Ping and Apple TV: Did Apple Do Wrong?

Many bloggers and journalists seem to think Apple got it wrong. I’m not one of them. In the case of Apple TV, the strategy is to proceed cautiously with a neat, tidy package of technology for $99 and a first step to get the content pricing right for TV shows. In the case of Ping, Apple is embedding social features into iTunes, that’s all.

See my article “Did Apple Get it Wrong with Ping and Apple TV?” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

Honest Bloggers and Analysts Losing Money on Apple Crisis

Analysts not reporting the iPhone 4 antenna as a “problem for Apple” or “crisis” stand to lose fees, report purchases, stock opportunities, and ads linked to Web traffic — to the tune of at least $18M per day.

See my article “Not Bashing Apple Costs Analysts and Bloggers $18M Per Day” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

Apple Attacked by Flamers for Fun and Profit

The headlines and even the stories about the so-called “iPhone 4 Antenna Issue” are misleading and sometimes outright bullshit. Having read through the reports of the conversation with Steve Jobs, I’m more impressed with Steve’s answers. It’s all a tempest in a teapot.

See my article “Flamers Attack Apple for Fun and Profit” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

Apple vs. Adobe Flash: Mr. Natural Has it Right

The press consider this to be a fight between Apple and Adobe, and that Apple “abused its position”. Many quieter, less obtrusive developers and some ex-Adobe employees (some quoted at the very bottom of the stories about the “Apple-Adobe War”) agree with Jobs about Flash.

It is all merely a war of words, most of which are coming from the press and bloggers. As R. Crumb’s Mr. Natural would say, “Don’t mean shee-it.”

Someone who can afford to shell out $75K to develop an iPhone app can probably raise half as much (or more) to develop an Android or other version, if the iPhone app is successful. The rest of us who measure our development efforts with iPhone apps in terms of months of personal work are not even going to consider other versions unless we strike it rich with our iPhone apps. And corporations that want to utilize the iPhone or iPad should consider HTML5 for Web services, rather than native apps.

See my article “Apple and Adobe: What Would Mr. Natural Say?” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

Apple and Twitter Getting Slap-Happy

You’ve probably read how Apple slaps developers in the face, Twitter slaps developers in the face, and Adobe slaps intelligent humans in the face

Twitter developers need to steer clear of strategic paths that Twitter might take. Adobe Flash developers need to rethink their designs for the iPhone and iPad, and forget about using cross-platform tools. And all iPhone and iPad developers have to take Apple’s rules and guidelines seriously if they want to take advantage of its totally innovative approach to apps and computing.

See my article “Apple, Adobe, Twitter: Are We Slapped Yet?” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

Developing a Killer iPad App

Apple’s iPad knows where it is, can change its display depending on how you hold or rotate it, and responds to multiple-finger touches and gestures. These are the ingredients for a killer app.

The important design decision to make, whether you’re starting from scratch with a new iPad app or evolving one from an iPhone app, is to use the iPad display and user interface elements to give people access to more information in one place. As a developer, you need to consider the context of what the user is doing and the user’s location, and provide as much content as possible that is relevant for that user in that location.

See my article “What Makes a Killer iPad App” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

Do You Believe in iPad Magic?

Apple’s iPad magic carpet ride takes off with 125 million credit card accounts in the iTunes Store and App Store, and 75 million people who already know how to use it before they even get it.

See my perspective on the iPad at “The iPad Magic Market Ride” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

iPhone Marketing 101

That old song “You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd” (Roger Miller) comes to mind as I try to increase sales for my app, Tony’s Tips for iPhone Users, through the App Store. As an early developer I thought I could skate downhill, using the App Store’s own momentum as it grew (and pretty much that’s what I’ve done so far). But the roar I’m hearing is 3 billion app downloads in 18 months for more than 125,000 apps.

See all the tips I learned about marketing iPhone apps at “iPhone Marketing 101: Gaming the App Store is Not Enough” on my blog, Bove’s Blips.

iPhone Tip: The Trouble with Doubles (When Syncing Contacts)

You sync Contacts with the Exchange Server at work, but also with your Contacts folder on your PC — which may be already synced to Exchange. This results in duplicates of every contact. It can also happen with MobileMe if you sync with MobileMe from your iPhone and also use iTunes to sync with your Mac or PC — especially if you set up MobileMe first.

Learn the details of fixing dupes when syncing Contacts on your iPhone in “iPhone Tip: The Trouble with Doubles (When Syncing Contacts)” in my blog, Bove’s Blips.

It’s Only Tunes and Videos (But I Like It)

Today’s “It’s Only Rock and Roll” press event held by Apple (best of the live coverage here) held no real surprises other than the triumphant return of Steve Jobs to the stage. Rumors and insider reports had already clued us into the album-package feature of the iTunes Store, better apps management in iTunes 9, and the video camera for the iPod nano. What’s missing are the video camera for the iPod touch, and Blu-Ray support for iTunes. And, of course, the Beatles.

For the complete story, see my entry It’s Only Tunes and Videos (But I Like It) on my blog Bove’s Blips.