM has begun to offer extended service plans for BlackBerry Playbook at a rate of $129 for 2 years. The plan extends the original warranty for a year as well as adds accidental protection such as spills, drops, impacts and cracked screen along with the promise of no additional fees. Probably a good idea if you’ve got kids or are prone to gadget accidents.
Canadian Playbook owners, $129 for 2 years coverage
US Playbook owners, $129 for 2 years coverage
Get more info on the Extended Service Plan for Playbook Owners here
Posted on May 12, 2011, at 8:42 PM .
RIM’s recent acquisition tinyHippos has brought the release of the Ripple emulator beta to support most of the BlackBerry WebWorks APIs. Bypassing the need to test the application in a simulator, the beta allows for a testing environment with advanced features including location based services and network response testing for apps.
Along with the Beta’s release is some details and documentation on the emulator’s support for the BlackBerry WebWorks APIs.
For more info on the Ripple emulator beta, visit tinyHippos.
Posted on May 11, 2011, at 11:50 AM .
SHAPE Services has launched a cool version of their IM+ chat client called Neighbors IM+ which lets you locate friends on the map. When signed in, users of Neighbors IM+ will be able to locate friends on the map, chat with local friends as well as initiate conversations with other people who are located nearby. This app puts SHAPE in a fast-growing market of location-aware chat and social network services.
Head over to the SHAPE Services site to download the zip files for the beta.
