IntoMobile » Developer

RIM Announces New Advertising Program and In-App Purchacing

Simon Sage — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:58:22 +0000

One of the many announcements made at the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Developer Conference is a new ad partner program that allows app creators to monetize their apps right away. The BlackBery Advertising Service will plug in ads from Jumptap, Lat49, Millennial Media, Navteq, 1020 Placecast, Quattro Wireless and Sympatico.ca – an impressive initial list, but I’m wondering where Google Mobile ads stand, and if their own program stands on its own just fine for BlackBerry devs. Ads offered through this program can do all sorts of stuff, like click-to-call, launching the address book or browser, or find a program in App World.

A related update on the transaction front are in-app purchases. That means you can buy new levels for a game you’re really digging, or buy songs from on-device music stores (7digital comes to mind), and similar kinds of microtransactions. Yeah, it sounds suspiciously familiar to the iPhone 3.0 announcement, but it offers BlackBerry developers some added flexibility in how they make their money.

The new ad service and in-app purchacing goes live in 2010, complete with SDKs. Keep an eye on the Developer Zone for more info.

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Hacker cracks latest iPhone OS, Apple starts looking for iPhone security manager

Will Park — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:45:04 +0000

The cat-and-mouse game between Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and would-be iPhone hackers is about to get a little more interesting. Following the recent release of “blacksn0w,” an iPhone unlocking tool capable of unlocking new iPhone 3GS’s running the latest iPhone OS, Apple has posted a new job listing for an “iPhone OS Platform Security Manager.” Apple is apparently looking for someone to head the development team tasked with securing iPhone boot-up and operating system installation as well as other aspects of iPhone platform security.

We’re not sure if Apple is looking for someone new to fill the position, or if Apple wants to replace the current iPhone OS Platform Security Manager. In either case, it’s pretty clear that the iPhone maker wants to make sure that hackers like George “geohot” Hotz and the iPhone Dev Team aren’t able to keep cracking the iPhone.

The back-and-forth between hackers and Apple is an ongoing saga juicier than your daily soap operas. The iPhone and iPhone 3G were initially jailbroken (the process of opening the file-system to allow unauthorized application installs) and unlocked to work with any GSM network, courtesy of the iPhone Dev Team. Apple then updated the iPhone OS to close the jailbreak exploit known as “24kpwn,” eventually updating the baseband firmware (the code that controls how the iPhone connects to wireless networks like AT&T (NYSE: T) and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)) from version 04.26 to 05.11 to prevent unlocking. iPhone hacker geohot countered with his “blackra1n” jailbreak utility, following that up with the release of “blacksn0w” to unlock the latest iPhone 3GS baseband (05.11) to work with GSM networks around the world.

That pretty much brings us up to speed (in a nutshell, from a very small nut). The iPhone platform is, at this point, jailbroken and unlocked. Now it’s Apple’s turn.

It’s conceivable that Apple’s incoming iPhone security manager will put an end to baseband 05.11 unlocks, but it’s hard to see Apple ever locking down the iPhone completely. Still, if you’re interested in jailbreaking and unlocking your iPhone, you’re best bet is to jump on board soon.

[Via: NetworkWorld]

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Google extends the reach of its Analytics product to mobile apps

Dusan Belic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:47:29 +0000

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has recently updated its Analytics product to help developers see how people are using specific parts of their iPhone and Android applications.

As with websites, you can track pageviews and events. Since there are no HTML pages involved in mobile apps, developers should determine when their apps should trigger pageview requests. Google Analytics then aggregates this data in the “Content” reports to display the number of visits, session length and bounce rates.

In addition, developers can track visitor actions such as watching videos, button clicks, downloads, etc. – all which don’t correspond directly to pageviews using “Event Tracking.” As a result, individuals and companies behind mobile apps can know which features are most popular and eventually fine tune their products. But first, you’ll need to grab the SDK and implement the necessary code in order for Google Analytics to start doing its magic.

Finally, in case you’re wondering whether someone has tried this already, here as a video featuring Redfin’s Sasha Aickin who explains how they implemented Google Analytics in their iPhone app. That’s actually after the jump. Enjoy!

[Via: Google Mobile Blog]

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PlayHaven opens its fan community for games platform for iPhone developers

Dusan Belic — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:34:56 +0000

Online universe of fan communities for games PlayHaven is “going iPhone” by opening up its platform to the iPhone developers. As a result, interested individuals and companies which make iPhone games can instantly establish a community presence online and in-game for free. This translates into generating some buzz for the games, as users will get the option to share, gather and interact with other members of the community.

The process seems easy (though I haven’t tried it myself) and it should apparently take only a minute or so to claim your community and integrate various social features into an iPhone app.

Around 20 games have already integrated PlayHaven’s capabilities — including Minigore, Geared, I Dig It, The Quest, Mouse House 2, SnowFerno, iSamurai, BobbleSurfer, ZombieSmash!, Transylvania, Genius Defense Force, Gang Street Wars, Hopple, Tipoli, Influence, Above and Cell War, to name just a few.

Sounds cool and I’m hoping PlayHaven will also allow other platform developers to use the same features. Someone said Android? Symbian?

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Brief: Droid? Developer? Read On!

Ben Robinson — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:27:08 +0000

Yep the hype machine is in full swing with Droid – everyone is talking about it, and I’d bet an increasing number of people are wanting it!

Well Moto have pinged me an email to say that Developers should be excited by Droid too, and Moto are there to help them – they are suggesting in fact to get your App ready for Droid! How? Well, hit up the link below and start your eyeballs off with a page of specs…

Click here to see the Motodev pages on Droid.

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blackra1n RC2 now available to jailbreak new (OTB) iPhone 3GS

Will Park — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:07:10 +0000

iPhone hacker George “geohot” Hotz has released an update to his “blackra1n” jailbreak utility that should give new iPhone 3Gs owners reason to celebrate. The blackra1n RC2 update will jailbreak factory-fresh iPhone 3GS’s loaded with iPhone OS 3.1.2 by Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), but only through a “tethered jailbreak” method.

The latest iPhone OS 3.1.2 update was released by Apple not too long ago with a nasty little trick hidden up its sleeve. It turned out that new iPhone 3GS were loaded with a version of iPhone OS 3.1.2 that closed the “24kpwn” exploit used by iPhone jailbreak community to make the jailbreak easy and convenient. That basically killed hopes of jailbreaking any factory-fresh iPhone 3GS units already flashed with the new iPhone OS. But, all was not lost. The iPhone Dev Team came out shortly after iPhone OS 3.1.2’s release, saying that a “tethered jailbreak” was still possible.

While the initial release of the blackra1n utility was capable of jailbreaking iPhone OS 3.1.2 for iPhone 3GS hardware already in the wild, it was useless in jailbreaking newer iPhone 3GS units already rocking iPhone OS 3.1.2 from the factory. The same applies to the iPhone Dev Team’s PwnageTool 3.1.4 release. The updated blackra1n RC2 utility changes all that.

This is what to expect with the blackra1n RC2 release:

Fixed 3G issues
Tethered jailbreak for factory-fresh iPhone 3GS’s and new out-of-the-box iPod Touch 8GB
Fixed Icy issues
Both Windows and Mac

Download blackra1n RC here.

So what is this “tethered jailbreak” we keep mentioning? Simply put, it’s a less convenient jailbreak method that requires the user to keep their iPhone 3GS connected to their computer during the jailbreak process. Any subsequent reboots (resulting from power loss or a manual reboot) will require a computer to boot successfully. The jailbreak is possible (using blackra1n RC2), but it’s decidedly more of a hassle. But, then again, how many times do you reboot your iPhone?

Note: if you already jailbroke your iPhone 3GS using blackra1n RC1 (the initial release), there’s no need to run RC2. Also, if you would rather wait for the iPhone Dev Team to build the tethered jailbreak option into PwnageTool, sit tight, they’re working on it.

[Via: iphonejtag]

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BlackBerry 9700 Bold Device Simulator Available for Download

Simon Sage — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:08:45 +0000

Developer tools are making the rounds for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) OS 5.0, to work with things like Google Gears and widgets, but something that might be a little more interesting for end users is the new BlackBerry Bold 9700 device simulator. Since review units aren’t getting out yet, and there’s only a smattering of hands-on pictures/video, this is your best bet for getting a feel for the device right now.The new Bold is coming out on many North American carriers (Telus (NYSE: TU), Bell, Rogers (NYSE: RCI), AT&T (NYSE: T), T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)) and will be one of RIM’s top-of-the-line handset – 3.2 megapixel camera, optical touchpad, 256 MB of application memory, and slimmer dimensions will all set it apart from the original BlackBerry Bold 9000. To give the 9700 a spin, go ahead and download the simulator.

[via CB]

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HTC releases HTC Hero kernel – Let the Hero mods begin!

Will Park — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:16:04 +0000

One of the biggest problems that HTC Hero modders have been coming up against in their quest to create the perfect Hero ROM has been the lack of an available open-source kernel. Without access to the full kernel, there’s only so much that can be hacked/modded. Today, that all changes. HTC has themselves posted up the full HTC Hero kernel (the operating system that runs the Hero) for any developer looking to tweak their own ROM for the Hero.

The release of the Hero kernel should allow the code-monkeys at XDA forums to make more far-reaching modifications to the Hero’s ROM. That means we may soon see the Hero getting more features, more customization (streamlining the Hero’s Sense-based UI) and possibly even more speed through tweaked ROMs. Android devs can get their hands on the HTC Hero kernel – not to mention the HTC Magic, HTC ADP1 and HTC Dream – from HTC’s developer center.

It’s probably only a matter of time before we start seeing some hardcore modded Hero ROMs hitting XDA forums.

HTC Hero kernel

[Via: HTC]

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RIM Actively Seeking WebKit Developers

James Falconer — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:34:52 +0000

When RIM acquired Torch Mobile, I think all of us on the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) scene were convinced Waterloo had big plans for its mobile browser… and with good reason, as in my opinion, the thing needs a LOT of work. With that in mind, RIM may have accidentally (or maybe they just don’t care) spilled the beans on their plans. Well, maybe we already knew they had big plans for their browser, but at the very least they’re showing off the fact that they need HELP!

Check out this job posting over at LinkedIn, where you can see RIM is actively looking for a WebKit developer to assist with the development of a new-and-improved BlackBerry browser. Interesting for sure. Kind of makes you wonder what RIM has in mind, and if they’re struggling for brain power to make the thing work.

I’m pullin’ for ya RIM, but I can’t honestly say I’m optimistic. There’s a lot of solid browsers out there in the mobile world. You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you!

Stay tuned.

[Via: MobileCrunch]

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iPhone 3.1.2 OS kills tethering hack, iPhone Dev Team brings it back to life

Will Park — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:05:32 +0000

If you’ve been using your jailbroken and modified iPhone 3G/3GS as a tethered 3G modem and you’ve updated to the latest iPhone 3.1.2 OS, you’re probably well aware that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has killed the iPhone tethering hack. Even if you updated to iPhone 3.1.2 OS through the Dev Team’s PwnageTool 3.1.4, iPhone tethering is a no-go. Fortunately, that’s something the iPhone Dev Team won’t stand for. EngadgetMobile has posted a tweet from Dev Team developer musclenerd which links to a workaround/patch that should allow advanced users (seriously, don’t mess around if you don’t know what you’re doing) to get iPhone tethering back in working order.

The advanced iPhone tethering workaround probably won’t do most users any good at the moment. It’s all very technical and involves changes to the baseband – something we’re too scared to touch ourselves. But, there’s still hope that the iPhone Dev Team can bake the workaround into future PwnageTool releases so that lay iPhone users like us can get iPhone tethering back online.

There’s also mention of a new workaround that will enable MMS on the original iPhone (iPhone 2G) – do with that as you will, but remember it’s at your own risk.

iPhone tether workaround and tutorial
Original iPhone MMS hack

[Via: EngadgetMobile]

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Blackra1n jailbreaks iPhone OS 3.1.2

Will Park — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:17:49 +0000

Famed iPhone hacker George Hotz is at it again, and this time he’s making it (black)ra1n! Following on his “purplera1n” iPhone jailbreak utility, Geohot has released his “blackra1n” to jailbreak Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s latest iPhone OS 3.1.2 for iPhones everywhere. The utility is fairly self-explanatory (it takes just 30 seconds to use), but we’d still recommend you know what you’re doing before diving in.

Also, we should not that the iPhone Dev Team advises against using blackra1n for now. Especially if you want to preserve your iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS carrier unlock. Even if you don’t need to keep your iPhone unlocked for any GSM network, Geohot’s blackra1n utility might make future PwnageTool jailbreaks more difficult.

Find blackra1n here. You can just ignore Geohot’s not-so-subtle blackra1n banner.

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$3 iPhone game shuts up cheapskates by raising price to $40!

Will Park — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:42:30 +0000

iPhone users have it good when it comes to mobile apps and games. The AppStore is filled with hoards of iPhone apps and games that cost $1.99, $0.99 or nothing at all. Compared to prices on traditional apps and games, the AppStore is largely a bargain for software hunters out here (nevermind that there’s a lot of free, or 99¢, crap in the AppStore). So, it’s inevitable that a $2.99 iPhone game is going to draw complaints from cheapskates. That’s what Schiau Studios has been dealing with. In response to customer complaints that the game is too pricey, Schiau Studios raised the price of their Alchemize game to $39.99, making it the most expensive game in the AppStore.

The increased price is meant to prove a point. The $39.99 price point is totally in line with other software out there, which should show that the $3 app is more than worth it. While the lesson may not go over too well with penny-pinchers, Schiau Studios says that the price increase in temporary and that all proceeds from the boosted price will go to charity.

If anything, this novel move from Schiau Studios might very well give AppStore AppStore “>cheapskates some perspective on AppStore prices. Developers aren’t just coding their wares for AppStore glory in and of itself, they’re there to make money. If a couple bucks stands between you and an app purchase, maybe that shiny new iPhone wasn’t for you after all.

If you feel like donating to charity, go download Alchemize (iTunes link). Of course, you can wait until it’s back to $2.99.

[Via: NetworkWorld]

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MOTOBLUR makes gives HTC G1 a taste of Motorola’s Android recipe

Will Park — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:31:01 +0000

The Motorola MOTOBLUR service/UI is about to give HTC G1 fans a taste what Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is cooking up for their Android-powered CLIQ. Thanks to a clever Android hacker with access to the CLIQ’s firmware, the MOTOBLUR UI has been ported to the G1- the CLIQ’s keyboard-wielding Android cousin.

Motorola launched their Motorola CLIQ Android phone last month with a unique user interface, called MOTOBLUR, as a new way to keep tabs on your social media. Using Motorola’s servers, MOTOBLUR automatically pulls information from your social networks and RSS feeds and splashes that data onto the CLIQ’s homescreen. MOTOBLUR also keeps your contacts’ status updates and photos up to date.

What you see here is the HTC G1 running MOTOBLUR. You may remember Google (NSDQ: GOOG) throwing a bit of a fit over Cyanogen’s distribution of Google’s licensed Android apps. We have to wonder what Motorola thinks about their entire MOTOBLUR getting the “mod” treatment.

[Via: AndroidandMe]

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Developers: iPhone SDK 3.1.2 Now Available

James Falconer — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:54:28 +0000

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this in the wake of the iPhone OS 3.1.2 update. Turns out the iPhone SDK 3.1.2 is available as well at the iPhone Dev Center (of course). If you’ve updated your iPhone to 3.1.2, you’ll need this updated version of the SDK to carry on with your development. An alternate updated version of the SDK is available for OS X Snow Leopard users as well. All of the bases are covered here.

iPhone developers, get your updated SDK on at the iPhone Dev Center, would ya?

[Via: TiPB]

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RIM Releases BlackBerry Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 1

James Falconer — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:43:31 +0000

BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) developers, it’s time to get your ‘widget’ on. RIM has announced that the BlackBerry Widget SDK is now available for download. You can grab it at www.blackberry.com/developers/widget.

The BlackBerry Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 1 contains the BlackBerry Widget Packager 1.0 Beta 1, a BlackBerry Device Simulator, and a lot of documentation and samples. So what can you do with it? I think the official description from RIM does nicely:

The BlackBerry Widget Packager 1.0 Beta 1 is a new tool that allows web developers to package up their web assets into BlackBerry Widgets (small, discrete, standalone web applications that use HTML, CSS and JavaScript). A BlackBerry Widget looks, behaves and has the same security mechanisms as a native BlackBerry application. BlackBerry Widgets can be installed on a BlackBerry smartphone like any native application and can be extended to use device-specific information and data using the BlackBerry Widget APIs.

For more details, tutorials, samples and downloads, head on over to BlackBerry.

Note: This will be a biggie for BlackBerry Developers looking to get a jump on OS 5.0. Widgets will be supported in 5.0, and will be available for download/purchase via App World. Get on it developers!

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Adobe Flash for iPhone is here, but it’s not what you think

Will Park — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:02:15 +0000

Today at its MAX 2009 conference, Adobe gave developers a sneak peek at how Flash can play nice with the iPhone. Wait, didn’t we just finish talking about how Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) isn’t letting Adobe’s well-meaning but resource-hungry Flash technology anywhere near its pristine iPhone OS? Soothe your conflicted mind, dear reader, Adobe’s Flash still isn’t supported on the iPhone, but Adobe is going to make it easier for Flash developers to create iPhone apps. Using Adobe Flash Professional CS5, Flash developers can craft their apps in their native Flash and then use the automatic conversion feature to port their apps to the iPhone OS.

Adobe says a public beta of their Flash Professional CS5 software will be available later this year for Flash developers looking to flex their muscles in the iPhone AppStore. For the time being, Adobe already has a few apps in the AppStore that started their life in the Flash world. Find more info here.

Like we said, Flash for iPhone is somewhat a reality. But, it’s not what you think – and most definitely not what we’d like to see. Hopefully the release of Flash Professional CS5 will blaze a trail for the arrival of full Flash support on the iPhone.

[Via: Adobe]

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Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2009: VC Partners announced

Ben Robinson — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:00:45 +0000

Smaato Inc. (a leading mobile ad optimizer and mobile advertising company) announced today the distinguished VC partners for the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2009.

Smaato is delighted to have Tim Draper (Draper Fisher Jurvetson), Frédéric Veyssière (Innovacom Venture Capital) and Niall Davis (aeris CAPITAL) supporting the award for a second year and being introduced to the winning companies. We are also thrilled to a have the following VCs participating this year:

• Mark Kvamme (Sequoia Capital)

• Rich Wong (Accel)

• Jörg Sievert (SAP Ventures)

Ragnar Kruse, CEO & Co-Founder of Smaato stated: “We are pleased to announce a fantastic line-up of VCs for the forthcoming Smaato Award. It’s an honor to have the support of so many distinguished individuals for making this competition come to life. For the award winners it’s a great opportunity to meet top tier VCs from around the world and to have a real shot of getting funding.”

About the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award:

The award will honor mobile publishers or developers with an outstanding mobile ad-enabled solution in three categories: iPhone, in-application (any platform) or mobile web. Developers shall provide a description of their website, application or game, a download location, along with high res images and screenshots. In addition they may provide up to three PDF pages of supporting materials. Deadline is October 9th, 2009. For more information and to participate please visit: www.smaato.com/award.

Besides meeting with the above named venture capital partners, Smaato will invite the winner to participate at the Mobile World Congress, taking place in Barcelona, Spain in February 2010. Additional prizes are also on offer, including a free booth at M-Days in Munich, Germany in January 2010.

Smaato Inc. (a leading mobile ad optimizer and mobile advertising company) announced today the distinguished VC partners for the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2009.

• Mark Kvamme (Sequoia Capital)

• Rich Wong (Accel)

• Jörg Sievert (SAP Ventures)

• Tim Chang (Norwest Venture Partners)

Ragnar Kruse, CEO & Co-Founder of Smaato stated: “We are pleased to announce a fantastic line-up of VCs for the forthcoming Smaato Award. It’s an honor to have the support of so many distinguished individuals for making this competition come to life. For the award winners it’s a great opportunity to meet top tier VCs from around the world and to have a real shot of getting funding.”

About the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award:

This could be a dream for small companies looking to win something meaningful, so, if you’ve got a Mobile-ad enabled solution up your sleeves, it’s definitely worth a go!

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Palm Attempts to Douse Burning Bridge with Developers

Simon Sage — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:43:00 +0000

Yesterday a prominent open-source developer laid the smack-down on the webOS App Catalog submission process, but much to Palm (NSDQ: PALM)’s credit, their director of developer relations, Ben Galbraith, has reached out and is attempting to amend the situation. If you aren’t up to speed, open-source veteran Jamie Zawinski berated Palm’s policies on claiming exclusivity to submitted applications, demanding fees to submit free apps, and end-users’ inability to natively install applications from anywhere other than the App Catalog. Galbraith’s reply was largely apologetic for slow communication, but only went so far to say that they were working on a solution; there weren’t any promises that the tip calculator was going to get in, or clarification about Palm’s ownership rights of applications in the catalog.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m still coming to grips with the position of the Palm developer community, but from what I can tell, programmers who have been working with the company over the long term aren’t dealing well with the tightening grip that is gradually becoming the industry standard (thanks in large part to the iPhone’s App Store). When you’re used to being able to write an app and post it online wherever and and install it however you want, having to deal with paperwork and change requests and membership fees is an understandably hard transition. Developers just want to know that they actually own the device without any strings attached, and that is totally reasonable.

The homebrew market is apparently only a half-measure that doesn’t satisfy app creators, mainly because it’s too much of a hassle for end users – it sure would be interesting if Palm included homebrew section in the App Catalog plastered with “We didn’t look at these ones, install at your own risk” disclaimers. On the plus side, Palm is listening to the feedback and is treating their system as a work-in-progress. It doesn’t seem like Zawinski is quite as willing to dialog on the matter to help Palm figure out policies that work, but there has been more than enough feedback from others for Palm to chew on. Considering the explosion of contention surrounding this particular issue, it’s probably a good thing that the premium market didn’t go live with webOS 1.2.

For the developers out there, are you satisfied with Galbraith’s response, or do more dramatic steps need to be taken to get you to write apps for webOS?

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Editorial: webOS App Approval Too Bureaucratic or Just Right?

Simon Sage — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:37:04 +0000

A really great post has found its way to reddit from Jamie Zawinski, who’s a big name in developer circles (known as jwz), about his rough ride in trying to get a free tip calculator into the webOS App Catalog. Since I’ve been playing with Bell’s Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre for the last week and trying out homebrew applications, it really caught my eye. Here’s The Short Version of this particular programmer’s complaints, but I encourage you to read the whole thing if you’re packing a Palm Pre or developing on webOS.

Inability to natively install applications from outside the market
Requirement of a verified PayPal account and potential fees, even for free apps
Forfeiting rights to post submitted applications anywhere other than the App Catalog

Let me preface my reply by saying that I’m not a developer, and don’t pretend to fully empathize with their wide-ranging plights and challenges when dealing with manufacturers, carriers, and end-users. However, a lot of this post raised some flags.

If you don’t want to play by Palm’s rules to get into the App Catalog (however reasonable/unreasonable they may be), don’t whine when your only option left is homebrew; making apps “off the grid” is not a bad starting spot for someone learning the webOS platform. Palm is in dire financial traits, and they need to harness their app market in order to stay in business – that entails some level of quality control, dealing with PayPal, code tweaks, and all that jazz that might come off as personal affronts to the more quixotic developers out there. How do you think Elevation Partners would feel if, when asking about third-party software strategy, Palm said “Developers can do whatever the hell they want! Woo, open source!” and cracked open a Bud? Instead, Palm saw what a financially successful player, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), was doing right (taking control of the application stream) and doing wrong (making draconian app submission decisions) and built their strategy around that. Sure, it might not be the supposed open-source programming Nirvana found in Maemo 5 or even Android, but it’s a balanced approach that helps everyone win at least a little. If you’re writing free apps and you don’t want to jump through the hoops, homebrew is not that complicated for end users.

Enter dev mode
Get Quick Install and your recovery ROM (Sprint, Bell)
Install fileCoaster

There, you’re set. You have a second on-device app store that Palm doesn’t control. Go nuts. Is that really an insurmountable barrier for entry? Will an app really have that many fewer eyeballs on it than if it were in the App Catalog? And if the software is free anyway, why would the creator care?

If developers want to support the webOS ecosystem with a free app, or make a buck with a premium one, they should be ready to make some compromises, including small code changes for the sake of QA. It’s not like Palm is turning into a bunch of Nazis; they aren’t taking shots at the homebrew scene, like Apple does with jailbreakers – in fact, Palm encourages the homebrew scene. The exclusive rights to the code is simply Palm’s way of ensuring the official market remains valuable. Why would anyone use the App Catalog if the homebrew scene had all of the same apps plus others that didn’t make it though the hoops? Sure, end users would get their apps, and devs could do whatever they wanted, but Palm wouldn’t get their cut, which ultimately is bad news for the whole platform and anyone developing on it.

As for the $99 annual developer fee, someone has to handle the submissions; even if your app is free, that someone answering the e-mails has to get paid. If you can’t be bothered to manage a ubiquitous and widely-accepted payment method like PayPal to handle that tiny bit of bureaucracy, then why should they be bothered to look at your submission? The thing that probably set me off most on jwz’s post was the insinuation that Palm was dead because they’re abusing webOS developers like a bunch of naughty puppies. First off, the phone has been out three months, and as I’m sure you can imagine, it takes a lot of manpower to make an app store ready for primetime – calling the time of death at this point is ridiculous. Secondly, this is the harshest amount of discontent I’ve heard from a webOS developer so far, and I’m tempted to think the majority are still willing to stick with Palm through the official App Catalog launch. Let’s hear from other developers who have tried their hand at the submission process, and see who has been satisfied (or at least understanding), and who has been pushed to another mobile platform. Feel free to comment with your own personal experiences.

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Android modder plans to keep on keeping on with Cyanogen

Will Park — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:37:30 +0000

All may not be lost for Android fans fond of Cyanogen’s customized Android ROMs. Following on a cease and desist order from Google, Cyanogen has apparently found a way to keep developing custom Android ROMs (CyanogenMod) while keeping Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s legal hounds at bay. Cyanogen, known to his mother as Steve Kondik, posted on his blog that he intends to keep crunching out Cyanogen ROMs stripped of those closed-source “Google Experience” apps like Maps, GTalk and YouTube.

By unbundling the offending apps from Cyanogen-flavored Android builds, Kondik hopes to side-step Google’s legal concerns. Going forward, Kondik will offer a “bare bones” version of his CyanogenMod. And, to keep the “Google Experience” alive for users that want to keep Android Market and Google Sync, Cyanogen will be releasing a backup utility that will copy all the “Google Experience” content from your device. The point is to re-install these Android apps after flashing the smartphone with a CyanogenMod ROM.

The idea is that you’ll be able to Google-ify your CyanogenMod installation, with the applications and files that shipped on YOUR device already. Or, you can just use the basic ROM if you want. It will be perfectly functional if you don’t use the Google parts.

Kondik also plans to release an alternative app store with his stripped-down CyanogenMod for users without a “Google Experience” Android smartphone.

Props to Cyanogen for continuing his mod-work on Android!

[Via: CyanogenMod]

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